Cisco Systems and iBasis Join Forces To Deliver IP-Based, Unified Communications Solution.

Business and Technology Editors

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 3, 2000

iBasis to Host Cisco uOne Application for Service Providers EffectNet to Service Initial Customer Deployments Beginning Q2 2000

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ: CSCO) and iBasis (NASDAQ: IBAS) today announced that they are joining forces to deliver carrier-class, IP-based, Unified Communications services. The Cisco Unified Communications (UC) solution uses the open Internet Protocol (IP) standard to unify communications methods that were previously disjointed -- e-mail, fax machines, voice mail systems, cellular phones, and the Web. The Cisco Open Network Exchange (uOne) application, a pivotal component of Cisco's overall UC solution, enables users to initiate and return voice calls and send and receive faxes, e-mail, and voice messages -- independent of location, time or device. iBasis, the leader in advanced Internet-based communications, will deploy the uOne application on its global IP network and make UC services available to service providers worldwide. EffectNet, a rapidly growing application service provider and Cisco Powered Network partner will be the first iBasis partner to provide the Cisco uOne solution to its customers. With customer orders for 50,000 uOne mailboxes, initial deployments are expected to begin in the second quarter of 2000.

Cisco Systems: Expanding the Power of Communications

&uot;As the Internet reshapes the global telecommunications industry, iBasis and EffectNet understand that unified communications will be a key factor in building the New World of communications,&uot; said Don Listwin, executive vice president, Cisco Systems. &uot;Today's announcement brings iBasis and EffectNet together with an ecosystem of partners to expand and simplify Internet communications using the Cisco uOne application.&uot;

Offering all the benefits of a truly converged solution, uOne provides voice mail over IP, fax mail over IP, and e-mail. Other features include:

-- Voice Messaging: Call answer on busy/no answer, full-featured voice messaging, PC and telephone access, Web-based system administration

-- Total Messaging: User administration via Web, inbound fax, fax redirect/outbound fax, text-to-speech (fax headers, e-mail)

-- Notification Services: Subscriber notification indicates new incoming messages

-- Call Services: Outbound call management features for calling services, personal access reach, and outbound dialing from voice messaging platform or from within a voice message

Unlike unified messaging solutions built on a voice messaging industry heritage, the Cisco UC solution is built on Internet standards and platforms. Cisco integrates the best features of the voice network (through Cisco gateways to time-division multiplexing) with the flexibility and reliability of the most established data application in the Internet -- e-mail. These voice mail and email benefits are combined using the fundamental open protocols of the Internet -- IP, Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP), Multipurpose Internet Mail Extension (MIME), Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP), and Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP).

The uOne platform is further enhanced by the Cisco ecosystem, which includes best-of-breed technology and service providers that extend and customize Cisco solutions. Current ecosystem providers deliver message store, directory, and text-to-speech capabilities that complement uOne.

iBasis: Hosting Global Internet-Based Communication Solutions

iBasis has built the world's first global IP network that guarantees toll quality voice and fax service. Toll quality is the telecommunications industry term for the highest level of service quality. iBasis is also the only Internet-based communications provider to guarantee service quality with the industry's first service level agreement for Voice-over-Internet-Protocol (VoIP).

In December 1999 iBasis announced Internet Telephony Hosting(TM) to enable other service providers to quickly offer VoIP services. With today's announcement, iBasis is broadening Internet Telephony Hosting to include UC solutions. With iBasis Internet Telephony Hosting, service providers have access to comprehensive, customizable communications solutions that enable them to quickly begin offering voice, fax, prepaid calling, and other value-added VoIP services, including UC. Internet Telephony Hosting offers service providers access to the powerful iBasis global telephony infrastructure, including the use of iBasis' VoIP equipment located in the company's Internet central offices, high-quality Internet backbone, Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) termination, and the Operational Support Systems (OSS) necessary for traffic management, reporting, and customer billing.

