Lucent Technologies Delivers Industry-Leading Tools To Boost Conference Quality and Productivity
Business Wire - March 17, 1998 07:01
%LUCENT-TECHNOLOGIES LU %NEW-JERSEY %TELECOMMUNICATIONS %COMPUTERS %ELECTRONICS %COMED %PRODUCT V%BW P%BW
BASKING RIDGE, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 16, 1998--Lucent Technologies today announced industry-leading enhancements to its MultiPoint Conferencing Unit that improve conference quality and deliver expanded conference management tools.
The Multipoint Conferencing Unit (MCU) Release 5.0 is the first H.320 multipoint conferencing system to incorporate the advanced capabilities of the emerging H.263 video standard. With H.263, users see higher picture quality at lower bandwidths. A unique capability of Lucent's MCU, the H.320 Translator, allows H.263 endpoints to maintain their improved quality while communicating with endpoints using the existing H.261 standard.
The MCU Release 5.0 also is the industry's first multipoint conferencing system to include a Panoramic View screen layout. This feature presents a fully expanded view of a site through a wide-angle camera shot. Panoramic View is a feature of the MCU's industry-leading Continuous Presence Plus, a capability that shows multiple sites on the same screen during a conference.
"Both Panoramic View and the H.263 protocol allow participants a better, clearer video experience which makes meetings more useful and productive," said Dean Harvey, general manager, Collaborative Conferencing, Lucent Technologies.
MCU Release 5.0 also includes:
-- Conference Manager, which enables easier in-conference management. Agents can greet new participants, move them to other conferences, set up sub-conferences and provide problem resolution.
-- On Screen Display, an enhancement to Continuous Presence Plus. Another industry first for multipoint conferencing systems, On Screen Display gives conferees visual indications as participants enter and exit conferences and when a conference is scheduled to end.
-- New conference modes for SpeedMatching. With Presentation Mode, a presenter has two-way interaction with conferees. Broadcast with AutoScan Mode allows one-way presentations. These capabilities allow more locations using various transmission speeds to participate in conferences for applications such as distance learning and employee broadcasts.
-- An increased range of bandwidths for Continuous Presence Plus and SpeedMatching. Now video conferences ranging from 56 to 768 kbps can support these features.
-- OpCenter SP, a package designed specifically for service providers, enabling them to perform real-time remote monitoring and control of conferences.
-- SNMP Proxy Agent, which allows SNMP (simple network management protocol) monitoring of the MCU. An industry first for multipoint conferencing systems, the addition of SNMP Proxy Agent lets customers integrate the MCU into their existing SNMP environment.
The MCU Release 5.0 will be available worldwide on March 31, 1998. Lucent will demonstrate the system at the International Teleconferencing Association (ITCA) show in Philadelphia, March 24-26. MCU pricing starts at $24,950 per unit. OpCenter SP starts at $8,000; SNMP Proxy Agent starts at $24,750; and the Lucent MCU Conferencing Suite, a package of conferencing capabilities including Continuous Presence Plus, SpeedMatching and H.320 Translator, starts at $24,000.
The MCU Release 5.0 is Year 2000 compliant. Lucent Technologies has established an aggressive, comprehensive program to help its business customers bring their multimedia systems into compliance with Year 2000 requirements through upgrades or migration paths.
For more information about the MCU Release 5.0, U.S.-based customers may call Lucent Technologies' Video Technical Center in Denver, Col., at 1-888-345-4200, prompt 1, or contact their local account representative. Customers outside the U.S. should contact their local Lucent representative. More information on the MCU is available via the Lucent Technologies web site at lucent.com.
Lucent's MCU is used by major service providers, government organizations and commercial customers throughout the world.
Lucent Technologies designs, builds and delivers a range of public and private networks, communications systems and software, consumer and business telephone systems and microelectronics components. Bell Laboratories is the research and development arm of the companies. For more information about Lucent Technologies, visit its web site at http//www.lucent.com.
CONTACT: Mitch Montagna
908-953-5707 (office)
908-832-6054 (home)
mmontagna@lucent.com
or
Rosemary Yaecker
908-953-7512 (office)
908-735-4996 (home)
ryaecker@lucent.com
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