Mitel Expands Voice-Over-IP Offerings

The company introduced on Tuesday its Data Integrated Voice Applications (DIVA) architecture for software IP business applications, which are geared toward the enterprise, and the Ipera 2000 as its first new voice-over-IP product in a range of forthcoming products.

The Kanata-based company also unveiled two IP telephones, the Superset 4015 IP and the Superset 4025 IP.

Mitel's IP strategy will give the company a considerable opportunity for growth and should double the company's market share in the next two to three years, said Paul Butcher, senior vice president of Mitel.

The company has 8.9 percent of the PBX market, according to a 1999 study by Phillips Infotech, Parsippany, N.J. The company comes in fourth place, trailing Lucent Technologies at 33.2 percent, Nortel Networks Corp. at 29.1 percent and Siemens AG at 10.2 percent, and tying with NEC Technologies Inc. at 8.9 percent. The company's market-share positioning is growing strongly, Butcher said.

The company was the first to come out with a distinct PBX switch and had good market penetration in the early 1980s, said Ken Landoline, an analyst at The Robert Francis Group, Westport, Conn. Although the company has had its ups and downs, it always has been on the leading edge, he said.

However, the company's traditionally strong channel has dwindled somewhat in tandem with market share in the past four or five years, Landoline said.

The DIVA architecture is based on a switched IP core, which includes switching, routing and automatic call distribution.

The Ipera 2000 product is based on Mitel's DIVA architecture and is designed for small and medium businesses and the enterprise. Features include SX-2000 call control and integrated applications such as H.323, Gateway/Gatekeeper, OnePoint Messenger, Call Center, Mitel Ops Manager and Speak@Ease. The product starts at $22,000 for a 20-port configuration.

Data Voice Inc. works with Mitel because the company listens, offers reliable products and allows Data Voice to make a good margin, said Doug King, president of the Norcross, Ga.-based telecommunications solutions company. CRN