New Version of Open Port's Harmony NSP Now Available Helps Create New Revenue Sources for ISPs, Resellers of IP-Based Messaging, Including Fax-Over-IP
April 28, 1998
CHICAGO, April 27 /PRNewswire/ via NewsEdge Corporation -- Open Port Technology Inc., leading provider of Internet Telephony solutions, announced today the availability of a new version of its Harmony NSP(R) Internet Telephony solution that enables Internet service providers (ISPs) and resellers to create new revenue streams by offering IP-based telephony services.
This release of Harmony NSP is part of the first phase of Open Port's comprehensive four-phase Internet Telephony product strategy. The strategy addresses the delivery of fax, voice and multimedia over IP networks. Open Port will use this strategy to further advance its leadership position in the Internet Telephony marketplace.
Service providers and resellers can better serve their customers by offering a cost-effective fax alternative to the public switch telephone network. The Harmony NSP solution is a set of products and services that allows ISPs and their resellers to create new revenue streams by offering Internet fax services. With the Harmony NSP suite of software modules, ISPs and resellers can link to an Internet backbone provider for delivery of faxes, dramatically expanding their own network reach. The transfer of faxes to the backbone provider's network is transparent to the fax senders, allowing the ISP or reseller to customize the fax offering according to their customers' needs.
"Open Port's Harmony NSP solution is the only Internet fax solution that is specifically designed to handle large volumes of fax traffic with minimal impact on the existing network," said Jennifer Schuster, vice president of marketing for Open Port. "The service provider can generate new revenue by reselling fax-over-IP services and by driving traffic from individuals, small businesses and corporations over their existing network without adding additional ports. That's significant for service providers who see tremendous opportunity to grow their business through fax-over-IP, but are faced with tight margins that restrict re-investment in their infrastructure."
Introducing Open Port's Enhanced Internet Telephony Strategy
The company's Enhanced Internet Telephony Strategy is built upon four phases of technology innovations, architecture development and product introductions, all based on industry standards and open application programming interfaces (APIs). The strategy is focused on using controlled product introductions to match evolving network capabilities and ongoing market adoption.
Currently in phase one, enabling fax services, the company is delivering Harmony NSP, to help carriers and ISPs provide fax-over-IP services. Also, as part of this phase, Open Port is broadening the range of Internet fax on-ramp devices by offering the Open Port Software Developers Kit/Internet Gateway API for third-party developers as well as enhancing WAN access through the support of Remote Access Server platforms. Rolling out over the remainder of this year, the other three phases of the strategy are: introducing a next generation architecture designed to support real time, voice and multimedia service offerings; delivering real-time fax solutions; and offering multiservice capabilities, including voice and video.
Harmony NSP
The Harmony NSP product suite offers a number of benefits to service providers and resellers, and ultimately to their customers.
-- Superior Architecture - Because the messaging intelligence is
deployed inside the backbone and not at the point of presence, the
service provider is spared the costs and installation time of having
to deploy additional fax-dedicated ports.
-- Modular, Scalable - The Harmony NSP solution is deployed using the
Hub Server and Fax Access Server modules. More of these modules can
be added to scale up the network's processing capacity as fax usage
grows.
-- Works with Existing Infrastructure - Service providers will not have
to create a whole new infrastructure because the Harmony NSP
solution can be integrated into providers existing infrastructure.
This results in savings and makes the system easy-to-use.
-- Intelligent routing - Because Harmony NSP uses Open Port's patented
least cost routing and fax broadcast technology, the cost of
delivering messages and bandwidth usage are reduced.
-- Message tracking - Harmony NSP provides a method for keeping a user
informed abut the status of a given fax and the overall fax traffic
impact on the network.
-- Transaction Logging - Service providers can more accurately and
easily manage customer usage for billing on an as-used basis.
Harmony NSP Components
The Harmony NSP Suite of software modules can be configured to support any network architecture and offers authentication support and complete network and user management capabilities.
-- Open Port Hub Server - The core of the product line, the Hub Server
performs "traffic cop" functions such as route
determination and
local balancing across the network for optimal message flow. It
communicates with all parts of the system including other Hub
Servers, Fax Access Servers and on-ramps, including fax clients and
fax servers.
-- Radius Authentication Server - Third-party product that performs
user authentication.
-- Remote Access Server (RAS) - Third-party server that acts as the
traditional entry and dial-out point for modem users.
-- Open Port Fax Access Server (FAS) -- Software module that works
with the RAS to handle incoming and outgoing fax traffic. The FAS
enables the service provider to layer the fax application on its
existing network.
-- Open Port On-Ramp Manager - Lets service providers manage their on
ramps into the backbone provider's fax network. User account
information is maintained within the on-ramp.
-- Open Port's Patented Least Cost Routing (LCR) - LCR logic chooses
the most economical route for delivery of faxes by bypassing the
more expensive PSTN and uses the less costly Internet.
"Unlike any other fax or telephony vendor, Open Port has the expertise, both business and technical, to help customers leverage their existing IP network infrastructure to deploy a global IP messaging service," said Schuster. "Harmony NSP is the key enabling technology to help ISPs and resellers take advantage of the virtual gold mine of opportunities that are available with IP messaging."
Open Port has helped corporations such as Charles Schwab, Motorola, Swiss Bank and others, implement enterprise faxing systems. At the end of last year, the company began focusing on providing software and services to three tiers of customers to offer Internet faxing capabilities - transport (Internet backbone and major network services providers), service (growing Internet service providers and a variety of other service providers) and applications (customer premise equipment manufacturers). Open Port's LCR technology is a key technology of the products offered to all three tiers of customers.
Over the last year, Open Port has worked with leading ISP, UUNET Technologies Inc., to deploy its IP-based faxing service, UUFAX, with Harmony NSP.
About Open Port Technology Inc.
Founded in 1993, Open Port Technology Inc. is a privately held, international company which offers innovative and proven Internet telephony software solutions. Open Port has a legacy of deploying global IP messaging services for customers such as Charles Schwab, Motorola, Swiss Bank and WorldCom. In addition, Open Port's solutions are key components to UUFAX, a unique new Internet fax service from UUNET Technologies Inc., the world's largest Internet Service Provider (ISP) and subsidiary of WorldCom Inc. Open Port's headquarters are at 676 N. St. Clair St., Chicago, Ill. 60611. The company can be reached at 312-867-5000 or openport.com.
Open Port Technology, Open Port Technology logos and Open Port Harmony NSP and products are trademarks of Open Port Technology, Inc. All other marks are trademarks of their respective organizations.
SOURCE Open Port Technology Inc.
/CONTACT: Rand Pitzer of Open Port Technology, Inc., 312-867-5023, or e-mail, rpitzer@openport.com/ /Web site: openport.com |
