Avaya VPNremote IP Phones For Home Office-based and Remote Employees Now Interoperate in Juniper and Cisco Environments

Tuesday, Sept 12, 2006 Dubai, UAE - Avaya today unveiled the new version of its Internet protocol (IP)-based teleworker solution with expanded open network interoperability, enabling more businesses to quickly and cost-effectively deploy headquarters-quality communications to their remote workforce.  Avaya VPNremote for IP Phones 2.0 is a software solution that lets businesses easily embed virtual private network (VPN) capabilities into Avaya IP phones, providing employees working at home or in temporary locations with the same enterprise-class IP communications experienced in a corporate office. With this new version, Avaya VPNremote phones now support VPN environments of Juniper Networks and Cisco Systems.

"This release makes it simple for remote employees to install a VPNremote IP phone in their home office without any assistance, just like they connect their laptop to the company network," commented Nidal Abou-Ltaif, managing director, Avaya MENA. "Middle Eastern businesses now have a simplified, more cost-effective way to boost the productivity of teleworkers (remote employees), and drive greater business continuity in an emergency."

Expanding the solution to now interoperate with third-party VPN environments reinforces Avaya's commitment to delivering open standards-based solutions that can be easily deployed on multi-vendor networks. The number of telecommuters and home-based workers are expected to continue rising over the next few years, according to IDC Research. In Western Europe, 9 million workers are expected to telecommute, whereas in the USA the number will grow to 10m workers by 2009[1].

Improving IT Administration of Teleworkers With New QoS Capabilities

The first version of the Avaya VPN Remote phone debuted in December 2005, with features identical to phones found in a corporate headquarters or contact center. This includes capabilities such as a speakerphone, superior voice quality, enterprise telephony functions such as transfer and conferencing, and Web-based access to information.

In addition to expanded interoperability, the new version of the Avaya VPNremote phone adds advanced Quality of Service (QoS) monitoring capabilities that enable an off-site IT administrator to remotely monitor the connectivity and voice quality of a remote user's communications. The user can get QoS measurement information directly from the phone, which he can then relay on to the IT administrator. This capability helps administrators provide teleworkers with the same level of VoIP management provided to in-headquarters employees.

"As the teleworker population grows, more businesses will have to provide communications solutions that not only address the needs of remote employees, but also enhance their overall user experience," concluded Abou-Ltaif. "Avaya VPNremote makes working from home or a remote location easier than ever, and does so in a way that is consistent with headquarters-quality communications."

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Avaya VPNremote for Avaya 4600 Series IP Telephones can be obtained by purchasing the Avaya VPNremote software, which can then be integrated into an Avaya 4600 series IP phone. The models supported are: 4610SW, 4620SW, 4621SW, 4622SW IP CallMaster and the 4625SW.

About Avaya
Avaya Inc. designs, builds and manages communications networks for more than 1 million businesses worldwide, including over 90 percent of the FORTUNE 500. Focused on businesses large to small, Avaya is a world leader in secure and reliable Internet Protocol (IP) telephony systems and communications software applications and services.

Driving the convergence of voice and data communications with business applications - and distinguished by comprehensive worldwide services - Avaya helps customers leverage existing and new networks to achieve superior business results.  For more information visit the Avaya website: http://www.avaya.com.

For further information please contact:
Aimee Peters
The Portsmouth Group
info@theportsmouthgroup.com
+971- 4- 369 3575

[1]Source, IDC Worldwide Mobile Worker Population 2005-2009 Forecast and Analysis. Doc. #34124 October 2005

© Press Release 2006