Vendors Lend A Hand To VoIP

Telephony vendor Artisoft plans to double the capacity of its hybrid PBX product line and add support for digital phones with the launch this month of the latest version of its system software.

TeleVantage 5.0 supports 192 incoming trunks and 480 phones per server, up from 96 incoming trunks and 264 phones per server in the previous version. It also supports conference calls of up to 60 parties, up from a maximum of seven.

"Partners have been asking for a capacity increase,not only new partners we were attempting to recruit that wanted it [before they would come on board, but also existing partners that saw opportunities they wanted to quote on but couldn't. Now they can," said Greg Burningham, vice president of sales at Artisoft, Cambridge, Mass.

Artisoft relies on its channel of about 500 worldwide partners to integrate its software with Intel Dialogic telephony processing boards and Windows NT- or Windows 2000-based servers. Solution providers also can source integrated product bundles through Artisoft's distribution partners.

In addition to increased scalability, TeleVantage 5.0 adds support for digital phones from Avaya, NEC, Nortel Networks and Siemens Enterprise Networks through integration with Intel's NetStructure PBX-IP Media Gateway. TeleVantage 5.0 natively supports digital phones from Toshiba, which OEMs TeleVantage as Strata CS.

With support for digital phones, solution providers can implement TeleVantage but still protect their customers' investment in legacy systems, said Kelly Lumpkin, CEO of Alternate Access, a communications integrator in Raleigh, N.C. "We can remove the phone system but reuse the phone sets and keep familiar instruments on our customers' desks," Lumpkin said.

The new version also includes call-center features such as support for roaming agents and improved management capabilities for outbound calls.

A full TeleVantage 5.0 system, including software, telephony boards and server, costs approximately $500 to $600 per user. TeleVantage Call Center licenses cost an additional $250 per agent.

Siemens Enterprise Networks, a division of Siemens AG, this week plans to unveil the Hi Path Business Case Builder, a return-on-investment tool to help channel partners illustrate the value of implementing VoIP technology.

The tool utilizes ROI metrics from current Siemens customers, gathered by research firm IDC.

"There are certain metrics we look for to help show ROI that our customers don't always track or want to share, such as the average length of calls in a call center or salary information. This has industry standards plugged in," said Phil Scandroli, branch sales manager at Expanets, a solution provider based in Denver.

The tool, also utilized by Siemens' direct-sales force, is available to partners as part of a training initiative to encourage them to use a consultative sales approach, said Alina Urdaneta, marketing manager at Siemens Enterprise Networks, Reston, Va.

Siemens last month kicked off a seven-city training tour focused on value-based sales. Solution providers attending the free training session receive a license to Business Case Builder. Solution providers also can also receive training online starting in January for $250 through Siemens Virtual University.

Nortel Networks last week introduced Business Communications Manager 3.0, the latest version of its hybrid PBX for the SMB market. The new version adds interactive voice response and new security features and doubles the capacity for digital handset support to up to 160 phones. A BCM 3.0 system for 16 users, including voice mail, is $370 per user.