Business Communications Platforms the... · 2/10/2003 · Changing the Landscape for Enterprise...

Intel inCommunications

Changing the Landscape forEnterprise CommunicationsSolutions: Business Communications Platforms

Whitepaper

Contents

Executive Summary 1

Enterprise Communications Today 1

New Choices for Enterprise Communications 1

Traditional Communications Systems Are Monolithic 3

Adjunct Servers Add Flexibility 3

A Traditional Configuration Is Complex 3

A Standards-Based System Is More Efficient 4

Bringing a Computing Cost-Benefit Model to Communications 5

Standards-Based Building Blocks Work Together Seamlessly 5

Easy Scalability and Dramatic Efficiencies 6

Technology Trends Benefit Business Communications Platform 6

Contact Center Solutions Built on Standards-Based Hardware 6

Host Media Processing Can Displace DSPs 7

Most Enterprises Can Use Business Communications Platforms 9

The Distributed Enterprise 9

Vertical Market Segments 10

Standards Make Business Communications Platforms Unique 10

Advantages of Business Communications Platform Technology 10

WhitepaperChanging the Landscape for Enterprise Communications Solutions: Business Communications Platforms

Executive SummaryBusiness communications platform technologyfrom Intel is ready to transform the communi-cations industry by providing an architecturethat emulates the model that has driven thedevelopment of cost-efficient systems in thecomputer industry. With a standards-basedserver platform configured with telephonyboards, developers can build both coreswitching and enhanced enterpriseapplications. Supporting circuit and packetnetworks, the platform provides a clearmigration path to an IP environment. Thebusiness communications platform can freedevelopers from the application limits andintegration costs of proprietary systems,enabling innovative applications, and providingenterprises with advanced, flexiblecommunications systems.

Enterprise Communications TodayThe landscape for enterprise communicationssystems is being re-drawn as communicationsand data technologies converge, and Voiceover Internet Protocol (VoIP) technologies arerecognized as the voice transport andswitching technology of the future. Emergingas a strong competitor in this new landscapeare converged systems built on businesscommunications platform technology fromIntel. Drawing from a strong group of Intel®

telephony boards, configured for trunks,stations, and a rich media processing mix,developers are building efficient newconverged systems for enterprise customers.Applications developed on businesscommunications platforms are delivering boththe core switching functionality of a privatebranch exchange (PBX) or key telephonesystem (KTS) while also hosting a range ofenhanced communications applicationsnormally delivered on adjunct media servers.

The efficient delivery of core and enhancedcommunications applications on a standards-based computing platform is gatheringmomentum within large distributed enterprisesand in vertical market segments as well. Thevalue of a communications system, which ismodeled on the competitive efficiencies ofInformation Technology (IT) systems and which

leverages infrastructure and managementresources, truly resonates with customers. The open standards business communicationsplatform approach from Intel can free develop-ers from the application limits and integrationcosts of proprietary systems, enabling theirsolutions to compete effectively with anycommunications system on the market.

To meet the evolving application need for IPtrunks and stations, both public switchedtelephone network (PSTN) and VoIP telephonybuilding blocks can be seamlessly integratedinto various business communications platformconfigurations today. This converged approachto traditional circuit-switched and emergingpacket-switched voice allows enterprisecustomers to migrate and adopt IP voicetechnologies at their own pace. Andinnovations that shift IP and media resourcesto the host Intel processor will enabledevelopers to deliver more cost-effective andefficient business communications platformsolutions as VoIP accelerates.

For these reasons, systems deployed onbusiness communications platform technologyfrom Intel are bringing more efficientcommunications to the enterprise.

New Choices for EnterpriseCommunications Because of advances in communicationstechnology, enterprises that need to replace orinvest in a new communications system havemore options than ever before. They canchoose to stay with the traditional architecturalmodel, or invest in a new system thatincorporates packet technology.

