ACT Networks Unveils New Products and Products Strategy for Its Data-Centric Frame Relay Access Devices.CAMARILLO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 20, 1997--ACT Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ NASDAQ in full National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations U.S. market for over-the-counter securities. Established in 1971 by the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD), NASDAQ is an automated quotation system that reports on :ANET) today introduced two new products and a product feature to enhance its Data-over Frame Relay A high-speed packet switching protocol used in wide area networks (WANs). Providing a granular service of up to DS3 speed (45 Mbps), it has become popular for LAN to LAN connections across remote distances, and services are offered by most major carriers. product strategy. The company pioneered the concept of Voice-over Frame Relay with its successful ACTnet product line. With the expansion of the NetPerformer family, ACT intends to aggressively address the enterprise network market where high level of data performance and predictability is the pre-requisite and optional voice support is considered a benefit. "Corporate Frame Relay networks in industrialized in·dus·tri·al·ize v. in·dus·tri·al·ized, in·dus·tri·al·iz·ing, in·dus·tri·al·iz·es v.tr. 1. To develop industry in (a country or society, for example). 2. countries and in particular the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. are driven primarily by the need to efficiently integrate the legacy SNA (Systems Network Architecture) IBM's mainframe network standards introduced in 1974. Originally a centralized architecture with a host computer controlling many terminals, enhancements, such as APPN and APPC (LU 6. data network with the corporate LAN (Local Area Network) A communications network that serves users within a confined geographical area. The "clients" are the user's workstations typically running Windows, although Mac and Linux clients are also used. traffic," stated Martin Shum, Chairman, President and 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. of ACT Networks. "Current data Frame Relay Access Device (communications) Frame Relay Access Device - (FRAD) Hardware and software that turns packets from TCP, SNA, IPX, etc into frames that can be sent over a Frame Relay wide area network. (FRAD (Frame Relay Access Device or Frame Relay Assembler Disassembler) A communications device that formats outgoing data into the format required by a frame relay network. It strips the data back out at the other end. ) vendors approach this networking problem from either a legacy data perspective or from a LAN perspective. "We believe our NetPerformer family provides a more balanced approach. By leveraging our patent-pending Cell-based Prioritization technology (the "Cell Technology") and our data compression data compression Process of reducing the amount of data needed for storage or transmission of a given piece of information (text, graphics, video, sound, etc.), typically by use of encoding techniques. expertise, the NetPerformer offers ATM-like capability at Frame Relay speeds and prices. We also believe that the NetPerformer's flexibility to add voice to such data-centric networks will also prove to be an attractive application feature." The NetPerformer line consists of five products, three of which the company commenced shipping in 1995 and two new additions that the company anticipates will commence shipment in the second quarter of 1997. Together, they cover a wide range of network sites. The CS-9500 is a rack mount solution designed for central site application. It offers up to 32 link/user ports and 8 optional Ethernet or Token Ring A local area network (LAN) access method developed by IBM. Conforming to the IEEE 802.5 standard, Token Ring uses a token ring access method and connects up to 255 nodes in a star topology at 4, 16 or 100 Mbps. LAN ports. A new plug-in module, the NetVoice, has recently been added. Priced at $4,950, it provides four toll-quality "Algebraic 1. (language) ALGEBRAIC - An early system on MIT's Whirlwind. [CACM 2(5):16 (May 1959)]. 2. (theory) algebraic - In domain theory, a complete partial order is algebraic if every element is the least upper bound of some chain of compact elements. Code Excited Linear Predictive" (ACELP ACELP Algebraic Code-Excited Linear Prediction ACELP Association Canadienne des Ecoles de Langues Privées ACELP Adaptive Code Excited Linear Prediction ACELP Algebraic Code Excited Linear Predictive ) analog voice channels at coding rates of 8 and 4.8 Kbps. The SN-8700 and SN-8600 are desktop products, each offers up to four link/user ports and one optional Ethernet or Token Ring LAN port. The prices of these two products have been reduced by approximately 15%. A new desktop product, the SN-8800, will commence shipment during the second quarter of 1997. The base unit is priced at $3,995, it offers four link/user ports, two toll-quality ACELP analog voice channels at coding rates of 8 and 4.8 Kbps, and one optional Ethernet or Token Ring LAN port. Another new desktop product, the SN-8200, will commence shipment also during the second quarter of 1997. The base unit is priced at $1,850 and it offers one link port, one serial user port and one Ethernet port A socket on a computer or network device for plugging in an Ethernet cable. See WAN port. . "This product launch solidifies ACT's position in the remote access market," said Lynn Nye, president of NetResults, a telecommunications consulting firm based in Portland, Ore. "The NetPerformer offers a competitive solution to the consolidation of SNA and LAN networks, and its integrated offering will prove to be a strategic component in many business applications. More than likely, voice support will enable sites with thin route data traffic to justify being included on the same enterprise network." Each member of the NetPerformer family of products has two modes of operation, one which complies with Frame Relay Forum's RFC-1490, and the other utilizes ACT's proprietary Cell Technology. One of the company's products incorporating this unique technology was tested by the Tolly Group against a number of major brands of data FRADS. According to the test results, ACT's product provided the lowest in throughput delay for time sensitive SNA data, in the presence of Token Ring LAN traffic, over Frame Relay networks. It was also ranked the second best in throughput delay variation under different traffic conditions. In addition, the integral high performance data compression system, built into each NetPerformer product, further enhances the traffic throughput rate. "We are excited about the opportunities for the NetPerformer. We believe its availability will expand ACT's addressable Reachable. When something is addressable, it can be identified and manipulated independently of its surroundings. For example, screen pixels and RAM memory are addressable. Each of the screen's picture elements can be individually turned on and off, and each of the memory's bytes can be market," continued Martin Shum. "By offering separate products for voice-centric (ACTnet) and data-centric (NetPerformer) networks, ACT believes it is positioned to address competitively a broad spectrum of frame relay applications." This press release contains forward-looking statements regarding future events, including, without limitation, statements regarding: the growth and opportunities in the market for the company's NetPerformer products; the ability of the company's NetPerformer products to expand ACT's addressable market; and the company's ability to ship new NetPerformer products in the second quarter of 1997. These statements are only predictions and actual events or results may differ materially as a result of the factors discussed in the company's last Report on Forms 10-K and 10-Q under "Business Considerations" and the risks associated with: the possibility that the market for data-centric Frame Relay products will not continue to develop or that the company's NetPerformer products and capabilities will not address emerging market needs; the effect of increased competition in the data FRAD market; rapid technologies advances and new product developments and the company's inability to meet manufacturing and distribution targets. ACT Networks, Inc. develops, manufactures, markets Frame Relay wide-area network access products which support a broad range of voice, data and integrated network applications. The company is focused on three strategic markets: enterprise networks (ACTnet and NetPerformer), satellite networks (SkyFrame) and carrier networks (FrameXchange). End users and service providers worldwide use the company's products to build cost-effective, bandwidth efficient, easy-to-manage wide area networks (WANs). The company's products incorporate advanced voice and data compression algorithms, switching capabilities and proprietary integration technologies. CONTACT: Morgen-Walke Associates Chris Danne/Alex Williamson/Doug Sherk, 415/296-7383 Emily Dupree/Josh Passman, 212/850-5698/212/850-5600 or ACT Networks, Inc. Martin Shum, 805/388-2474 |
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