ADTRAN Announces New Unified Communications Line
ADTRAN has mostly been known as a networking vendor offering infrastructure and network elements such as routers and switches, optical systems, security appliances, network management. More recently, ADTRAN added the NetVanta 7000 Series IP PBXs for SMBs. This week, ADTRAN announced that it is entering the world of Unified Communications, with the launch of its new NetVanta Unified Communications products.
As CEO Tom Stanton and others explained at the ADTRAN press and analyst conference a couple weeks ago in Huntsville, AL, the theme of the conference was Unify, noting that ADTRAN is putting the “You” in “Younified Communications.” Jeff Wissing of ADTRAN stated that “The U in UC is contradictory – unification is individualization.” (side note: I was pleased to see Chris Thompson use the UCStrategies’ definition of UC during his presentation).
The new NetVanta Unified Communications Solutions include four products, with the same core functionality and feature set between different product editions:
NetVanta Unified Communications Server: a software-based application that works with existing TDM and IP PBXs from a variety of vendors, and supports at least 2,000 users. Based on Microsoft Windows platforms, it adds capabilities such as unified messaging, fax server, IVR, one number service, rules-based call control and redirection services (find me/follow me), call back or click to dial, notification services, auto attendant, mobility capabilities, Active Directory integration, and graphical service creation that is accessible down to the user level.
NetVanta Business Communications System: a hardware and software bundle that combines the NetVanta 7000 Series all-in-one IP PBXs with the NetVanta UC Server software, for up to 100 users, adding all of the software capabilities in the UC Server to the NetVanta 7100/7060.
NetVanta Enterprise Communications Server: A software only, all-in-one Windows-based SIP PBX supporting 75-2000 users. Provides a software based IP PBX, with all of the UC Server functionality.
NetVanta Business Application Server: adds capabilities such as IVR and ODBC database access for creating customized applications. The drag and drop development tools make it easy to create applications and call flows.
The underlying code is the same for all of these products – the only difference is the licensing.
The NetVanta Unified Communications Server is based on technology that ADTRAN acquired and integrated to its NetVanta 7000 series products, resulting in new and enhanced capabilities for customers. I had the opportunity to speak with one of ADTRAN’s customers while in Huntsville, and you can listen to my podcast with Don Reece of Pembina Trails School Division in Manitoba, whose school district uses ADTRAN’s NetVanta Unified Communications to help teachers, staff, and families better communicate http://www.ucstrategies.com/industry-buzz/adtran-customer-talks-about-using-uc.aspx.
As an adjunct to any IP or TDM switch, whether from ADTRAN or a third party, the NetVanta Unified Communications Server adds some unified communications capabilities to existing PBXs while supporting multi-site implementations. Features include unified messaging, click-to-dial, conference server, fax server, personal call control, auto attendants, inbound/outbound IVR, and Active Directory integration. What’s noticeably missing is presence, IM, and web/video conferencing/collaboration. According to several of the people I spoke with at the conference, IM and presence capabilities will be added in the near future, whether via an ADTRAN solution or integration with a third-party such as Microsoft OCS. Other UC capabilities will be added in subsequent releases, although the company wasn’t able to give specifics.
What impressed me the most was the ease of creating applications using the Unified Communications Server and the UC Client. For example, with simple drop down menus and drag and drop capabilities, it can take just a few minutes to create applications such as an emergency notification application to instruct the system how to handle and deliver emergency calls, or to have automated calls notify parents when a school is closed based on bad weather and provide real-time updates. One demonstration was of a doctors’ office notification application for managing the doctors’ schedules and notifying patients of upcoming appointments, enabling them to confirm or reschedule and appointment, or be transferred to a nurse. When patients miss appointments, it can be very costly to the doctor’s practice, so applications like this can have a very fast ROI.
Using the UC Client Service Editor, VARs can easily create applications and services using a simple toolkit. This toolkit includes “elements” that are built into the service environment, and used to create applications and call flows. Examples of the elements are: record audio, import audio, add data, transfer call, send email, send fax, receive fax, collect digits, create logs, change mailbox, verify password, send notification, play announcement, dial by name, dial by extension, deliver messages, transfer call, assisted transfer, notify pager, play a one time message, flow control, hang up, etc. Call flow control allows for calls to be routed based on times, days, phone number, caller ID, etc. While capabilities like this are not new, the ease of use and the ability to create call flows and applications quickly and easily using the UC client and elements was impressive. New capabilities such as presence can be added as elements and used in the call flows and applications.
As I mentioned, some key UC capabilities are missing, and ADTRAN will need to work quickly to add presence, IM, collaboration, video, and more to its solutions. ADTRAN has a good core group of communication developers and engineers based on its recent acquisition of Objectworld, and they’re hard at work developing the next releases of ADTRAN’s NetVanta UC series, and I expect to see many of these capabilities added in the next couple of releases.
ADTRAN offers cost-effective, single server solutions for small and mid-sized organizations looking for price-competitive solutions that provide a path toward enhanced unified communications. One of the company’s biggest challenges will be the channel. As ADTRAN acknowledged, its channel is hardware oriented and will have to become more comfortable selling software-based solutions. The company will need to find new partners that have expertise in this area, and provide training for existing partners that will transition from the hardware world to a software world. The ability to sell NetVanta UC software solutions that work seamlessly in Microsoft Windows along with a full line of SME network and IP Telephony equipment, should make ADTRAN attractive to some Microsoft and PBX channel partners, opening up two new channels for ADTRAN.