Unify wants to make deployment and management of business communications easier for midsize companies with the latest edition of its OpenScape Enterprise Express offering.
The company is rolling out OpenScape Enterprise Express v9, which officials said is an all-in-one solution that integrates a broad array of Unify collaboration capabilities and is designed to scale better while being easier to install, manage and use.
“We spend a lot of time understanding the unique needs of midsize companies and OpenScape Enterprise Express v9 delivers the all-in-one solution that fast growing, innovative companies require to be competitive,” Luiz Domingos, head of product house for Unify, said in a statement.
The latest version of the unified communications (UC) offering addresses the need for greater flexibility within midsize companies while driving down costs and improving security, Unify officials said. Version 9 can now scale from 200 users to 5,000, and can be deployed on dedicated hardware on premises or in a virtual environment. It can also support up to 250 contact center agents and 25 managers, and includes an optional centralized Session Border Controller (SBC) that integrates support for Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) trunking and remote worker access.
There also is improved integration into Microsoft’s Office 365 offering, including Skype for Business both on premises and in the cloud. In addition, there is support for VMware’s hypervisor. The Unify solution runs on Windows Server 2012.
Unify officials also wanted to make it easier for midsize businesses to get the UC offering running by enabling automatic installation, which they said shortens configuration time and reduces data errors. Overall, OpenScape Enterprise Express v9 can reduce overall communications costs by as much as 50 percent, they said.
Among the OpenScape software integrated into an appliance are OpenScape Voice central communication server, Unify’s UC Application platform, Xpressions for unified messaging, Contact Center Enterprise management platform, Deployment Service for IP endpoint management, User Management administration tool and Concierge, the vendor’s attendant console offering.
Unify earlier this year was bought for $371 million by IT vendor Atos, part of a larger consolidation trend within the enterprise communications space that is dominated by Cisco Systems and Microsoft but also includes such competitors as Avaya, ShoreTel, Mitel and Genband. The company is aiming at a wide array of companies, with customers ranging in size from five employees to more than 500,000.