HP and Lucent Technologies to Bring Value-Added Voice Services to Data Networks

Business Wire, Nov 17, 1998

PALO ALTO, Calif. and MURRAY HILL, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 17, 1998--Hewlett-Packard Company and Lucent Technologies today announced plans to integrate Lucent's world-class network solutions and HP's industry-leading, open telecommunications computing platforms to provide unprecedented value-added voice services to data networks.

The companies said they would integrate elemedia(R) H.323 gatekeeper software into the HP OpenCall Intelligent Network (IN) platform, a carrier-grade computer-based service platform. elemedia, a wholly owned venture of Lucent Technologies, is a leading supplier of H.323 gatekeeper technology. The new elemedia-based functionality is slated to be made available to all HP OpenCall customers.

The H.323 protocol is a widely used, industry-standard protocol stack that enables value-added voice and multimedia services to run over Internet Protocol (IP) networks. H.323 gatekeepers provide intelligence within these networks to support functions such as authentication, address resolution and bandwidth management.

HP will not only integrate elemedia's gatekeeper software, but also optimize it into the OpenCall IN platform, enabling service providers and equipment vendors to rapidly deploy advanced IN services over data networks.

Widely deployed as service control points (SCP), service data points and service node controllers, the HP OpenCall IN platform is a highly flexible, scalable, carrier-grade platform for deploying voice services in worldwide wireline and wireless networks.

The integration of elemedia gatekeeper software into HP's carrier-grade platform is targeted for Internet Telephony service providers who require highly scaleable, reliable and programmable gatekeeper/SCP capability for data networks.

"This is another milestone in HP's ongoing strategy to enable the development of services that work seamlessly on both voice and data networks," said Bill Russell, HP vice president and general manager of the Enterprise Systems and Software Group. "HP will continue to partner with the leaders in industry-standard computing and communications technologies to integrate them into the HP OpenCall IN platform."

"HP's and Lucent's expertise are a natural match," said Tom Uhlman, president of Lucent's New Venture Group. "Our combined strengths will enable enterprise service providers to offer their customers new IP telephony services that, until now, have not been available for data networks."

elemedia, one of the first ventures launched by Lucent, markets standards-based software platforms that enable high-quality multimedia communications services (voice, fax, video and data) over Internet Protocol (IP) networks. The elemedia family of products is based on Bell Laboratories research.

Leveraging Bell Labs' expertise in digital communications, signal processing, and software design and development, elemedia delivers leading-edge software products designed to improve the performance of Internet applications significantly. More information about elemedia is available at www.elemedia.com.

HP supplies communications IT infrastructure to every Fortune 500 telecommunications company in the world today. HP and its partners deliver management, network intelligence, billing and customer-care solutions for UNIX(R) and Windows NT(R) system platforms, enabling service providers to migrate from network- to customer-focused business models as the Internet and telephony worlds converge. This $6 billion business for HP is supported by more than 2,500 professionals worldwide.

Information about HP OpenCall products can be found on the World Wide Web at www.hp.com/telecom.> About Lucent Technologies

Lucent Technologies, headquartered in Murray Hill, N.J., designs, builds and delivers a wide range of public and private networks, communications systems and software, data networking systems, business telephone systems and microelectronic components. Bell Labs is the research and development arm for the company. For more information on Lucent Technologies, visit the web site at www.lucent.com

About HP

Hewlett-Packard Company is a leading global provider of computing, Internet and Intranet solutions, services, communications products and measurement solutions, all of which are recognized for excellence in quality and support. HP has 127,200 employees and had revenue of $42.9 billion in its 1997 fiscal year.

Information about HP and its products can be found on the World Wide Web at http://www.hp.com.

Note to Editors: UNIX is a registered trademark of The Open Group.

Windows NT is a U.S. registered trademark of Microsoft Corp.