June 30, 1998
Contact:
Richard Byrd
Nortel
919-992-4137
rbyrd@nortel.com
Nortel (Northern Telecom) Introduces IPConnect- Carrier-Class, Business-Ready IP Telephony Solutions
RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, NC- Nortel (Northern Telecom) [NYSE: NT/TSE: NTL] has combined the rich feature menu and reliability of the voice network
with the efficiencies of the IP network into its new IPConnect* Voice over IP/IP telephony portfolio. The industry's first VoIP set of solutions to recognize that one
platform does not satisfy all networking needs, IPConnect will allow service providers to offer their customers true business telephony services over a managed,
carrier-grade network.
"This IPConnect portfolio starts the realization of Nortel's vision of delivering webtone-the IP multiservice network of the future," said Clarence J. Chandran, president,
Nortel Public Carrier Networks. "As the industry moves from circuit-switched networks to packet networks, Nortel will lead in providing customer-sensitive, reliable
networks which enable the established service providers, the new carriers and the Internet service providers to capitalize on their investments and speed to success."
"We're very excited about the competitive advantages Nortel's IPConnect can offer a carrier," said Farooq Hussain, executive vice president, AGIS Communications.
"Nortel's architecture exactly maps to the service model that we've developed. Nortel has teamed with AGIS to provide the solution that fits our needs at the right time."
Nortel's IPConnect library contains a suite of carrier-grade IP Gateways that will tap the service capability of multiple switch platforms, as well as a common
gatekeeper and powerful management/billing systems. With unparalleled IP port capacity, unmatched feature availability, true carrier-class reliability, and low-latency,
Nortel's IPConnect solutions define the next generation of managed IP-based business telephony networks for service providers.
While others attempt to re-invent the hundreds of telephony capabilities common in today's business networks, IPConnect solutions will deliver the full feature set
immediately by making them available today in an IP network. IPConnect solutions will also deliver exciting new services, some of which are unique to IP networks, that
can transform business and consumer networks:
ú Telephony Services such as single-stage dialing, voicemail, call forward, three-way calling, calling line ID, pre-paid calling cards among others.
ú Mobile, Virtual Desktops. Employees can dial into the IP network from anywhere-home, branch office, airport, hotel-and enjoy data connectivity to the corporate
network as well as "Worldwide IP Centrex" -- fully featured voice from the corporate network.
ú Advanced Services: unified messaging, virtual multiple lines, multimedia conferencing, and Internet telephony applications such as Nortel's Internet Call Waiting and
Internet Voice Button.
ú Call Center Applications. Transport of call-center traffic over a low-cost IP network to centralized or distributed agents.
"With the launch of IPConnect, Nortel is setting new standards on price and performance in the delivery of telephony services over a rugged, secure IP network," said
Glenn Falcao, president, Nortel Internet and Service Provider Networks. "We're offering our customers more than the cost advantages of delivering services over an IP
network. We have now enabled the delivery of new, innovative services that will enhance their revenue."
Nortel's IPConnect portfolio includes a family of IP gateways-that serves as an interface between a managed IP network and the voice network, and provides the
network's service logic-and a common IP gatekeeper. Scaling to suit customer requirements and delivering configurations from 24 to 100,000 IP ports, IPConnect
gateways will have open, non-proprietary interfaces:
ú i-Tone Gateway offers best-in-class voice and real-time fax over IP for immediate service provider deployment supporting 24-96 IP port configurations.
ú CVX 1800 Gateway, an application of the CVX 1800 remote access switch, scales up to 672 IP ports and supports voice and modem dialup on a multi-service carrier
grade access vehicle. The CVX 1800 offers an architecture that forwards a packet in one clock cycle (no forwarding delay) resulting in the lowest-latency IP voice
offering on the market.
ú MMCS Gateway scales to 1,800 IP ports and is designed for service providers who want to offer the full benefit of IP Centrex and a broad suite of business telephony
services. The gateway is implemented on a fully redundant, carrier-class platform that supports more than 100 country-specific interfaces for widespread international
deployment.
ú DMS IP Gateway, an application of the Nortel DMS-100 central office switch, offers configurations supporting up to 100,000 IP ports and full access to all the
world-class, end-user features on the public switched telephone network over an IP network. In conjunction with the Nortel 1-Meg Modem, the DMS IP Gateway
provides integrated high-speed Internet access and VoIP.
ú IPConnect Gatekeeper: network intelligence which provides dialed directory number to IP address mapping, directory assistance and gateway resource allocation. The
gatekeeper functionality can either be integrated into the IP Gateway or deployed as a standalone device on a standard industry platform. The IPConnect Gatekeeper
allows for the rapid development and deployment of new services and is common to the entire gateway family.
Nortel IPConnect gateways are fully H.323 compliant, and support compression methods G.723.1, G.729A, G.711. The family also supports standard telephony protocols
including SS7 ISUP, ISDN PRI, R2, DPNSS and QSIG and includes full OAM&P capability, including carrier billing, storage and file transfer capabilities.
"IPConnect allows service providers to offer business-ready IP telephony services globally with the reliability and functionality they're expecting," said Al Bender,
general manager, Nortel VoIP Network Solutions. "Nortel is enabling voice and fax communication over IP links in an all-IP office to be as universal as communicating
over today's public dial and cellular phones."
Nortel's IPConnect solutions will incorporate powerful network management systems that provide network surveillance and management from a centralized operations
center and a billing system that consolidates billing across the managed IP network.
The i-Tone Gateway is available today and is being rolled out in customer accounts. Market trials for IPConnect are scheduled to begin with lead customers in fourth
quarter 1998.
IPConnect continues the leadership of Nortel's existing and ever-expanding set of voice over data network products which includes voice over ATM, voice over frame
relay and voice over IP solutions delivered by Nortel's Passport portfolio and the Nortel Micom portfolio. The portfolio also builds on Nortel's industry leadership in the
Internet telephony business with the company's powerful marketing alliance with Microsoft and the industry's first carrier-class Internet telephony applications such as
Internet Call Waiting and Internet Voice Button.
Nortel works with customers in more than 150 countries and territories to design, build and integrate their communications products and advanced digital networks.
Customers include public and private institutions; Internet service providers; local, long-distance, cellular mobile and PCS communications companies; cable television
companies; and utilities.
Nortel had 1997 revenues of $US 15.5 billion and has approximately 73,000 employees worldwide.
*Nortel, Northern Telecom, DMS, CVX 1800, MMCS, Passport and IPConnect are trademarks of Northern Telecom. i-Tone is a trademark of ArelNet. Micom is a
trademark of Micom Communications Corp., a Northern Telecom company.
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