Nortel launches new Succession

Nortel Networks answered some lingering questions over the future of its softswitch today with the announcement that it is launching service initiatives designed to give carriers specific services that can generate new revenues. Additionally, the company announced a service roadmap, product enhancements to its Succession softswitch and an expanded co-marketing program.

The company, which had sold off most of its access division over the past year, is promoting IP Centrex, Voice over IP VPNs, and an offering it is calling “personal communications manager.”

“What this is all about is allowing a service provider to move into a hosted space,” said Al Safarikas, vice president of marketing for Nortel.

Under the personal communications manager group, the company is suggesting carriers add multimedia services or personal call management to their existing voice and messaging services as a means to not only increase revenue, but also reduce churn. To deploy that the company is adding a unique Session Initiation Protocol extension that will integrate Succession with the company’s Integrated Multimedia Server.

As part of the larger effort, Nortel is adding H.323 interfaces to its Succession softswitches and greatly expanding support for Session Initiation Protocol (SIP). Among the new SIP enhancements are support of direct packet interworking with SIP-based enterprise PBXs or gateways, trunk side support for SIP and SIP-T, and the addition of SIP proxy capability to Succession softswitches.