Hi Mike, apologies for the late reply.
>> I was just wondering if you are familiar with Datarace at all? They have a product aimed at the telecommuter/remote access market called Be There! that utilizes the existing bandwidth to give simultaneous voice/data/fax access. <<
Yes, vaguely familiar from their original releases, and I did a lookup of their web site and some press releases after your post.
Squeezing the remaining x % of unused 28.8 kbps or 56k potential a couple of years ago in order to accommodate a mix of voice, data and fax may have seemed like an attractive proposition in order to optimize channel utilization, and to be sure, it was.
But today such measures would be regarded as rather trivial compared to what users need and are expecting from newer forms of access technologies.
I can see some niche applications that can benefit from these products, especially the hand helds and the notebooks, and some of the lower demanding multi-use applications that can get by with marginal speeds.
But from what I have seen of their product line, when it comes to present day demands, and looking towards the future, they seem to be missing the picture (they're just not getting it yet) that they must focus on IP related features which are supported by much higher bit rates (especially if bandwidth is to be compromised or shared among two or three different applications).
It appears from what I see that they are still focusing, instead, on circuit switched solutions based on TDM discrimination and partitioning technologies, such as the split low-speed analog modem techs which allow for 9.6 for this, and 19.2 for that, etc. Instead, or in addition, they should be positioning themselves to move up to at least ISDN rates, if not DSL and cablemodem speeds.
Also, IMO, instead of partitioning their voice into TDM-derived bit rates and algorithms, they should be focusing on those which will be compatible in the future with VoIP/FR services, and upgrading their focus to be able to communicate with internet gateways and gatekeepers....whatever those may turn out to be. [smile]
Their claim to be able to support telecommuters' LAN access requirements over such facilities is questionable, also, given that most T-C applications today that are geared for work at home types are sized to be able to deliver over at least 56k modems, if not over ISDN lines. And ISDN is something that I would have at least expected to see mentioned in their press, but didn't.
Someof the branch office stuff looked like it has some good utility, for the right situations, but here too, the focus is on legacy technologies, despite the new twist that they may very effectively put on it.
Please advise if I am missing something here... but that's how I see it.
Regards, Frank Coluccio |
