NEC News
Univerge UM8500
NEC Unified Solutions has launched Univerge UM8500, an IP-based unified messaging platform with new features that offer access to audio and video messages.
VideoMail allows users to create and distribute recorded video messages and on-screen demo captures through Microsoft Outlook. The multimedia messages can be accessed through telephone for simple audio or email for enhanced video playback. It also provides file compression for streamlined distribution.
Find Me/Follow Me (FMFM) Call Management offers control of voice and data communications regardless of location or telephony device. It enables rules to be set for incoming calls, automatically distributing them directly to the user’s desktop phone, voicemail or mobile device.
ViewCall Desktop Call Control allows screening incoming calls in real-time through a control panel.
UM8500 adapts to meet individual workplace conditions and accommodate user preferences while reducing the volume of messages and missed calls. It provides multiple levels of redundancy to help ensure enterprise networks remain active during potential infrastructure failures. When configured as a cluster, the group operates in tandem to compensate for the failure of a port or server without loss of service and can manage up to 30,000 users and more than 600 ports.
“NEC’s Unified Communications portfolio maximizes user accessibility while delivering streamlined business communications and workflow,” said Jay Krauser, general manager, Product Management. “UM8500 provides flexibility and customization aimed at minimizing an organization’s deployment and maintenance costs, thereby lowering total cost of ownership.”
Case Study
NEC and Rio Salado College
NEC Unified Solutions announced that Rio Salado College in Tempe, AZ is connecting students around the world with faculty and staff using their Univerge communications infrastructure and two custom-built web phone applications.
Rio Salado is one of 10 Maricopa Community Colleges, serving over 61,000 students annually of which 26,000 are online. In addition, many of their 1,000 adjunct faculty members work remotely, with more than 20 percent living out-of-state. All of this poses significant communications challenges.
“Rio Salado prides itself on being accessible to everyone and our communications infrastructure must be absolutely reliable yet flexible,” said Tom Sanfilippo, coordinator of telecommunications.
Using the virtual campus' Neax 2400 IPX communications platform as a basis, the NEC professional services group was able to add a custom web phone application based on SIP which allows faculty to login securely and call one another from their desktops as if they were on campus. Users also can dial out as with any desktop phone.
A separate SIP-based web phone application allows any Rio Salado student with Internet access to login and make calls directly to the college,whether they are paying tuition or requesting coursework from a professor. A significant portion of the student body is comprised of U.S. military members, and this application means soldiers serving overseas have a cost-effective and reliable means of communicating directly with stateside faculty and administration.
Details here.
Customer News
NEC and Unisys
Unisys and NEC have signed an agreement to expand their collaboration to include enterprise unified communications solutions for customers. Those solutions are intended to help clients integrate multiple data and telecommunications streams to enhance the cost-efficiency of their information networks and improve business collaboration.
As part of this agreement, Unisys will integrate NEC’s Univerge IP architecture and solutions into its Communication and Collaboration (C&C) portfolio. The collaboration will be showcased at the Unisys Convergence Center of Excellence (CCOE) in Reston , VA, which also connects labs and demo centers in Eagan, MN and Redmond, WA. It makes it possible for enterprise customers to see exactly how their telephony and IP networks will converge into a single unified network that can then be optimized for real-time enterprise collaborations.
The portfolio facilitates collaboration by integrating voice, video and data across a range of devices and over a common IP network. Organizations can benefit from more efficient time and task management, converged functionality and flexible infrastructure, with full data security. Provisioning new mailboxes, secure IM accounts and telephony stations can all be performed centrally over the same network, regardless of location.
NEC and Unisys have been collaborating on technology research and development, manufacturing and solutions delivery since early 2006. The new agreement enables the two companies to pursue additional growth opportunities globally.
NEC Extends Partner Program
NEC Unified Solutions announced the addition of two providers to its global Univerge Solutions Partner Program. TeleDirect International, formerly Wygant Scientific, and TriVium Systems are the most recent to successfully complete compatibility testing and join more than 600 global partners in the development of customized applications and solutions.
Through the program NEC proactively works with third-party suppliers, OEMs and developers to tailor products and services to meet enterprise and SMB customer needs. In addition participants have access to NEC global telecommunications resources including the Univerge OW5000 platform, allowing them to develop and integrate with third-party applications. The program accredits, promotes and manages all aspects of participant engagement and works to provide developers with a range of API specifications to support interoperability.
TeleDirect is the developer of Encore, a suite that helps maximize contact center workforce productivity via integrated voice and screen recording, quality management, coaching, and a reporting and distribution package.
TriVium is a provider of productivity solutions that help organizations maximize the value of voice and data for the converged communications marketplace. The company’s multi-site call accounting solution, CallAnalyst Enterprise Server, has been certified.
These products are now compatible with the Univerge line including Neax 2400 IPX, 2000 IPS and SV7000 communications platforms.
“As correspondence across enterprises and SMBs continues to become more complex so does the need for solutions that streamline communications and productivity,” said Paul Lopez, general manager, marketing. “The Univerge Solutions Partner Program allows developers to create customized applications and solutions so each customer can increase workplace efficiency.”
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