Hospitalized children who otherwise would not have the chance to meet with Santa Claus will be able to see and speak with jolly old St. Nick through the magic of an Internet video telephone from Cisco Systems Inc. Cisco will also provide Christmas gifts for the children at the hospitals.

Children hospitalized in Montreal, New York, Boston and San Diego will be given a special opportunity to see and talk live with Santa during a special video telephone call that connects kids with the North Pole by pressing a single button on the video phone. It's a unique, hi-tech opportunity for children to share their special requests with Santa.

The children and family members will gather in common areas in the hospitals where the Cisco video telephony equipment will be set up for the calls. At hospitals that have Internet connections in their patient rooms, the video telephony system will be transported to those rooms so children too sick to leave their rooms can participate in the program. Cisco will provide Christmas gifts for the children at the hospitals.

The video phone visits with Santa will be Dec. 9 at Sainte Justine Hospital in Montreal; Dec. 13 at Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital of New York Presbyterian; Dec 15 at Children's Hospital in Boston; and Dec. 22 at Children's Hospital in San Diego.

A video clip of last year's talks with Santa is available at www.newsroom.cisco.com/ dlls/ santavideo.html.