MetaSwitch Enhances Scalability, Security and Supportability of Hosted PBX and Consumer VoIP Deployments

Spring 2008 VON.x Conference and Expo, San Jose, CA: March 18, 2008. MetaSwitch today announced general availability of a major enhancement to its MetaView network management system and MetaSphere CommPortal web interface, designed to simplify carrier deployment of SIP devices.

As the market increasingly embraces applications such as IP centrex and hosted PBX, carriers are finding that the intelligent nature of SIP phones limits the scalability of their network operations. Not only are these devices highly configurable by end-users, but effective service delivery often depends on synchronization of configuration settings between the phone and the softswitch or application server. In addition, users can access options on their phone via a Web browser, allowing them to unwittingly change or disable the services they expect to receive. This all translates into increased operations management and support overhead for the service provider.

"IP Centrex and hosted PBX services provide a cost-effective solution for enterprise customers, as well as additional revenue opportunities for carriers that are increasingly looking for new ways to stay competitive, yet the use of these advanced services can be an issue because of the highly-configurable nature of SIP," said Stéphane Téral, principal analyst with Infonetics. "The MetaView SIP Provisioning server helps reduce the 'headaches' associated with these advanced applications."

The MetaView SIP Provisioning Server eliminates the hassle of managing thousands of configuration files and intelligent IP end-points, along with the distribution of firmware upgrades, by integrating that configuration knowledge with the service intelligence at the core of the network. In addition, carriers can securely delegate as much or as little control over policies and settings as they like to enterprise administrators and end-users.

The new solution is not just designed for service providers' benefit, however. Subscribers will embrace the new Phone Configurator application, an enhancement to the successful MetaSphere CommPortal web user interface that provides easy-to-use graphical representation of each user's exact phone model, and allows straightforward point-and-click control over phone settings. Across the entire solution, everything is seamlessly integrated with the existing MetaSwitch user experience.

"The introduction of this elegant yet powerful provisioning solution addresses a major pain point that carriers have been faced with when deploying hosted PBX services - no matter which platform they use," said Martin Taylor, vice president of product management at MetaSwitch. "It is not only the most advanced solution of its type, but also the only one to be fully integrated into an application server vendor's existing network management system."

MetaView SIP Provisioning Server and CommPortal Phone Configurator are available immediately as software upgrades, and run on the MetaSphere Service Delivery Platform server hardware. The solution is being demonstrated at Spring 2008 VON.x, MetaSwitch booth #1327.

About MetaSwitch

MetaSwitch is an industry-leading vendor of switching and applications solutions for both packet and circuit-switched networks. Its MetaSphere service delivery platform and applications suite enables a broad set of hosted IP communications services, while its core session control and media/signaling gateway products support a full range of Class 4/5 softswitch capabilities. Customers include many of the world's leading operators of wireline, wireless and cable networks, with deployments that scale to millions of subscribers.

For more information, please visit www.metaswitch.com.

Data Connection, MetaSwitch, MetaSphere, CommPortal and MetaView are trademarks of Data Connection Limited and/or Data Connection Corporation. Brands and products referenced herein are the trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.