SYDNEY - July 17, 2003 - Cisco Systems, ® Inc. announced today it has deployed more than 50,000 Internet Protocol (IP) phones to more than 200 customers in Australia.

IP Telephony enables voice to be transmitted over the same IP network as video and data. This convergence allows for significant network operational cost reductions and improved ease of network management. IP Telephony also enables organisations to cost-effectively deploy applications such as video conferencing, collaboration, directory integration, and contact centres with support for open protocols such as XML.

Increasing demand for IP Telephony in Australia is also being spurred by the growth of Virtual Private Networking (VPN). VPNs allow users to connect to their organisation's Intranet and make and receive phone calls over their Internet connection, regardless of their location and without the need for a telephone handset.

The impact of the growth of IP Telephony on the traditional PABX market has been significant. In its recently released report; "Asia Pacific Enterprise Telephony Market", Frost & Sullivan stated that in calendar 2002, Cisco led the market for IP Telephony, with a 38.5 per cent share of the market in Asia-Pacific, including Japan. Frost & Sullivan stated that the overall market for IP Telephony grew by 97.8 per cent in 2002 to $US100.793 million in Asia-Pacific, including Japan.

Jeff Sheard, director of IP Enterprise sales, Cisco Australia and New Zealand said in calendar year 2003, Cisco Australia has experienced more than double the IP phone deployments, compared with 2002.

"Almost half of the 50,000 total Cisco IP Phone deployments have been in the past nine months. This explosive growth rate will accelerate even further in the year ahead as more major corporations utilise their existing Cisco data networks to deliver their voice communication," Mr Sheard said.

Cisco has more than 200 customers using IP Telephony in Australia. Cisco's customers in this market include State and Federal government departments, semi-government departments and agencies, recruitment companies, logistics companies, traditional manufacturers, communications companies and financial services companies.

Cisco's channel reseller specialisation program, which requires significant training and resource allocation from Cisco's channel partners, also helps ensure that IP Telephony rollouts are designed and deployed to aim for high levels of customer satisfaction.

"The support provided by Cisco and our systems integration partners is critical to the success of IP Telephony and customer satisfaction," Mr Sheard said.

Cisco has a complete portfolio of converged networking products, including the Cisco Catalyst 6500 Series switches, Cisco 3600, Catalyst 3750, integrated with powerful Cisco Call Manager software, Cisco IP IVR (Interactive Voice Response), Cisco IP AA (Automated Attendant) and the comprehensive range of Cisco IP Phones. This range of products is supported by industry-leading solutions for end-to-end networking, including security and wireless mobility solutions.