A review of 2011 releases from the established telecom manufacturers reveals that the majority of the new IP phone systems that entered the market were again aimed at small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs). It is well-known in most all world regions that smaller enterprises represent the largest and fastest growing business segment and, as such, are driving innovation. So it is no surprise that telecom manufacturers and service providers continue to make SMBs a particular focus as they introduce new IP phone systems, user devices and applications.

It was a good year for IP phone system introductions with twice as many new system entries compared to the previous year.  About 20 new IP phone systems (some with multiple versions) and new system bundles were introduced by the telecom manufacturers we tracked* in 2011, with the majority (above 60 percent) aimed at the under 500-user segment. Aastra, Avaya, Cisco, Epygi, LG-Ericsson, Mitel, NEC, Panasonic, Siemens, snom, Toshiba and Vertical are among the telecom manufacturers that rolled out new IP phone systems or new system bundles for smaller businesses in 2011. Epygi and Toshiba also released higher capacity platforms that scale to 1,000 users and there were several other mid-market offers, including Alcatel-Lucent’s OpenTouch Business Edition, Avaya Aura Midsize Enterprise and Siemens OpenScape UC Server Xpress. ShoreTel (News - Alert) 12 addressed larger enterprises with additional scalability, and Siemens introduced the OpenScape UC Server Enterprise package for its large customers. See below for a detailed chronology.

Microsoft Lync was not new in 2011, but introduced in late 2010 as an upgrade to Microsoft’s Office Communications Server (OCS) unified communications software. Lync will continue to garner a lot of interest and speculation as an enterprise telephony solution with its added support for enterprise voice features.

New IP Phone (News - Alert) Systems 2011

Below is a chronology that focuses on new IP phone systems or new system bundles that entered the market in 2011. There were also many new software releases for existing systems and countless new user devices, mobile solutions and applications related to messaging, contact center, video, collaboration and business continuity (more on these in subsequent write-ups).

January 2011: Vertical released MBX IP for growing small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs), a converged TDM/IP system that scales from 50 to 324 extensions (target is 200 extensions). MBX IP is positioned as the “going forward system” for businesses currently deploying Vertical’s SBX IP Key system introduced in 2008 or for customers with a legacy key system from Comdial or Vodavi, two companies previously acquired by Vertical.

February 2011: Aastra introduced a new system called Aastra 700 to replace the company’s MX-ONE Compact for small to mid-sized businesses (SMBs). Aastra 700 has the same capacity as the earlier MX-ONE Compact (up to 1,000 users in North America or 300 users elsewhere), but utilizes virtualization technology that reduces the hardware requirement. Aastra 700 adheres to open industry standards and has built-in, license-activated UC applications.

February 2011: Epygi responded to customer demand in foreign markets for larger capacity Quadro platforms with built-in ISDN BRI interfaces (ISDN BRI is a common trunking interface promoted in many countries outside of the United States). Two new Quadro systems, QuadroM12Li and QuadroM26xi, each support six ISDN BRI trunks and more IP phones (98 and 106 telephones, respectively) than Epygi’s earlier Quadro4xi and Quadro 16xi ISDN platforms (66 telephones).

February 2011: Siemens introduced two new IP-based voice packages for mid- to large-size enterprises, namely OpenScape UC Server Xpress, a Linux-based, pre-configured hardware and software solution for mid-market customers (350-1,000 users) and OpenScape UC Server Enterprise, an integrated OpenScape Voice and OpenScape UC software solution for larger enterprises (to 100,000 users). Both new packaged offers have license-based pricing similar to that of Siemens’ voice-only solutions, but which is less than purchasing the UC applications separately.

March 2011: Avaya announced Aura Midsize Enterprise, a single server platform that targets businesses with 250-1,000 employees. Aura ME is the successor to the Avaya Aura System Platform, a virtualized platform (Xen technology) first introduced in December 2009, but adds four additional co-resident applications beyond this earlier version, for a total of seven co-resident applications. The system supports centralized, distributed or mixed (centralized and distributed) branch architectures for up to 250 remote sites and up to 384 users per site using Avaya’s new B5800 Branch Gateway (News - Alert).

