RSVP isn't the only solution to the corporate bandwidth definition blues, informs a principal with Internet Engineering Group LLC, an ISP consultancy in Ann Arbor, Mich. Another approach ISPs are considering is to offer corporations the option of SVCs (switched virtual circuits) and Internet service over the same wire, he says. Corporations needing a guaranteed, secure, swift pipeline for their intranet traffic can sign on for SVC service, which employs speedy frame-relay or ATM technology, at the same time they sign on for regular public Internet service.

In this scenario, the virtual circuit becomes a private network whose bandwidth can be regulated and monitored by the network manager. This way, instead of slugging it out with the masses for bandwidth on the Internet, the network manager can allocate the pipe based on what a particular application needs.

A similar type of technology is a VPN (virtual private network) scheme announced in March by Microsoft Corp. and Ascend Communications Inc. Based on a new technology called multi protocol VPN, companies will be able to use the Internet as if it were their own private network, officials from the companies say.

This technology is based on another protocol, called PPTP (Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol), which allows Windows 95 clients to contact Windows NT servers across the Internet by going through an Ascend MAX WAN switch at their ISP's point of presence. The MAX switch, equipped for PPTP, tunnels the Windows packets across the Internet without requiring those packets to conform to Internet addressing standards.

Microsoft will incorporate multi protocol VPN technology into Windows NT 4.0, and several companies besides Ascend have signed onto it as a protocol standard for VPNs, including 3Com Corp., Telematics International Inc. and U.S. Robotics Inc. PPTP, however, is only one proposed protocol jostling for prominence in the nascent VPN market--Novell Inc. and IBM are among others.

There are about a dozen competing technologies for doing the same thing, says David Mayes; director of business development at Ascend, in Alameda, Calif. Mayes believes the shakeout among these protocols will happen over the next year, with robust VPN implementations arriving sometime in 2006.

Bandwidth Band-Aid There are also some stop-gap measures for bandwidth headaches for applications that don't require real-time performance. For instance, a forthcoming product from Open Market Inc., an Internet software company in Cambridge, Mass., will allow users to reschedule Internet sessions for off-peak hours.

OMExpress is a Windows-based client/server application that will work with any Web browser. Scripting technology within the software allows users to designate which Internet sites they want to access, what information should be gathered and when the session should take place. Users can set the tool to access the Internet in the middle of the night and have the information gathered and waiting for them in the morning. OMExpress is being beta tested by such high-profile users as Time Warner Inc. and CompuServe Inc.