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March 19, 2014

Alcatel-Lucent, Mitel and snom Intro New IP Phones at Enterprise Connect

Orlando, Florida – Alcatel-Lucent, Mitel and snom introduced new phones and features this week at Enterprise Connect 14. Of the three, Alcatel-Lucent had a couple of surprises within its new product showings.

Alcatel-Lucent’s Enterprise division introduced five new Premium DeskPhones at the show. Models offer features from simple monochrome LCD to color LCD screens with video as an add-on capability. All 3 IP models support G.722 HD voice, are iPv6 “ready,” and include embedded software encryption. The phones include an integrated alphabetic keyboard, dedicated function keys, and integrated Bluetooth .

The Alcatel-Lucent 8068, 8038, and 8028 Premium DeskPhones  are IP phones and include two GigE energy efficiency ports, one of which supports power over Ethernet. The 8029 and 8039 phones offer “digital” communication supporting legacy TDM interfaces. An Alcatel-Lucent executive said the company was supporting new TDM phones due to customer demand in existing and developing market; the costs to build TDM models is minimal since the basic phone design is the same.

If continued demand for TDM phones isn’t surprising, the appearance of the Invoxia Audioffice in black paint and an Alcatel-Lucent logo on it is. The black Audioffice uses a special cable to plug into a Premium DeskPhone so it can be used as a speakerphone interface. A working partnership between the two companies was announced last year and it wouldn't surprise me to see a more "natural" Alcatel-Lucent speakerphone product based on Invoxia design and/or technology in the future.

Mitel launched its 6800i series of IP business phones at Enterprise Connect. Coming from Mitel's recent merger with Aastra,  the company emphasized the use of SIP and the ability of the new hardware to support both on-premise and hosted services. New features include high-resolution color displays and GigE interfaces for clearer image and video support, enhanced audio and speakerphone performance, a native electronic hook switch (EHS) headset port, lower power consumption, intelligent Power over Ethernet (PoE) Class reporting, and smaller packaging. The 6800i series phones will be shipping worldwide through Mitel partners starting in mid-April.

Snom's UC edition Lync qualified phones aren't new, but they have a new feature. The phones are now capable of being managed through the Microsoft Lync server native administration interface. Support is included for in-band device management, enabling easy mass provision with the need for additional servers or provisioning tools.




Edited by Cassandra Tucker


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