Voxeo (www.voxeo.com) has announced the general availability of Voxeo Designer 8, the Web-native voice-application development tool. Designer 8 uses dynamic HTML and AJAX to improve the usability and performance of its Web-based user interface. It also features improved call flow-chart visualization including zoom and pan capabilities, a new “tree view” that is similar to Windows Explorer, the ability to import and export projects between Voxeo-hosted and premise deployments, enhanced support for dynamically storing audio recorded during calls, and updates to support the latest Web service standards including SOAP, WSDL, and XML Schema.

MetaSwitch (www.metaswitch.com) has released the MetaView Management System, a management system with network diagnostic capabilities. The system provides fault management across multiple network elements, including MetaSwitch and MetaSphere SDP (service delivery platform) and applications servers, and select third-party equipment. It also includes a new call diagnostics capability to supplement MetaSwitch’s management systems, a SOAP/XML provisioning model to enable easy automation and integration into third-party management systems, and the collation of real-time IP voice-quality statistics from the media gateway and other VoIP equipment to produce a graphical display of networkwide voice quality.

The MetaSwitch CommAssistant desktop client works in tandem with the company’s existing CommPortal application and the MetaSphere SDP to deliver an easy-to-use desktop telephony experience. CommAssistant can be used by subscribers either on a MetaSwitch softswitch or a legacy Class 5 switch. The Windows application includes a toolbar on the Windows task bar to provide instant access to the most common voice telephony functions including presence status updates, searching contacts lists, placing calls using click-to-dial, and changing settings of calling features such as call forwarding and do-not-disturb. Other features include click-to-dial support within applications such as Microsoft Outlook, remote office support, and a notification icon in the Windows system tray for new voice and fax messages.

Service Creation Environments (SCEs) continue to grow and support everything from integrated provisioning and customer service portals to quality of service monitoring and hooks to add on additional value-added features. There are as many ways to view SCEs as there are companies in the IP communications world selling them.

Some companies say their customers don’t want an SCE at all. “[Carriers] want us to deliver a solution,” says MetaSwitch’s Martin Taylor, Vice President of Product Management and Technology Strategy. “They want us to deliver a service rather than an environment to create that service. Typically they don’t have the development engineers on staff. Their strengths are to identify what the service needs to do; our strengths are to rapidly respond to what they need to do.”

IBM (www.ibm.com) has announced seven new and enhanced products to help telecommunications carriers, equipment providers, and applications developers to take advantage of service oriented architecture (SOA) and Web 2.0 technologies to help them more rapidly and affordably create, deploy, and manage voice, video, and data services. New IBM WebSphere offerings build upon WebSphere Applications Server, with a modular approach providing customers and partners with a flexible, high-performance service execution environment. The new IBM Rational software includes extensions to standards- based modeling and testing tools, including SIP performance testing and a SIP modeling toolkit.