Transition Networks Unveils CONVERGE™ EMS

A Powerful Element Management System for Superior Service Provisioning and Monitoring of Next-Generation Carrier Ethernet 2.0 Services

Minneapolis, MN — November 6, 2012 — Transition Networks Inc., the fiber access technology expert, a wholly owned subsidiary of Communications Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ-GM: JCS), today announced the release of its highly anticipated Converge™ Element and Service Management System. CONVERGE™ is an intelligent, highly-scalable, Carrier Grade solution that simplifies management and service provisioning of Transition’s Carrier Ethernet products. Converge™ EMS provides powerful performance monitoring features that help service providers monitor services and meet even the most complex SLAs. Service Providers will choose Converge™ to help improve customer satisfaction by enabling the carriers to easily monitor and troubleshoot issues, increase revenue and grow services, while reducing the complexity and configuration of deploying and managing their networks.

Amartus Partnership
Transition Networks has partnered with Amartus, a company with deep Network Management and OSS domain expertise, to co-develop a comprehensive Carrier Grade Service Aware Management System. Powered by the Amartus Chameleon OS™ platform, the Converge™ EMS is a standards-based, fully integrated service and resource manager for MEF CE 2.0 services. It supports the full service life cycle including design, deployment and operation of end-to-end CE 2.0 services and devices. Its powerful, detailed service design capabilities enable Service Providers to quickly build and maintain a catalog of differentiated service offerings. These services and devices are provisioned using an advanced multi-stage provisioning engine, which supports rapid turn-up and zero-touch provisioning. Its comprehensive inventory provides a complete up to date view of all services and resources and the mapping between the two.

“In response to the need of service providers to rapidly deliver tailored Ethernet services to their customers, Transition Networks is introducing a new network management solution, Converge™ EMS, which leverages the advanced CE 2.0 features of Transition Networks’ NIDS and access switches” said Kevin Faulds, Director of Product Management at Transition Networks. “Converge™ EMS helps service providers better compete by offering differentiated services and reducing OpEx through proactive problem identification, while accelerating revenve recognition by meeting customer SLA requirements, and improving customer satisaction.”

“Converge™ EMS delivers a comprehensive top-down, service-centric experience well beyond that offered by traditional Fault, Configuration, Accounting, Performance and Security (FCAPS) based Element Management Systems (EMS). Its key focus is to provide Service Providers with rapid deployment and operation of services across Transition Networks equipment” said Michael Kearns, Chief Executive Officer at Amartus.

Key Product Features
Converge™ EMS features a consolidated network-wide inventory view and advanced scheduling capability, which enables hassle-free, bulk software upgrades, backups and restores on a large number of devices during a maintenance window. The Operational, Administrative and Maintenance (OAM) fault and performance monitoring dashboards in Converge™ EMS show a customizable, real-time view of the network and key performance indicators (KPI) based on IEEE 802.1ag and ITU-T .1731 measurements. Its advanced filtering, sorting and reporting capabilities make monitoring and troubleshooting very easy thereby reducing service outages and improving service availability.

This Carrier Grade solution has an integrated Service Manager that enables a granular service design and quick and efficient end-to-end service provisioning thereby accelerating the time to revenue. Its advanced pre-provisioning and zero-touch provisioning capabilities will enable carriers to quickly turn up new devices and services, reducing time-consuming administrative responsibilities, truck-rolls and operational costs. It supports multiple standards-based northbound interfaces, which allow easy integration with higher level OSS/NMS and flow through service provisioning, reducing a carrier’s costs of integration with existing management solutions. Converge™ was built with carriers in mind and will accelerate the time-to-market for new service delivery, improved scalability for service turn-ups, and simplified operational administration through easy fault and performance management.

Product Availability
Please contact Transition Networks at (800) 526-9267 or +1-952-941-7600 for pricing and more information on CONVERGE™ EMS. Or visit www.transition.com/EMS for the latest product information, including datasheets and manuals.

About Transition Networks Carrier-Grade Products
Transition Networks has achieved international recognition as a major manufacturer of high quality access and backhaul equipment for data communications and telecommunications applications. Transition Networks has been a long-time active member of the MEF and a proponent for the proliferation of Ethernet technology in Carrier access networks. Transition Networks has previously achieved Carrier Ethernet Generation 1.0 certification (MEF 9, 14, and 21), and the S3280 and S3280-TST are Carrier Ethernet 2.0-compliant.

About Transition Networks Inc.
Transition Networks Inc. is a top manufacturer of high quality access and backhaul equipment for data communications and telecommunications applications. 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 (NASDAQ-GM: JCS).

Statements regarding the Company’s anticipated performance in 2012 are forward-looking 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.