Cisco has unveiled a set of products that makes fixed, wireless and
voice communications available on any IP port in a single
gateway.
The company claims the Any Service Any Port (Asap) architecture for
its AS5000 series of universal gateways can significantly reduce
costs through the elimination of separate infrastructures at the
network edge: a dial network for modem calls, a wireless data
network, and a managed Voice over IP (VoIP) network.
This convergence allows users to access office-type applications -
such as Internet browsing, contact list searches, scheduling,
e-mailing and voicemail - remotely and carry out traditional
telephone-call dialling directly from their contact directory.
According to Cisco, Asap offers facilities for use on today's
devices similar to those that will only become available when
broadband third-generation telecoms services become available in
2005, or later.
Services that can be offered simultaneously on Cisco's AS5000 with
Asap include: mobile voice and data; unified messaging
applications; e-conferencing; Wap access; Internet access; VoIP
origination and termination; voice over DSL and voice-over-cable
PSTN.
Cisco also claims that the devices can future-proof an organisation
against "crossover applications" - tightly integrated multimedia
services which are impossible to provide on voice-only or data-only
networks.
The Asap architecture supports key standards including VoiceXML,
SIP, H.323 and MGCP and has a wide range of supporting policy and
accounting software.