Already knee-deep in the Internet Protocol (IP) telephony and converged network world, Avaya Inc. announced Monday it has extended its capabilities to the branch office/remote worker to increase collaboration between connected and disconnected employees.
The Avaya Enterprise Connect solutions offer a set of services that provide remote workers with ‘headquarters-like’ features and functions including its MultiVantage IP telephony, contact centre, unified communications and messaging applications from a central location to any size office or home over a secure converged network.
According to research from Scottsdale, Ariz.-based In-Stat/MDR, in the U.S. alone, 53 per cent of employees work in branch and home offices, representing a disconnected majority. Avaya said these workers often experience gaps between their locations and headquarters that result in decreased productivity and increased operating costs.
Avaya explained that its Enterprise Connect solutions directly target these challenges and eliminate the gaps by providing remote workers with access to the same tools and information as employees in primary locations.
As part of the Enterprise Connect Solutions, the Basking Ridge, N.J.-based company, in conjunction with Minneapolis-based Multi-Tech, a remote-access and telephony product manufacturer, unveiled the IP telephony gateway Monday, designed for large companies with small, distributed offices. According to Multi-Tech, the offering brings an economical media gateway to small office users that eliminates the need to manage disparate, standalone key and private branch exchange (PBX) platforms.
Multi-Tech’s MultiVOIP gateways extend Avaya’s MultiVantage software communications applications from a centrally managed system to small offices with up to ten people. The gateways are combination IP telephony gateways and gatekeepers that offer an alternative to systems using separate PC-based gatekeepers. The MultiVOIPs come in two-port desktop and four- or eight-port rack mounted versions, and are H.323 compatible.
The Multi-Tech gateways provide a bridge from the remote office voice and data network to a central Avaya Media Server over an IP wide area network link and also bridge the PSTN to the IP network by connecting to one or more analogue trunks.
The Avaya Enterprise Connect solutions along with Multi-Tech’s MultiVOIP gateways/gatekeepers are available now. More information can be found at www.avaya.com.