3Com Rolls Out New VoIP Wares

3Com's new NBX V3000 system, launched at the Internet Telephony Conference and Expo in Los Angeles, targets customers with two to 40 users, according to a 3Com statement.

"This really helps us compete with Avaya and Nortel [Networks], which on the low end are eating our lunch," said Don Gulling, president of Verteks Consulting, a solution provider and 3Com partner in Ocala, Fla. "This could really energize fourth-quarter sales for us on NBX," Gulling said.

3Com is also delivering on promises to create a Linux-based version of its VCX enterprise IP telephony softswitch with the launch of its VCX 5.0 IP Telephony module, aimed at customers with more than 400 users and more than 10 sites.

The VoIP products are part of 3Com's new Convergence Applications Suite, a collection of Session Initiation Protocol (SIP)-based realtime communications applications. The suite also includes 3Com's NBX SuperStack 3 IP-PBX, aimed at small and midsize enterprises with 41 to 400 users; the NBX 100, aimed at small businesses with two to 200 users, modules for IP messaging, IP conferencing and IP contact centers, as well as its Convergence Center client software for Windows, Macintosh and Linux users.

Slated for general availability at the end of October, the NBX V3000 carries a starting list price of $1,995. The VCX 5.0 IP Telephony module is available today in typical configurations of 500 users for list prices of $225,000 to $275,000.