Grandstream and Objectworld Partner to Deliver End-to-End Unified Communication Solution to Pembina Trails School Division

BROOKLINE, Mass., Oct 15, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Grandstream Networks and Objectworld Communications Corp. today announced that they have partnered to deliver an end-to-end unified communications solution for Pembina Trails School Division. The solution broadens Pembina Trails School Division's ability to build a stronger learning community with its 14,000 students and parents by making communications between parents, teachers, students and staff easier and more responsive.

The school division's IT team serves over 2,000 staff members across 34 buildings all connected via Canada's fastest educational dark fiber network. The partnership provides the staff members of Pembina Trails with over 500 of Grandstream's GXP280 IP phones in combination with Objectworld Unified Communication Server, an end-to-end UC solution. The combination provides everything from VoIP, unified messaging, call control, virtual voicemail, voice paging, emergency out-dialing and a wealth of other features with Grandstream's high-quality, feature-rich and low-cost phones.

"This partnership helps us put hundreds of quality phones together with unified communications capabilities across our schools for remarkably low cost. Objectworld's solution already saves us up to $200,000/year with unified communications. By adding Grandstream's phones to the solution, it will help us save more while making it easier for our teachers and staff to stay in touch with parents," said Don Reece, Director of Information Technology at Pembina Trails School Division.

Together Objectworld and Grandstream provide the school division with a lower total cost of ownership, robust functionality, and a plug-and-play solution. Grandstream's products take minutes to install and provision and Objectworld UC Server delivers a wealth of important features to educational institutions such as:

-- Emergency out dialing, notification and paging. Emergency alerts can be broadcast through the school's overhead paging systems, and over the Grandstream phones for teachers, staff, students, and parents to be notified immediately of emergencies with automated out dialing.

-- Virtual voice mail. Temporary or mobile staff without office phones can still have voicemail and check their messages from anywhere, allowing them to respond more quickly to parents.

-- Auto-configure and auto-detection of Grandstream's phones. Staff plug the phone into an Ethernet connection and UC Server configures Grandstream's feature-rich phones as required, saving IT staff potentially hundreds of hours of deployment time.

-- Unified e-mail, voicemail and fax. Objectworld's unified messaging feature integrated with fax allows anyone to fax from their desktop and receive their fax messages in an e-mail, ensuring staff have all parent communications at their fingertips. This feature allows the school division to save hundreds every month by eliminating redundant fax lines.

"We are very excited to partner with Objectworld and Pembina Trails School Division to deliver 500+ phones to their teachers and staff. At Grandstream, our mission is to provide customers with the best products at an unrivaled price-performance point on the market," said David Li, CEO of Grandstream. "The GXP 280 provides high fidelity wideband audio and a full-duplex speakerphone with rich functionality -- ideal for customers who want a high quality flexible phone for low-cost."

Grandstream Networks is the recognized leading manufacturer of high quality and affordable IP-PBX's, SIP trunking gateways, video and voice IP solutions for the worldwide VoIP market. Objectworld provides the industry leading unified communications (UC) and communications-enabled business process (CEBP) solutions that small- to medium-sized businesses need for the price points they can afford.

"Schools rely on effective communication, whether it's reporting a child absent to the school or alerting parents with automatic emergency notification," said David Levy, Objectworld's president and chief executive officer. "At Objectworld, we're very proud to be working with Grandstream and playing an important role in helping Pembina Trails School Division build their learning community with effective, low-cost unified communications."

Pembina Trails School division initially partnered with Objectworld to bring unified communications to the school division in 2006. Reece added, "At the time, the vendors we were talking to were saying, 'you need a Cisco solution'. We needed Objectworld. This new partnership with Grandstream, which would have been impossible had we bought Cisco, or another proprietary solution is another reminder that Objectworld was the right choice."

Alternate Access® Picks Up Open Source, Hybrid-Hosted VoIP Solution

Alternate Access®, a leading provider of converged communications solutions, has become the only approved reseller of the trixbox® Voice over IP solution in the Triangle. Developed by Los Angeles-based Fonality®, trixbox offers small and medium-sized businesses a reliable and flexible open source VoIP solution.

“We are constantly reviewing new products in an effort to provide our customers a wide range of quality communications solutions to meet their individual needs,” stated Kelly Lumpkin, Alternate Access CEO and director of business development. “Fonality’

s trixbox is ready for prime time. It is easy to use and exploits both the open Linux operating system and open source Asterisk® communications engine – making the trixbox affordable and practical for customers familiar with point and click GUI interfaces.”

