Avaya helps SMEs to tap into benefits of new IP telephony era

Avaya today announced enhancements to IP Telephony capabilities on its award winning voice and data convergence platform, Alchemy, which targets Small to Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) in Europe and Japan. Beginning in 2001, its availability will be extended to Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Colombia. The new Version 2.2 software for Avaya`s Alchemy communications solution enables SMEs to begin reaping the benefits of IP telephony in terms of cost savings by deploying off-the-shelf IP solutions that have the highest level of reliability.

Filling the void that exists between circuit switched only-PBXs and Key Systems with IP-only solutions, the Alchemy Series offers the ultimate in hybrid operation+ADs- the use of traditional analogue and digital business handsets, along with IP hardphones and softphones all on the same telephone system. Version 2.2 now offers full IP Telephony support with H.323 Gateway and Gatekeeper functionality, along with standards-based voice compression and Quality of Service (QoS) offered by DiffServ and the bandwidth Reservation Protocol (RsvP).

Alchemy delivers significant business benefits to companies previously constrained by tighter budgets and provides the ideal platform for the roll-out of eBusiness and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) applications by meeting the total office communications needs of SMEs or remote branches of larger organisations.

Christopher Lock, Senior Analyst at leading industry analyst firm Gartner Dataquest, commented, The market opportunity for converged voice and data products is coming alive with real sales being made in IP Telephony. We can see that there are now real shipments taking place with products such as Avaya`s Alchemy taking a lead in some segments of the Western European market.

This confirms our earlier forecast, which suggested the adoption of IP telephony would take place first in the small to mid end market place.

While other vendors have been talking about IP Telephony, Avaya has been delivering it, said Robin Hayman, Avaya`s Product Manager for Global SME Solutions. The open standards QoS capability has greatly simplified the process of deploying VoIP and IP Telephony solutions. This means that customers can continue to use traditional telephony, while they trial and then deploy IP Telephony. For some companies that will be today, for others it may be more than a year away. With its QoS capabilities and IP Telephony deployment options the Alchemy Series ensures real world VoIP deployments are being enjoyed immediately.

With over 12,000 systems, 200,000 extensions and 5,000 Voice over IP lines already installed, Alchemy has quickly established itself as a leading converged solution in next-generation telephony for SMEs. Avaya Business Partners and their customers have been quick to appreciate the benefit of an easy-to-deploy, all-in one communication solution, for businesses requiring up to 180 extensions.

A truly international product (displays, applications, voice mail and help text are all available in 14 different languages), the Alchemy Series now offers traditional/IP Telephony, internet access, remote access, firewall security and Computer Telephony in a single, scalable solution. The Alchemy Series is designed and developed in the UK and comprises the ArgentBranch, ArgentOffice and CyberGear Gold. The solutions are also available under the brand name BT Fusion in the UK and Iwatsu OfficeGate in Japan. Version 2.2 software is available immediately. For more information on the Alchemy Series visit its web site at http://www.avaya.co.uk/html/Products/default.asp