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Unified Messaging and Unified Communications in the Modular Network

Whitepaper

ContentsWhy Aren’t We All Using Unified Messaging? 1

Overcoming Integration Challenges 1

Unified Messaging Evolves into Unified Communications 2

Standards Protect Investment in New Messaging Technologies 2

Messaging Technologies Provide Benefits 2

Market Segment Studies Estimate ROI 2

Service Provider Opportunities 3

The Non-Traditional Workforce and Consumer Market Segments 3

Latest Market Segment Research Optimistic 4

Building Messaging Solutions Today 4

Standards Are Critical 4

Benefits of Standards-Based Modular Components 5

Commercial Off-the-Shelf Components Lower Costs 5

IP-Based Technology and Messaging Solutions 5

Speech-Based Technologies and Messaging Solutions 6

Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) 6

Text-To-Speech (TTS) 6

VoiceXML and SALT 6

Emerging Technologies 7

Modular Network Convergence 7

Media Server 9

Media Gateway 9

Signaling Gateway 9

Cost-Effective Messaging Begins with Modular Components 10

Standards-Based Building Blocks from Intel 10

Appendix A. Important Standards for Messaging 11

Unified Messaging and Unified Communications in the Modular Network Whitepaper

Executive SummaryThe concept of unified messaging has beendiscussed for years but never fully embracedby enterprises and service providers. In thepast, the development and deployment ofunified messaging solutions were difficult tojustify because of the associated costs ofequipment, management, and maintenance.However, several factors now suggest that thetime for a widespread adoption of advancedmessaging solutions has come. Enterpriseshave a growing mobile and distributedworkforce that needs improved methods ofcommunication. Messaging technology hasalso advanced with the introduction of unifiedcommunications, the proliferation of newmessaging devices, significant strides in voiceand data convergence, and the widespreadadoption of a host of open standards formessaging-related technologies.

This paper will discuss the evolution of unifiedmessaging into unified communications, themarket segment and benefits of today’smessaging solutions, strategies for buildingmessaging systems today, and the role ofmodular network components in messaging solutions.

Why Aren’t We All Using UnifiedMessaging?As messaging technologies proliferated,developers realized how inconvenient andtime-consuming it is to check voice mail fortelephone messages, Inboxes for emailmessages, and the fax machine for faxes. Whynot handle all types of messages through asingle interface, either on a computer or overthe telephone? This type of unified accesswould be especially helpful to the increasingnumber of workers at home or at customersites, hotels, and airports.

Unified messaging is a logical extension ofcurrent technology trends, but its adoption hastaken longer than expected. In large measure,this has been caused by the economicdownturn in 2001, which has slowed the paceof investment in new technologies even whenthe benefits of that technology are compelling.In addition, other technologies, such as

converged networks and Voice over InternetProtocol (VoIP), had to be put in place first topave the way for an easy and cost-effectivedeployment of unified messaging applications.

Overcoming Integration Challenges Putting voice and email messages in the sameinterface presented network implementationand integration challenges that were oftenexpensive to solve. In some cases, existingvoice mail and email systems could notsupport unified messaging, and businesseswould have had to scrap their existing systemsto bring unified messaging to their companies– an expense that was difficult to justify. Butthese formidable challenges are quickly beingovercome:■ Large companies are continuing to

converge their voice and data networks, and moving to benefit from newtechnologies. For example, in a July 2002article (http://www.techweb.com/tech/network/20020726_networking), TechWebcites a report from the Aberdeen Group,which estimates that “more than half ofFortune 500 companies now have some IP-based phones in place, while businesseslike Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, DowJones, and Cisco have incorporated full-blown VoIP networks.”

■ Small and medium size companies now haveaccess to very cost-effective technology,such as the Intel® NetStructure™ PBX-IPmedia gateway, that allows them to connecttheir legacy PBX or key system to their LANfor VoIP phone calls. They can also nowconnect a PC-PBX or an IP-PBX to legacyphone sets so that they do not have torewire to use new packet-based applica-tions.

