Mitel launches unified communications Made Simple

Mitel has introduced a suite of desktop and mobile unified communications clients and announced an affordable telecollaboration solution that extends telepresence beyond the confines of high-end boardrooms. The expansive Mitel unified communications (UC) portfolio is packaged under a role-based software licensing approach that simplifies the deployment of unified communications while addressing the different user needs within an organisation.

“Mitel's unified communications solutions enhance business communication and collaboration with customers, partners, and colleagues, helping employees to make better, faster decisions, be more responsive, and deliver greater value to their clients,” said Andy Bull, director, Mitel South Africa

“We're now making it easier to achieve the kind of communications that can mean the difference between a company just getting by or winning in the current economic environment,” said Bull.

The introduction of Mitel's SiMple Personal Licensing role-based software licensing streamlines the selection, configuration, and administration of Mitel unified communications solutions. The approach takes the complexity and cost out of unified communications implementation with pre-integrated applications and straightforward bundles that avoid subscription charges to address the requirements of common groups of employees:

UC Basic User is recommended for shared phones or for people who require typical IP phone features only.

UC Standard User includes UC Basic capabilities plus unified messaging and PC desktop productivity features like 'click to call'. Suitable for office workers and administrative staff who have a high dependence on phone communications to get their jobs done.

UC Advanced User enhances UC Standard capabilities with access to the full-breadth of unified communications features like presence, instant messaging, mobile phone integration, Web conferencing, and collaboration. Ideal for sales staff, road warriors, executives, and others whose accessibility is core to the organisation.

“It is clear there are productivity benefits to implementing UC from the perspective of the individual, workgroups, and the overall business, although measuring hard ROI for some aspects is difficult,” said Blair Pleasant, president and principal analyst, COMMfusion LLC, and co-founder, UCStrategies.

“Mitel is offering pragmatic UC solutions that leverage presence across an integrated business applications suite, including mobility and contact centre solutions, enabling users and businesses to improve their communications.”

Recently published research from AMI-Partners*, a premier source for global SME trends and analysis, indicates that small and mid-sized businesses are focusing their planned IT spending on projects such as VOIP, that will reduce costs and provide clear return on investment. Similarly, according to market research firm InfoTech, enterprises overwhelmingly believe converged applications like those offered by Mitel can positively impact their business. The vast majority of respondents (94%) “mostly agree,” “strongly agree,” or “very strongly agree” that “converged applications that are enabled by IP telephony can deliver business value by significantly improving business processes”.

With approximately half of North American businesses not having started the migration to the cost-saving and productivity-enhancing benefits of advanced communications**, Mitel helps ease customers into unified communications with an approach that levers existing IT investments and enables best-of-breed deployments so that customers retain a flexible migration path with lower cost and better return on investment.

Mitel's IP communications platforms interoperate with standards-based networking environments such as those provided by Cisco, HP ProCurve Networking, Foundry, Extreme Networks, while open-standards like SIP and HTML, ensure Mitel's unified communications solutions seamlessly integrate with business software and back-office applications.

“Mitel's 'third-way' approach to unified communications does not require businesses to 'rip and replace' or lock into a single-vendor architecture,” said Bull.

“We've really focused on making it simple: easy to understand licensing, pre-integrated applications and a migration path that removes obstacles and minimises disruptions. We call this unified communications for the real world.”

The newly announced unified communications products, developed for simple implementation, management, ease-of-use, and affordability include:

Mitel Unified Communicator (UC) Express - a server-less, desktop unified communications client that provides productivity enhancements like click-to-call, incoming caller ID pop-up, call history, speed calls list, plus personal (Microsoft Outlook) and corporate (Microsoft Active Directory) directory integration with public instant message presence engines.

Mitel Unified Communicator (UC) Advanced - a comprehensive unified communications client that integrates presence and availability, secure IM, audio conferencing and video and data collaboration with the call control capabilities of the Mitel 3300 IP Communications Platform. It provides a unique launchpad for commonly used Mitel and third-party applications, simplifying access to frequently used applications to enhance employee productivity. As well, UC Advanced integrates with Microsoft applications (Exchange, Outlook, Active Directory, Office, and Internet Explorer) and IBM Lotus (Notes) while providing an open API to enable tailored integration into business process software like salesforce.com and Microsoft CRM.

Mitel Unified Communicator (UC) Mobile - makes it easier for customers and colleagues to reach employees by providing a single number and single mailbox regardless of the device being used. With UC Mobile, users have access to enterprise telephony features and directories and continue to project their telephony presence while mobile. Mobile calls can be placed over the enterprise network to minimise long distance charges; in addition, users can transfer calls between their mobile and desk phones reducing cellular minutes. Mitel mobility solutions are available for Windows Mobile, Symbian (Nokia), and RIM BlackBerry.

Mitel TeleCollaboration Solution - a cost-effective, bandwidth-efficient, high-definition video collaboration solution for meeting rooms and executive offices, Mitel TeleCollaboration Solution improves the telepresence experience with enhanced collaboration capabilities including desktop sharing and recording for a 'better-than-live' interaction. With Mitel's award-winning unified communications desktop clients, smaller branch locations and home office workers can be included in full telecollaboration sessions or audio-only participation - regardless of their location, network, or communications device.

"Along with the Mitel 3300 ICP, we deployed Mitel UC Advanced as the first major step in our unified communications strategy," said Dan Shereda, vice-president of research and development at Link Engineering, a multinational designer and manufacturer of precision test equipment and provider of testing services for a wide variety of vehicle components, based in Plymouth, Michigan.

"Our employees are now more productive and efficient in the way they work and communicate with each other. The simplicity and flexibility of the Mitel solution assures us we are well positioned to continue to build our unified communications environment."

For more information on Mitel unified communications please visit http://www.mitel.com