September 1998

• ADT Debuts iGate Client/Server IP Telephony Gateway Line
• BEA Middleware Boosts Reliability In Client/Server Telecom Systems
• General Magic Launches Portico Virtual Assistant
• Network Telephony — More Than A Cheap Call?

ADT Debuts iGate Client/Server IP Telephony Gateway Line

If IP telephony is to shed its hobbyist image and assume "network ready" status, it must resolve some knotty settlement and accounting issues. These issues, which are complex in and of themselves, bring the additional complication of increasing network latency, the "lag" that is sometimes detected in IP telephony conversations.

Latency, of course, is never welcome. But it is all the more unwelcome in phone-to-phone IP telephony gateways and networks, which happen to be the very networks in which latency is more likely to be a problem. The problem is, unlike computer-to-computer conversations, phone-to-phone transactions involve local telephone companies on each end, and may also include billing to a credit card or prepaid calling card. In the absence of centralized management, a service provider’s efforts to apportion payments and receipts could undermine the quality of the services for which users are paying. In any case, it wouldn’t even be clear whether the service provider could accomplish settlement with any accuracy.

One approach to overcoming these challenges is to put Internet telephony gateways on a client/server basis. And one company taking this approach is American Digital Telecommunications (ADT), which recently released iGate, a series of high-performance, high-capacity, industrial-grade IP telephony servers and gateways.

The iGate series ranges from 24 to 1,008 ports per system, and provides phone-to-phone, PC-to-phone, and PC-to-PC voice communications over the Internet. Using the client/server model, multiple clients (gateways) are deployed to provide communications access, while a centrally-located server provides the routing, accounting, and settlement functions for the gateways.

All iGate products are open-architecture, based on Windows NT and ADT’s proprietary WindowsCT technology. WindowsCT is a software development tool that includes an Active X control — and it supports a motley crew of programming environments including Java, Javascript, Visual Basic, Visual Basic Script, C++, Active Server Pages, HTML, and Delphi.

ADT’s client/server model offers improved routing that utilizes least-congested Internet routes; accurate accounting of transactions; and improved settlement of costs and fees associated with each call. All iGate gateways support ADT’s software packages, such as iCall personalized communications software, the iOffice "virtual office" software suite, and the iGeni intelligent communications agent. iGate products will be initially deployed in ADTnet, ADT’s international long-distance service, and will be available for purchase by ISPs, telcos, and others in the third quarter of this year.

ADT is also developing a second hardware product line, called the iGate CS series, that is designed specifically for telecom companies that require network integration and integration with legacy billing systems. iGate CS products range from 96 to 1,008 ports per system, and provide database integration with Oracle, Sybase, and Microsoft SQL servers.

For more information, contact the company at 714-449-8705, or visit their Web site at www.adt-net.com.

— Kevin M. Mayer and Dara Bloom, CTI� magazine

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BEA Middleware Boosts Reliability In Client/Server Telecom Systems

BEA Systems, Inc. launched BEA M3, middleware which combines mission-critical reliability with the ability to take advantage of components in large enterprise client/server telecommunication systems. M3 by any other name may perform as well, but its etymology says a lot about the product. The company sees M3 as third-generation middleware: the first was the mainframe; the second was client/server; and the third is a convergence of the mainframe, client/server, a component model, and the Internet.

BEA’s M3 is designed to be an industry-standard solution for object transaction managers (OTMs) that dependably scale up to tens of thousands of users, can be deployed in mission-critical applications throughout large enterprises, and are supported by a variety of tools, software, hardware, and service partners. BEA M3’s open architecture makes it compatible with a broad range of existing hardware and software, including legacy systems (an important cost-containment consideration).

This middleware solution simplifies the transaction, messaging, back-up, fail-over, and recovery elements of mission-critical application development by transforming them into object-based components. By providing programmers with transaction-oriented services to drop in, developers in the telecommunications industry can focus on creating the specialized and differentiated applications that their markets demand.

BEA M3 is based on the industry standard Common Object Request Broker Architecture (CORBA) standard for maximum flexibility and interoperability. BEA M3 also supports other object technologies and standards, including Java, ActiveX, and DCOM.

BEA’s latest also incorporates fundamental technologies from their TUXEDO product. TUXEDO is transaction middleware for building reliable, high-performance distributed applications. It is a middleware framework for building scalable 3-tier client/server applications in heterogeneous, distributed environments. Incorporating TUXEDO’s proven technology further enables companies to protect their investment in legacy systems while building new applications that use M3.

For more information, contact the company at 800-817-4BEA, or visit their Web site at www.beasys.com.

— Dara Bloom, CTI� magazine

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General Magic Launches Portico Virtual Assistant

Business travelers take note: General Magic, Inc.’s new virtual assistant, which received quite a bit of pre-release press under the product’s code name Serengeti, is now in commercial release. The Portico service is being distributed nationally in a progressive rollout by a network of 52 telecommunications and Internet resellers that specialize in wireless communications products and services. This network of resellers makes the Portico service available in over 200 locations nationwide.