■ Speech technology has made enormousstrides, and automated speech recognition(ASR) and text-to-speech (TTS) technologiesmake instant access to text-basedinformation over the phone incredibly easyand natural as anyone who has used anautomated system to check their bankbalance or track a shipment knows.


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And as systems are converging, new ways ofcommunicating are proliferating. Instantmessaging and short message services areaccessible on a variety of handheld and multimodal devices, allowing new ways ofentering or receiving information via mouse,keyboard, speech, pen display, and voice.

Unified Messaging Evolves into UnifiedCommunicationsBasic unified messaging systems allow users toaccess voice mail, fax messages, and emailfrom a single user interface. More sophisticatedversions of these systems allow users tomanage their messages over the telephonewith TTS technology, deliver faxes and emailsto any fax machine, allow logical administrationof messages, and more.

While organizations have been moving towardsdeploying unified messaging systems,developers have continued to enhance thebasic system, which has now evolved into atechnology called unified communications. Thislatest evolution delivers real-time access tovoice mail, fax, and email along with the abilityto use personal calendars, contact lists, anddatabases from a single interface. Moreinformation is available faster, with greater usercontrol, and management is increasingly easy.

Standards Protect Investment in NewMessaging TechnologiesSince messaging technologies are changing soquickly, how can developers and serviceproviders build and deploy systems that canincorporate new technologies? And how canan enterprise ensure that it adopts the besttechnology available while paying as little forthat new technology as possible?

The answer is simple. Developers and serviceproviders who build or deploy their messagingapplications with open, standards-basedcomponents can address a broader marketsegment, create systems faster, andimplement new functionality with greater ease.At the same time, enterprises that choosestandards-based systems (or standards-basedhosted services) ensure scalability, flexibility,and access to applications with rich feature

sets and must-have technology that will bringthe best return on investment while makingsure those systems will have a long, useful life.

Messaging Technologies ProvideBenefitsUnified messaging and communicationsprovide obvious benefits:■ Accessing a single interface for email, voice

mail, and fax messages saves time,increases productivity, and lowers costs.

■ Managing all kinds of messages from asingle interface allows those messages to bestored and retrieved more efficiently.

■ Using either a phone or a computer toaccess messages allows users who are outof the office to manage their messagesquickly and easily.

A growing number of workers are regularlyseparated from their phones, fax machines, oremail systems. Missed meetings can waste anexecutive’s time and add more stress to analready hectic day, an unreturned call canmean a lost sale, and slow response time cananger important customers. Unified messagingand communications systems are designed toprevent these problems and ensure messagesreach their destinations in a timely manner withas little aggravation as possible.

Market Segment Studies Estimate ROIIn the last few years, many valuable studieshave been produced by market researchorganizations mapping unified messaging andcommunications trends. A 2001 Frost &Sullivan study, North American UnifiedMessaging Markets, stated “TCO analysisshows that the full cost of ownership for aunified messaging solution is lower than fordistinct voice mail, e-mail and fax systems.The UM approach yields cost savings,especially in the form of reduced annualexpenditures in areas such as communication,installation, maintenance, administration andtraining, among others.”

In March 2000, the PELORUS Groupproduced a comprehensive study entitledUnified Messaging CPE: Moving to Unified

Whitepaper Unified Messaging and Unified Communications in the Modular Network

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Communications, Business Strategies andOpportunities through 2004. One of the mostinteresting sections of this report discussesseveral “hard dollar” projections for unifiedmessaging from the research of others.■ A Radicati analysis showed a 66 percent

reduction in support costs for an annualsavings of over $500 per user when unifiedmessaging technology was in place.

■ An AVT Corporation study reported a 53percent time savings when users checkedmessages through a unified messaginginterface instead of checking for differenttypes of messages separately: voice mailover the phone, fax messages at the faxmachine, and emails at a desktop PC.

