VoIP solutions providers Microsoft and Patton (News - Alert) have announced the mutual certification of two of their hallmark products: Microsoft Office Communication Server (OCS) and SmartNode VoIP gateways.
Software giant Microsoft's (News - Alert) Unified Communications Open Interoperability Program for Office Communications Server (aka Lync) now lists SmartNode media gateways (R5.6 and newer) as certified technologies. Likewise, Patton has recognized Microsoft as a Certified IP-PBX (News - Alert) Partner.
With the certifications completed, enterprises and SMBs can now specify and deploy SmartNode-enhanced OCS solutions knowing that the technologies complement each other perfectly.
Patton's award-winning SmartNode gateways provide organizations with next-generation VoIP technologies that can be integrated with existing digital ISDN and analog POTS infrastructures. This type of technology is ideal in today's market because most companies refrain from completely replacing their existing voice networks when deploying a unified communication solution, according to Wainhouse (News - Alert) Research. Instead, most organizations prefer to undertake a piecemeal approach to IP telephony.
SmartNode gateways allow for the smooth integration of legacy PSTN connections and/or PBX phone systems with a number of today's leading UC systems, including Microsoft OCS. They also enhance unified communications solutions with a number of supplementary features, including intelligent least-cost call-routing, QoS, voice prioritization, traffic management and protection for critical data with call limiter and PSTN overflow, according to the company.
Patton announced IBM Lotus Sametime certification in March, and expects to do the same for Microsoft Lync in the third quarter of 2011.
The mutual certification is sure to appeal to current and prospective Microsoft customers. Compared to SmartNode gateways, the majority of Microsoft-certified VoIP gateways aren't nearly as scalable for interface types, port counts and number of concurrent calls. Patton's trademark technologies are also more cost-effective than most rival products.
SmartNode offers a Unified Communication Agent (UCA) that provides any-to-any multi-path switching and supports simultaneous SIP, H.323, ISDN and POTS calling, as well as T.38 and SuperG3 FAX – all with routing and conversion for TDM/PSTN and IP/Ethernet traffic. The UCA includes dial-backup and IP-link redundancy for VoIP-and-data survivability, VoIP-over-VPN for secure IPsec-encrypted voice, and data with Internet Key Exchange (IKE). It also includes SIP Registrar for presence/reachability.
"How do you fix a price on peace of mind?" said Burton A. Patton, Executive Vice President. "Award-wining SmartNode VoIP equipment is industry-renowned for high quality and set-it-forget-it stability. Once you configure one you won’t touch it again. SmartNode just keeps on working."
Patton was recently featured in an interview with InfoTECH Spotlight magazine titled "Patton Rocks the VoIP World with SmartNode."
In related news, Patton recently introduced three new SmartNode PRI-class VoIP products: the SN4940 Gateway (News - Alert), the SN4950 Gateway-Router and the enhanced SN4960 Enterprise Session Border Router (ESBR). Click here to read more on that story.
Beecher Tuttle is a TMCnet contributor. He has extensive experience writing and editing for print publications and online news websites. He has specialized in a variety of industries, including health care technology, politics and education. To read more of his articles, please visit his columnist page.
Edited by Patrick Barnard