VocalTec Communications Inc. is an Israeli telecom equipment provider. The company was founded in 1989 by Alon Cohen and Lior Haramaty, who invented and patented the first Voice over IP audio transceiver.[1] VocalTec continues to be a leading VoIP company,[2] with major customers such as Deutsche Telekom, Telecom Italia and many others.
History
VocalTec released the first ever Internet VoIP program in February 1995.[1] The company had an IPO on the NASDAQ during 1996 and in 1997 Europe's largest telecommunications company, Deutsche Telekom, bought a 21.1 percent stake in VocalTec for $48.3 million, in addition to purchasing $30 million in telephony products, services, and support over the following two-and-a-half years.[3]
During the Dot-com bubble the company’s share peaked at a price of $3363 per share on March 3, 2000 (split adjusted).[4]
In 2005, completed a business combination with Tdsoft, a provider of VoIP Gateways.[5]
Today VocalTec specializes in providing carrier-class multimedia and voice-over-IP solutions for communication service providers. The company provides the Essentra solution suite that comprises the essential building blocks required to develop a next-generation-network, addressing customers’ specific requirements in trunking, peering and residential/enterprise VoIP application solutions.
On July 16, 2010, MagicJack took over VocalTec in a reverse takeover.
VocalTec Internet Phone
VocalTec Internet Phone was a VoIP application released in February 1995.[1] The software was invented by Alon Cohen and Lior Haramaty, the two co-founders of VocalTec Ltd.[6][7][8] At the base of the Internet Phone residing the invention of Alon Cohen and Lior Haramaty named the "Audio Transceiver", which managed the dynamic jitter buffer that was critical for achieving adaptive lower possible audio latency along with handling packet loss, packet re-ordering, and receiver transmitter sample rate adjustments. The first implementation of the "Audio Transceiver" was carried out by Elad Sion.[2]
ITXC
In 1997 VocalTec founded ITXC Corporation (Internet Telephony Exchange Carrier) a US based wholesale provider of Internet-based phone calls. The ITXC Voice over IP network was powered by the VocalTec technology. In 2003 ITXC was acquired by Teleglobe.[9]
See also
References
- ^ a b c Tov, Shirley Yom, "Happy 10th birthday, VoIP", The Marker 16 - 06 - 2005, retrieved 2009-12-05
- ^ a b "The 10 that Established VoIP (Part 1: VocalTec)", ILocus 07-16-2007, retrieved 2009-12-05
- ^ Galante, Suzanne (August 28, 1997), "German telco buys into Net phones", CNET
- ^ Marcial, Gene (March 20, 2000). "For a Two-for-One Deal, Dial VocalTec: This Net telephony pioneer is that rare bird: A tech stock that's also a value play". BusinessWeek.
- ^ "Tdsoft, VocalTec Merge", Light Reading, October 28, 2005
- ^ U.S. Patent 5,825,771
- ^ Malik, Om. "The Voice over IP Insurrection", September 19, 2004.
- ^ Internet Telephony magazine, October 2006.
- ^ "Canadian company Teleglobe, to buy Vocaltec's ITXC", Globes 05 - 11 - 2003, retrieved 2009-12-05
External links
