WASHINGTON, D.C., January 28, 2002 - The George Washington University today announced it will integrate Bantu, Inc.'s Instant Messaging (IM) & Presence Platform into the GWeb intranet portal, enabling secure, real-time communication among members of the GW community. Bantu's business-grade IM and presence management technology will allow students, faculty and staff to be visible within the portal, when desired, and to instantly initiate private conversations or group meetings with each other.

"IM and presence bring GWeb users a dynamic new dimension of interactivity," said Francesco de Leo, Manager of GW's Interactive Multimedia Applications Group. "The technology opens up an array of possibilities for efficient collaboration among students and faculty, whether it's for project teamwork, online office hours, research discussions or administrative activities. It fully supports GWeb's goals of building relationships and promoting communication, interaction, and involvement."

"Bantu enables GW to seamlessly integrate IM and presence into GWeb, immediately adding instant, secure interaction as a core functionality for its online community," said Larry Schlang, President and CEO of Bantu. "These are powerful, cost-effective tools for faster and easier communication. With Bantu, large enterprises, including academic institutions like GW, not only gain IM, but also increase their return-on-investment from the applications in which they've already invested," said Schlang. Users can also access their Bantu IM on Wireless Application Protocol (WAP)-enabled wireless devices, and can exchange messages with users on other major IM networks.

GW will initially integrate Bantu's Web presence into the GWeb online IM directory, enabling users to display their online status and availability to others within the portal. GWeb members can search the directory for students, faculty, and staff at GW, and if the parties sought have chosen to appear as visible, they can be sent an IM with a simple mouse click. The publication of members' presence status will eventually take place in multiple locations throughout GWeb.

GWeb offers a mix of academic and personal services to registered users within the GW community. The site offers a variety of customizable information options including news, weather and movie schedules, as well as e-mail and calendar features. GWeb's IM capabilities may later extend to other external customers of the University.

About The George Washington University Located four blocks from the White House, The George Washington University was created by an Act of Congress in 1821. Today, GW is the largest institution of higher education in the nation's -more- capital. The University offers comprehensive programs of undergraduate and graduate liberal arts study as well as degree programs in medicine, law, engineering, education, business/public management and international affairs. Each year, GW enrolls a diverse population of 20,000 undergraduates, graduate and professional students from all 50 states, the District of Columbia and 120 countries.

About Bantu, Inc.: \ban' too\ 1 : Ancient root language of the African people; 2 : Leading provider of secure, business-grade Instant Messaging and Presence solutions. The Bantu IM & Presence Platform enhances communication and collaboration in industries such as financial services, telecommunications, government and education. Bantu is secure, platform-independent, and interoperable, and it easily integrates into any application or service. Bantu is based in Washington, D.C. Its customers and partners include AverCom, Blackboard, Citrix, the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association (CTIA), Corechange, Data Connection Limited, Johns Hopkins University, MessageMachines, SAIC, Sprint, SRA/Assentor, TeleCommunication Systems, VeriSign, and the U.S. Army. (www.bantu.com)