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Technology Stocks : Voice-on-the-net (VON), VoIP, Internet (IP) Telephony -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Kenneth E. De Paul who wrote (2934)	3/7/2000 5:28:00 PM
From: Return to Sender	Respond to of 3178

VoiceXML Forum Issues Version 1.0 of New Mark Up Language for Voice Internet Access Number of Supporters Grows to 79 LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 7, 2000--The VoiceXML Forum today announced it has completed the VoiceXML 1.0 specification, which is expected to expand the reach of the Internet by providing voice access to content and services. The Forum membership, which now numbers 79 companies, is reviewing the specification before it is submitted to the appropriate body for formal standardization. Based on the World Wide Web Consortium's industry-standard eXtensible Markup Language (XML), Version 1.0 of the VoiceXML specification provides a high-level programming interface to speech and telephony resources for application developers, service providers and equipment manufacturers. Standardization of VoiceXML will: -- simplify creation and delivery of Web-based, personalized interactive voice-response services; -- enable phone and voice access to integrated call center databases, information and services on Web sites, and company intranets; and -- help enable new voice-capable devices and appliances. On the basis of the 0.9 version of the specification, released last year, many companies have already begun implementing VoiceXML in their products and services, and a market for third-party VoiceXML application development has begun to emerge. The 1.0 version of the specification, currently being reviewed by Forum members, is now available to the public on the Forum's Web site at voicexml.org. ``The telephone network has long had the potential to grow in information services and automated commerce like the Internet, but the difficulty of integrating them with quality voice services has prevented it from doing so,' said William S. Meisel, president of TMA Associates, publisher/editor of the Speech Recognition Update newsletter (Tarzana, CA) and one of the speech technology industry's best-known independent analysts and consultants. ``VoiceXML is a key component in letting telephone speech recognition and the Voice Web grow in Internet time.' The VoiceXML 1.0 specification is based on years of research and development at AT&T, IBM, Lucent Technologies and Motorola, as well as comments from Forum members. Another 18 companies have joined the VoiceXML Forum as supporters since the 0.9 specification was issued, including Brooktrout Software; Cisco Systems; ConApps; Gold Systems; Indicast Corporation; Intraco Systems; IP Unity; ITT Industries; Net Technologies, Inc.; Nokia Corporation; Oki Electric Company, Ltd.; Onebox.com; PipeBeach AB; S-Link Corporation; Spyglass, Inc.; SS8 Networks, Inc.; Vail Systems, Inc.; and Voyant Technologies, Inc. A number of Forum members are exhibiting here this week at CT Expo, the world's largest trade show for providers and users of computer-telephony equipment, services, software and solutions The objective of the VoiceXML Forum is to expand Internet access through telephones and other devices using both speech and ordinary touch-tone user interfaces. The Forum recently engaged the management services of the IEEE Industry Standards and Technology Organization to facilitate its day-to-day activities. For further information, visit the Forum's Web site (http://www.voicexml.org) or call 732-465-6464. Contact: IBM, Somers NY Heather O'Byrne 914/766-1475 obyrne@us.ibm.com biz.yahoo.com

To: Kenneth E. De Paul who wrote (2934)	3/21/2000 6:31:00 AM
From: Glenn McDougall	Respond to of 3178

Mitel launches Web-based phones Equipment based on red-hot Internet Protocol SIMON TUCK Technology Reporter Tuesday, March 21, 2000 Ottawa -- Mitel Corp. is veering onto the Internet, launching a slew of Web-based telephone products today that chart a new strategic direction for one of Canada's oldest technology firms. The telephone equipment suite is based on Internet Protocol (IP), a red-hot technology that promises to integrate Internet-based services with a wide range of electronic services. Sources within Mitel say IP products are expected to make up half of revenue by 2002 -- from nil today. "We're turning the telephone into a gateway into the IP world," a Mitel official said yesterday. "This is the first delivery in that transition from where we were to where we're going." Telephone networks that use IP technology transmit voice signals as packets of data in the same way that e-mail makes its way through the Internet. That's much different than the decades-old technology that sends voice as a continuous stream over a dedicated line. Mitel's new suite of products will include a new type of backbone computer architecture, called Diva, and a new IP-based telephone, the Ipera 2000, that provide Internet, e-mail, data storage and other services through a handset. Many technology industry officials view IP as the key to the further development of high-speed telecommunications networks and the convergence of telephone and computer services. Mitel, which controls about 25 per cent to 30 per cent of the North American market for corporate telephone systems, has already received primary orders for its new suite of products. Shipping started earlier this month. The new telephones will cost about the same as the older models now available on the market. A top-of-the-line corporate telephone system that services about 20 lines costs about $30,000. A company source said the new suite of products will also provide the platform for a host of future IP-based products, to be unveiled later this year. The telephone equipment and semiconductor maker has invested about three quarters of its research and development budget on IP over the past couple of years. The source said the transition to IP-based telephones from digital will be a more significant "technological revolution" for users than the previous switch about a decade ago to digital from analog-based systems. Mitel's new products are aimed at the corporate market, particularly small- and medium-sized businesses and smaller groups within large companies. A Mitel official said the new IP-based telephones will save time because they're quicker to access than PCs and will enhance an employee's mobility once they're available as wireless devices. Mitel is not the first company to offer IP-based telephones, but it believes the product sets a new standard because it offers about 10 times as many functions as those produced by competitors such as Nortel Networks Corp., of Brampton, Ont., and Lucent Technologies Inc., of Murray Hill, N.J. "We believe it's the best in the market by a long way," a company source said. An analyst said Mitel's new products can't be judged until they are released, but added that IP is clearly becoming the telecommunications industry's dominant technology. "There seems to be good demand from system integrators for these types of products," said Michael Urlocker, a technology analyst at Scotia Capital Markets Inc., in Toronto. "If you don't make the leap, you're in trouble."