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New Linksys VoIP (Voice Over IP) Solutions Help Consumers and Small Offices Save Money on Telephone Calls
[January 31, 2005]

New Linksys VoIP (Voice Over IP) Solutions Help Consumers and Small Offices Save Money on Telephone Calls


LONDON, January 31 /PRNewswire/ --

- Linksys Enters the European VoIP Market With New Hardware Designed to
Connect Standard Telephones and Fax Machines to a High-Speed Internet
Connection


Linksys(R), a division of Cisco Systems, Inc., the leading provider of
broadband, wireless and networking hardware for the consumer, SOHO (Small
Office/Home Office) and small business markets, today announced new VoIP
(Voice Over IP) products designed to help consumers and small offices save
money and get more from their broadband connection.

Linksys is offering three new affordable and easy to use VoIP products
designed to enable users to connect their standard telephones and fax
machines to a cable or DSL broadband connection so they can make and receive
calls using the Internet: The Linksys Phone Adapter with 2 Phone Ports
(PAP2), a Wireless-G Router with 2 Phone Ports (WRT54GP2) and a wired
Broadband Router with 2 Phone Ports (RT31P2). These new Linksys VoIP hardware solutions were developed with its parent company, Cisco Systems, Inc., the worldwide leader in IP Telephony.

After signing up for a Voice over IP service with a specific service
provider, both families and small offices can use the Internet to make
telephone calls, getting substantial savings on in-country and International
calling whilst also enjoying additional features at no cost such as call
waiting, voicemail, caller ID, call blocking, repeat dialing and more.

"Home or small office workers, telecommuters and other users requiring
more than one line for both phones and faxes will be particularly eager to
start using our VoIP solutions in Europe and impressed by the cost savings
our products make possible," said Patrick Lelorieux, vice-president of Sales
for Linksys in Europe, Middle East and Africa. "We believe IP networking is
the future for all telecom services, given its significant advantages over
traditional analogue phone systems."

In-Stat/MDR, a leading market research firm, reports that by the end of
2008, over 33 million VoIP enabled broadband access devices will be shipped
worldwide. "Linksys' strength in consumer sales channels and its ability to
offer low cost, easy to use solutions will help popularise VoIP to the mass
market," said Mike Wolf, principal analyst, consumer content and connectivity
at In-Stat/MDR.

Broadband in the home and small office is used for a variety of
applications including surfing the Internet, sending email, sharing photos,
games and music and now making and receiving telephone calls and faxes. The
new Linksys line of consumer VoIP products allows users to do all of this
with a single broadband connection, all at the same time.


Phone Adapter with 2 Phone Ports for VoIP (PAP2)

The New Linksys Phone adapter, combined with a subscription to a specific
VoIP service plan, turns an existing Internet connection into a high-quality
phone line for placing and receiving phone calls. The phone adapter comes
equipped with two RJ-11 phone ports (and a UK telephone jack adapter) and one
Ethernet port (RJ-45). Users connect their existing cordless or stationary
phones or a fax machine to the phone adapter; and then connect the phone
adapter to a router or gateway via the Ethernet port. Each telephone jack
operates independently, with separate phone service and numbers, just like
having two separate phone lines. Combined with a high-quality telephone
service, users can obtain clear phone and fax connections, as they surf the
Internet at the same time.


Wireless-G Router with 2 Phone Ports (WRT54GP2) and

Broadband Router with 2 Phone Ports (RT31P2)

This latest version of the best-selling Linksys wired and wireless router
integrates phone adapter functionality to deliver all-in-one solutions which
allow customers to share a broadband connection while making phone calls
(with a VoIP service subscription). Both the Wired and Wireless-G router come
with a 3-Port switch for connecting three Ethernet devices directly to the
network. Just like the Phone Adapter, the routers have 2 RJ-11 phone ports
(and a UK telephone jack adapter) for connecting standard phones or fax
machines. Linksys also incorporates QoS (Quality of Service) for prioritising
voice packets to achieve clear telephone reception, and UPnP (Universal
Plug-and-Play) for easy setup and configuration.

Both the Phone adapter and Voice Routers also include a number of
features, to facilitate the ease of setting up the units, achieving high
quality voice simultaneously:


- Supports SIP (Session Initiation Protocol)
- Web based configuration through a built-in web server
- Supports DTMF tone detection and generation
- Supports multiple voice compression methods G.711, G.726 G.729 and
G.723.1
- Supports FSK Caller ID, DTMF Caller ID and FSK VMWI
- Supports echo cancellation and VAD (Voice Activity Detection)
- Password protected access and configuration
- Supports auto-provisioning with remote firmware upgrade



Pricing & Availability

The Linksys Broadband router with two phone ports (RT31P2) is currently
available through Vonage(R) at www.vonage.co.uk. The full offering of Linksys
VoIP products will be available through select retail, ecommerce and
distribution outlets in the coming months.


About Linksys

Founded in 1988, Linksys, a Division of Cisco Systems, Inc., (Nasdaq:
CSCO) is the global leader in Wireless and Ethernet networking for both
consumer and SOHO users. Linksys is dedicated to making networking easy and
affordable for its customers, offering innovative, award-winning products
that seamlessly integrate with a variety of devices and applications. Linksys
offers free of charge product support to its customers. For more information,
visit the Linksys web site at www.linksys.com/uk/

Linksys is a registered trademark or trademark of Cisco Systems, Inc.
and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and certain other countries. Other brands
and products are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective
holders. Copyright (C) 2005 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.



Web site: http://www.vonage.co.uk
Web site: http://www.linksys.com/uk



Linksys


Media, Angela Hepburn of Linksys, +33-1-58-04-33 42, [email protected], or Investors, Blair Christie of Cisco, +1-408-525-4856, [email protected]

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