March 1999
Eicon Puts PSTN And ISDN Connectivity On One
PCMCIA Card
Digital or analog - that's the question when you consider dial-up options. If you
frequently connect in different environments, say, the 56K modem port in an air-port
lounge or the ISDN connection in your home office, swapping PCMCIA cards in and out of
your PC becomes an irritating chore. Laptop users value their mobility and want as few
"extras" in their computer bag as possible. Eicon Technology, known for their
PC-based remote access, helps solve this clutter and connectivity question with their DIVA
Mobile PC card, which combines digital and analog access on the same card.
In its latest version, the DIVA Mobile offers 56K dial-up speeds, and full 128 Kbps
speeds with ISDN. The new unit meets the International Telecommunication Union's V.90
standard, which means the product achieves downloading speeds of up to 56 Kbps under ideal
telephone line conditions, while being backwards compatible to the K56flex standard.
The card is plug-and-play, but the product also includes Eicon's Express Setup Install
Wizard, which eliminates the need for users to manually configure their laptops for both
ISDN and modem use. Eicon's Trace Diagnostic Tool, for ISDN's B and D channels, helps
troubleshoot by providing information about the card's status in the event of a problem.
The card extends its useful lifetime with pre-loaded ISDN firmware in flash memory,
allowing for easy upgrades (downloadable from the company's Web site) on future versions
of software.
Globetrotters will be glad to know the DIVA Mobile is CAPI (Common-ISDN API)
2.0-compliant. It also sup-ports multinational ISDN protocols and is compatible with more
than a competitive number of ISDN switches and international PSTN phone systems. European
packages include RVS's (www.rvscom.com) RVS-COM Lite, a substantial communications
software package that provides CAPI-based applications that are perfect for remote access,
such as Eurofile transfer and voice mail.
The DIVA Mobile PC card costs about $399 for either the S/T or NT-1 integrated version,
and comes with a five-year warranty. For more information, visit the company's Web site at
www.eicon.com.
Dara Bloom, TMCnet
UltiVerse's UltiFax
As fax moves from the standalone fax machine to the network, there are a good number of
benefits to be obtained. However, the habits and expectations of fax users must be
considered when making changes to the fax structure of a given organization. Especially in
the United States, there is an expectation that fax will be instant, i.e., when the phone
disconnects, the fax has been sent. It is not uncommon for a fax sender to stand next to
the fax machine, waiting for the confirmation notice and making sure that the "try
again" function doesn't appear. After all, who really trusts that function? More than
likely, someone will come along and remove your pages, meaning that your fax will never be
sent, and you'll never know the difference.
While fax servers and fax over IP promise to do away with employee queues at the fax
machine and the mysterious "lost fax" syndrome, they often are less acceptable
to employees simply because they represent a change in what has been a fairly
well-established pattern of fax sending behavior. Additionally, a pure server solution to
sending faxes means that a company must simply trash all those standalone fax machines
that are hanging out in dark corners of the office.
Enter UltiVerse's new product, and their flagship product, UltiFax. UltiFax attempts to
bridge the gap between the past - standalone fax machines - and the future - server-based
fax over IP. By allowing organizations to continue using their standalone fax machines
with a LAN-based fax solution, UltiFax provides a smooth transition where previously there
has been a sort of "us or them" mentality.
Since it is IP-based, UltiFax allows users to send and receive faxes from anywhere in
the world, as long as there is access to the Internet or a data or telephony network.
UltiFax integrates directly with Microsoft Exchange, employing the concept of personal
mailboxes to allow users to access both their fax and e-mail through any Web browser,
through any fax machine, or from any touch-tone telephone. The option involving a
touchtone phone does not involve text-to-speech, but rather allows users to specify a fax
machine number (such as in a hotel or a local office services store) to receive the
forwarded faxes and e-mail. Additionally, UltiFax allows for the archiving of fax messages
- another big benefit over non-IP faxes.
It is important to note that UltiFax does not require that standalone fax machines be
added to the LAN. Instead, fax messages are stored in a personal inbox, and then forwarded
to the appropriate output device, whether that is a LAN-based PC with a .TIFF viewer or a
traditional fax machine plugged into the PSTN.
UlitFax began shipping on February 8, 1999, and is available starting at $21,500 for an
8-port license that supports 100-200 users, depending on usage habits. UltiFax is scalable
up to a 96-port configuration. For more information, please contact UltiVerse at
781-642-7679 or visit their Web site at www.ultiverse.com.
Chris Donner, CTI� magazine
SuperStack II PBX 1000
Most if not all of us in the CTI industry have heard about Cisco's acquisition of the
voice/data switch vendor, Selsius Systems. As Rich Tehrani mentioned in his February Publisher's
Outlook, this interest on Cisco's part bodes well for the CTI industry in general, and
for the future of the voice/data switch in particular. Now 3Com - another traditionally
mainstream data-networking company - has entered into the voice/data switch market with
their SuperStack II PBX 1000 product, further demonstrating that networking companies are
serious about telephony.
Aimed primarily at small to medium-sized companies or branch offices, 3Com's new
SuperStack II PBX 1000 is a voice/data switch that is "stackable" and features
voice/data ports in the front of the chassis for easy access. Administrators can simply
plug in connectors for both telephones and WAN trunks. Utilizing this system allows
companies to combine voice and data over a single T1/PRI or ISDN WAN link, which
eliminates the need for separate ISDN lines or buying expensive external multiplexers.
The voice and data ports on the SuperStack II PBX 1000 are SNMP-manageable, allowing
for both local and remote access to management functions. IS administrators will find that
this capability helps them to reduce the time and effort associated with managing and
troubleshooting a PBX. For users concerned with plugging in existing analog fax machines
or modems, there are also analog modules available that allow direct connection to the
voice network without any reconfiguration.
According to 3Com, the physical integration of voice and data made possible through the
SuperStack II PBX 1000 represents the first phase in their three-phase plan to bring the
benefits of convergence to the enterprise environment. The system incorporates voice
technology from Siemens as well as supporting TAPI and CSTA for CTI applications. Further
3Com developments in the area of converged voice and data will look at using standards
such as H.323 and JTAPI to develop applications and ensure a truly unified network for the
enterprise.
Initial shipments of the SuperStack II PBX 1000 system to authorized U.S. resellers
began on February 1, 1999, with general availability for March 1, 1999. The SuperStack
system is list-priced from $157 per subscriber, based on an installation with 8 BRI trunks
(16 ISDN B channels). Additional subscriber and trunk modules are available at $100 list
per line. Also, both "simple" analog phonesets as well as "executive"
3Com digital phonesets are supported. 3Com digital telephones start at a very impressive
$80 list.
For more information, please visit 3Com Corporation's Web site at www.3com.com.
Tom Keating, CTI� magazine |
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