This is a pure SIP implementation, and Interactive's PBX features are all there--notable because it contradicted some vendors' claims that one of SIP's problems is its lack of features.
The company proposed a telecommuter setup that had all the basics tied to its Interactive Client system, which would act as a soft phone on home PCs. Interactive proposed a high-end conference server, which added $24,000 to its price but provides HaveNoFear with Web administration, including mail notifications for conferences. The unified-messaging system is fully integrated with voicemail and e-mail, and supports all major e-mail packages, including Exchange, Notes and GroupWise. The company did not include any IVR or speech-recognition capabilities, but did point out that these could be added via third-party products.
Enterprise Interaction Center 2.3. Interactive Intelligence, (317) 872-3000. www.inin.com
Alcatel delivered all the goods, including excellent unified messaging and presence support, but its high price ($171,132) hurt it in our scoring. A big reason for the high price was its phones: Basic models run $450 each and executive phones are $550. Here is a perfect example of how a mass-produced, third-party SIP phone could bring down the price. The irony is that more than a year ago, Alcatel announced support for SIP phones with great fanfare. Still, Alcatel made no mention of third-party support for SIP phones--or for any third-party SIP product, for that matter.
The phones have plenty of feature buttons as well as support for G.711, G.729 and G.723, with voice activity and silence suppression for G.729 and G.723. Alcatel used its executive phones for console operator phones, and we like that it specified Polycom's Soundstation for the conference phone. The PBX with the phones supports all 19 of the features in our VoIP checklist.
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.