■ Nokia/Telekol found that several customersof unified messaging systems estimated asavings of 20-30 minutes per day per user.Using an average salary of $30 per hour,Nokia/Telekol projected an average savingsof $15 per person per day and about $4,875per person per year. When multiplied byhundreds or thousands of employees in anorganization, the savings could be verysignificant.

In yet another study, a January 2000 piececalled Unified Messaging Time Saving Study,the Comm Group and Captaris estimated thata company with 200 seats of CallXpress* fromCaptaris could gain back the cost ofimplementation in an average of only 68 days.

Service Provider OpportunitiesSeveral studies, including Unified MessagingMarket Trends, 2000-2004 by the RadicatiGroup, discuss why unified messaging andcommunications solutions are an excellentopportunity for service providers. ■ Enterprises often prefer to outsource unified

services because of high initial startup costsand because they often lack the type ofconverged network needed for easyimplementation of unified messaging andcommunications.

■ Service providers can make themselves morecompetitive by offering such attractive newservices at a low cost.

■ Messages in multiple media are increasing,and service providers can provide a timelysolution to managing them.

After service providers win a basic contract forunified messaging and communications, theycan up sell additional messaging functionalityto existing single-service subscribers. Once astandards-based unified solution is in place,the provisioning costs of upgrading andimplementing additional services generallygoes down significantly. Thus service providerscan continue to offer their customers lower-cost, higher-quality services, often incombination with other services, to promotethe kind of loyalty that keep customers comingback for the latest new or enhanced services.

The Non-Traditional Workforce andConsumer Market SegmentsService providers can show freelancers,independent contractors, and smalloffice/home office (SOHO) workers a strongvalue proposition for unifying both business-related voice, fax, and email withpersonal voice and email messages, becausea single system can be less expensive andmore convenient than maintaining twoseparate systems.

The consumer market segment presents bothchallenges and opportunities. Traditionallyconsumers are reluctant to pay for anythingexcept essential services. However, theInternet continues to drive an interest in more,better, and faster technology in the home. Theeasy availability of broadband and cablemodems, the ubiquity of email and mobilephones, and a varied suite of tempting phone-service offerings is encouraging consumers toconsider accessing their voice and email (andoccasionally fax) messages through a singleinterface with a single bill. The results of asurvey conducted by the Yankee Group andreported in Consumer Demand for UnifiedMessaging: Refining the Service ProviderOpportunity indicate that roughly 55 percent ofthe over 10 million households subscribing tobroadband services would be interested incombining their messages into a single system.


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Latest Market Segment ResearchOptimistic

The latest market segment research isoptimistic that the time has come forwidespread adoption of unified messaging andcommunications. Developers continue toovercome technology and cost barriers, andvarious alliances, partnerships, and acquisitionswithin the industry are also encouraging. JayLassman, Research Director at Gartner, says,“With the backdrop of an improving economy,the market for unified messaging should bepoised to finally establish a footing.”

Building Messaging Solutions TodaySending and receiving messages has becomeincreasingly fast and convenient, and conse-quently the customers for messaging serviceshave become very demanding. They expectthe latest technology, instant high-availability,and low-cost service. How can developers andservice providers reduce costs and maximizeprofits in such a volatile environment?

Using standards-based modular componentshas become the strategy of choice fordevelopers and service providers because these“building block” components can significantlyreduce the cost of developing messagingsolutions, upgrading legacy systems, andenhancing system scalability. Moving towards asingle converged network also reduces the costof managing disparate messaging systems.

Modular technologies can help extend the lifeof existing circuit-switched telecominfrastructures by allowing a gradual move topacket-based switching. Packet-basedcommunications hold the promise of deliveringlow cost voice and data connectivity, but purepacket networking is still some years away.Adding modular components to the circuit-switched environment provides developers andservice providers with a phased approach to apacket-based network with the added benefitof preserving legacy PBX investments. Modularcomponents can build a solid bridge to IPtelephony, enabling enhanced capabilities likeunified messaging and communications right now.

