Accord Networks Executive Roni Even Addresses Industry-Shaping International H.323 Conference.

Business Editors

ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 9, 2000

Accord's VP of Strategic Product Direction Highlights Performance and Scalability as Key Attributes to Solve H.323 Multimedia Communications

Challenges

In recognition of Accord Network's (Nasdaq:ACCD) leadership in conferencing over the public and private Internet, Roni Even, vice president of strategic product direction at Accord, will be a key speaker at the Implementing H.323 Conference and Exhibition in Paris, beginning tomorrow, October 10, 2000 and running through October 12.

The conference brings together eminent specialists in H.323 technology from standards bodies, the scientific community and equipment manufacturers, to address challenges surrounding real-world H.323 implementations, including complexity and scalability. An acknowledged international expert on Rich Media Communications, including IP voice, video and data, Roni Even is a regular contributor to standards bodies and international forums on behalf of Accord Networks, the leading manufacturer of visual and voice networking products and developers of the V2IPERA family - a product line of network switches, conference bridges, gateways and management systems - that empower Rich Media Communications over IP, ATM and ISDN networks.

Even's presentation will explain the role of the Multipoint Control Unit (MCU) and how its design is critical to providing effective H.323 multimedia services. "Using H.323 for IP voice and visual communications places severe performance demands on the MCU and gateways," said Even.

"These demands are further exacerbated by the necessity to carry out real-time Multi-way Transcoding, the automatic transcoding of network differences and of conferencing end-point capabilities, including line rate, frame rate, audio and video algorithms, to ensure a high level of successful visual communications," he said.

In his presentation Even; whose academic background, together with his extensive technical experience, make him a recognized authority on the technology issues surrounding successful H.323 implementation; will describe MCU design strategies that can address these issues. "Telco-grade class technology and infrastructure, coupled with a high-performance backbone, are the answer," explains Even. These techniques are used in Accord's industry-leading MCUs, the MGC-100(TM) and MGC-50(TM), which additionally employ media processors (MPs) to provide the performance necessary to handle audio and video switching and mixing, provide Continuous Presence, and deliver full transcoding of both audio and video, as well as gateway functionality.

Even joined Accord(R) in 1993. He has been closely involved with numerous research and development projects, and was part of the team that designed and developed Accord's MCUs. Prior to his employment at Accord, Even had 15 years of experience in the high-tech industry, following graduation from Tel Aviv University with an MBA in business administration, and a BSc in Computer and Electronic Engineering.

The Implementing H.323 Conference and Exhibition in Paris takes place at La Defense from 10-13 October. Further information is available from the conference website at www.upperside.fr/h3232000/h323.htm.

About Accord Networks

Accord Networks is the leading manufacturer of visual and voice networking products and developers of the V2IPERA family - a product line of network switches, conference bridges, gateways and management systems - that empower Rich Media Communications over IP, ATM and ISDN networks. Accord's V2IPERA family makes it easy for two or more people to participate in Rich Media Communication sessions without having to know the technical characteristics of their network or their video- or voice-enabled system. These systems today could be an Internet telephone, regular telephone, video-PC or videoconferencing system. When integrated into a network solution, Accord's products are uniquely positioned to solve many problems faced by network designers today such as dealing with multiple speeds and feeds, multiple protocols, multiple networks and QoS issues. All of Accord's solutions are managed and controlled under a common management suite. Accord's solutions are used both by end users and by service providers who are offering outsourced solutions to end users. Service providers offering these services include RBOCs, CLECs, ISPs and ASPs.

Accord is a registered trademark and MGC-100, MGC-50, MGC WebCommander, V2IPERA and V2GC-20 are trademarks of Accord Networks.

Certain statements in this press release, particularly those anticipating future financial performance, business prospects, growth and operating strategies, sources of revenue and similar matters constitute `forward-looking statements' within the meaning of federal securities laws. Future events and actual results, financial or otherwise, could differ materially from those expressed in or implied by the forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause future events or actual results to differ materially include those risks and uncertainties identified from time to time in the company's reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.