BBS in a Box 7

home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search

/ BBS in a Box 7 / BBS in a Box - Macintosh - Volume VII (BBS in a Box) (January 1993).iso / Files / Tele / T / TBHELP.cpt / Telebit Info < prev

Wrap

Text File | 1987-11-22 | 20.1 KB | 469 lines | [TEXT/EDIT]

TELEBIT'S TRAILBLAZER OPPORTUNITY FOR PARTICIPATING FIDO AND MAC SYSOPS Telebit Corporation is pleased to announce that it is making its high speed modem, the TrailBlazer, available to all FidoNet and MAC SysOps direct from the factory at substantial discount. Over 7000 TrailBlazers are currently in use in the United States and Canada, and we hope that by offering substantial discounts to Sysops to be able to bring the capabilities of reliable, high speed communications to the users of Fido and MAC Bulletin Boards. The TrailBlazer Opportunity for Participating SysOps (TOPS) program is effective immediately. WHO CAN PARTICIPATE IN TOPS? Any SysOp in the United States or Canada with an active FidoNet node or MAC BBS can participate in the TOPS program. SysOps outside this area are encouraged to inquire as to how they can participate in the TOPS program. THE TELEBIT TRAILBLAZER The Telebit TrailBlazer is the most advanced dial-up communications technology on the market today. TrailBlazer offers compatibility at 300, 1200 (V.22 AND Bell 212!), and 2400 bits per second. Additionally, it is capable of throughput speeds on ordinary dial up lines of 14,000 bits per second and above. But best of all, TrailBlazer's patented multicarrier technology will dynamically ADAPT to a variety of interfering conditions found on most telephone lines. No other technology available today can adapt to impairments as effectively and reliably as TrailBlazer. TOPS DISCOUNTS PRODUCTS P/N LIST PRICE TOPS PRICE TRAILBLAZER PC RA12C-T1 $1195 $597.50 TRAILBLAZER STANDALONE RA12E-TI $1345 $672.50 In addition, Telebit will offer the optional 2400 bits per second (V.22 bis) compatibility FREE OF CHARGE for participating SysOps. This option usually lists for an additional $100. (Additional versions of TrailBlazer, such as a Rack Mounted version, can be requested.) All prices are in U.S. Dollars. All TrailBlazers ordered under the TOPS program will come with a thirty day money back guarantee. If the SysOp is not satisfied with TrailBlazer for any reason it may be returned within 30 days for a full refund. This is a special introductory offer and will apply for all TrailBlazers ordered on or before July 30, 1987. WHAT RESTRICTIONS APPLY? Each SysOp is limited to one modem purchase per node listed in the then current NODELIST-excepting MAC BBS's. SysOps must post a message in their system saying that they are using a Telebit TrailBlazer. All orders are shipped prepaid (certified check, cashier's check, money order, NO CASH please), C.O.D., or Visa/MasterCard. A $7.50 shipping and handling charge is added to each modem ordered for delivery within the United States. All shipments destined for Canada will be shipped freight collect. Freight and duties will be collect at time of delivery. All deliveries made within the United States are subject to local sales tax, which should be included with all orders. HOW TO PARTICIPATE Orders are only accepted by filling out the enclosed order form and sending it with payment to: Telebit Corporation ATTN: TOPS Program Co-ordinator 10440 Bubb Road Cupertino, CA 95014 Phone: 408-996-8000 Alternately, orders may be placed on Telebit's Fido Bulletin Board after June 1, 1987. Orders are usually shipped within three weeks from the date the order is recieved. Questions relating to the TOPS program should go to: Bruce Blain TOPS Program Telebit Corporation 1740 Massachusetts Avenue Boxborough, MA 01719 (617)-263-9449 VOICE NODE 132/101 FIDOMAIL SysOps of non FIDO BBS's are encouraged to enquire as to how they can take advantage of the Telebit TrailBlazer's unequaled features. ---------------------------------------------------------------- TOPS Order Form NAME...................... STREET ADDRESS............................................. ............................................. CITY......................STATE...........ZIP.............. VOICE NUMBER DAYS.................. VOICE NUMBER EVENINGS.............. BBS DATA NUMBER(S)......................................... (NOTE: ONLY ONE MODEM PURCHASE IS ALLOWED PER DATA NUMBER) QTY DESCRIPTION P/N TOPS PRICE ....................................................$........... ....................................................$........... ....................................................$........... ....................................................$........... ---------------------------------------------------------------- SUB TOTAL $............ LOCAL SALES TAX $............ ADD $7.50 SHIPPING AND HANDLING PER UNIT (U.S.only)$............ TOTAL $............ PAYMENT METHOD: CERTIFIED CHECK / MONEY ORDER .... C.O.D. .... VISA .... MASTER CARD .... IF VISA/MASTER CARD: CARDHOLDERS EXACT NAME: .......................... CARDNUMBER ....-....-....