Standards Are Critical In order to ensure that modular componentswork together seamlessly, many organizationsare working on standards, specifications,recommendations, and protocols. Because ofthe enormous success of standards in therecent past, most notably in the emergence ofthe personal computer and the Internet,standards in telecommunications are seen tobe critical to future growth and progress.

Numerous associations, forums, consortiums,and working groups help to shape standardsfor the telecommunications industry. ■ ITU – The pre-eminent telecommunications

standards body is the InternationalTelecommunication Union (ITU), formed in1865. The ITU’s role has evolved over theyears, but its primary goal of standardizingemerging telecommunications systems anddriving common global policies has remainedconstant.

■ SCSA – Computer telephony (CT) standardsbodies began to organize in the early 1990s,and one of the first standards was the SignalComputing System Architecture (SCSA),which defined a standard way forcommunications building blocks to transmitvoice media streams.

■ ECTF – The goal of the Enterprise ComputerTelephony Forum (ECTF) is to ensure theinteroperability of CT systems. The ECTF isan “umbrella” group, which fosters andunites smaller, more focused standardsgroups. In 1996, the Intelligent NetworkForum joined with the ECTF to facilitatemodular application interoperability in thepublic network.

■ IMTC, IETF, and WC3 – As IP technologieshave proliferated, several organizations wereorganized to develop a common interface.The Voice over IP (VoIP) Protocol Forum,now part of the International MultimediaTeleconferencing Consortium (IMTC), and theInternet Engineering Task Force (IETF) wereamong the early IP-related standards bodies.The World Wide Web Consortium (WC3) waschartered in 1994 to enhance the potential ofthe World Wide Web by ensuringinteroperability.


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■ VoiceXML Forum and SALT Forum –These recently formed organizations aredefining standards for speech-enabledtechnologies. They are working to acceleratethe use of speech technologies for theconverging voice and data marketplace.

All of the standards produced by the organiza-tions mentioned here are helping to createboth the modular network and an environmentfor advanced messaging solutions. They alsoallow developers, service providers, and endusers a wider array of choices whenimplementing unified messaging andcommunications systems.

For a list of standards that are important formessaging, see Appendix A.

Benefits of Standards-Based ModularComponentsHardware and software building blocks makedevelopment easier and allow solutions to goto market faster. A careful analysis of thisstrategy reveals other advantages of astandards-based modular approach. ■ Developers can concentrate on application

development without worrying aboutunderlying telephony functions.

■ Applications can be tailored to a specificcommunications environment and yet beportable at the same time.

■ Building block providers use their resourcesto support new technology, ensuringconformance to evolving standards.

Using modular building blocks allows solutionproviders to add components as they needthem but at a lower cost than if they devel-oped the components themselves. Also build-ing block components protect investment byallowing applications to stay in market longerbecause building block components aredesigned to be both flexible and scalable.

Commercial Off-the-Shelf ComponentsLower CostsCommercial off-the-shelf (COTS) components(or building blocks) have the ability to drivetotal system costs down due to economies ofscale and increased interoperability.

COTS component developers concentrate ondeveloping the expertise to build horizontal,cost-optimized building blocks that can beused in a variety of vertical solutions. Forexample, a well-designed COTS componentmight be used for telecom switching, voicemail, interactive voice response (IVR), unifiedmessaging and communications, and manyother applications. This allows telecomequipment manufacturers (TEMs), originalequipment manufacturers (OEMs), and othersolution providers to concentrate on combiningmultiple components and adding specializedvertical services, resulting in shorter solutiondevelopment time and reduced cost. TheCOTS approach also results in reduced risk asit builds on currently available, broadly used,mature components.

Because COTS components are easily interoperable with other elements in a solution,they can substantially decrease developmentcosts and time to market. With building blocksavailable from multiple sources, TEMs, OEMs,and solution providers can also avoid beingforced to use a single vendor while benefitingfrom the kind of competition among suppliersthat drives down prices and encourages rapidcomponent improvement.

Of course, service providers and end-usercustomers ultimately benefit when componentcosts are lower.

