SAN JOSE, Calif., November 10, 2003 - Cisco Systems® today announced the State University of New York (SUNY) Cortland campus has received a prestigious EDUCAUSE network excellence award for the successful deployment of its Cisco Internet Protocol (IP) Communications system.

SUNY-Cortland provides a clear example of why Cisco is experiencing such strong demand for its IP Communications system from education customers worldwide. The Cortland campus of SUNY was one of two winners recognized at the EDUCAUSE 2003 Annual Conference last week in Anaheim, Calif. The campus won for Excellence in Networking: Innovation in Network Technology, Services, and Management. The award honors innovative programs or practices that improve network infrastructure and architecture, integration and quality of service on campus or within an educational system, and that positively affect a campus community or significant sub-community. For more information about EDUCAUSE 2003, visit www.educause.edu/conference/annual/2003/.

At SUNY's Cortland campus, the Cisco IP Communications system replaced a traditional Private Branch Exchange (PBX)-based voice network and a shared 10-megabit-per second Ethernet data network. The new converged network includes 700 Cisco IP phones that work with 3,000 existing analog phones connected via Cisco VG-248 IP gateways.

"The return on investment analysis for our IP Communications system shows that we will spend a quarter of a million dollars less than it would have cost to purchase, deploy, and support two disparate voice and data networks," said Daniel Sidebottom, director, Administrative Computing Services, at SUNY. "We anticipate a return on our technology investment in less than one year."

The new system helps university staff, faculty and students communicate more effectively and provides applications to improve the academic experience. For example, university faculty and students are now able to use streaming video, file sharing and other high-bandwidth applications that add substantial value to the curricula and further drive operational efficiencies at the college. The combined voice and data network features a single call center system to support the admissions and financial aid offices and better serve students, parents and other callers who need information and assistance. The solution, deployed by systems integrator Ronco Communications, delivers streamlined voice, video and data communications campus wide and reinforces SUNY Cortland's mission to provide students with the opportunity to develop and use technology in their studies.

Cisco Experiencing Strong Momentum in the Education Market

New customer wins for Cisco in the education market also include: Aston University in the United Kingdom; Liberty-Eylau School District in east Texas; Moraine Valley Community College in Chicago; Consolidated High School District 230 in Orland Park, Ill; Dartmouth College in New Hampshire; Floyd County Public Schools in Virginia; Osceola School District: Disney-Celebration High School in Florida and San Lorenzo Unified School District in California. The institutions and many other Cisco® education customers are benefiting from enhanced communications, improved administrative processes and new educational capabilities that a Cisco IP Communications system provides.

"Cisco has made great in roads with the education market with respect to its IP Communications system," Zeus Kerravala, vice president of enterprise infrastructure for the Yankee Group. "School districts, colleges and universities around the country are realizing the productivity benefits and cost savings that a single voice, video and data system provides. This is indicative of the increasing number of organizations that are adopting IP-based communication systems."

Moraine Valley Community College

At Moraine Valley Community College, which serves more than 16,000 students from 26 southwest suburbs of Chicago, the Cisco IP Communications system replaced a PBX with 650 Cisco IP phones and Cisco Emergency Responder for E9-1-1 and advanced emergency features. Users are enjoying gains in productivity and better communications capabilities through the system's new features and functions, including support for teletypewriter (TTY) devices that help deaf students communicate with the college via text messaging.

Liberty-Eylau Independent School District

Liberty-Eylau Independent School District (LEISD) in east Texas addressed their outdated communications infrastructure with a Cisco IP Communications system that combines voice and data networks to support new applications for distance-learning and e-learning initiatives. The new system includes 350 Cisco IP phones with access to XML-based time and attendance applications that allow teachers to take attendance via a Cisco IP phone and administrators to monitor and modify the attendance information. LEISD also uses an application that simultaneously sends both an audio stream and a text message to multiple Cisco IP phones. Audio and text messages can be sent to the entire user population or to specific groups. In addition, the improved Internet access and faster performance provided by the upgraded network has improved the e-learning experience.

Aston University

Aston University, based in the United Kingdom, will deploy a Cisco IP Communications system that consists of over 2,000 Cisco IP phones to replace its aging analog VCR/TV and Teletext network. The research-led university has approximately 1,100 academics, administrators and executives supporting approximately 7,000 students and relies on shared classroom audio/visual equipment linked by their network. Video recording facilities are used extensively by Aston for its distance learning MBA program.

"The Cisco IP Communications system will improve ease-of-use, reduce repetition and offer fast and highly secure access to centralized records to improve management processes and planning," said Guppy Dhariwal, director of finance at Aston University.

The Cisco IP Communications system will also provide Aston with a campus-wide Cisco Unity unified messaging service allowing students and faculty to take advantage of the unique Extensible Markup Language (XML) capabilities of the Cisco IP phones. For example, students and faculty will be able to use Cisco IP phones throughout the campus to look up classroom and activity schedules, as well as use directory services without the need for a personal computer.

"Design and implementation of a converged, high-speed voice and data network will give our students an enhanced learning experience, helping them to access lecture material at anytime from any location," Dhariwal said. "Students will also be able to enjoy access to live and archived video rich media throughout the campus."

About Cisco IP Communications

Cisco IP Communications is a comprehensive system of enterprise-class solutions including IP telephony, unified communications, IP audio and videoconferencing, IP video broadcasting, and customer contact solutions. Enabled by Cisco AVVID (Architecture for Voice, Video and Integrated Data), Cisco IP Communications solutions dramatically improve operational efficiencies, increase organizational productivity, and enhance customer satisfaction to create an empowered, effective work environment. More information about Cisco IP Communications is available at http://www.cisco.com/en/US/netsol/ns110/ns163/ns165/ns230/networking_solutions_package.html