XConnect Certifies MERA VoIP Transit Softswitches

LONDON – July 22, 2009 – XConnect, the leader in Voice over IP (VoIP) and Next Generation Network (NGN) interconnection, today announced that a family of MERA Systems softswitches, including MVTS II (MERA VoIP Transit Softswitch) and MVTS Pro (MERA VoIP Transit Softswitch Professional), has been certified XConnect-Ready.

Testing has certified the interoperability of the MVTS family, a product line of carrier-grade Class 4 softswitches with routing flexibility, whose models feature an integrated prepaid billing platform, advanced transcoding capabilities and a geographically distributed architecture.

Certification through the XConnect Ready™ Partners Program establishes that service providers deploying the MVTS softswitching family can query XConnect’s ENUM registry for session-routing information. The designation also means that the switches’ routing and peering functions work securely and seamlessly for all members of XConnect federations.

By peering through XConnect federations, service providers achieve the all-IP transport necessary to carry converged, revenue-rich, next-generation voice-and-data services, such as high-definition voice and video, between networks. Avoiding PSTN hops between networks also reduces transit costs.

“Considering that the MERA switching products are deployed to more than 800 carrier customers in 76 countries, this interoperability assures a significant percentage of the world’s service providers of a smooth interconnection process with XConnect’s federation-based services,” said Eli Katz, XConnect CEO and founder. “Certification of such a widely used softswitch product line should green-light participation for many carriers by removing the considerable operational expense and resources required in performing multiple interoperability tasks.”

Konstantin Nikashov, CEO of MERA Systems, said: “The MVTS product line is designed with highly flexible traffic handling and with peering in mind because our customers know that intelligent call routing among a wide range of IP carrier partners is essential to profitability. Federation through XConnect, made easy through this certification, will add flexibility by replacing many bilateral relationships with one central interconnection.”

MVTS II and MVTS Pro are the latest in a series of devices to successfully complete XConnect-Ready interoperability testing. Their certification follows that of other softswitches and network elements, such as SIP proxies and session border controllers, as well as converged ENUM and SS7/C7 addressing and routing engines. The XConnect Ready Partners Program provides an ecosystem of pretested vendors and solutions to facilitate peering.

About XConnect

The global leader in network peering, XConnect is trusted by more than 100 IP-based service providers to supply neutral, secure, federation-based interconnection and ENUM-registry services. London-based XConnect’s comprehensive services enable service providers to reduce interconnection costs, improve service quality, simplify operations, and offer rich multimedia IP communications on a cross-network basis. Backed by Tier 1 venture capital firms including Accel Partners and Venrock Associates, XConnect operates the largest worldwide ENUM-based IP-peering federation, the Global Alliance, and the world’s first national VoIP/NGN interconnection federations, in the Netherlands and Korea. XConnect has led industry consolidation via the acquisition of the European carrier ENUM exchange e164.info and U.S.-based peering service IPeerX Inc. For more information, please visit www.xconnect.net.

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