Released on: April 22, 2008, 10:54 am

Press Release Author: Appia Communications

Industry: Telecommunications

Press Release Summary: ICE uses both Session Traversal Utilities for NAT (STUN) and
Traversal Using Relays around NAT (TURN) servers to find a connection for multimedia
sessions under the offer/answer model. ICE can be utilized by any protocol using
this model, including SIP.

Press Release Body: Appia Communications today announced the release of a server and
client to meet the growing need for Interactive Connectivity Establishment (ICE).
The offering meets all of the most recent Internet Engineering Task Force standards,
including ice-19, rfc3489bis-15, and turn-07.

"As the use of the Session Initiation Protocol, or SIP, has spread, the problem of
Network Address Translator (NAT) traversal has become acute. ICE solves this
problem," said Victor von Schlegell, Appia's president.

ICE uses both Session Traversal Utilities for NAT (STUN) and Traversal Using Relays
around NAT (TURN) servers to find a connection for multimedia sessions under the
offer/answer model. ICE can be utilized by any protocol using this model, including
SIP.

The need for the ICE server and client arose from Appia's own experience. "In 2007,
we developed an encrypted SIP phone application for one of our customers," said von
Schlegell. "A peer-to-peer connection was necessary to deploy it, as only the
receiving phone can decrypt the voice packets.

"The phone worked flawlessly when both parties were using the public internet, or
when only one party was behind NAT. But did not work if both parties were behind
NATs," continued von Schlegell. "Servers didn't recognize the encrypted packets, so
the packets were dropped. The ICE server and client were engineered to enable phones
to work around NATs."

A peer-to-peer connection is desirable for voice applications because it has less
delay and fewer dropped packets than a connection through servers. ICE finds the
best peer-to-peer connection in milliseconds, even before the phone rings on other
end.

The ICE server and client are available for purchase on a stand-alone basis or as a
service.

About Appia Communications

Appia Communications is a leading provider of managed IT and telecommunications
services, whose mission is to enable small and mid-sized companies and organizations
to realize the benefits of Internet Protocol (IP) technology. Appia's managed
solutions help customers reduce costs, enhance employee productivity, improve
customer care, and compete more effectively against much larger enterprises.

Headquartered in Traverse City, Michigan, Appia has operations in New York, Chicago,
Los Angeles, Detroit, Indianapolis, St. Louis, Boston, and other markets in North
America and Europe. For more information, please visit www.appiaservices.com, or
call 877-277-4297.


Web Site: http://www.appiaservices.com

Contact Details: Keli Minick
Marketing Communications Manager
Appia Communications
1030 Hastings St., Suite 100
Traverse City, MI 49686
231-929-0970