Army awards TRW team contract for armed services' first desktop video teleconferencing system.

OKLAHOMA CITY--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 11, 1996--The U.S. Army has awarded TRW Inc. a five-year, ID/IQ contract with an overall potential expenditure of $11.4 million, for a first-of-its-kind desktop video teleconferencing system (DVTC).

The system will allow Department of Defense personnel throughout the world to conduct "face-to-face" meetings without leaving their offices.

The Army's Communications-Electronics Command (CECOM) of Ft. Monmouth, N.J., made the award on Sept. 29 for the contract for the first DVTC system to be implemented by a U.S. armed service. Adelia Wardle is Army program manager.

Under the delivery-order contract, commercial off-the-self equipment upgrades will be installed on existing Army computers -- providing state-of-the-art performance at a significant cost savings. The system also promises to save time and money by reducing the need for travel to meeting sites.

"This contract represents the largest single commitment of any agency to make desktop video teleconferencing an integral part of the workplace's communication backbone," said Fred Reinhardt, TRW program manager. "The Army's vision for this system is the scaffolding to the future, in terms of meeting our military's challenge to do more with less. TRW is extremely proud to be a partner with CECOM in stepping up to this joint challenge by placing tomorrow's affordable technology on the DoD desktop of today," said Reinhardt.

TRW is teamed with AT&T and several leading DVTC suppliers to install, test, and maintain the system, which will operate on plain old telephone service (POTS), local area networks (LANs), and/or integrated services data network (ISDN). Configurations used will include circuit switched and packet switched, as well as POTS network configurations. The resulting system will allow point-to-point and multipoint selective and constant presence VTC, as well as the use of collaborative work areas, including white boarding and file sharing.

The system will operate on current-generation IBM-compatible PCs with an Intel 486-33 MHz or equivalent processor that have at least 8 megabytes of RAM, a 100-megabyte hard drive, a 15-inch SVGA monitor, Microsoft Windows 3.1, and Microsoft DOS 5.0.

TRW's Oklahoma City Engineering Office will be responsible for overall system integration and the primary installation of the DVTC systems in the United States. AT&T Network Systems, a major subcontractor, will handle primary installation outside of the United States, perform system maintenance and warranty service at worldwide locations, and manage a toll-free, around-the-clock help line.

Other team members will supply the following:

o Advanced multipoint capabilities for four to 28 concurrent

users -- Subcontractor AT&T Global Business Communications

Systems' Multipoint Control Unit.

o Point-to-point POTS hardware and software upgrade kit --

Creative Labs Inc.'s ShareVision PC3000.

o Workgroup and standalone point-to-point ISDN H.320 -- Target

Technologies' C-Phone.

o 802.3 LAN capability, LAN multipoint multipresence, and LAN

collaboration tools for application sharing -- Intel's

ProShare Video System 150 and ProShare Premier.

o T.120-based whiteboarding and file sharing tools for

point-to-point ISDN, LAN, and multipoint selective presence

ISDN -- DataBeam's FarSite v2.0.

o Full-duplex desktop acoustic echo canceler, speaker and

microphone -- Coherent Communications Systems Corp.'s CallPort.

o Custom-engineered headset upgrade package with microphone and

receiver -- VXI Corp.

Initial installation has begun and will continue through 1997, with options to extend installation for an additional year. Maintenance support will be performed during the remaining three years of the contract.

TRW's Oklahoma City Engineering Office reports to TRW Avionics Systems, a business unit of the TRW Space & Electronics Group, based in Redondo Beach, Calif. A leader in avionics systems, unmanned aerial vehicle systems, space systems, spaceborne electronic subsystems, and other advanced technologies for national security and civil space, the group is an operating unit of Cleveland-based TRW Inc., which provides advanced technology products and services for the automotive, space and defense, and information markets worldwide. The company's 1994 sales totaled $9 billion.

CONTACT: TRW

Bob Such, 619/592-3478

619/592-3284 (fax)

ARMY

Patricia Hutt, 908/532-1258

908/532-6262 (fax)