New UUdial Corporate service offers economical global access to the UUNET network, the Internet and corporate resources Fairfax, VA, June 22,1999 - MCI WorldCom today announced the launch of UUdialSM Corporate, a new service of its UUNET subsidiary, that provides global IP-based dial-up remote access for businesses. Available immediately to U.S-based customers and expected to be available internationally later this year, UUdial Corporate offers business customers an economical and reliable way for large groups of remote users to access their corporate intranet or extranet and provides unrestricted local access to the Internet from 27 countries in North America, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region. UUdial Corporate, a new member of the UUdial family of dial-up access services, joins MCI WorldCom's expanding On-Net suite of services which also includes a wide range of remote access and virtual private network (VPN) enterprise solutions.
UUdial Corporate offers customers the ability to limit user populations access to pre-approved locations, such as their corporate LAN or the Internet, through filtering technologies, thereby reducing usage costs from random browsing. Additionally, companies may customize their UUdial Corporate networking solution for increased security and functionality with add-on services such as turnkey or managed firewalls and data encryption.
"Many of our corporate customers have requested a global IP-based solution providing high-speed remote dial access," said Dennis Brouwer, vice president of dial product marketing, UUNET. "UUdial Corporate allows customers to create a remote access solution which meets particular enterprise needs, plus provides the benefits of UUNET's high performance IP network and global reach."
Features and Benefits
The service rides on the UUNET network and is ideal for businesses looking to outsource their growing data communication needs or complement existing in-house networking functions. UUdial Corporate enables customers to dial into a local UUNET point of presence (POP) for unrestricted access to the Internet from 27 countries in North America, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region at access speeds up to 56Kbps and 128Kbps bonded Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN).
User authentication is handled via Password Authentication Protocol (PAP) or Challenge Handshake Authentication Protocol (CHAP) through UUNET's hosted RADIUS service. UUNET provides fully managed, 24x7 support for UUdial Corporate customers, including dedicated account team representatives and help desk-to-help desk support through UUNET's technical assistance center.
Remote users can easily make local call connections to the UUNET network via client dialer software which is included as part of the managed service, substantially lowering a company's telecommunications costs compared to traditional long distance access charges or toll-free connections.
Pricing and Availability
UUdial Corporate customers receive hourly pricing based upon monthly usage, contract volume and length. A one-time set up fee and recurring monthly charge is also incurred. The service is currently available to U.S.-based customers. A UUdirectsm dedicated service is a component of UUdial Corporate service. End-users must have TCP/IP and point-to-point protocol (PPP) software installed on the client.
UUNET plans to announce global service availability and additional features such as service level agreements and L2TP (Layer 2 Tunneling Protocol) during the third quarter, 1999.