IP-Based Technology and MessagingSolutionsUnified messaging solutions are realizing agreater acceptance in the home and enterprisetoday because of significant advancements instandards-based IP and speech technologies.

IP-based communications solutions promisevoice and data connectivity that is low cost,flexible, and scalable. Using IP, packet-basedvoice mail systems can be integrated withtraditional voice mail systems, allowingrecipients to check all voice mail messages byphone, regardless of their type or origin. Acaller can dictate a voice message offline, saveit in WAV file or another supported PC audiofile format, and then transmit it as email beforetrying to reach one or more recipients by


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phone. The recipients can listen to the voicemail message by double-clicking on it in theiremail Inboxes. In this way, all voice mail mes-sages can be accessed through a single inter-face, an extremely useful and powerful func-tionality for enabling open messaging solu-tions. In addition, people receiving email on cellphones and other small handheld deviceswithout keyboards can reply to messages bysending voice mail messages as email.

In a similar way, IP-based fax solutions thatuse Fax over IP (FoIP) technology allow usersto send faxes over the Internet, saving on tollcharges and stand-alone hardware costs.

Speech-Based Technologies andMessaging SolutionsSpeech-based technologies offer the mostnatural user interface for messaging — thehuman voice. Dramatic advances in ASR andTTS enable capabilities such as voice-activated dialing and barge-in (using the voiceto navigate during a call) are delivering a morenatural user experience and driving theadoption of voice-enabled messagingsolutions.

Voice-enabled messaging lets users sortthrough multiple media messages quickly andeasily. Such a system frees users from enteringtouchtone commands to access theirmessages and helps them comply with thelaws of a growing number of states thatmandate hands-free cell phone operation while driving.

Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) Automatic speech recognition is rapidlyentering the mainstream. Its algorithms providea speech-enabled messaging system to hearand understand human speech.

Early speech applications recognized only asmall vocabulary of 20 to 30 words, but theaccuracy and vocabulary size of ASR engineshas dramatically improved, fueled by refinedalgorithms, dramatic increases in processingpower, and lower costs. Today’s speechsystems support naturally spoken phrases anddo not require prior training. Support for

multiple languages is also becoming astandard feature of many systems.

Text-To-Speech (TTS)Text-to-speech technology is a computersystem’s ability to translate text intosynthesized speech, and allows email, faxmessages, and Web-based text content to be“read” to human listeners, usually over thephone, in unified messaging and communica-tions systems. Because it uses synthesizedrather than digitized speech, TTS eliminatesthe need for scripting and the studio recordingof human subjects, making it very inexpensive.It can also be updated quickly and sounds uniform.

VoiceXML and SALTJust as the growth of the Web was catalyzedby the development of the HTML scriptingstandard, the acceptance of standard markuplanguages for voice-based services ispropelling the growth of voice-enabledmessaging services.

Two emerging standards are transforming thedevelopment of speech applications. VoiceeXtensible Markup Language (VoiceXML) andSpeech Application Language Tags (SALT) areboth markup languages that enable developersto do all of the following:■ Write platform-independent applications that

handle synthesized speech.

■ Recognize spoken input and dual-tone multi-frequency (DTMF).

■ Record spoken input.

■ Allow telephony control.

VoiceXML markup tags are specificallyintended for defining speech user interfaceswhile SALT markup tags can define “multimodal” user interfaces involving bothspeech and a range of devices such as agraphic display, mouse, keyboard, or pen.

VoiceXML is a complete standalone languagewith markup elements for defining a speechinterface along with data and control flow. Thelanguage specification includes a standardForm Interpretation Algorithm (FIA), which


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provides a predictable sequence of markupexecution. The FIA can be combined withconditional and procedural programmingelements to create complex dialogues withnon-standard dialogue flow.

SALT is a small set of incremental markup tagsfor creating a speech interface within variousmarkup environments such as HTML, WirelessMarkup Language, Synchronized MultimediaIntegrated Language (SMIL), and others.

