STOCKHOLM, April 14, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) -- SIP Forum (www.sipforum.org), the industry organization for the promotion and inter-working of Session Initiation Protocol (SIP), announced that technology leaders AT&T, Avaya, Data Connection, Intertex-Ingate and Siemens (Switzerland), have joined the SIP Forum as Sponsor members.
The SIP Forum's overall strategy is to create unity and cooperation among industry participants in order to push the global use and interoperability of Session Initiation Protocol.
"The SIP Forum is pleased to have AT&T, Avaya, Data Connection, Intertex-Ingate and Siemens (Switzerland) join us in promoting SIP ideas and solutions worldwide," said Jorgen Bjorkner, Chairman of the SIP Forum. "Our growing membership reflects the tremendous increase in interest for using SIP as a multimedia-signaling protocol within all IP networks."
"Intertex-Ingate are proud to be associated with the leading industry participants in the SIP industry and we feel that the SIP Forum is, and will continue to be, one of the leaders in providing information about the SIP protocol and the SIP-based industry. We feel that participating in the SIP Forum is important as it shows our company's commitment to the industry and is an excellent way to showcase our products, news and ideas," commented Martin Feuk, VP Marketing & Sales at Intertex.
"Siemens (Switzerland) has established itself within the greater company as the leader in SIP-based applications. We have brought our years of experience in VoIP for Call-Centre applications to new multimedia solutions, incorporating presence and instant messaging into our base of audio and video," said Shaun Baker, Senior Systems Engineer, Siemens (Switzerland). "Our current activities include a component framework and SDK for rapid SIP service creation. Joining the SIP Forum affirms our commitment to the technology and highlights our common goal to bring the benefits of SIP to the marketplace."
"We are extremely pleased to be sponsoring the industry's leading forum," said Jonathan Cumming, Data Connection. "The number of vendors and service providers within the SIP forum provides an excellent spring board for lifting SIP into many different user markets."
"Avaya sees SIP as a key technology for delivering converged communications applications to enterprise customers, with a profound impact on next-generation communications. SIP enables enterprises to run more efficiently in a virtual environment and provides users with more personalized communications capabilities," stated Anwar A Siddiqui, Technical Manager, Avaya.
For further information about joining the strongest working SIP community, please contact manager@sipforum.org or visit www.sipforum.org
ABOUT AT&T
AT&T is among the premier voice, video and data communications companies in the world, serving businesses, consumers, and government. The company runs the largest, most sophisticated communications network in the U.S., backed by the research and development capabilities of AT&T Labs. A leading supplier of data, Internet and managed services for the public and private sectors, AT&T offers outsourcing and consulting to large businesses and government. The company is a market leader in local, long distance and Internet services, as well as transaction-based services like prepaid cards, collect calling and directory assistance. With approximately $37 billion of revenue, AT&T has relationships with about 50 million consumers and 4 million business customers, who depend on AT&T for high-quality communications. AT&T has garnered several awards for outstanding performance and customer service. www.att.com
ABOUT AVAYA
Avaya is a leading global provider of communications systems, applications, and services for enterprises, including businesses, government agencies and other organizations. Avaya's product and solution offerings include converged voice and data networks, customer relationship management solutions, unified communications solutions and structured cabling systems. Avaya also supports its broad customer base with comprehensive global service offerings. www.avaya.com/
ABOUT DATA CONNECTION
Data Connection Limited (DCL) is the leading independent developer and supplier of IP Routing, LMP, MPLS, SIP, MGCP/Megaco, SCTP, ATM, Conferencing, Unified Messaging, Directory and SNA portable products. Customers include Calient, CIENA, Cisco, Fujitsu, Hitachi, IBM Corp., Lucent, Microsoft, Nortel Networks, Sycamore, and Sun. Its MetaSwitch division develops and manufactures a carrier-class Next Generation Class 5 Switch for telecommunications service providers.
Data Connection is headquartered in London UK, with US offices in Reston, VA and Alameda, CA. It was founded in 1981 and is privately held. During each of the past 20 years its profits have exceeded 20% of revenue. Last year sales exceeded $35M, of which 90% were outside the UK, mostly in the US. This large proportion of overseas sales has led to the company being awarded two Queen's Awards for outstanding export performance. www.dataconnection.com.
ABOUT INTERTEX
Intertex Data AB was founded in 1982 by current CEO Karl Erik Stahl. The company develops and markets communication and security products. Currently, the next generation broadband access products focusing on the SIP standard and person-to-person IP communication are being introduced. The products include featured ADSL modems and firewalls prepared for IP Telephony, Presence, Instant Messaging, Video Conferencing and Home Appliance Control. Intertex has won several International awards for creative product design as well as business excellence. www.intertexdata.com
ABOUT INGATE
Ingate Systems produces and sells the world's first SIP-capable enterprise firewalls and SIParators(tm), a device that connects to an existing network firewall to seamlessly enable the traversal of SIP communications. Ingate firewalls offer complete firewall protection while allowing the use of SIP-based communications services. Ingate is located in Stockholm and Linkoping, Sweden and its wholly owned subsidiary, Ingate Systems Inc., is located in Hollis, New Hampshire. www.ingate.com.
ABOUT SIEMENS (Switzerland)
Siemens (Switzerland) is a company that unites all the competences of Information and Communication Technology under one roof. With innovative solutions and powerful systems, it sets new benchmarks into the market. It employs 3600 people and has a yearly turnover of over $1.1 billion. Within the greater Siemens Company, it has established itself as leader in SIP-based applications. It has brought years of experience in VoIP for Call-Centre applications to new multimedia solutions, incorporating presence and instant messaging into an established base of audio and video. Visit the Web site at www.mysip.ch to learn more of its offerings, ranging from fully-featured Client to SIP-H323-ISDN-Gateway, Proxy/Registrar, AutoAnswer Multimedia Service, and InfoChannel Data Services. Current activities include a component framework and SDK for rapid SIP service creation
ABOUT SIP FORUM
The SIP Forum is a non-profit association whose mission is to promote awareness and provide information about the benefits and capabilities that are enabled by SIP. The objective of the SIP Forum is to facilitate the integration of SIP with other areas of work on the Internet. The SIP Forum is the meeting place for developers of commercial SIP based services and Internet technology, such as IP phones, PC clients, SIP servers and IP telephony gateways. www.sipforum.org