VON Show Spotlights Voice-Over-IP

As voice-over-IP gains more favor from companies looking to decrease communication costs, the focus of consultancy pulver.com's Voice on the Net (VON) events has likewise evolved.

Spring 2000 VON, held last week here, concentrated less on carrier networks and more on the service provider and enterprise space, a shift reflected by products unveiled at the show.

Dynamicsoft Inc., East Hanover, N.J., introduced eConvergence, a suite of software tools based on session initiation protocol that enable communication ASPs to develop and deploy enhanced services that combine IP telephony and other session-based services with the Internet.

The tools run on the company's open-architecture SIP Application Server, which incorporates numerous APIs to streamline application integration, allowing delivery of Internet applications over SIP-enabled networks. Together, the two products allow ASPs to offer call control and back-office functionality such as routing management, subscriber management and accounting/billing, as well as advanced IP services, including video chat, voice chat and Web/telephony integration.

VocalTek Communications Ltd., Israel, rolled out UniPOP, a complete turnkey voice-over-IP hardware and software solution aimed at service providers. UniPOP offers services such as prepaid calling and realtime fax-to-fax, as well as Web-to-phone service including direct online assistance to customers browsing a UniPOP-enabled Web site. It also provides connection to clearinghouses and wholesalers for global IP telephony service coverage, VocalTek said.

Realizing many companies need a migration path from the PSTN to IP networks, a number of companies also are offering products that address multinetwork applications.

Dialogic Corp., Parsippany, N.J., announced the latest version of its DM3 IPLink, geared toward application developers that want to build voice and data applications for both the enterprise and the public network. Because of its single-board design, IPLink purports to reduce development time and system complexity, and the flexibility of IP allows interoperability with third-party software-based switches and IP telephony access devices, Dialogic said.

Lucent Technologies Inc., Murray Hill, N.J., introduced a new portfolio of enhanced services for converged voice and data networks. Its Packet IN Solutions is a family of hardware- and software-based products that utilize Lucent's Softswitch technology to enable developers to create offerings for hybrid voice/data networks, including wireless data, voice-enabled Internet applications, customized Web-based personal assistants and unified messaging.

Lucent also announced Enhanced Services Authoring Environment (eSAE) for Packet IN, a next-generation service creation environment that supports multiple open network interfaces and protocols to build, deploy and manage enhanced services in converged, multivendor networks.

Cirilium Corp., Phoenix, announced general availability of Power-Suite. The interoperable IP telephony solution for service providers and enterprises combines a carrier-class gateway with software-based back-office services.

The offering is made up of Cirilium Media Gateway, a parallel processing architecture for redundancy and scalability, and Cirilium NetControl Center, a back-office system that centrally controls and monitors a Cirilium voice-over-IP network through point-and-click functions.CRN

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