Bellcore opens doors to bar code label and equipment test laboratory.

MORRISTOWN, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 10, 1997--

New Testing Service Will Enable Companies to Verify that Bar Code

Labels and Equipment Meet Industry Specifications

Bellcore, a world leader in the development and deployment of mission-critical communications software, today announced the opening of a Bar Code Label and Equipment Test Laboratory in its Software Systems Center.

For companies in any industry who need to determine whether their bar codes or bar code equipment meet a specific industry standard or specification, Bellcore's laboratory will provide a variety of testing and certification services.

Bar code labels are now required on many different types of products, to reduce inventory costs and improve service to customers. There are various types of bar code symbologies, each with its own particular pattern of bars designed to be scanned and read into computer memory as identification for the object it labels.

New bar code symbologies gaining popularity use two-dimensional codes. These special rectangular codes (referred to as 2-D symbologies) can store considerably more information than a standard bar code. As more companies convert to 2-D symbologies, new bar code equipment (such as printers, scanners, verifiers, and hand-held terminals) will be required. Bellcore's lab offers testing and analysis services for the current standard bar code symbologies and will soon offer these services for the new 2-D symbologies.

"As industries get more standardized, it will become increasingly necessary for companies that manufacture bar code products to pre-certify labels and equipment prior to shipping to customers," said Robert Fox, senior engineer for Bellcore's Language Standards organization. "It will also become necessary for the companies that purchase the labels and equipment to verify that these products conform to the standards required within their industry. Companies that do not comply can face large fines, and even the substantial loss of business."

Various types of testing in the lab will determine compliance with industry specifications. Bellcore tests for compliance with international standards, set by the International Standards Organization (ISO) an international organization composed of national standards bodies from over 75 countries, national specifications set by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) a non-governmental organization responsible for the development of voluntary manufacturing standards, and their own guidelines as defined by Bellcore's Generic Requirements for COMMON LANGUAGE(R) Bar Code Labels (Bellcore document # TR-STS-000383).

According to Fox, Bellcore recognized an increasing need across all industries for expert, high-quality label and equipment verification. "More and more vendors require the services of automatic identification experts. Because of Bellcore's extensive knowledge and experience testing complex telecommunications industry systems and equipment, we feel we have a depth and breadth of knowledge across industries that is unique. By opening the doors to our lab, we are now able to offer our considerable consulting expertise and services to anyone who is using any standard bar code."

Bellcore's Language Standards Department, part of the Software Systems Center, will manage operation of the laboratory, as well as sales and marketing of the testing services. Fox and Robert McQuade, senior bar code engineer, will be heading the operational and marketing teams. Fox and McQuade have over 22 years of combined experience in the bar code and automatic identification industry.

Bellcore, headquartered in Morristown, is a leading provider of communications software, engineering, and consulting services based on world-class research. Bellcore creates business solutions that make information technology work for telecommunications carriers, businesses and governments worldwide. Bellcore has sales offices throughout the U.S., as well as international offices in Europe, Central and South America, and Asia Pacific. On Nov. 21, 1996, Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC) announced that it has agreed to purchase Bellcore once requisite approvals have been obtained.

More information about the Bar Code Label and Equipment Laboratory and other Bellcore solutions and services is available at Bellcore's Web site, http:///www.bellcore.com, or by calling 1-800-521-CORE. -0- COMMON LANGUAGE is a registered trademark of Bellcore.

CONTACT: Bellcore

Mara D. Gordon, 908/699-2241

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