WEH Westcoast Hosp Cp

Red Lion Online Customers Now Have a Powerful New Way to Get Help and Make Reservations with eStara Push to Talk Technology Joining Some of the Biggest Brands in the Industry, Red Lion Hotels Has Added 'Click-to-Call' Service to Improve the Online Customer Experience and Drive Increased Revenue RESTON, Va., Aug. 1 /PRNewswire/ -- eStara, the leading developer of customer-centric VoIP applications, has been selected by WestCoast Hospitality Corporation (NYSE:WEH), owner of the Red Lion brand of hotels, to be its technology partner for click to call services. The launch of the new "click- to-call" service is part of a dramatic new redesign of WestCoast Hospitality's branded websites. The click-to-call feature, deployed on the Red Lion's newly designed website, allows consumers navigating the site to initiate conversations, either via telephone or PC, with a Red Lion guest service agent. Red Lion recently launched its newly designed website, and cites the eStara powered technology as a distinct enhancement designed to personalize its customer's experience when visiting the Red Lion website. "The overall personality of the redlion.com website is smart, helpful and built with an eye toward making it easier for our guests to get answers and, most importantly, make reservations," said Arthur M. Coffey, President and Chief Executive Officer of WestCoast Hospitality Corporation. "To support this personal approach, we turned to eStara to provide the click-to-call feature that provides our guests immediate web-to-phone communication at the push of a button." eStara offers VoIP communication services designed to connect buyers and sellers, including click-to-call, local and toll-free call tracking and pay per call services. Their extensive client list includes companies such as Continental Airlines, Dell Financial Services, Club Med, Starwood Hotels and Verizon SuperPages. "Red Lion Hotels joins a growing list of travel and hospitality industry leaders looking to improve their online customer service capabilities, increase customer retention and drive sales through the use of our click-to- call technology," said Brad Timchuk, Senior Vice President of Sales and Business Development for eStara. "Our customers experience a 22% reduction in website abandonment and a return on investment of about 50 times the cost of the service. We're very proud of our results so far, and we are happy to have been selected as Red Lion's cross channel communication technology partner." A recent report from Forrester Research further demonstrates the impact that eStara's cross channel communication services have had on a variety of different large enterprise customers, including Dell Financial Services. The report also cites eStara's click to call service as a "must-have for any significant multi-channel business." (Forrester; Best Practices: Click-to- Callback Bridges the Cross-Channel Gap, Bob Chatham, 05/05/05.) This third- party research is available by special arrangement from Forrester at: http://www.estara.com/whitepaper/forrester.php To date, over 3 million consumers have used eStara's click-to-call service to speak with company representatives from the web and complete online transactions. eStara applications are powered by underlying VoIP technology that requires no additional hardware or software installation for end users because it is delivered via an ASP model. About eStara, Inc. eStara develops applications to help Fortune 1000 enterprises solve cross channel communication and customer service challenges while increasing revenue. The company serves more than 350 global enterprises across multiple industries including yellow pages and directories, financial services, retail, travel and hospitality, real estate and automotive. eStara's suite of applications are developed using a VoIP technology platform delivered via an ASP model to companies including Continental Airlines, Dell Financial Services and Esurance.com. Its Push to Talk service is the most widely deployed "click to call" service in the world with over 3,000,000 users in 113 countries, giving users the ability to make PC-to-Phone and Phone-to-Phone calls from the Web. Please visit http://www.estara.com/ for more information. About WestCoast Hospitality Corporation WestCoast Hospitality Corporation is a hospitality and leisure company primarily engaged in the ownership, management, development and franchising of upper mid-scale, full service hotels under its Red Lion(R) and WestCoast(R) brands. In addition, through its entertainment division, which includes its TicketsWest.com, Inc. subsidiary, it engages in event ticket distribution and promotes and presents a variety of entertainment productions. G&B Real Estate Services, its real estate division, engages in traditional real estate-related services, including developing, managing and brokering sales and leases of commercial and multi-unit residential properties. CONTACT: Jaye Linnen of Strategic Communications Group, +1-301-408-4500 ext. 1087, or , for eStara, Inc. DATASOURCE: eStara, Inc. CONTACT: Jaye Linnen of Strategic Communications Group, +1-301-408-4500 ext. 1087, or , for eStara, Inc. Web site: http://www.estara.com/ http://www.estara.com/whitepaper/forrester.php

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