Carrier IP Networks Realize End-to-End Session Control with NexTone FlexControl.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

GERMANTOWN, Md.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 9, 2004

Advanced Session Controller Capabilities Enable Carriers to Route, Manage and Control Real Time Sessions

NexTone(TM) Communications, the leading provider of session controller technologies for real time IP traffic, today announced the immediate availability of FlexControl, its suite of advanced session control capabilities that enables carriers to simply and cost effectively route, manage and control real time traffic over their IP network.

The rapid acceptance and selection of NexTone session controller technologies by carriers is largely attributed to FlexControl's ability to address the complexities of carrying real time traffic over IP networks. FlexControl's unique set of capabilities include FlexRoute, FlexPolicy and the recently announced FlexPeer.

"Most session controller vendors have focused their efforts on building a solution for session border control that enables carriers to secure their networks while exchanging real time traffic with other carriers and the enterprise," said Joe McGarvey, senior analyst, Current Analysis. "NexTone's FlexControl technology advances the session controller space by enabling carriers to implement end-to-end session control which includes controlling their network border while also routing and managing real time sessions across their IP networks."

About FlexControl:

-- NexTone FlexRoute enables carriers to develop very granular 

and highly programmable facilities to govern the routing of

real time traffic over their IP networks. FlexRoute abstracts

route policy from call signaling and enables a single policy

database for use with all VoIP endpoints regardless of vendor.

FlexRoute is highly scalable, with support for more than one

million route entries, providing carriers with greater

flexibility to terminate calls on a larger set of endpoints.

This powerful and flexible facility enables call routing

policies to be organized with differing levels of granularity 

which can include routes, groups of routes, endpoints, groups

of endpoints, call source, source IP subnet, call destination,

trunk group and protocol parameters. The power of FlexRoute

arms carriers with a robust call routing solution that

includes routing support for Time of Day, Class of Service and

specialized routing applications such as Call Route Hunting.

FlexRoute's scalability and flexibility provides carriers with

a single consolidated routing facility which can

simultaneously support multiple business initiatives ranging

from a carrier's wholesale services to their retail consumer

services offering.

-- NexTone FlexPolicy enables carriers to better manage their

real time traffic by enforcing network policies, such as call

rate limiting for incoming and outgoing calls and total calls,

on a virtual basis. Previously, policies could only be

enforced on stateful endpoints, such as media gateways or edge

session controller, within the carrier's control. With

FlexPolicy, session control policies such as controlling call

rate, bandwidth rate and call capacity, can be logically

applied to any entity, regardless of who controls it, such as

a carrier partner or customer. Furthermore, policy enforcement

can occur at the device port, device and device group levels.

With FlexPolicy carriers can easily traffic engineer their

networks to realize the most from their networks.

-- NexTone's FlexPeer software provides carriers with industry

leading VoIP interoperability by adapting signaling messaging

and timing so that every partner is quickly connected in the

most cost effective way. FlexPeer signaling software adapts

signaling messaging and timing to resolve incompatibilities

between VoIP devices. Its unique software architecture enables

NexTone to quickly deliver signaling changes without modifying

the signaling protocol stack. FlexPeer also provides NAT and

firewall capabilities to ensure the integrity and security of

the carrier's network. With the added control of FlexPeer,

NexTone has extended its media routing capabilities to also

include the processing and manipulation of media. The added

control allows carriers to selectively use digital signal

processor (DSP) resources on a call basis to perform codec and

DTMF transcoding.

"FlexControl technology in NexTone's Session Controllers is a key component in ITXC's highly successful VoIPLink(TM) for quick and reliable interworking between networks based on H.323 or SIP infrastructure from any of many vendors and ITXC.net, which provides global long distance traffic exchange between hundreds of VoIP and PSTN networks around the world," said John Landau, Executive Vice President of Product Management at ITXC. "Using FlexPeer, ITXC has been able to move VoIP internetworking from an immature 'art' generally requiring custom engineering for each case to a robust, highly repeatable 'off-the-shelf' VoIPLink capability."

About NexTone Communications

NexTone Communications is the leading provider of session controllers for the delivery of real-time services over packet networks, such as voice over IP (VoIP). NexTone solutions enable carriers, service providers and enterprise customers to securely, simply and cost-effectively interconnect networks. The rich feature set of NexTone's session controllers, including adaptive least cost routing, dynamic call route hunting and flexible call admission control, offers a comprehensive yet highly flexible and scalable solution while ensuring consistent service quality, protection and security within IP infrastructures. NexTone's session controller technology significantly reduces customer's equipment expenditures and also provides operational efficiencies such as reduced interconnect turn-up time and simplified network operations. NexTone is headquartered in Germantown, Maryland USA with domestic and International sales offices worldwide. For more information, visit www.nextone.com.