Founded: 2006, through the combination of Brooktrout Technology and Excel Switching Corporation

 

Provides: Communications hardware and software for delivery of anytime, anywhere IP-based applications.

 

Website: www.cantata.com

 

TMCnet.com Channel: VoIP Gateways

 

TMCnet recently spoke with Greg Pisano, Director of Market Development at Cantata, about the company’s recent creation through the combination of Brooktrout and Excel, its products and services, and its involvement in IMS Forum. Below is a summary of that conversation.

The combination of Brooktrout and Excel began in October, 2005, and Cantata was formally launched in March during the Spring 2006 VON show, Pisano said.

 

He added that expertise and experience from the combined companies give Cantata a broader reach in providing IP and TDM technologies.

 

“We have solutions for both the carrier service provider market as well as the enterprise,” Pisano said.

 

 

Pisano said Cantata now offers media processing products, media gateways, and multi-service platforms. Many of those are IP Multimedia Subsystems (IMS)-based.

 

For example, SnowShore IP Media Server is a software-based, SIP-controlled solution with VoiceXML that provides the media resource function (MRF) within the IMS architecture.

 

But, because not all networks are purely IP-based, Cantata also makes media gateways and signaling products that allow IP-based, IMS environments to connect with TDM-based environments.

 

In fact, Pisano said, Cantata’ solutions for enterprises are mostly focused on applications and gateways designed to bridge the gap between IP and TDM networks.

 

 

“We have solutions for the hybrid environment today, as well as those that play in a pure IP environment,” Pisano told TMCnet. He added: “IMS at this point is a journey for service providers.”

 

Cantata is a member of IMS Forum (formerly known as International Packet Communications Consortium), an international, non-profit organization devoted to maintaining the IMS architecture and to promoting interoperability of IMS services and solutions.

 

Pisano and his colleague Eric Burger (Cantata’s CTO) share a seat on the IMS Forum Board of Directors.

 

Burger’s involvement with IMS Forum (then IPCC) began in 2001, Pisano said. Burger served as Chairman of the organization’s Technical Committee, and helped out with the production of publications promoting best practices and recommendations for IMS implementations.

 

Pisano noted that during the past few years, there has been a lot of hype and tension regarding IMS, making a guiding organization like IMS Forum necessary.

 

“The hype has really started to turn into reality,” he said, adding that “IMS has been widely adopted by wireline, wireless, and broadband service providers.”

 

IMS Forum and Cantata are both dedicated to driving alliances among industry groups—such as the World Wide Web Consortium, a.k.a. W3C—that are involved with IMS development, Pisano told TMCnet.

 

Cantata is now helping IMS Forum with its various initiatives, including establishing working groups, hosting events, and providing guidance to companies transitioning to IMS.

 

Pisano emphasized that IMS Forum and Cantata both focus on real-world implementations of IMS. That means helping early adopters avoid potential pitfalls, in the process creating best-practices examples for later adopters.