Lucent announces enhanced voice-over-IP gateway and application server products
May 7, 1998
Lucent Technologies today announced here at NetWorld+Interop a portfolio of enhanced voice-over-IP products, including a mixed-media application server and an Internet telephony gateway, that enable enterprises and service providers to create new IP-based applications, effectively scale and migrate their IP-based networks and improve business productivity.
A provider of integrated switching, data networking and access and power equipment, Lucent is also bringing new capabilities to the ADSL market. Separately, Lucent announced new ADSL access solutions that reside on the customer premises and in the service providers' networks as well as in chip sets for computers.
"Lucent's growing portfolio of enhanced infrastructure, communications applications and network services for voice over IP demonstrates our commitment to be the leader in this emerging business," said Bill O'Shea, president of Lucent Technologies Data Networking Systems.
MMCX 2.1
Leading the industry as the first fully standards-compliant H.323 conference server, Lucent's MultiMedia Communications eXchange Server (MMCX) 2.1 reaches another milestone in the industry by extending multi-party media conferencing to a broad array of network connections, including ATM, wireless LANs, remote access and H.320 and H.323 endpoints.
Positioned as an IP-based tool for improving real-time communications in business networks, MMCX 2.1 also adds improved audio and video quality and increased interoperability by enabling UNIX workstations and PC endpoints to be co-resident on the same server.
In addition, Lucent is making the MMCX 2.1, a winner of ComNet's "Best of Show" award, more affordable for customers to deploy mixed media conferencing for the first time by significantly reducing the per-seat cost of implementing the MMCX in a customer's IP-based network. The per-seat price of the MMCX is now as low as $130 and businesses may install the MMCX client software free of charge via CD and support as many as 500 users per server.
The MMCX 2.1 also support's RADVision's new OnLAN L2W
- 323 Multimedia H.323 Gateway, making it possible for MMCX, H.323 and other H.320 clients, such as PictureTel Corp. room systems, to communicate over the same LAN. The gateway also enables MMCX users to tie their existing ISDN-based PC and room videoconferencing systems into the LAN in a cost-effective way.
To help network administrators reduce the amount of multimedia traffic on the WAN, the MMCX 2.1 now supports IP multicasting. In addition, for the first time, enterprises deploying large networks of MMCX servers can use sophisticated network management tools such as Hewlett-Packard Co.'s HP OpenView.
The H.323-compliant MMCX client and server software now supports Microsoft Windows PCs, UNIX workstations and telephony-based endpoints, enabling customers to establish spontaneous point-to-point or multi-party calls using a variety of voice, video and data.
Customers are already taking advantage of these new conferencing and collaboration features to increase their productivity and enhance their competitive business edge.
Lockheed Martin Tactical Aircraft Systems of Fort
Worth, Texas, has begun rolling out the latest version of the MMCX to more than 100 engineers, designers and partners around the world by the end of this year. Mixed media conferencing will allow them to hold virtual meetings and group reviews of avionics software code as they begin developing the Joint Strike Fighter.
The Joint Strike Fighter, due in 2008, is a multirole aircraft for the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy, U.S. Marines and British Royal Navy. Lockheed Martin is teaming up with British Aerospace, Northrop Grumman and others to produce the first demonstration planes.
"The benefit to Lockheed Martin with the MMCX is that we no longer need to travel in order to resolve problems, share data and plan activities," said Richard Cox, virtual enterprise coordinator of Lockheed Martin. " Mixed-media desktop conferencing will save us money, save time and increase productivity in this enormously competitive business."
ITS-SP 2.0
The Internet Telephony Server for Service Providers
(ITS-SP) allows service providers to route voice and fax communications over the Internet with near toll-grade reliability and quality. Release 2.0 includes a new network architecture that is designed to offer key features today, while providing a path for service providers to increase the scalability of their networks, reduce their per port prices, increase their overall manageability and provide plug-and-play applications.
One of these new architectural enhancements is the ITS-Service Access Manager (ITS-SAM) which allows service providers to create zones for managing multiple gateways. The ITS-SAM allows service providers to set up separate zones-a collection of endpoints, PC clients and gateways-for delivering services such as authentication control, security and call routing. For example, zones for up to 25 gateways and 500 PC clients can be set up per ITS-SAM.
Another component of the ITS-SP 2.0 is the ITS-Administration Manager (ITS-AM). The ITS-AM is a secure Web-based network management tool that allows service providers to manage multiple gateways from a central location.
The ITS-SP 2.0 also includes features that enable service providers to tailor their level of service with customers through service level agreements. For example, service providers can choose to route calls to an alternative data network or Public Switched Telephone Network when the network is congested and Dynamic Jitter Buffering can be used to offer customers better voice quality.
The ITS-SP 2.0 also includes a custom application development tool that enables service providers to offer new voice over data applications in their existing networks.
MMCX 2.1 will be generally available at the end of May. For more information about MMCX 2.1, please visit the Lucent website at lucent.com. Customers can also contact Lucent's Multimedia Applications Customer Support center at 800-821-8204.
Pricing for the starter kit starts at $18,500 and MMCX 2.1 supports from 4 to 100 concurrent log-ins and up to 500 users with pricing as low as $130 per seat.
Pricing for the ITS-SP 2.0 depends on configuration. For more information on the ITS-SP, please visit the web site at lucent.com.
Lucent Technologies, headquartered in Murray Hill, N.J., designs, builds and delivers a wide range of public and private networks, communications systems and software, data networking systems, business telephone systems and microelectronics components. Bell Laboratories is the research and development arm of the company. For more information about Lucent Technologies, visit its web site at lucent.com.
<<M2 PRESSWIRE -- 05/06/98>>
CONTACT: Stephen Loudermilk, Lucent Technologies
Tel: +1 908 953 7514
e-mail: sloudermilk@lucent.com
[Copyright 1998, M2 Communications]
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