Victor, I don't even know what OPWV does.;-)
>REDWOOD CITY, Calif. and SAN JOSE, Calif., Jan 31, 2001 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Openwave Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: OPWV chart, msgs), the worldwide leader of open IP-based communications infrastructure software and applications, and Cisco Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq: CSCO chart, msgs), the worldwide leader in networking for the Internet, today announced that they have joined forces to build a VoiceXML-based, scalable and extensible unified communications platform for communications service providers (CSPs) worldwide. This will be the first in a series of VoiceXML solutions that Cisco will roll out.
The Openwave-Cisco platform will provide a wide range of service-creation and deployment opportunities-from standard email to comprehensive unified communications, while enabling CSPs to take economic advantage of their existing infrastructures. In addition to the platform capabilities announced today, the collaboration of these industry pioneers includes plans for a comprehensive and rich set of additional capabilities offering CSPs a highly flexible services platform for current and next generation networks.
The combined Openwave-Cisco offering consists of Openwave's Unified Communications software, including unified messaging (see related OPWV press release), and Cisco's award-winning AS5300 Voice Gateways. The Openwave(TM) Unified Communications software unites Openwave's unified communications technology with the widely adopted Openwave email and directory technologies that are already deployed at leading CSPs worldwide, with new support for the VoiceXML standard. Cisco is enhancing its AS5300 Voice Gateways, which already have a significant number of ports in commercial deployment-with a software upgrade that will add VoiceXML support that will tightly integrate with Openwave's Unified Communications software.
By using existing CSP investments in Openwave and Cisco infrastructure and applications products, the new combined solution will offer CSPs an easy path to an extremely rich, standards-based multimedia environment for deploying a host of messaging, communications, content and commerce services. Field trials are expected to begin in the second quarter of calendar year 2001, with general availability to follow shortly thereafter.
In order to ensure interoperability and reliability of the combined offering, Openwave and Cisco have dedicated highly skilled engineers from each company to create a virtual engineering team. The team is collaborating on product requirements, architecture, engineering and testing to ensure tight integration, high flexibility and carrier-class reliability.
In contrast to legacy architectures with a circuit-switched heritage, this new architecture will provide CSPs with the benefits of "IP Economics" -- standard, reusable, general purpose components, an open development environment, rapid service creation, and massive scalability, while offering carrier-class reliability and fault tolerance for mission critical services.
"By working with Openwave, we are pooling together the strength of our open packet telephony architecture with Openwave's messaging and wireless infrastructure," said Kevin Kennedy, senior vice president and general manager, service provider line of business at Cisco. "By doing so, we can deliver a next generation unified communications solution that will enable service providers to deploy innovative voice services."
"We are pleased to be working with Cisco and feel that by coupling our technologies, we are insuring that the Openwave Unified Communications solution is world-class," said Don Listwin, president and chief executive officer of Openwave. "Together, we can offer a powerhouse solution that neither company could have achieved on its own and that will take us into the future of messaging and voice technology innovations."
"We intend to be Openwave's first customer to utilize the new Unified Communications software, and hope to increase the value of the Genie mobile portal for our customers," said Kent Thexton, president of BT Genie. "We chose this solution because it's reliable, scalable and it is designed to allow a modular migration path from second generation to third generation (3G) technologies."
To bring the combined offering to market, Openwave and Cisco are working with leading integrators to deploy complete solutions built around the new architecture. |
