US : RADVISION announced that its viaIP(TM) 400 communications platform, with new MCU v3, now fully enables desktop multipoint video, voice and data collaboration over Microsoft(R)'s Windows(R) Messenger and Microsoft's upcoming Real-Time Communications (RTC) Server 2003.

This solution is being demonstrated live in RADVISION's suite at Networld+Interop in Las Vegas (suite ER-18, across from booth 6840). This product has been selected as a finalist for NetWorld+Interop's BEST OF INTEROP award in its convergence category.
"With the introduction of Microsoft's Windows Messenger client and its RTC server, we are seeing for the first time the mass deployment of a true PC-based, enterprise-scale personal communication platform for converged voice, video and data communications," said Gadi Tamari, CEO of RADVISION. "In contrast to proprietary desktop solutions that are not standards based or require that separate overlay communications tools be installed and used on the PC, this solution leverages existing technology and Microsoft's current platform to provide end-users with an easy-to-use and manage high quality personal communications platform."

"This is truly a turning point in the industry -- with the viaIP 400's new SIP and RTC functionality, IT managers looking to embrace Windows Messenger now have a powerful network engine to support and augment their IM-based communication architecture with robust, business-class multipoint and inter-protocol voice and video telephony and data collaboration," Tamari concluded.

The industry's first solution of its kind, the RADVISION viaIP 400 platform enables users of Microsoft Windows Messenger (WM) and the upcoming RTC Server, formerly known under its code name "Greenwich," to hold multipoint audio/video conferences and data collaboration sessions between three or more WM users. The solution also translates between a wide variety of video signaling protocols, enabling IT managers to integrate WM end points into a larger videoconferencing network that might include end points that use IP (H.323), legacy ISDN (H.320), and/or emerging 3G video phones (3G-324M).
RADVISION added a new layer of functionality to its powerful viaIP 400 videoconferencing network infrastructure platform to support the SIP protocol and the signaling requirements of the Windows Messenger client and the Microsoft Real-Time Communications Server 2003 product.

"The availability of multipoint voice, video and data collaboration, and the ability to interconnect with other videoconferencing end points, adds real value to Microsoft's RTC and Windows Messenger solution," said Ed Simnett, Microsoft's Lead Product Manager for the RTC Server. "To provide this multiparty and multiprotocol functionality, RADVISION was proactive in seizing on the opportunity to embrace and expand the value of the RTC solution and modify its viaIP enterprise communication platform to tightly integrate with our WM and RTC platforms."

The Microsoft Real-Time Communications Server is a manageable and extensible instant messaging (IM) server that enables business agility by empowering corporations to reach, collaborate and respond to new information more quickly, and to take advantage of industry-standard protocols such as Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) and SIP for Instant Messaging and Presence (SIMPLE). The general availability of this server, planned for Q3 2003, will enable enterprises to support IM with the security, manageability, scalability and standards-based features necessary to be a reliable and crucial component of an enterprise communications strategy -- an adjacent utility to e-mail and telephony communication for employees.

"The new Microsoft Windows Messenger communications platform is designed to support multimedia only on a point-to-point basis and also does not currently support video interworking between WM end points and other videoconferencing networks and end points using traditional IP (H.323), ISDN (H.320) and 3G video phones (3G-324M)," said Andrew W. Davis of Wainhouse Research, a leading video telephony and conferencing analyst group in the United States. "With the RADVISION viaIP 400 and its multiprotocol and multipoint conferencing functionality, Microsoft's powerful communications tool will now support true personal visual communications applications as an integrated component of an enterprise's multimedia communication and collaboration strategy."

RADVISION viaIP 400

RADVISION's viaIP 400 is a cost effective voice, video and data conferencing network infrastructure platform that provides all the necessary components for a videoconferencing solution, including integrated multipoint conferencing, gateway, and data collaboration functionality. With its recently announced SIP functionality, the viaIP400 now supports any visual communications protocol and end point, including legacy ISDN-based solutions, IP-based solutions, SIP-based platforms such as Microsoft Windows Messenger, and emerging wireless 3G video phones.

Availability

The RADVISION viaIP 400 is currently available with full SIP and Windows Messenger/Greenwich support. The Microsoft Real-Time Communications Server 2003 Standard Edition is expected to be release by Microsoft in Q3, 2003.