Today, Avaya IP Office 6.0 was released bringing additional new features to this tried and true SMB phone system. I reviewed Avaya IP Office back in 2004 and it certainly has come a long way since then. Avaya claims that this new version of Avaya IP Office enhances user experiences for greater productivity and that it makes UC up to 40% more affordable for companies with less than 20 employees. One of the biggest reasons how they cut costs down is via Avaya IP Office 6.0's new 'combination card' . This single card does what used to require several cards to support digital, analog and IP devices. The combination card sports 6 digital phone connections, 4 analog, 2 BRI, and 10 voice compression module channels.
With IP Office 6.0 they've doubled the capacity for a multi-site network from 500 to 1,000 users and up to 32 sites. One of the most interesting features is part of their business continuity feature-set. They've added voice messaging and auto attendant back up so that if Site1 goes down your IP phones will not only register to Site2, but your voice messages will still be retained at Site2. Even the auto-attendant carries over. When I spoke to Avaya about this last week I told them I wasn't aware of anyone offering this capability without requiring additional hardware. This disaster recovery feature comes included.
Another new piece of the puzzle is better UC capabilities including Enhanced one-X™ portal for IP Office. This Java-based web portal offers IM, presence, voice, call recording, and full featured audio conferencing capabilities (mute, mute all, unmute) all from a browser window as seen here:
You can turn on telecommute mode and then enter your home landline number, or your cell number and then manage your calls from this web portal. You can also initiate an outbound call remotely and the system will dial you first and then connect dial the remote party. The beauty of working with any phone device is that you don't have to dedicate a $150-$350 IP phone for your home telecommuters or traveling sales people.
Today, the new release adds fully-integrated instant messaging with embedded voice calling capabilities, as well as presence that shows status icons such as "available", "busy" "do not disturb" and "offline". This boosts both the speed and responsiveness of inter-office communications among co-workers. Additionally, the audio conferencing control feature, which allows up to 64 parties on a single call, now provides the ability to view, add, drop and mute attendees, as well as record conference calls. The total number is 128 total parties within their conferencing system and each user can have their own private conference bridge. The system also supports integrated video conferencing using the IP Office Videophone application.
With the Nortel acquisition it was pertinent to ask Avaya if legacy Nortel phones (IP & Digital) work with Avaya IP Office 6.0. Avaya responded, "The design of R6.0 was planned well in advance of the announced and subsequent closing of the Nortel Enterprise Solutions acquisition. The next release of IP Office, currently scheduled for 2011, will incorporate our integrated roadmap and include key features and capabilities of Nortel solutions."
Pricing
5 user = $2500
10 user = $4300
15 user = $6300
20 user = $7100
This is for a typical system with trunk lines, voice mail, mix of digital phones, and analog connectivity for fax machines, wireless etc
The Office Worker productivity suites is $99 per seat - that has the one-X Portal for IP Office capabilities as demonstrated
Discounts apply for 5+ and 20+ seats
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