Franklin Telecom Begins Shipment of Tempest Units

Franklin Telecom, a provider of telecommunications and Internet telephone equipment based in Westlake Village, says it has begun shipment on a $250,000 order for Tempest Data Voice Gateway units to J.M. Best Communications, a provider of Internet telephone services via long-distance calling cards.

The order includes six beta units, which are already operational. Over the next 12 months, the company plans to purchase an additional 45 units.

J.M. Best, based in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, has been testing both the hardware and the billing and authorization software for the Tempest system for the last few months. With the deployment of the Tempest system, the company’s customers may make toll calls over the Internet without incurring traditional long-distance company charges.

The system allows phone-to-phone service over the Internet or other networks using ordinary telephones and without requiring any special hardware or software at either connection.

Franklin’s Internet subsidiaries, FNet and Internet Passport, provide services using Franklin’s products.