Collaboration

Technology

AT&T Connect™ is an all-software, native IP-based application that is inherently better suited than other products to deliver rich, unlimited voice, web and video conferencing across the enterprise for one fixed price. Designed for the demanding requirements of mid- to large-sized enterprises, AT&T Connect differs from other conferencing products through:

Unique, distributed media server architecture

Our Multimedia Softbridge™ is a unique and proven distributed media server architecture that efficiently routes, bridges and manages integrated data, video and voice streams across multiple sites in real time. In addition, it leverages your current investments in both TDM and IP infrastructures.

Enterprise-class scalability, reliability and performance

AT&T Connect handles thousands of voice conferences, web meetings, virtual training sessions, webcasts, large interactive employee broadcasts and other events simultaneously. It can dynamically provision an unlimited number of communication servers in real time to reach any capacity requirement. Furthermore, its automatic reconnection and intelligent server selection ensures high availability.

Unparalleled bandwidth efficiency

AT&T Connect offers the best bandwidth utilisation on the market, requiring on average only 35Kbps per session for VoIP participants and 5 Kbps for regular telephone (TDM) users. Our ten years of experience delivering VoIP communications gives you the highest quality VoIP-based audio available today across all types of bandwidth environments.

AT&T Connect maximises both downstream and upstream bandwidth efficiency to reduce bandwidth consumption. For downstream efficiency, only one real-time data stream per event is transmitted between any two communication servers, regardless of the number of participants. This provides multicast-like efficiency and scalability. For upstream efficiency, our voice activity detection eliminates the transmission of data during silence, reducing bandwidth consumption by 50% or more when compared to other solutions. In addition, AT&T Connect dynamically monitors and optimises each individual participant’s experience. Both network- and application-level quality of service (QoS) are supported.

Enterprise-class security

AT&T Connect delivers the highest level of security for your voice and web conferences. Meetings and related materials stay entirely behind your firewall. End-to-end SSL encryption of all traffic ensures the privacy of your data. User-based authentication is provided for both web and voice conferencing — including optional integration with LDAP and single sign-on systems — using individual, persistent user IDs and passwords. “Closed” meetings are available to limit entry to invited users only. Reverse proxy support is built in to every system component, for secure inclusion of external participants. Full visual participant monitoring prevents hidden listeners, with the ability to challenge and expel unknown or unwanted participants.

Integrates with enterprise IT infrastructures, PBX systems and applications

You’ve made serious investments to support your business with best-in-class technologies. AT&T Connect helps you increase the ROI from those investments with open and rich integration with IT and PBX systems, email, calendaring and other collaborative enterprise applications. Learn more.

Flexible deployment

AT&T Connect supports on-site, hosted and managed service deployment models. In addition, Interwise offers a unique “blended” deployment option that delivers the best features of the on-site and hosted models integrated into a single, fail safe deployment. Enjoy the cost savings, security, and control of a behind-the-firewall conferencing application with the rapid start-up, geographic coverage, overflow and fail-over protection of a global hosted service.

Integration

AT&T Connect is designed to integrate with IT infrastructures, PBX systems, email and calendaring applications to make unlimited conferencing possible for thousands of employees.

In addition, customers today are taking advantage of our rich API to conference-enable their portals, ERP/CRM systems, knowledge management and other collaborative applications to improve business processes.


Effective user access, authentication and management across the enterprise

AT&T Connect is designed to reduce the time required to set up, manage and administer user access and authentication by providing:

• Open, rich integration with email, scheduling and portals products that make it easy for users to create and access meetings and events from their existing desktop tools.
• Unmatched integration with IT directory services, single sign-on, proxies, firewalls and operational support systems to simplify deploying and managing conferencing as a core business application across enterprises of 1,000 to 100,000 employees.
• Integration with a wide range of PBX systems, IP Gateways, TDM and IP phones and PSTN networks which enables customers to transition to converged IP-based communications at their own pace.

A sample list of our proven integration capabilities

User management and directory services:

• Microsoft Active Directory

Single sign on and reverse Proxy:

• Tivoli Access Manager
• Entrust GetAccess
• CA eTrust Siteminder
• Apache

IP Gateways and PBXs:

• Cisco 26xx / 36xx
• Cisco AS5xxx
• Audio codes MP-1xx
• Nortel Communication Server 1000
• MCI Advantage

Email and calendaring applications:

• Microsoft Outlook
• Lotus Notes

Content management, search and virtual team rooms:

• Documentum
• eRoom

Learning Management Systems:

• SumTotal
• Pathlore
• click2learn
• Docent
• Plateau
• Learn.com