IP Office 3.x? 1

[TheMitelGuy]

Has anyone heard about our next release, or what features to look forward to?

I know our "KTS" features are coming. Anyone heard anything else?

The Avaya Guy

 

[VanZenden]

The IP Office 3.0 software release (Nov '04) is based on the current IP Office feature set with the addition
of a number of new features, as described below.

Key System Emulation
Key System Emulation is a fundamental part of small system operation in the US and Japan, it
is also used in EMEA in the very small system market. It simulates the operation of analogue
key systems that used simple switches to provide access to lines and intercom circuits. Key
system operation relies on having buttons (keys) that have indicators, LEDs or Icons, which give
the status of the call that the button is programmed to be associated with. Pressing the button
has various actions depending on the state of the call.

Call Appearance (CA) - the User's presence on the system, the number of call appearance
buttons dictates the number of calls on the system the User can have directed to them. When all
of a User's Call Appearance buttons are in use (not Idle) the User is considered to be Busy and
no further calls can be routed to them. Used for Internal, External and feature (VM etc) calls.

Bridged Appearance (BA) - this is a copy of one of another users Call Appearances, it can be
used to make or receive calls on behalf of the owner of the Call Appearance.

Line Appearance (LA) - this is a representation of a line on the system, the indicator tracks the
activity on the Line. Only external calls can be answered or made on Line Appearances. All
types of physical trunks, Analog, channels on E1 and T1 can be assigned to Line Appearances.
T1 and E1 channels that have DID/DDI on them can be assigned to Line Appearances though
this is inadvisable and will be documented as such. It is not a requirement to be able to assign
VoIP trunks to Line Appearances.

Call Coverage (CC) - this is only used for incoming calls and allows a user to answer calls for
another user. Calls that alert on BA, LA or CC buttons do not follow the user's forwarding or
divert settings.

BA, LA and CC buttons support users and lines on the same system, there is no support for Key
System Emulation over SCN

Distinctive Ringing
Distinctive Ringing is defined as the ability to determine the type of call by the way the
phone/terminal rings (cadence), for example: Internal / External / Other (Recall, Ringback). It is
a requirement that internal and external calls can be differentiated by having different ring
patterns on ALL supported terminal types.

IP OFFICE VOICEMAIL PRO
Personal Distribution Lists
Personal distribution lists allow a user to send a message to a list of users simultaneously. The
creation, management and usage of the personal distribution lists will be by a user via a TUI
once they have logged into their mailbox.

Creating and managing distribution lists will be achieved through option 5 within the mailbox
(personal options). On pressing 5, option 1 will be presented giving access to ‘Administering
Mailing Lists’. Context sensitive help will be available throughout administering the lists through
the use of the key sequence *4.

Distribution lists can be marked as private or public. If private, the mailbox that owns the list will
be the only user that can access the list. Public lists remain the ownership of the user who
created them but can be accessed as read only by any other mailbox user on the local system.
Public lists can be copied from one user to another by adding the contents into a new list.

NOTE: Personal distribution lists will be provided in Intuity Audix mode only.

Group Messages
When a message is left for a hunt group the current IP Office operation is to notify all group
members that a message has arrived. When any member retrieves this message the message
notification is turned off for all group members. A broadcast option is to be provided. This
feature will alter the operation so that message notification will only be turned off for each hunt
group member when they retrieve the message.

A check box will be provided within IP Office manager to select a broadcast facility for voicemail
messages left for a hunt group. The hunt group broadcast checkbox will be within the voicemail
tab of the Hunt group configuration within Manager. If the broadcast message facility is not
turned on there will be no change to hunt group message notification and message delivery to
group members will operate as per current IP Office operation. The default setting will be for
Broadcast messages to be turned off. The wizard will also have the ability to configure whether
a group has broadcast messages turned on or off.

If a hunt group has broadcast facility turned on then each member in the group will be notified
that a message has arrived in the hunt group mailbox. Individual hunt group member’s message
notification will only be turned off when they have accessed the message themselves. A hunt
group broadcast message will be capable of driving all forms of message notification supported
on IP Office, i.e.: Outbound Call alerts, message waiting lamps, IMS, forward/copy to Email. It
should be possible to allow multiple group mailbox users to simultaneously access a hunt
group’s mailbox for retrieving messages.

