Voice Profile for Internet Mail

News Release

September 1, 2000

VPIM Members Bakeoff Products

VPIM is seeking promotion to the next level of standardization in the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) process - Draft Standard.This is the same level that the Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME) standards enjoy.To achieve this, the IETF standards process requires that standards be interoperable between multiple vendor implementations and that all the features have been implemented.This week several of the leading industry vendors participated in a successful bakeoff to confirm this.

Companies participating (and products tested) in this bakeoff were Comverse Network Systems (Access NP), Glenayre (MVP), Lucent Technologies (Messaging Link), Nortel Networks (Meridian Mail Net Gateway, CallPilot & Business Communications Manager), and Microsoft (Exchange 2000).

Members of the Electronic Messaging Association's (EMA) VPIM Work Group have been collaborating in real-time for several years in demonstrations of systems that enable users to forward voice and fax messages to anybody, anywhere, anytime over the Internet or corporate intranet.Products are available and are deployed by companies which fulfill the EMA's VPIM requirements and procedures for establishing product conformance to the Voice Profile for Internet Mail.

Sanctioned by the Electronic Messaging Association, the VPIM Work Group began work on its universal voice messaging protocol in 1995.While the technical standards work is now handled by the IETF VPIM Work Group, the EMA VPIM Work Group looks after ensuring interoperability.This is especially important as the group of companies developing VPIM products continues to grow.

More details on the bakeoff, as well as technical and background information on VPIM can be found at http://www.vpim.org.The work group welcomes comments and participation from all interested parties.

EMA is an inter-industry forum dedicated to the promotion, development and use of electronic messaging technologies for secure global electronic commerce.Founded in 1983, EMA is now composed of more than 300 member companies and over 3500 individual members representing major Fortune 500 corporations.These include industries such as aerospace, automotive, financial services, pharmaceuticals, consumer products, retail, telecommunications, natural resources, consulting, hardware and software development, and network service providers.This gathering of diverse users and providers creates the most comprehensive resource for information on the messaging industry and the issues affecting its future.EMA is located at 1655 North Fort Myer Drive, Suite 500, Arlington, VA 22209 and on the World Wide Web at http://www.ema.org.

For more information, reporters, consultants and analysts can communicate with the following contacts.