Better IP Communications for SMB's with new Aastra 800
New call control manager from Aastra puts the PC at the heart of SMB voice communications in a cost effective way
Farnborough, 19th November, 2009 – Aastra today launched a new pure IP software-based call control manager for small and medium-sized businesses (SMB). With its extensive track record and detailed understanding of the SMB market, Aastra appreciates that even the smallest of businesses can have operational requirements similar to those of large enterprises. That’s why the Aastra 800 has been designed as a fully-featured call manager, enabling smaller firms to improve the way they make and receive calls.
The Aastra 800 can be deployed for single and multiple locations, making it particularly suitable for companies with distributed sites such as real estate agents or retailers. It is also ideal for multi-tenancy sites, as Aastra’s OpenCompany 45 – one of the applications available with the Aastra 800 – makes it straightforward for several small organisations to share the same telephony infrastructure while keeping phone books, call data records and operator separate for each company.
A range of applications enables the Aastra 800 to be customised for diverse telephony requirements. These include enterprise-grade messaging, computer telephony integration with unified messaging for better productivity and responsiveness, IVR (interactive voice response) for enhanced management of customer and other external calls, and applications for specific industry sector needs such as hospitality, which typically requires itemised billing and wake up calls.
“More than ever, small and medium businesses are keen to find telecom solutions that offer the right balance between quality, improved customer response, productivity and cost-effectiveness,” said Thomas Stephan, European product line manager for the Aastra 800. “The Aastra 800 combines our expertise in applications, integrated mobility and other advanced features to meet business requirements for the small and mid-sized organisation.”
Mobility is an increasing requirement for companies. Small and medium-sized businesses are no exception: it’s precisely when companies have fewer resources that they have to ensure every customer call is well handled, gets answered promptly and colleagues don’t waste time trying to locate one another. The Aastra 800 can seamlessly integrate calls to and from remote workers, so that productivity and responsiveness can be maximised wherever staff members are.
For companies in sectors that require premised-based mobility for telephone handsets, such as education or retail, Aastra’s IP DECT offers a highly scalable and reliable additional solution. Personnel on the road, such as sales teams, can also benefit from full integration of the mobile phone into the Aastra 800: the Aastra Mobile Client brings essential features such as enquiry and brokering to handle calls professionally while on the move. Just one number need be given to contacts. Similarly, home workers can also receive all calls on their prime number using a softphone installed on a PC or SIP deskphones, with powerful XML capabilities equivalent to those of office-based colleagues.
Sold through channel partners, the Aastra 800 is a strong SMB telephony proposition for existing and prospective Aastra resellers. With its straightforward IT-like design, and a web-based single point of configuration and advanced applications, the Aastra 800 is easy to install and maintenance can be done remotely, avoiding unnecessary call-out time. The Aastra 800 is derived from the OpenCom 100 PBX family so it offers a proven solution.
“New channel partners, especially those with IT-orientated expertise, can easily adopt this new solution after a short training course. Aastra is also committed to providing first-rate support and extending the dedicated customer focus Aastra is known for. We have developed into one of the largest, financially stable, enterprise communications vendors in the world, and a leader in the EMEA SMB market .” added Thomas Stephan.
The Aastra 800 is installed at Rocom, a major UK telecommunication distribution company, as part of the field trial. The product was networked to Rocom's in-house system and has been used to provide desktop communications to several of the internal trading divisions. In addition, the site has used the IP DECT hardware in both its sales and warehouse buildings to replace its existing, ageing DECT system. The installation was completed outside of working hours and the transition between existing hardware and new Aastra 800 was very smooth.
“Even with no previous experience or training on any Aastra products, the system was very easy to configure. We not only had a smooth deployment but day-to-day use has been without a hitch - not even a minor functionality issue.” said John Bird, Group Technical Support & Technical Training Manager at Rocom. “We’re also impressed with the hardware, particularly the IP DECT, and can foresee sales opportunities not just for total IP deployment / solutions but to use the product as a third party DECT add-on.“
“The evolution to IT, software and standards based call control managers is inevitable”, said Matthew Ball, Senior Analyst at Canalys. “The launch of the Aastra 800 further enhances Aastra’s SMB focused portfolio and will help to support Aastra’s reach on this very competitive segment of the market. The Aastra 800 offers IT channels that lack telephony experience a user-friendly but comprehensive and proven software application to meet customers’ requirements, and help traditional telephony resellers to evolve their offerings and potentially attract more IT centric buyers”.
The Aastra 800 can be installed on a standard PC (Windows XPTM and Server 2003TM) and scales up to 200 users.
- ENDS -
About Aastra UK
Aastra UK is the UK business unit of Aastra Technologies Limited, (TSX:“AAH”), a leading company at the forefront of the enterprise communication market. Headquartered in Concord, Ontario, Canada, Aastra develops and delivers innovative communications products and applications for businesses. Aastra’s operations are truly global with more than 50 million installed lines around the world and a direct and indirect presence in more than 100 countries. Aastra is entirely dedicated to enterprise communications and offers one of the most complete portfolios of unified communications solutions individually tailored to satisfy its customers’ requirements. These range from feature-rich call managers for small and medium businesses and highly scalable ones for large enterprises, integrated mobility, call centres solutions to a wide selection of terminals. With a strong focus on open standards, Aastra enables enterprises to communicate and collaborate more efficiently. For additional information on Aastra, visit our website at http://www.aastra.com
Media contacts:
Matt Watson, Susannah Wyeth & Gerry Grewal
Speed Communications
0207 842 3200
E-mail: aastrapr@speedcommunications.com
|
Contact Information
Aastra Telecom (UK)
B3, Armstrong Mall
Southwood Business Park
Farnborough
Hampshire
GU14 0NR
Aastra Press Contact:
Debbie Hage, UK Market Communications Manager
Tel: 01252 532100
Fax: 01252 532101
Aastra Press Agency:
Tel: 01252 532195
Aastra Industry Analyst Contact:
Stephane Bobinet, Director of European Market Communications
Tel: 01252 532100
Fax: 01252 532101
|
