Press Release 6400 Atlantic Blvd., Suite 190 Norcross, GA 30071
MSP Consortium(tm) Announced Specification Separates DSP Software From Board Hardware
For Immediate Release August 15, 1997 Contact: Martin Lippman Commetrex Corp. voice: 770-449-7775 x370 fax: 770-242-7353 e-mail: mlippman@commetrex.com
Norcross, GA Seven computer-telephony (C-T) vendors have joined forces to develop a new computer-telephony value-adding interface specification they call the Media Stream Processor (MSP). Executives from BICOM, Inc., Calibre Industries, Inc., Centigram Communications Corp., Cole Technical Services, Commetrex Corp., Pika Technologies, Inc., and QNX Software Systems, Ltd. believe the C-T industry will benefit from a software specification which decouples DSP-based media-processing technologies from the underlying hardware resources. The group is targeting availability of the specification, which will be published on the Web, by the end of the year.
"What this means", says Mike Coffee, MSP Evangelist and President of Commetrex, "is that companies can choose to develop MSP-compliant hardware or media-processing software (firmware), they don't have to do both."
Jim Pinard, CTO of Pika Technologies, adds, "Until now, a hardware resource was usually sold with proprietary media-processing facilities, such as voice or fax. Our objective with the MSP specification is to create new competitive space by separating the hardware from the software. We want to make voice, fax, data, text-to-speech, speech recognition, and video, all produced by different companies, capable of coexisting on the same hardware resource. This philosophy has been successful in the PC world, and we think it can be achieved at the C-T resource-board level."
Tony Blake, VP, Development, at Centigram, says "We are interested in reducing the cost of meeting the imminent market demand for integrated media. We believe the MSP Specification can put us in better control of our strategic platform, while reducing our costs. A successful MSP Specification will allow us to separate the decision to make or buy boards from the decision of where to get the best media-processing technology. We can easily put our TTS technology on an MSP-compliant board. Plus, we should have multiple sources for MSP-compliant media-processing products."
"Since it is hardware- and OS-independent, the MSP specification makes for a truly open system." says Greg Bergsma, Corporate and Technical Communications Manager at QNX Software Systems. "We are pleased to contribute our experience in implementing OS technology that follows open standards (such as POSIX). Our QNX/Neutrino product offers the MSP implementer exceptional reliability through features like memory protection and a true microkernel architecture * during development and at runtime. And its embedded TCP/IP stack will enable vendors to provide Internet connectivity and integrated streaming media on a single board."
Leonard Gorczyca, President of Calibre Industries, echoes QNX's Bergsma: "As an ISP, we are concerned about the C-T industry's response to the need for integrated-media platforms. The MSP can eliminate one of the biggest barriers we see to our market's embrace of additional media. ISPs need cost-effective support for integrated media, but it's no good unless businesses have it as well. That's what we and our customers are looking for in the MSP.
Mehmet Binal, CEO of BICOM says his company has signed up to develop an optional MSP daughter-board interface. "Whenever you can create a new value-adding interface which makes your industry more efficient everyone wins", says Binal. "One of the biggest barriers to market entry in computer-telephony is the development and international-approval process required for public-network interfaces. The MSP daughterboard will allow the development of those interfaces to be decoupled from the DSP-resource board. While MVIP does that to some extent, it's not cost-effective for many configurations. The MSP daughter board should create an independent market for MSP-compliant telephony interfaces, and we intend to lead the way."
Terry Vaught, of Cole Technical Services, says his company brings the perspective of the applications developer to the MSP Consortium. "Too much of our time on a development project is spent working out the complexities of multiple fixed-function boards from different vendors. With today's powerful DSPs it makes no sense. Separate boards cost more and take development resources away from the meat of the application. Integrated-media systems is the only way to go considering today's technology. MSP will hasten that day.
