- GRIC Communications
- More information about Cisco AccessPath-VS3
- More information about the Cisco AS5300/Voice Gateway
MILPITAS, Calif. -- June 23, 1999 -- GRIC Communications, Inc., the leading provider of Internet value-added services for service providers (ISPs, telcos, and emerging carriers) over a global intelligent transaction platform, announced today that the GRICphone network is now in production utilizing the ETSI-TIPHON Open Settlement Protocol (OSP)* on the Cisco AS5300/Voice Gateway and the Cisco AccessPath-VS3/Voice Gateway. With OSP, service providers using Cisco Voice Gateways can leverage GRICphone - GRIC's IP Telephony Network and Services - as the interface for policy-based termination and settlement, linking together multiple Cisco networks and making it possible for Cisco-based service providers to connect and share traffic.
GRICphone service is a good example of the innovative application of open standards such as OSP. "The implementation of standards-based protocols like OSP is a key part of our Open Packet Telephony (OPT) framework," said Alistair Woodman, Group Manager, packet voice technologies at Cisco Systems. "Providing a standards-based protocol such as OSP on our gateways allows service providers to expand their reach and revenue opportunities for Voice over IP services."
GRIC plans to offer production-level services based on Cisco platforms in early August. Once available, Cisco-based service providers will be able to exchange VoIP traffic, taking advantage of the increased minutes volume and purchasing power and economy of scale that GRIC delivers through GRICphone. In addition, Internet Service Providers (ISPs) currently using Cisco remote access servers, who have been considering entry into the telephony market, can now do so quickly by using GRICphone to receive all the benefits of extensive coverage, reasonable rates, and superior Quality of Service (QoS) route terminations.
"GRIC is committed to working with Cisco to provide solutions that turn the vision of true interoperability into reality," said John Jacquay, GRIC's President and COO. "Our relationship with Cisco marks an important milestone in GRIC's mission to deliver value-added services and worldwide connectivity with Internet-based communications."
OSP is a standards-based solution that allows settlement, call termination and authorization between multiple service carriers. OSP forms the foundation for multi-vendor, inter-domain networks and will eventually allow service providers worldwide to connect and share traffic regardless of the platform they use, as long as it is OSP-compliant and has call setup and voice compression compatibility. Added Richard Brennan, GRIC Product Manager and ETSI-TIPHON rapporteur for OSP version 2.0, "OSP not only works with today's H.323-based services, it positions GRIC well for the future when we expect OSP to be compatible with new architectures and protocols, such as Media Gateway Control Protocol (MGCP) and Session Initiation Protocol (SIP)."
GRIC Communications
GRIC Communications, Inc. is the leader in delivering multiple integrated Internet services for ISPs, telcos, and emerging carriers. GRIC provides the global transaction platform that brings intelligence to the Internet through GRIC CSP, enabling the more than 450 service providers in the GRIC Alliance Network to provide an integrated, global infrastructure for secure authentication, settlement, provisioning, network management, flexible routing, and customer service. Alliance members have an aggregate addressable subscriber base of 30 million dial-up users and an estimated 40 million corporate users. GRIC provides worldwide access and termination for roaming, voice and fax services across 4,000 dial-up POPs in over 140 countries, 71 VoIP gateway servers, 40 store and forward fax hubs, and five regional QoS network hubs. Founded in 1994, GRIC is privately held, and has received funding of approximately $50 million from investors and strategic partners. GRIC is headquartered in Milpitas, California, and has offices in the U.S., Asia and Europe. Visit GRIC at http://www.gric.com or at VON, booth #3.Cisco Systems
Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) is theworldwide leader in networking for the Internet.Cisco, Cisco Systems and the Cisco Systems logo are registered trademarks of Cisco Systems, Inc. in the U.S. and certain other countries. All other trademarks mentioned in this document are the property of their respective owners.
