Siemens Teams With GRIC to Deliver Global IP Telephony
October 13, 1998 SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE) via
NewsEdge Corporation --
Partnership Agreement Enables Siemens to
Provide Billing, Settlement Services, and Data VPN Roaming
over the Internet to Internet Telephony Customers
Siemens Information and Communication
Networks and GRIC Communications, Inc.,
have agreed to jointly develop and market
Internet Protocol (IP) telephony solutions,
intensifying an existing marketing and sales
relationship, both companies announced
today.
As part of this agreement, Siemens will team
with GRIC to deliver new IP telephony
software features and applications to
customers that address the needs of both
enterprises and ISPs (Internet Service
Providers). Immediate joint marketing
initiatives call for GRIC to introduce the
Siemens Hicom Xpress(R) Telephony Internet
Server (TIS) and related peripherals to the
GRIC Alliance(tm) members on a worldwide
basis. In turn, Siemens will include GRIC's line
of client/server software as part of the
Hicom Xpress solution.
Additionally, Siemens will integrate the latest
version of the GRICphone(tm) application
programming interface (API) into its Hicom
Xpress Telephony Internet Server. The API is
based on the recently announced Open
Settlement Protocol (OSP), which has
received working-group approval within the
European Telecommunications Standards
Institute (ETSI) TIPHON standards
organization. Customer services enabled by
GRIC's API include global authentication,
network management, policy-based
termination selection, and billing and
settlement services.
For IP data users, the GRIC API enables
customers to utilize data Virtual Private
Networks (VPNs) to connect their intranet to
the Internet via secure connections that
bypass enterprise firewalls. For IP telephony
users, the API enables ISPs and telcos in the
GRICphone network to use Hicom Xpress to
increase their global presence, enhance
revenues and increase interoperability with
other service providers and enterprise
customers throughout the world.
"Through the Siemens/GRIC alliance,
enterprises can now access their voice and
data networks via the Internet," said Dr.
Hong Chen, president and CEO of GRIC
Communications, Inc. "With Siemens'
incorporation of GRIC's API into its Telephony
Internet Server, close to 400 service
providers and telcos in the worldwide GRIC
alliance can easily offer enterprise customers
high-quality IP phone service and data
VPNs."
"With GRIC as one of our strategic partners,
we open up a world of interoperable solutions
which are globally deployed using industry
standards. We also assure that both
enterprises and service providers can
cooperate harmoniously to provide basic
business essentials such as billing and
settlements for IP Telephony services. This is
of paramount importance and will accelerate
the drive toward convergence," said John
Rasmus, Senior Director, IP Telephony
Solutions, Enterprise Networks Division,
Siemens Information and Communication
Networks.
Products and solutions resulting from today's
agreement will address growing requirements
for security and authentication and the
emergence of electronic commerce in the
extranet environment. In addition, the
parties are developing future offerings
designed to enable Call Detail Recording
(CDR) and Call Service Record (CSR) linking
between one enterprise and another.
The Hicom Xpress Telephony Internet Server
enables end users to place voice and
real-time fax calls over a corporate intranet
or the Internet. The Hicom Xpress gateway
is built on a NT 4.0 server and features voice
and real-time fax-over IP functionality and a
call processing (CP) server capable of
managing up to 4000 ports on a single
domain, and a gatekeeper server to insure
phone extension to IP-addressing
interworking. The Hicom Xpress server
provides interoperability between the Public
Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) and a
corporate or public IP network.
"Siemens is proud of its ability to deliver
global solutions, service and support," said
George Nolen, President, Enterprise Networks
Division, Siemens Information and
Communication Networks. "Today's
agreement allows us to extend the same kind
of global capabilities to our customers in the
Internet telephony market."
About GRIC
GRIC Communications, Inc. is the leader in
providing an integrated, global IP
infrastructure for secure settlement, network
management, roaming, fax and telephony
services at competitive rates. The nearly 400
worldwide telcos, PTTs and ISPs in the GRIC
Alliance deploy GRIC's IP infrastructure to
integrate traditional services with Internet
telecommunications. Complex tasks
performed on this platform include
authentication, flexible routing, settlement,
provisioning, billing, customer service and
self-service automation. GRIC offers more
than 2,700 POPs in over 100 countries.
Privately held, GRIC Communications, Inc. is
headquartered in Milpitas, CA., and has
offices in the U.S., Asia and Europe. For
additional information, visit GRIC's Web site
at www.gric.com or call 408-955-1920.
About Siemens Information and
Communication Networks
Siemens Information and Communication
Networks is a leading provider of information
and telecommunications solutions to public
network service providers and enterprise
customers in North America. The company is
a subsidiary of Siemens AG, a global business
with $64 billion in sales in the fiscal year
ended September 1997. Home page:
www.icn.siemens.com.
GRIC, GRICphone, GRIC Alliance and the GRIC
logo are trademarks of GRIC Communications,
Inc. Hicom Xpress is a registered trademark
of Siemens A.G. All other trademarks
mentioned in this document are the property
of their respective owners. |
