Telecommunications equipment manufacturer Nortel announced it is
expanding its Software Communication System solution to accommodate
enterprises beyond small and medium-size businesses. Release 3.0 of SCS
extends support to platforms from IBM, Dell and HP, including IBM Power
Systems and System i, Dell Optiplex, and HP Proliant DL360, as well as
the recently announced IBM x3350 and Dell PowerEdge R300 systems.
In addition to the supported platform expansion, the Nortel SCS
Developer Program also offers a selection of interoperable third-party
products such as desktop phones, soft phones, gateways, IP consoles,
applications like call recording and call accounting and wireless
mobility solutions. The solution is based on Session Initiation
Protocol, the standard for universal communications and
interoperability. SCS was developed in collaboration with Nortel and
the open source community SIPfoundry.
Release 3.0 has also evolved to scale from midmarket businesses all the
way up to large, distributed enterprise networks. Installation, use and
administration remain user-friendly to help businesses avoid
outsourcing expenses by enabling them to add new users and make other
changes in-house, Nortel said.
"The ability to customize Nortel SCS quickly and cost effectively has
allowed us to dramatically improve our customer service," said Joshua
Van Buskirk, technology evangelist for Nortel SCS partner and
customer PFW Systems. "We've developed an application
(PFW VoIPLink) to integrate with Nortel SCS so our dealership customers
have all the relevant details on their customers before a
representative even answers the call. We believe in the benefits
provided by VoIPLink, so we also use it internally to better serve our
own customers - the dealers themselves."
Nortel said SCS also offers transparent pricing with an "all-in-one"
approach. A base user license includes all applications such as voicemail
and unified messaging, integrated voice conferencing, secure presence
and instant messaging, desktop-based video conferencing, single number
reachability, an "informal" call center, and integration with Microsoft
Outlook, IBM Lotus Notes and IBM Lotus Sametime.
Zeus Kerravala, senior vice president of research firm Yankee Group,
said the unified communications (UC) market is in a transition from
hardware to software, and for vendors this transition requires
conviction to software openness. “IP-only vendors will find this
transition much more difficult. The winners in this market will be
vendors who embrace open, software based solutions and who make
software look like another application in the network," Kerravala said.
"With SCS, Nortel is delivering a truly open, truly simple UC software
solution."
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