VoiceXML and SALT represent two differentapproaches to a speech markup language.Together, they represent an important step inmaking speech applications more accessibleto the mainstream computing community. Eachprovides the computing community with openspecifications that meet the needs of uniqueapplications, and supports the industry’spreference for known tools and programmingmodels.

The acceptance of these standards is alreadyaccelerating the use of speech by the widercomputing community, and will continue tosimplify the ability to incorporate speech intomessaging solutions.

Emerging TechnologiesCompelling new communications technologiesare emerging, while existing solutions andideas are being refined. The advent of multimedia messaging will allow thetransmission of graphics, video, music, andimages to any phone, personal computer, orpersonal digital assistant, adding a newdimension to current messaging technologies.Multimodal technology in unifiedcommunications will support the seamlesstransition between different modes ofcommunications – from visual to voice to touch– without a break in a conversation or online session.

Modular Network Convergence The modular network allows the convergenceof multiple separate networks including thepublic switched telephone network (PSTN), thewireless network, and the Internet. By using astandards-based, intelligent, highly efficientpacket infrastructure to enable convergence,the modular network can deliver universalaccess and a host of new technologies,applications, and service opportunities formessaging systems.

The primary elements of the modular networkinclude:■ Access media gateway — Connects

traditional analog or digital devices to apacket-switched voice network.

■ Feature server — Implements signalingcontrol point (SCP) services from the legacycircuit-switched network as well as theadvanced services provided by the localexchange and access tandem central officeswitches.

■ Media server — Provides announcement,messaging, conferencing, speechrecognition, and TTS capabilities.

■ Packet (IP) media gateway — Connectstwo packet-switched voice networks.

■ Service node/intelligent peripheral —Provides announcements, conferencing, fax,TTS, speech recognition, and other servicesindependent of the SCP.

■ Signaling gateway — Converts and/orrelays network call signaling at inter-networkpoints.

■ Signaling transfer point (STP) — SS7router of the circuit-switched networkfunctions as both a border router at inter-network points and as an edge router incentral office switches.

■ Signaling control point (SCP) —Intelligent network (IN) database and serviceelement enables innovative and ubiquitousservices.

■ Softswitch — Supplies call routing, AAAfunctions (authorization, authentication, andaccounting), and control over the switchingcapabilities within media gateways.


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■ Trunk media gateway — Provides themedia stream interface between circuit-switched networks (such as the PSTN) andpacket-switched (IP and ATM) voicenetworks.

See Figure 1 for a system view of the modularnetwork.

The most important modular network elementsthat provide functionality for unified messagingand communications systems are mediaservers, media gateways, signaling gateways,and softswitch technology. These allow thedelivery of services traditionally hosted on the

PSTN, IP, and wireless networks to becombined, thus permitting users to chooseeither a telephone user interface (TUI), mobileuser interface (MUI), or graphical user interface(GUI) for retrieving messages.

Because of these modular network elements,unified messaging and communicationsservices are more flexible, scalable, and cost-efficient than ever before. These elementsalso speed the time needed to bring newmessaging services to market.


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OSS BSS OSS BSS OSS BSS

ApplicationServer

FeatureServer

ApplicationServer

FeatureServer

Circuit Network Packet Network Wireless Network

Media Server

Softswitch(programmable)

Media Server

Softswitch(programmable)

Media ServerMedia Server

Media Server

PBXIP

PBX

Circuit Enterprise Packet Enterprise Wireless Clients

Local BaseStation

Media Gateway(Access)

Media Gateway(Trunk)

Signaling Gateway(SS7)

Signaling Gateway(Packet)

SCP

STP

IP 3G

CentralOffice

Media Gateway(Packet)

Figure 1. Modular Network System View

Media ServerMedia servers are service endpoints in thecommunications infrastructure that cansupport both circuit-switched and packed-switched networks. These platforms aresources of media (voice, data, video) andsupport applications such as voice mail, IVR,messaging, conferencing, and voice portalsystems. Both enterprises and serviceproviders can provision media servers.