-.... EXPIRATION DATE: ../.. ALLOW 3 - 4 WEEKS FOR DELIVERY TELEBIT CORPORATE BACKGROUNDER I_N_T_R_O_D_U_C_T_I_O_N_ A number of trends in the data communications market are creating opportunities for suppliers of high-speed, dial-up modems. Among the many changes created by the de-regulation of the telecommunications industry are price increases for dedicated private lines and vigorous competition for dial-up service. This situation makes dial-up service a better value for high-speed data transmission. In addition, new modem technology has become available in the last few years to make it feasible to send large volumes of data over the public telephone system. Previously, expensive leased lines and costly modems were typically used for high-volume data communication. Concurrently, there is rapid growth in the high-end personal computer market, with both the power of personal computers and the sophistication of PC users increasing. This is fueling the demand for more sophisticated high-speed, dial-up modems to handle communications functions associated with large file transfers, medical imaging, graphic systems, and full-screen editing tasks. The need to interconnect millions of geographically dispersed PCs with each other and with larger computers has made connectivity a corporate priority, and the dial-up network a cost-effective and convenient conduit. With the shift from primary dependence on internally generated corporate data to the use of multiple sources of external information, the reliance on the public telephone system, hence the demand for high-speed, dial-up communications, will continue to increase. The high-speed, dial-up market has grown rapidly since Telebit first entered the market as a pioneer. Telebit helped develop new application areas, and proved that there is a place for high-speed, dial-up modems in the data communications market. A few years ago, the 1,200 and 2,400 bit-per-second (bps) modem market segments were the fastest growing, with little mention of 4,800 bps, and no mention of speeds 9,600 bps and above. Today, market research firms, such as San Jose, California-based Dataquest and Dallas, Texas-based Future Computing, have revised market forecasts to predict that modems operating at speeds of 9,600 bps and above will account for half of all personal computer modem sales by 1990. However, high-speed, dial-up modem vendors who plan to survive long- term will have to provide modem products with new technologies and sophisticated characteristics not found in the lower-speed modem market. These technologies must allow modem products to rapidly adapt as the data communications market continues to change and new standards emerge. As the development of desktop computing parallels the evolution of mainframe computing, high-speed modems will also have to take on the characteristics of general purpose, front-end communications processors. H_I_S_T_O_R_Y_ In July 1985, Telebit Corporation introduced the TrailBlazer, a high-speed, dial-up modem based on radically different technology than previous modems. Senior members of Telebit's board, Paul Baran and Brigadier General H.R. Johnson, founded Telebit Corporation in 1983, and incorporated packet switching technologies and state-of- the-art digital signal processing that allow the modem to operate at unprecedented speeds (18,000 bps), error-free and over a wide variety of channels, including impaired lines. Telebit's unique and patented technology gained the company more than $13 million in initial venture capital funding with lead investors, New Enterprise Associates and Montgomery Securities. Telebit is based in Cupertino, California, is privately held, and currently has 80 employees. In the fall of 1986, James F. Jordan joined Telebit as President and CEO. Mr. Jordan's extensive experience in communications network markets (he was co-founder and Executive Vice President of Ungermann- Bass) and in computers (IBM and Four-Phase Systems), coupled with Telebit's technological leadership, will allow the company to take full advantage of market opportunities. *****> Since its introduction, it is estimated that TrailBlazer has capturer 7,000 units sold. Through an initial joint venture agreement with Atlanta-based Digital Communications Associates (DCA), a $100-million data communications company, Telebit successfully demonstrated TrailBlazer's applications and penetrated new markets. Now, through various OEM and VAR agreements with DCA and other companies worldwide, Telebit will consolidate its market position and pursue its goal of becoming a premier supplier of desktop communication products, and a de facto standard for high-speed, dial-up communications. P_R_O_D_U_C_T_S_ _A_N_D_ _T_E_C_H_N_O_L_O_G_Y_ Telebit's first product, TrailBlazer, comes as both a standalone modem retailing for $1,345, and as a modem card for IBM PCs and compatibles retailing for $1,195. The company also provides a rack mount version of the TrailBlazer product for the central site. TrailBlazer operates at speeds of up to 18,000 bps without using