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Convergent Networks Announces New Product Features that Cut Voice over IP Network Infrastructure Costs by 75%
Convergent's ICS2000 and Commando™ Media Gateways Now Provide Session Border Control
LOWELL, Mass., September 27, 2005 - Convergent Networks, the leading provider of broadband voice infrastructure for cable providers and telephone companies, today announced that its ICS2000 and Commando™ media gateways are now shipping with integrated Session Border Control (SBC) functionality, as well as a new feature that allows transcoding between different digital telephony standards. Telephone and cable companies use media gateways to provide Voice over IP (VoIP) phone service to their customers. SBCs allow VoIP communications to pass through Network Address Translation (NAT) firewalls, including those installed on virtually all consumer and business routers. Convergent is the first manufacturer to offer a media gateway with an integrated SBC. In the past, VoIP carriers had to purchase separate, expensive SBC hardware to enable their transmissions to traverse NAT. The cost of SBC hardware, per subscriber, has typically been three times the cost of media gateways.
Codecs are different protocols used for converting between analog and digital telephone signals. There are many types of VoIP telephones and telephone adapters, using a variety of different codecs. With the ability to transcode different codecs, VoIP carriers can optimize voice quality for different types of VoIP telephones and telephone adapters.
"This product has been deployed, and is shipping today," said Greg Eccles, spokesperson for Convergent Networks. "With software release 5.0, SBC services are included on all our ICS2000 and Commando media gateways. In addition, these provide now provide transcoding on the fly, so you can come in and go out any codecs that we support. We're providing an integrated solution for VoIP carriers. One piece of hardware provides multiple functions, simplifying their network architecture, improving reliability, and reducing their costs dramatically."
"We've been extremely pleased with our Convergent media gateways." said Les Berry, spokesman for BroadVoice (www.broadvoice.com), the leading VoIP carrier. "The integrated session border control has allowed us to rapidly deploy network infrastructure at a very reasonable cost. That's how BroadVoice provides top quality service at a low cost to our growing subscriber base. Since we operate an open network that admits any SIP [session initiation protocol] device, transcoding is also a very important feature."
About Convergent Networks, Inc.
Convergent Networks, the leading provider of broadband voice infrastructure for cable providers and telephone companies, designs, develops and markets carrier-class switching solutions that enable service providers to economically deliver innovative broadband services to their business and residential customers. The company's Unified Network Architecture™ reduces network complexity, centralizes control, and provides unmatched scalability. Convergent Networks is privately held, and based in Lowell, Massachusetts. For more information, visit www.convergentnet.com.
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