Contact: Prof. Henning Schulzrinne Dept. of Computer Science Columbia University New York, NY 10027 phone: 212 939 7042 fax: 212 666 0140 email: hgs@cs.columbia.edu TOPIC: 3COM (Nasdaq:COMS) Alcatel (NYSE:ALA), Cisco (Nasdaq:CSCO), British Telecom (NYSE:BTY), Columbia University, Dialogic (Nasdaq:DLGC), dynamicsoft, Ellemtel, Ericsson (Nasdaq:ERICY), Helsinki University of Technology, Hewlett-Packard (NYSE:HWP), Lucent (NYSE:LU), Mediatrix, Nortel, Pingtel. HEADLINE: FOURTEEN LEADING VENDORS AND RESEARCH ORGANIZATIONS UNITE TO ACCELERATE USE OF NEW INTERNET TELEPHONY STANDARD ("SIP") NEW YORK, NY -- April 12, 1999. In a landmark event held at Columbia University in New York City last week, eighteen engineering groups representing fourteen leading vendors and research organizations met to jointly test the operation of their Internet telephony products. The technology-oriented event was organized to test the interoperability of software and hardware devices using the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP). SIP can set up and configure Internet telephone calls and multimedia sessions. This protocol was approved last month by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), the standards-body governing the technical foundations of products used on the Internet. All the participants at the interoperability event linked their products to one anothers' to test that all the products will work with one another across the Internet. At the end of the event, nearly all implementations had achieved interoperability for call setup and media capability negotiation for multimedia calls. Several were interoperable on the first try, and most others after minor changes or bug fixes were made. Systems being tested included user agents and servers running on a variety of operating systems. Some groups had brought dedicated hardware, including Internet-to-phone gateways and ``Ethernet phones'' that plug directly into local area networks. The event was able to show, for example, that subscribers can move from location to location, anywhere on the Internet, with phone calls following them automatically, regardless of the provider of the hardware or software. Users could also forward calls to any Internet destination or a telephone number. Some groups also tested advanced features such as call screening and user authentication. Internet telephony carries telephone conversations as Internet packets rather than the current digital circuits. It promises high-quality voice and multimedia, improved network efficiency, rich computer-telephony integration, advanced services, an open market for providers, and reduced costs for consumers. New services include a single identifier ("universal address") for phone, cellular, fax, email and paging, user control over incoming calls and easy integration between email, web and telephone services. According to a recent study by the investment bank Piper Jaffray Inc., the IP telephony market will increase to $14.7 billion by 2003. [In 1997, 70 million minutes, less than 0.1 percent of the total call volume, went over IP networks. In four years, the report predicts, this will increase to 70 billion minutes, about 6.1% of all calls.] Organizations participating in the interoperability testing came from the US, Canada, Sweden, Finland and the UK and included, among others: 3Com, Alcatel, Cisco, British Telecom, Columbia University, Dialogic, dynamicsoft, Ellemtel, Ericsson, Helsinki University of Technology, Hewlett-Packard, Lucent, Mediatrix, Nortel, and Pingtel. According to leading Internet telephony industry analyst and expert Jeff Pulver, the event instantly advanced the state of the art in Internet-based telephone systems and services. "Internet telephony is already reshaping the global telephone system in dramatic new ways," said Pulver. "The number and names of the companies that tested products at this event means that SIP is quickly going to have a big effect on this telecom industry overhaul." Henning Schulzrinne (Columbia University), host and co-author of the SIP specification, remarked that "the event showed that the specification is mature and stable enough to allow a wide range of implementors to produce implementations that interoperate with minimal effort. It was exciting to see so many high-quality products based upon SIP emerge so quickly." The group plans additional interoperability tests of other advanced features offered by SIP in August. --------- More information about SIP can be found at http://www.cs.columbia.edu/~hgs/sip. For additional information, contact the press relations department of any of the participating organizations, whose contact information is shown here. With more than 200 million customers worldwide, 3Com Corporation connects more people to information in more ways than any other networking company. 