Mitel (Nasdaq: MITL), a leading provider of unified communications (UC) software solutions, has unveiled the Mitel Freedom architecture, a single, cloud-ready software stream that delivers an array of communications options for businesses looking to integrate a voice solution into best-in-class networks and applications.
The Mitel Freedom architecture is designed to decrease operating costs. Businesses can save up to 45% in corporate mobility costs and reduce the number of required communications servers by as much as 85%.
Mitel is also announcing new supporting offerings and capabilities, including Mitel AnyWare, a cloud-based UC service, desktop virtualisation integration with VMware View, and expanded UC support for Android, BlackBerry PlayBook, and iPad devices.
"In the hospitality industry, for example, delivering communications to and for hotel staff and guests is a critical component of any hotel that wishes to provide their guests with exceptional service in a timely and consistent manner," said Andy Bull, managing director for Mitel South Africa.
Many hotel and resorts want this consistent experience across all of their properties, and therefore choose to design a complete IT solution for each property that integrates all business applications seamlessly. The open Mitel Freedom architecture allows hotel and resorts to take a best-of-breed approach that maps to their business objectives and creates a network that fits their specific needs," said Bull.
Mitel Freedom delivers:
* An in-office experience, giving employees access to a rich suite of UC features on the mobile device of their choice, regardless of location. This supports the trend toward "bring your own mobile" in the business world and creates a single identity and presence status that follows the user, not the device.
* An open architecture that enables organisations to break free from the "walled garden" vendor model and design a communications network based on best-in-class technologies that map to business objectives and integrate into the best-of-breed network and desktop applications. It provides the ability to fit an organisation's network architecture by allowing them to deploy Mitel communications solutions on industry standard servers, Mitel hardware, or in a virtualised or cloud-based environment.
* Predictable and manageable total cost of ownership with flexible purchasing, financing, and subscription-based options. This includes deployment options ranging from self-managed on premises solutions to cloud-based UC services or a combination in between.
"Businesses increasingly acknowledge the productivity and efficiency benefits they can realise from properly serving their mobile and dispersed workforce," said Elka Popova, North American programme director, unified communications & collaboration, Frost & Sullivan.
"Today, employees desire to be able to access a wide array of collaborative communication tools, on any device of their choice, regardless of their physical location. Mitel's Freedom architecture provides the necessary communications and collaboration tools to support organisations looking to reduce costs, increase productivity, and improve employee satisfaction," he said.
New Mitel Freedom solutions and services:
* Mitel AnyWare - Mitel AnyWare is a cloud-based UC service that bundles everything a typical business user needs, from IP handsets to long-distance service, for an all-inclusive monthly per-user subscription fee. This service delivers enterprise-class communications features, scalability, and simplicity by eliminating the need for customers to administer and maintain premises-based equipment. Mitel AnyWare can deliver up to 45% cost savings per user when compared with premises-based solutions. Mitel AnyWare is currently available from Mitel in the United States with additional service providers delivering Mitel-based hosted offerings globally. For more information, visit: www.mitel.com/mitelanyware.
* Desktop Virtualisation with VMware View - To further strengthen Mitel's virtualisation strategy, the company intends to expand its relationship with VMware to include desktop virtualisation. By combining Mitel's UC applications with VMware View, customers would be able to benefit from a rich, integrated, high performance desktop experience.
* Unified Communicator (UC) Advanced Mobile for Android - Supporting the strategy of enabling a consistent, rich user communication and collaboration experience, anywhere, on any device, Mitel UC Advanced Web and Mobile Portal already provides remote access to corporate communications capabilities such as managing presence, viewing corporate contacts, call history, and voice mail details from a mobile device or tablet. Mitel is designing a UC Advanced Mobile client for Android that leverages the capabilities of these devices to provide additional enhancements such as location-based presence via GPS or Bluetooth. This will be available the first half of 2011. Mitel also plans enhanced integration of UC Advanced into iPad and BlackBerry PlayBook devices.
"Mitel Freedom is the culmination of the strategy Mitel put in place when it started to make the transition to IP-based communications a decade ago," said Bull.
"That strategy is that organisations favour a best-of-breed approach over a walled garden infrastructure offered by other vendors. They want a solution that fits their business model, not one that they have to force to fit. Mitel's Freedom architecture gives organisations the flexibility to choose the applications they want to deploy, in the way they want to deploy it, and in a timeframe that suits their specific needs," said Bull.
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