Avaya Expands IP Phone line

Avaya Inc. is expanding its line of IP phones and communication devices for the enterprise, including introducing a new product for voice over IP on wireless networks.

The Basking Ridge, N.J., company on Wednesday launched five new devices, including new IP and digital phones, which are part of Avayas Enterprise Class Internet Protocol Solutions (ECLIPS) portfolio.

The two new IP phones--the Avaya 4620 IP Telephone and the Avaya 4602 IP Telephone--are set to be available next month. The higher-end, large-screen 4620 includes more call buttons--24 on-screen and 14 fixed features buttons--and costs $495. The 4602 has two programmable feature keys and 10 fixed buttons and costs $195.

Along with IP phones, Avaya announced the Avaya 2420 Digital Telephone, which is available now. The phone is targeted to mid-to-high level general users, such as in call centers. It is identical in appearance to the new 4620 IP phone and costs $625.

On the wireless front, Avaya introduced its Wireless IP Telephone Solution that allows for the use of handsets over wireless LANs. Available in October and built on technology from SpectraLink Corp., the 2.4GHz system is compliant with the 802.11b wireless LAN standard and operates on an Avaya or other standards-based wireless LAN. It features handsets, complete with features such as conference calling, call forward and transfers, and caller ID, as well as a combination of gateways or servers.

The gateway supports 16 handsets and eight simultaneous calls, and as many as four can be combined without adding a server. The server supports 640 handsets and 320 simultaneous calls. Handsets costs $729, gateways cost $3,950, and servers cost $1,995.

The company also launched a button expansion module for the 4620 IP phone or 2420 digital phone called the Avaya EU24 Button Expansion Module. It adds more programmable feature buttons and is priced at $195.

Beyond new products, Avaya next month is making available release 4 of the Avaya IP Softphone. Among the new features is the ability for the soft phone to control an IP phone so users can talk from a handset while dialing from the soft phones local directory, call log, LDAP contact or Microsoft Outlook. The Avaya IP phones that will support the new feature are the 4612, 4620, 4624 and 4630.