THREAD ---LUCENT TECHNOLOGIES UNVEILS NEW MESSAGING
PLATFORM THAT BRIDGES
PR Wire
February 8, 1999, 5:16 a.m. PT
P
And Telephony Networks for Telcos and Internet Service Providers
NEW ORLEANS, Feb. 8 /PRNewswire/ -- Lucent Technologies today announced a
new messaging architecture resulting from its alliance with Sun
Microsystems(TM). The new platform will make it easy for wireless, fixed line
and Internet service providers to deliver a broad portfolio of unified
messaging, enhanced communications, e-commerce and Intelligent Network
messaging services to their subscribers.
The new platform, AnyPath Messaging Platform, leverages Lucent's
innovation in voice messaging, speech processing and communications networking
and Sun's leadership in Internet and network computing. AnyPath is built on
an open, modular architecture that can be distributed throughout a service
provider's network, and bridges Internet Protocol and traditional telephony
networks. This makes it possible for service providers to offer their
subscribers the ability to access and manage messages and information from
anywhere, to anyone, at anytime, with any device on any network.
"With AnyPath, we will enable service providers to offer the broadest
portfolio of messaging applications with which they can achieve maximum market
penetration and increase revenue," said J. Kim Fennell, senior vice president,
Lucent Technologies Octel Messaging Division. "We believe this is truly a
revolutionary platform because for the first time users will experience a
richness of services whether they access AnyPath via their telephones or PCs.
Now, Lucent is uniquely positioned to create and capture the growth of new
messaging-based applications."
AnyPath is a carrier-class messaging platform designed to be an integral
component of a service provider's Intelligent Network. AnyPath's
network-centric and modular architecture offers service providers the
reliability, scalability and flexibility needed to provide a new range of
applications and features to their diverse subscriber market segments
including mobile, residential, small office/home office and business.
With AnyPath, subscribers will be able to exchange messages and
information content with anyone around the world across any network, access
information from the Internet or corporate databases using a telephone, or use
e-commerce applications. For example, a mobile user could obtain financial
news and launch a call to complete a trade, or hear localized traffic and
weather reports and send a message to change an appointment from their
wireless phone anywhere on the network, even if they are out of their home
service area.
The platform will enable service providers to re-use their existing Lucent
messaging infrastructure, integrate with the Intelligent Network for more
efficient use of directories and simplified billing, and add other
revenue-generating productivity applications of their own design using ToolBox
Pro(TM). ToolBox Pro, also announced today, is a Java-based service
application creation and execution environment designed to help service
providers customize their services for specific market segments.
Lucent Technologies and Sun Microsystems joined forces in August, 1998, to
develop the first unified messaging platform that will deliver the
scalability, performance and ease of use required by telco and Internet
service providers.
"By integrating Sun's Internet messaging expertise and products with
Lucent's strengths in voice messaging and speech processing, we are creating a
powerful unified messaging solution that will serve as the foundation for a
variety of new applications," said Stuart Wells, vice president of Network
Software Products at Sun Microsystems. "ISPs will soon have a platform they
can innovate with to deliver services such as dynamic yellow pages,
voice-activated calendar and e-mail."
Lucent also is introducing two additional components of it AnyMedia
unified messaging portfolio -- Unified Mail and Visual Mail applications for
the AnyPath platform.
The Unified Mail application provides creation, access and management of
all types of messages from a single mailbox, using the most appropriate and
convenient access methods.
Unified Mail will include the following features:
* Visual access to voice, fax and e-mail headers and messages from PCs,
wireless telephones with display capability, and fax machines for fax
and e-mail retrieval;
* Audio access to voice, fax and e-mail headers with audio retrieval of
voice and e-mail messages using Bell Labs multi-lingual, text-to-speech
technology;
* Notification of new voice, fax, and e-mail messages or other information
via a wide variety of methods, such as pagers, wireless displays,
message waiting lights, and on-screen PC displays; and
* Directory access and query capabilities.
All of these features are available across either the telephone network or
the Internet. Unified Mail supports PC access via either a standard Web
client, such as Netscape(R) Navigator or Microsoft(R) Internet Explorer, or
through the user's existing e-mail client, such as Netscape Messenger or
Microsoft Outlook Express.
The Visual Mail application is similar in function to Unified Mail but is
designed for users accessing only voice and fax messages. Additionally,
Visual Mail includes message notification and access via ADSI (Analog Display
Services Interface) telephone displays.
Lucent will demonstrate the Unified Mail, Visual Mail and ToolBox Pro here
at CTIA '99, and at the GSM World Congress in Cannes, France, Feb. 23-25.
AnyPath, Unified Mail, Visual Mail and ToolBox Pro is expected to be available
in the third quarter of 1999 to service providers worldwide.
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