Voice Recording Libraries (VRL)
IP Office already has a recording capability built-in. Recordings can be initiated by a user
pressing a button on their phone or automatically according to a ‘% recording’ level. These
recording capabilities are to be extended to allow the administrator to select where recordings
are to be recorded, to a mailbox or to a Voice Recording Library. Recordings held within these
libraries will be searched and played back to a user via a Web browser application. The current
recording facilities offered by IP Office is not able to guarantee that calls will be recorded, as a
result this release of Voice Recording will not provide legal quality Total/Bulk recording facilities.

Fax Support
Fax is a significant part of how customers do business. Customers are therefore demanding
better ways of managing their Fax traffic. The ability to automatically detect and route an
incoming Fax call was implemented in VoiceMail Pro R2.0 and R2.1. VoiceMail Pro currently
has support for fax services via third-party fax servers, however one of the market requirements
is to provide access to fax messages at the desktop and through the telephone use interface.
This release of the Fax support will involve integrating IP Office and VoiceMail Pro with third
party fax products.

The IP Office system will operate with the following third party Fax server products:

GFI Software - GFI Fax
Captaris - Right Fax
Fenestrae - Faxanation
Equisys - ZeetaFax
Biscom - Faxcom

IP OFFICE CONFERENCING CENTER
Local Address book
The user list within the Web Scheduler has been modified to show remote users in the IP Office
user directory if an IP Office Small Community Network (SCN) has been set up. At present,
adding a user from the IP Office database only sees this from the host IP Office. It cannot build
the remote users database on alternative Voice Networked IP Offices. It will not be possible to
update phone number and email information back to IP Office from the Web Scheduler however
the user can overwrite details if required. It will also be possible to select users from a user
defined contact list. It will be possible to modify the user-defined list although the IP Office
derived lists cannot be changed. When booking a conference it will be possible to add a contact
from any one of the three lists.

Save Conference Settings
At the time of booking a conference, the user will have the ability to save the settings
(conference name, call duration, number of participants, MOH on/off/duration, PIN checking
on/off, Web support on/off, participant announcements on/off, end of conference warning
duration, conference description, participant contact details and participant status) as a
conference template so that they can be recalled into a different conference at another time.

The Conference ID and Participants PIN numbers (if any) will also be saved against the
conference template. A new “Save as template” button will be added in the “Edit New
Conference” and “Add Conference participants” screens. Saved conferences can be viewed
under “My Conference Templates” tab.

The user will be able to save up to 20 templates. The user will be able to delete templates no
longer required.

NOTE: The user is not able to modify templates as such however they can use a template to
make a booking and then select to save the modified conference details as a new template
under a new Conference ID.

Installability Enhancements
The Conferencing Center currently requires a local web server running Microsoft IIS while 90%
of SMEs rely on ISPs for hosting their website. To allow the web support facility to be used by
external participants, the web conference site needs to be hosted in the DMZ / ISP web server
(not the booking site - this should always be internal). The Web Client Conferencing application
shall be installed as a separate option (currently it is not). Since the web site uses web services
to communicate with the conference server, it will use SSL link to protect the traffic. The
Conferencing booking site (Scheduler) should only be supported on customers’ premises.

WIZARDS
IP Office Installation And Maintenance Wizard November release addresses the following
Target areas:

Installation and Maintenance Wizard Options
• Moves Adds and Changes Wizard Enhancements
• Including Speed dials in the Moves Adds and Changes Wizard

Express Wizard Support of Embedded Voicemail and VoiceMail Pro
• Auto Attendant set-up
• Recording Auto-Attendant greeting control
• Time and date schedules / conditions for Auto-Attendants in VoiceMail Pro
• Exception circumstances set-up in VoiceMail Pro

VM for Users for Embedded Voicemail and VoiceMail Pro
• Enhance existing functions

Express Wizard Extended Support for PhoneManager Pro
• PhoneManager Definition for users
• Telecommuter mode set up for users
• Road Warrior mode set up for users

IP Route Definition
* The existing splash screen within 2.1 will continue with the support of the IP
Office – Small Office Edition Wizard and IP Office Installation and
Administration Wizard and the Moves adds and changes wizard.

