July 1999
News
Taqua Announces Open Compact Exchange
Taqua Systems has announced the Open Compact Exchange (OCX), a Class 5 access
switch for merging voice and data communications networks. The OCX is a scalable,
next-generation Class 4/5 switch offering fault tolerance, remote diagnostics, BORSCHT
functionality (Battery, Overvoltage protection, Ringing, Supervision, Coding, Hybrid, and
Test), SS7 and ISDN-PRI capabilities, and an open programmable API. Taqua's OCX will
satisfy the expanding infrastructure needs and voice/data convergence requirements of
CLECs, ILECs, enhanced service providers and wireless service providers. The OCX can be
deployed in a number of applications, including a Class 5 End Office, Class 4 Tandem
office, Edge Office Gateway, Enhanced Services Platform, and in Wireless Local Access
deployments.
No. 501, www.itmag.com/freeinfo
White Pine Software Unveils CU-SeeMe World
White Pine Software has announced CU-SeeMe World, a visual communications
portal Web site on the Internet. While current portal sites provide a conduit for
information, CU-SeeMe World is the first site on the Internet to focus exclusively on
video communication, both between the individual users and as a directory for
content-oriented chat sites. As part of the CU-SeeMe World announcement, the company also
unveiled plans to embrace the existing CU-SeeMe user community and make CU-SeeMe software
even more widely available to new users. Registered membership in CU-SeeMe World is free
and citizens have access to a number of communications-based services. Users will be able
to find and connect to other individual users through directory services from a recently
announced partnership with visitalk.com.
No. 502, www.itmag.com/freeinfo
Telephony Experts, Dialogic Integrate VoIP And PSTN Enhanced
Services Product
Telephony Experts have announced the integration of Dialogic DM3 IPLink voice
hardware into their distributed switching and billing product, Talking NT Enterprise SQL,
which already supports seamless mix-and-match integration with worldwide protocols using
Dialogic's Globecall. Talking NT Enterprise SQL adds same-chassis Dialogic DM3 IPLink
hardware support for VoIP using today's most widely accepted coders and call handling
protocols including H.323, G.711, G.732.1, G.729a, GSM, and MS GSM. The DM3 IPLink
hardware allows calls to originate over any supported telco medium and terminate via the
Internet and vice versa. PC-to-phone, phone-to-phone, phone-to-PC, and PC-to-PC calling is
a natural extension of the platform's comprehensive switching, billing, and enhanced
services.
No. 503, www.itmag.com/freeinfo
Nokia To Move Wireless LAN Products Toward Mass Market
Nokia has launched a portfolio of standards-based wireless LAN products, designed to
provide broadband wireless connectivity for mobile professionals, and which form a key
component of the recently announced family of Nokia Mobility solutions. Nokia Wireless LAN
portfolio combines mobility with high data rates. The wireless LAN portfolio includes the
Nokia Wireless LAN Access Point, Nokia Wireless LAN PC Card, and software and utilities to
make installation, use, and management a seamless extension to a wired network. The Nokia
C020/C021 Wireless LAN Card is based on the IEEE 802.11 industry standard and initially
provides a two Mbps wireless connection. Nokia A020 Wireless LAN Access Point provides
initially up to a two Mbps wireless connection, upgradeable to the IEEE 802.11 High Rate
versions, as they become available.
No. 504, www.itmag.com/freeinfo
VIPswitch Intros 36-Port, Layer 5 QoS Ethernet Switch
VIPswitch has announced the VIPswitch 3240, a 36-port, Layer 5 QoS Ethernet
switch that enables network users to seamlessly connect throughout the network in real
time. The VIPswitch 3240 provides the convenience of having a greater number of available
ports in one box. This 32 x 10 Mbps and 4 x 100 Mbps QoS Ethernet switch offers greater
accessibility at a lower cost per port. The VIPswitch 3240 can configure the uplinks with
link aggregation from 100?400 Mbps, in full duplex with QoS on all 32 ports. The
non-block-ing architecture increases overall throughput to 100 percent. This plug-and-play
scalable enterprise switch integrates with the different H.323 gateways and gatekeepers on
the market, and is fully compatible with existing software, hardware, and networks by
Cisco, Nortel, 3Com, and Lucent.
