SAN JOSE, Calif. - October 21, 1997 - Cisco Systems, Inc. announced today that it has beenselected to supply, install and support wide-area Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) switches andvoice servers for the Deutsche Post AG backbone network in cooperation with Alcatel SEL AG. The new platforms will augment the post office's existing Cisco router-based national network,enabling Deutsche Post AG to aggregate all voice and data traffic across its private wide-areaATM network.
Under a multimillion-dollar contract, Cisco will supply over 200 Cisco StrataCom. IGXmultiservice switches and 15 Cisco voice network switching (VNS) systems, providing a nationalnetwork capable of dynamically switching voice, Frame Relay and ATM traffic over a single ATMbackbone.
Deutsche Post AG is Europe's largest postal enterprise, offering private and business customersa wide variety of services ranging from traditional letter and parcel mail, to electronicletter mail, to integrated, customer-specific package logistics solutions. The firm's goal isbecome the leader in service quality by international standards. Its current router-basednetwork supports data applications for five operations and service centers in Berlin, Hannover,Cologne, Darmstadt and Augsburg. The network also serves 83 letter mail centers, 53 postalbranch offices, 33 freight mail centers, 18 offices of the postal employees' health insurancefund and 800 smaller delivery bases. Also connected to the data network are the differentsubsidiary companies of Deutsche Post AG.
Voice Runs for Free over Existing Data Network
Deutsche Post AG's current network uses multiple 2-Mbps (E1) links across Germany that supportthe high volumes of data uploaded to the main data centers for processing. During non-peaktraffic times, however, the data network has excess capacity that can be used to carry voice. "The IGX switched network with Cisco's VNS systems will enable us to leverage our existinginfrastructure, consolidate voice traffic over our network and reduce costs by maximizing thebandwidth efficiency of our E1 links," said Sabine Velmeden, head of the network section atDeutsche Post AG. "We expect to save multimillion deutsche marks per year when the network isdeployed."
The IGX is a versatile, standards-based ATM switch capable of supporting a wide range ofnarrowband and broadband applications for enterprise networks and service providers. Thescalable architecture of the VNS system, a standards-based, high-capacity network server,enables the system to handle calls from up to 30 PBXs. As a customer's network grows,additional VNS systems can be added seamlessly to the ATM network to provide switched voicecapabilities. The VNS system provides a fully fault-tolerant, semi-distributed architecturewhere calls originating from multiple PBXs can be serviced by a single VNS. "We designed theVNS system as a scalable solution that can easily handle large networks such as the DeutschePost AG," said Sarat Khilnani, product marketing manager for voice network switching at Cisco. "Cisco's experience with transport of voice over cell-based networks combined with our advancedvoice switching offerings, leads us to believe we have the industry's best solution for ourcustomers."
Cisco Cell-Based Switches Round Out Deutsche Post's End-to-End Solution
"After evaluating several Time Division Multiplexing (TDM)-based systems, the advantages of acell-based system in terms of investment protection, scalability and performance becameobvious," said Velmeden. "The IGX provided the most comprehensive solution in terms of voice,video and data integration. It also complemented our existing installed base of Cisco routersand LAN switches, providing us with an end-to-end solution based on Cisco."
Using the IGX and VNS servers, Deutsche Post AG can support a wide range of high-qualitycompression techniques from 32-kbps ADPCM down to 8-kbps CS ACELP. Built-in compression andsilence suppression techniques conserve bandwidth and reduce costs. "We were looking forbuilt-in quality-of-service features that are very important for voice traffic, which demandslow network latency for high voice quality," continued Velmeden. "Cisco clearly demonstratedits ability to provide a total solution, leveraging its leadership in data networking andsupport to a leadership position in voice switching and multiservice integration."
With global implementation and support services, Cisco will assist Deutsche Post AG in itsnetwork implementation and enable the firm to quickly bring the network up to production speed.
About Deutsche Post AG
Deutsche Post AG, as Europe's largest postal enterprise is a diversified, international servicevendor in the communications, transport and logistics markets. News and information areavailable at http://www.postag.de./postagen/index.html.
Cisco Systems
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