Voicenet Selects Cisco to Launch Advanced Low-Cost Voice Services for Mid-Atlantic Region

Voicenet Builds Service on VoIP Cisco AS5300 Universal Access Servers,Cisco 3600 Modular Multifunction Access Routers to Provide IP Telephony Services

Voicenet Website
More information about the Cisco 3600 Multifunction Access Router

More information about the Cisco AS5300 Universal Access Server

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- February 17, 1999 -- Cisco Systems, Inc. today announced that Voicenet, the largest Internet service provider (ISP) in the Pennsylvania area, has selected the Cisco AS5300 Universal Access Server and Cisco 3600 Multifunction Access Router to provide long-distance voice and fax telephone services to its over 100,000 users in the Mid-Atlantic region. Voicenet has been a Cisco Universal Access Server customer since the first Cisco Universal Access Server shipped in 1995, and is now upgrading its Cisco Access Server installation by adding voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) to its IP network.

Voicenet is the first ISP in the region to offer Internet Telephone services for homes and businesses, utilizing conventional telephones for local and long-distance calls over the Internet. Voicenet's deployment of VoIP began 60 days ago, and already includes thousands of residential and commercial customers throughout Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York and Delaware.

The enhanced nationwide Voicenet network uses VoIP technology to provide substantial cost savings to Voicenet customers. According to Voicenet, the new Internet Telephone services can reduce phone bills 50 to 70 percent for homes and businesses. Calls to and from any number in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware and New York City cost five cents a minute. Long distance calls to anywhere else in the continental United States are seven cents a minute. Voicenet charges no connection fee, and Internet calling rates are valid any time of the day or night, seven days a week.

"We chose Cisco to help us deploy this state-of-the-art network because of the integrated Cisco IOS. software end-to-end solution, and the quality and reliability of the equipment," said Carmen DiCamillo, president of Voicenet. "We tested Cisco's voice quality extensively at the University of Delaware, and found it to be excellent and superior to competitive offerings. Cisco sees the larger picture and is offering the full suite of a new generation of telecommunications solutions; they are the ideal partner for Voicenet to align with for the long term."

"Voicenet is at the forefront of VoIP deployment," said Roland Acra, vice president and general manager of Cisco's Remote Access Business Unit. "The voice telephony product that they are delivering today not only offers tremendous savings to their customers, but also equals or exceeds the sound quality of conventional telephone service. We applaud their innovation and the benefits they are delivering to Mid-Atlantic based consumers."

"Adding voice services offers a huge business opportunity for ISPs, and Cisco's long-standing universal access server customers are increasingly looking to upgrade their Cisco installations to VoIP," added Acra. "Cisco is committed to providing these customers with leading edge products and services for the New World of telecommunications."

Voicenet Network: Providing Digital-Quality Voice Communications over the Internet

Voicenet's state-of-the-art, high-speed data network transmits digital-quality voice communications over the Internet to any phone, anywhere in the country. Calls can be made from any touch-tone phone, including cellular and pay phones.

The Voicenet network is comprised of the Cisco 7000 series for the network backbone; Cisco AS5300 Universal Access Server for dial-up deployment; and the Cisco 3600 Modular Access Router for dedicated customer access. For its commercial customers, Voicenet offers dedicated VoIP lines connected to a customer's PBX system via a Cisco 3600 at the customer site. The Cisco 3600 routes traffic to the Cisco AS5300 at Voicenet headquarters, from which traffic can proceed to the public network.

A key commercial market for Voicenet is medium-sized businesses that have avoided paying for dedicated data services in the past, but are now finding that they can save substantially on overall telecommunications costs by having dedicated lines that combine voice and data. "Customers are finding that they can both reduce costs substantially and have access to more services than they had previously, said DiCamillo. "They're not giving up anything because the voice quality is so good that our customers can't tell the difference between traditional telephone service and the VoIP service."

The Cisco AS5300 Universal Access Server

The Cisco AS5300 is designed to support the growing volume of dial-in connections to service providers and corporate networks. It delivers near line-speed performance for as many as 240 concurrent analog modem calls and ISDN B channels over a single dial-in telephone number. As Cisco's next-generation universal access server, the Cisco AS5300 raises the bar for performance in high-traffic, real-world environments.

The Cisco AS5300 VoIP gateway is a high-performance H.323-compliant gateway optimized for VoIP applications. Supporting up to 2T1/E1 digital channels, it connects with existing telephones and fax machines through the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), key systems and PBXs, making the process of placing calls over the IP network transparent to users.

The Cisco 3600 Series

The Cisco 3600 Series is a family of modular, multifunction access routers for medium and large-sized offices and smaller Internet Service Providers. The high-performance, modular architecture of the Cisco 3600 Series protects customers' investment in network technology and integrates the functions of several devices into a single, manageable solution. With over 50 modular interface options, the Cisco 3600 family provides solutions for dial access, voice/data integration, virtual private networks (VPNs), and multiprotocol data routing. Using Cisco's voice/fax network modules, the Cisco 3600 Series allows customers to consolidate voice, fax, and data traffic on a single network infrastructure. The Cisco 3600 with VoIP was recently awarded Computer Telephony's Product of the Year award for 1998.

About Voicenet

The Internet was a virtual unknown when Voicenet was founded in 1990 by Carmen A. DiCamillo. Today, this privately held company is considered an industry pioneer, offering innovative applications and the fastest, most reliable Internet connectivity for individuals, businesses, and educational institutions. Voicenet's National Backbone is directly connected to the Internet at multiple Network Access Points. This direct connection to the Network Access Points gives Voicenet "Peer Provider" status, a designation reserved for less than 1percent of all Internet Service Providers. In addition to dial-up access and a full range of dedicated Internet services, Voicenet provides web design and development, web hosting, e-commerce and specialized Internet instruction at the company's state-of-the-art training facility in Ivyland, Bucks County, Pennsylvania. With well over 100,000 users, Voicenet is ranked the number one ISP in the Philadelphia Area by the Philadelphia Business Journal.

Cisco Systems

Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) is the worldwide leader in networking for the Internet.

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Voicenet and the Voicenet logo are registered trademarks of Voicenet in the U.S. All other trademarks mentioned in this document are the property of their respective owners.

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