Emergency 911 calls can be put through in two seconds instead of eight, Lucent Technologies says, using high-speed ISDN signals and, of course, its own line of products for E-911 communications. To package and expand its 911-greasing technology, the telecom giant has set up a dedicated venture, Lucent Public Safety Systems.
In addition to expanding its existing line of switches, caller-location databases, and emergency call-answering equipment, the new venture will market systems that let public safety agencies automatically receive the location of mobile 911 callers. Lucent cites a growing need for such systems as a consequence of a controversial FCC mandate calling for cell-phone tracking capability by emergency agencies nationwide.
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Netscape's big message (server): Its purpose may be as evasive as its name, but Netscape Communications Corp. is touting Troopers ISP (a codename), as the next big thing in messaging. Aimed at telephone companies and large Internet service providers, the message server is meant to handle lots of messages of diverse types (such as pager messages and faxes, as well as standard email and voicemail) on their way to millions of customers. These providers can thus package premium-priced message offerings to big clients.
Netscape's example: an ISP could zap into one user inbox all incoming email, voicemail, faxes, and pages. As Netscape vice president Korak Mitra explains it in the company's announcement, the world's largest service providers can "provide global Internet 'mailtone' for advanced messaging services."
