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TEK DigiTel and
Teltone target corporate market TEK DigiTel and Teltone target corporate market TEK DigiTel and Teltone have agreed to work together to develop VoIP solutions for the corporate market. The companies will focus on enabling geographically distributed call center agents and teleworkers to utilize the potential of their existing PBX technology across their company's corporate Intranet. With this partnership, Telecommunication Managers will be able to provision their remote workers with a TEK DigiTel gateway (V-Server iGate), a PC running Teltone's OfficeLink 2000 client and a analog phone. Using a connection to the corporate IP Intranet, the worker can access the PBX with all the functionality of a proprietary digital phone, but with the phone's control and display provided in a pop-up window on their PC. The Teltone software performs all the control/status functions of the PBX vendor's standalone proprietary phoneset allowing the worker to use facilities like Speed Dialing, Call Transfer, Call Forward, Voice Mail Indicator/Access, Caller ID, Caller Name, etc.
The Bristol Group will demonstrate the base .phone product: client software using standard PC sound cards and handsets to place phone calls over a network. The Bristol Group will have its first public demonstration of .phone, its IP-based telephony products, at the CTI Expo in Las Vegas. The .phone client provides users an intuitive interface for managing their computer phone. Features such as conferencing, follow-me, call waiting, caller ID, and auto-attendant are available with the click of a mouse. The Bristol Group will also demonstrate the .phone gateway based on the TR2001 IP telephony boards from Brooktrout. The gateway runs on both Sun Solaris and NT platforms. The TR2001 is a high-density board used by The Bristol Group to provide a connection between the computer network and POTS. Using the .phone gateway, legacy phones and computer phones communicate transparently. Companies can choose how quickly they wish to make the transition to IP-based telephone calls.
One of a handful of similar networking start-ups, Corvis makes fiber-optic equipment that lets telecommunications carriers shuttle voice and data across networks faster and, more importantly, at a lower cost. A privately held company formed in 1997 by Ciena founder David Huber, Corvis makes complex networking hardware like routers as well as the management software that keeps a high-speed network running smoothly. It currently employs about 200 people. In the past week Corvis has signed deals with Williams Communications and Qwest Communications who plan to test Corvis' equipment as they work to upgrade their high-speed networks. Corvis executives hope the trials will lead to actual sales of their equipment in early 2000. Corvis' business alliances are only the latest examples of a new network equipment provider riding the current telecommunications wave. Corvis' network technology allows data to be sent along a network up to 2,000 miles from its original source. This is a breakthrough, analysts say, as previous technology required carriers to give an electrical "boost" to data transmissions approximately every 180 miles to keep the data moving along. The equipment to provide so-called electrical regeneration points is expensive, and increases carriers' overall network costs. Corvis is not the only firm working on technology to keep data moving along fiber-optic networks. Sycamore and Qtera are building similar hardware, while Ciena plans to unveil its own device to shuttle data over a network. Ciena's technology is scheduled to go into testing next April.
