THE FUTURE AS SEEN THROUGH TECHNOLOGY

FORCING THE ISSUE

It's not that the folks at StarVox are particularly pushy, but the latest generation of their VoIP software has a built-in feature that forces consumers to do something that will benefit carriers and business customers. Version 2.0 of StarVox's VoIP Business Trunking with VPN software provides a forced on-net capability that keeps intracompany and even intercompany calls on a selected VPN.

“A service provider can go into a business site and guarantee that even if the people dial a regular [public network] number they stay on the company's private network,” said Rich Barry, StarVox's marketing vice president.

This is an important element for carriers that want to compete for a company's local dialing business because “no matter whether you dial a private network number [within the company] or just a regular number, the VPN application keeps that on the network. Since [carriers] don't have to pay any termination fees, they can afford to offer an attractive price plan for intracompany calls,” Barry said.

StarVox's software runs on distribution products from companies such as Hewlett-Packard that supply an application platform and middleware to carriers. As IP becomes more widespread, carriers seek more features from VoIP systems to deliver more choice to end users.

“You're not going to get 100% of the people in a multi-tenant office building to throw away their PBX, but you would like to get everybody in that building as your customer,” Barry said. “Our software was designed to let the service provider offer something for everybody.”

That means allowing the end user to connect to a legacy PBX or replace that PBX and use IP Centrex. It also offers the option of keeping the PBX and running some version of the business trunking VPN solution, he said.

And that means being able to force calls to stay off the public network.
— Jim Barthold
ww.starvox.com

PULL IT TOGETHER

While much of the OSS market has discarded the end-to-end theory, the concept still has legs in other areas. Take security, for instance.

After Sept. 11, incumbent carriers began calling for tighter restrictions on technicians from competitors that had access to the shared areas of COs. And though it makes for a good sound bite, the reality of putting together a comprehensive security system goes beyond the limits of most telco personnel.

ICCE Technologies is stepping into the breach with a non-intrusive software that ties together all the elements of a security system, from cameras to LANs.

Originally developed from a NORAD study in the mid-'90s, the company's base product, ICCE Vision, integrates any form of IT, audio, video or any controllable device onto one platform.

“We physically connect all sorts of disparate systems,” said Matt Amen, president and CEO of ICCE. “If you've got a system set up to look for a hacker, we take the information and automate the steps in the process. If someone walks up to a door and tries to use a dummy card or the face doesn't match, we provide the automation for the response.”

ICCE's platform answers the question of what to do when an event is recognized. “We can cause cameras to swing, we can lock doors or we can start IT processes,” Amen said.

The company is getting a lot of ink and demand for its airport application. In an example the company uses in its marketing pitch, the software can tie together facial recognition systems at ticket counters or security with gate cameras that could visually follow a suspect and systems to alert airport security.
— Vince Vittore
www.iccetechnologies.com

INSTANT GRATIFICATION

Techno geeks needing a quick fix for developing automated voice services need look no further than aTelo. The company's Media Server (aMS) is a software alternative for the development of automated services such as voice mail, unified messaging and call centers.

“A software-based application definitely fulfills that instant gratification Jones our generation has,” said Huan Le, president of aTelo. “Anyone with a computer that has Internet access can go register with our site, once approved, download it and start developing applications right on their own laptop or computer.”

The aMS's API is HTTP-based, so anyone with a Web background can start coding and developing telephony applications without having to learn proprietary API.

“We write software, and we let someone else solve the hardware problem,” Le said.

The aMS runs on standard operating systems such as Windows 2000 or Unix, so there's no need for proprietary hardware. Java, Visual C, Sun Forte, IBM Websphere, Microsoft .Net and J2EE are just a few of the development environments from which the aMS can be accessed.

The aMS was created as a stand-alone infrastructure product for applications developers. But to prove that the aMS really works, aTelo also created the Pro-IP suite. Using the aMS in conjunction with the Pro-IP suite, service providers can deploy a set of applications on a media server. These include aTelo's ProAnnounce, ProVoice, ProMessenger and ProConference.

Though it wouldn't name names, the company said it already has a carrier customer in Europe that's using the aMS, along with one in Asia.
— Amalia D. Parthenios
www.atelo.com