The traditional enterprise communicationssystem is generally built around a PBX or KTSwith adjunct media servers that enableapplications, such as voice mail and interactivevoice response (IVR). This model has severalshortcomings — high cost, integrationcomplexity, and reliance on a single vendor forthe base PBX/KTS technology. IP PBXs andmany IP-centric converged systems providethe advantages of packet-based communica-tions, but can still lock enterprises into thedisadvantages of owning a proprietary system.

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Changing the Landscape for Enterprise Communications Solutions: Business Communications Platforms

One exception is a converged system built ona business communications platform—anindustry-standard computing platform for next-generation voice communications in anenterprise. This platform is comprised of aserver with standards-based computer-telephony building blocks, supporting bothnetwork and station interfaces, and designedwith media resources on which a wide rangeof communications applications can bedeveloped. Configured to support the uniquerequirements of individual enterprises, thisplatform enables developers to create open,standards-based converged communicationssystems for specific customer needs.

Systems built on a business communicationsplatform are flexible and scalable and provide away to move gradually to IP technology at apace that meets the business needs of theend user organization. Basing a system onopen standards can also bring the cost-effective pricing associated with enterpriseinformation systems to enterprisecommunications systems.

Perhaps most important of all, the businesscommunications platform is poised to benefitfrom the introduction of Intel® NetStructure™Host Media Processing (HMP) software, whichperforms media processing on the hostprocessor. This technology reduces the needfor telephony hardware and specialized DSPs,and can dramatically reduce the total cost ofownership of communications systems forboth developers and system owners. Becauseof this radical technology shift, proprietarysystems are expected to become increasinglyobsolete from both an application and costperspective.

Traditional CommunicationsSystems Are MonolithicAlthough PBX and KTS technologies havefaithfully delivered real-time communicationsservices with high reliability for many years,they are aging rapidly in today’s world ofconverging data and communicationstechnologies, networks, and systems.

The PBX and KTS are typically provided as anend-to-end, top-to-bottom proprietary system

from a single manufacturer. Generally this typeof system is expensive to manage, usuallyrequiring specialized training and maintenance.These systems can also be expensive toupgrade with additional applications from themanufacturer, and, since the system andsoftware is proprietary, the application choiceis often limited to those developed by the PBXmanufacturer.

Adjunct Servers Add FlexibilityBecasue the base system is monolithic, theadjunct media server has become thedominant delivery mechanism for enhancedapplications in the enterprise, capable ofadding third-party applications such as voicemail, automated attendant, IVR, fax servers,and contact center to the core PBX/KTSswitching functionality. It is common for anenterprise system to have multiple adjunctmedia servers as the enterprise adds newapplications over the life of the PBX/KTS.

While this model has allowed the enterprise toexpand proprietary communications systemswith enhanced applications, the inefficiency ofmultiple hardware platforms, systemintegration challenges, and multiplemanagement interfaces makes these systemarchitectures complex, expensive, andchallenging to maintain and manage.

A Traditional Configuration Is ComplexFigure 1 provides an illustration of howcomplex the configuration of a typicalenterprise communications system often istoday. The main PBX/KTS, which is connectedto the PSTN, remains the core of the system,providing switching and automatic calldistribution. A host of additional applicationsare connected to the PBX/KTS throughadjunct servers, each dedicated to providing adifferent application. Many of these servers arealso connected to the data center becausethey require access to enterprise data.

To make the current situation even morecomplex, the Internet has become a criticalbusiness tool, and companies are increasinglyinstalling VoIP to reduce network expensesand support requirements for multimedia

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communications. These services are providedthrough a gateway behind the enterprisefirewall, and this gateway is also connected tothe PBX/KTS.

A Standards-Based ConfigurationIs More EfficientA simpler, more efficient way to configure andmanage an enterprise communications systemis to replace the aging PBX/KTS and itsadjunct servers with a converged systembased on the business communications plat-form concept. A basic configuration for such asystem is shown in Figure 2.

The business communications platform sits atthe heart of the enterprise communicationssystem as an open, standards-based platformfor traditional and next-generation voice appli-

cations and services. The system is built onstandard computer and computer telephonybuilding blocks, including both network andstation interfaces and rich communicationsmedia resources. The applications, which ranon individual adjunct servers in a traditionalconfiguration, now run in a single logicalconfiguration on single or multiple physicalservers connected to the enterprise network.

