VoiceCon: Industry Heavyweights Roll Out New VoIP Wares

Perhaps the most extensive lineup of announcements will come from Cisco, which is launching new products and upgrades across its entire IP communications platform. Cisco Unified Communications System 6.0, the latest version of its product suite, includes new offerings that bolster its mobile communications capabilities, target SMB customers and add collaboration features.

On the mobility front, the vendor is rolling out the Cisco Unified Mobile Communicator, which enables users to access corporate communications applications and calling features from their mobile phones.

"We're introducing server and client capabilities that literally change how cell phones integrate into the environment," said Richard McLeod, director of unified communications solutions for worldwide channels at Cisco, San Jose, Calif.

One key element of Mobile Communicator is that it provides access to corporate directories, which lets mobile users see and share presence status across the organization. The offering is based on technology Cisco picked up when it acquired Orative last year and will be compatible with a variety of mobile platforms, including BlackBerry, Microsoft Windows Mobile, Symbian OS and BREW.

Cisco is also targeting SMB customers with a new single-server IP-PBX line dubbed Unified Communications Manager Business Edition that is aimed at customers with 100 to 500 employees. The IP communications platform combines Cisco's CallManager call control software, Unity Connection unified messaging application and MobilityManager Single Number Reach solution into one box.

A typical 100 to 150 user deployment will cost up to 25 percent less than a comparable rollout of Cisco's existing offerings "because we've compressed three servers into one," McLeod said.

Troubadour's Lurie said Business Edition will enable smaller customers to start small and then grow into larger solutions. "It's going to be pretty significant for us in our market now that we can offer an enterprise-class solution as a bundle," he said.

To boost its collaboration capabilities, Cisco is also launching Unified MeetingPlace 6.0, the latest version of its Web conferencing line. The update adds support for Flash-based content.

Next: Nortel, Avaya join the fray