Figure 2 illustrates a typical premise-basedunified messaging topology. The media serverin this example manages the storage andretrieval of messages, which can include voice,fax, data, or video. It has access to storage forthe various media files as well as the controlrules necessary to implement media services.Storage can reside either locally on the mediaserver or remotely in a centralized storagesystem. In such cases, unified messagingsystems that support voice and fax resourcesare normally integrated with an email systemsuch as Microsoft Exchange* or IBM LotusNotes* and have ASR and TTS capabilities.

The unified messaging topology shown abovemight also have an auto attendant applicationpackaged within the solution to direct incomingcalls to appropriate extensions. An autoattendant is not required if the telephony

system associated with the unified messagingsolution supports direct inward dial (DID),which allows individual extensions to be dialeddirectly with a three- or four-digit extension.

Media Gateway Media gateways act as translation units inunified messaging and communicationssystems, enabling messages to move betweenvoice and data networks, or between twodifferent types of packet networks. A mediagateway can connect the PSTN to an ATMnetwork, an ATM network to an IP network, aPSTN to an IP network, or an IP network to anIP network when different protocols or codersare in use.

Media gateways provide the flexibility andscalability enterprises and service providersneed to add more messaging functionality astheir business requirements grow.

Signaling Gateway Signaling gateways provide real-time relay orprotocol conversion for call signaling and aretypically deployed in one of two network types:SS7 or IP. SS7/IP signaling gateways can beused in a wide variety of applications for callcontrol, wireless, and intelligent networking. Ineach case the signaling gateway forms part ofa larger IP-based system.


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Media Server

Circuit

Packet

Application

Network MediaProcessing

Analog

Analog, T1, E1,ISDN, Ethernet,

DSL, FR, ...

MessageStore

N ×T1

External ApplicationServers

PBX

Figure 2. Unified Messaging Topology

Call control applications include IP telephonygateways, softswitch-based backbone net-works, and service platforms such as largevoice portal or voice mail systems. Signalinggateways can also be used to build compo-nents for mobile networks, including homelocation registers or short messaging servicecenters. The introduction of 2.5G and 3Gmobile services also requires SS7/IP inter-working and, therefore, signaling gateways.Intelligent networking service nodes providingservices, such as toll-free or follow-me, can beupgraded or replaced by a lower-cost IP infra-structure using signaling gateways.

Some signaling gateways can also be used forSS7 long haul or offload applications toincrease signaling bandwidth and relieve thepressure on other network resources.

Cost-Effective Messaging Beginswith Modular ComponentsMessaging has long been a critical componentin the business infrastructure, and the result isone of the most dynamic and complex marketsegments today. One result of all this activity isthe struggle that many people face in gainingcontrol of the large number of messages theyreceive each day as voice mail, email, and fax.Increasingly, this need to stay in touch –especially when mobile – has generatedsignificant interest in unified messaging, a wayof accessing all types of messages through asingle interface. Such a solution works bestwhen the messages can be accessed in avariety of ways: via the Internet, with voicecommands, or through a touchtone keypad.Such versatility has led to the development of

unified communications, which allows a userto stay in touch from any computer, wireless orwireline phone, or wireless device in real-timeand to also access calendar and directoryfunctions and database information through asingle messaging interface.

The evolution of communications technologiesnow allows developers to create highly desir-able messaging solutions that free users todecide when, how, and where they wish tocommunicate. They can receive all the impor-tant information they need, regardless of theirlocation. The flexibility of such messagingsolutions allows service providers to promotecustomer loyalty, and encourages customersto stay with a single service provider. A highlevel of customer retention allows serviceproviders to further enhance their offerings andintroduce new, revenue-generating services totheir existing customer base.

New open, standards-based building blocksfrom Intel make the development of messagingsolutions easier and faster, and flexible,scalable deployment more cost-effective.Modular Intel components allow developersand service providers to add components andnew technologies as needed and at a lowercost than if they developed the componentsthemselves. Detailed information about howIntel can help enable messaging solutions withindividual board components, software,platforms, and services is available online athttp://www.intel.com/network/csp/solutions/messaging/index.htm.