3Com delivers innovative information access products and network system solutions to large, medium and small enterprises; carriers and network service providers; PC OEMs; and consumers. (www.3com.com) Alcatel builds next generation networks, delivering integrated end-to-end voice and data communications solutions to established and new carriers, as well as enterprises and consumers world-wide. With 120,000 employees and sales of EURO 21.3 billion ($25.0 billion), Alcatel operates in more than 130 countries. (www.alcatel.com) British Telecom (www.bt.co.uk) Cisco Systems, Inc. is the worldwide leader in networking for the Internet. (www.cisco.com) Dialogic, the global leader in open computer telephony, provides the critical building blocks and technical services that enable partners to develop solutions for the converging voice and data networks. Dialogic products are used in voice, fax, data, speech recognition, call center management and Internet Protocol (IP) telephony applications in both customer premise equipment (CPE) and public network environments. The company is headquartered in Parsippany, New Jersey, with regional headquarters in Brussels, Buenos Aires, Singapore and Tokyo, and sales offices worldwide. For more information, visit the Dialogic Web site at www.dialogic.com. dynamicsoft is the leading supplier of Java technology-based software solutions that enable communications equipment manufacturers and service providers to deliver voice/fax and enhanced applications in converged networks. Receiving Internet Telephony Magazine's "Product of the Year" award, dynamicsoft's Java technology-based jVoIP framework combines a standards-based open architecture with innovative technologies to enable exceptional quality, scalability and configurability. Visit dynamicsoft at www.dynamicsoft.com. Ellemtel Utvecklings AB ("Ellemtel") is a development company in the area of end-user services and the corresponding improvements in the telecom and datacom networks. Telephony and Internet and their upcoming convergence constitute the basis. Thus, multimedia services for the end-user and for the media industry are in focus. Ellemtel is equally owned by LM Ericsson - the international telecom supplier - and Telia - the largest Swedish telecom operator. Ellemtel is a corporation registered under Swedish law and operating as a non-profit organisation. (www.ellemtel.se) Ericsson is the leading provider in the new telecoms world, with communications solutions that combine telecom and datacom technologies with freedom of mobility for the user. With more than 100,000 employees in 140 countries, Ericsson simplifies communications for its customers - network operators, service providers, enterprises and consumers - the world over. (www.ericsson.com) Hewlett-Packard Company is a leading global provider of computing, Internet and intranet solutions, services, communications products and measurement solutions, all of which are recognized for excellence in quality and support. HP has 122,800 employees and had revenue of $47.1 billion in its 1998 fiscal year. (www.hp.com) Lucent Technologies, headquartered in Murray Hill, N.J., designs, builds and delivers a wide range of public and private networks, communications systems and software, data networking systems, business telephone systems and microelectronic components. Bell Labs is the research and development arm for the company. (www.lucent.com) Mediatrix Peripherals, Inc. is a leading developer of PC multimedia sound products. Both headquarters and manufacturing facilities are located in Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada. Manufacturing facilities maintain ISO 9002 standards. The company markets its products to business, industry, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and to end-users. (www.mediatrix.com) Nortel Networks delivers value to customers around the world through Unified Networks* solutions, spanning mission-critical telephony and IP-optimized networks. Customers include public and private enterprises and institutions; Internet service providers; local, long-distance, cellular and PCS communications companies, cable television carriers, and utilities. Nortel Networks' common shares are listed on the New York, Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, and London stock exchanges. Nortel Networks had 1998 revenues of US$17.6 billion and has approximately 75,000 employees worldwide. (www.nortel.com) Pingtel is building hardware and software products for use in business telephone systems. A development-stage company backed by major industry and venture partners, Pingtel will announce and release its products in 1999. The company is based in the 128 corridor near Boston, and more information can be found on the web at www.pingtel.com.