Award Received for Personal Voice Assistant™

(Tampa, Florida) – Z-Tel Communications, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Z-Tel Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq/SC: ZTEL) and leading provider of local, long distance and enhanced telecommunications services, in making its Personal Voice Assistant™ product available to wireless retailers and consumer electronics retailers, has been named a “Best of Innovations” winner in the Software/Embedded Technology category for the upcoming 2004 International Consumer Electronics Show.

The Best of Innovations Awards, sponsored by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) and endorsed by the Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA), showcase today’s most innovative product advancements in technology design and engineering and are judged by an independent panel of journalists, designers and engineers.

Personal Voice Assistant (PVA) is a voice-activated communication service that enables users to send voice email or voice dial their contacts, stored in a virtual address book, which they can access from any phone anywhere and navigate it using simple, spoken commands.

With PVA, users can pick up the phone, say, “Send email to family,” and PVA will record their message and deliver it in their voice to the entire group at once. PVA includes conference calling, broadcast voicemail, an automatic contact updater, directory assistance and Communities™, a network of PVA address books. Z-Tel offers PVA to its residential customers at no charge. PVA is also available to cell phone users nationwide, starting at $9.95, in a calling card type format, sold in packages based upon minute usage.

“This award further validates Personal Voice Assistant’s value to the marketplace,” said Gregg Smith, president and chief executive officer for Z-Tel. “PVA offers simplified communications for every consumer, no matter where they are or who they choose as their home or cell phone provider. We are honored, and look forward to making this product available directly to wireless retailers as a means of helping them differentiate their offerings.”

PVA was recently named “Best New Technology” by top US retailers, such as CompUSA, Amazon.com, Radio Shack and Best Buy, at the Fall 2003 RetailVision event. Z-Tel will showcase its new technology at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas Jan. 8-12, 2004, booth #20511 South Hall.

For more information about Z-Tel, visit www.ztel.com.