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Technology Stocks : Voice-on-the-net (VON), VoIP, Internet (IP) Telephony -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Frank A. Coluccio who wrote (1471)	10/8/1998 9:33:00 AM
From: Stephen B. Temple	Respond to of 3178

Frank: I want to discuss those complicated questions on IDT further as soon as I return from a visit to a local lake today. It also looks like scare tactics (maybe due to Oct)-ggg have started up as an alternative advertising-ploy to get attention. UK Internet Firm Warns Over Proprietary IP Telephony October 8, 1998 WINDSOR, BERKSHIRE, ENGLAND, Newsbytes via NewsEdge Corporation : While companies are currently being deluged with a varietyof Internet Protocol (IP) telephony systems, a UK specialist firm has warned potential buyers to beware of low-cost proprietary IP telephony systems that some vendors are currently touting. According to VegaStream, a supplier of IP telephony systems, network managers who buy proprietary IP telephony gateways -- as opposed to those based on the H.323 standard -- will lock themselves into one vendor and restrict their systems' interoperability. Michael Hafferty, VegaStream's chairman, says that the H.323 standard has been ratified by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) and not only defines the protocol governing voice-to-IP (VoIP), but also controls how networks manage voice traffic. This process, he said, is carried out by gatekeepers and determines which telephone numbers have which TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) addresses. "If you buy a VegaStream gateway and connect it to a network in London, it will talk to a different manufacturer's H.323-compliant gateway anywhere in the world, because they both conform to the same standard," he explained. According to Hafferty, a UK telecommunications industry veteran, standards- based gateways will also operate to conditions set out by H.323 gatekeeper software. "H.323 vs.2 has a similar role to the V.series standards for modems, for example, giving users the reassurance of compatibility and interconnectivity, " he went on to say. Hafferty says that a small number of companies are manufacturing proprietary VoIP gateways. While he admits this might be a logical way for manufacturers to migrate their current product lines, which connect VoIP networks, in order to packetize voice into TCP/IP, he cautions that network users who base their gateway access on proprietary technology will lock themselves in to one vendor and restrict interoperability. "Users who rely on proprietary gateways won't just be land-locked as far as the gateway is concerned -- they will also need the same proprietary system for their gatekeeper functionality," he explained, adding that users who opt for H.323 look likely to benefit from future cost reductions. Hafferty notes that, currently, gatekeeper software is fairly expensive if bought off the shelf, but he envisages it may soon be possible to obtain the core functionality free, as with other standard software such as Excel or Access databases. This gatekeeper software, he argues, could then be tailored as required, giving users a lot more freedom at considerably lower cost. That is a benefit that won't be realized by those who go the proprietary route