For telecommuters, Avaya has one of the most complete and secure packages, which includes a client VPN and its SG200 Security Gateway. The telecommuter response also included an IP soft phone with speech control for dialing, directory access and conferencing. The SG200 Gateway provides a stateful firewall that could restrict access to the network based on the user's login ID. Although Avaya's unified messaging isn't quite as integrated as that of Siemens' product, it can provide control using spoken commands, which Siemens does not.
Avaya's presence application is provided through its IP Softphone R5 and comes with all the basics plus IM encryption. It isn't quite as extensive as the Siemens OpenScape product, however. For example, it doesn't integrate with groupware to update status via a groupware calendar the way Siemens' does, nor could HaveNoFear's users update their Outlook calendars using voice commands. Again, Avaya seems high on SIP, touting the SIP capabilities of its presence software, but the company wasn't ready to offer any tangible benefits, such as third-party phones or applications. The company did say that whenever HaveNoFear is ready, it could reduce costs and update its Avaya phones to SIP operation. Well, we've been ready to reduce costs and take advantage of SIP!
Communication Manager 2.0 Convergence Platform. $135,501 Avaya, (866) GO-AVAYA. www.avaya.com
Mitel's proposal totaled $150,400, which was the average price of all the systems. Mitel was above average, however, in its ability to provide a fully redundant 3300 ICP call controller. The redundancy in the call controller also extends to HaveNoFear's teleworkers. This helped Mitel in the PBX features category. We also liked the company's telecommuter proposal, which is similar to Avaya's. The 6010 teleworker box regulates access from telecommuter phones to the phone system and the rest of the network. It also terminates an encrypted audio stream to the phones used by the telecommuters.
Mitel's phones are capable of encryption, but none has VAD/silence-suppression capabilities. This is more of a problem if the phones are being used over a WAN, where bandwidth is dear. The phone does support G.711 and the more bandwidth-stingy G.729. Mitel's executive phones are unique in that they also can act as docking stations for Hewlett-Packard iPAQ model H5550 and H5555 PDAs. This makes it possible to activate phone features on the PDA's touchscreens and easily move those capabilities from one phone to another with the docking capabilities. Nice.
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.
