NET-TEL Computer Systems Ltd - Strategy - Introduction

<BODY BGCOLOR=#FFFFFF> <P ALIGN=CENTER> <A HREF="/frames/news.shtml"> <IMG src="/images/nof_new1.gif" WIDTH=48 HEIGHT=21 BORDER=0 NAME="news" ALT="News"></A>  <A HREF="/frames/strategy.shtml"> <IMG src="/images/nof_str1.gif" WIDTH=78 HEIGHT=21 BORDER=0 NAME="strategy" ALT="Strategy"></A>  <A HREF="/frames/products.shtml"> <img src="/images/nof_prd1.gif" WIDTH=80 HEIGHT=21 BORDER=0 NAME="products" ALT="Products"></a>  <A HREF="/frames/services.shtml"> <IMG src="/images/nof_srv1.gif" WIDTH=76 HEIGHT=21 BORDER=0 NAME="services" ALT="Services"></A>  <A HREF="/frames/support.shtml"> <IMG src="/images/nof_sup1.gif" WIDTH=72 HEIGHT=21 BORDER=0 NAME="support" ALT="Support"></A>  <A HREF="/frames/links.shtml"> <IMG src="/images/nof_lnk1.gif" WIDTH=50 HEIGHT=21 BORDER=0 NAME="links" ALT="Links"></A> <BR> <A HREF="/frames/search.shtml"> <IMG src="/images/nof_src1.gif" WIDTH=80 HEIGHT=16 BORDER=0 NAME="search" ALT="Search"></A>  <A HREF="/frames/company.shtml"> <IMG src="/images/nof_com1.gif" WIDTH=63 HEIGHT=16 BORDER=0 NAME="company" ALT="Company"></A>  <A HREF="/frames/vacancies.shtml"> <IMG src="/images/nof_job1.gif" WIDTH=69 HEIGHT=16 BORDER=0 NAME="vacancies" ALT="Vacancies"></A>  <A HREF="/index.html"> <IMG src="/images/nof_hom1.gif" WIDTH=39 HEIGHT=16 BORDER=0 NAME="home" ALT="Home"></A>  </P> <HR> <P ALIGN=CENTER> <A HREF="/frames/strategy.shtml">NET-TEL Vision</A>  <A HREF="/frames/intro-1.shtml">Problem Solving</A>  <A HREF="/frames/intro-2.shtml">Why Route400 and Route500</A> </P> <HR> <table border=0 cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 width=502> <tr> <td rowspan=4 width=19> <img src="/images/onepix.gif" width=1 height=1 hspace=9 border=0 ALT=""> </td> <td colspan=3 width=483 height=110 valign=middle> <IMG SRC="/images/tit_wr45.gif" WIDTH=480 HEIGHT=53 ALT="Why Route400 and Route500?"> </td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan=3 width=409 valign=top> <font face="arial,helvetica"><font size=-1> <A HREF="/frames/products.shtml" target="-top">Route400</A> and <A HREF="/frames/prod-5.shtml" TARGET="_top">Route500</A> products are designed to support the needs of a wide range of users. It quickly became clear to NET-TEL that in order to satisfy such a demanding market, we had to provide solid functionality meeting the needs of an entire organisation while addressing the unique requirements of users in different departments. By basing the underlying architecture of all products on comprehensive, internationally accepted standards, we overcame many problems. X.400 and X.500 standards are therefore the basis for the design of our Route400 and Route500 products, respectively.<BR><BR> <B>The X.400 Standards</B><BR> The internationally accepted standards for messaging are collectively defined in the X.400 recommendations of the International Telecommunication Union. The first standards were issued in 1984, with major improvements following in 1988 and further enhancements annually since 1992.<BR><BR> X.400 messaging supports any kind of object without limitation: text with any character set, spreadsheets, graphics, multimedia including video and voice, and no restriction on message length or enclosed object size. Acknowledgements and confirmations ensure guaranteed delivery and no message can be lost between sender and recipient.<BR><BR> <B>The X.500 Standards</B><BR> Directory services are defined in the X.500 recommendations. Large e-mail networks present particular administrative problems: not only does the administrator need to be able to distribute addresses to the user community, but also the information necessary to route messages to the destination mail host. X.500 provides a means of storing this information and much more in a scalable distributed database.<BR><BR> Products are still new and have not yet reached the same degree of market penetration as X.400-based products, not least because their availability is still limited. It is, however, only a matter of time before the early adopters are joined by other implementers and X.500 products are commonly found in productive use world-wide. NET-TEL is well placed to take advantage of the expected growth in demand for X.500 capable products.<BR><BR> <B>Introducing Route400 Products into an Organisation</B><BR> Route400 and Route500 products help to deliver solutions with the greatest flexibility: they can be used alone or mixed and matched with proprietary products. With X.400 and X.500 enjoying universal international acceptance, there is no danger of obsolescence.