Syndeo Looks to Set a Standard With 'Plus'

Cable World, Sept 29, 2003

Byline: ANTHONY CRUPI

The lack of a definitive set of standards for VoIP gear has forced operators to piece together their telephony networks like Frankenstein's monster. A call management server from Company A gets stitched to an MTA from Company Z, and when the graft doesn't take, the villagers start looking around for their torches.

Syndeo Corp. may have taken the heat off with its new Plus offering, an all-in-one approach that's PacketCable compliant. Eighteen months in the making, Plus allows operators the option of deploying all the components necessary for providing VoIP service, across a distributed architecture.

"What we've done is to break up the Class 5 switch and reconstruct it across the network," says Syndeo CEO John Vaughan. "Breaking up the functions into separate components allows the operator to scale to relative volume."

Vaughan predicts that Syndeo's full installation and support package will be a key selling point for ops. "Voice can be tough to implement the first time around," he says. "Most MSOs don't have any experience in the voice world, and when you factor in an architecture with a lot of different components, that's when things get interesting."

Once deployed, Plus frees operators to focus on the most crucial element of VoIP. "The emphasis is shifting to marketing and away from pure platforms," Vaughan says.

The technology is there; what remains is for ops to define their offerings and entice their customers into giving VoIP a spin.

Syndeo earned its PacketCable qualification in April. Plus is currently in trials.