The trixbox system uses a patent-pending, hybrid-hosted architecture, combining the benefits of a premise-based solution and hosted IP phone system. As a hybrid-hosted solution, trixbox stores critical phone system data securely at Fonality’s hardened data centers. This feature ensures that in the event a customer’s phone system experiences an outage or is damaged, business will be up and running within one hour of rebooting the system or receiving new equipment.

Offering many of the features of a premise-based system, the trixbox appliance uses telephony interface boards or gateways to connect to legacy PSTN trunks, yielding high audio quality and reliability. The system is also proactively monitored and maintained.

Support contracts enable technicians to provide real-time updates and receive system alerts about the critical system components so that problems can be corrected before their impacts are felt. If a system is damaged, a replacement appliance is cross-shipped to remedy the issue. Software upgrades are also completed automatically and during non-business hours. Advanced features and call privacy round out the premise-based benefits.

Like a hosted solution, users can place free VoIP calls between offices; make moves, adds and changes from any PC connected to the internet, using the Web-based Control Panel; and monitor call flow and efficiency via reporting tools. Companies can also seamlessly connect telecommuters and branch office locations with no configuration required.

“The trixbox solution offers reliability and a feature set that our customers will love – and all at an affordable cost for small to medium-sized businesses,” Lumpkin added.

Aastra Recognized for Contributions to IP-PBX Space

Aastra Technologies, a provider of innovative communications products and applications for businesses, reportedly has been recognized with the 2008 Frost & Sullivan Growth Strategy Leadership Award in European enterprise communications.

Aastra Technologies has demonstrated a consistent growth strategy and total focus on enterprise communication, according to Dorota Oviedo, a research analyst at Frost & Sullivan. The award recognizes Aastra’s aggressive strategy of organic and acquisitive growth that has positioned it among the top three European vendors and as a leader in enterprise communications.

Aastra, whose 9112i VoIP Phone is pictured below, has had important acquisitions over the past few years, the most important among them beingNortel’s analog telephone business, officials from the research firm say.

“Importantly, all new acquisitions have been complementary, in terms of technological expertise, product portfolio, distribution networks and geographic presence,” Oviedo said.

The company’s notable contributions to IT started at least five years ago.

In 2003, Aastra entered the IP-PBX market with the acquisitions of Ascom’s PBX division. Two years later it acquired EADS Telecom and DeTeWe KG. The latest and largest in the series of acquisitions includes the acquisition of Ericsson’sEnterprise Communications Business.

Aastra’s consistent and acquisitive growth extends the company’s reach in Internet protocol Communication Servers, Unified Communication applications and integrated mobility with the concept of ‘one phone,’ Oviedo said. In 2007, Aastra introduced SIP-based 5i series deskphones in North America.

The important portfolio of services offered by Aastra includes the Opencom series and Ascotel series for the small and mid-scale business market. It also offers NeXspan series and the MX-ONE platform for the MLE market. Aastra is strong in the sub-50 and -250 to 1000 segments.

Aastra has recently made its entry in the open source telephony market in Europe, and is one of the first traditional telephony vendors to enter this space with its Aastra Online offering. In future, Aastra will be in a position to provide communication solutions managed remotely, and also to sell and install the communications services via Internet.

According to Oveido, Aastra’s e-commerce-based approach represents a new venue in the space.

“Open source telephony is forecasted to grow very strongly in the coming years and it creates a source of potential revenue for Aastra, especially in the SMB sector, traditionally underserved by the telephony vendors,” Oveido said.

snom technology AG: snom 820 combines mature VoIP technology with exclusive design

Berlin, Oct 15, 2008 (M2 PRESSWIRE via COMTEX) --
snom technology AG, developer and manufacturer of Voice-over-IP (VoIP) telephones, is launching its new VoIP business telephone, the snom 820. The SIP-based snom 820 combines mature VoIP technology with exclusive design to set new technical and aesthetic standards.
The new snom 820 has a high-resolution TFT color display that optimises the presentation of call lists, address books, caller information and other applications. This data is provided through the integrated XML browser and accessed directly by the user via the display screen.