The business communications platform has theadditional advantage of serving as a bridgebetween circuit-switched time division multiplex(TDM) and packet-switched IP technology,permitting the platform to act as a transitiontechnology. It can allow enterprises to migrateat their own pace to IP station endpoints andnext-generation networks where all communi-cations are treated as packet-switched data,

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PBX,Automatic Call

Distribution

Router

PSTNTelephony

WANInternet

Data Center

Storage

VoIP Gateway

Firewall

Call Control Server

Fax Server

Voice Response

Voice Mail

Figure 1. Typical Enterprise Communications System Today

and rich multimedia communications areavailable through enhanced applications.

Bringing a Computing Cost-BenefitModel to CommunicationsAs a standards-based, application-readycommunications server, the businesscommunications platform aims to use thesame cost-benefit model as the computingservers that provide today’s database, email,and Internet services. In other words,developers use standard componentsmanufactured at high volume (and thusgenerally at lower cost) to replicate the featuresand functionality of existing purpose-builtequipment, supplemented by the flexibility toadd functionality through open interfaces.

This model spawns competition at theapplication and user interface layer, whichprovides enterprises with productivity, systemsmanagement, and customer service

efficiencies. In addition, the underlying platformcontinually benefits from the exponential gainsdescribed in Moore’s Law. By harnessingadditional processor power to deliver more(and more advanced) functionality and supportfor a greater number of users, that increasedcomputer and communications strength allowsdecreased cost per user.

Standards-Based Building BlocksWork Together SeamlesslyThe architecture of a business communicationsplatform has five layers of standards-basedhardware and software building blocks thatwork together seamlessly. See Figure 3 for anillustration.

The first three integrated layers make up thebusiness communications platform, which is


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Firewall

Business CommunicationsPlatform

Router

PSTNTelephony

WANInternet

Data Center

Storage

IVR

Voice Mail

Fax

Auto Attendant

Unifed Messaging

Third Party Applications

PBX

Figure 2. Business Communications Platform Configuration

ready to serve converged communicationsapplications.■ Layer 1: Intel® Architecture PC or server

technology

■ Layer 2: Open operating system (Windows or Linux)

■ Layer 3: Intel communications buildingblocks for a PSTN or IP trunk interface; ananalog, digital, or IP station interface; andvoice, conferencing, fax, and speechresources

The top two layers in Figure 3 represent theapplications developed, integrated, anddelivered by an ecosystem of independent

software vendors, integrators, distributors, andvalue-added resellers.■ Layer 4: Core enterprise communications

applications for PBX or contact centerfunctions, automated attendant and auto-matic call distributor, and voice messaging.Typically Web-based administration toolsmanage the applications.

■ Layer 5: Enhanced enterprise communica-tions applications such as unified messaging,interactive voice response, desktop client,soft client, remote agent, and fax server.

Although the architecture presented heredescribes a complete converged

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Third-Party Enhanced Enterprise Communication Applications

UnifiedMessaging

InteractiveVoice

Response

Third-Party Core Enterprise Communication Applications

PBX and/orContact Center

VoiceMessaging

AutomatedAttendant

and/or ACD+ +

Intel® Communications Building Blocks

PSTN or IPTrunk Interface

Fax and SpeechResources

Analog, Digitalor IP Station

Interface++

Voice andConferenceResources+

Open Operating SystemWindows Linux

Intel® ArchitecturePC Server

DesktopClients

SoftClients

RemoteAgents

FaxServer

Administrationand

Maintenance+

Figure 3. Business Communications Platform Architecture

communications system built on a businesscommunications platform, one of theadvantages of the platform is that anenterprise can choose the applications itcurrently needs and add new applications inthe future via software loads.

A single software vendor can developcommunications applications suites in whichenhanced applications are available asselectable modules. Another approach is toexpose application program interfaces on acore switching application to encourage othersoftware developers to create plug-in modulesfor enhanced applications.

