Vendors respond to reader's challenge: Cisco

NETWORK WORLD NEWSLETTER: STEVE TAYLOR AND LARRY HETTICK ON
CONVERGENCE
08/17/05
Today's focus: Vendors respond to reader's challenge: Cisco

Dear networking.world@gmail.com,

In this issue:

* Cisco responds to questions about its commitment to open
  standards
* Links related to Convergence
* Featured reader resource
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Today's focus: Vendors respond to reader's challenge: Cisco

By Steve Taylor and Larry Hettick

Last week, we printed a reader's question that challenged the
commitment that Avaya, Nortel, and Cisco have to open VoIP
standards. Today, we'll pass along Cisco's reply in a prepared
statement. According to Cisco:

"Cisco strongly supports standards-based solutions for all IP
products and networks. Cisco employees are actively involved in
the development and evolution of SIP, not only through our
products but by chairing and contributing to several SIP
committees. Cisco call control and voice applications products
support SIP today.

"Business customers value many things in their communications
solutions including the quality of the products, the available
support and the success and stability of the vendor. Cisco is
committed first and foremost to providing the best, most
complete solutions for our customers. We offer a large array of
IP phones, with prices starting under $100 to high-end video
phones. The majority of business customers choose the mid-range
phones to provide business features not yet defined in the SIP
RFCs.

"We have a commitment to developing new and innovative
functionality. Standards alone usually do not address all the
elements of a complete solution; standards also often take time
to evolve and become fully ratified.

"Cisco took the lead in developing and deploying
Power-over-Ethernet. At the time, there was no standard for PoE,
so the Cisco solution was by definition, proprietary. Our
solution met customers' immediate needs and millions of ports of
PoE were shipped over the last several years. Today, the
industry standard 802.3af is available, although somewhat
different from the Cisco initial implementation. We supported
that standardization process. Cisco switches and IP phones
support 802.3af, and generally provide backwards compatibility
with the "pre-standard" implementation.

"SIP is not about cheap phones, it about increasing
interoperability. It should also be about a stable and
supportable protocol to develop new products and services.
Without that it is a series of recommendations that provide no
commercial benefit."

The top 5: Today's most-read stories

1. Cisco to juice 6500 switch
<http://www.networkworld.com/nlconvergence5306>

2. Google goes berserk
<http://www.networkworld.com/nlconvergence5307>

3. Test: CipherTrust tops encryption field
<http://www.networkworld.com/nlconvergence5308>

4. IT staff shortage looming
<http://www.networkworld.com/nlconvergence5309>

5. Cisco to double Catalyst 6500 switch capacity in coming
months, report says
<http://www.networkworld.com/nlconvergence5047>

Today's most-forwarded story:

Cisco to juice 6500 switch
<http://www.networkworld.com/nlconvergence5310>
_______________________________________________________________
To contact: Steve Taylor and Larry Hettick

Steve Taylor is president of Distributed Networking Associates
and publisher/editor-in-chief of Webtorials. For more detailed
information on most of the topics discussed in this newsletter,
connect to Webtorials <http://www.webtorials.com/>, the premier
site for Web-based educational presentations, white papers, and
market research. Taylor can be reached at
<mailto:taylor@webtorials.com>

Larry Hettick is an industry veteran with more than 20 years of
experience in voice and data. He is Vice President for Telecom
Services and Infrastructure at Current Analysis, the leading
competitive response solutions company. He can be reached at
<mailto:lhettick@currentanalysis.com>
_______________________________________________________________
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ARCHIVE LINKS

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_______________________________________________________________
FEATURED READER RESOURCE
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