You’ve no doubt heard me praise the concept of p2p VoIP. This is an area of tremendous growth potential in my opinion. One of the players in the space, Nimcat Networks is supplying technology to Aastra Technologies, enabling them, to sell a p2p SMB phone system. The first product of this partnership is the VentureIP 480i.
P2p technology allows these phones to recognize each other and each phone is designed to do some of the work of a traditional PBX, eliminating the need for a central telephony server.
Here are some of the features of the system:
P2p technology allows these phones to recognize each other and each phone is designed to do some of the work of a traditional PBX, eliminating the need for a central telephony server.
Here are some of the features of the system:
- Low-cost IP-based telephony system - P2P, VoIP
- Complete PBX telephony features including : voice mail, intercom / page and auto attendant
- Eight-line graphic display with six dynamic context-sensitive softkeys
Premium speakerphone performance - Automatic start-up with no configuration required
- Systems scales set by set - no need to purchase a minimum number of units
- Completely automated for adds, moves and changes
- Call control
- Conferencing
- Auto-Attendant
Some say this concept will really take off when p2p is embraced by the larger PBX manufacturers. Based on releases like this one, we will likely see adoption from companies like Altigen and Vertical before we see Cisco jump in. Some believe the large PBX companies need a solution like this as it makes it less expensive to service SMB customers. Others say that the likes of Avaya and Cisco will never embrace such a concept – or they will when they are forced to.
My opinion is that if p2p VoIP in the enterprise works as advertised, we will see a slow and steady adoption curve of these technologies in the market. I believe international markets will embrace p2p before the
My opinion is that if p2p VoIP in the enterprise works as advertised, we will see a slow and steady adoption curve of these technologies in the market. I believe international markets will embrace p2p before the
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Rich- AASTRA VentureIP 480i is a definite big hit- at least for me. I had the privelage of testing for a half-day the phones just last week. Too bad the gateway shipped was the wrong one. Plug-N-Play it does. I ran these phones on my IP network alongside my 3Com NBX 100. S-M business ? I'd be apprehensive to say YES to meeting the S-M space needs from what I saw. We did not have time to subject it to security threats and other ailments but even a low end firewall behind the data/LAN firewall should secure the wares. Small business needs met ? Yes- it kills the cheap KSU-Less telephones that are worthless from day one. WHY ? Aastra delivers PoE over a Netgear PoE Switch (LOW COST) unlike the local power of KSU-LESS wares that a) die too soon and b) offer questionable quality, c) KSU-Less 4-line phones need 4-pair wiring- so why not get phones and computers using the Aastra phones with the dual 10/100 Mbps onboard switch? WARNING again- SMALL business yes, production data networks- I'd disclaim and say BEWARE. We will be doing more extensive testing once all the wares arrive. Upfront after 1/2 day's testing: it's a very cool product that will meet a lof of Small business needs and especially retail and service. Now the NEGATIVE- the soft keys on both sides of the large display DO NOT ALIGN with the keys, it irks me as a user. It's a classy phone and for the buttons not to align with the test on the display is a bit distracting. For those new custom homes- it's a definite shoe-in for this market too. VERY COOL product. This product is a right fit for a lot of opportunity. When you think about who makes and made a lot of Nortel's consumer and business phones--- Aastra, well, we all know Nortel is a world class product, now maybe we know a little more about why. BTW- we fired the gear up and accessed the GUI without ANY documentation.