VoiceCon Spring 2007: Focus on Unified Communications.

Avaya Enhances IP Telephony Portfolio

At VoiceCon Spring 2007, Avaya announced broad enhancements to its IP telephony portfolio, including a new release for its Avaya Communication Manager system. Release 4.0, available in March 2007, improves business continuity, increases capacity and adds new features for mobile employees and branch offices. New functionality includes Dial Plan Transparency during a wide area network failure, a 50% trunk capacity increase, improved Enterprise Mobility User capabilities and a new Avaya IG550 Integrated Gateway that provides local survivability to branch offices. In addition, Avaya will introduce the high- density G860 Media Gateway (DS3 interface) in third quarter 2007 and three new one-X Deskphones in May 2007 (9640, 9650 and 9610 IP Telephones). At VoiceCon, Avaya also showcased enhancements to its Avaya Customer Interaction Suite which encompasses Call Center, Interaction Center, Voice Portal and reporting. New capabilities include live or streaming video of self-help topics related to the customer's inquiry and live video that connects remote product experts to consumers, for example. Avaya IQ, a new reporting and analytics solution, uses real-time monitoring and historical data analysis to "tailor the customer experience."

Cisco Introduces Unified Communications System 6.0

At VoiceCon Spring 2007, Cisco introduced a number of new products and applications that promise to "dramatically improve the productivity of mobile employees," as well as address small and mid-size businesses, deliver new collaboration features and extend third party application integration. The company announced Cisco Unified Communications system 6.0 (planned availability at the end of May 2007) that encompasses a portfolio of voice, video, mobility, and IP communications solutions, including the Cisco Unified Communications Manager for call processing (formerly called Cisco Unified CallManager). New 6.0 software will add support for the Cisco Unified Communications Manager Business Edition, a single-server version designed for medium-sized businesses (100-500 users) and will integrate new functionality for mobile employees, including Cisco Unified Mobility (Single Number Reach) and support for dual-mode devices, as well as support for the Cisco Unified IP Phone 7931G introduced earlier for Cisco Unified CallManager Express. Additional new offerings focus on improving employee productivity and business efficiency, including the Cisco Unified Mobile Communicator, Cisco Unified Wireless IP Phone 7921G, Cisco Unified Workforce Optimization, Cisco Unified MeetingPlace 6.0 and Cisco Unity 5.0.

Mitel Addresses "First Contact Resolution"

At VoiceCon Spring 2007, Mitel showcased the concept of "first contact resolution" with its Mitel Customer Interaction Solutions portfolio for contact centers. Utilizing SIP and Microsoft Office Live Communications Server, Mitel's solution enables "presence-everywhere" so that contact center agents can set up collaborative conversations among subject experts and ...