Marratech
Encyclopedia
Marratech is a Swedish company that makes software for e-meetings (e.g., web conferencing
, videoconferencing
).
Marratech was founded in 1998, as a spin-off company from the Centre for Distance-Spanning Technology at the Luleå University of Technology
. Founders include Dr. Dick Schefström, Dr. Peter Parnes, Johnny Widén, Dr. Kåre Synnes, Mikael Börjeson, Magnus Hedberg, Serge Lachapelle and Claes Ågren.
The Marratech prototypes saw the light of day in 1995 as part of an EU project called Multimedia Assisted Tele-engineering (MATES) project.
Marratech's first products, offering voice, video, whiteboard and instant messaging for groups, was first released in November 1998. The first release required the presence of an IP Multicast
network and was built as a server-less architecture.
The solution has since evolved to support both traditional IP Unicast and IP Multicast, high security and multi-platform computing.
A distributed architecture is made possible by doing all the processing, mixing, encoding and encryption on the clients, relieving the servers and increasing scalability.
For guaranteed, serverless, scalable data delivery over both Multicast and Unicast, Scalable Reliable Multicast (SRM) is used over the Real-time Transport Protocol
, called SRRTP.
In 2004, Marratech introduced support for dialing out to IP telephones, land lines and mobile phones via the Session Initiation Protocol
(SIP). In 2005, H.323
support was added to communicate with traditional video conferencing equipment.
In 2007, Marratech's video conference software was acquired by Google
. Most engineers and key personnel have moved to Google.http://www.marratech.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=2106
Some of the key features included in Marratech are:
Some of the key underlying technologies are:
The solution includes a freely downloadable client and a server, called the Marratech Manager.
Users include Alcatel Alenia Space, Verizon, the Swedish Police Department, The Swedish Army and a number of Universities around the world.
Google has finally bought Marratech. Google plans its use for their staff members initially and later they might come out with a massive change in the software for public use.
December 12, 2009: Marratech announced that it would close down its website around Christmas 2009.
February 19, 2010: Marratech homepage gives information that it has suspended all its services, its server and no longer allows download of either client or server software.
Web conferencing
Web conferencing refers to a service that allows conferencing events to be shared with remote locations. Most vendors also provide either a recorded copy of an event, or a means for a subscriber to record an event. The service allows information to be shared simultaneously, across geographically...
, videoconferencing
Videoconferencing
Videoconferencing is the conduct of a videoconference by a set of telecommunication technologies which allow two or more locations to interact via two-way video and audio transmissions simultaneously...
).
Marratech was founded in 1998, as a spin-off company from the Centre for Distance-Spanning Technology at the Luleå University of Technology
Luleå University of Technology
Luleå University of Technology or Luleå tekniska universitet of Sweden is Scandinavia's northernmost university of technology. It has four campuses, located in Luleå , Kiruna , Skellefteå and Piteå .-History:The university was founded on 1 June 1971 at Porsön in Luleå as...
. Founders include Dr. Dick Schefström, Dr. Peter Parnes, Johnny Widén, Dr. Kåre Synnes, Mikael Börjeson, Magnus Hedberg, Serge Lachapelle and Claes Ågren.
The Marratech prototypes saw the light of day in 1995 as part of an EU project called Multimedia Assisted Tele-engineering (MATES) project.
Marratech's first products, offering voice, video, whiteboard and instant messaging for groups, was first released in November 1998. The first release required the presence of an IP Multicast
IP Multicast
IP multicast is a method of sending Internet Protocol datagrams to a group of interested receivers in a single transmission. It is often employed for streaming media applications on the Internet and private networks. The method is the IP-specific version of the general concept of multicast...
network and was built as a server-less architecture.
The solution has since evolved to support both traditional IP Unicast and IP Multicast, high security and multi-platform computing.
A distributed architecture is made possible by doing all the processing, mixing, encoding and encryption on the clients, relieving the servers and increasing scalability.
For guaranteed, serverless, scalable data delivery over both Multicast and Unicast, Scalable Reliable Multicast (SRM) is used over the Real-time Transport Protocol
Real-time Transport Protocol
The Real-time Transport Protocol defines a standardized packet format for delivering audio and video over IP networks. RTP is used extensively in communication and entertainment systems that involve streaming media, such as telephony, video teleconference applications, television services and...
, called SRRTP.
In 2004, Marratech introduced support for dialing out to IP telephones, land lines and mobile phones via the Session Initiation Protocol
Session Initiation Protocol
The Session Initiation Protocol is an IETF-defined signaling protocol widely used for controlling communication sessions such as voice and video calls over Internet Protocol . The protocol can be used for creating, modifying and terminating two-party or multiparty sessions...
(SIP). In 2005, H.323
H.323
H.323 is a recommendation from the ITU Telecommunication Standardization Sector that defines the protocols to provide audio-visual communication sessions on any packet network...
support was added to communicate with traditional video conferencing equipment.
In 2007, Marratech's video conference software was acquired by Google
Google
Google Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...
. Most engineers and key personnel have moved to Google.http://www.marratech.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=2106
Some of the key features included in Marratech are:
- High quality voice for groups with private audio feature
- Interactive group whiteboard
- Multi party video
Some of the key underlying technologies are:
- 256-bit Advanced Encryption StandardAdvanced Encryption StandardAdvanced Encryption Standard is a specification for the encryption of electronic data. It has been adopted by the U.S. government and is now used worldwide. It supersedes DES...
(AES) end-to-end encryptionEnd-to-end encryptionEnd-to-end encryption encrypts clear data at source with knowledge of the intended recipient, allowing the encrypted data to travel safely through vulnerable channels End-to-end encryption (E2EE) encrypts clear (red) data at source with knowledge of the intended recipient, allowing the encrypted... - Support for Windows, Mac OS X and Linux on the client and server side.
- Support for bandwidth saving clusters
- Support for IP Unicast, IP Multicast or both
- Support for H.323H.323H.323 is a recommendation from the ITU Telecommunication Standardization Sector that defines the protocols to provide audio-visual communication sessions on any packet network...
(dial in and out, E.164E.164E.164 is an ITU-T recommendation that defines the international public telecommunication numbering plan used in the PSTN and some other data networks. It also defines the format of telephone numbers. E.164 numbers can have a maximum of fifteen digits and are usually written with a + prefix...
) and Session Initiation ProtocolSession Initiation ProtocolThe Session Initiation Protocol is an IETF-defined signaling protocol widely used for controlling communication sessions such as voice and video calls over Internet Protocol . The protocol can be used for creating, modifying and terminating two-party or multiparty sessions...
(SIP) - H.264 video
The solution includes a freely downloadable client and a server, called the Marratech Manager.
Users include Alcatel Alenia Space, Verizon, the Swedish Police Department, The Swedish Army and a number of Universities around the world.
Google has finally bought Marratech. Google plans its use for their staff members initially and later they might come out with a massive change in the software for public use.
December 12, 2009: Marratech announced that it would close down its website around Christmas 2009.
February 19, 2010: Marratech homepage gives information that it has suspended all its services, its server and no longer allows download of either client or server software.
External links
- Marratech's homepage
- Public Marratech Meeting Servers
- Evaluation by Kansas's Kan-ed programme
- Evaluation by Monash UniversityMonash UniversityMonash University is a public university based in Melbourne, Victoria. It was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the state. Monash is a member of Australia's Group of Eight and the ASAIHL....
- Review by Network Computing
- Review by Mac Observer
- Acquisition by Google