UNITED States internetworking company Hypercom has launched a range of products aimed at solving legacy network integration problems in the branch office.
Paul Wallner, Hypercom's senior vice-president for network systems development, said the products were hybrid routers, as they combine several technologies, including internetwork traffic and legacy protocols as well supporting multimedia.
Mr Wallner said the products had strong router functionality, but also solved existing router needs.
The addition of multimedia features means that voice and video traffic can be sent over the same network.
This could effectively allow low cost asynchronous transfer mode networking at the branch office level.
Mr Wallner said: 'The Hypercom solution is a far more comprehensive one than a router-only solution.' He also said that combining the different media in one box would minimise the required space, an important consideration in small offices.
He said that vendors should provide a complete branch networking solution.