For example, Taqua Inc., which has the TDM-only Open Compact Exchange (OCX) installed with at least 45 customers, plans to show its packet interface card at SUPERCOMM. The card is slated for controlled introduction in June, says Todd Daniels, vice president of sales.
"We do have CLECs looking to build new networks with IP," says Daniels. "We see our new product as a packet gateway eliminator." He adds the product is targeted to service providers that already are living an IP existence. "Our vision is VoIP requires that a packet network has to exist to [have it] make sense."
Jody Bennett, vice president of marketing, explains Taqua had a packet interface card in 1998 that it was demonstrating at trade shows. The company pulled that product as the market moved away from voice over data technologies. The new card, however, is based on the latest advances, he says. "The way it processes calls is more efficient, the circuitry is more efficient, the architecture is more efficient," he says. The company plans to provide more details about the product around its introduction later this year.
Still, Taqua believes many carriers with existing networks will continue to drive strong demand for the TDM version of the OCX.
Daniels says while competitor MetaSwitch "assumes the network will quickly turn IP. We don't. We think our strength is we're providing our customers exactly what they need right now."
Although MetaSwitch also is focused on the CLEC and IOC markets, it has a very different outlook than does Taqua. "We look for people looking to the future" to move to IP video and IP voice, says Bob Harvey, regional manager for MetaSwitch in the Central U.S. MetaSwitch, a division of Data Connection, has about 15 announced deployments.
Telica Inc., which has been shipping its products for about two years, is another vendor that supports voice over TDM, IP and ATM. The company says it has about 100 switches deployed, with about 30 of those in Class 5 applications.
Delivering VoIP allows carriers to compete with IP PBXs, which effectively transforms carriers into "dumb pipe" providers, thus lowering their revenue potential, says John St. Amand, president and CEO.
Tricia Nelson, director of product marketing at Santera Systems Inc., concurs IP Centrex is a key application for IP-based Class 5 switch alternatives today. Santera's product supports voice over TDM, ATM and IP. The RBOCs challenged by IP PBXs from Cisco Systems Inc. and others, she notes, are the key carriers following that trend.
Back on the TDM stalwart side, Class 5 switch alternative vendor CopperCom Inc. also is preparing to deliver an IP card for its product, a TDM-only box. The plans are to roll out the packet option next year, says Bob Kersey, vice president of product management and business development at CopperCom, which has at least 47 switches deployed in Class 4 and 5 applications.
"For our target market -- the IOCs -- they're focused on modernizing facilities and bringing GR303 and CALEA into their facilities," he says. "We see packet as a second driver."
Kersey adds that some companies have been selling VoIP technology too soon. However, by next year, Kersey says, there should be enough early adopters to have proven the value in VoIP, and SIP phones should start coming down in price.
