Tight packages: all-in-one voice and video platforms - Communications

Electronic News, June 3, 2002 by Margot Suydam

As they start to roll out next-generation services, a primary concern for carriers and service providers will be reducing capital and operating expenditures. Networking equipment vendors are rising to the challenge, developing more integrated, all-in-one product offerings for voice and video delivery.

Services such as voice-activated dialing, voice portals and directory assistance can spell additional revenue for carriers. But existing systems can pose barriers because they require the piecing together of different components, including gateways, automated speech recognition (ASR), text to speech (TTS) and telephony servers, according to ThinkEngine Networks. With the aim of reducing complexity and the total cost of deploying voice services, the company recently launched the TEN1000 voice services platform, an integrated hardware and software system that enables carriers and voice application service providers (ASPs) to offer advanced voice services from a single device and point of management.

The TEN1000 combines a DSP, an embedded Pentium chip for application execution, and both public switched telephone network (PSTN) and voice-over-Internet protocol (VoIP) network interfaces in a compact three-rack unit. The system supports preintegrated ASR and TTS capabilities from such vendors as Speech Works and Nuance, enabling existing voice applications to run unchanged on the TEN1000. Also, according to the company, simultaneous use of PSTN and IP telephony interfaces and signaling eliminates the need to add complex gateways and also protects existing network investments.

Audiopoint, a voice application company that develops and hosts large-scale commercial voice applications, has installed the TEN1000. According to Audiopoint, a single 6-inch-high TEN1000 has replaced two full cabinets within its hosting environment, providing all the voice technology it needs to roll Out voice applications. The TEN1000 is scheduled for general availability in Q3.

In terms of capital, operating, network-integration and service-provisioning costs, existing equipment for the deployment of video services can also be less than cost-effective, according to SkyStream Networks. Recently, the company unveiled the Mediaplex20 video-services router, an all-inclusive platform that allows service providers and carriers to deliver broadcast-quality video services to consumers and businesses over existing broadband networks.

The system's video- and data-processing capabilities and broadcast-level security architecture enable service providers to bring broadcast, on-demand and interactive TV services to market quickly, cost-effectively and securely, according to the company. Built on a modular, carrier-class chassis with a distributed architecture, the system is designed to increase the efficiency, scalability and cost-effectiveness of large-scale delivery of video and data streams, the company said.

Two systems integrators, the Systems Solutions Division of Sony Electronics and Imagine Broadband (an Accenture enterprise), are evaluating the Mediaplex 20 for deployment with their service-provider customers.

Margot Suydam is the technology editor at Comm Verge, a sister publication of Electronic News.