The CEOs of four of the world’s largest IS and telecommunications companies – Nortel Networks, Intel Corp, Microsoft Corp and Hewlett-Packard Co – got together yesterday to announce a joint venture aimed at integrating voice and data on NT-based server platforms. As expected the companies used a press conference in San Jose to flesh out details of the four-way alliance and to announce the availability of the first round of products to come out of the joint initiative. Overall, the companies said the aim was to combine Nortel’s voice technology, which will be branded Nortel Networks Connects on Intel and Microsoft NT-based HP servers – although officials from Nortel stressed the agreement with HP wasn’t exclusive and added that the company would look for other OEM partners to integrate the software with their servers.
Speaking at the conference, HP’s CEO Lou Platt announced two new products, an all-in-one business communications server and an advanced unified messaging software package. Platt described the initiative as something that would make business simpler. Up until now he said, corporations had been divided into two separate worlds: computers and communications. The existence of these two worlds makes life very complex, he said, it’s meant two independent purchasing cycles, different consulting processes, separate hardware, software and post sales services. With the products announced yesterday, Platt said the aim was to enable companies to shop in one place, with one contact for all their telephony and computing needs.
The HP communication server is targeted at small to medium-sized businesses and branch offices. It integrates Nortel’s telephony functionality on a PCI card that can then be fitted inside an standard HP server expansion slot. The cards, each of which can handle up to 80 users, are designed to replace the traditional PBX by receiving incoming calls and routing them to individual extensions internally. Not only are they based on proprietary software, but PBXs have always been seen as one of the most expensive pieces of office equipment. The telephone functionality also includes such features as voice mail, call center and IP telephony; which means that users could effectively route calls over their IP data networks if they choose, removing the need for standard telephone cables. One of the key benefits of the system, Platt said, is that the server runs independently of the telephony software, so if for some reason the hardware goes down, users can still make and receive calls. And because it’s just a PC card, the server can also be used to house other, data applications, such as email or word processing, Nortel said.
The second product on show was the HP Business Messaging Server. Targeted at medium to large organizations, the server incorporates Nortel’s unified messaging software, CallPilot. The software gives users the ability to listen to voice mail, or read the messages on screen, to receive faxes to the desktop or to listen to emails over the telephone. Although there are unified messaging solutions available today, John Myer, VP and general manager of Nortel’s messaging solutions division, said CallPilot is different because it enables companies to integrate with all the existing leading email packages including Microsoft’s Exchange, Lotus Notes, Qualcomm’s Eudora and so on. There’s been a lot of hype about unified messaging, but to date most of the software has been too expensive and too complex to install, Myer said, adding that most companies use a variety of email systems internally and not just one. The benefit of CallPilot is that it can dish up unified messaging to all the email communications packages from one server. In the past you would have needed a different solution for each application.
HP hasn’t given any pricing details yet but the company said both products would be available in mid 1999. Under the alliance, only HP, and its resellers, will offer the hardware as well as provide service and support for the products, the comp
anies said. Also under the announcement, the CEOs said they had each invested in two development centers, to be housed at Nortel’s sites in Santa Clara, California and Ontario, Canada, where developers from each company will work together to bring new unified messaging, and other integrated products to market.
