Cisco Releases Gateway For Migrating Businesses From PBX To IP Telephony

Cisco has released a voice gateway appliance designed to aid in the phased migration from time-division multiplexing (TDM) private branch exchange (PBX) networks to fully converged Cisco IP telephony and IP communications solutions.

The Cisco EGW 2200 gateway supports the interworking of voice signaling protocols, Digital Private Network Signaling System (DPNSS) and Q.SIG, with Cisco CallManager call-processing software and Cisco Unity voice mail and unified messaging solutions.

The gateway supports commonly used DPNSS features, such as call-back, extension status, route optimization, and centralized attendant console, as well as other centralized operator functions. In addition, the Cisco EGW 2200 helps enable the interoperation of IP telephony voice mail features with legacy voice mail systems.

"The future of communications is clearly based on a converged IP infrastructure for data and voice. Telephone systems that support DPNSS and Q.SIG currently connect more than 45 million extension lines in Europe, Middle East and Africa. The Cisco EGW 2200 helps enable the interworking of these legacy systems with today's advanced communications technology and allows customers to migrate to tomorrow's fully converged network at their own pace," said Tim Stone, head of IP Communications Marketing for Europe, Middle East and Africa, Cisco Systems, said in a statement.