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3Com

3Com Delivers Business Continuity Through Easy-to-Deploy, Resilient Enterprise IP Communications for Branch Offices

1/23/2006

MARLBOROUGH, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 23, 2006--3Com Corporation today expanded its range of converged communications platforms to deliver a higher degree of reliability, resiliency and ease of management for supporting voice over IP (VoIP) solutions with the new V6000 Integrated Branch Communications platform. The new solution offers centrally-managed, business continuity applications to ensure that phone service, messaging and system management continue to be available at remote sites in the event of wide area network (WAN) failure, such as one due to a natural disaster.

The new V6000 Integrated Branch Communications platform runs 3Com's award-winning VCX(TM) IP Telephony module and convergence applications, which were recognized for its exceptional distributed "survivability" in a recent test conducted by Miercom, a privately held network consultancy, specializing in networking and communications-related product testing and analysis. Designed for medium to large, geographically distributed enterprises, the 3Com® V6000 supports productivity-enhancing IP applications, including SIP-based IP Messaging, IP Mobility, IP Contact Center, IP Conferencing and Presence.

"When we tested the fail-over of the VCX, we were frankly astonished that we could keep disconnecting back-up controllers, and phone service with 3Com's communications system continued without skipping a beat," said Ed Mier, president of Miercom. "3Com's architecture for IP convergence is a key asset of the vendor's SIP-based portfolio. It's high survivability IP convergence, at its finest, and brings IP telephony closer and closer to the legendary reliability of legacy telecommunications."

Key to the VCX architecture is the total availability of the applications. Should the WAN between sites be lost, the IP Telephony and IP Messaging applications running on the V6000 can work totally independent of the corporate headquarter system. Once the network becomes operational, the VCX systems will automatically resume normal networking operations. Even in the extreme event of a failure of the local V6000 server, the 3Com IP phones will automatically re-route to the central site server running the VCX system for call control.

Another key attribute of the V6000 platform is its ease of management and deployment. Since the platform has built-in connectivity ports to the network, as well as VCX call control and IP messaging software, small branch locations can be deployed quickly and with a minimal amount of equipment. Furthermore, because system management can be done remotely, no on-site telephony expertise is required.

"Because of 3Com's convergence solutions, we have improved the way our organization collaborates and communicates, and we know we can rely on 3Com's VCX solution for consistent application availability and performance during strenuous times on the network," said Martin Maren, chief financial officer and chief technology officer at House Ear Institute (HEI), an internationally recognized non-profit research organization based in Los Angeles. "3Com's unified messaging, IP conferencing and presence applications have become embedded in the operations of HEI in our mission to collaborate on the exploration of hearing loss and to communicate across our clinics. We had evaluated the other major convergence vendors, but 3Com stood out as the best to meet our communications requirements."

"In today's widely dispersed organizations, 3Com offers the most resilient architecture in the industry, not only for call processing, but for critical IP convergence applications," said Denis Aull, vice president of the Convergence Business Unit, 3Com. "Our 3Com VCX IP telephony system ensures that the branch office will remain fully functional with access to all applications including IP Messaging, even if a branch server were to become unavailable or the connection to the central site or headquarters was cut off. Our solution is optimal for markets that need both a highly available IP telephony system and an integrated remote site messaging solution - vigorously tested and proven."

The new 3Com convergence solution also includes the following:

* VCX Release 7.0 software that enables advanced features on the new platform and allows the 3103 Manager Phone, a SIP-based Gigabit phone, to be used on the VCX. The 3103 Manager Phone supports standards-based Power over Ethernet (PoE) and offers a variety of features including a full-duplex speakerphone and a large display for improved user experience.
* Embedded in the V6000 platform is IP Messaging, a productivity-enhancing, unified messaging application that provides "Find Me / Follow Me" capability as well as voicemail / email integration.
* Standard on the V6000 are four central office (CO) analog line ports (FXO) for connection to the local PSTN as well as two local analog station ports (FXS) to connect local devices, such as fax machines or analog telephones.

3Com offers end-to-end voice over IP solutions for enterprise networks, including platforms, applications and phones. The V6000 is the ideal platform for up to 100 users at a large enterprise remote branch facility, while, with an appropriate configuration of the larger V7000 servers, a VCX system can be scaled to tens of thousands of users for headquarters and large regional sites. The V6000 and V7000 run the same software and, therefore, the selection of a platform is based primarily on the size of a site. In addition, 3Com offers small-to-medium business voice over IP solutions based on its NBX communications platforms.

Pricing and Availability

The V6000 is now available. The V6000 is priced starting at $3,500 (US list) for the hardware and $1,000 (US list) for the software license. The 3103 Manager Phone is priced at $365 (US list).

About 3Com Corporation

3Com Corporation (NASDAQ: COMS - News) is a leading provider of secure, converged voice and data networking solutions for enterprises of all sizes. 3Com offers a broad line of innovative products backed by world class sales, service and support, which excel at delivering business value for its customers. Through its TippingPoint division, 3Com is the leading provider of network-based intrusion prevention systems that deliver in-depth application protection, infrastructure protection, and performance protection for corporate enterprises, government agencies, service providers and academic institutions. For further information, please visit www.3com.com, or the press site www.3com.com/pressbox.

Copyright © 2006 3Com Corporation. 3Com and the 3Com logo are registered trademarks and TippingPoint and VCX are trademarks of 3Com Corporation. All other company and product names may be trademarks of their respective holders.

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