For application developers, Intel’s buildingblock approach is ideally suited to the use ofrapid application development (RAD) toolkits.RADs provide a collection of developmentutilities and runtime engines that helpdevelopers quickly create and deployapplications, saving both time and money.Typically RAD tools provide an abstractionlayer, which hides or shields the developerfrom requiring an in-depth knowledge ofspecialized APIs, which greatly simplifies thedevelopment of communications applications,such as voice processing, speech recognition,computer-based fax, text-to-speech (TTS)synthesis, and others.

Easy Scalability and Dramatic EfficienciesBusiness communications platform telephonybuilding blocks can support system configura-tions from eight station ports to well over 500ports in a standard computer server chassis.This scalability allows developers to address abroad enterprise market segment, as well asenabling a platform to grow as an enterprisegrows. A complete range of trunk and stationinterface boards from Intel easily supports bothcontact center and less network-intensive PBXtrunk configurations. IP resource boards allowthe use of both IP trunks and stations.

As enterprises migrate to IP stations, theplatform allows them to benefit from an overallreduction of physical station interfacesbecause of efficient hardware and software IPresources. Analog station ports have a fixedone-to-one hardwired relationship with stationusers while the IP resource to IP station user

ratio is a flexible, shared resource.

For example, a 24-port analog station interfaceboard is required to support 24 analog stationusers. However, a 24-port IP resource boardcan potentially support two to four times asmany IP station users, delivering a dramaticrise in system efficiency. Such savings highlightboth the efficiency of IP systems – and theimportant benefit that a businesscommunications platform can provide byfacilitating the migration to converged, IP-based communications.

Since business communications platforms aredeployed using operating systems andcomputing hardware common in the enterpriseIT environment, system managers can usetheir existing IT procedures and personnel tomonitor and maintain their communicationsinfrastructure. This is a distinct advantage overolder proprietary solutions that requiredspecialized skills and procedures. Themonitoring of standard platforms can be doneremotely or locally in the same way thatexisting email and database servers aremonitored and managed, reducing costs andimproving the efficiency of the IT organization.

Technology Trends BenefitBusiness CommunicationsPlatformThe business communications platform hasbenefited from several technology trends. Itsroots are in the enhancements created for thecontact center, and its future will be shaped bythe exponential growth of processorperformance observed in Moore’s Law and thedevelopment of host media processing.

Contact Center Solutions Built onStandards-Based HardwareContact center application developers wereearly innovators in providing voice-switchingsolutions built on open, standards-basedcomputer telephony hardware. These solutionsdeveloped because of the significant benefitreceived by integrating information from thecontact database with the customer callautomatically. Similar proprietary contactcenter solutions required a very highinvestment per agent, which made open-


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platform solutions more attractive from both afinancial and functional standpoint. In addition,the typical workstation environment (telephonyheadset and data terminal) for contact centeragents drove extensive development of stan-dard analog station interface hardware.

Once switching functionality in a businesscommunications platform was proven in thecontact center, the development of standards-based full replacement solutions for thePBX/KTS could begin.

From an application standpoint, its contactcenter heritage is a major benefit for businesscommunications platforms. Although contactcenters were originally important only to largeenterprises and telemarketing organizations,contact center functionality has rapidly become“must have” technology for businessinstallations of all sizes because of the costsavings it can deliver. Driven by productivityand customer service initiatives, enterprisecustomers have become increasingly eager tobenefit from the sophisticated routing, queuing,predictive dialing, IVR, and databaseintegration technologies that have beendeveloped and proven in the contact centerusing business communications platformarchitecture.

Adoption of business communicationsplatforms in the contact center is a large and

growing base for the general deployment ofthis technology. However, this base representsa fraction of the opportunity in the totalenterprise communications system marketsegment, which encompasses next-generationPBX and KTS replacement products. Businesscommunications platforms are poised to makesignificant inroads in this much larger area ofopportunity.

