Introduction
This document provides an overview of how vendors will be supporting VPIM (Voice
Profile for Internet Mail) and VPIM related directory and gateway services on their
current and emerging messaging products.
The information below is based on discussions in the EMA Voice Message Committee work
groups and vendor product managers.
This document contains the two tables:
1. Message Server Support of VPIM Protocol
This section provides a summary of what message server products will be supporting VPIM.
Note: Most SMTP/MIME compliant systems have some ability to support VPIM. Message
systems that support storage of SMTP/MIME messages can support reception of VPIM messages.
This does not mean that they generate VPIM compliant messages though they could be made to
do so. For instance, Software.com’s Intermail product supports storage of VPIM
messages without alteration. Client systems that have the ability to record or play
32KADPCM encoded MIME body parts can be used to listen to VPIM messages. Again this does
not guarantee that they will generate VPIM compliant messages, though they could be made
to do so with minimal alteration. For instance Eudora desktop clients from Qualcom can
play VPIM messages it receives but do not generate messages that conform to the VPIM
specification for sending to VPIM compliant systems.
2. Gateway and Directory Product Support of VPIM
This section provides a summary of what gateways and directory products will be available
to support VPIM servers.
Note: Systems with native VPIM support do not need gateways to be networked, messages
can be sent directly via SMTP/MIME over the TCP/IP network. However, systems do need
common directory information if they are to determine the correct address or wish to use
spoken name. An alternative to a central directory is to support personal directories or
to cache information from messages received. These capabilities would allow addressing and
spoken name support, thought this would be limited to a subset of subscribers.
Message Server Support of VPIM Protocol
System Information |
VPIM Information |
Directory Info. |
Comments |
| Vendor |
System |
Ver. |
TCP/IP |
VPIM |
VPIM Media |
VPIM
Trials |
Dir. Access |
Dir. Trials |
Methods / Comment on VPIM Protocol |
| Active Voice |
Unity |
>= 1.5 |
Yes |
Native |
V/F |
2Q98 |
LDAP |
2Q98 |
TCP/IP and SMTP/MIME |
| AVT |
CallXpressNT |
>= 5.03 |
Yes |
Native |
V/F |
4Q97 |
LDAP |
4Q97 |
NT based TCP/IP and SMTP/MIME. |
| AVT |
CallXpress3 |
>= 4.03 |
Yes |
Native |
V/F |
4Q97 |
LDAP |
4Q97 |
OS/2 based TCP/IP and SMTP/MIME. |
| AVT |
PhoneXpress |
>= 4.03 |
Yes |
Native |
V/F |
4Q97 |
LDAP |
4Q97 |
OS/2 based TCP/IP and SMTP /MIME. |
| Centigram |
Series 6 |
6.2 |
Yes |
Native |
V/F |
1Q98 |
LDAP |
2Q98 |
Native internal VPIM TCP/IP. |
| Centigram |
Series 6 |
6.0 & 6.1 |
Yes |
Gate/ Upgrd |
V/F |
Not set |
LDAP |
Not set |
Requires upgrade to 6.2 or Centigram VPIM hub. |
| Centigram |
Series 5.0x |
5.0x |
No |
Gate |
V/F |
Not set |
NA |
NA |
Centigram VPIM Hub required. |
| Call Tech-nologies |
Call Courier Voice Mail |
>= 2.0 |
Yes |
Gate |
V/F |
1Q98 |
LDAP |
1Q98 |
Multi-Media Unix message platform requires CTIIS VMG
gateway product. |
| IBM |
DirectTalkMail |
2.1 |
Yes |
Native |
V |
3Q97 |
Batch |
NA |
DirectTalkMail is a feature for DirectTalk AIX. Directory
access API is available so open directories can be supported. |
| Mediagate
| iPost |
1.0 |
Yes |
Native |
V/F |
4Q97 |
LDAP |
4Q97 |
