CommWorks Softswitch Selected Product of the Year by Communications Solutions Magazine.

Business/Technology Editors

ROLLING MEADOWS, Ill.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 7, 2002

CommWorks Corporation, a leader in building softswitch-based multi-service networks for many of the world's leading telecommunications service providers, today announced that its CommWorks(R) Softswitch has been named 2001 Product of the Year by Communications Solutions(TM) magazine. The annual awards recognize innovative products and services that further voice/data convergence in the communications industry.

"As the industry matures, we're finding more than just products and services on the market - entire solutions are being offered," said Rich Tehrani, president and group publisher, TMC(TM). "Communications Solutions magazine initiated the Product of the Year award program to help our readers sort through the vast proliferation of new products and services in the marketplace. The Product of the Year award, selected by the editors of Communications Solutions and the engineers of TMC Labs(TM), is given to those select products, such as the softswitch supplied by CommWorks, that deserve the attention of forward-thinking organizations looking for best-of-breed solutions. We are pleased to honor the Product of the Year award winners today, as they lay the groundwork for the next generation of communications solutions."

This is the second consecutive year that CommWorks has won a Product of the Year award from Communications Solutions. The Total Control(R) 2000 Multi-service Access Platform won the honor last year.

"The softswitch brings Internet-style creativity to telephony services, enabling service providers to easily, economically and efficiently offer an array of new, customizable communications services - micro-services - targeted at specific subscriber groups based on communities of interest," said Irfan Ali, president, CommWorks. "These micro-services will make it easier and less time-consuming for consumers and businesses to communicate and give them more control over their communications services."

In the CommWorks model for the Internet protocol (IP) -based multi-service networks next generation of IP-based multi-service networks, the softswitch is responsible for several critical functions. The softswitch:

- provides intelligent call handling between media gateways for a diverse array
of access media and a multiplicity of fixed and mobile end points;

- handles call processing; integrates signaling with the existing Signaling
System 7 (SS7) infrastructure; and coordinates with databases and back-end
servers to properly route calls and distribute functions to other network
elements; and

- supports critical network functions like provisioning, fault tolerance and
billing; and interfaces with application servers, feature servers and media
servers to enable a wide array of new revenue generating services.

CommWorks is among the world's leading providers of carrier-class IP telephony equipment and is number one in global market share for softswitches and IP telephony applications servers, according to Synergy Research Group, Inc. (Worldwide Voice over IP Equipment Market Share Report, November 2001)

About CommWorks

CommWorks, a 3Com (NASDAQ: COMS) company, supplies network service providers around the world with access infrastructures and IP services platforms that open new business opportunities and help them establish unique positions in a competitive marketplace. With flexible multi-service hardware platforms and modular software components, the comprehensive CommWorks architecture makes it possible for service providers to integrate their existing infrastructures with innovative technologies to deliver an array of next-generation IP-based enhanced services to their customers. For further information, visit www.commworks.com.

About 3Com Corporation

3Com is the global leader in functionally-rich, easy-to-use networking products that connect businesses to their employees, customers and suppliers -- anytime, anywhere. 3Com is also a leader in Internet protocol (IP) service platforms and access infrastructure for the network service provider market. In 1979, the company was founded by one of the inventors of Ethernet technology on which virtually all local area networks are based. Since then, 3Com has sold more than 340,000,000 Ethernet connections. 3Com employs approximately 6,000 people in locations worldwide and has headquarters in Santa Clara, California. For further information, please visit www.3com.com, or the press site www.3com.com/pressbox.

3Com, CommWorks and Total Control are registered trademarks and the CommWorks logo is a trademark of 3Com Corporation.