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Ascendent Systems' PowerConnect Voice Mobility Suite Version 4.1 Delivers Enterprise Voice Mobility By Making Any Phone A Work Phone

Posted on: Tuesday, 15 November 2005, 09:00 CST

The Standards-based Solution Converges the Benefits of Wireless and Wireline Devices Without the Need to Rip and Replace Legacy PBX Systems

Ascendent Systems, a leading provider of enterprise voice mobility solutions, today announced the availability of a new version of the PowerConnect Voice Mobility Suite. Version 4.1 extends enhanced PBX capabilities to mobile devices so that users can work from anywhere. The release includes significant updates in the areas of Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) support, presence management, and secure profile administration, as well as additional usability and management enhancements. All of these features, plus many other enterprise-class voice capabilities, can be delivered on any phone, mobile device or corporate softphone, giving users the ability to work, collaborate, and respond more efficiently from anywhere.

This newest version of the PowerConnect Voice Mobility Suite gives users greater power to stay in constant contact on the road, at home, in the office, in campus buildings or from any remote location and builds on existing features such as four or five digit transfer, unified voicemail, PBX dial tone, and "get me" conferencing capabilities. By making any phone a business phone, it allows users to be more competitive and build stronger and more profitable relationships with internal and external customers.

"PowerConnect 4.1 delivers the voice equivalent of BlackBerry(TM) for e-mail by extending the identity and functionality of the corporate deskphone to any other phone. It tightly integrates and unifies important voice capabilities to empower users with the time-saving and collaborative phone system features they are accustomed to using at their desk, like four digit dialing or conferencing, regardless of their location or what phone they have access to," said Debbie Miller, CEO of Ascendent Systems. "4.1 includes key updates that address the dynamic challenges of ensuring voice continuity in the enterprise. Enhanced SIP support, additional voicemail features, and a notification framework create a seamless converged communications solution that is poised to transform business communications as we now know them."

PowerConnect 4.1 now includes expanded SIP Gateway and SIP Proxy capabilities to support SIP Direct Trunk Signaling and SIP CSTA. Initial support for SIP Direct Trunk Signaling is compatible with Cisco Call Manager v4.1 or greater; this signaling capability significantly reduces costs and increases productivity by eliminating the need for separate phone and data circuits. By bridging legacy infrastructures with IP-based systems, the SIP-based solution empowers users to remotely access PBX features without requiring a significant overhaul in the telecommunications infrastructure. Ascendent will be announcing support for other manufacturers of SIP Direct Trunk Signaling in coming months as interoperability tests are completed.

Presence applications have also been added to PowerConnect 4.1 through integration with Microsoft Live Communication Server 2005 (LCS), Microsoft Office Communicator 2005 (MOC), and the Jabber Extensible Communications Platform (XCP). The integration enables presence capabilities across multiple communications devices so that users can display their availability and view that of others, eliminating inefficiency and wasted time in calling multiple phone numbers. Ascendent users can also access click-to-call capabilities on enterprise instant messages. Presence-based applications contain significant implications for business continuity and system flexibility by serving as a method to establish whether a user is logged into a network and available to communicate via phone, e-mail/text or even video.

The new PowerConnect also includes updates to the security framework, such as enhanced password management and secure profile administration that enables users to establish administrator rights through the telephony- and Web-based interfaces. Additionally, customization of security rights can now be controlled for multiple versions of each profile type. Version 4.1 also brings improved password management features such as encryption of the password in SQL, password aging and expiration, and forced re-entry of password before changing. The new and improved features bring a higher level of security with an easier interface and management capabilities.

The PowerConnect Voice Mobility Suite version 4.1 is available through Ascendent's partners and resellers. The suite is comprised of four components: PowerConnect Mobility, PowerConnect Notification, PowerConnect Conferencing, and PowerConnect Continuity.

About Ascendent Systems

Ascendent Systems is the premier provider of enterprise voice mobility solutions that allow companies to be more responsive to customers and crisis by giving them the power to reach anyone, anywhere, immediately. Ascendent's PowerConnect voice mobility suite of applications provides single number reachability, real-time notification and conferencing, and voice continuity. These solutions allow users to automatically extend the identity and functionality of their business desk phone to any other device. Partnered with major mobile carrier and infrastructure providers, Ascendent has solutions deployed in Fortune 500 corporations across many industry verticals including manufacturing, finance, healthcare, government, hospitality, and education. Ascendent is a privately held company headquartered in San Jose, CA. For more information: http://www.ascendentsystems.com.

Source: Business Wire

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