No. 505, www.itmag.com/freeinfo
Sun Targets Real-Time Communications Apps With RTOS Support On
CompactPCI
Sun Microsystems has announced robust real-time operating system (RTOS)
capability for its SPARC-engine family of CompactPCI board products. The company will
offer customers high-performance OEM solutions supporting Sun Microsys-tem?s ChorusOS RTOS
or VxWorks, the RTOS component of the Tornado development environment from Wind River
Systems. Both RTOS options will enable system designers to rapidly develop and deploy
64-bit UltraSPARC and 32-bit microSPARC processor-based applications for
telecommunications infrastructure and enterprise telephony needs. Additionally, the
Ultra-SPARC-II 64-bit, scalable architecture will provide system designers the flexibility
to significantly optimize either operating system for high performance. The RTOS
solutions, now available for the UltraSPARC processor-based SPARCengine CP 1500 CompactPCI
board, will be phased in to support the entire CompactPCI board product line by the end of
the year.
No. 506, www.itmag.com/freeinfo
Lucent Unveils Single Chip For Internet Phones
Lucent Technologies said that it has distilled the functions of five computer
chips into a single chip for telephones that carry voice on Internet networks.
Phone-On-A-Chip will be marketed sometime next year. According to Lucent, the chip should
cut the electronics cost of the specialized phones by 30 percent. The technology requires
the use of specially designed phones, which currently sell for approximately $250 each.
Internet telephones typically require several chips to perform multiple functions, while
Lucent has 13 functions including core processing, analog-to-digital conversion, and
amplification packed into the new design. Lucent plans to offer a two-chip product by the
fourth quarter of this year, priced at less than $30 for quantities of 100,000.
No. 508, www.itmag.com/freeinfo
Memotec Ships Multiservice Solution With BRI QSIG Support Over
Frame Relay, IP, ATM
Memotec Communications has announced that its CX950 Access Switch, currently
shipping, is the first multiservice access product to reach the market with support for
ISDN/QSIG over a BRI interface supporting transparent Common Channel Signaling (CCS) over
Frame Relay, IP, and ATM. With the CX950, this strategic digital voice feature is
available for the first time to remote site offices particularly with the
ISDN-centric European marketplace with 100 percent CCS transparency over a converged
network. Now, smaller branch offices can take advantage of the BRI interface connectivity
and support ISDN and QSIG transparently to a central site location using Memotec's CX1000e
Multi-Port Access Switch.
No. 507, www.itmag.com/freeinfo
Analogic's New Family Of CompactPCI NACs Includes DS-3
Analogic Corp. announced the launch of their Network Access Card (NAC) for
CompactPCI platforms. The new family includes DS-3 and quad and octal T1/E1 cards. All
three cards are 6U, hot swap compliant, and include the H.110 protocol telephony bus. The
quad NAC-120 and the octal NAC-240 cards feature a software-selectable T1/E1 interface,
Primary Rate ISDN, and a passive backplane. For data networking applications, they also
feature a 10 Mb Ethernet interface, a Motorola MPC860 processor with VxWorks, and either
128 or 256 channels of HDLC. These boards are designed for VoIP trunking, VoIP gateway,
remote access server, call center, and ISDN router applications. Available in Q3 1999, the
NAC-120 and the NAC-240 cards are priced at $4,495 and $6,995 respectively. OEM quantity
discounts are available.
No. 509, www.itmag.com/freeinfo
NetSpeak And Motorola Raise Stakes In VoIP Marketplace
NetSpeak Corp. and Motorola have raised the stakes in the voice over IP (VoIP)
marketplace, jointly unveiling the next phase of the companies' interoperability program.
Central to this next phase is the high-level interoperability now available between
NetSpeak's H.323v2-compatible gatekeeper, and Motorola?s family of Vanguard VoIP telephony
gateways. NetSpeak's new gatekeeper not only controls network access and aggregates
information associated with network endpoints, but also provides access to back-end
services from a centralized location, such as billing, routing, and call detail recording.
The NetSpeak gatekeeper's solution scripts ensure uniform call flow behavior across the
multiple gateways and IP telephony devices deployed in the network. The flexible and
extensible scripts drive NetSpeak's suite of solutions and create value-added VoIP service
offering.
No. 510, www.itmag.com/freeinfo
Ariel's PowerPOP Architecture Transforms ISP Infrastructure
Ariel Corp. has announced the PowerPOP architecture, a new way of building and scaling
Internet Service Provider (ISP) infrastructure. The new PowerPOP architecture, which
utilizes open systems platforms running Windows NT and Linux, enables ISPs to reduce
equipment cost while increasing flexibility, efficiency, and scalability. The PowerPOP
architecture provides an alternative to the dedicated servers and dumb remote access
concentrators that ISPs currently use to build network operations centers (NOCs) and add
new points of presence (POPs). The baseline PowerPOP platform combines a PC running Linux
or Windows NT with one or more high-density Ariel RS2000 remote access plug-in cards, a
LAN card, and a router. ISPs can add Linux or Windows NT-based software components to this
platform.
