N+I 1999: Audiocodes, Clarent to Demo MGCP Interoperability

Interoperability testing to be demonstrated at Networld+Interop will show that carrier-grade, interoperable Internet protocol (IP) telephony is one step closer to reality, according to Clarent Corp., a provider of carrier-grade, phone-to-phone IP telephony products. The Redwood City, CA-based company will demonstrate the interoperability of its product using the new Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) media gateway control protocol (MGCP) with those of AudioCodes (Yehud, Israel), a provider of IP telephony and voice-over-packet enabling technologies.

Carrier-class voice communications over IP allows corporations to significantly lower phone bills, especially to overseas destinations. Clarent will demonstrate this integration at N+I Booth # 5031.

The first use of MGCP by the companies will be demonstrated by a media gateway that contains an upgraded version of AudioCodes' TrunkPack/VoIP-200 60-channel communications board, controlled remotely over an IP link by Clarent call agent software. AudioCodes' digital trunking device will demonstrate a "gateway decomposition" principle—the ability to divide voice over IP transmission functions between the audio streaming device and a separate control agent. The MGCP protocol is an evolving IETF standard designed for controlling telephony gateways by a call control element.

Further information about the MGCP is available from the IETF Website at www.ietf.org.