July 2000

Dear Chris,
I just read your quick piece on in the April issue of CS on app gens, sort of the follow up of the piece you did sometime back. You mention in your article, "What does Intel gain by investing in companies like PRIMA and MediaSoft?" Simply: Intel recognizes talent and challenges in the CT industry.

PRIMA, nor MediaSoft, needed the "push" (okay, we sure do appreciate the investment and we are putting it to fund further development) to move to CT Media. You will recall that PRIMA has announced early adopter support, and even before the investment by Intel we had shipped the largest CT Media deployment in North America, some 400 ports, to a "large North American Switch Manufacturer" -- we, however, are under NDA with those guys and I can't print their name.

Evan Koblentz should also recall that we participated in a ECTF Technology Showcase at CTI EXPO in San Jose in December '98. MediaSoft, on their side, also put a lot of effort and money before even Intel started talking.

So, PRIMA and MediaSoft are both very committed to the CT Media initiative, with our head and our heart first. Now that PRIMA and MediaSoft are one as ELIX, we actually are in a better position to set standards and future directions of CT Media, rather than being imposed on. When ELIX talks, people will listen.

In closing, I thank you for your commitment to the editorial coverage on app gens. I think they are an important part of our industry.

Maxime Gousse,
Director of Marketing PRIMA / ELIX

Chris replies:

Maxime,
Thanks for your thoughtful and engaging response. Certainly PRIMA and MediaSoft were involved with Dialogic and CT Media before the investment by Intel, and perhaps the image of a football player "steering" a lineman was too strong. I didn't mean to imply that Intel had in some way made PRIMA and MediaSoft go in directions they were otherwise unwilling to go. Rather, it seems that Intel sensed the opportunity present in this industry and decided that they want to get involved, and of course, they want to sell chips to others who are involved. Thus, the pursuit of established industry participants (like Dialogic, MediaSoft, and PRIMA) for partnerships and more.

Thanks again for the reply.

The following refers to Rich Tehrani's "Talking To The Palm" in the May 2000 issue.

Rich,
Why do you trust 3Com for anything? They have abandoned all of their enterprise networking customers. What makes you think they will not do the same for IP telephony customers? Shame on you!

Bill Updegraff

Rich Tehrani replies:

Hi Bill,
Thanks for your e-mail. I think it is important for you to know that magazine lead time (the difference between the time an article is written and the time it takes to print and distribute the issue) is at least a month. 3Com's announcement came well after this article was written and the magazine was printed and in the mail. Had I known about 3Com's major announcement, it certainly would have played a factor in the coverage they received.

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