New Multi-Service Switch

Offers a small and cost-effective frame relay and IP service creation platform.

by Wayne Kawamoto [June 6, 2000]

Ennovate Networks claims that its new Envoy 700 multi-service edge switch is the industry's smallest and most cost-effective full-featured frame relay and IP service creation platform.

According to Ennovate, the Envoy 700 offers the lowest-cost approach for service providers, especially those without their own facilities, to rapidly extend the reach of their high-margin, revenue-generating services to small city POPs as well as co-locations with limited space. Supporting up to 250 T1s, and at less than nine inches high, the Envoy 700 offers service providers a sub-$400 per T1 price point in a small footprint. According to the company, this pricing sets a new price/performance standard for provisioning frame relay and IP services.

The Envoy 700 seven-slot chassis offers IP routing, traffic management, native frame relay switching and DACS cross-connect functionality. All line modules were designed to be interchangeable with the Envoy 1600, which should ensure investment protection. Ennovate says that the Envoy 700 achieves its industry leading price point by using the company's new three-port channelized T3 network interface card, which enables high port density in a small footprint. The company claims that like the Envoy 1600, the Envoy 700 reduces the cost of deploying dedicated frame relay equipment by more than 50 percent.

The Envoy 700 expands Ennovate's product family, which includes the Envoy 1600 multi-service switch. Like the Envoy 1600, the Envoy 700 is managed by Ennovate's EnSight Service Automation System, an open, standards-based distributed platform that automatically provisions, deploys and monitors IP VPNs and other IP WAN services.

"The Envoy 700 has been designed to eliminate the price, size and functionality barriers facing service providers deploying high-margin frame relay and IP services at smaller POPs," said Ian Mashiter, founder and senior vice president of marketing at Ennovate. "It gives them a fast and inexpensive way to maximize the geographical reach of their services to customers located in lucrative yet less densely populated areas."

Pricing and availability
Available in the third quarter of 2000, a typically configured entry-level Envoy 700 will start from around US$50,000 (list price).

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