IP Unity, a leader in carrier-grade media servers, application servers and real-time multimedia applications for IP and TDM networks, has installed two Mereon 6000 Media Servers and Release 3.1 of Mereon Unified Messaging and Mereon Conferencing applications software for the University of Minnesota -Twin Cities (U of M). The U of M - Twin Cities is the second-largest campus in the U.S. and home to 49,450 students and 2,300 faculty members. This large-scale deployment was awarded to IP Unity in competitive bidding. The platform is fully installed and in operation with 18,500 users.

"We are pleased to roll out this state-of-the-art IP-based platform for service delivery to many of the faculty members and students living on campus," stated John Miller, Director in the Office of Information Technology at the University of Minnesota. "The Mereon platform will also serve the University as we scale to more users."

"The University of Minnesota is in the vanguard of higher educational institutions," added IP Unity Chairman and CEO Arun Sobti. "The Networking and Telecommunications Services Department has creatively leveraged the converged TDM and VoIP wave to offer new, appealing services. We know that the carrier-grade nature of the Mereon platform will support the university's projected high call volumes and provide the innovative features it needs for its research, instructional and residential communities going forward."

The Mereon 6000 interfaces with the University of Minnesota's current Intecom Pointspan 6880 PBX with six IPNs. The system provides telephone service for the entire Twin Cities campus, including the geographically separated St Paul campus. Additionally, a VoIP telephone system is being integrated into the University's voice infrastructure, and will utilize the enhanced features of the Mereon 6000 system.

Included in the university's initial deployment are Mereon Unified Messaging, Mereon Auto Attendant, Fax, and Text-to-Speech. Additional features which have been purchased and will be implemented include Find Me - Follow Me, Web Conferencing, and Collaboration application software. Some of the advanced functional benefits of the IP Unity implementation are

-- One-stop message access: All messages (email, voicemail, faxes) are available via graphical and telephone user interfaces (GUI and TUI) as well as webmail; message delivery to any phone or multimedia service (MMS) delivery device.

-- Personalized availability: Find Me - Follow Me allows a subscriber to provide callers with the convenience of one number to reach their cell phone, desk phone, home phone or any phone of their choice. With unique call screening the subscriber can select which calls they will accept and which they will choose to forward to the full-featured voicemail service.

-- "Click-to-Call" Functionality: Click-to-Call enables outdialing controlled directly from a PC-based address book: with just one click, the system calls the subscriber's phone and then calls the destination number.

-- "Click-to-Conference" Functionality: Click-to-Conference enables instant web/audio conferencing with multiple parties initiated directly from the personal distribution list in the subscriber's address book.

IP Unity's Mereon 6000 Media Server has been deployed in 34 countries for messaging, conferencing, IVR, announcements, prepaid and debit enhanced services. IP Unity has been selected for very large-scale service rollouts by leading RBOCs, top-tier cable operators, fixed-mobile converged carriers and influential and large enterprises, including banks and universities