3Com Corporation Acquires Leading Unified Messaging Vendor, Call Technologies; Company Accelerates Delivery of Carrier-Class, CommWorks Architecture.Business/Technology Editors SANTA CLARA Santa Clara, city, Cuba Santa Clara (sän`tä klä`rä), city (1994 est. pop. 217,000), capital of Villa Clara prov., central Cuba. , Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 20, 2000 Supporting its leadership position in the creation of enhanced IP services for carriers worldwide, global networking leader 3Com Corporation (Nasdaq: COMS COMS 3Com Corporation (stock symbol) COMS Certified Orientation and Mobility Specialist COMS Continuous Opacity Monitoring Systems COMS City of Manchester Stadium (UK) ) today announced a definitive agreement to acquire Call Technologies, Inc. Call Technologies is a leading developer of Unified Messaging Having access to e-mail, voice mail and faxes via a common computer application or by telephone. For example, unified messaging may send faxes and digitized voice mail to a mail server that turns them into e-mail attachments. (UM) and Operational Systems and Support (OSS Oss (ôs), city (1994 pop. 62,141), North Brabant prov., S Netherlands; chartered 1399. It is a significant industrial center. Manufactures include meat products, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, electrical equipment, and metalware. ) software solutions for service providers. Unified Messaging gives people access to any message - voice, fax or email - across any network while utilizing any client device -- traditional telephone, wireless handsets, PC or wireless personal digital assistant. OSS gives carriers custom automated management of service delivery and back-office processes. Through this acquisition, 3Com continues to add value and competitive advantage through new enhanced services capabilities to its CommWorks(R) architecture and Total Control(R) multi-service access platform, the company's flagship solution for the telecommunications provider market. The CommWorks architecture offers global service providers a complete migration path to next-generation converged networks to deliver enhanced services. "Revenues from fee-based UM services are expected to rise from US$61.7 million in 1999 to US$1.5 billion in 2004." (Source: "Unified Messaging Over IP Services Market," Probe Research, January 2000). In a February 2000 report, Ryan Hankin Kent estimates the 1999 North American North American named after North America. North American blastomycosis see North American blastomycosis. North American cattle tick see boophilusannulatus. OSS market at $8 billion, with an expected growth rate of nearly 30 percent annually over the next five years. (Source: "Telecom OS: Markets and Technology," Ryan Hankin Kent, Feb. 15, 2000). Additionally, "RHK RHK Ratahallintokeskus (Finnish: Finnish Rail Administration) RHK Ryan Hankin Kent (RHK, Inc. marketing consulting firm) RHK Rigshospitalets Kollegium (Copenhagen, Denmark dorm) believes the service fulfillment market will begin to grow dramatically, as the need to automate the provisioning and activation process associated with the new services becomes crucial." The transaction, which is scheduled to close in April 2000, is valued at approximately US$90 million and will be accounted for as a purchase. Excluding a charge for in-process technology in the fourth fiscal quarter, the acquisition is not expected to have a material impact on the current fiscal year 2000 results. Call Technologies Delivers New Unified Messaging, Enhanced Service Creation and Management to 3Com's Three-Tiered CommWorks Architecture With today's announcement, 3Com delivers several key components in the CommWorks architecture service creation layer (tier 3) - an enhanced service creation platform, a suite of UM and Internet-based voicemail solutions. Also, CommWorks architecture management and control layer (tier 2) is enhanced with Call Technologies' Intelligent Activation for OSS automated service delivery and management. 3Com's three-tier CommWorks architecture is a versatile, multi-service packet-based networking solution that offers service providers a complete migration path from traditional circuit-switched networks to next generation converged networks. With its robust tiers of media processing See media control. , call control and service creation, the CommWorks architecture enables customers to evolve existing disparate infrastructures for enhanced data services, IP telephony The two-way transmission of voice over a packet-switched IP network, which is part of the TCP/IP protocol suite. The terms "IP telephony" and "voice over IP" (VoIP) are synonymous. , wireless data, cable and DSL DSL in full Digital Subscriber Line Broadband digital communications connection that operates over standard copper telephone wires. It requires a DSL modem, which splits transmissions into two frequency bands: the lower frequencies for voice (ordinary access into a single, integrated IP network for the delivery of a new generation of enhanced services. 