Ingate Systems And Commworks To Bring SIP Telephony to the Enterprise LAN

Companies Will Collaborate through CommWorks® Community of Partners Program

STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN, and ROLLING MEADOWS, Ill. - February 12, 2002 - Ingate Systems, the world's first provider of Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) capable enterprise firewalls, today announced it is teaming with CommWorks, a 3Com Company (NASDAQ: COMS), to expand Internet Protocol (IP) telephony service opportunities for enterprises.

The two companies will integrate Ingate's SIP-capable firewalls with key elements of CommWorks' IP telephony and softswitch product lines. This will allow SIP telephones deployed on a private enterprise local area network (LAN) to directly connect to a CommWorks® softswitch infrastructure deployed by a telecommunications service provider.

SIP is rapidly becoming the accepted standard for voice-over-IP (VoIP) and other person-to-person realtime IP-based communications. Many SIP telephones for LAN connection are now available. However, SIP-based communication is unable to traverse current firewalls and Network Address Translations (NATs), inhibiting both universal connectivity between SIP terminals on different private LANs and direct connectivity to the softswitch infrastructure of service providers.

The Ingate Firewall® remedies this restriction by allowing SIP-based communication on secure private LANs universally over the Internet.

CommWorks' support for SIP is present throughout its carrier-class, three-tier architecture of media gateways, softswitch elements for signaling and call control and network management and back-end servers for critical network services, including accounting, authentication and rating, billing support, directory mapping, and Web provisioning.

"The flexibility and ease of use that SIP offers promises to pave the way for a host of new communications services and capabilities that will help businesses improve efficiency, productivity and profitability," said Caroline Chen, director, CommWorks Community of Partners.

"With Ingate's SIP-capable firewalls, users on enterprise LANs can benefit from the universal connectivity between SIP terminals over the Internet, without the need to connect isolated island of VoIP via the PSTN," said Olle Westerberg, CEO of Ingate Systems.

Ingate Systems is the newest member of the CommWorks Community of Partners. Participants in the program collaborate to place advanced technology in the hands of service provider customers around the world. Through mutual relationships with key vendors, CommWorks offers its customers a range of solutions no single vendor could provide.

About Ingate Systems

Ingate Systems develops and markets the world's first SIP-capable enterprise firewalls. SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) is the new IETF signaling protocol for global, interoperable presence, messaging, Voice over IP and audio/video conferencing. Driven by the industry's leading providers, including Microsoft®, AOL and WorldCom, the SIP standard is becoming for realtime person-to-person communications what http is for the Web. Ingate produces a range of easy to use, cost effective SIP-enabled firewalls and firewall accessories that enable enterprises to enjoy the benefits of SIP-based global communications from a secure private LAN.

Based in Stockholm, Sweden, Ingate has additional offices in Linköping, Sweden and Hollis, New Hampshire. Ingate is a joint venture between Intertex Data AB and Cendio Systems AB. For more information on Ingate Systems, visit www.ingate.com.

About CommWorks

CommWorks, a 3Com Company (NASDAQ: COMS), supplies network service providers around the world with access infrastructures and IP services platforms that open new business opportunities and help them establish unique positions in a competitive marketplace. With flexible multi-service hardware platforms and modular software components, the comprehensive CommWorks architecture makes it possible for service providers to integrate their existing infrastructures with innovative technologies to deliver an array of next-generation IP-based enhanced services to their customers. For further information, visit www.commworks.com.

About 3Com Corporation

3Com is the global leader in functionally rich, easy-to-use networking products that connect businesses to their employees, customers and suppliers -- anytime, anywhere. 3Com is also a leader in Internet protocol (IP) service platforms and access infrastructure for the network service provider market. In 1979, the company was founded by one of the inventors of Ethernet technology on which virtually all local area networks are based. Since then, 3Com has sold more than 340,000,000 Ethernet connections. 3Com has headquarters in Santa Clara, California. For further information, please visit www.3com.com, or the press site www.3com.com/pressbox.

3Com and CommWorks are registered trademarks of 3Com Corporation.

For more information contact:

For more information, please contact:

Mara Klein, Ingate Systems AB
+011.46.733.583.105
mara.klein@ingate.com

Steven M. Ostrowski, CommWorks
+1-847-262-1185
steven_m_ostrowski@commworks.com