Host Media Processing Can Displace DSPsBecause it is based on Intel® Architecture, thebusiness communications platform will growmore powerful and cost-effective as microprocessor performance continues toaccelerate according to Moore’s Law. In 1965,Gordon Moore observed an exponential growthin the number of transistors per integrated cir-cuit and predicted that this trend would contin-ue. Because of Intel’s history of technologicaladvances, Moore’s Law has been maintainedand still holds true today, and Intel expects thatit will continue at least through the end of thisdecade.1 Figure 4 shows the rapid rise ofprocessor performance over time as proof ofMoore’s Law.2

Continued gains in processor performance willdirectly impact the way in which businesscommunications platforms develop in thefuture, making them increasingly more efficientand cost-effective.3

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1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005

100000

10000

1000

100

10

1

0.1

0.01

MIPS

8080

80084004

8086286

386486

Pentium® 2

Pentium® 4

Pentium®

Figure 4. Processor Performance in MIPS

1 See http://www.intel.com/research/silicon/mooreslaw.htm.2 Taken from Gordon Moore’s presentation “No Exponential is Forever … but We Can Delay ‘Forever’” on February 10, 2003 at the

International Solid State Circuits Conference (ISSCC).3 For more information on Moore’s Law, see ftp://download.intel.com/labs/eml/download/EML_opportunity.pdf

http://www.intel.com/research/silicon/mooreslaw.htm

ftp://download.intel.com/labs/eml/download/EML_opportunity.pdf

Today processor power allows telephonyservers to provide advanced applications andmultimedia technologies. With the introductionof Intel NetStructure Host Media Processing(HMP) software in September 2002, a newtrend to migrate core communicationsprocessing functions from dedicated digitalsignal processors (DSPs) to the hostmicroprocessor began.4 The increasing powerand cost-effectiveness of the Intel Pentium®

processor now allows it to deliver specializedprocessing functionalities, such as digital signalprocessing, at reasonable cost andperformance levels. By performing thefunctions of purpose-built DSPs on a centralprocessor in a server, HMP software deliverstelephony media processing in a new way.

DSPs deployed on computer telephony boardsin today’s business communications platformsrun software modules that provide richresources to telephony applications. Voice playand record, conferencing, fax, speechrecognition, TTS, VoIP transcoding, and tonegeneration are all DSP-based operations today.However, HMP software promises to allow Intelprocessors in the business communicationsplatform server to replace dedicated DSPs andreduce (and, in some cases, eliminate) theneed for telephony boards in future businesscommunications platforms. This furthersimplifies business processes for developerswho are building business communicationsplatforms by eliminating the need to manage,stock, install, and configure the hardwareboards that use DSPs.

Combined with the move from the PSTN to anetwork based on IP voice service and stationequipment, the shift to the host processorfrom DSPs has the ability to transform con-verged communications systems dramaticallywith the following benefits: ■ Faster time-to-market for applications devel-

oped using software development and testprocesses

■ Deployment that begins with a softwaredownload and not with hardware boardinstallation

■ Upgrades that are possible by simplyreconfiguring software

■ More users and features that can be addedand supported using server-based (oftenGUI) management interfaces

■ Maintenance costs that are lower becauseless physical hardware is required to supportcomparable system configurations

■ Reduced working capital costs that mayallow developers to price enterprise productsmore attractively

The sum of the benefits brought by theintroduction of HMP software technology willlikely translate to a reduction in the total costof ownership for enterprise customers.

Figure 5 presents a future configuration of abusiness communications platform as a TDM-IP hybrid solution using HMP software.The HMP-enabled board provides an interfaceto the PSTN, but all the media resource and IPconnectivity resides as HMP software moduleson the Intel host processor.


