Avaya’s IP Office VOIP telephone system, after several years of issues with software, has finally come to a state of dependable stability and is delivering the promise of potential that we saw in the system when it was first released. With the introduction of the IP 406v2 control unit and the Release 4.0 software IP Office has set a new level of maturity for VOIP phone systems that the other manufacturers are desperately trying to reach.

The IP 406v2 control unit gives the small to medium business an inexpensive and scalable VOIP solution that starts small, (4 to 8 analog lines, 8 digital extensions and 2 analog extensions) but can be scaled up with the addition of various expander units to the tune of 190 total extensions. This control unit can support 4 PRI/T1 circuits for a total of 96 lines and can also support up to 30 simultaneous VOIP conversations over and above the outside line capacity. This control unit has huge flexibility with built in router/firewall functionality and 8 auto sensing LAN switch ports. All IP Office control units and expanders are rack mountable and meant to integrate with today’s IT equipment.

The Manager software for programming the system is a Windows based interface that most people find very intuitive. There is also software for monitoring the system’s status, looking at the active calls in real time and also the line usage in real time. With the use of Small Community Networking several systems can be linked together over data links between the sites. Choose the location that gives you the best long distance service and program it to send all long distance calls, no matter from what location, over that least expensive LD route. Centralize the voicemail for all of the systems at the master system using Voice Mail Pro, instead of having independent voicemail at all locations. You can even centralize your phone lines and have all outside line traffic flow through the master system. So, even if your business is spread over 5 or 6 locations you can treat the phone system as if it is one big system. You will probably have data pipes linking the various locations anyway, why not use those pipes for voice service too? With IP Office and VOIP almost anything is possible.

The IP Office 406v2 Control Unit provides:

• 8 LAN Ports - Eight port unmanaged layer 2 Ethernet switch.  Ports are full-duplex 10/100Mbps, auto-sensing, and auto MDI/MDIX.  Used for PC and server connectivity as well as for connecting the optional IP400 WAN3 and IP telephones.

• 8 Digital Station Ports - Compatible with 2400, 4400, 5400, and 6400 series digital telephones.  Also compatible with 3810 and TransTalk 9040 wireless.

• 2 Analog Station Ports - Used for connection of analog telephones and devices.  Not suitable for out-of-building connections.

• 2 Internal Trunk Module Slots - Compatible with PRI 24 T1, PRI 48 T1, Quad BRI, and Analog Trunk Module (ATM4)

• 1 VCM Expansion Slot - Compatible with VCM 5/10/20/30 and VCM 4/8/16/24. Maximum voice compression channels capacity of 30 channels.

• 6 Expansion Ports - Compatible with Digital Station 16/30, Phone 8/16/30,So8, WAN3, and Analog Trunk 16

• 1 Compact Flash Slot - For use with optional embedded voice mail card

• Additional Ports - Music on-hold, DTE port, external relay switch for door entry controls, integral WAN port

• Maximum Extensions - 190 of various types in combination.  Analog only: 182.  DS Only: 188.  IP Only: 190

• Data Channels - 40 of which 20 are usable for Voicemail Pro/TAPI WAV connection sessions.