March 2011: At the annual Cisco Partner Summit, Cisco announced two new platforms designed specifically for small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs), the Unified Communications 300 Series (two-24 users) and Cisco Unified Communications Manager Business Edition 3000 (75-300 users across 10 sites). Both new solutions are all-in-one designs with what Cisco calls “foundational unified communications features” or an essential feature set that is required/desired by most SMBs.

March 2011: Siemens updated the OpenScape Office product for small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs), still offering the OpenScape Office MX for up to 150 users (previously available), but introducing the new OpenScape Office LX (to 500 users), a software-only version with software running on Linux-based industry standard server hardware or on a single virtualized server using virtualization technology from VMware (vSphere). At the same time, Siemens introduced the OpenScape Office HX Unified Communications (UC) software application server, adding UC features for the company’s earlier HiPath 3000 converged PBX for SMBs.

March 2011: snom introduced a hardware-based version of its snom ONE IP PBX called snom ONE plus (a software-only version was introduced in December 2010).  The solid state appliance is available in two versions, each of which has the same snom ONE features: snom ONE plus yellow (up to 20 extensions) and snom ONE plus blue (up to 150 extensions). The appliance supports SIP trunking or PSTN connectivity via analog, PRI, BRI, T1 and E1 interface cards for flexibility in configuration and connectivity in regions with differing trunking requirements.

April 2011: Aastra announced the Aastra 400, an IP phone system for small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs) in France, Germany, Switzerland and the UK and later added several more European countries (Belgium, Austria, Croatia, Serbia, Hungary, Italy, and Netherlands), plus Brazil and Australia. Aastra 400 represents the next generation and evolution for earlier SMB platforms from Aastra, namely BusinessPhone, IntelliGate and MD-Evolution. Aastra 400 comes in three versions, Aastra 415 (4-12 users), Aastra 430 (to 50 users) and Aastra 470 (to 400 users with expansion to 600 users through networking).

May 2011: Avaya updated IP Office with a number of enhancements for smaller businesses, including a new mode of operation for the sub-20 user market; the new Quick Mode enables basic system functionality with voice mailboxes on all phones and a simple Telephony User Interface (TUI) or Graphical User Interface (GUI) for managing the system. Also, the IP Office Essential Edition Norstar Version, first introduced in 2010, now has more capacity, up to 100 analog or digital stations and 64 trunks (the PARTNER Version also has this increased capacity).

May 2011: ShoreTel addressed larger enterprises with a new version of its call processing software, ShoreTel 12, that doubles the user capacity to 20,000 local or remote users in a single system image (up from 10,000). Up to 500 ShoreGear voice switches can be connected anywhere on the IP network to handle a maximum of 20,000 total users. This total can include up to 20,000 IP phone users or up to 5,000 analog phone users.

June 2011: Toshiba released IPedge, an IP-only platform that runs multiple applications on a single Linux-based server. Call processing, voicemail and centralized management are built-in and part of the standard software, while unified messaging, UC client software and Meeting audio/Web conferencing reside on the system as license-activated applications. IPedge comes in three models: the EC server (200 users) and the EM server (up to 1,000 users) were released first, while the EP server for smaller businesses (eight-40 users) became available in September 2011.

August 2011: Epygi announced its first offer geared toward mid-size enterprises, the QX1000, which handles 1,000 IP extensions and has some more advanced capabilities, including a new audio/video conferencing licensed feature and a hot standby option. The QX1000 unit supports 200 IP phones in the default configuration with an additional 800 SIP phones enabled via software licenses in blocks of 16, 32 or 64 phones. The new platform joins other Epygi Quadro all-in-one IP PBXs that have varying physical trunk and station configurations and scalability from two to 192 users.

August 2011: Panasonic partnered with software provider BroadSoft to offer the new Panasonic Cloud Business Phone System for businesses with up to seven employees. The offer is comprised of Panasonic’s KX-TGP551 SIP Cordless Phone System, a corded handset base station and up to six associated cordless handsets at the customer premises, with BroadSoft’s BroadWorks switch providing the call control as a hosted service.

September 2011: LG-Ericsson’s new iPECS SBG-1000 is a SIP-based system for very small businesses (up to 24 users) that incorporates voice, data and wireless services all in one box. The SBG-1000 includes voicemail and auto attendant, license-activated applications, SIP trunking, a WiFi antenna and DECT base station, Gigabit WAN connections, LAN ports with built-in PoE, an embedded file server/print server and Web-based administration.