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Intel® NetStructure™Host Media

Processing SoftwareIP Trunksand StationsLAN/

WAN

PSTN T-1/E-1

• Voice• Conferencing• VoIP• Fax• Speech

VirtualCT Bus

Figure 5. TDM-IP Solution Enabled with HMP Software

4 For more information on HMP software, see http://www.intel.com/network/csp/resources/white_papers/7786web.htm

http://www.intel.com/network/csp/resources/white_papers/7786web.htm

Most Enterprises Can UseBusiness CommunicationsPlatformsMany industry analysts predict double-digitgrowth for next-generation IP-centric enterprisecommunications systems, which includebusiness communications platforms. Althoughvirtually every business and enterprise is apotential candidate for a business communica-tions platform, two key types of enterprises areparticularly important: the distributed enterpriseand vertical marketplace.

The Distributed Enterprise Nowhere do business communicationsplatforms make more sense than in enterprisesthat have identical, distributed branches acrossa geographic region or worldwide. Thesebusinesses continually strive for economies ofscale derived from replicating successfulbusiness processes across their locations.

Many enterprises are still tied to a rigidproprietary communications system designeddecades ago. Businesses that have under-taken any consolidation, merger, or acquisitionactivity may even find themselves with multiplenon-compatible communications systems.Dependencies and variations limit the type ofapplications they can deploy at each of theirlocations. Often the business is required to dis-patch specially trained personnel to servicetheir communications equipment and upgradeit at each location, often through expensiveservice agreements.

Even when open standards-based adjunctmedia servers are used to enhance communi-cations applications, the proprietary interfacebetween the legacy telephony hardware andthe open platform presents roadblocks to trueefficiency and cost reduction. Systems built onbusiness communications platforms will allowdistributed enterprises to benefit from the sameopen, standards-based model that has madetheir information systems so efficient and cost-effective.

Four powerful incentives will encourage theseorganizations to move to business communi-cations platforms.

■ Customize Once, Deploy Many –Distributed enterprises can buy an openserver-based communications system withan application customized to their needs,and deploy duplicate systems in all of theirdistributed locations, greatly simplifyingcommunications system management.

■ Off-the-Shelf Equipment Reduces Costs – Because the business communica-tions platform is built on a standard dataserver running switching and othercommunications applications with a standardoperating system, no specialized telecompersonnel are required. IT personnel canmanage, maintain, and upgrade thecommunications system as easily as they dotheir organization’s information system. Andin a distributed environment, hardware andsoftware can be managed remotely.

■ Investment Is Protected – With a businesscommunications platform, applications canbe upgraded or replaced without necessarilyscrapping the underlying hardware platform.New standards-based hardware andsoftware technologies can be implemented,and the platform expanded, without awholesale forklift replacement. Since both thetraditional PSTN and new IP networks andendpoints are supported, migration from oneto the other is achievable at a pace that isright for the particular organization.

■ IP Resources Enhance Applications –Since the business communications platformcan be equipped with IP resources,applications benefiting from the advantagesof VoIP technology can be deployed.Distributed enterprises can route calls overthe enterprise WAN and consolidate theircommunications infrastructure, oftenreducing overall costs. The platform can bemanaged over the WAN, and external callscan be transparently routed to alternativesites or channeled from a centralized 800service to a local service center.

Vertical Market SegmentsThe business communications platform is alsoan attractive development platform for vertical

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market segments, such as retail, finance,health care, travel, and more. Traditional PBXor KTS technology typically serves thesevertical market segments with enhancedapplications delivered via an adjunct mediaserver. Since the business communicationsplatform can support both switching andenhanced applications, it opens opportunitiesto serve vertical markets with innovativecommunications applications without theburden of integrating an adjunct server with arange of proprietary phone systems.

The single platform for both core switching andenhanced applications provides an efficientnew delivery mechanism for vertical marketsegments. A server architecture makes iteasier for developers to integrate with the mostpopular data applications in a particular verticalmarket segment. Such a strategy can opendoors to new distribution channels forconverged communications systems.

Standards Make BusinessCommunications Platform UniqueAlthough this paper has focused on acomparison between traditional, proprietaryPBX/KTS technology and a converged systemusing the business communications platformmodel, such a converged system can also befavorably compared to other next-generationcommunications systems in today’smarketplace, such as proprietary convergedsystems and IP-PBX systems.

