Siemens' unified-messaging application offers high levels of integration with Microsoft Exchange and Lotus Domino, including the ability to listen to, delete and forward e-mail messages from the phone. Novell's GroupWise and Internet-based e-mail are supported, too, but with less integration. Our only real nit here is with the absence of IVR (integrated voice response), which lets users manage messages hands free.
HiPath 3000 Real-Time IP System 4.0. Siemens Information and Communication Networks, (800) 765-6123, (703) 262-2000. www.siemensenterprise.com
We like Avaya's phones, both the basic and executive models. All include VAD for G.711 and G.729 and, notably, AES encryption. The executive speakerphones have many of the hard-key feature buttons we looked for--conference, transfer, redial, mute and hold. Avaya also included a high-quality, omnidirectional, disc-shaped conference phone that looked a lot like Polycom's. We were impressed that Avaya's phone-management utility allows for setting up one phone or a group of phones simultaneously and could let us schedule such operations in batch mode so that upgrades could be completed off hours.
Avaya's setup had all the basic PBX features except automatic camp-on, a nicety made somewhat obsolete when presence is implemented. Avaya split the PSTN access trunks across two G700 gateways so that if one failed, half the trunks would survive. The company also said that for $2,000, the S8300 call controller could be made redundant. This seemed like a small price to pay. One feature Avaya offers that none of the other vendors mentioned is extending the office phone features to a cell phone.
Avaya also touted its SIP support, which it says will extend to SIP telephony endpoints and other communications services. Although we liked Avaya's talk of SIP support, we'll be believers only when the company starts offering support for third-party products, which was lacking in its RFP response.
Subsea cable alternatives can provide a level of comfort for those concerned about disruptions. Realistically, they will continue to play a small, but critical role in the short term.
Maintaining existing network infrastructures often incurs huge technical debt before newer technologies are adopted over time.
Amid ongoing regional uncertainties, telecom infrastructure in the Middle East has expand to include terrestrial low-latency network infrastructure, which offers resilience and agility in navigating political complexities without relying solely on undersea networks.
