Lucent to Unveil Software to Carry Voice on Data Networks
Bloomberg News
September 16, 1998, 4:55 p.m. ET
Lucent to Unveil Software to Carry Voice on Data Networks
Murray Hill, New Jersey, Sept. 16 (Bloomberg) -- Lucent
Technologies Inc., the top seller of phone equipment in North
America, tomorrow will unveil software that makes it easier for
companies to carry voice phone calls on data networks.
The product also helps new Internet-style data networks,
like the one being built by Qwest Communications International
Inc., communicate with traditional voice networks like those
owned by the Baby Bells. Previously, it was cumbersome for the
two types of networks to exchange calls and data.
More phone companies are trying to transform their networks
to carry data and voice to keep up with mushrooming Internet
traffic. Lucent's software is expected to be attractive to both
new companies building data networks and older companies updating
their systems to carry e-mail and other data.
''We have all been communicating over a network that's built
for voice. Now we need to send voice over a data network,'' said
Steven Levy, an analyst at Lehman Brothers Inc., who rates Lucent
''neutral.''
The new software, code-named Saras, will be unveiled at a
meeting of analysts at Lucent's Murray Hill, New Jersey,
headquarters.
Lucent shares, which have almost doubled this year, rose 1
7/8 to 76 3/8.
How It Works
The software is a win for Lucent, which is racing against
traditional rivals like Northern Telecom Ltd. and upstarts like
Cisco Systems Inc., to give phone companies the equipment they
need to upgrade their networks.
Traditional circuit-switched networks tie up an entire
circuit for a call, allowing only one call to be placed over a
piece of the network at a time.
Internet-style data networks break information, like a
person's voice, into small pieces called packets, send them over
the network and reassemble them at the receiving end. That way
several calls can go over the same lines at once.
For calls that travel between packet and circuit networks,
the Saras software lets the packet network know how much space
will be needed for a call and also reserves a circuit for the
call on the circuit network.
Lucent said it's signed up several customers to test the
software, though it declined to be more specific. The software,
which was developed by a group of Bell Laboratories researchers,
is expected to be widely available in the first quarter.
The Saras software also makes it easier for phone companies
to offer enhanced voice features like call forwarding and
conferencing on their networks as well as bill customers for
calls that cross to different types of networks.
Both new and old phone companies have said they will use
packet technology to carry voice in the future. Qwest is building
a new network and AT&T Corp. and MCI WorldCom Inc. plan to update
their current system.
''There's a big opportunity here with the new companies as
well as the incumbents that have to transition to the new
world,'' analyst Levy said.
--Andrew Brooks in the San Francisco newsroom (415) 912-2980/gcr. |
