WASHINGTON-Jan. 27, 2000--Cisco Systems, Inc. today announced that the Cisco MGX(TM) 8260media gateway, which debuted this week at ComNet 2000 was awarded a ComNet 2000 New Product Achievement Award. Selected as a finalist amongst hundreds of applicants, the product was voted the Best New Telephony/Fax/Conferencing Offering by conference attendees.
The MGX 8260 is the industry's first high-density, carrier-class gateway that integrates high-density Voice over IP (VoIP) and Time Division Multiplexing (TDM) capabilities, enabling carriers to cap their investment in traditional circuit-switched networks and accelerate the delivery of value-added IP services that ensure long-term growth and revenues.
After careful evaluation by a wide cross-section of the computer/communications marketplace, which included leading analysts, editors, consultants and users, the MGX 8260 was chosen as one of three product finalists. Networking and communications professionals attending ComNet, which were estimated at 50,000, cast their votes for the best new offerings in eight categories. Winners were announced at the ComNet Awards Ceremony yesterday evening.
"The entire Cisco team is thrilled to have won this industry-renowned award," said Kevin Kennedy, senior vice president of Cisco's service provider line of business. "This recognition is further proof of Cisco's commitment to providing the most comprehensive set of IP+ATM switching solutions for enabling service providers to accelerate their transition from circuit to New World packet networks and rapidly deliver innovative IP services at lower costs to their customers."
Unlike other gateway products that force carriers to choose between VoIP or TDM functionality, the MGX 8260 is the only media gateway capable of performing all 3 of the critical functions required to optimize data traffic between TDM and packet networks: local TDM voice switching, VoIP and Internet dialup data offload.
"The timing of this award couldn't have been better," noted Rob Redford, director of marketing for Cisco Systems. "Washington was hit with a major snow storm the night before ComNet. As a result, many people were home-bound. So many people were dialed into the Internet that a spokesperson from the local phone company asked people to log off because the local switches werecongested and phone calls could not go through. Winning this award for a product designed to fix this very problem made receiving this honor even sweeter."
This is the second consecutive year a Cisco IP+ATM switching solution was awarded a ComNet New Product Achievement Award. The MGX 8800, a wide-area edge switch that offers the industry's widest breadth of integrated IP+ATM services and unmatched deployment flexibility, won the ComNet 1999 Best New Network Infrastructure Offering.
The ComNet New Product Achievement Awards were sponsored by InfoWorld magazine. InfoWorld worked closely with ComNet to identify the most innovative and unique products that should be considered for recognition.
