Excel announces new product; CSN demonstrated at Computer Telephony Expo.

LOS ANGELES, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 12, 1996-- Excel, Inc. today announced a new product offering, positioned to compliment its family of programmable switching systems. The Communications Service Node, or CSN, is a programmable switch designed to support up to 1,024 non-blocking network interface ports and direct access to external voice processing resources, in a hardware architecture that is compatible with Excel's LNX and EXS products.

"The CSN was conceived in response to the demand for both scalability and configuration flexibility in programmable switching platforms. Providers of wireless/PCS services are looking for a family of switching products that span a diversity of capacity and expansion requirements, from the local loop covering small populations to very large metropolitan areas," said Bob Madonna, President of Excel. CSN not only provides the solution for an entry-level switching platform, it also offers an interface to voice resources operating on industry standard buses such as PEB, MVIP and SCSA. "With these capabilities and its compatibility with Excel's product family, CSN can operate as a node on Excel's Expandable Switching System (EXS), providing access to voice resources across the EXNET network, freeing up network line resources and making voice resources available to over 64,000 non-blocking ports," said Mr. Madonna.

The CSN operates in a trim chassis; it's 7" height enables it to operate on the desktop or in a rack. CSN uses the same application programming interface and network interface and resource cards as the LNX, Excel's flagship product; thus, it is fully compatible with LNX and can operate in an EXS architecture. Up to five cards can be installed in the CSN including the matrix CPU and four additional cards to support a variety of services. They include: T1, E1 and J1 network interfaces supporting up to 1,024 non-blocking network interface ports, Digital Signal Processing and Voice Recorded Announcements, SS7 and/or ISDN packet engine services, and access to PEB, MVIP and SCSA voice resources. In addition, the CSN will support standard analog technology: FXS-Loop Start, Ground Start, DID, or E&M.

CSN is being demonstrated live at the Computer Telephony Expo in Los Angeles from March 12-14. The CSN is part of an EXS system that will be demonstrating the CSN's compatibility with LNX and EXS, as well as its ability to support voice resources over the EXNET network. The demonstration also illustrates the ability to physically distribute a switching environment in a non-blocking manner throughout a large building or in a campus setting (see related press release).

About Excel, Inc.

Excel, Inc. designs, manufactures, markets and supports a family of open architecture, programmable switches used in a wide variety of telecommunications applications, including Advanced Intelligent Networks (AIN), Personal Communications Services and Networks (PCS/PCN), wireless and wireline service provisioning, a wide variety of enhanced services, and service bureau operations. The company markets it products primarily to systems integrators, application developers, OEMs, and service providers for deployment worldwide. Founded in 1988, Excel is based in Hyannis, MA.

CONTACT: Excel Inc.

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