Alcatel-Lucent Announces Extended Communication Server

Offering new features such as push mobile and fax server solutions, Alcatel-Lucent (News - Alert) has introduced the newest release of its collaboration platform for small and medium businesses (SMBs) in Africa, the Middle East and India. By offering fully integrated communication, collaboration and mobility solutions that are scalable, reliable and cost-effective, the Extended Communication Server (ECS) acts as a solution that transforms the way small and medium enterprises (SMEs) communicate.

 

By integrating an XML API framework as well as a standard LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL, Perl, Python, PHP) environment into the solution, the Extended Communication Server allows integration of any open source professional Web application with rapid, low cost services deployment. Enabling small businesses to transform to a dynamic communications model, this open integration improves performance in their business, simplifies interaction and also strengthens relationships with their customers.

 

The Extended Communication Server family and OmniPCX Office family of IP-PBX (News - Alert) systems is part of the Alcatel-Lucent Office portfolio and delivers collaboration and unified communication solutions tailored to the specific needs of SMBs. Employees can retrieve e-mails, calendar, contacts and tasks on-the-fly and in real-time on their mobile devices with the help of push mobile feature within ECS. This helps them in keeping in touch with their business anytime, anywhere. Also, without the need for specific subscription, where data carrier services are the only requirement, push mobile offers a secure, flexible, easy to deploy provider independent solution.

 

Users can send and receive faxes on their e-mail Web interface bringing businesses increased productivity and efficiency, as well as better-centralized fax management with the fully integrated fax server feature. This feature is available in November 2008 as part of Alcatel-Lucent’s Office Communication Solutions offer and will be useful in a market where faxing is still a common and highly useful form of business management.

 

Jan Zuurbier, Alcatel-Lucent vice president of sales and support for emerging markets, added, “Business owners are always-on people, and need to connect both to their internal resources and to their eco (News - Alert)-system of customers, partners, suppliers and colleagues. With the ECS, we help businesses to connect their people and processes for real productivity gains, with overnight cost savings. Time, resources, and budgets are limited, and the Extended Communication Server allows small businesses to do more, and at a competitive price point.”