September 2011: As part of the latest Mitel Communications Director (MCD) release and enhancements, Mitel expanded the scalability of its virtualized solution, Virtual MCD (vMCD), to handle 150-2,500 users (previously, vMCD scaled from 300-1,000 users). Virtual MCD consolidates voice and non-voice (data) applications on a single VMware vSphere platform. The latest version (5.0) provides a virtualized MCD for smaller businesses (150 users) that includes embedded voicemail and auto attendant, creating an all-in-one virtualized solution convenient for smaller companies.

September 2011: NEC developed a new bundled offer for the mid-market (50-300 users) called UNIVERGE Sphericall for Medium Businesses and Small Enterprises (MB/SE); four configurations offer different levels of functionality with Sphericall call control (R8.0) and user-based licensing, a choice of IP phones and NEC’s UM8700 Lite unified messaging on a general purpose server.

November 2011: Alcatel-Lucent released the first products in its OpenTouch suite for mid-size and larger businesses, introducing new IP telephony platform options to meet varying customer needs and pre-installed software applications such as for one number service, Web conferencing, presence, Instant Messaging, video interactions. New platforms include OpenTouch Business Edition 500 Users (Appliance Server), OpenTouch Business Edition 1500 Users (Appliance Server) and OpenTouch Business Edition Hosted 500 users (Blade Server for data center environments available as a managed or hosted service), as well as the OpenTouch Multimedia Services 1500 Users, a software add-on for existing OmniPCX Enterprise Communication (OXE) customers.

Business Applications – Mobility, Video and the Cloud

As noted earlier, there was no shortage of new productivity applications, phones and mobile devices to complement the new and existing IP phone systems in 2011.

• Mobility tops the list as consumer mobile devices (smartphones and tablets) continue to make their way into the business environment. Nearly all of the telecom manufacturers are addressing the Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) to work trend and developing mobile clients for popular smartphones and tablets. Digium, Mitel, Polycom (News - Alert), RADVISION, ShoreTel and Siemens are among the manufacturers that released new mobile clients in 2011.
• High quality video collaboration is becoming affordable, easier to manage and more available. Aastra, Alcatel-Lucent, Cisco, Epygi, Polycom, RADVISION, Siemens and Zultys are just a few of the vendors that released new video solutions in 2011.
• Cloud-based or hosted telephony solutions are gaining popularity, or at least garnering high interest among businesses, as a way to reduce equipment costs and ensure reliability, redundancy and disaster recovery. Hosted or cloud solutions eliminate the hassle of deploying on-premises equipment that requires ongoing administration and maintenance, and the fixed-rate payment model appeals to many, particularly in a challenging economic environment. Cisco, Interactive Intelligence, Panasonic and BroadSoft, NEC, Siemens and inContact and others introduced new cloud-based offers in 2011.
• Voice virtualization technology is advancing, and the adoption rate is climbing as businesses learn more about the economic, operational and energy savings possible by running call control software and other voice or non-voice applications together on a single server. Voice virtualization is also a stepping stone toward cloud-based deployments. Aastra, Avaya, Cisco, Interactive Intelligence, Mitel, Siemens and ShoreTel are among the communications vendors that are already supporting telephony applications in a virtualized environment.

New technology is emerging rapidly, and 2012 will be another year of major advances in the business communications market. Visit Business VoIP for more about the latest new offers as the New Year unfolds.

*Aastra, Alcatel-Lucent, Allworx, AltiGen, Altitude, Avaya, AVST, Cisco, CounterPath, Digium, eOn, Epygi, ESI, Esnatech, Grandstream, HP, Interactive Intelligence, Iwatsu (News - Alert), LG-Ericsson, Microsoft, Mitel, NEC, Panasonic, Polycom, RADVISION, Samsung, ShoreTel, Siemens, snom, Tadiran, Toshiba, Vertical and Zultys.

Want to learn more about the latest in communications and technology? Then be sure to attend ITEXPO East 2012, taking place Jan. 31-Feb. 3 2012, in Miami, FL. ITEXPO offers an educational program to help corporate decision makers select the right IP-based voice, video, fax and unified communications solutions to improve their operations. It's also where service providers learn how to profitably roll out the services their subscribers are clamoring for – and where resellers can learn about new growth opportunities.

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