Lucent Technologies announces Internet telephony servers to put voice, fax and voice mail on the Internet

Business Wire, Sept 17, 1996

BASKING RIDGE, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 17, 1996--Lucent Technologies today announced Internet telephony servers, a new way for businesses to route their faxes, voice mail and phone calls over the Internet instead of more costly networks.

Much as people today choose classes of mail service, from fourth class to overnight, customers will be able to choose to route their fax and voice traffic through the Internet for cost savings, or through public or private networks for quality, reliability and security.

For example, a customer sending a fax would dial the recipient's fax number. The Internet telephony server would automatically deliver the fax over the Internet and not over the public network, saving the company significant transmission costs.

For the first time, multi-site companies will be able to link their remote sites and take traffic off the public network for items that do not require its level of security, response and reliability. The Internet telephony server will use industry standard connections, allowing multi-site, multi-vendor networks using any business telephone system.

The Internet telephony server routes fax and voice traffic from traditional telecommunications network to business intranets and the Internet. Using their existing fax machines and telephones, customers will be able to save significantly with new network transmission options.

Eventually, the network management software will be able to transparently route traffic over either intra/Internet or the public network. If the Internet was too congested, for instance, the server could switch the transmission back to the public network.

"Using the Internet for global 'data dialtone' expands our customers' range of communications options," said Denis Aull, vice president of communications software at Lucent Technologies. "By merging the cost efficiencies of the Internet with the security, quality and reliability of traditional voice networks, Lucent is giving customers a range of network choices and a clear migration path to the converged networks of tomorrow."

Initial availability is scheduled for the first quarter of 1997, with general availability scheduled for the second half of 1997.

Lucent Technologies' Internet telephony server is built on technology first released in the MultiMedia Communications Exchange (MMCX) announced last October. The MMCX provides all the traditional conferencing and call transfer functionality on multiple media calls blending voice, data, image, and video across existing private and public networks.

Internet call center, Intuity universal messaging, and Internet telephony server are the first Lucent Technologies' BusinessWorks(TM) Internet Communications Offers.

Lucent Technologies designs, builds and delivers a wide range of public and private networks, communications systems and software, consumer and business telephone systems and microelectronics components. Bell Laboratories is the research and development arm of the company.

CONTACT: Ryerson Schwark

Work (908) 953-7528

Home (201) 481-6769

Email rschwark@lucent.com

or

Carl Blesch

Networld Interop Booth # 2026

Work (908) 953-7520

Home (908) 647-1591

Email: cblesh@lucent.com

or

http://www.lucent.com/internet