Nortel Networks yesterday released its Internet telephony plan for corporate users, announcing that 11 new products, including two Internet phones and assorted enhancements to existing goods, will be offered in coming months.
Meanwhile, Nortel competitor Nextel Communications Inc, introduced its new Internet phone yesterday, which had been scheduled to be on the market in July. Nextel said in a statement that it is releasing the i1000plus phone now because of stepped-up Internet telephony plans from Nortel and Motorola. The Nextel phone includes a Web browser and upgraded voice features for $US299.
Nortel's new products will be part of the company's Internet Communications Architecture (Inca), which is an IP (Internet protocol) architecture. These new products, due out within the next year, were announced, although exact launch dates and pricing information was not provided:
-- Inca M10 Communication System, which runs on a Windows NT server and supports network-wide telephony applications and both analog telephones and Nortel's i2004 Internet telephone. The system will use telephony gateways to connect to the public switched telephone network (PSTN).
-- Inca M1, Inca M100 and Inca M7500 Communication Systems, combining telephony, connection management and standard protocol support via existing IP networks.
-- iRemote, a single or multiple-user remote office voice-over-IP hardware and software package connecting to an IP WAN (wide area network) using the digital telephones and features in the private branch exchange (PBX).
-- Inca Telecommuter, Windows-based PC software integrating voice and data over IP so that telecommuters can use computers for voice and data, accessing information over an analog line.
-- i2004 Internet Telephone is the first in a series of Internet-enabled phones that Nortel plans to roll out. The company also announced its i3220 Internet telephone, which will offer multimedia features and access the Net through a dial-up Internet service provider or a corporate intranet.
-- Meridian 1IP, Meridian SL100IP, M6500IP and MercatorIP Communication Systems will be the company's new Internet-enabled telecommunications systems, based on its older telephony systems.
-- Enterprise Edge for branch offices and small businesses will let customers pick between packet and circuit switching or allow them to use both.
-- Symposium Call Center Server 3.0 Windows NT-based call center application will enable management and routing of customer calls.
-- Symposium Web Response Server 2.0 Windows NT-based e-mail response management system.
-- Symposium Agent 2.0 browser-based call centre software.
Nortel also said that it will enhance its Passport 4400 Multi-Service Access Switch 4.0 to support telephony gateways and its BayRS 13.20 version routing software for prioritizing applications and for bandwidth management.
Nortel, in Brampton, Ontario, can be reached at +1-905-863-0000 or at http://www.nortelnetworks.com. Nextel, in Reston, Virginia, can be reached at +1-703-433-4000 or at http://www.nextel.com.