<BR><BR> Access to the Internet using the <A HREF="/frames/smtpmime.shtml" target="_top">SMTP</A> protocol for e-mail is fully supported, as is the <A HREF="/frames/smtpmime.shtml" target="_top">MIME</A> extension which is gaining in popularity for complex multi-part messages. An interface for <A HREF="/frames/fax-au.shtml" target="_top">sending and receiving faxes</A> is a standard option. There are several levels of X.400 usage that an organisation may adopt and it is worthwhile looking at these:<BR><BR> <I>Proprietary products with a Route400 Gateway</I><BR> Where a single proprietary e-mail or messaging application is in operation throughout an organisation, selecting Route400 and installing a <A HREF="/frames/mta-ms.shtml" target="_top">message server</A> together with the appropriate <A HREF="/frames/prod-4.shtml" TARGET="_top">gateway</A> product will enable inter-enterprise communication with partners connected to any X.400 network or service. This attractive approach introduces X.400 access into an organisation and provides the appropriate level of functionality needed for satisfactory operation.<BR><BR> <I>Proprietary products with a Route400 backbone</I><BR> Where several different e-mail systems are jointly operational within an organisation, the implementation of an X.400 backbone network of message servers to link these will invariably be the preferable solution. There will be little or no loss of functionality between e-mail applications, and new, message-enabled applications can access the backbone message servers via <A HREF="/frames/api.shtml" target="_top">application program interfaces (APIs) and messaging support tools</A>. This is an example of using X.400 products to provide additional, complementary functionality not available with the installed proprietary application products. Route400 message server products excel as backbone nodes.<BR><BR> <I>X.400-compatible products throughout</I><BR> Where a new e-mail or messaging application is needed - perhaps because the existing one cannot be suitably upgraded, or an organisation wishes to standardise on a single software package - then it is possible to go further and to introduce not only a backbone of X.400 <A HREF="/frames/prod-3.shtml" target="_top">message servers</A>, but X.400 <A HREF="/frames/prod-2.shtml" target="_top">message clients</A> for e-mail and other message-enabled applications. The advantage is that all e-mail and messaging products within an organisation are based on the international X.400 standard. There are no conversions to and from proprietary formats and consequently no internal gateways. This solution offers the highest level of service.<BR><BR> With Route400 message server and client products, an organisation has the greatest choice of operating system platforms for both workstations and servers. Mixed platforms can coexist as desired. As all products conform to the X.400 standard, potential installation, operational and administrative problems are reduced to a minimum. The organisation achieves maximum flexibility without sacrificing any functionality. This is the comprehensive solution and Route400 products have proved their suitability for such tasks in the most challenging situations.<BR><BR> <I>Transition to Route400 products</I><BR> Intermediate solutions with a mix of proprietary and X.400 e-mail and messaging clients are becoming increasingly widespread. They allow an organisation to move to X.400 on a step-by-step basis and at a speed best corresponding to its individual requirements. Route400 products can be introduced non-intrusively into existing environments to provide the appropriate added functionality needed in a wide variety of situations. <BR><BR> <BR><BR>Other NET-TEL white papers: <BLOCKQUOTE><A HREF="/frames/strategy.shtml" TARGET="_top">Meeting the Information Challenge</A><BR> <A HREF="/frames/intro-1.shtml" TARGET="_top">Using Messaging to Solve Business Problems</A></BLOCKQUOTE> </td> </tr> <TR> <TD COLSPAN=3 ALIGN=CENTER> <IMG SRC="/images/bot02.gif" WIDTH=480 HEIGHT=24 BORDER=0 ALT=""><BR><BR> </TD> </TR> <TR> <TD VALIGN=CENTER> <A HREF="/index.html" TARGET="_top" onMouseOver="window.status = 'NET-TEL Home'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status = '';"><IMG SRC="/images/home.gif" BORDER=0 WIDTH=75 HEIGHT=16 ALT="NET-TEL Home"></A> </TD> <TD VALIGN=CENTER ALIGN=CENTER> <font face="arial,helvetica"><font size=-2> <A HREF="/copyright.shtml" onMouseOver="window.status = 'Copyright Information'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status = '';">Copyright © 1998-2007 NET-TEL Computer Systems Ltd</A> </TD> <TD WIDTH=75> </TD> </TR> </table> </BODY>