No. 511, www.itmag.com/freeinfo
Trenton Technology Intros 1 GB SDRAM Pentium II/III
Processor-Based SBC
Trenton Technology, a designer and manufacturer of single board computers (SBCs),
announced its new high-performance GX line of single and dual Pentium II/III
processor-based SBCs using Intel's 440GX AGPset featuring 1 GB of SDRAM memory. The 440GX
AGPset also supports the system/memory bus at 100MHz, providing an ultra high-speed
bandwidth path for transferring data between main memory/chip set and the microprocessors.
Both the P2GX
and DP2GX feature on-board 10/100Base-T Ethernet, ultra-wide SCSI, and AGP SVGA interfaces
and Trenton's innovative, flush-mounted processors that save valuable backplane slots and
allow use of all available standard PCI slots.
No. 520, www.itmag.com/freeinfo
Obvious Technology Rolls Out OBVIOUS Media Manager
Obvious Technology has announced the OBVIOUS Media Manager, a video asset management tool
that reduces the cost of digital content management, speeds up the production process, and
makes video easy to use on a network. The OBVIOUS Media Manager enables content creators,
such as movie, multimedia, and TV producers, to quickly view and comment on dailies,
production clips, and multimedia content via a network connection. Users can also locate,
review, retrieve, and purchase multimedia files from stock footage sources via the
Internet, as well as distribute and deliver rich multimedia across a variety of networks
and platforms.
No. 521, www.itmag.com/freeinfo
Dialogic Connects Internet Telephony And CTI
Dialogic Corp. has announced a versatile interface between Internet telephony
and computer-telephony integration (CTI) applications. This gatekeeper-based technology
will extend the capabilities of Dialogic's CT Connect call control software by allowing
applications to monitor and control IP telephony calls in the same way they currently do
in traditional telephone environments. This new technology will allow CTI applications to
operate within IP telephony environments as easily as in a traditional PBX. This
transparency between IP telephony and traditional PBXs means that CTI developers will be
able to market their applications for use in IP telephony environments with little or no
change. Customers will then be able to use IP telephony in conjunction with contact
management, customer service, and support applications.
No. 522, www.itmag.com/freeinfo
Atlas Adds Integrated Voice/Data Over DSL To Diamond
Internetworking System
Atlas Communication Engines has announced the introduction of a new
voice/data-over-DSL application for its Diamond Internetworking System. To further expand
the WAN options for its OEM customers, Atlas has created two additional modules for the
Diamond Internetworking Systems, a POTS module, and an SDSL module. The POTS module
supports up to eight analog voice interfaces, and the SDSL module supports a single pair
2B1Q interfaces at data rates up to 2.3 Mbps, allowing high-speed data transfer over
standard telephone lines. By configuring the Diamond with Ethernet, POTS, and SDSL
modules, and utilizing Atlas Communications Operating System, OEM customers can create a
flexible and feature-rich Integrated Access Device tailored for a variety of DSL services,
including voice over DSL.
No. 523, www.itmag.com/freeinfo
Praxon Announces New T1 Connectivity Module For Its PDX
Praxon has announced a new T1 module for its Phone Data eXchange (PDX). With both voice
and data on a single T1 line, the Praxon Phone Data eXchange gives small to medium-sized
business customers and remote offices an easily deployed solution that reduces costs by
eliminating the need for multiple phone lines. The new T1 module supports up to 24
voice/data channels. Each channel can be independently assigned to carry either voice or
data traffic, based on the needs of the specific site. Protocol support includes frame
relay, Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP), and SNMP. The T1 trunk module also includes an
integrated CSU/DSU and support for Direct Inward Dial (DID).
No. 524, www.itmag.com/freeinfo
SpectraLink Unveils VoIP For Wireless LANs
SpectraLink Corp. has announced the NetLink Wireless Telephone System
(NetLink WTS). Combining voice over IP (VoIP) and wireless LAN technologies, it allows
mobile workers to make and receive telephone calls over a shared wireless infrastructure.
The NetLink WTS is the industry?s first IEEE 802.11-compliant workplace wireless telephone
system to deliver voice quality, desktop telephone features, and durable handset design.
Compliance with the IEEE 802.11 standard for wireless LANs permits businesses to leverage
their new or existing wireless LAN infrastructure by adding high-quality voice
communications, allowing enterprises to deploy and manage voice and data over a single
wireless backbone. NetLink WTS is available the third quarter of 1999.
