Telco Systems Officially Unveils SIP-based Access211 VoIP Gateway at SUPERCOMM with First Public Demonstrations of Superior VoIP Voice Quality

Business Wire, June 21, 2004

FOXBORO, Mass. -- Telco Systems today at the SUPERCOMM telecommunications trade show booth 24823 officially unveiled the Access211 VoIP gateway and conducted the first public demonstrations of the superior VoIP voice quality of this innovative next-generation SIP-based VoIP gateway for broadband Internet telephone service that integrates routing capabilities and utilizes standard telephones and fax machines.

Telco Systems' Access211 VoIP broadband Internet gateway is able to provide superior voice quality, reduce cost to the consumer and ease installation, maintenance and management due to its integrated routing capabilities, unique traffic shaping ability and its implementation of advanced quality of service standards. Costs to the service provider and consumer are reduced because the Access211 eliminates the need to purchase an external router.

"The Access211's traffic shaping capability prevents heavy Internet data traffic from interfering with the bandwidth required for superior voice quality, and is a feature that distinguishes it from all other VoIP gateways in its class," said Irit Gillath, Telco Systems' Vice President of IP Product Line Management. Without traffic shaping, the voice quality in other phone gateways breaks up during simultaneous voice and heavy Internet data activity such as downloading music or e-mails with large attachments.

The Access211 customer premise VoIP gateway targets carriers that want to provide out--of-territory voice services via the Internet; ILECs and CLECs adding voice services for existing customers; and New Telephony VoIP service providers that provide voice services over broadband Internet connections to residential and small office-home office customers.

The new VoIP gateway's integrated routing capabilities -- another feature that differentiates the Access211 -- improves voice quality because the voice signal is transmitted through one less piece of equipment and the Quality of Service mechanism, which gives the voice signal higher priority over data, is more effectively implemented in a single integrated access device. The Access211's implementation of TOS Marking also improves voice quality because it digitally identifies the voice signal in a manner that allows it to travel faster and more smoothly over the Internet.

With the Telco Systems' new Access211, the end user can plug a standard telephone, standard fax machine and personal computer directly into the Access211, which is then connected to broadband Internet service via a cable modem, DSL modem or a wireless modem without the need for a home router.

The Access211 has two ports, which support two different phone numbers that can be used for standard telephones or fax machines, an Ethernet port for connectivity to a home PC, and an uplink port to connect either to a cable-modem or DSL modem for broadband Internet access.

The Access211 also provides telephone lifeline support in which an end-user can still have phone service in the event of a power failure or VoIP network failure, and supports all major custom calling features such as 3-way calling, caller ID, call waiting, call forwarding, call transfer and hold.

The Access211, unlike others, extends the benefits of voice compression technology to both phone ports. Its variable voice compression capabilities enable both the end-user and the VoIP service provider to control voice quality. The Access211's voice quality also benefits from its support of the 802.1 q VLAN Tagging standard, which enhances security for VoIP phone calls.

Among the many standards and capabilities supported by the Access211 is the T.38 fax over IP, NAT (Network Address Translation) which supports multiple IP addresses under one broadband connection, and Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol Server for establishing dynamic IP addresses. The Access211, which supports SIP, MGCP and H.323 VoIP standards, is part of Telco Systems' growing family of VoIP gateways and integrated access devices.

About Telco Systems

Based in Foxboro, Massachusetts, Telco Systems, a BATM company and a leader in network edge technology and IP switching platforms, provides industry-leading networking solutions to the carrier, service provider and enterprise markets. Telco Systems' focus is to maximize the power of their customers' networks by integrating transport, access, and packet technologies onto industry-leading platforms that meet today and tomorrow's network demands.

Telco Systems is a wholly owned subsidiary of BATM Advanced Communications. BATM (London stock exchange ticker symbol:BVC) is a worldwide leader in designing and supplying carrier-class IP packet-based systems, such as high-capacity, self-routing switches with extensive QoS (Quality of Service). For more information, please visit Telco Systems' web site at http://www.telco.com.

Visit us at SUPERCOMM Booth 24823.