data compression, works reliably over any quality of line, is compatible with established PC modem standards (300, 1,200, and 2,400 bps modems), and is supported by a wide range of popular communications software packages including PC-to-PC, PC-to-mini, PC-to-mainframe, LAN, and MacIntosh software (In Talk). Telebit's patented technology is based upon proprietary signal- processing techniques, using a multicarrier modulation scheme and software-defined architecture. This allows the Trailblazer to use the full telephone bandwidth, or up to 512 frequencies, while other modems use only 2 frequencies. As a result, more data can be sent on a phone line at any given time, and the modem can maintain the best performance possible even when line quality is impaired. The TrailBlazer continually analyzes the condition of the line, using its Motorola 68000 microprocessor and Texas Instrument TMS 32010 digital signal processor. The modem adjusts its transmission speed by small increments in response to change in line quality, since it is using 512 frequencies instead of two. Other modems would simply cut their speeds in half, or disconnect when they encounter noise on the line. Telebit's patented "adaptive duplex" data flow technique allows the TrailBlazer to dynamically allocate varying amounts of channel capacity in either direction in response to the assymetric nature of PC and terminal data communications. The TrailBlazer has built-in error control, which organizes data into packets or short bursts, and checks each for accuracy. Because Telebit employs software-based technology and state-of-the- art microprocessors, the company is poised to anticipate market changes and take advantage of new market opportunities. Telebit's products can move towards an array of products complementary to growing segments of the communications market. These include packet- based communications, simultaneous voice/data and a variety of front- end processing capabilities for desktop computing. M_A_R_K_E_T_S_ According to market research firm, Dataquest, the compounded annual growth rate of the high-speed modem market (9,600 bps and above) through 1990 is 80%. The attractiveness of using high-speed modems comes with the increasing need to transfer ever increasing quantities of data from the desktop and the decrease in dial-up line costs relative to private leased lines. The TrailBlazer can send large volumes of data repidly over inexpensive dial-up lines without error, taking advantage of the flexibility of the public telephone network. The TrailBlazer can achieve performance and economic benefits in a variety of application areas, including micro-to-mainframe links, access to public information services, electronic mail, full screen text and spreadsheet editing, local area network access to the public switched network, software distribution, graphics transfers such as will be demanded in desktop publishing, as well as CAE/CAD, laser printing, and videotex. Although applicable in a wide variety of markets, Telebit has to date achieved effective penetration into the CAD/CAM, PC board fabrication, LAN, medical imaging, data collection, and international markets, with customers such as Lockheed, A.C. Nielsen, Rockwell International, DEC, 3Com, Volvo, Micro America, and Gould. Future marketing efforts will be directed towards financial and legal services, insurance, retail, electronic publishing, and transportation services/commerce. M_A_R_K_E_T_I_N_G_ _A_N_D_ _S_A_L_E_S_ Telebit's sales offices in Cupertino, New York, Boston, Chicago, Atlanta, and Washington, DC are chartered with supporting and expanding Telebit's OEM and applications-specific value added resellers, (VARs), managing national and regional distribution channels, and identifying and supporting major end-user opportunities. Telebit's OEM and VAR channels concentrate on large volume opportunities, providing the direct sales and systems support and push required for rapid penetration of applications-specific markets. OEM channels include companies in the following markets: computer, modem, BOC, OCC, independent Telcos, LANs, semiconductor, and facsimile. The focus of the VAR channel is on solutions selling in the following environments: LANs, CAD/CAM, imaging, and data collection. National and regional distributors provide product availability and order administration support for the small to medium size reseller market. As significant inroads are made into identified application environments, and more powerful personal computers proliferate in corporations, Telebit will increasingly focus on broad based PC oriented business applications such as desktop publishing, financial spreadsheets and legal documentation. Telebit has major contracts with companies such as DCA, Racal-Milgo, ITT, GTE, Bell South, Texas Instruments, and 3Com. Telebit has also gained approval of overseas PTTs, and has international OEM and distributor agreements in place in Canada, Japan, Australia, England, Sweden, Holland, and Italy. The TrailBlazer is sold through DCA as Fastlink, by