CANOAS, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, Feb 2, 2010 – The city of Canoas, in Rio Grande do Sul, announces today the implementation of a video monitoring system that will start operating in the next several months. The city has chosen the Cisco® Video Surveillance Manager, an open architecture and interoperable security-management software solution that integrates audio and video in an Internet Protocol (IP)-based platform. The deployment will be conducted by Mersh, a Cisco Premier Certified Partner, which was selected in a public bid process.

The initiative is part of the Safer Canoas project developed by the Office of Integrated Management, composed of the military police, civil police, federal road traffic police and municipal guard. The main objectives are to reduce crime rates and enhance communication among police agencies, enabling them to act with more speed, synchronization and efficiency.

Highlights:

• By 2012, 120 cameras will be scattered around the greater metropolitan region of Porto Alegre. Initially, 27 of them will be placed on selected streets, 32 in public buildings, eight at Parque Eduardo Gomes and seven at City Park Getúlio Vargas. The images will be monitored by a central high-technology facility installed in a room at the municipality's Office of Integrated Management. Up to 30 terabytes of data can be stored.
• The open and interoperable architecture of the Cisco Video Surveillance Manager solution allows communication between cameras from different manufacturers.
• The investment in the initiative totals 3.8 million reals (about $2.1 million dollars). The funds will be provided by the city of Canoas, which will invest 2.8 million reals ($1.6 million), and by the federal government through National Public Security and Citizenship (Pronasci), which invested 700 million reals ($395 million). Pronasci aims to support projects that apply innovative technologies to combat crime.

Supporting Quotes:

• Alberto Kopittke, secretary of public security and citizenship of Canoas

"Our main goals are to promote a sharp drop in crime rates and to deter drug use near schools. We want to have a greater flow of people in city parks and in other public areas."

• Amos Maidantchik, regional sales manager, Cisco Brazil

"The Canoas initiative may be an inspiration for other Brazilian cities that already use technology to create an integrated public safety system among local, state and federal police agencies. In addition to the aim of bringing more peace and well-being to the city, video surveillance is expected to stimulate interest in technology and its uses in transforming public spaces."

• Ribeiro Ricardo Aguilar, commercial director, Mersh

"Mersh is pleased to participate in a project of public interest that also represents a promising business opportunity. The open architecture and interoperable surveillance technology adopted in Canoas meets the needs of flexibility and convergence of many companies and Brazilian governments."

About Cisco

Cisco, (NASDAQ: CSCO), the worldwide leader in networking that transforms how people connect, communicate and collaborate, this year celebrates 25 years of technology innovation, operational excellence and corporate social responsibility. Information about Cisco can be found at www.cisco.com/br.

# # #

Cisco, the Cisco logo, and Cisco Systems are registered trademarks of Cisco Systems, Inc. in the United States and certain other countries. All other trademarks mentioned in this document are the property of their respective owners. The use of the word partner does not imply a partnership relationship between Cisco and any other company. This document is Cisco Public Information.