America Online, the giant Internet service provider, and Net2Phone, a provider of Internet telephony services, have inked several deals to bring telephone calling to the Net. Shares of Net2Phone jumped on news of the deal, closing up 3.81 or 6 percent to 66.75. Earlier, shares were up more than 13 percent. According to a Net2Phone filing yesterday with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the company entered into an agreement with AOL, allowing AOL's instant messaging users to make PC-to-phone and phone-to-PC calls and access PC-to-fax, fax-to-PC and conference calling services. Net telephony is still an emerging market that is unknown to many mainstream Net users. Yet the market is expected to skyrocket as consumers here and abroad realize that Web phone calls are often less expensive than regular toll calls, analysts say. Earlier this year, Net2Phone entered into an agreement with ICQ, a subsidiary of AOL, to provide Internet telephony services to users of ICQ's instant messaging service. The companies are also co-branding a prepaid phone-to-phone calling card with AOL's instant messaging service. Net2Phone said it will be the exclusive provider of these services for more than two years. CompuServe, a subsidiary of AOL, said it has signed a two-year agreement with Net2Phone for the telephony company to provide CompuServe's U.S. members with Net2Phone Internet telephony calling card communications services. Under the terms of the agreement, CompuServe will promote prepaid and post-paid phone-to-phone Internet telephony cards for CompuServe customers, allowing users to place calls at reduced rates. Earlier this month, Net2Phone said it would sell 6.3 million shares of stock in a secondary offering. The company also earlier signed deals with AT&T and Priceline.com for its Internet phone service. General Electric, Softbank, AOL and CNET's Snap.com are among those who own equity stakes in Net2Phone. More than a year after it was formed, a high-profile wireless telecommunications firm backed by Microsoft and Qualcomm is struggling with its strategic direction. Hampered by service delays and the recent departure of its chief executive, Wireless Knowledge has worked to make a name for itself with the corporate customers it hopes will use its mobile data services for cell phones and other handheld devices. Wireless Knowledge now has a new CEO and announced its first commercial product offering via a partnership with AT&T's wireless PocketNet service. Despite the recent news, the company has so far disappointed those who had high expectations when the venture first opened its doors last November. Wireless Knowledge's delays can largely be traced to compatibility problems between equipment used by many of the wireless service providers and the company's software. But those problems have since been fixed, according to Randy Salo, the firm's vice president of engineering. The company characterizes these problems as those typical of a developing firm. "Even though we have a lot of backing, we're a start-up pure and simple," said Eric Schultz, the new chief executive at Wireless Knowledge. But some analysts remain skeptical. "Sure they're a start-up, but they've got a whole bunch of backing," Cahners In-Stat Group wireless analyst Ken Hyers said. "They've got Qualcomm, the grandfather of CDMA technology, and the world's richest man in their corner. With that kind of backing, it's a little different that two guys in a garage." Wireless Knowledge intends to offer wireless connections to corporate networks and software applications to big businesses. The company's "Revolv" service provides wireless access to Microsoft Exchange server-based applications such as email, calendars and shared contact databases. AT&T announced last week that Wireless Knowledge's Revolv offering will be compatible with its PocketNet wireless data service. The announcement marks the first commercial availability of Revolv, which was expected to be available via some carriers during the third quarter. Now Wireless Knowledge expects the majority of its wireless carrier partners to make Revolv available during the first quarter of 2000, although Schultz said some partners may introduce service as early as December. Analysts said the AT&T deal is a good first step for Wireless Knowledge, noting that the wireless data industry has been plagued by many false starts in recent years. And Wireless Knowledge executives insist there is a solid foundation upon which they can build.
VoDSL is an emerging market that may be worth $1 billion by
the end of 2000, according to Cahners In-Stat. Some of the suppliers seeking to
take advantage of the market include CopperCom, JetStream, and TollBridge. VoDSL
services work well with companies that have a workforce of no more than 100,
according to Jim Grady, vice president of marketing for Tollbridge. MGC
Communications recently introduced its TollVoice service to the Las Vegas area.
Network Plus and Intermedia Communications also plan to introduce VoDSL
services. Incumbents are still so preoccupied with DSL for data services that
all but SBC Communications have made no plans for VoDSL.
