Convergence, Management Top Interop Agenda
At the show, formerly known as Networld + Interop, Avaya launched IP telephony products including software upgrades, media gateways and IP phones, while Infoblox rolled out new appliances for managing DNS and DHCP services. And optical wireless vendor LightPointe introduced a product that integrates optical and RF technology for WAN connectivity.
Avaya expanded its portfolio with Communication Manager 3.0, the latest version of its call-control software. The upgrade improves reliability and survivability, said Lawrence Byrd, director of communications applications at Avaya, Basking Ridge, N.J.
"We think the discussion is moving toward a question of application functionality and openness, the integration of communications applications and traditional business applications," he said.
Avaya solution provider North American Communications Resource (NACR) beta-tested some of the new features with its clients, including a new alternate routing feature that routes calls over the public telephone network while the call signaling travels over the IP network, said Sandy Odell, national account manager at NACR, Eagan, Minn.
"It's for customers who don't have a robust enough IP network [to support] voice running over it but want the benefit of having all their remote systems connected to a centralized system," Odell said. "It gives them the benefit of having IP-connected end points anywhere in the world."
Another feature beta-tested by NACR is Avaya's new Meeting Exchange: Standard Edition, a conferencing bridge that supports "meet-me" conferencing for up to 300 ports.
Tiered pricing for Communication Manager 3.0 starts at $35 per seat for implementations of up to 100 seats. Meeting Exchange pricing for a 50-license bundle starts at $295 per license, while a 300-port license costs $150 per license.
Other new Avaya products include Converged Communication Server, which now includes support for Web services, enabling developers to tie communications into business applications such as ERP, Byrd said. Pricing starts at $6,200.
A new softphone, color IP handsets and several new media gateways rounded out the launch, and should be available in June.
Infoblox continued the expansion of its network identity management appliances. The vendor launched version 3 of its Network Identity OS, which includes new high-availability features that reduce potential service downtime, said Richard Kagan, vice president of marketing at Infoblox, Sunnyvale, Calif.
The new version also adds bloxSDB, a semantic database engine that combines data for DHCP, DNS, LDAP and RADIUS into a single repository.
The new DNSone v3 module includes a new GUI for simplified management of DNS service, while the new, optional Keystone DVS enables the clustering of distributed devices to improve management and availability, Kagan said.
In addition, Infoblox rolled out two new appliances: the Infoblox-1000, which supports up to 150,000 records, and the Infoblox-1200, which supports up to 300,000 records. Both are scheduled for availability this quarter with prices starting at $9,995, including hardware and software.
LightPointe is combining its high-speed optical wireless products with integrated RF capabilities to provide backup WAN connectivity in the event of inclement weather. Used to connect buildings where leased lines are either too expensive or not available, LightPointe's optical technology provides 100-Mbps full-duplex connectivity. Its new FlightStrata 100 XA also includes an integrated 72-Mbps RF backup path.
Optical technology is susceptible to dense fog, while RF technology has difficulty operating in heavy rain. Together, they provide an "all-weather" solution, the company said.
"This gives you a redundant solution with 'five-nines' reliability and allows them to have a connection up all the time," said Jim Cady, president and CEO of San Diego-based LightPointe.
FlightStrata 100 XA is scheduled for availability this quarter for $34,995, including all of the equipment needed to link two buildings.