I recently had a chance to meet with execs at Zultys in Silicon Valley to see what they are up to. This is a company that launched an IP PBX a few years ago while the rest of the market was hiding in the shadows of post-bubble bursting depression, Zultys decided to throw their hat in the ring at what seems to have been an ideal time. The company is now selling IP PBXs internationally and growing quickly in the US, Asia and other parts of the world. One part of the conversation that struck me was when I heard that Zultys is back in the IP phone business. You see, the company had decided not to be in the phone business for a while but all the challenges of SIP interoperability made this impossible. So they have some pretty interesting phones that also act as hubs allowing a single wire to the desktop.

Zultys MX30 Front View



Zultys has also launched the MX30 which is aimed at ITSPs who in turn are looking at small businesses as their customers. The small device packs all the punch of the larger MX-250 with a nice GUI and excellent presence integration. The MX30 uses SIP to connect to service providers so no PSTN lines are required. The device is based on Linux, a more common trend these days.

Thirty users will be supported by the IP PBX which has a bundled firewall, NAT and VPN capability. The most amazing feature of his device is its ability to grow... You just keep linking them together, in any geographic configuration. If you have an extremely large amount of bandwidth, greater than seven megabits per second you may want to consider an external firewall to handle the load as the internal firewall won't support higher speeds. Of course having so much bandwidth is a rare situation except in large cities where bandwidth is cheap. Fax integration is included as is unified messaging.

Zultys MX30 Rear View


There is a microdrive in the box for voicemail storage and there are ACD features that should satisfy 80% of all call centers (according to the company). There is an optional backup PSTN card as well (a more common trend among box makers). The VPN is fairly robust allowing 10 IPSec VPN connections with IP phone sin use. The systems can also be degugged remotely in case of problems. Expect the box to be priced at under $1,100 with a phone and software. Please see Zultys for details.