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Nortel Networks on Tuesday again proved it's placing a strong focus on small- and mid-size businesses with the release of a string of new SMB-targeted VoIP products that VARs say can ease the transition to VoIP for smaller companies.
According to the Toronto-based vendor, the latest releases are designed and custom built to work with Nortel customers' existing telephony investments. Products released Tuesday include a new feature set for the Business Communication Manger (BCM) 50, Nortel's flagship converged telephony platform for SMBs; a new line of SMB-centric IP phones; a paging and text-messaging application suite; and a cordless digital phone.
The BCM 50 updates, release 3.0, require a software upgrade and offer new features like SIP trunking, advanced conferencing and new reporting capabilities, such as on-box call metrics. Additionally, it offers better platform integration with Microsoft Windows Vista and Nortel's Network Configuration Manager and improved applications like Intelligent Contact Center and unified messaging, said Chris Nantes, marketing manager for Nortel's global SMB portfolio.
Nantes said customers already using Nortel's digital Norstar key systems can extend up to 70 percent of their current investment by reusing the equipment they already have as they grow into IP telephony and converged communications with BCM 50.
On the phone side, Nortel released its IP Phone 1200 Series, a series of devices that come pre-programmed with the most common IPT features used by SMBs, including autodial, conference and messaging. Used with the BCM 50, the phones can also be customized to access more than 400 BCM features. Along with the new IP phone suite, the Business Series Terminal T7406E is a new cordless digital phone -- a "portable phone on steroids," as Nantes called it -- for Norstar and BCM users. The cordless phone offers a range of up to 1,000 feet.
Lastly, the Advanced Paging Productivity (APP) Pack, offers a suite of software applications for BCM giving SMBs access to overhead paging and text-messaging. Best used in retail, AAP Pack gives mobile workforces the ability to stay connected while offering streamlined customer service and a common in-store experience within a retail site or across several locations.
Nantes said VARs and partners have had success in offering the BCM, which has sold more than 75,000 units since its May 2005 debut. Integrating the APP Pack with BCM 50 can help VARs target not only retail customers, but also those in education, manufacturing or any industry that requires one-button paging, text-messaging and pre-recorded announcements.
"We're getting tremendous traction from our partner community and VARs as well," Nantes said. VARs can also offer the line of SMB VoIP products bundled with Nortel's SMB data solutions, which can all be managed using the Business Element Manager. That combination, and the ability to sell an IP upgrade path to customers still using Norstar, will be a big hit for the VAR community, Nantes indicated.
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