Portico is a second-generation virtual assistant service. Through the use of General Magic’s intelligent voice user interface, called magicTalk, Portico subscribers can access e-mail, voice mail, calendars, address books, news, and stock quote information via any telephone or major Web browser. There are five plans from which to choose: The basic plan includes 60 minutes of service for $19.95 per month. Additional minutes are 20 cents apiece. There is a one-time setup fee of $50.00 for all plans.

General Magic has partnered with major industry players in conjunction with Portico’s release.

The company entered into a joint technology development agreement with Starfish (recently acquired by Motorola), a developer of technologies for wireless and wireline connected information devices. Starfish’s fully scalable multi-tier client/server TrueSync synchronization platform enables the Portico service to interact simultaneously with information from multiple devices, including REX, PalmPilot, Windows CE, and Symbian-based machines, as well as desktop PCs and future smart phone devices. General Magic has also struck deals with Associated Press, Business Wire, and PR Newswire. The wire services will provide direct satellite feeds to General Magic, enabling Portico subscribers to access breaking news from anywhere, at anytime, by phone.

For more information, visit the company’s Web site at www.general-magic.com. If you are interested in reselling Portico, contact the Business Development Department at 800-468-4342.

— Dara Bloom, CTI� magazine

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Network Telephony — More Than A Cheap Call?

If network telephony were no more than a way to make cheap phone calls, it might amount to an unacceptable trade-off. For while cheap phone calls are attractive, many would forego the savings promised by network telephony if they also had to accept uncertain quality and a diminished feature set, that is, a feature set lacking the functionality traditionally provided by the PBX. Thus, many corporations would reject emerging network telephony solutions, which typically provide voice over IP (VoIP), via a gateway, yet give users little more than simple voice-over-net and dial-tone functionality. With these solutions, the reliability, resiliency, routing, and quality of service that characterize conventional telephony solutions are, all too often, conspicuously absent.

One company that intends to eliminate the unacceptable trade-off between cost savings and quality is StarVox. This company recently announced a family of products designed to integrate traditional PBX features with public switched network telephone network (PSTN) reliability over a corporate wide-area network. These products, which constitute the StarGate family, are intended as a way to provide corporations an enterprise-wide VoIP solution.

The key component of the new network telephony solution is the StarGate Server. It connects to a corporation’s PBX through voice links and call control, overlapping the existing PBX infrastructure. A corporation’s existing voice and data networks are connected only through StarGate. The organization’s existing PBX and telephones, as well as its data network, and its PCs, remain untouched.

According to StarVox, the StarGate approach to consolidated voice and data networks leverages existing communications infrastructures, offering not just cost savings, but consistent quality as well. This approach is enabled by StarVox’s unique combination of enabling technologies, which include computer telephony integration (CTI) and corporate-wide directory services.

With CTI, StarGate accesses PBX status information and controls the switch, via call control commands. (CTI protocols supported by StarGate include CT Connect, TAPI, and TSAPI.) With directory services integration (DSI), StarGate accesses current, accurate user, server, and routing information. (All of this information may inform software processes.)

Combining CTI and DSI allows StarGate servers to monitor when a users dials a call, determine the path through which the call should be sent, and instruct the PBX to route the call accordingly. These capabilities allow the StarGate servers to go beyond providing simple VoIP; they also set the stage for more sophisticated functionality.

One example of StarGate’s enhanced functionality is its dynamic fallback. This functionality — Failsafe/Fallback in StarVox’s terminology — is designed to bring PSTN reliability and quality of service to voice calls over data networks. Failsafe automatically detects the failure of any end-point in the data network for a specific call before completing the connection. If such a failure occurs, Failsafe routes the call over the PSTN with no loss in service. Fallback, in turn, constantly monitors quality of service during a call. If latency problems occur with the voice packets, Fallback automatically reroutes the degrading WAN call over the PSTN without dropping the call.

However essential they may be, Failsafe/Fallback is meant to be invisible, at least to users. More obvious features, that is, features with more direct user appeal, include corporate-wide caller name display, screen-pop busy alerts, and filtered and scheduled "follow-me" services. Another enhanced feature is intelligent call tracking, whereby call details are recorded in a user’s call log, even for abandoned calls that never went to voice mail.

StarGate works in combination with industry-standard hardware components and integrates a corporation’s existing Novell NetWare or Microsoft NT networks. StarGate also supports more than 50 commercially available PBX systems. Pricing for the application software is based upon a per voice port charge of $1,500. Configured systems which include the hardware elements and the application software will range from $10,000 for analog entry level systems to $65,000 for full T1 trunk configurations.

— Kevin M. Mayer, CTI� magazine

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