Business Services Industry

Spirent Communications Introduces Distributed Abacus IP Telephony Rollout Platform

Business Wire, March 8, 2005

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Single System Linking Distributed, Live Network Test Devices Enables IP and Hybrid IP/PSTN Call Quality Assessment Before VoIP Service Launches

Spirent Communications(TM) (NYSE:SPM) (LSE:SPT) today announced availability of the Distributed Abacus IP Telephony Rollout Platform designed to assess and validate signaling performance and call quality in pre-production networks. Spirent Communications is a worldwide provider of performance analysis and service assurance systems for next-generation network technologies.

Carriers using Distributed Abacus can confidently introduce large-scale VoIP services by taking IP telephony testing beyond the lab. By emulating real-world traffic from multiple points on the network, network operators, may avoid the risk of testing VoIP quality and performance with live customers.

Spirent's Distributed Abacus platform allows for thorough, rapid and centralized testing of service provider or enterprise pre-production networks, rather than consuming time and resources with site-by-site testing. Spirent's Distributed Abacus platform treats multiple Abacus IP Telephony test systems as a single 'virtual' platform for testing IP and hybrid IP/Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) networks. It provides network engineers with the ability to test the effectiveness of the network infrastructure in carrying voice traffic.

"For many carriers and enterprises, high quality IP communications infrastructure is a core component of their competitive strategy," said Danny Klein, Communications Network Infrastructure analyst, at The Yankee Group. "The ability to assure next-generation equipment's performance after the network deployment and before live service availability will prove critical to customer acceptance and loyalty."

Spirent's Distributed Abacus IP telephony Rollout Platform provides network statistics such as jitter, delay and packet Loss; call measurements statistics such as call setup time, percent of call completions, and call termination reason; and voice quality metrics such as MOS, PESQ and R value. Spirent's Distributed Abacus can be used to test end-to-end or at any combination of IP and PSTN points on the network facilitating true converged network testing between various locations around a city, a country or around the Globe.

Spirent's Distributed Abacus unleashes the rich functionality of the market leading Abacus 5000 for use on the network and over distance. The Spirent Distributed Abacus solution is designed for the growing community of carriers and enterprises now engaging in early stages of IP and hybrid IP/PSTN telephony network deployments worldwide.

"By bringing Distributed Abacus to the market, we are putting hundreds of person-years of IP and PSTN testing experience and technology into the hands of our customers so they can successfully roll out IP telephony services" said Bahaa Moukadam, vice president, IP Telephony, for Spirent Communications. "Successful IP telephony service rollout is a key imperative for service providers and we are proud to be working closely with our customers to enable their business success."

Network operators can deploy Distributed Abacus as an IP telephony service rollout test system to determine what infrastructure changes are necessary to make the network ready for voice traffic. In addition, Spirent offers an IP Telephony Network Assessment Service incorporating on-site Spirent Global Services experts, an initial assessment of the customer's requirements, customized network analysis, corrective recommendations and, if necessary, a follow-on service with in-depth testing of specific problems. Spirent's IP Telephony Network Assessment Service can let Spirent assist with network analysis, freeing customer resources to concentrate on the network deployment.

About Spirent Communications

Spirent Communications (www.spirentcom.com) is a global provider of integrated performance analysis and service assurance systems that enable the development and deployment of next-generation networking technology such as Internet Telephony, broadband services, 3G wireless, global navigation satellite systems, and network security equipment. Spirent's solutions are used by more than 1,500 customers in 30 countries, including the world's largest equipment manufacturers, service providers, enterprises and governments. Based in Rockville, Maryland, Spirent Communications reported 2004 revenue of $460 million and has 1,700 employees worldwide. The company is the largest business group of Spirent plc, traded on the London and New York Stock Exchanges (LSE:SPT) (NYSE:SPM) (CUSIP number: 84856M209). www.spirent.com. Spirent Communications' sales to the United States government are made through Spirent Federal Systems. www.spirentfederal.com

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