3Com Moves into Fax-over-IP Market with Open Port Alliance
CHICAGO, Sept. 14 /PRNewswire/ -- IP telephony leaders Open
Port Technology(R) Inc. and 3Com Corp. (Nasdaq: COMS) today
announced a strategic alliance to offer store-and-forward and
real-time Internet faxing solutions to network service providers
(NSPs) deploying 3Com's Total Control(TM) Multiservice Access
Platform.
Trials of Open Port's store-and-forward Internet fax solution,
Harmony(R) NSP, with the HiPer(TM) Arc and
EdgeServer(TM)-based Total Control platforms from 3Com are
expected to begin in September. Trials of the real-time fax solution
are expected to begin later this year on both the HiPerArc- and
EdgeServer-based Total Control platforms.
The move will allow NSPs deploying 3Com equipment with Open
Port software to generate more revenue with additional IP
fax-based applications and services. As part of the agreement,
3Com will license protocols from Open Port that will allow its
Total Control Platform to work with Open Port's IP fax software.
The companies plan to implement a joint marketing and sales
campaign to offer these solutions to 3Com's installed base of
service providers beginning this month.
"With Open Port IP fax server software and the Total Control
Platform, service providers can get into the IP fax messaging
business quickly, easily and economically," said Randy Storch,
chairman and CEO of Open Port. "Many service providers already
have Total Control Platforms installed and it's just a matter of a
simple software upgrade from 3Com and deployment of Open
Port Harmony software. This makes good business sense for
service providers waiting for additional revenue-generating
IP-based applications and services."
"Open Port's approach to deploying IP messaging across existing
networks will benefit our customers because they can offer IP
messaging applications without having to overhaul their
infrastructure," said Ross Manire, senior vice president and
general manager, 3Com Carrier Systems. "Customers using our
Total Control Multiservice Access Platform will be able to offer
converged fax, voice and data services via simple software
upgrades rather than making costly hardware upgrades."
The joint fax solutions will support existing industry standards for
fax and voice-over-IP and the companies will work with other
partners to optimize acceptance of the solutions.
"As an IP network relying on 3Com EdgeServer devices in its
infrastructure, we are very encouraged by the 3Com and Open
Port relationship," said Gary Hamm, vice president of Global
InterNetwork and chief technology officer for USA Global Link.
"Deploying fax over our existing infrastructure is a great value
proposition for us because it saves deployment time and additional
costs. 3Com and Open Port understand the challenges we face in
our business, and we appreciate their effort to offer a pragmatic
solution to help us meet them."
The collaboration will offer NSPs three levels of service for both
UNIX and Windows NT environments: store-and-forward fax
solutions, real-time fax only and integrated store-and-forward with
real-time fax. All three levels of service will be available on the
Total Control Platform. Internet service providers will be able to
deploy Internet faxing capabilities such as broadcast fax,
never-busy fax and Open Port's patented least cost routing (LCR),
which can reduce fax costs by 30-70 percent.
In the $117 billion fax market, it is estimated that faxing comprises
50 percent of all international phone traffic. Traditional fax
revenues are shifting to the IP network provider, and translate into
significant cost-benefits to consumers. Internet fax revenues are
anticipated to grow from $150 million in 1998 to as much as $13
billion by the year 2001. Industry analysts predict that companies
can save 30-50 percent by faxing over the Internet. Adding Open
Port's least cost routing system to that equation can add even more
to the savings. About 3Com Corp.
3Com Corporation enables individuals and organizations
worldwide to stay more connected by communicating and sharing
information and resources at anytime, anywhere. As one of the
world's preeminent suppliers of data, voice and video
communications technology, 3Com has delivered networking
solutions to more than 100 million customers worldwide. The
company provides large enterprises, network service providers
and carriers, small business and consumers with comprehensive,
innovative information access products and system solutions for
building intelligent, reliable and high performance local and wide
are networks. For further information, visit 3Com's World Wide
Web site at 3com.com, or the press site at
3com.com. About Open Port Technology,
Inc.
Open Port Technology, Inc., founded in 1993, is a pioneer in the
Internet telephony industry and has helped some of the world's
leading Internet and telecommunications companies deploy IP
messaging services, including GRIC Communications Inc.,
Motorola, Southwestern Bell Corp., UUNET Technologies Inc.
and WorldCom Inc. Open Port's technology is at the core of
UUNET's UUFAX service, one of the world's first global,
carrier-class Internet fax solutions. Moreover, Microsoft Corp.
holds a minority investment in and is partnering with Open Port to
add IP-faxing capabilities to Microsoft Windows NT Server-based
products, due out early in 1999. Open Port's headquarters are at
676 N. St. Clair St., Chicago, Ill. 60611. The company can be
reached at 312-867-5000 or openport.com.
3Com is a registered trademark and Total Control is a trademark of
3Com Corporation. All other company and product names may be
trademarks of the respective companies with which they are
associated. Open Port, Open Port Technology, Open Port
Harmony and Open Port Technology logos are registered
trademarks of Open Port Technology, Inc. All other marks are
trademarks of their respective organizations. Open Port products
mentioned in this release may be subject to Open Port Patents no.
5712907 for least cost routing. Patent no. 5369686 for enhanced
service message handlers and other patents that are pending.
/CONTACT: Rand Pitzer of Open Port Technology,
312-867-5023, or rpitzer@openport.com; or Steven M. Ostrowski
of 3Com, 847-262-1026, or cellular, 630-542-3726, or
steven_m_ostrowski@3Com.com/
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