News & Events
Intersil’s PRISM WLAN Chip Set and SpectraLink’s VoIP Technology Improves Communications at One of London’s Major Hospitals

-- Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospital is first in the UK to use SpectraLink’s VoIP NetLink System~-- Wireless telephone system frees up nursing time and improves patient care

IRVINE, CA, January 17, 2001 – Intersil (NASDAQ: ISIL), the world’s leading developer of silicon technology for Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs), announced today that SpectraLink (NASDAQ: SLNK), the leading manufacturer and supplier of workplace wireless voice systems, is employing Intersil’s PRISM wireless LAN technology as part of a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) wireless telephone system in Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospital, one of the UK’s best known hospitals.

Recently installed at Guy’s and St Thomas’ Intensive Care Unit (ICU), the SpectraLink’s NetLink Wireless Telephone System™ (NetLink WTS) allows nurses to communicate with doctors, hospital staff and patients’ relatives instantly using mobile handsets wherever they are and without leaving the patient’s bedside. An IP-based telephony product, NetLink WTS allows hospital staff to make and receive telephone calls over a shared wireless infrastructure. The wireless system also links into the main hospital telephone system giving users full access to both internal and external calls while mobile.

The hospital already has a conventional fixed telephone and paging system. However, research showed that over 80 percent of all telephone calls were being paged to mobile nursing staff that then had to find a telephone to respond. In 20 percent of cases, the nurses could not leave their patients to take the paged calls.

“This is a great example of how PRISM technology can be easily adapted for innovative wireless applications,” said Larry Ciaccia, vice president and general manager of Intersil’s Wireless Networking Business. “Wireless VoIP systems have many advantages over conventional telephones, paging or cellular phones and Spectralink has created a great product utilizing wireless voice technology as the cornerstone of a integrated, mobile voice and data network.”

To improve efficiency, the hospital installed an integrated wireless VoIP communication system using SpectraLink's NetLink WTS with wireless telephones, linked to an Alvarion 802.11 wireless LAN system with access points throughout the ICU. This gave the staff instant internal and external communications wherever they are within the ICU. Both the SpectraLink and Alvarion products incorporate Intersil’s PRISM wireless chip sets to provide high-speed voice and data communication over the wireless network to IEEE 802.11 standards.

“Wireless VoIP technology is rapidly revolutionizing mobile communications in applications such as hospitals, corporate offices, factories and schools where mobile staff need immediate voice communications,” said Mike Cronin, president of SpectraLink International. “ Intersil’s PRISM chip set and reference designs allowed us to develop our wireless products quickly and effectively in the shortest possible time helping us to achieve a leading position in this fast growing market.”

SpectraLink’s NetLink WTS converts voice signals to VoIP and transmits it as data over the Alvarion wireless LAN network via the wireless access points. The data is converted back to voice signals at the mobile handsets that effectively operate as cordless telephones. Voice calls are prioritized so that they have priority over data traffic to ensure excellent speech quality. Computer data can also be transmitted wirelessly via the same access points to PCs and other mobile computing devices equipped with IEEE 802.11 network cards.

“By giving nurses wireless telephones, we can eliminate the delays which are inherent in paging systems with their call waiting delays. The system can save both time and money for the caller because unlike mobile phones, there are no call costs – NetLink Wireless Telephones use the free unlicensed 2.4 GHz frequency band,” added Cronin.

The NetLink WTS operates at low power levels to avoid interference with other ICU equipment. It was supplied and installed by Wireless-CNP, a SpectraLink reseller and leading UK distributor of wireless voice and data systems.

The Global Wireless Market Embraces PRISM WLAN Technology
“Intersil is the number one manufacturer of wireless LAN chipsets and has been a driving force behind the success of WLANs,” said a May 2001 WLAN report from Cahners In-Stat Group. Since introducing the PRISM WLAN chip set in 1996, industry-leading companies including Actiontec, Alcatel, ASUS, Casio, Cisco, Compaq, 3Com, Dell, D-Link, GemTek, Hewlett Packard, IBM, Intel, Legend, Linksys, Nokia, Nortel, Panasonic, Quanta, Samsung, Sharp, Siemens, SOHOware, Sony, SpectraLink, Symbol, Z-Com and Zoom have incorporated PRISM chips in WLAN product designs. PRISM technology is designed to comply with the IEEE’s 802.11 global standard, and Intersil is a founding sponsor of the Wireless Ethernet Compatibility Alliance (WECA), whose Wi-Fi brand is a mark of compatibility for 802.11-based systems.

About SpectraLink
SpectraLink Corporation has helped thousands of commercial enterprises improve productivity and customer service as the leading manufacturer and provider of wireless telephone systems for the workplace. Headquartered in Boulder, Colo., SpectraLink has more installed systems and accumulated more experience and application knowledge than any other provider. SpectraLink distributes its products through industry-leading service, equipment and application providers, cultivating a vast customer base among industries including retail, education, healthcare, manufacturing, finance, information systems and telecommunications. For more information visit the company’s Internet homepage at www.spectralink.com. About Intersil
Intersil is a global leader in designing innovative wireless networking and high performance analog solutions that enable wireless access to video, data and voice in homes, offices and public places. Creating advanced power management products, Intersil provides reliable solutions for file servers, portable information appliances and over half of all computer microprocessors manufactured today. With a rich high performance analog and mixed signal portfolio, Intersil brings added value in providing complete silicon, software and reference design solutions to new products that bring portable connectivity to people wherever they live, work or travel. Headquartered in Irvine, California, Intersil has offices in cities throughout the US, Europe and Asia. For more information about Intersil or to find out how to become a member of our winning team, visit the company's Web site and career page at www.intersil.com.

This press release contains information relating to certain projections and business trends concerning the WLAN market that are forward-looking statements as defined in Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Such forward-looking statements are based upon management’s current expectations, estimates, beliefs, assumptions, and projections about our business and industry. Words such as "anticipates," "expects," "intends," "plans," "believes," "seeks," "estimates," "may," "will" and variations of these words or similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. In addition, any statements that refer to expectations, projections or other characterizations of future events or circumstances, including any underlying assumptions, are forward-looking statements. Furthermore, any forward-looking statements and projections made by others in this press release are not adopted by Intersil Corporation (“Intersil”) and Intersil is not responsible for the forward-looking statements and projections of others. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict. Therefore, our actual results could differ materially and adversely from those expressed in any forward-looking statements as a result of various risk factors. Important risk factors that may cause such material differences for Intersil in connection with WLAN market include, but are not limited to: the rate at which consumers adopt small handheld Internet appliances and portable computing devices in enterprises and in homes; the rate at which our present and future customers and end-users adopt Intersil’s wireless technologies and products, including our embedded LAN applications; the timing, rescheduling or cancellation of significant customer orders; the loss of a key customer; the qualification, availability and pricing of competing products and technologies and the resulting effects on sales and pricing of our products; silicon wafer pricing and the availability and quality of foundry and assembly capacity and raw materials; the effectiveness of Intersil’s expense and product cost control and reduction efforts; intellectual property disputes, customer indemnification claims, and other litigation risks; Intersil’s ability to develop, market, and transition to volume production new products and technologies in a timely manner; as well as other risk factors. Intersil’s Annual Report on Form 10-K, most recent Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, and other Intersil filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) (which you may obtain for free at the SEC’s Web site at www.sec.gov) discuss some of the important risk factors that may affect our business, results of operations, and financial condition. These forward-looking statements are made only as of the date of this press release and Intersil undertakes no obligation to update or revise these forward-looking statements. PRISM is a registered trademark of Intersil Americas Inc.
NetLink is a trademark of Spectralink.
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