SAN JOSE, CA, May 8, 2000 - Cisco Systems Inc. today announced that its industry-leading AS5300/Voice Gateway was awarded Network Magazine's Product of the Year in the Voice over IP (VoIP) category. Chosen by the Network Magazine's editorial staff, the Cisco AS5300/Voice Gateway was the only product awarded in this category. According to the magazine, the Cisco AS5300/Voice Gateway was specifically chosen for this award based on its superior voice quality and support for industry standards, such as H.323.

Network Magazine is the premier monthly magazine for computer network architects with a circulation of more than 200,000. "Each year, we select Products of the Year to recognize and draw attention to products and services that stand out from the surrounding landscape," said Andrew Murray, features editor at Network Magazine.

The Product of The Year Award will be presented to Cisco Systems during an evening awards ceremony at the Networld+Interop conference held in Las Vegas next week.

"It is a great honor to be recognized by an objective authority within the networking industry," said Jack Musgrove, director of marketing for Cisco's Remote Access Products Division. "This award reinforces the extremely positive market response we've seen for the Cisco AS5300/Voice Gateway, as well as other Cisco VoIP products and services. Our focus on quality, scalability, reliability and value added services has proven to be the right combination for service providers needing a carrier-class VoIP solution."

Cisco AS5300/Voice Gateway

The market leading and award winning Cisco AS5300/Voice Gateway is a feature rich Voice over IP gateway for service providers wanting to quickly and easily deploy revenue-generating services. The Cisco AS5300/Voice Gateway supports up to 96/120 simultaneous VoIP sessions (four T1/E1) per two rack unit (RU), and scored the highest rating ever achieved in a BCR/Mier Communications competitive review, exhibiting the best voice quality of any Voice over IP (VoIP) gateway tested to date. With programmable integrated voice response, support for debit card services and fax relay, the AS5300/Voice Gateway enables Cisco's Open Packet Telephony (OPT) architecture for easy integration with third party gatekeepers and applications. Cisco is the overall leader in VoIP ports with 42%, according to Synergy Research Group.

About Network Magazine

Network Magazine, published by CMP, is the only monthly magazine to cover computer networks. Its three-pronged editorial approach - Business Cases, Market Focus and Technology reports - stresses enterprise networking solutions while paying constant attention to the business context that justifies any investment in network infrastructure. It is also available online at www.networkmagazine.com.

CMP Media Inc., a subsidiary of United News & Media plc (Nasdaq: UNEWY), is the leading high-tech media company providing essential information and marketing services to the entire technology spectrum - the builders, sellers and users of technology worldwide. With its portfolio of newspapers, magazines, custom publishing, Internet products, research, consulting and conferences, CMP is uniquely positioned to offer marketers comprehensive, integrated solutions tailored to meet their individual needs.

Online editions of the company's print publications, along with products and services created exclusively for the Internet, can be found on CMPnet at http://www.CMPnet.com.