AT&T uses Cisco VOIP Solutions--
att.com
AT&T Launches Voice Over IP Business Portfolio
Managed VoIP Services Integrate Easily into Enterprise Networks
VIEW THE PRESENTATION
WASHINGTON – Today at ComNet 2001, AT&T announced its first voice over IP (VoIP) retail services for business, available immediately with two of AT&T’s managed router services. The new VoIP option allows businesses to combine voice, fax and data traffic on a single integrated IP connection, managed by AT&T.
AT&T’s VoIP offer was debuted as part of AT&T’s increasing focus on enterprise networking services. AT&T also launched OC-48 dedicated Internet access, a new provider-class hosting bundle, two new Internet data centers, and Virtual Communication Services, a managed application for extending PBX features to teleworkers.
AT&T plans to add VoIP to its entire portfolio of managed network services over the coming year. Available now for AT&T Managed Internet Service (MIS) and Managed Router Service (MRS), VoIP calling will next be added to AT&T Managed Data Network Services, a fully managed global service that bundles transport, access and router management.
Jeff Pulver, CEO of pulver.com and long-time champion of VoIP opportunities, sees AT&T’s debut as a watershed. “Voice over IP is no longer just a great idea. When companies expert at voice networking like AT&T get involved, you know it’s grown up to be a great reality. The difference lies in enterprise-class engineering and delivery, which generate the quality that enterprises require.”
Customers agree. “AT&T achieved all our objectives during our VoIP trial," said Mark Huang, WAN project manager at Tower Automotive, where he tested MRS with VoIP. "We found that we saved a lot of money, and the technology was very sound and workable. There was no loss in quality in our voice service, and there was also no loss of convenience for our users.”
Managed Internet Service with VoIP
MIS with VoIP provides high-quality voice calling to practically anywhere in the world, plus flat rate “all-you-can-eat” monthly pricing for calls within the U.S. By using the AT&T IP backbone with quality of service (QoS) provisions on the access paths, MIS with VoIP is a highly efficient use of bandwidth.
NCR was the first trial customer for AT&T MIS with VoIP. Managers were pleased with the voice quality, and stated that flat-rate pay-by-channel pricing between NCR locations made VoIP both cost-effective and predictable.
For the trial, AT&T installed MIS with T1 connections and routers at NCR locations in Maryland, Ohio and Georgia. The routers were pre-configured to prioritize voice traffic with QoS, and engineered to use the public switched telecommunications network (PSTN) as automatic backup.
Because VoIP is being managed as an additional feature for AT&T MIS service, billing simply appears on the MIS invoice. Flat-rate pricing for U.S. calls includes credit incentives for usage between VoIP-enabled sites. Pricing for international calls is based on usage.
Managed Router Service with VoIP
MRS with VoIP leverages AT&T’s award-winning Frame Relay service to connect VoIP-enabled locations in more than 40 countries. Unrestricted voice and fax calling will be available later in 2001. Pricing for MRS with VoIP includes a flat monthly monitoring cost and a monthly Permanent Virtual Circuit cost.
Tower Automotive gave top grades to MRS with VoIP during a three-month trial connecting sites in the U.S. and Mexico.
“I would recommend this service to other companies,” said Mark Huang, Tower Automotive. “AT&T demonstrated very professional project management during our trial. They showed very strong engineering know-how. I’m very fortunate to have worked with top-notch
engineers on this project. The project has provided us with a blueprint for our future expansion using this technology.”
Dynamic Architecture
AT&T Labs worked with multiple vendors to create an architecture for smooth connectivity between VoIP-enabled routers, AT&T’s OC-48/OC-192 IP backbone, and the public switched telephone network, helping to ensure speed, reliability and voice quality.
Currently, the VoIP offers use Cisco Systems' 2600 and 3600 multi-service routers. Digital voice and fax signals are converted from the business customer’s corporate PBX into IP packets which are then transported over AT&T’s IP network. Business-grade voice quality is achieved through special queuing features which speed voice packets over the access path, traditionally the bottleneck for voice/data IP integration.
The architecture optimizes the access bandwidth available, dynamically sharing it between voice and data applications. The result is simpler network management and improved return on network investment.
Managed VoIP offers for both MIS and MRS use the H.323 protocol with Fast Connect capability. H.323 is currently supported by the majority of VoIP technology providers, and facilitates future integration with Signaling System 7. AT&T will also support the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) standard in an upcoming release, as the standard becomes more generally adopted.
“Enterprise VPNs with integrated services deliver the power of IP to businesses,” said Anne Chow, Vice President, AT&T Managed Application Services. “By handling voice over IP as a quality application and adding it to our managed application services portfolio, we present VoIP to our enterprise customers not as a puzzle to solve, but as accomplished fact. With VoIP we move our customers’ enterprise VPNs to the next level.”
AT&T is engaged in a wide variety of VoIP initiatives. In 2000, AT&T purchased a 39 percent voting interest in Net2Phone to help develop a new generation of IP-based communications services. AT&T and Net2Phone are working closely on a number of initiatives that span several business units, leveraging strengths between the companies to create next generation telecommunications products and services.
For more information about AT&T’s IP services for business, visit www.att.com/ipservices.
About AT&T Corp.
AT&T Corp. (www.att.com) is among the world’s premier voice, video and data communications companies. With annual revenues of more than $62 billion and 160,000 employees, AT&T provides services to customers worldwide. Backed by the research and development capabilities of AT&T Labs, the company runs the world’s largest, most sophisticated communications network and has one of the largest digital wireless networks in North America. The company is a leading supplier of data and Internet services for businesses and offers outsourcing, consulting and networking-integration to large businesses. Through its recent cable acquisitions, AT&T delivers broadband video, voice and data services to customers throughout the United States. Internationally, Concert, the AT&T/BT Global Venture, serves the communications needs of multinational companies and international carriers worldwide.
This press release contains ``forward-looking statements'' within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the Company's plans, intentions and expectations. Such statements are inherently subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. These risks include increased levels of competition, shortages of cellular handsets and other key equipment, restrictions on the Company’s ability to finance its growth and other factors. A more extensive discussion of the risk factors that could impact these areas and the Company's overall business and financial performance can be found in the Company's reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Given these concerns, investors and analysts should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
