INTC: New Intel Software Developer Kit Bolsters Plug-And-Play VoIP Components for the PC

Intel Corporation today announced a new software framework and development kit to enable plug-and-play components for Web-based phone calls using Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP).

The Intel® Universal Phone Device Interface (UPDI) establishes a uniform interface specification between "softphones"—software-based phones installed on PCs—and peripheral phone devices. Intel's goal is to make it easier to integrate phone devices from a range of device providers and service providers while making the PC a more accommodating platform for these types of VoIP applications.

UPDI speeds product development and testing for independent software vendors (ISVs) and independent hardware vendors (IHVs), while lowering costs. With UPDI, softphone ISVs no longer have to implement proprietary interfaces and instead can provide "plug-and-play" support for various phone devices. UPDI is also designed to facilitate a broader supply of softphones and devices for service providers.

The UPDI Software Developer Kit provides documentation and reference source code to accelerate software and hardware vendor implementation of UPDI-compatible VoIP components.

"Both at home and work, people are increasingly using the PC for all kinds of communication, including voice phone calls. UPDI enables hardware and software vendors to build VoIP phone devices and software that interoperate smoothly, eliminating incompatible or proprietary device implementations that add extra cost and support burden," said Jonathan Khazam, general manager of Intel's Platform Software Division and vice president of the Software and Solutions Group.

Since UPDI utilizes existing audio technology through the operating system, no middleware is required to establish a common interface between devices and softphones. A softphone that uses UPDI will immediately recognize when a phone device that supports UPDI is plugged in to a computer.

"CounterPath's support of Intel with UPDI underscores our commitment to innovation in the VoIP space," said CounterPath president and COO Donovan Jones. "The CounterPath Eyebeam 1.5 with the Intel 600SM PCI Phone Adapter was among the first commercial implementations of the UPDI specification. The solution, announced at Computex Taipei in June, enables people to make VoIP calls using existing telephones connected to desktop PCs."

Australian PC manufacturer Optima is currently offering a UPDI-based solution with the Intel® 600SM PCI Phone Adapter.

"The universal interface designed by Intel enables SJ Labs to offer support for a wider variety of phone devices," said SJ Labs CEO Vladimir Greysukh. "Intel's UPDI dramatically reduces the cost, time and complexity of development validation and support. This translates into cost saving for our customers, while offering increased choice of phone devices and service providers."

Through the company's Intel Software and Solutions Group, Intel is a worldwide provider of software products, developer and professional services and technical resources. More information is available at www.intel.com/go/software