IBM Corp. unveiled a range of new services at the PC Expo trade show in New York today aimed at expanding the company’s Global Network offerings.
The company introduced new remote access capabilities for IBM Managed Data Network Services targeted at businesses with remote and mobile needs.
New features include ISDN and analog bundling options, providing Global Network access of speeds up to 256 Kbps when employing IP remote access or multiprotocol remote access components of IBM Managed Data Network Services. IBM said response times for applications and file transfers for data-intensive applications are improved as a result.
The access upgrade also enables users to package up to four ISDN channels
or four individual analog dial lines into one logical channel, enabling higher effective speed or bandwidth connection to the Global Network.
Other IBM Network enhancements include installation support for IBM Thinkpad workstations for remote access; detailed network status reporting covering overall performance of the IP remote access network performance; and an IBM-licensed IP dialer for Macintosh, extending the base of supported platforms and providing hardware protection.
IBM also upgraded its universal messaging services making the Internet mail connection for Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) available for WANs and LANs. This enables native attachment to SMTP servers, and offers the option to attach to leased lines for accessing the IBM Global Network for message exchange.
The IBM Universal Messaging Service’s LAN mail connect feature will still provide native connectivity for Lotus cc:Mail, Lotus Notes, Microsoft Mail and Microsoft Exchange systems.
In related news, IBM announced an agreement with IDT Corp. to offer IDT’s Net2Phone service to users of IBM’s Internet Connection Services.
Under the agreement, IBM said it will promote Net2Phone on the IBM Internet Connection Services Web site. In
addition, IBM will bundle Net2Phone software in its Internet access dialer
kit, and will also provide an icon on its site linking to IDT’s download site.
