Avaya announced a series of enhancements to its IP Telephony portfolio, including support for end-to-end, full-featured Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) delivered through the latest version of its telephony software — Avaya Communication Manager 5.0.
Avaya Communication Manager 5.0 now features embedded SIP, allowing co-residency on a single server (initially with the Avaya S8300C Server) — eliminating the cost and management issues associated with multiple servers. New SIP trunk alternate routing — a key capability for redistributing voice, video and data when network congestion arises — is also available, making communications more reliable.
New SIP firmware for Avaya endpoints provides an integral part of the end- to-end solution. Avaya’s advanced one-X IP Deskphones can be SIP-enabled — leveraging open, multimedia communications for improved productivity and mobility — and the phones can interchange between SIP or IP environments. Avaya’s SIP-enabled phones bring presence to directories to let users see the availability of colleagues. Mobility features are also SIP-enabled, such as Extension-to-Cellular, which transparently bridges a user’s cell phone with their phone extension, and “SIP Visiting User”, which lets users log into and access their deskphone features from any phone on the network.
A new version of the Avaya Video Telephony Solution is also now SIP- enabled, providing a more cost-effective way to deploy enterprise-class videoconferencing. Enhancements allow users to handle “ad hoc” video calls in the same way as voice calls, simply adding and forwarding both voice and video, and creating video conferences for up to six people.
Avaya said other new advancements include a new software maintenance model for its communications applications Software Support Plus Upgrades. The updated portfolio also gains a new media gateway — the Avaya G450 — for more flexible choices for branch offices and small campuses.http://www.avaya.com
