Alcatel’s OmniPCX IP Telephony solution rated "most secure" by Miercom Communications

Paris, February 15, 2005 - Alcatel (Paris: CGEP.PA AND NYSE: ALA) today announced its Alcatel OmniPCX Enterprise telephony platform was ranked as the most secure in Miercom Communications annual IP-PBX test, as reported in the January issue of Business Communications Review magazine.

Alcatel’s enhanced security capabilities provide wire-speed encryption and authentication with support for the 802.1X/RADIUS standard across its converged IP telephony and networking solution, which includes the Alcatel OmniPCX Enterprise, the Alcatel OmniTouch Unified Communications suite of applications, the Alcatel OmniVista network management platform, the Alcatel OmniSwitch LAN switches, and Alcatel IP Touch phones.

Alcatel is the first vendor to introduce RADIUS (Remote Authentication Dial-In User Service) support for converged security of voice and data on a per-user, not just a per-port, basis. RADIUS is a widely deployed protocol that is used for enabling centralized authentication, authorization, and accounting for network access.

“Attention to security in the voice network has been significantly bolstered by supporting the 802.1X/RADIUS protocols,” said Ed Mier, president of Miercom Communications. “Alcatel is effectively addressing security concerns of enterprises by authenticating each and every user, with their unmatched encryption capabilities and SIP support features.”

“Alcatel’s noteworthy progress in delivering our customers security and protection against intruders further strengthens the position of our converged enterprise communications solutions,” said Jean Christophe Giroux, president of Alcatel’s enterprise activities. “Our commitment to open standards for delivery of flexible and secure solutions remains a key strategy for our enterprise solutions, and we are honored to receive this recognition from Miercom.”

Alcatel has participated in the Miercom annual IP-PBX review for the past seven years with the OmniPCX Enterprise having achieved several recognitions for overall performance and features.

As noted by Miercom, “Alcatel’s endpoints had some strong features.” Alcatel’s IP Touch phone security features include mutual authentication of voice-over-IP to prevent identity-spoofing, real-time encryption to prevent eavesdropping, and digital signing to prevent tampering and malicious configuration modifications or encryption bypass. Modular deployment of components and software leverage embedded network strengths and provide control of usage and costs.

About Alcatel’s Enterprise solutions
With more than 500,000 customers, Alcatel is a leading provider of communication solutions to small, medium, and large enterprises, as well as to public sector institutions worldwide. Alcatel’s enterprise portfolio provides business communication applications, including Unified Communications and Contact Centers, an advanced IP Telephony offering, and IP Networking products. Alcatel’s enterprise solutions deliver an enhanced competitive edge to businesses of all sizes by increasing customer satisfaction, employee productivity, and operational efficiencies.

About Alcatel
Alcatel provides communications solutions to telecommunication carriers, Internet service providers and enterprises for delivery of voice, data and video applications to their customers or employees. Alcatel brings its leading position in fixed and mobile broadband networks, applications and services, to help its partners and customers build a user-centric broadband world. With sales of EURO 13.1 billion and 58,000 employees in 2005, Alcatel operates in more than 130 countries.

Contact Information

Mark Burnworth

Alcatel

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