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Appendix A. Important Standardsfor MessagingStandards are agreed principles of protocol,and a protocol is a set of rules governing theformat of messages that are exchangedbetween computers and people. Standards aresometimes called recommendations,specifications, or APIs, and some examples ofstandards that are important for messaging arelisted in this appendix.

■ AMIS – Audio Messaging InterchangeSpecification typically supports analognetworking between dissimilar voice mailsystems.

■ H.100 – Hardware specification for CT Busconnection compatibility.

■ H.110 – Hardware specification that definesH.100 on the CompactPCI* bus.

■ H.248/Megaco – ITU-T recommendation forMGCP.

■ H.323 – An early standard for real-time multi-media (voice, data, video) communicationsover packet-based networks.

■ IMAP – Internet Messaging Access Protocolallows user access to Internet mail serversover a WAN.

■ LDAP – Lightweight Directory AccessProtocol enables client software interactionwith a directory service over a TCP connec-tion.

■ MAPI – Messaging Application ProgrammingInterface allows messaging clients to interactwith messaging servers.

■ MIME – Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensionprotocol enables the transmission of mixed-media data files across TCP/IP networks.

■ POP3 – Post Office Protocol is used byemail servers on the Internet to access emailfor downloading.

■ MGCP – Media Gateway Control Protocollets a controller establish and tear downmedia connections between circuit andpacket ports on a media gateway.

■ S.100 – ECTF’s C language API thatspecifies a set of interfaces for multi-vendorapplication interoperability on S.100-compliant systems.

■ S.410 – Java*-based API that providesconsiderable media control capabilities andinteroperability between S.410 applicationsand between S.100 and S.410 applications.

■ SIGTRAN – IETF-proposed signalingtransport protocol that aims to enable thesame reliability of signaling and control on IP-based networks that exists on the PSTN.

■ SIP – Session Initiation Protocol is a text-based protocol, similar to HTTP and SMTP,for the seamless transmission of voice, fax,and data across IP and traditional telephonenetworks.

■ SMTP – Simple Mail Transport Protocol is anapplication-level protocol that operates overTCP/IP for text email exchange.

■ SNMP – Simple Network ManagementProtocol allows network managementapplications to query a management agentusing a supported Management InformationBase (MIB).

■ TAPI – Telephone Application ProgrammingInterface was developed by Microsoft toconverge the PSTN and IP telephony on theWindows NT* operating systems.

■ TCP/IP – Transmission ControlProtocol/Internet Protocol is used for com-munications across interconnected networks.

■ VPIM – Voice Profile for Internet Messaginglets different voice mail systems automaticallyexchange messages over the Internet.


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Information in this document is provided in connection with Intel® products. No license, express or implied, by estoppel or otherwise,to any intellectual property rights is granted by this document. Except as provided in Intel's Terms and Conditions of Sale for suchproducts, Intel assumes no liability whatsoever, and Intel disclaims any express or implied warranty, relating to sale and/or use ofIntel® products including liability or warranties relating to fitness for a particular purpose, merchantability, or infringement of anypatent, copyright or other intellectual property right. Intel® products are not intended for use in medical, life saving, or life sustaining applications. Intel may make changes to specifications and product descriptions at any time, without notice.

*Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others.

** Performance tests and ratings are measured using specific computer systems and/or components and reflect the approximateperformance of Intel products as measured by those tests. Any difference in system hardware or software design or configurationmay affect actual performance. Buyers should consult other sources of information to evaluate the performance of systems orcomponents they are considering purchasing. For more information on performance tests and on the performance of Intel products,reference http://www.intel.com/procs/perf/limits.htm or call (U.S.) 1-800-628-8686 or 1-916-356-3104.

Intel, Intel NetStructure, and the Intel logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Intel Corporation or its subsidiaries in theUnited States and other countries.

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