Cisco Announces the Industry's First Complete Solution for Automating the End-to-End DSL Flow-Through Provisioning Process.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 12, 2000

The Cisco Order-to-Service Solution Enables Service Providers

Deploying End-to-end Cisco DSL Networks to Drastically Reduce the

Waiting Period for Service From Several Weeks to a Few Days

Cisco Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq:CSCO), the worldwide leader in networking for the Internet, today announced the Cisco Order-to-Service solution for service providers deploying end-to-end Cisco DSL networks. The solution is the industry's first complete system for automating the lengthy and manual end-to-end DSL flow-through provisioning process, which enables service providers to cut the waiting period for service turn-up from several weeks to a few days.

Also as part of today's announcement, Cisco introduced the Cisco Network Order Manager product, which automates the processes of end-to-end network connections and works with other Cisco Order-to-Service elements from Cisco New World Ecosystem companies that include BroadJump, Inc., Portal Software, Inc. (Nasdaq:PRSF), Quintessent(TM) Communications, Inc. and Turnstone Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq:TSTN). The Cisco Order-to-Service solution is a key part of the Cisco GlobalDSL strategy, which is designed to overcome barriers to DSL deployment and make DSL available to any user, any place with any service.

"The Cisco Order-to-Service solution enables service providers deploying end-to-end DSL networks to compete more effectively in the broadband market by improving operational efficiencies, which enables them to gain new customers faster, grow revenue and increase customer satisfaction," said Enzo Signore, Director of Marketing for the Cisco DSL Business Unit. "In addition, service providers will spend much less time on the provisioning process and will be freed up to focus more on meeting the specific needs of their DSL customers and start deploying DSL on a mass-market scale."

The Cisco Order-to-Service solution is a flow-through system that automates provisioning across each element of the service provider's Cisco end-to-end network involving customer premise equipment (CPE), which includes both Cisco and third-party CPE, IP DSL switches, aggregators and core transport switches. It enables service providers to rapidly scale services and more aggressively capture new customers in the booming broadband market. With this solution, service providers will be able to increase revenues and cut operating costs by eliminating most truck rolls and manual systems and processes associated with provisioning.

"It's a well-known fact in the industry that provisioning has been one of the major roadblocks that prevents service providers from efficiently and quickly starting DSL service for their customers," said Ron Westfall, Senior Analyst of Current Analysis, a leading competitive intelligence firm. "Cisco Order-to-Service is the type of solution that is needed today because it solves the entire DSL provisioning process by automating the many manual provisioning systems that service providers have to use. This aspect is key to reducing the process from many weeks to only a few days -- a definite necessity for enabling the service provider to capitalize on the booming DSL market opportunity."

The Cisco Order-to-Service solution automates the four flow-through DSL provisioning steps through the integration and scalability of the Cisco Network Order Manager and Cisco New World Ecosystem company products, providing a simple work-order-based interface. The following briefly describes how the products work together to automate the four steps.

1)  DSL order placement and loop qualification -- verifies whether the
    DSL loop can be used before starting service for a new customer,
    using Quintessent's DSLXchange(TM) for order pre-qualification and
    Turnstone's Copper CrossConnect(R) CX100 and CrossWorks(TM) Back
    Office Automation Software products for physical loop
    qualification;

2)  Turn-up of the DSL circuit -- establishes connection between the
    CPE and content provider, using the Cisco Network Order Manager
    product;

3)  Subscriber PC configuration and start of service -- ensures that
    the customer's PC meets specification requirements of the DSL CPE
    and the Internet protocol (IP) service, using BroadJump's Virtual
    Truck(TM) Installer; and

4)  Database updating and billing -- collects information about the
    customer from the Cisco Order-to-Service products and starts the
    billing process, using Portal's Infranet product.

"Provisioning is not a pretty word for service providers today," said Deb Milke of Trelliage, a leading analyst firm. "It's one of the main reasons why they can't deploy service for new customers as quickly as possible and meet the huge and growing demand for DSL. The Cisco Order-to-Service solution gets right to the heart of the problem by automating the numerous manual systems that bog down the process. This type of solution will be greatly welcomed in the market and will help to ease the nightmare that many service providers have to face with provisioning and reduce the current wait time from several weeks to a few days."

Pricing and Product Availability

Service providers can begin deploying the Cisco Order-to-Service solution in the fourth quarter of 2000. The list price for the Cisco Order-to-Service solution will be dependent on the specific service provider's network configuration. Customers can call Cisco to order the Cisco Network Order Manager product and the individual Cisco New World Ecosystem companies for the other elements of the Cisco Order-to-Service solution.

Cisco Systems

Cisco Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq:CSCO) is the worldwide leader in networking for the Internet. News and information are available at http://www.cisco.com.

Note to Editors: Cisco, Cisco Systems, and the Cisco Systems logo are registered trademarks of Cisco Systems, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and certain other countries. All other trademarks mentioned in this document are the property of their respective owners.

     Participating Cisco New World Ecosystem Partners Show Support
                for the Cisco Order-to Service Solution


BroadJump, Inc.
Kip McClanahan
President and CEO

      "BroadJump is focused on making broadband deployment easy and
cost-effective for all service providers. Through BroadJump's Virtual
Truck, as part of the Cisco Order-to-Service DSL provisioning
solution, we will reduce the PC configuration bottlenecks that inhibit
rapid customer acquisition of broadband, enabling DSL service
providers to gain a competitive advantage."

Portal Software
Steve Sommer
Vice President Business Development and Marketing

      "The time-consuming process of provisioning a DSL circuit is
currently the greatest factor limiting the growth of the DSL market.
Eliminating delays in this delivery cycle is of tremendous value to
the entire DSL industry, and Portal is pleased to be working with
Cisco, Quintessent, Turnstone and BroadJump to make this happen. The
dozens of DSL service providers, who currently use Portal Software,
and their customers, can benefit from this joint initiative by
realizing faster service provisioning and therefore more rapid
subscriber growth."

Quintessent Communications, Inc.
Brian A. Vincent
Chairman, President and CEO

      "DSL provisioning has traditionally been a low-volume, high-cost
proposition full of roadblocks. Quintessent shares the Cisco vision to
eliminate the provisioning roadblocks and to substantially reduce the
high levels of time, money and other resources service providers must
currently invest to provision services. The Cisco Order-to-Service
solution is designed to enable cost-effective deployment of millions
of lines of DSL annually."

Turnstone Systems, Inc.
Eric Andrews
Vice President of Marketing

      "As part of the Cisco Order-to-Service solution, Turnstone has
incorporated our loop-management capabilities with the key back-office
functions required for DSL deployment. The result is a fully automated
solution whereby key operational tasks, such as order entry and
billing, are linked to vital engineering tasks, such as loop
provisioning and qualification. Through this automation, service
providers throughout the globe can dramatically improve the efficiency
of DSL service delivery."