Gateway Suite facilitates host-based media processing.
Press Release Summary:
AllOnHost suite is suited for developers of voice-oriented products for industries that are shifting to purely IP-based infrastructure but still require ability to connect to existing TDM-based telephone network. It enables inclusion of voice; incorporates interfaces for IP, IM, and TDM networks; and allows applications to make and receive calls. It also provides media-processing capabilities such as play and record, tone and DTMF detection/generation, and conference summing.
Original Press Release:
Pika Technologies Launches Suite of Hardware Products in Support of its Host-Based Media Processing Vision
AllOnHost delivers proven quality and performance to legacy and emerging voice applications
Ottawa, ON, Canada - December 5, 2006 - PIKA Technologies Inc., a designer and manufacturer of plug-in media processing hardware and software building blocks that connect computer systems to TDM, IP and IM-based networks to provide advanced voice and fax services, today launched a comprehensive suite of hardware products to support its host-based media processing vision.
Media processing has evolved from specialized hardware in the 1980s through the use of general purpose digital signal processors (DSPs) common in the industry today, to now exploiting the ever-more powerful CPUs present in host computers. Driven by increased media processing requirements for VoIP and advances in computing technology, host-based media processing enables new approaches that deliver swift and easy application development with robust voice quality at an affordable cost.
With a nearly 20-year pedigree of developing DSP-based media processing tools that deliver superior voice performance and a highly flexible application development interface, PIKA is now addressing emerging voice and fax application requirements with its AllOnHost suite that enables the inclusion of voice - easily and cost-effectively. PIKA's AllOnHost incorporates interfaces for IP, IM and TDM networks, allows applications to make and receive calls, and provides advanced media-processing capabilities such as play and record, tone and DTMF detection/generation, conference summing and low latency switching. Codec support includes G.711 and G.729.
PIKA's customers are developers of advanced voice-oriented products for a variety of industries that, while ultimately intending to make the shift to a purely IP-based infrastructure, often still require the ability to connect to the existing TDM-based telephone network. As this connectivity is often best served by a gateway type device, PIKA has developed a full range of hardware-based gateway products in both analog and digital formats to increase the robustness and appeal of its AllOnHost software resources.
"The future of voice may well be set in IP, but it's not going to be an immediate jump for most organizations," said Doug Petty, Vice President of Technology at PIKA. "With our hardware-based gateway products, we are enabling developers to design IP-centric applications that support the shift to IP but allow for a gradual migration that will incorporate a mix of new VoIP and existing TDM technologies."
The AllonHost hardware suite consists of four boards, two of which, the PIKA Digital (T1/E1) Gateway Board in PCI format supporting up to four spans, and the PIKA Analog Trunk/FXO Gateway Board in PCI Express format supporting up to 16 analog trunks, are already in production. Two additional boards, the PIKA Analog Station/FXS Gateway Board supporting up to 12 analog station ports and the PCI Express version of the existing PIKA Digital (T1/E1) Gateway Board, are planned for release in the next six months.
PIKA's AllOnHost software resources run on Windows and Linux operating systems, and on Intel and AMD processors.
The company continues to expand, support and sell its full range of AllOnBoard solutions, while introducing new products that will assist customers in their transition from existing technology to whatever the future holds, be it IP, IM or video. Indeed, at the heart of PIKA's enabling technologies is a flexible architecture based on concepts such as scalability, resource sharing and modularity. This architecture enables developers to choose whether they utilize DSP-based media processing, host-based processing, or a combination of both, depending on the specific requirements of the application in development or the installation in progress. PIKA provides access to both from the same software development kit, the PIKA MonteCarlo SDK.
PIKA is renowned for its stellar customer service and aims to support its current customer base while offering easier-to-use options and higher-level applications to new potential customers such as web developers or other developers who may not have computer telephony experience.
"Developing our own solution using PIKA boards was much more cost-effective than purchasing an off-the-shelf solution, and has been far more flexible," said Miroslav Mostic, co-founder and CTO, NuVoxx. "We have control over the application and can integrate it with all our other systems. And, thanks to PIKA's exceptional support, we deployed much faster than we could have with any other board vendor."
About PIKA Technologies
PIKA Technologies is a designer and manufacturer of plug-in media processing hardware and software building blocks that connect computer systems to TDM, IP and IM-based networks to provide advanced voice and fax services. Brand name companies design groundbreaking IVR, call center, custom PC/IP PBX, fax and logging solutions using PIKA Technologies' components. For two decades, PIKA Technologies has provided its customers with flexible, robust solutions for media processing. The company has been routinely lauded for its customer service and has placed in the Branham 300, an authoritative ranking of successful Canadian high tech firms, for five consecutive years. For more information about PIKA, please visit www.pikatechnologies.com.
