Microsoft OCS Gets Gateway Support from Dialogic

Tuesday, 21 August 2007 04:00 Written by Peter Brockmann

You might remember Dialogic as the original name of the Intel gateway division, which was sold to Eicon last year. Eicon, the Montreal-based gateway company then changed its name to Dialogic.

Regardless of the ownership structure, the company has had a long standing relationship with Microsoft going back a decade or more, and the company's participation at VoiceCon Fall 2007 further reinforces that relationship and commitment to the enterprise market.

Demoed in July at the Microsoft partners conference, the Dialogic 4000 Media Gateway is now available. The DMG4000 is a Dialogic-branded 1 U rack-mountable gateway product that ships with Microsoft Windows Server 2003 and the Microsoft OCS Mediation Server 2007 software. Available in two packages, both with redundant power: a 2 x T1/E1 span unit or a 4 x T1/E1 unit the suggested end user pricing is in the $10,000 - $16,000 range.

In the Microsoft OCS architecture, the Mediation Server manages gateway functionality. This platform is the first hybrid gateway with built-in Mediation Server.

Some of the unique aspects of the platform includes support for the Microsoft Realtime codec as well as other codecs such as G.711 or G.729. Codec selection is a standard part of the media negotiation procedure. Availability for SIP over TLS assures a high level of privacy in call signaling.

The gateway is designed for interoperability with both the PSTN and as part of a network of PBXs as support for Channel Associated Signaling and DPNSS is available.

Future

Although tightly packaged as a component for the systems market, it is possible that this platform can become the only hardware necessary (other than Ethernet switches, PCs and some phones) for a solid small business or medium business platform. Given the presence of a dualcore Xeon processor, this appliance ought to be able to run OCS too. The smallest package - 2 x T1s would enable 46 concurrent conversations with folks outside the company, which according to classic telco engineering is about the capacity necessary for a 400-person office. The processor is lightly loaded managing the DSPs, and since VoIP communications happen IP address to IP address without the intervention of the call control function, a little processor goes a long way, or in this case a big processor goes a long way.