Black Box’s New 45° Angled-Port Patch Panels Receive Cabling Business Award of Excellence

SpaceGAIN CAT5e and CAT6 Patch Panels Earn Innovation Award

PITTSBURGH--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Black Box Corporation (NASDAQ:BBOX), an industry-leading provider of voice communications, data infrastructure, and product solutions, is proud to announce that its SpaceGAIN 45-Degree Angled-Port Patch Panels received Cabling Business magazine’s Award of Excellence in January 2010.

“This innovative design is really quite simple, but it significantly reduces cabling space problems, cable management, and costs in crowded cabinets.”

Black Box introduced the new SpaceGAIN CAT5e and CAT6 patch panels in November 2009. The unique panels feature connectors that tilt down at a 45-degree angle to make patching easier. That saves the IT professional valuable time and reduces costs for installation equipment and labor. The angles also provide strain relief and maintain bend radii.

The 45-degree angled-ports also free up significant space in crowded data cabinets. Because cables don’t protrude, users can save two or four inches, or more, in front of every panel. This is quite beneficial for cabinets being retrofitted with newer, deeper equipment. Every inch counts, and cabinet doors often don’t close or need to be removed to accommodate cabling.

The panels feature RJ-45 connectors on one side and straight Krone/110 dual-IDC connectors on the other. They’re made of rolled metal for added strength when punching. The panels are available with 24 or 48 ports. For more information, see http://www.blackbox.com/go/spacegain.

“We’re proud that Cabling Business recognized these new panels with an Award of Excellence,” said Andrew Schmeltzer, Cabling Product Manager for Black Box. “This innovative design is really quite simple, but it significantly reduces cabling space problems, cable management, and costs in crowded cabinets.”

For more information, visit http://www.blackbox.com/go/SpaceGAIN.

The 45-Degree Angled-Port Patch Panels are part of the new SpaceGAIN product line which includes:

• 90-Degree Angled CAT5e and CAT6 Patch Cables — These unique cables feature up, down, left, or right angles to save up to 4" of space in crowded cabinets and for easier wallplate connections.
• Reduced-Length 6" CAT5e and CAT6 Patch Cables — Eliminate cable managers and route cables directly into ports.
• CAT6 High-Density Feed-Through Patch Panels — Get 48 ports in only 1U. Save even more space when you use with 45-Degree Down-Angled Patch Cables.
• CAT5e and CAT6 Angled-Patch Panels — These panels feature a 128-degree outward angle to eliminate horizontal cable managers.

Additionally, Black Box offers a complete line of networking solutions plus cabinets and racks, digital signage and multimedia, security, and more. All products are backed by free, live, 24/7 Tech Support, which customers can reach at 724-746-5500 or at blackbox.com.

About Black Box

Black Box is the world’s largest technical services company dedicated to designing, building, and maintaining today’s complicated data and voice infrastructure systems. Black Box services more than 175,000 clients in 141 countries with 194 offices throughout the world. To learn more, visit the Black Box Web site at http://www.blackbox.com.

Black Box^® and the Double Diamond logo are registered trademarks of BB Technologies, Inc. Any third-party trademarks appearing in this press release are acknowledged to be the property of their respective owners.

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