Company Contact:
Bill Schultz
Transition Networks
(952) 996-1573 bills@transition.com
Editorial Contact:
Kim Miller
KLM Public Relations Inc.
(617) 610-0583 klmcomm@hotmail.com
Transition Networks Releases Industrial Hardened Portfolio of Media Converters and Switches
One of the Largest Unmanaged Switch Offerings in the Industry
Minneapolis, MN — April 1, 2005 — The conversion technology expert, Transition
Networks Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Communications Systems, Inc., today announced the release of its complete line of hardened media converters and switches designed for industrial ethernet applications. These ruggedized devices are designed to reliably operate in harsh networking environments found on factory floors, outdoor enclosures or other hazardous environments (Class 1/Div. 2). Offered in multiple configurations and connector options, they easily represent one of the largest unmanaged switch offerings in the industry and are backed by an unsurpassed lifetime warranty.
“As Ethernet makes the migration from office LANs to the factory floor, Transition is pleased to offer our new hardened Industrial line of products as a compliment to our already extensive portfolio of industry leading, office-grade conversion products ,” said
Bill Schultz, vice president of marketing for Transition Networks. “Extending our industry leading lifetime warranty should give customers the confidence to make Transition
Industrial solutions their product of choice.
”
Product Features
The 10/100 copper ethernet ports provide full 10/100Base-TX capability and support
Auto-Negotiation and AutoCross (automatic MDI/MDI-X) while the fiber ports provide full
100Base-FX capability. The media converter model additionally offers Link Pass
Through, which provides the ability to “pass through” the loss of Rx signal on one of the media ports to the Tx signal of the other media port. In addition, certain models incorporate Redundant Ring technology, which helps increase reliability and system uptime in an industrial automation network by protecting critical communication needs utilizing redundant fiber links with switching recovery times of less than 300ms.
All models offer redundant 12-48VDC power inputs with auto-sensing capability. In addition, dry contact relays are offered to provide alarming in the event of a port link failure or power supply failure. The rugged metal enclosure has an IP30 rating and comes standard with integrated DIN-rail mounting. All devices are UL safety rated and
UL approved for use in Class I, Division 2 hazardous locations.

Transition Networks Releases Industrial Hardened Portfolio of 2-2-2-2
Media Converters and Switches
Product Configuration and Availability
Transition’s new Industrial media converters and switches are available immediately.
They are offered in the following configurations, with both multimode and singlemode fiber port options:

(1) 10/100Base-TX RJ-45 port and (1) 100Base-FX fiber optic port

(3) 10/100Base-TX RJ-45 ports and (2) 100Base-FX fiber optic ports with redundant fiber ring technology

(4) 10/100Base-TX RJ-45 ports and (1) 100Base-FX fiber optic port

(6) 10/100Base-TX RJ-45 ports and (2) 100Base-FX fiber optic ports

(7) 10/100Base-TX RJ-45 ports and (1) 100Base-FX fiber optic port
Two operating temperature ranges are available to offer additional flexibility for matching a customer ’s networking environment: 0 
C to +60

C or –40 
C to +75

C.
See the following link for additional information: http://www.transition.com/TransitionNetworks/Products2/Static/Industrial.aspx
. To coincide with this release, Transition is also offering their new Industrial Solutions CD.
This free CD is a comprehensive overview of the products and applications unique to
Industrial networking and includes a white paper, data sheets, manuals and visio stencils.
Please contact Transition Networks at (800) 526-9267 or www.transition.com for additional information on their complete line of media conversion products or to request a copy of their new Industrial Solutions CD.
About Transition Networks Products
Transition Networks’ conversion products are known for their ruggedness and reliability.
They have a 99.4 percent customer acceptance rating, meaning that approximately one in 1,000 experience failure in the field. All Transition products carry a lifetime warranty.
About Transition Networks Inc.
Transition Networks Inc. offers networking connectivity solutions that make the conversion between disparate media types possible. The company designs and markets these media conversion technologies across a broad spectrum of networking protocols including Ethernet, Fast Ethernet, ATM, Gigabit Ethernet, T1/E1, DS3 and more. The company works alongside leading networking vendors
— Nortel Networks, Hewlett
Packard, 3COM, Cisco, Enterasys, Extreme, Foundry, Avaya and others — to provide conversion technology solutions that offer the necessary adaptations without affecting the performance, nature or appearance of the network to the users or the network devices. Based in Minneapolis, Transition Networks distributes hardware-based connectivity solutions exclusively through a network of resellers in 50 countries, including Ingram Micro and Tech Data. Transition Networks is a wholly owned subsidiary of Communications Systems, Inc.
, a publicly traded company (AMEX: JCS).
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Statements regarding the Company's anticipated performance in 2005 are forwardlooking and involve risks and uncertainties, including but not limited to: competitive products and other factors discussed from time to time in the Company's filings with the
Securities and Exchange Commission.