Open Port Endorses SunTone(SM) Initiative to Address Service Provider Quality Of Service / Makes its IP LaunchPad(TM) Platform SunTone-Compliant

GENEVA (PROTEXT) - Open Port Technology, Inc. announced todayits support of SunTone Service Delivery ArchitectureSpecification 1.0 announced by Sun's SunTone ArchitecturalCouncil, and plans to have its IP LaunchPad platform solutionSunTone-ready by January 2000. Open Port is a founding member ofthe SunTone Architectural Council, which was created in July withthe goal to define a standard of best practices for thedeployment of highly reliable and available service providerinfrastructures to make it easier for service providers toevaluate the many offerings in the service provider marketplace. In related announcements today, AUCS and Tele Danmarkannounced their IP Fax Services, which are based on IP LaunchPad.Certification of IP LaunchPad under the SunTone program willbenefit these service providers, as well as all other customersdeployed on IP LaunchPad, such as China Telecom, Net2Phone andMCI Worldcom Inc. Currently, there is not a standard which service providercustomers can use to qualify a service provider, making theprocess difficult and time consuming. The SunTone ArchitecturalCouncil will promote minimum requirements for service providerquality of service (QoS) hardware infrastructure and operationalprocesses so that service offerings are as reliable astraditional dial-tone services with minimal downtime. The SunToneprogram is designed to help customers decide which serviceproviders best serve their needs and to help service providersdeliver the best products and services to customers. Open Portwill help Sun and 17 other industry leaders define and promoteminimum requirements for service provider QoS, and will make surethat its own products are SunTone-compliant. "The SunTone program will define service level guarantees fornetwork-based services such as e-mail, fax, e-commerce, andenterprise applications. Open Port is a founding member and keycontributor to the SunTone council because they are well known asa leader in Internet telephony messaging applications which mustdeliver these guarantees to service providers," said Tim Dwyer,Vice President Worldwide Sales Development & Marketing, NetworkService Provider division for Sun. "Open Port applauds Sun Microsystems for leading the datanetworking industry into this new era of 'telco quality'reliability and security," said Tony Dutra, co-founder and vicepresident of strategy for Open Port. "Open Port pledges to do itspart by offering highly-available software solutions for serviceproviders to bring that quality to IP-based voice and faxmessaging. We expect that IP LaunchPad will be one of the firstsolutions to attain SunTone certification when it becomesavailable, and that any service provider wanting to deploy aSunTone-certified IP messaging service will be comfortabledeploying it on our IP LaunchPad platform." Dutra is confident that Open Port's IP LaunchPad platform,introduced in March of this year, will be SunTone-certified, andwill therefore be one of the only true carrier-class messagingsolution for service providers. IP LaunchPad's carrier-classfeatures include: Built-in service level agreement mechanismsthat allow service providers to package their network capabilityinto new SLA guarantees that target specific levels of service; amodular architecture that results in massive scalability; system-wide security through a combination of LDAP and RADIUSauthentication servers, and Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) encryptionalgorithms; compliance to industry standard protocols, such asLDAP, T.37, T.38, and SNMP; and the ability to leverage popularnetwork infrastructure requirements which result in minimalstartup costs for service providers. Open Port's IP LaunchPad, an Internet services creationplatform, is designed for network service providers, ISPs,resellers, and local exchange carriers to deploy new IP servicesby easily snapping in applications. IP LaunchPad enables serviceproviders to roll out new, value-added IP services beyond fax,helping service providers to easily broaden their revenue base.The first application suite available for IP LaunchPad is IPLaunchPad Fax Suite, which lets service providers offerproductivity-enhancing applications, such as PC fax, web-basedfaxing, email-to-fax, and fax broadcasting. IP LaunchPad wasrecently awarded CTI Editor's Choice Award, and its voicesolution, IP LaunchPad Voice Suite, recently received DavidsonConsulting's 1999 Analyst's Choice award in the category of "MostInnovative Voice-centric U-mail Solution." Open Port Technology, Inc. Open Port Technology, Inc., founded in 1993, is a pioneer inthe Internet messaging industry, and is one of the top 10 IPtelephony vendors (Piper Jaffray, February 1999). Open Port hasdeployed global IP messaging services for leading Internet andtelecommunications companies, including AUCS, Guangdong PTA(China Telecom), Net2Phone and MCI WorldCom Inc. Open Port'stechnology is at the core of the UUfax service from UUNET, one ofthe world's first global, carrier-class Internet fax solutions.In addition, Microsoft Corp. holds a minority investment in andis partnering with Open Port to add IP-faxing capabilities toMicrosoft(R) Windows(R) NT Server-based products. Open Port'sheadquarters are located at 676 North St. Clair Street, Chicago,Ill. 60611. Additional information can by obtained by contactingOpen Port by telephone (+1.312.867.5000), email(info@openport.com), or via the Internet ( www.openport.com ). Sun Microsystems, Inc. Since its inception in 1982, a singular vision, "The NetworkIs The Computer(TM)," has propelled Sun Microsystems, Inc.(Nasdaq: SUNW), to its position as a leading provider of highquality hardware, software and services for establishingenterprise-wide intranets and expanding the power of theInternet. With more than $11 billion in annual revenues, Sun canbe found in more than 150 countries and on the World Wide Web athttp://sun.com . Open Port, Open Port Technology, Open Port IP LaunchPad, OpenPort IP LaunchPad Fax Suite, Open Port IP LaunchPad Voice Suite,Open Port IP LaunchPad Fax Client, and Open Port Technology andIP LaunchPad logos are registered trademarks of Open PortTechnology, Inc. All other marks are trademarks of theirrespective organizations. ots Original Text Service: Open PortTechnology, Inc. Internet: http://www.newsaktuell.de Contact:Lisa Donovan of Open Port Technology, Inc., 312-867-5022, or E-mail, ldonovan@openport.com Web site: http://sun.com Web site:http://www.openport.com

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