About BICOM, Inc. BICOM, Inc. is a leading domestic and international supplier of Dialogic- compatible voice processing platforms which incorporate the latest DSP technology. BICOM provides its customers with expertise in telephony, digital signal processing, software and voice/fax systems. Its worldwide installed base includes companies from international electronics giants to small VARs, OEMs and end users. BICOM is located at 755 Main Street, Bldg. #3, Monroe, CT 06468. 203-268-4484 www.bicom-inc.com
About Calibre Industries, Inc. Calibre Industries, Inc. is a leading provider of telephony, computer, Internet, and educational products. Calibre Industries develops high-value computer-telephony applications and systems, including sophisticated switching support, global network integration, mixed-media support, and high-capacity solutions. Calibre Industries is also known as a solutions company, developing projects with major companies and government entities. Calibre is also one of Southern California's leading Internet service providers with ATM RING2 connections to the Internet. Calibre Industries Corporate Offices are located at 1249 South Diamond Bar Blvd., Diamond Bar, CA, (909) 941-3420 www.calibre.net
About Centigram Communications Corp. Centigram is a leading global provider of wireless and wireline messaging and communications solutions. Centigram delivers communications solutions by integrating voice, data and facsimile on its Series 6 communications server and by providing access to this multimedia information through a telephone or PC. The Series 6 platform is based on industry-standard hardware and software. Centigram is headquartered at 91 East Tasman Drive, San Jose, Calif., 95134. Phone (408) 944-0250, fax (408) 428-3732, World Wide Web http://www.centigram.com. Centigram has sales and support offices in North America, Europe, Asia, Latin America and Australia.
About Cole Technical Services Cole Technical Services provides computer-telephony applications consulting services to businesses in North America and Europe. Cole focuses on implementing large, technically advanced MVIP-based systems. Cole has created a wide range of systems including pre-paid phone cards, high-density service provider systems, text-to-speech, voice recognition, fax, and large-scale switching systems. Cole is headquartered at 1800 North Hills Road #403, York, PA 17402. Phone: 717-840-0858, e-mail: terry_vaught@compuserve.com.
About Commetrex Corporation Commetrex Corporation combines the skills of DSP engineering and computer- system design with a deep understanding of computer-telephony to provide innovative high-value C-T developer products. Commetrex's premiere product, MultiFax, a fax software add-in to "voice boards" has been ported to the Natural MicroSystems VBX and AG boards and BICOM's LS-E family of voice boards. Commetrex's M-Series fax boards was announced in February 1997. The Company is currently porting MultiFax to four additional "partner platforms". Commetrex is located at 6400 Atlantic Blvd., Suite 190, Norcross, GA 30071, voice 770-449-7775, fax 770-242-7353, World Wide Web www.commetrex.com.
About Pika Technologies, Inc.
PIKA Technologies Inc., is a leading developer of high-quality computer- telephony platforms. Computer-telephony represents the convergence of telecommunications and data-management technology, using the power of the computer to merge and enhance both functions in an open environment. Employing leading-edge technology to achieve superior voice, signal detection and digital signal processing, PIKA boards are prominently used worldwide throughout the voice processing industry. Applications for PIKA products include Voice, Caller ID, Pulse-to-DTMF, Predictive Dialing, Fax, Speech Recognition, Text to Speech and Conferencing. The company was founded in 1987 and is a privately owned Canadian corporation. Pika is located at 155 Terence Matthews Crescent, Kanata, Ontario K2M 2A8, Canada. 613-591-1555.
About QNX Software Systems, Ltd. Founded in 1980, QNX Software Systems is the industry leader in high-performance realtime operating system software for the x86 and Pentium architecture. With hundreds of thousands of installations in over 60 countries, the QNX realtime OS is at work in voicemail systems, Internet appliances, emergency-call centers, medical instruments, set-top boxes, point-of-sale terminals, distributed process-control systems, and a host of other mission-critical applications. QNX Software Systems is located at 175 Terence Matthews Crescent, Kanata, Ontario, Canada, K2M 1W8. 613-591-0931 www.qnx.com.