No. 526, www.itmag.com/freeinfo
FORE Systems' ESX-3000 Delivers Flexible Fusion Of Ethernet, ATM
To LAN Edge
FORE Systems has unveiled the ESX-3000 High Density LAN Edge Switch, combining
FORE's acclaimed asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) technology with application-aware
Ethernet innovations. With this flexible fusion of Ethernet and ATM, the ESX-3000 enables
business-critical IP LANs and converged networks to reach new heights of versatility,
scalability, and performance. Expanding FORE's industry-leading family of ESX switches,
the ESX-3000 provides a new level of bandwidth control for business-critical, delay
sensitive applications at the network edge. The ESX-3000 is a modular solution offering a
high combined density of Ethernet and ATM LAN ports, yielding the option of implementing
ATM or Ethernet, or a mixture of both without requiring different backplane versions.
No. 525, www.itmag.com/freeinfo
GTE And Solect Provide Outsourced Service, Help ISPs Solve
Customer Care Issues
GTE Data Services, a unit of GTE Corp., and Solect Technology Group have
formed an alliance to provide an outsourced, hosted, billing and customer care application
to local and regional Internet service providers (ISPs). The new service, NETime, is
designed to help ISPs quickly deploy and bill for new services and rapidly add new
customers, all within a secure environment at a lower cost than many current billing
systems, all while maintaining their corporate brand. Targeted to ISPs seeking a
cost-effective alternative to in-house billing and customer care solutions, or for whom a
site licensed-based arrangement is too costly, NETime will be jointly marketed, sold, and
implemented by GTE and Solect.
No. 527, www.itmag.com/freeinfo
Ennovate Drives Transition To The New Corporate WAN
Ennovate Networks has delivered a solution for enabling Network Service Providers to
quickly and cost-effectively provide network-based IP Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) to
their corporate customers. Representing the foundation for the new corporate WAN,
network-based IP VPNs are the platform on which a new class of business-critical IP
services will be provisioned. These IP VPNs are independent of, but fully leverage,
existing infrastructure investments in carrier and enterprise networks. Ennovate's
solution includes the Ennovate Envoy VPN21000 Service Provisioning System, and Envoy 1600
IP services switch, which are cornerstones of the company's IP Service Creation
Architecture.
No. 528, www.itmag.com/freeinfo
ADC And MIND CTI Join To Provide OSS For VoIP Solutions
ADC Telecommunications and MIND CTI, Ltd. have signed an agreement by which ADC will
supply MIND-iPhonEX IP telephony billing and customer care, and associated professional
services which will complement ADC's ability to deliver full VoIP solutions to the
marketplace. MIND-iPhoneEX provides a fully redundant solution including a fail-over
mechanism, database replication, and no single point of failure to insure highly reliable
service to customers. The system handles both prepaid and post-paid billing, creation and
management of prepaid calling cards, real-time cut-off of calls, individualized customer
rate tables, and flexible fax charge options. MIND-iPhonEX support systems provide call
management reports, traffic analysis, and keep track of excessive use, including fraud
alarms. Web-based customer care, and subscriber verification of real-time balance and call
details are also available.
No. 531, www.itmag.com/freeinfo
Inter-Tel InterPrise 400 Extends IP Telephony To Enterprise
Networks
Inter-Tel announced production release of the InterPrise 400 IP telephony
gateway, the first in a new line of IP telephony products that transports voice, fax, and
data communications across corporate IP or frame relay networks. The four-port InterPrise
400 provides network managers with a simple way to integrate multimedia communications
among remote facilities, including smaller branch offices. The InterPrise 400 is an analog
product that supports subscriber interfaces for standard telephones, fax machines,
voice-band modems, PBX or PSTN loop lines (FXO), and PBX E&M tie lines. Future
InterPrise products planned for 1999 include 24-port analog and 32-port digital T1/E1
configuration designed for larger enterprise network applications.
No. 529, www.itmag.com/freeinfo
New IP Phone From Siemens
Siemens Information and Communication Networks has introduced the HiNet LP 5100 IP
telephone, a high-featured business telephone with a built-in Ethernet network adapter for
connection to a companys local-area network (LAN). The HiNet LP 5100 enhances
communication, enabling calls between the HiNet LP 5100 and other IP telephones, classic
PSTN phones, and H.323-standard-compatible PC clients. The HiNet LP 5100 offers
Siemens OptiGuide interface, which allows users to access and set up phone features
by scrolling through a menu and selecting the desired option from the phones
24-character LCD display. Other features include automatic redial, on-hook dialing,
hands-free operation, 16 programmable speed dial numbers, and a date and time display.
No. 530, www.itmag.com/freeinfo |