The telephone receiver's integrated broadband technology guarantees high-end sound quality and voice clarity that give users the feeling they are speaking with someone in the same room. In loudspeaker mode, a Class D amplifier reliably suppresses all interference. Moreover, the snom 820 supports WiFi standard802.11, thereby offering all the advantages of wireless mobility. The new snom 820 comes equipped with all the standard business functions - from three-way conferences and multiple ring tones to twelve different SIP identities per phone. In addition, the snom 820 satisfies the highest security standards for the business world. The VoIP telephone is not only VPN capable but also supports SRTP and TLS security standards that effectively prevent the recording and the sniffing of data.
The new snom 820 offers high usability in two different respects. First, the user interface makes it easy to manage calls, and guides the user intuitively through the numerous functions. Second, the dual 33 or 55 degree angle of the telephone ensures that all the operating elements are within optimal reach and always readily visible. The snom 820 for professional business use is the first model of a new product line that is appearing in addition to the already established snom 300 VoIP telephone series. With its new product line, snom is addressing sophisticated users who are looking for a VoIP telephone that combines an extensive range of functionalities with an exclusive timeless design. In crafting the 820, snom worked with the renowned industrial designer Martin Spangenberg who also designed snom's successful 100 and 200 series of VoIP telephones.

About snom
snom technology AG develops and manufactures Voice-over-IP (VoIP) telephones and related equipment based on the IETF open standard, SIP (Session Initiation Protocol). Recognised for its high quality, customisable and cost-effective business solutions, snom is also differentiated by the company's history in the VoIP industry, and its dedication to high security standards. All of snom's software exists in the firmware on the phones - making it easier for users to download updates and new features. snom customers benefit from the interoperability and flexibility that the snom telephones offer, including plug and play integration and universal compatibility with any SIP-based telephony platform. Founded in 1996 and headquartered in Berlin, Germany, snom technology AG has offices in North Andover, MAand Wuxi, China. The company distributes its third generation SIP phones through its network of authorised reseller partners in Europe, South America, Asia-Pac, Africa, and Australia. For more information on snom, please visit our website at www.snom.com.

VoIP PBX Systems Taking Advantage of VoIP Telephony

PRLog (Press Release) – Oct 14, 2008 – A booming industry crashes in a flash due to sheer miscommunication. This is the reason why business phone systems and communications are given paramount significance in any industry. Without a trace of contradiction, it can be said that communication is the factor which engulfs the major part of the hard-earned revenue.

At this juncture, when VoIP entered the scene, many entrepreneurs watched it boosting their profits by mammoth rates with eyes wide open in astonishment. VoIP PBX is, undoubtedly, the reason to rejoice across the globe as it is nothing less than an efficient, smart and most importantly least paid worker of any organisation. Needless to say, VoIP technology penetrated deeply into the realms of businesses in practically no time.

Riding on the principle of Internet, this technology has brought down long distance communication rates to the ground levels. Talking to your acquaintances based overseas is not even a bit more expensive than having a textual chat with them on the Internet.

VoIP PBX http://www.icallglobe.com/voip-pbx-solutions.html needs nothing more than a sound Internet connection. The IP PBX method can switch calls between conventional phone users and VoIP users with an amazing flair. These systems make use of voiced networks and converged data.

The IP PBX have the calibre to transmit not only voiced data but also image and video over the merged IP network. This technology generally finds its usage in corporate houses where communication is the major revenue generating tool. For Instance, the customer service industry where the bustling call centres assist the domestic and the international customers day in and day out working 24 x 7. These industries have witnessed an abrupt boom with the arrival of the VoIP solutions. These customer service organisations would have become bankrupt if the VoIP technology had not been there to take up the entire communication burden.

Superb voice quality clubbed with pocket friendly cost make this innovation a hit. Without a split second's thought, the corporate houses are incorporating VoIP.

The traditional PBX architecture has undergone a facelift with the addition of the VoIP technology. The utilities of PBX have increased manifold in the contemporary scenario. The dynamism and flexibility of the VoIP solutions is what makes them the most potent mode of communication today. Telecommunication has found an indisputable reason to make merry. The IP PBX VoIP http://www.icallglobe.com/voip-pbx-solutions.html has myriad utilities apart from affordable rates. The VoIP communication devices provide boundless other facilities which are hard to find in the conventional communication means. Call diversion, call forwarding, caller identification, call routing etc. accompany the other advantages of VoIP.

Not only the businesses, but also the households are availing the bountiful benefits of VoIP PBX solutions. One can extract maximum gain from the VoIP technology if he makes long distance calls. The reason is , distance is not a factor in VoIP. Your call rates to a domestic destination will cost the same as an inter-continental call. So, no need to keep a watch on time while talking to your kith and kins. VoIP dissolves the distances between your loved ones.