BriefingRoom on Connected Planet Online

When stranded motorists ask for help from Jack Rabbit USA, the specialist in emergency roadside assistance knows that a timely and efficient response is essential to client satisfaction. The company’s move to hosted phone service from Virtual PBX® has improved efficiency and response time, while simultaneously saving the firm over $15,000 per month in costs.

Jack Rabbit USA offers its services to drivers throughout 15 states within the South, Midwest and East Coast through a network of 30 roadside assistance dispatchers. But the technology the company had been using to communicate was burdensome and costly. Staff had to manually forward hundreds of calls each day. When Jack Rabbit USA began looking for a more cost-effective and efficient system, it hired technology expert James Yates to provide advice on services the company should consider to help cut costs and improve service to its customers.

“Jack Rabbit USA more

Enhancements to Innovative Ethernet Switching Software Deliver Advanced Features for OEMs Developing Virtualization and Cloud Computing Solutions

PALO ALTO, Calif., June 30 — Aricent, a global innovation, technology and service company focused exclusively on communications, today announced a new release of its widely deployed Intelligent Switching Solution (ISS) specifically tailored for building Data Center Ethernet equipment. Aricent’s ISS is a licensable, pre-packaged software framework that jumpstarts the development and integration of advanced switching products, and has been selected by more than 60 networking and telecom equipment manufacturers worldwide.

The new ISS release includes functions essential to delivering Ethernet in the Data Center including Priority Flow Control (PFC), Enhanced Transmission Selection (ETS), congestion notification and Data Center Bridging Extensions (DCBX). Additional features targeted for the Data Center include VRF, hot-standby for OSPF and PIM, graceful restart, IS-IS integration, and enhancements to private VLAN, ACL, MLDv2, MSDP and IPv6. These more

HP Solution Powers Telecom Operator’s Infrastructure-as-a-Service Offering

PALO ALTO, Calif.–HP (NYSE:HPQ) today announced that it is helping SFR, a leading French telecom operator, to generate new revenue by extending the advantages of cloud computing to its business customers.

HP and SFR have built a complete cloud services platform designed to enable SFR to offer IT infrastructure as a service (IaaS) with utility-based pricing to French companies.

The HP Cloud Services Enablement (CSE) portfolio for Communications Service Providers (CSP) tightly integrates HP software, hardware and services to simplify and speed cloud services deployments. For IaaS, the compute services offering includes HP Aggregation Platform for SaaS, HP Cloud Service Automation and HP BladeSystem Matrix.

With the HP CSE portfolio, SFR business customers can take advantage of a wide selection of services on demand, guaranteed quality network bandwidth and access to state-of-the-art IT technology. Business benefits for SFR customers more

End-to-End Solution Works Across All Variations in Traffic and All Vendor Devices

MILPITAS, Calif., June 30 — JDSU (Nasdaq: JDSU and TSX: JDU) today announced its Signaling Analyzer Real Time (SART) solution quickly and successfully validated results from rapidly changing test scenarios during major LTE interoperability trials, the results of which were captured in a white paper recently published about the March, 2010 MultiService Forum (MSF)-sponsored event. Hosted by Vodafone in Dusseldorf and China Mobile in Beijing, the intense, two-week-long trials tested the interoperability of Evolved Packet Core (EPC) elements from the world’s leading network equipment manufacturers (NEMs). JDSU was the only passive test vendor invited, and, as referenced in the post-event MSF white paper, its tools enabled rapid analysis by providing “uncompromising visibility to all End2End procedures.” (1)

“We were encouraged not only by the results of the interoperability trials, but by the fact that a neutral more

OIF’s 28G VSR Project Continues to Catch Industry Attention

Fremont, CA – June 29, 2010 – The Optical Internetworking Forum (OIF) is hosting a one-day workshop on a Common Electrical Interface (CEI) project for 28G Very Short Reach (VSR) on Monday, July 19, 2010 from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm in Baltimore, MD. This is the second CEI workshop sponsored by the OIF in the last five months and is open to the public and OIF members.

The OIF workshop will focus efforts on the CEI-28G-VSR project initiated at the February 2010 CEI workshop. The workshop will solicit feedback from other standards organizations and the industry in general to help guide the definition of objectives and requirements for an implementation agreement.

