Tuesday February 10, 9:05 am Eastern Time
Company Press Release
ECI Telecom and VocalTec to Produce Carrier-Grade IP Telephony
Solutions Under Joint Development and Marketing Agreement
PETAH TIKVA, Israel/HERZLIYA, Israel--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 10, 1998--ECI Telecom Ltd. (NASDAQ: ECILF - news)
and VocalTec Communications Ltd. (NASDAQ: VOCLF - news), today announced a comprehensive joint development and
marketing agreement intended to bring carrier-grade, end-to-end IP telephony solutions to telephone companies and network
operators worldwide.
Under the agreement, VocalTec will port its Telephony Gateway software to ECI Telecom's Universal multi-service platform,
which is expected to produce an Internet-to-public switched telephone network gateway system capable of serving hundreds of
lines per platform, enabling operators to build networks that serve millions of users. The open, standards-based (H.323)
VocalTec-ECI system, HI-GATE, will support the existing billing, provisioning, networking management and other support systems
used by carriers and will inter-operate with all of VocalTec's current and future products. In addition to the carrier-grade
VocalTec-ECI Telephony Gateway, ECI will also market VocalTec's complete line of client and server IP communications
solutions including Internet Phone, Atrium, smaller gateways and other IP telephony server products.
Mr. Tzvika Friedman, ECI Telecom's Corporate Vice President and General Manager for DCME (Digital Circuit Multiplication
Equipment) said, ''Numerous service providers have approached ECI Telecom as an experienced provider of reliable, carrier-
class, toll-quality, DSP-based compression solutions, to provide a quality IP telephony solution for wide scale deployments. ECI
Telecom is a world leader in toll quality compression equipment (DCME), providing full performance gateway solutions and
compression of all types of signals. ECI Telecom has patented a variety of these solutions, amongst them facsimile detection and
compression in different networks including IP networks. To respond to this market need, ECI chose to partner with VocalTec, the
leaders in the IP telephony industry. We are extremely impressed by the quality of VocalTec's products and the breadth of their
vision. Combined with VocalTec's IP communications capabilities, ECI Telecom and VocalTec are well equipped to introduce a
superior IP gateway solution and to emerge as major players in the new and fast-growing IP telephony market. ECI Telecom will
work closely with VocalTec to make these solutions available for full-scale carrier deployment early next year.''
''VocalTec and ECI have teamed to produce the carrier-grade systems needed to enable the widespread deployment of IP
communications solutions,'' said Doron Zinger, President of VocalTec. ''With an impressive customer base that includes many
major carriers worldwide, ECI Telecom is a dominant provider of integrated network solutions for the international telco market,
while VocalTec is the acknowledged leader in IP communications. Together we understand that the world of IP communications
has evolved well beyond low-cost phone calls and simple gateway systems. We are building the systems that will be at the core of
a new worldwide network carrying voice, video and data between a wide variety of devices. These new systems must be centrally
managed, have very high reliability, be scaleable to millions of lines, include security and be open and standards-based. That is our
goal and shared vision of the new public network.''
A provider of integrated network solutions, ECI Telecom designs, develops, manufactures and markets digital telecommunications
and data transmission systems, enabling network operators to deliver cost-effective services. ECI Telecom's systems provide
capacity expansion, flexibility and management functions to more effectively utilize existing networks for voice, data, video, wide
area and integrated networks.
VocalTec Communications software enables audio, video, data, text and collaborative communications between personal
computers and other devices over the Internet. The company is a leader in developing innovative, open standards products that
bridge the Internet and the traditional public switched telephone network (PSTN) and drive the convergence of computing and
telephone technologies.
This press release and additional information about ECI Telecom and VocalTec Communications are now available on the World
Wide Web at ecitele.com and vocaltec.com.
NOTE: VocalTec(R), Internet Phone(R), Internet Phone Company(tm), Community Browser(tm), Atrium(tm), VocalTec
Telephony Gateway(tm), and Surf&Call(tm) are trademarks or registered trademarks of VocalTec Communications Ltd. Other
trademarks are the property of their respective holders.
Certain statements contained in this release, may contain forward-looking information with respect to plans, projections or future
performance of both Companies, the occurrence of which involves certain risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to,
product and market acceptance risks, the impact of competitive pricing, competitive products, product development,
commercialization and technological difficulties and other risks detailed in both Companies' reports filed from time to time with the
Securities and Exchange Commission.
Contact:
Doron Inbar Leo Hinkley
ECI Telecom Ltd. ECI Telecom Ltd.
30 Hasivim Street 1201 W. Cypress Creek Rd.
Petah Tikva, 49133 Fort Lauderdale, FL 33309
Tel: +972-3-926-6585 Tel: 954-351-4328
Fax: +972-3-926-6300 Fax: 954-351-4404
or
Lippert/Heilshorn & Associates Inc.
Jody Burfening / Jennifer Agatston
212-838-3777 ext. 106 / 128
jody@lhai.com / jennifer@lhai.com
or
Jo Lee Marty Querzoli/Theresa Edo
VocalTec Communications Ltd. LNS Communications
Tel: 201-768-9400 Tel: 617-577-9777
Fax: 201-768-8893 Fax: 617-577-9888
pr@vocaltec.com mquerzoli@lnscom.com /
tedo@lnscom.com
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ECI Telecom Ltd (Nasdaq:ECILF - news)
VocalTec Communications Ltd (Nasdaq:VOCLF - news)
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