Vonage Dumps Cisco ATA for Motorola

Cisco had supplied its ATA 186 to the Vonage service. The loss of the Vonage account, while it may not be significant in terms of the number of ATAs that Cisco sells, does represent a high-profile embarrassment for Cisco. The Vonage link provided a large amount of media exposure for the Cisco product.

The new terminal adaptor provides new capabilities to Vonage customers, including greater flexibility in using voice over IP with a broadband connection. The Motorola VT1000v includes two RJ-11 phone ports plus two RJ-45 Ethernet ports. This means that another device can be plugged in to the broadband service downstream of the adaptor. The additional device could be a a PC or a router.

The two Ethernet ports mean the adaptor includes a small Ethernet switch. This provides basic routing capability and network address translation (NAT), which ensures a minimal amount of security. The adaptor also includes "voice traffic prioritization," according to a Motorola press release, though the technology that provides this capability is not specified.

New Capabilities
There are several potential advantages from the features of the new adaptor. Because the product includes rudimentary router capability, users do not have to buy a router or establish a home network in order to use voice over IP. The adaptor provides the NAT/DHCP functions.

Also, where there is a home network with a router, the VT1 can be installed between the modem and the router, so all the phones attached to the adaptor will not have to deal with NAT and firewall issues.

There may even be a price break for Vonage as well, though Motorola declined to reveal with retail price of the product. That price will not be revealed until the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nev., in January. Vonage's consumer voice- over-IP services now has more than 75,000 customers.