3Com sets trajectory for enterprise voice communications

3Com Corporation has unveiled its worldwide e-Networking voice strategy and supporting product roadmap to give enterprises of all sizes dramatic new Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) functionality for today`s e-businesses. Centered on scaling 3Com`s leading small and medium enterprise NBX technology to large enterprises, creating dramatic new non-proprietary phone functionality and delivering a new generation of reliable and flexible e-Networks voice applications. The company has also announced it will deliver an Application Developers Program in the first-half 2000.

"3Com is fundamentally and radically changing the way enterprises can use phones and therefore deploy e-business applications for customer and partner relationship management," says Edgar Masri, general manager and senior vice president, Network Systems Business Unit, 3Com Corporation. "We are building upon the immense success we`ve had with NBX technology in the first stage of the LAN telephony market and are ready to deliver voice solutions that will address broader markets. This is consistent with our strategy to offer all enterprises an e-Network infrastructure specially tuned to support converged voice/video/data e-business applications."

Expanding 3Com NBX Technology to Large Enterprises and Call Centres

LAN Telephony

In the LAN, 3Com will expand its range of PBX-replacement solutions based on the company`s core NBX technology. 3Com`s NBX family replaces conventional PBX systems with Network-Based Exchange products that run Ethernet/IP-powered LAN telephony networks, explains 3Com SA`s carrier account manager, Sue Dagge.

"With the NBX family of integrated call processing engines, business telephones, attendant consoles and rich applications, enterprises can reduce their reliance on expensive PBXs and the proprietary add-ons required for CTI and unified messaging applications," she says.

The 3Com LAN telephony roadmap will extend the core NBX technology and application suite to 3Com workgroup and core network switches.

She points out that in the second half of 2000, SuperStack II switches will support up to 750 users per switch. Through a distributed architecture, multiple SuperStack II switches will be capable of handling thousands of users in hundreds of locations. Future enhancements available in early 2001 to 3Com`s CoreBuilder 9000 family will extend that scalability further for deployments requiring large-scale, centralised e-Network voice services.

WAN Telephony

To help enterprises replace expensive traditional voice-only trunking with converged voice/data networks, 3Com PathBuilder switches will offer an expanded range of access technologies. These will include Voice-over-ATM, Voice-over-Frame Relay, Voice-over-xDSL and Voice-over-IP solutions for smaller offices as well as large enterprises, plus VPN tunnel switches that can link LAN telephony devices across the WAN.

For gateway applications, in late 2000 NBX and SuperStack II products will offer enterprises wide-ranging performance options for voice gateways based on traditional and newer standards, such as H.323, MEGACO, SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) and others evolving standards. In early 2001, CoreBuilder 9000 switches will support voice-gateway services. Also in the future, enterprises with broadband applications will gain access to networks through 3Com devices that will function as customer premises equipment.

"For many companies, trunking replacement is an ongoing process, while other, newer companies are free to start with a clean slate, says Dagge. "The 3Com WAN telephony strategy will help them move voice and data onto the same pipe, regardless of the underlying technology."

e-Networks: Next-Generation Applications and Application Developers Program The final element in 3Com`s enterprise telephony strategy involves giving increased support for third-party-developed applications, and, to supplement those efforts, developing in-house applications that will deliver the ultimate benefits of voice/data integration, Dagge explains. "Currently, 3Com NBX 100 Communications System supports Microsoft applications for managing administration with IE5.0, Unified Messaging with Outlook Express, and CTI services with Outlook," she says. "3Com`s standards-based CTI approach allows customers to use their most popular personal information managers (PIMs) such as Outlook and ACT! and other off-the-shelf applications."

Coming from 3Com in mid-2000 are leading-edge applications that will support customer relationship management (CRM), multi-location call center processing and mixed media services such as voice/fax and voice/video.

3Com will also deliver an application developer program in first half 2000 to bring additional third-party applications to the 3Com voice portfolio.

Enterprise Telephony Strategy Supports e-Networking

3Com`s enterprise telephony strategy will help enterprises experience the benefits of e-business and e-Networking regardless of individual deployment strategies. "Unlike other networking vendors," says Barry Castle, director, voice marketing, Network Systems Business Unit, 3Com. "Our strategy provides a strong focus on the three most important aspects of e-networking deployment: application support, user access and high availability."

For application support, according to 3Com, the NBX products today give users wide-ranging applications that have been prohibitively expensive with traditional PBXs. These will now be extended for the enterprise, while 3Com works with developer/partners to build next-generation applications.

To optimise user access, NBX today features wide compatibility among business telephones, attendant consoles, unified messaging tools and analog phones. This breadth of access will be extended across the enterprise, and will build on 3Com`s existing access strengths, with PDAs, wireless LAN products and other devices.

For high availability, the NBX products -- as well as 3Com`s other enterprise LAN and WAN products -- today offer end-to-end Quality of Service (QoS) technologies and full support for network management policy controls, in order to assure application prioritization and maintain transmission quality. 3Com`s voice strategy will merge these capabilities with the added benefits of super redundancy and resiliency that are available in the company`s traditional switch products.