MetaSwitch Showcases Interoperability Partnerships in Open Softswitch Architectur

Trunk, Access and Signaling Gateway Choices Enable Flexible Network Design Today with Migration Path to Wireline/Wireless Convergence

 

Chicago, IL: June 6, 2005. MetaSwitch, the industry-leading vendor of carrier-class softswitch solutions, today announced that it is extending service providers' options to deploy multi-vendor solutions based on open softswitch protocol standards. A technology showcase at this week's SUPERCOMM® trade show in Chicago will demonstrate the breadth of MetaSwitch's partnerships with media and signaling gateway vendors including ADTRAN, Audiocodes, Calix, Cisco, Nuera, Occam, Paradyne and Zhone.

MetaSwitch has been shipping its distributed softswitch architecture since late last year, and is widely deployed with a broad range of third-party access devices including broadband loop carriers, integrated access devices, analog telephone adapters and IP phones, but this is the first time that the vendor has leveraged its open Call Agent platform to work with third party trunk/signaling gateways. Key to this achievement has been its field-proven support for all of the "big three" standard protocols: H.248, MGCP and SIP. In addition, extensions to the vendor's support for the H.248 and SIP protocols, as defined by the 3GPP's IP Multimedia Sub-system (IMS) specifications, will enable an even broader set of deployment choices ultimately including wireline/wireless convergence solutions.

"We're seeing service providers becoming more sophisticated in understanding the value of open interoperability in a softswitch network," said Chris Mairs, MetaSwitch senior vice president of product management and business development, "and they are increasingly favoring vendors who are actually delivering on the promise of openness. Our interoperability partnerships on trunk and signaling gateways, complemented by our significant contributions to industry groups such as the Multi-Service Forum, provide the guarantees they need that single vendor lock-in will never be an issue with MetaSwitch."

Commenting on current trends in softswitch interoperability, Martin Taylor, MetaSwitch vice president of technology strategy, said, "Recently, we've seen a rapid rise in the number of gateway vendors implementing the joint IETF / ITU H.248 standard for media gateway control, alongside increasing traction for SIP in a variety of devices - both trends being driven in part by industry adoption of the IMS architecture. As the first softswitch vendor to support both of these key IMS protocols, we are seeing tremendous demand for interoperability partnering."

Analysts following industry developments agree that MetaSwitch is leading the way. "MetaSwitch offers a powerful combination of strong market traction and leadership in implementing open standards, leveraging its unique position as a division of a company that supplies core VoIP technology to many of the major industry players," said Joe McGarvey, Senior Analyst, Carrier IP Telephony Infrastructure, at Current Analysis. "MetaSwitch's focus on interoperability and open standards has played a big role in attracting third-party partnerships, which has contributed to the company's success in building its customer base in the Class 5 softswitch market."

MetaSwitch's CA9020 Call Agent and MG3510 Media Gateway, along with partner equipment from the vendors mentioned above, will be part of the MetaSwitch showcase in booth 57049 at SUPERCOMM. The demonstration area will also include live IP Centrex services with analog and VoIP phones and a Web interface for control of individual lines and business group administration.

About MetaSwitch

MetaSwitch is the industry's leading vendor of Class 4/5 softswitch and enhanced applications solutions for TDM and packet networks. Its widely deployed call agent, media/signaling gateway and application server platform supports over 100 Class 5 features including CLASS services, IP Centrex, Unified Messaging, E911, LNP, 1-800 and CALEA, and scales from a few hundred to half a million subscribers in both integrated and distributed configurations. Customers include incumbent and competitive local exchange carriers, as well as operators of broadband wireless, cable and fiber networks.

MetaSwitch is a division of established telecom technology provider Data Connection (DCL). The company is consistently profitable and privately held, with US locations in California, Virginia, Texas and Florida, and European headquarters in London, UK.