Internetweek, March 29, 1999

MCI Worldcom Offers Managed ATM Service

By Chuck Moozakis

MCI Worldcom will soon offer a managed ATM service. This managed ATM service will give customers remote oversight, device-monitoring and configuration capabilities. This new service will be based off of Visual Network’s Inc.’s Visual Up Time service level management package, which currently supports MCI Worldcom's frame relay service. Potential customers would like to use the ATM as a transport mechanism. MCI Worldcom’s managed ATM service would provide standardized monitoring of many network operation metrics. These metrics will include device performance, configuration and repair, as well as a standardized, single-user interface. This service will be provided and will be doing what ATM was designed for, which is combining various traffic types at extremely high speeds. This service is not yet available. The ATM Forum is in the process of writing new specifications for the service and hopes to be done in April of 1999.

This new service will give companies what they need, a service which they can monitor and control on site. Information Technology managers will be free to work on other projects and not have to be bothered with the design, configuration and monitoring hassles of ATM links. MCI Worldcom has offered these services to companies in the past on a discrete level. The offering of this service to the public will strengthen MCI’s as a telecommunications leader.

Miriam Dorisca

ISM 5226-Network

March 29, 1999