bendit Gets German Trucks on the Sonic Bus; Sonic ESB Powers Mobile To

    Business Editors/High-Tech Editors

    MUNICH, Germany & BEDFORD, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 16, 2005--Sonic Software, the inventor and leading provider of the enterprise service bus (ESB), today announced that bendit GmbH, a leading provider of smart interfaces, has developed "digipen maut connect," a mobile toll payment solution based on the Sonic SOA Suite(TM), a comprehensive, ESB-based distributed services platform, and mobile technology from Nokia. In Germany, digipen maut connect became operational on January 1, 2005, the date that toll fees for trucks became mandatory on the country's motorways. In contrast to conventional toll compliance solutions, such as on-board units (OBUs), road-side toll collection portals, or call centers, the digital pen provides a low-overhead, easy to use solution for truck drivers and logistics companies, saving them time and money.
    "Other toll payment systems can be very time-consuming and thus expensive to perform the same tasks," said Jukka Hieta, head of global digital pen sales at Nokia. "The digipen maut connect kit costs about EUR 500, requires minimum training and is very robust."
    "High availability of our server system is obviously mission critical for our business. With the Sonic Continuous Availability Architecture(TM), Sonic middleware ensures that we can deliver a great quality of service to our customers," said Hauke Ernst, managing director at bendit GmbH.
    To pay a toll, a driver uses a digital pen to enter route information onto a special pre-printed form. The intelligent pen technology reads the surface of the form, detecting its position on the paper, and also what is being written. digipen maut connect then transfers this information automatically via a Nokia mobile device to Toll Collect, the organization responsible for establishing and operating the new toll collection system in Germany. The driver receives an SMS message with his payment number as a confirmation of his trip and the payment of the toll. This solution is designed for use by haulage companies and truck drivers.
    The digipen maut connect technology is based on Sonic ESB(R), Sonic Orchestration Server(TM) and Sonic XML Server(TM), part of the Sonic SOA Suite. The Sonic products are used to connect and manage the business processes that execute the toll payment once a driver's route information is transmitted to the Toll Collect Internet portal.
    Sonic SOA Suite is a bundled product offering that delivers deployment flexibility and simplicity for organizations pursuing SOA projects. The suite includes Sonic ESB, Sonic Orchestration Server, Sonic XML Server and the new Sonic Database Service(TM). Sonic SOA Suite extends Sonic ESB with service orchestration, XML-based operational data management, and fully integrated access to relational data sources. A cohesive solution to the challenges of broad-scale business event and process management, Sonic SOA Suite lets organizations dynamically manage, mediate and orchestrate services in a unified SOA framework. Joining enterprise-wide operational visibility with the flexibility to adapt to changing requirements, Sonic SOA Suite helps align IT with the needs of business.

    About bendit GmbH

    bendit GmbH works in close cooperation with its customers to develop tailor-made solutions from creative concepts and innovative technologies. Project management, consulting, concept creation and development can all be provided from a single source. Technological expertise is available from the company's Enterprise Solutions and Mobile Computing divisions. The company also offers the digipen product, developed by bendit itself, and the extended version, digipen enterprise. For further information please visit the www.digipen.de or www.mautconnect.de

    About Sonic Software

    Sonic Software is the inventor and leading provider of the enterprise service bus (ESB). Sonic enterprise integration and messaging products deliver flexibility, scalability, and continuous availability through patent-pending innovations. Sonic Software enables over 700 customers to integrate their organizations from the department to the extended enterprise with a standards-based, service-oriented architecture (SOA).
    Sonic Software is an independent operating company of Progress Software Corporation (NASDAQ: PRGS), a US$300+ million global software industry leader. Headquartered in Bedford, Mass., Sonic Software can be reached on the Web at http://www.sonicsoftware.com, or by phone at +1-781-999-7000 or 1-866-GET-SONIC.

    Sonic SOA Suite, Sonic ESB, Sonic Orchestration Server, Sonic XML Server, Sonic Continuous Availability Architecture, Sonic Database Service, and Sonic Software (and design) are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sonic Software Corporation in the U.S. and other countries. Any other trademarks or service marks contained herein are the property of their respective owners.

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CONTACT: Sonic Software Trip Kucera 781-999-7142 trip.kucera@sonicsoftware.com or Schwartz Communications, Inc. John Moran 781-684-0770 sonic@schwartz-pr.com

KEYWORD: MASSACHUSETTS GERMANY INTERNATIONAL EUROPE INDUSTRY KEYWORD: TRAVEL TRANSPORTATION TELECOMMUNICATIONS SOFTWARE NETWORKING PRODUCT MARKETING AGREEMENTS SOURCE: Sonic Software

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