Mail server supports many media types. |
| Lucent |
Intuity Audix |
<R3 |
No |
Gate/ Upgrd |
V/F |
1Q98 |
Batch |
1Q98 |
Two alternatives: a) Upgrade to R3 for Native TCP/IP,
or b) Intuity Interchange in networking via AMIS-A or Audix Digital. |
| Lucent |
Intuity Audix |
>= R3 |
Yes |
Native |
V/F |
1Q98 |
LDAP |
1Q98 |
Native internal VPIM TCP/IP. |
| Lucent |
Definity Audix |
All |
No |
Gate |
V/F |
1Q98 |
Batch |
1Q98 |
Intuity Interchange in networking via AMIS-A or Audix
Digital protocols. |
| Lucent |
Merlin Mail |
All |
No |
No |
NA |
NA |
None |
NA |
Will not support VPIM. |
| Lucent |
Partner Mail |
All |
No |
No |
NA |
NA |
None |
NA |
Will not support VPIM. |
| Nortel |
Meridian Mail |
<R11 |
No |
Upgrd |
NA |
NA |
NA |
NA |
Requires upgrades (esp. processor board) to R11. |
| Nortel |
Meridian Mail |
³ R11 |
No |
Gate |
V |
4Q97 |
LDAP |
4Q97 |
Meridian Mail Net Gateway via analog DTMF protocol. |
| Nortel |
Norstar Voice Mail |
<3.0 |
No |
Upgrd |
V/F |
4Q97 |
None |
NA |
Requires upgrade to R3. |
| Nortel |
Norstar Voice Mail |
>= 3.0 |
Yes |
Native |
V/F |
4Q97 |
None |
NA |
Native internal VPIM and TCP/IP. |
| Nortel |
StarTalk Flash |
All |
No |
No |
NA |
NA |
None |
NA |
Will not support VPIM. |
| Octel |
Aria |
<2.x |
No |
Gate |
V/F |
1Q98 |
Batch |
1Q98 |
Requires OcteLink gateway into Octel analog network. |
| Octel |
Aria |
³ 2.x |
Yes |
Gate |
V/F |
1Q98 |
Batch |
1Q98 |
Requires OcteLink gateway into OctelNet digital or analog
network. |
| Octel |
Serenade |
All |
Yes |
Gate |
V/F |
1Q98 |
Batch |
1Q98 |
Requires OcteLink gateway into VoiceNet or OctelNet. |
| Octel |
Unified Messenger |
2.0 |
Yes |
Native |
V/F |
2Q98 |
LDAP |
2Q98 |
Uses NT Exchange based store. LDAP as available in NT
Directory. |
| ReadyCom |
RVS 2000 |
New |
Yes |
Native |
V |
1Q98 |
LDAP |
1Q98 |
Uses VPIM to integrate cellular SP network messaging with
others. |
| Siemens |
PhoneMail |
All |
Yes |
Gate |
V |
2Q98 |
LDAP |
2Q98 |
Gateway - VPIM, TCP/IP and SMTP/MIME. |
Table 1 Comments and Fields
| Vendor & System |
System vendor and model. |
| Version |
Release version number. Less than (<) and greater than or equal to (³ ) indicates earlier and later releases. |
| TCP/IP |
Indicates that TCP/IP is an option on this release. |
| VPIM |
Indicates if and how VPIM is supported.
Gate - VPIM is supported only via an external gateway or hub.
The comment field indicates the protocol between the Message System and the Gateway.
Native - VPIM (and TCP/IP) support is on messaging system, not a gateway.
No - VPIM not supported.
Upgrade - Upgrade of system version required to support VPIM.
|
| VPIM Media |
Indicates what media can be supported.
V - Voice body part in 32KADPCM encoding.
F - Fax body part in TIFF-F format.
|
| VPIM Trial Date |
Indicates the date that the VPIM MIME/SMTP transport portion of the server
is planned to be ready for trial interoperability tests at end-user sites. This does not
indicate general release date, nor availability of full documentation and support, though
products often go into General Release the following quarter. Not set indicates that the
availability date has not been set. |
| Directory Access |
Indicates how external directories are accessed.
LDAP - System is able to perform an LDAP queries and updates over TCP/IP link to
a directory service. This may be to an X.500 compliant directory or to a proprietary
directory that supports LDAP.
Batch - Indicates that system can interact with external directories at some
level.
