[January 22, 2001]

AVAYA Intros Turnkey Convergence Kit To Ease Entry Into IP Telephony

Avaya announced it is offering businesses a "convergence kit" that contains everything they need to begin enjoying the benefits of no-compromise voice and data communications over a single Internet Protocol (IP) network.

Avaya's solution -- the Enterprise Class Convergence Kit -- brings the power of IP-based voice and data to enterprises or offices with 12 or more users, and features a complete suite of hardware and software from Avaya's award-winning Enterprise-Class IP Solutions (ECLIPS) portfolio. As part of the ECLIPS portfolio, the solution can be easily scaled to support hundreds or even thousands of users, providing customers with tremendous growth and investment protection options.

"We're very excited about this total solution in a box," said Jack Friedman, general manager of Voda One Corp., a subsidiary of Westcon Group, and an Avaya distributor. "Customers have expressed a great deal of interest in converged networking and are eager to try it. This offer from Avaya will make adoption easier, safer and significantly more affordable."

"Avaya's Enterprise Class IP Solutions portfolio is about giving businesses implementation choices as they move to converged networks," said Janell Helman, Avaya Product Marketing director. "Now companies can implement Enterprise Class IP-based voice services over a reliable multi-service IP network in a branch or departmental workgroup, and at the same time retain the features and applications of their existing voice networks with complete interoperability."

For the quarter ended December 31, 2000, Avaya shipped more than 18,000 IP telephony ports and is experiencing growth that outpaces the market.

At the heart of this turnkey solution are the Avaya IP600 Internet Protocol Communications Server and the Avaya P330 Stackable Switching System, a member of the Cajun family of multi-service networking solutions. The IP600 is a rack-mounted, IP telephony server with all of the PBX functionality and interoperability inherent within Avaya Call Processing software, built-in voice mail, fax messaging, Avaya Message Manager and Avaya Site Administration software.

The Avaya P330 is an Ethernet switching system that delivers high performance, high reliability, best-in-class scalability, and multilayer (Layer 2 switching, optional Layer 3 routing) functionality, while providing the Quality of Service (QoS) necessary for IP Telephony, mixed media collaboration and streaming video. Included in the kit is the P333T base unit with 24 10/100 BaseT ports.

The IP600 will include Right To Use (RTU) licenses and software for 25 endpoints. The kit also includes 12 Avaya IP telephones (eight 12-button sets and four 24-button sets), easy-to-read documentation, and CajunView Plus network management software.

The Avaya 4612 and 4624 IP Telephones provide the complete Avaya feature set: full duplex speakerphone with echo cancellation for superior sound quality; an integrated Ethernet PC-to-telephone connection; and easy upgrades through downloadable firmware. The phones are also Microsoft NetMeeting and hearing aid compatible.

Avaya CajunView Plus contains a comprehensive suite of SNMP-based applications that simplifies the task of managing complex enterprise networks. It allows businesses to configure, monitor and control their networks, and to prioritize traffic to enhance voice quality. The Convergence Kit also includes a license for Avaya SMON (Switch MONitoring), a tool that allows system administrators to view and analyze traffic on their entire network.

The Enterprise-Class Convergence Kit will be available in the United States on February 19, 2001, with similar solutions available outside the U.S within 60 days. The kit will be offered at an introductory price that is about 40 percent off the list price of its unbundled components. It will be distributed through Avaya's direct and indirect sales channels.

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