NET Branches Out in its Gateways and Mobility(2)
Network Equipment Technologies, Inc. (NET) announced general availability of its VXe software release that will deliver extended unified communications features on NET’s VX Series voice switches. NET has been riding the wave of Microsoft’s expanded range of voice capabilities in Office Communication Server (OCS) 2007 R2, and the VXe release will extend the platform’s unified communications feature set. For enterprise customers who are looking at OCS to provide their voice capabilities, the VXe will allow them to reduce the total number of servers lowering both capex and opex in an OCS deployment.
Given OCS’s dependence on all-IP voice technology, gateways are required to connect those environments to traditional DS-1/PRI network interfaces. The extended UC features of the VXe release reduce the total cost of ownership by reducing server requirements and network management costs. Branch offices and remote sites will have a single device behind the router to provide local telephony network access for Microsoft Office Communication Server networks.
The VXe release will allow OCS 2007 R2 customers to provide branch offices with a number of features including native support for Microsoft RT-audio and line speed Secure RTP and TLS encryption. It will also support meshed, high availability OCS networks, automatic codec selection and end-to-end Quality of Experience (QoE) monitoring. According to Talbot Harty, Chief Development Officer at NET, “NET is providing and supporting these features as its own extension to the Microsoft interoperability specification.”
The NET VX can also improve availability for those branch locations. Using the extended UC features and native Microsoft Active Directory integration, the VXe will allow voice services to continue to operate in the event of a WAN outage. The solution provides alternate routing to PSTN, Internet Telephony Service Providers (ITSPs), and SIP Trunking connections. This will allow customers to use their mobile phones and existing SIP phones as a backup enterprise voice availability solution. Our own Marty Parker did a detailed spotlight describing of the features and benefits incorporated in the release.
In a separate release, NET announced a strategic sales and product-solution partnership with fixed-mobile convergence supplier Tango Networks. Tango’s solution incorporates both cellular-only and dual mode Wi-Fi/cellular deployments in a unique configuration. A Tango implementation involves a server called the Abrazo-C that is installed in the mobile operator’s network that works with a premises based server called the Abrazo-E. In the first phase of the program, NET will be marketing the Abrazo-E, but the plans also call for incorporating the Abrazo-E functionality into NET’s future products for a one-box solution.
The Tango solution provides simultaneous ring and single number reach for incoming calls. However, unlike the standard PBX implementation, those calls are routed to the mobile in the carrier’s network and do not “hairpin” in the PBX; in a hairpin configuration, two network trunks are tied up for the duration of the call. When incoming calls are routed by the cellular network directly to the mobile device, there is an information exchange between the Abrazo-C and the Abrazo-E. The user can also dial business calls directly from the mobile, and their desk number rather than the cellular number is delivered to the called party so cellular number protection is maintained. The system can also extend PBX features like 4-digit dialing and message waiting indication to the mobile.
Tango has had limited success in having the North American carriers adopt their solution. However there are indications that there might be some movement on that front, and incorporating that functionality in NET’s products could pave the way for adding FMC capabilities to Microsoft OCS environments.
Stay tuned.