While some converged systems are built onstandard data server platforms and operatingsystems, their telephony hardware andsoftware remain proprietary and closed.Generally speaking, third-party developers arenot free to innovate on these platforms.

IP-PBX systems have been introduced by bothdata switch and traditional PBX manufacturers,and are designed with IP technology at theircore. Still, these systems are offered in thesame way as traditional PBX and KTSproducts. A single manufacturer is the solesource for hardware, software, and stationequipment, as well as the communicationsprotocol that allows each of these componentsto communicate with each other and with aunique management and monitoring system.

The key differentiator for converged systemsbuilt with business communications platformarchitecture is the adoption of the openstandards computing model in a communica-tions system rather than the traditionalproprietary communications model, whichlacks a strong ecosystem of independentdevelopers. Open standards in technologydrive innovation and efficiency by reducingbarriers to entry.

Just as the advent of open, standards-basedcomputing allowed innovation and costeffectiveness to win out over proprietary datasystems, Intel expects that systems built onopen, standards-based businesscommunications platforms will ultimately sup-plant proprietary communications systems in the enterprise.

Advantages of BusinessCommunications PlatformTechnologyDevelopers searching for an opportunity to tapinto the demand for next-generation con-verged communications systems in the enter-prise should look closely at the advantagesprovided by business communications plat-form products from Intel. Enterprise customersconsidering a next generation, IP-enabledsystem to replace their legacy PBX or KTSsystems should examine the benefits of aconverged system built on Intel technology ascompared to alternative systems.

The three powerful elements described belowmake business communications platformtechnology a uniquely strong competitor in thenext-generation communications systemsmarket segment.

1. A single hardware platform that will supportcore communications application needs (i.e., inbound and outbound calling andvoice messaging), which is ready to supportenhanced communications applications ormodules as needed.

2. A platform that is truly converged,supporting both circuit-switched andpacket-switched networks and endpoints,allowing migration between the two at ameasured pace.


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3. A platform based on open Intel architecture,enabling innovative software applicationsand providing a communications systemwith the type of flexibility, manageability, andapplication choice found in today’s datatechnology.

The business communications platform ispoised to dramatically transform the communi-cations industry by providing an architecturethat emulates the model that has driven thedevelopment of cost-efficient systems in thecomputer industry. This model will allow

forward-looking companies to rapidly developinnovative solutions that work togetherbecause of open industry standards. Withbusiness communications platform technology,enterprises can lower the total cost ofownership for their communications systemswhile benefiting from the continual innovationfueled by standards-based applicationdevelopment. This will ultimately allow endusers greater flexibility to meet their uniquebusiness needs.

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To learn more, visit our site on the World Wide Web at http://www.intel.com.

1515 Route TenParsippany, NJ 07054Phone: 1-973-993-3000

INFORMATION IN THIS DOCUMENT IS PROVIDED IN CONNECTION WITH INTEL® PRODUCTS. NO LICENSE, EXPRESS ORIMPLIED, BY ESTOPPEL OR OTHERWISE, TO ANY INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS IS GRANTED BY THIS DOCUMENT.EXCEPT AS PROVIDED IN INTEL’S TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF SALE FOR SUCH PRODUCTS, INTEL ASSUMES NO LIABILITY WHATSOEVER, AND INTEL DISCLAIMS ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTY, RELATING TO SALE AND/OR USE OFINTEL PRODUCTS INCLUDING LIABILITY OR WARRANTIES RELATING TO FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE,MERCHANTABILITY, OR INFRINGEMENT OF ANY PATENT, COPYRIGHT OR OTHER INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHT. Intel products are not intended for use in medical, life saving, life sustaining applications.

Intel may make changes to specifications and product descriptions at any time, without notice.

Intel, Intel NetStructure and the Intel logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Intel Corporation or its subsidiaries in theUnited States and other countries.

* Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others.

Printed in the USA Copyright © 2003 Intel Corporation All rights reserved. e Printed on recycled paper. 04/03 00-8538-001

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