Wireless Data Services Inch Toward
Reliability The growing dependence on the Internet for inexpensive access to e-mail, intranets, and e-commerce is boosting the concept of wireless e-mail. Current Analysis senior analyst for wireless services Eddie Hold states that carriers are seeking to generate new revenue and retain high-end users by rolling out value-added services, including Web browsing and short messaging functions. The Yankee Group expects the number of wireless data users in North America to climb from 3.4 million in 1999 to 10.9 million in 2002. Current Analysis estimates that revenues for the global market for wireless data services will reach roughly $6 billion by 2002. Recent market developments include 3Com's packet-switched CDMA equipment, WAP, the Mobile IP standard for automatic email, Windows CE for wireless devices, and the Wireless Knowledge Microsoft-backed outsourcing service for wireless applications. Sprint PCS, Bell Mobility, and other CDMA providers are rolling out wireless data services. GSM is falling behind CDMA. While 115 Kbps service will be available in mid-2000, handsets for such speeds will not reach the market until mid-2001, notes wireless analyst Andrew M. Seybold. Coverage continues to be a problem, as most customers that require access to rural areas will often be without coverage. Lucent intends to begin shipments of its
WaveStar
LambdaRouter next year as part of its plan to eliminate electricity from
switched optical networks. The device is entirely optical and shifts light
between fiber without transforming the light to an electrical signal and
returning it to an optical signal. Although Lucent is targeting carriers for the
gear, it may benefit corporate networks. One LambdaRouter is able to switch as
much as 40 gigabits of traffic. While one analyst believes the device is
groundbreaking, the analyst also admits that it is unproven.
Satellites
Reposition For Broadband
In a move that reflects the development of the industry, Lockheed Martin Global
Telecommunications (LMGT) has its hopes set on evolving Comsat from Intelsat
services monopoly provider to a full-service network provider. After having
spent years of providing international mobile services and transoceanic
services, many satellite providers are now beginning to realize the abundance of
opportunities that lie in providing Internet and corporate network services. It
is a market overflowing with opportunity, expected to grow from $200 million to
$37 billion in just nine years. Controlling 49 percent of Comsat, LMGT is
counting on Congressional approval as it looks to take over 100 percent of the
corporation. The FCC is attempting to eliminate the U.S. monopoly that Comsat
holds, which will allow U.S. companies to purchase services directly, without
the Comsat price markup. While satellite providers admit that long-haul or
high-band-width services are best with fiber technology, due to its
dependability and low cost of undersea fiber paths, the companies believe that
satellites will hold a steady place in providing access to the long-haul and
corporate connections in areas difficult for fibers to reach.
Galileo Technology ready to release new switching chip Galileo Technology this week will release its newest switching chip set aimed at making the data network more hospitable to voice. Unlike competitors, Galileo is focusing not just on quality of service (QoS) but on guaranteed bandwidth, especially for telephones connected through the data network. One of the hurdles to putting voice traffic onto data networks is reliability. Telephone connections can't be dropped or delayed the way data streams are and, more importantly, telephone service always has to be available. Galileo is touting its new GalNet 3 chip set as the key to preserving what the company terms "availability-of-service," which company officials say goes beyond the level usually discussed under QoS. "All our competitors have gone after today's applications for Layer 3, 4 and 5," said Mitch Kahn, Galileo's vice president of marketing. "They didn't think about what was necessary in a truly converged network." The required technology is known as bandwidth reservation. Ironically, asynchronous transfer mode-which fell out of favor in the LAN as Ethernet took over-includes bandwidth reservation. So Galileo borrowed some ideas from ATM, added some proprietary technology, and created its own form of bandwidth reservation, which it will deploy through GalNet 3. The key ATM technology Galileo borrowed is the flow classifier, an element that can make value judgments on packets, deciding whether to let them pass through and what conditions to place on them. The flow classifier also can behave as a firewall by dropping unauthorized packets. But unlike ATM, which creates QoS parameters when a connection is set up, Galileo handles priorities on a packet-by-packet basis. The GalNet 3 family consists of three switching processors that work with the
hybrid crossbar from the predecessor GalNet II family, with which the GalNet 3
family is compatible and interoperable. The processors can send incoming data
directly to an outgoing port on the same chip so that local traffic isn't sent
further into the network to be switched. For traffic requiring off-chip
switching, the data packets are segmented into 64-byte cells that are sent to
the hybrid crossbar, which routes the data to the appropriate switching
processor, where it is reassembled and sent along to its destination. |
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