Press Release

September 10, 2001

Prestigious Law Firms Choose Onset's METAmessage for Wireless™ To Give BlackBerry Users Email Attachment Solution

Mintz Levin and Ropes & Gray Report that METAmessage for Wireless Gives Lawyers Fast, Easy Access to Business-Critical Documents While Away From the Office and Helps Maintain High Levels of Client Service

Santa Cruz, CA - Onset Technology today announced that Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, PC (Mintz Levin) and Ropes & Gray, both large national law firms, have deployed Onset's METAmessage for Wireless™ solution to give hundreds of their lawyers and other staff the ability to read and print documents contained in email attachments - anytime, anywhere. Executives from both firms said they decided to deploy the METAmessage solution on RIM® BlackBerry handheld devices because their staffs transmit countless business critical documents via email attachments and they wanted to ensure they would have immediate, mobile access to those documents.

Both firms use METAmessage to receive several different document types, including Microsoft Word™ and Excel™ files. The firms also use the product's GAL lookup capability, a feature that allows users to immediately retrieve contact information for anyone in their corporate global address list. Five hundred and thirty staff members use the solution at Mintz Levin; approximately 500 of them attorneys. Ropes and Gray has approximately 450 users, the majority of them lawyers and management staff.

Prior to deploying the BlackBerry/METAmessage solution, lawyers at both firms carried laptops while away from the office and relied upon remote Internet-based connections found at airport kiosks, hotels and elsewhere. The Mintz Levin and Ropes & Gray spokespersons both described numerous benefits associated with using the BlackBerry/METAmessage solution in place of laptops.

"The mobilization is a tremendous benefit," said David J. Gregson, Information Services Director at Mintz Levin. "We have had a phenomenal response to METAmessage because our staff can now immediately respond to documents that clients send and can provide a much higher level of client service. The solution is giving them the benefits that we hoped it would."

"The BlackBerry/METAmessage solution means that the lawyers can still stay in touch and on top of what is going on with clients 24 hours a day and don't have to lug a laptop with them," said Donald O. Sternfeld, Chief Information Officer at Ropes & Gray. "The solution is portable and transparent and gives lawyers huge flexibility when away from the office and a huge advantage in providing high-level client service."

METAmessage Provides Robust Solution

Gregson explained that Mintz Levin purchased the BlackBerry and METAmessage solution together because the firm required an email attachment capability as part of its overall mobile messaging solution. The firm considered other email attachment offerings, but ultimately selected METAmessage.

"The firm uses email as its primary method of document transmission and delivery - so we knew we had to have an email attachment capability with the BlackBerry," said Gregson. "We did test and evaluate other email attachment solutions, but Onset's METAmessage had the flexibility with attachment types and enterprise dependability. The others didn't have the robust nature that we needed."

Onset Solutions Provide Message-Conversion for Variety of Environments

Onset addresses a full range of individual and corporate users' needs with its family of METAmessage for Wireless solutions that include: METAmessage.com a simple, cost-effective, Internet-based ASP solution for workgroups and individuals; the METAmessage Conversion Server - Enterprise Edition, a highly scalable solution intended for corporations worldwide for whom "behind-the-firewall" security is especially important; and the METAmessage Conversion Server - Carrier Edition, for server-farm-based environments such as telcos, ASP's and ISP's.ASPs and ISPs.

The METAmessage for Wireless offerings support all of the industry's popular file formats - more than 28 in total - giving users the ability to read or print Word files, Excel spreadsheets, Web pages from URL links, Outlook calendar and contact information files (.vcf and .ics), among other capabilities. The METAmessage.com solution allows users to receive faxes and the METAmessage Conversion Server - Enterprise and- Carrier editions offer global address list (GAL) lookup. All of Onset's METAmessage solutions support a variety of handheld devices including the BlackBerry wireless handheld device.

About Mintz Levin

Mintz Levin is a full-service, multidisciplinary law firm with approximately 500 attorneys and senior professionals in Boston, Washington, D.C., Reston, New York, and New Haven who serve a diverse national and international clientele. The firm has extensive expertise in all traditional practice areas as well as technology law, venture capital, intellectual property, the Internet, mass media, telecommunications, patents and software licensing. The firm represents clients in established and emerging industries including communications, biotechnology, pharmaceutical, medical device, health care, high technology, and e-commerce, as well as capital sources such as underwriters and venture capital firms. One of the first law firms to develop MDP (multidisciplinary practice) capabilities, Mintz Levin has consulting affiliates to address its clients' financial, public affairs and related consulting needs.

About Ropes & Gray

Ropes & Gray is a national law firm serving the needs of businesses throughout the country and the world. Its more than 400 lawyers provide comprehensive legal services from Boston, New York, Providence, Washington, D.C., and facilities in London. Its clients include large and small companies, financial institutions, government agencies, hospitals and health care organizations, colleges and universities, and families and individuals.

About Onset Technology

Onset Technology is a leading provider of solutions that convert messages -- including email attachments, fax, and voice - into device-independent information that individuals and businesses can easily and immediately access and use. The company's METAmessage for Wireless and ThruFax solutions are available as ASP service offerings for individuals and workgroups, enterprise offerings for corporations, and as carrier offerings for telco, ASP and ISP providers. Onset's scalable solutions are built around its robust, patent-pending technologies and are sold by its extensive network of VARs, systems integrators and resellers. Onset partners with major industry vendors, including Compaq, Intel, Microsoft, and Wireless Knowledge, to create market-specific Onset software solutions and to support seamless product and system integration. Onset's U.S. corporate headquarters are located at 111 Mission St., Santa Cruz, Calif., 95060, phone (831) 471- 1360, fax (831) 471-1364.