A high level of support synchronizes local server directories with a central directory
service via a batch file. A high level of support would also provide spoken name.
A low level of support would only allow for batch down load of local directories to a
central directory. In these cases, no spoken name or valid number confirmation would be
supported.
None - Indicates that local voice mail server can not use information from
shared directory services and can also not export its directory information.
|
| Dir. Trial Date |
Indicates the date that the directory access feature is planned to be
ready for trial interoperability tests at end-user sites. This does not indicate general
release date, nor availability of full documentation and support, though products often go
into General Release the following quarter. Not set indicates that the availability date
has not been set. |
| Methods/Comments |
Additional information. |
Gateway and Directory Product Support of VPIM
| Vendor |
System |
Type |
Ver. |
Trials |
Comment |
| Centigram |
Centigram VPIM Hub |
Gate |
New |
Not set |
Protocols: VPIM, Centigram proprietary Mesa Net protocol. Required
for Series 5.x products. Release dates not scheduled. |
| Centigram |
Centigram Directory Server |
Dir |
New |
2Q98 |
LDAP support for Series 6. Intended for both CPE and SP
usage. Supports spoken name attribute. |
| CTIIS |
Voice Mail Gateway & Directory. |
Gate
Dir |
New |
1Q98 |
Required for 2.0 release. Directory based on DCL software
and supports LDAP and X.500. System is NT based. Supports spoken name attribute. |
| IBM |
DirectTalkMail |
Gate |
2.1 |
3Q97 |
Feature of DirectTalk for AIX 2.1 povides .wav and .au
email gateway. |
| Mediagate
| iPost Gateway |
Gate |
New |
4Q97 |
GSM proprietary protocols for NetSpeak WebPhone and
Vocaltech Iphone. |
| Lucent-Octel Msg Division |
Intuity Interchange |
Gate
Dir |
New |
1Q98 |
Protocols: VPIM, AMIS-A, Audix Digital. Interchange is a
CPE product. Required for: Definity Audix and R2 Intuity Audix. Directory service not
fully defined but likely to support X.500 and LDAP as well as spoken name. |
| Lucent-Octel Msg Division |
OcteLink Post Office |
Gate |
NA |
1Q98 |
Protocols: VPIM, AMIS-A, AMIS-D, OctelNet-A. Back-end
product for service providers, includes directory.
Not currently a CPE product, SP users only. |
| Nortel |
Meridian Mail Net Gateway |
Gate |
1.0 |
4Q97 |
Protocols: VPIM, Nortel Proprietary. Supports cache store
of spoken name and addresses for received VPIM messages. Required for Meridian Mail. |
| Siemens |
PhoneMail Gateway |
Gate |
New |
2Q98 |
Protocols: VPIM, AMIS-A, PhoneMail LDN |
| TMA |
IMT Gateway |
Gate |
New |
4Q97 |
Protocols: VPIM, AMIS-A, AMIS-D. Uses X.500 directory
internally. Back-end product for service providers, includes directory services. Not
currently a CPE product, SP users only. |
Table 2.
Table 2 Comments and Fields
| Vendor & System |
System vendor and model. |
| Type |
Indicates type of support:
Dir - Directory server or service.
Gate - Gateway server of service.
|
| Version |
Release version number. Less than (<) and greater than (³ ) indicates earlier and later releases. |
| Trial Date |
Indicates the date that the directory or gateway server is planned to be
ready for trial interoperability tests at end-user sites. This does not indicate general
release date, nor availability of full documentation and support, though products often go
into General Release the following quarter. Not set indicates that the availability date
has not been set. |
| Methods/Comments |
Additional information.
Protocols - indicates message networking protocols that can be supported.
Multiple approaches to distributed directories exist. This table does not detail these.
Some vendors use fully replicated directories, others partially replicated, others
replicate only on demand.
Table does not define directory or network size limit. Some networks have 50 system
limit, others have limit of 150 systems.
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Adapted for republication with permission of publisher, Business Communications Review, from Volume 27, Number 5 (May 1997), pp 43-47. BCR Enterprises, 950 York Road, Hinsdale, IL 60521 (USA).
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