WORLD PREMIERE: THE CITY OF BESANÇON CALLS OVER THE INTERNET
Through Alcatel technology, French city Becomes the first in the world with an IP
network
Paris, July 4, 2000 - Alcatel announced today that it has deployed an IP network for the city of
Besançon, France, covering 47 city-administered sites. With this network, Besançon becomes the first
city in the world to realize the convergence of voice and data, which enhances the quality of services
to Besançon's residents while significantly reducing the city's communication costs.
Besançon made the decision to advance its already established high-speed communication network
by implementing voice over IP (VoIP) capabilities to further improve internal and external
communication. The city chose the Alcatel IP-based OmniPCX 4400 as the network's key component.
In addition, they chose Alcatel's easy-to-use digital telephones, which allow users to benefit from
homogenous services, such as managed voicemail, and employee registered numbers on the phone's
internal directories. The entire network simplifies the access to information and to the cultural and
educational patrimony of the city.
The network, for example, will allow a teacher who wishes to plan a fieldtrip to the municipal
swimming pool to transmit his request via email and talk to the swimming instructor as well. An
internal directory compiles the contact information for all employees working in the 47
administrations. The teacher needs only to type the name of the swimming instructor in the phone
keyboard for the communication to establish communication.
The teacher also benefits from other services such as knowing the pool's opening hours (thanks to
pre-recorded messages), the ability to leave messages on the swimming instructor's voicemail and the
opportunity to join him/her directly on his DECT phone. All these communications are conducted as
if they were on-site, reducing the costs.
Mr. Robert Schwint, Mayor of the City of Besançon commented: "The creation of this network is
the realization of a long-term goal to provide the citizens of Besançon with technology
that gives unparalleled access to our resources. Through Alcatel's technology, we have
not only achieved this, but will cut our costs significantly by having one network and
one management system to control."
Michel Picaud, President of Alcatel's Réseaux d'Entreprise (Alcatel's Distribution Network) added:
"We applaud the city of Besancon for its commitment to cutting-edge technology that
provides better access to information. And, we are very proud that the city of
Besançon, a precursor in voice and data communications, has chosen Alcatel's OmniPCX
4400 and the Alcatel Reflexes IP telephones to create this network."
Between now and the end of the year, 20 sites will be equipped with Alcatel technology. The city's
VoIP network will continue to grow, as numerous other administrations and companies have expressed
their desire to join the network, which will continue to be deployed until 2003.
About the Mairie de Besançon
Besançon is the capital of the Franche-Comté region in France. With a population of 122,000,
Besançon has always been ahead of its time with its developed spirit of innovation: it was the site of
the first museum in France in 1694, the quartz watch was invented there, and it was the first city to
implement pedestrian zones. More recently, Besançon pioneered the first metropolitan high-speed
communication network (The Light Network) in France.
About Alcatel
Alcatel builds next generation networks, delivering integrated end-to-end voice and data networking
solutions to established and new carriers, as well as enterprises and consumers worldwide. With
120,000 employees and sales of EURO 23 billion in 1999, Alcatel operates in more than 130
countries.
About the Alcatel OmniPCX 4400
The Alcatel OmniPCX 4400 is based on the open, UNIX-based, future-proof architecture needed for
voice and data convergence. The Alcatel OmniPCX 4400 offers voice enabled PC-integrated
business tools, mobile access to all voice and data server applications, web-based management of
voice and data infrastructure, access to all network services using IP, integrated server/directory
applications, "surf and talk" options and security. With the Alcatel OmniPCX 4400, Alcatel customers
enjoy the most advanced networking capabilities enabling business growth by increasing mobility and
flexibility in working practices, by introducing the benefits of e-Commerce and by bringing Customer
Relationship Management (CRM) into the foreground.
About the Alcatel Reflexes(TM) IP and DECT phones
Both terminals are an extension of the Alcatel OmniPCX 4400 communication system. The Alcatel
Reflexes IP digital telephone is the most feature-rich IP phone on the market. Alcatel's range of DECT
terminals support mobility, while retaining all of the existing user-friendly features attributed to a fixed
IP phone (dial by name, plug-and-play, third-party integration, etc.).
About Voice Over IP
The Tolly Group, independent US test lab, certified Alcatel's quality of services for voice and data
convergence solutions over IP. The test shows that Alcatel's solution ensures timely delivery of
high-priority, mission-critical applications even during times of extreme network congestion. The tests
demonstrate that network managers can build a network that effectively delivers business-quality voice
over IP using Alcatel's OmniCore 5022 switch and the Alcatel OmniPCX 4400 IP-based PBX in
concert with "mission-critical" applications. To view the complete test results, go to www.tolly.com
and search for document number 200208.
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