Sterling National Bank Chooses Ingate for SIP Trunking Solution

Innovative Technology Helps Reduce Telephony Costs by 66 Percent

HOLLIS, NH and NEW YORK – December 4, 2006 Ingate® Systems, which develops firewall technology and products that enable SIP-based live communication for the enterprise while maintaining control and security at the network edge, announces that Sterling National Bank, the principal banking subsidiary of financial holding company Sterling Bancorp (NYSE: STL), has chosen the award-winning Ingate SIParator® to enable SIP trunking.

Sterling, which pioneers the use of new technologies to improve business processes and efficiency, is using SIParators at its Wall Street operations center and Woodbury, NY office to protect its IP-PBXs and to connect to a SIP Trunking service provider, resulting in a two-thirds reduction of its telecommunications expenses.

SIP trunking rapidly reduces telephony costs by using the Internet instead of the PSTN to carry communications traffic (voice, etc.) as far as possible, in effect eliminating long-distance telephony charges. SIP trunking also enables an enterprise to use just one connection for both voice and data, eliminating the cost of redundant network connections.

The SIP trunking solution bridges between VoIP and the PSTN. Sterling, like other enterprises, can now use VoIP to call people who still use traditional telephony service. With SIP trunking long-distance calls are routed over the Internet and terminated at the service provider’s PSTN gateway which is located closest to the person being called. The result is a savings for Sterling of approximately $1,000 per month, or 2/3 of their previous telephony costs.

In addition, using SIP trunks eliminated the need for Sterling to purchase local PSTN gateways and costly ISDN BRIs (Basic Rate Interfaces). The company still uses PRI (Primary Rate Interface)-rate ISDN for incoming calls, 911 and toll-free calling but the expense is modest since all outgoing calls that are billable are sent to the SIP trunking service provider.

With such a rapid reduction in communications expenses, Sterling expects that the SIP trunking installation, including the IP-PBX, the Ingate SIParator and the trunking service will pay for itself in less than six months.

“As a company committed to a high-tech, high-touch experience for our customers, SIP trunking helps us maximize the opportunities available with IP communications,” said Eliot S. Robinson, Executive Vice President, Sterling National Bank. “Ingate’s SIParators were the ideal solution to allow us to deploy SIP trunks. They were fully interoperable with our IP-PBX, the SIP trunking service provider and our existing security infrastructure and perhaps most importantly they just worked.”

Ingate SIParators work in parallel with a company’s existing firewall to enable businesses to utilize SIP-based VoIP. They solve the Network Address Translation (NAT) traversal issues that are faced by businesses using SIP. They also provide the advanced routing capabilities necessary for enterprises to easily connect to carriers’ SIP trunks. And for remote users, small branches and mobile workers, Ingate’s Remote SIP Connectivity capabilities allow these workers to use the centralized IP-PBX and the SIP Trunking service to make and receive calls.

“Sterling Bank’s experience highlights the benefits of proven SIP applications that streamline business processes and improve the bottom line,” said Steven Johnson, President, Ingate Systems. “We are proud that Sterling chose Ingate to enable their SIP trunking deployment.”

Sterling plans to expand its use of the Ingate SIParators and SIP trunking to other offices throughout the Sterling Bancorp network. They also plan to extend their use of IP communications beyond voice traffic, to include IM, presence and other productivity-enhancing applications.

About Sterling Bank

Sterling Bancorp (NYSE: STL) is a financial holding company with assets of $1.9 billion, offering a broad array of banking and financial services products. Its principal banking subsidiary is Sterling National Bank, founded in 1929. Sterling provides a wide range of products and services, including business and consumer loans, commercial and residential mortgage lending and brokerage, asset-based financing, factoring and accounts receivable management, trade financing, equipment leasing, corporate and consumer deposit services, trust and estate administration, and investment management services. The Company has operations in New York, New Jersey, Virginia and North Carolina and conducts business throughout the U.S.

About Ingate® Systems

Ingate® Systems develops firewall technology and products that enable SIP-based live communication for the enterprise while maintaining control and security at the network edge. Ingate has a long history of developing next-generation firewall technology that solves the NAT/firewall traversal issue inherent in SIP communications. In addition to an extensive line of Ingate Firewalls®, the company also produces the award-winning Ingate SIParator®, a device that connects to an existing network firewall to seamlessly enable SIP communications. Ingate products currently protect the networks of retail companies, financial institutions, industrial firms, government agencies and small-to-large enterprises throughout Europe, Asia and North America. Ingate Systems AB is headquartered in Sweden with offices in Stockholm and Linköping. Its wholly-owned subsidiary, Ingate Systems Inc., is located in Hollis, New Hampshire, with a U.S. technology center in Frisco, Texas. For more information on Ingate Systems, visit www.ingate.com.

For more information, please contact:

Hillary Call, Public Relations Manager
Ingate Systems
(917) 414-9262
SIP and email: hillary@ingate.com

Rich Tauberman for Sterling National Bank
MWW Group
(201) 507-9500
SIP and email: rtauberman@mww.com