3Com's CommWorks architecture gives service providers greater flexibility to differentiate services, create new revenue-generating business opportunities and establish a unique position in the highly competitive communications marketplace. "With the acquisition of Call Technologies service creation and management solutions, 3Com plans to deliver the industry's best IP-centric enhanced services solutions," said Irfan Ali Irfan Ali is founder and President of . HRCSJP Pakistan is an independent organization, which was established in 2000 by Mr. Irfan Ali with a governing body of 11 members. , senior vice president and general manager of 3Com's Carrier Systems. "Call Technologies' 105 employees have created a suite of products, a solid installed base of ILEC (Incumbent Local Exchange Carrier) A traditional local telephone company such as one of the Regional Bell companies (RBOCs). Contrast with CLEC. See ELEC and TELRIC. and CLEC (Competitive Local Exchange Carrier) An organization offering local telephone service that is not one of the traditional telephone companies. The Telecommunications Act of 1996 allowed competition to the incumbent telcos (ILECs), enabling new companies (CLECs) customers and bring a wealth of industry knowledge and technical expertise of carrier-class applications infrastructure to 3Com Carrier Systems." "In service provider networking systems, 3Com is clearly a leading vendor," said Jack Havas, CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. , Call Technologies. "Call Technologies can now leverage 3Com's leadership in delivering comprehensive carrier-class platforms based on its versatile CommWorks architecture and 3Com can take advantage of Call Technologies' experience in UM to offer service providers next-generation IP-based enhanced service solution." Call Technologies, A Leader in UM and Enhanced Service Creation "Call Technologies has designed a truly open, standards-based, Internet-compatible enhanced services platform. In addition to offering all of the basic and advanced messaging applications required to do business as a network operator, Call Technologies offers one of the most flexible multiple-media messaging applications profiled... Call Technologies stands alone in providing customers the option of offering either total message unification or message integration to the end users." (Source: "The Messaging Landscape: Revolutionary Architecture and Evolutionary Implementation," The Yankee Group (the Yankee Group, Boston, MA, www.yankeegroup.com) A major market research, analysis and consulting firm founded in 1970 by Howard Anderson. It provides general consulting and strategic planning in the computer and communications field. , August 1999.) According to 3Com and Dun & Bradstreet estimates in 1999, Call Technologies holds 4% of the UM market place, a US$97 million market. Call Technologies' Call Courier Unify product offers UM capabilities for both PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network) The worldwide voice telephone network. Once only an analog system, the heart of most telephone networks today is all digital. In the U.S. and Internet Telephony networks. The Call Builder Service Creation Engine solution offers an open service creation environment to service providers and third party application developers for delivery of a suite of next-generation enhanced services. The integral combination of Call Technologies' service creation platform and 3Com's CommWorks architecture brings both companies to the forefront of network convergence and enhanced service applications. Call Technologies also provides advanced Intelligent Activation for OSS products and services. Its netActivate product portfolio gives carriers intelligent flow-through activation, validation, and notification for telecommunication system provisioning. This allows for significant operator benefits in service activation performance by reducing provisioning errors with self-healing error diagnosis and end user notification. These features enable carrier organizations to effectively achieve short service activation times and higher network subscription rates. The netActivate platform includes a powerful and flexible rules engine for rapid development of element provisioning and utilizes industry standards such as CORBA (Common Object Request Broker Architecture) A software-based interface from the Object Management Group (OMG) that allows software modules (objects) to communicate with each other no matter where they are located on a private network or the global and XML XML in full Extensible Markup Language. Markup language developed to be a simplified and more structural version of SGML. It incorporates features of HTML (e.g., hypertext linking), but is designed to overcome some of HTML's limitations. . Call Technologies' Intelligent Activation for OSS products and services will provide enhanced solutions for 3Com's CommWorks architecture 5000 carrier class network management system. About Call Technologies Call Technologies (calltechnologies.com) provides personal communications management solutions to major telecommunications companies, Internet service providers Internet service provider (ISP) Company that provides Internet connections and services to individuals and organizations. For a monthly fee, ISPs provide computer users with a connection to their site (see data transmission), as well as a log-in name and password. and OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) The rebranding of equipment and selling it. The term initially referred to the company that made the products (the "original" manufacturer), but eventually became widely used to refer to the organization that buys the products and providers, empowering them to build and retain their own client base with trend-setting features. About 3Com Corporation With more than 300 million customer connections worldwide, 3Com Corporation connects more people and organizations to information and each other in more innovative, simple and reliable ways than any other networking company. 3Com delivers web-enabled solutions to consumers, small- to medium-sized business locations and network service providers. For more information, visit 3Com's web site @ www.3com.com/pressbox. 3Com, CommWorks and Total Control are registered trademarks of 3Com Corporation. All other company and product names may be trademarks of the respective companies with which they are associated. |
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