Orion Cellular, a subsidiary of Orion Telecom, has announced the release of Uniswitch, a sophisticated GSM switch for mobile corporate communications that enables a number of cellular applications to be run simultaneously. These include voice calls, toll-free calls, SMS messaging, GPRS communications (when it comes) and a host of application layer business derivatives.
Orion has invested significantly in the development of Uniswitch, that is both programmable and modular and which will interface to any corporate LAN or PABX. Wireless connectivity is expected to become mainstream in a year or two, not only for intra-building but for external communications too. Up to now this has suffered from cost and physical interface limitations.
While the cost of cellular communications is still an issue, Uniswitch overcomes the physical interface by offering a managed, controllable GSM switching environment that supports multiple protocols and multiple applications. Once GPRS is released, providing the cost model is acceptable to the corporate, this is likely to represent a very viable complementary connection to fixed-line networks.
Orion Cellular already has many Uniswitch systems installed at its major corporate clients throughout SA. While the bulk of these are being used in standard cellular switching applications, the deployment of this technology enables Orion to offer a diverse range of advanced applications to the same clients without any change in hardware costs or interface connectivity - issues that would otherwise beset other systems.
Most of Orion`s new technology development is in preparation for what the world networks are gearing up for, this being total wireless connectivity for personal and business use. There has been much hype around 2.5G and even a little around 3G going into the future but it will be sometime before real applications are developed for these. Orion`s view is to make the interfacing to the networks as easy as possible for business so that remote applications can be developed with minimum cost and time.
Don Tredoux, MD of Orion Cellular, says: "We all know how launching of technology means nothing to most people and most companies. Its only when a tangible, developed application is on the table that most users and companies will understand the real benefit and buy into the concepts. The failure of WAP is a classic example of this."
Uniswitch is based on rack-mounted equipment and is scalable to any number of GSM modems. The new development, to be launched later in 2002, will interface directly to the LAN via TCP/IP, giving system administrators a more powerful interface for programming, reporting and database management.
E-mail contact@oriontele.com or visit www.oriontele.com.
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