The CEI-28G-VSR project will result in an implementation agreement that will define data lane(s) that more

Network Transformation Completed in Record Time Enables BICS to Expand Capacity, Lower OPEX and Offer New Services

WESTFORD, Mass., and BRUSSELS, June 29 — Sonus Networks, Inc. (Nasdaq: SONS), a leader in IP networking, and BICS, the fourth largest wholesale voice provider in the world, today announced the successful completion of the operator’s IP-based core network migration, a massive undertaking equivalent to more than 10,000 E1 TDM and SIP trunks. Featuring advanced IP capabilities such as centralized routing, hybrid trunking and secure session border control, the new core IP network was completed in record time for a network of its size and under strict requirements of no downtime for BICS’ existing end customers during the migration.

“We are extremely pleased with the IP networking know-how and the ability of Sonus architects and services personnel to deliver on large scale projects with complex integration and risk management requirements, as more

Invests to Build a Bridge Between Service Providers, Enterprises, and Application Developers to Accelerate the Creation of Web, Mobile and Multimedia Apps

PARIS, June 29, 2010 — Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) today announced that it has acquired ProgrammableWeb, the technology industry’s universal source for Web APIs (application programming interfaces) used by application developers to build web, mobile, and other connected applications that serve consumers and the workplace. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

Web APIs enable developers to create new applications leveraging various kinds of content and functionality. Alcatel-Lucent’s acquisition of ProgrammableWeb will help bring together an ecosystem of service providers, enterprises, and developers to drive the creation of unique applications today and in the new world of broadband mobile through LTE.

ProgrammableWeb will continue to operate as a separate entity, maintaining its repository of over 2,000 Web APIs which are regularly accessed by more

Level 3 to Provide High-Speed Internet, Colocation Services for MLB.com

BROOMFIELD, Colo.–Level 3 Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: LVLT) today announced that it has been selected by MLB.com, the official website of Major League Baseball, to deliver high-speed IP and colocation to support its network, media archive, as well as live and on-demand streaming capabilities.

The new services are an expansion of Level 3’s relationship with MLB.com, which started with the delivery of Vyvx video backhaul services for live-game streaming. Under the terms of the multi-year agreement, Level 3 will provide the following services:

High-speed IP: Level 3’s high-speed IP, designed to seamlessly meet the demands of the largest consumers of bandwidth, will give MLB.com Internet access via two 10 Gigabit Ethernet ports at Level 3’s edge servers.
Colocation suite: Level 3 will provide state-of-the-art secure hosting for MLB.com’s network infrastructure and media library, giving the organization direct access more

Migration to next-gen wireless networks includes industry leading synchronization, interface and management options

MANSFIELD, Mass.–Telco Systems, a BATM company (LSE: BVC) and a leading provider of Carrier Ethernet access and aggregation solutions, is enabling carriers and wireless operators to create robust and cost effective packet backhaul networks without replacing their heavily invested core networks. As integral parts of the Company’s access to aggregation packet backhaul solution, the new T-Marc 3208SH cell site gateway and T-Metro 7124S 10G multi-service aggregation switch will allow carriers and wireless operators to seamlessly backhaul traffic from multiple 2G, 3G and 4G cell sites across a Carrier Ethernet access network.

“One of the main concerns carriers have is maintaining proper synchronization while the standards and base station equipment evolve. No one can afford a complete forklift upgrade”
“One of the main concerns carriers have is maintaining proper synchronization while the standards and base station more

HICKORY, NC–Tying location information to Internet connected devices took a step forward at a recent National Emergency Number Association (NENA) event where Andrew Solutions, the CommScope, Inc. division that is a global leader in wireless communications systems and products, tested the interoperability of its GeoLENs® Location Information Server (LIS).

“Emergency services have improved greatly with the ability to provide a location for wireless device users when they are in an emergency and unable to give a location,” said John Baker, vice president and general manager, Network Solutions, Andrew. “The next step is standardizing location determination for all Internet-based telephony, whether wired or wireless.”

Tested at NENA’s second Industry Collaboration Event for next generation emergency calling (NG9-1-1), Andrew’s GeoLENs LIS can provide a location for callers using Internet-based telephony on cable or DSL networks. Location determination for Internet connected devices is a critical component more