GTE as GTE Trailblazer, by Racal-Milgo as RM-1822D, and by 3Com dealers as part of that company's 3+ network products. C_O_M_P_E_T_I_T_I_O_N_ Today's competition includes vendors who have followed the V.27ter and V.29CCITT standards to meet requirements for full-duplex operation over dial-up lines, those who have adopted the V.32 CCITT standard and have adapted this synchronous standard to the PC environment through assymetrical transmission, and less direct competition from the conventional low-speed Hayes compatible vendors. **>US Robotics approach;<***** The principal limitations of the V.27/V.29 approach are: 1) restriction to an off-the-shelf chip set which makes these modems non-upgradeable, and 2) dual carrier modulation vs. Telebit's multicarrier modulation, which results in unpredictable performance over variable line conditions. The primary drawback to the V.32 approach involves the cost and complexity of implementation, resulting in few products on the market and pricing that is too costly for most PC or facsimile applications. Currently there are no de facto standards in the high speed, dial-up market, and vendors will have to compete on the basis of functionality and price. The CCITT is currently considering Telebit's Packet Ensemble Protocol (PEP) as a standard for impaired channels. The $1,195.00 TrailBlazer offers reliable transmission at up to 18,000 bps over a wide variety of lines for less than the price of most 9,600 bps modems. Some maunfacturers compete with Telebit on the basis of speed using data compression. If Telebit chose to utilize data compression it could achieve speeds of up to 36,000 bps. However, data compression is best suited to data with high levels of redundancy. The realities of the corporate world involve data with very low levels of redundancy, such as graphic files and spreadsheets. Without the means to carefully control data parameters, data compression is of questionable general applicability. Prior to the introduction of Telebit's TrailBlazer, the conventional modem was restricted to using only a small portion of the voice band (two frequencies), it served merely as an unintelligent "bit pump" since it had limited processing power, and it was hardware-defined since based on a standard chip set. With the TrailBlazer modem, Telebit redefined modem design and the approach to transmitting data over dial-up phone lines. Telebit's patented technology makes it extremely competitive with other high-speed modem vendors today, and especially in the near future when vendors are forced to rapidly adapt to new market conditions. Other manufacturers' hardware-defined modems are limited to the function originally designed into the modem, making today's product obsolete tomorrow. The TrailBlazer can be simply re- programmed to incorporate new communication protocols or new functions which go beyond those of conventional modems. TELEBIT SENIOR MANAGEMENT B_R_I_G_A_D_I_E_R_ _G_E_N_E_R_A_L_ _H_._R_._ _J_O_H_N_S_O_N_,_ _U_S_A_F_ _(_R_E_ General Johnson brings to Telebit more than 35 years' experience in high-technology communications systems, and a long record of pioneering activities in the field of satellite communications. Highlights of General Johnson's background include Staff Member to President Lyndon B. Johnson for Telecommunications Management and Corporate Vice President with Western Union Telegraph and with American Satellite. As Vice President of Marketing and Services Development for Western Union, General Johnson spearheaded the entry of Western Union into the satellite communications business, producing sales of more than 600 satellite voice circuits. As Vice President of Marketing for American Satellite, he personally designed and introduced the highly successful "Satellite Data Exchange" (SDX) service. Prior to joining Telebit, General Johnson was a founder and Senior Vice President of Marketing and Sales at Vitalink Communications, which provides satellite-based digital networks. Commanding General of Air Force Communications in the Pacific. In this position he was in command of an organization of 20,000 people, with responsibility for all communications, air traffic control, and radar activities in the Pacific Theater. J_A_M_E_S_ _F_._ _J_O_R_D_A_N_,_ _P_R_E_S_I_D_E_N_T_ _A_N_D_ _C_E_O_ James Jordan, a veteran of the computer and communications industries, has a long track record of success in building companies and their markets into profitable and public enterprises. Prior to joining Telebit, Jim was a founder and Executive Vice President of Ungermann-Bass, where he was responsible for all sales, marketing, engineering, and international operations, building Ungermann-Bass from a start-up company to a $100 million public corporation in six years. Before that, as Vice President of Sales for Four-Phase Systems, Jim similarly established and developed the company's worldwide sales force, achieving revenues of $200 million over a nine-year period. Previously, he held sales and marketing positions with RCA and IBM in the area of large systems.