&uot;We realized from the start that Internet telephony's greatest potential was its ability to deliver advanced communications services to a variety of devices, with one global network,&uot; said Ofer Gneezy, president and CEO of iBasis. &uot;Our strategic relationship with Cisco has enabled us to dramatically accelerate the delivery of advanced, Internet-based communications services.&uot;

The iBasis-Cisco UC solution already has attracted significant customer interest. Deployments are expected to begin in the second quarter of this year. By hosting UC, iBasis enables service providers to provide new higher-margin services, reduce churn, and increase air time.

iBasis is expanding its global network, already the world's largest international Cisco Powered Network for Internet telephony, by deploying new points of presence, operational support services and Cisco hardware and software to deliver uOne advanced capabilities to service providers worldwide.

&uot;With its unmatched global network, unique ability to provide service to tier-one carriers, to guarantee that quality with the industry's first service level agreement for VoIP, and host advanced services on its network, iBasis is the clear choice to be the first Internet communications provider to offer Unified Communications with us,&uot; said Bill Wolfe, general manager/senior director, Cisco Unified Communications Software Business Unit.

EffectNet: Service Provider For Initial Deployments

Service delivery and customer support for initial deployments will be provided by EffectNet, a rapidly growing applications service provider based in Phoenix, Arizona.

EffectNet will provide support for intial deployments with its world-class customer contact center. The EffectNet state-of-the-art support solution employs Cisco's ICM Software technology, integrated with EffectNet's broad range of open system technologies and service offerings into a comprehensive, customer care environment.

&uot;We are very pleased to be partnering with industry leaders like Cisco and iBasis on the initial deployments of Unified Communications for our customers,&uot; said Taj Reneau, CEO of EffectNet. &uot;With our service delivery expertise and world-class customer contact center, EffectNet offers the expert 24X7 customer care necessary to ensure that the nearly universal access provided by these solutions remains available at all times.&uot;

Rapidly Growing Demand for Unified Communications

Today more than one billion personal messages arrive daily through mailboxes, answering machines, and PCs in the United States alone. Around the world, there has been explosive growth in the use of mobile communications devices such as pagers, cellular phones, and Web-enabled Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) and growing demand for technologies that enable the convergence of proliferating message types. According to research by Ovum Ltd., a leading industry analyst firm, there will be 170 million unified messaging subscribers by 2006.

About Cisco Systems

Cisco Systems, Inc. is the worldwide leader in networking for the Internet. News and information are available at the Cisco Press Room at www.cisco.com/warp/public/146/.

About iBasis

Founded in 1996, iBasis is the leader in advanced Internet-based communications. iBasis uniquely combines a superior technology platform, premium Internet bandwidth and proprietary Assured Quality Routing(TM) (AQR) software to deliver advanced, Internet-based communications services to tier one carriers and other service providers. The iBasis Network(TM), a global, high-capacity Internet communications network, is the world's largest international Cisco Powered Network for Internet Telephony. The company can be reached at its worldwide headquarters in Burlington, Mass. at [phone] or on the Internet at www.ibasis.net.

iBasis has a long-standing strategic relationship with Cisco, as an alliance partner, an ecosystem partner, and one of only 21 Cisco service provider global accounts.

Except for historical information, all of the expectations, projections and assumptions contained in the foregoing press release constitute forward-looking statements under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and involve risks and uncertainties. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from such forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, the considerations described as &uot;Risk Factors&uot; in iBasis' prospectus dated Nov. 9, 1999, and the company's other SEC filings.

About EffectNet

EffectNet, founded in 1998, is a privately held communications service provider that offers private-label Internet and telecommunications products and services, including carrier-class UC and a growing line of value-added services. EffectNet also provides private label in-house customer service, billing and technical support through its state-of-the-art customer contact center. EffectNet is headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona and can be reached at [phone] or on the Internet at www.effectnet.com.

Note to Editors: Copyright (c) 2000 Cisco Systems, Inc. All right reserved. Cisco, Cisco IOS, Cisco Systems, and the Cisco Systems logo are registered trademarks of Cisco Systems, Inc. or its affiliates in the U.S and certain other countries. iBasis, iBasis Internet Telephony Hosting, The iBasis Network and Assured Quality Routing are registered trademarks of iBasis, Inc. All other trademarks mentioned in this document are the property of their respective owners. The use of the word partner does not imply a partnership relationship between Cisco and any of its resellers. (9912R)