PHONEMANAGER
The following PhoneManager usability enhancements are included in the IP Office v3.0 release:

Profiles
Users will be able to save their Preferences and Customisations (including speed dials,
directory, and other associated user information) to facilitate recovery in case of system failure
or when running the applications on another machine. A users profile can be kept either locally
on the user’s own PC, or it can be maintained centrally on the site’s Local Area Network (LAN).

Compact Mode
As a configurable item within the PhoneManager Pro preferences, users can select whether or
not the application will initialise in a minimal "compact" or "full" mode. Compact Mode can only
be activated with a "Pro" license. When an incoming call comes in the Tray icon blinks so that
there is some indication even if the window is not visible. Clicking on the tray icon will stop this
blinking (as will answering the call). This is new functionality that will enhance the current
operation in PhoneManager Pro/Lite.

The preferences for when a call comes in are set to keep the Main Desktop window in compact
mode and open the Notification Slider, this is set in the user’s configuration. The user can then
click the blinking "Answer" button in the slider to take the call. When the user has finished the
call they can then click the Slider "Hang Up" button. This closes the Slider and keeps the
application in Compact Mode.

Personal Distribution List support
VoiceMail Pro provides the ability to set-up Personal Distribution Lists for users, with up to 20
lists of 360 members per list. Personal Distribution lists, when activated, shall appear as a tab
within the Voicemail administration menu within PhoneManager Pro. Lists will be either personal
or private (available or not available to other IP Office users). When listening to a message the
user will be able to forward the message to a distribution list

Speed Dial identification
Different icons are used to denote internal numbers and external numbers.

Speed Dial Groups
PhoneManager Pro shall have the ability for users to create more than one speed dial list.
These will appear as separate tabbed views. Agent users who have access to Groups should
have a convenient way to create a Speed Dial list for a whole group. These shall appear as tabs
across the speed dial access.

The total number of groups that a user can program within the PhoneManager Pro is 10.

Internal Speed Dial
Internal speed dial icons shall support the existing representations for PhoneManager Pro that
exist in the current product for "busy" and "Do Not Disturb" ("No Calls"). In addition new icons
shall be supported for the following symptoms; new voicemail, and forwarded (diverted), or
using personal numbering.

Internal Speed Dials, where other contact information is known (Home number, mobile, etc)
shall be accessed by "right-clicking" the internal contact.

External Speed Dial
External speed dial icons shall be identified separately using one icon to define multiple speed
dial entries within that specification. The separate numbers that can be stored under the
external heading are as follows: Home, Mobile (Cell), Fax, and Work. A PhoneManager Pro
user shall access each external speed dial under a single contact by "right-clicking" the contact.

Microsoft LIVE Server Support
PhoneManager pro shall work in conjunction with the Microsoft LIVE server (SIP proxy) to allow
Instant Messaging to occur between internal contacts, as defined by the LIVE server.

Drag-n-Drop Functionality
PhoneManager Pro users shall have the ability to "drag-n-drop." By definition this is the ability to
drag names, numbers, and icons into the "My Active Calls" or "Dial" fields to make a call.

When a user on a current call within the application "drags-n-drops" another call onto that
currently active call, the application shall create a conference call between the selected parties.
The user can continue to do this until all conference circuits within IP Office are used.

Voicemail Access
If the user has logged into their PhoneManager Pro they shall be given direct access to their
voicemail box (if the user is utilizing a trusted number as assigned by VoiceMail Pro).

Distinctive Viewing of Voicemail Messages
The voicemail view in PhoneManager Pro shall provide a visual distinction between normal and
urgent messages, read or unread messages, and private messages.

Viewing Lists instead of Icons
For long lists, users shall have the option to use the View > Show Details view to see a list
instead of the icons

Import/Export of Local Directories
PhoneManager, licensed in Pro mode only, shall have the option to Import and Export the local
directory entries, which encompasses the name, telephone number, wav file paths and script file
paths via CSV. Upon export the column headings shall be added to the CSV file.

Call History enhancements
The call history call log shall be enhanced to include the incoming ring time.

Call History Search Mechanism
There will be the ability within PhoneManager call history to facilitate a column sort to be able to
search old calls on the following criteria: name/number/call duration.

Every missed call entry, within the missed call log, shall include the date the call was missed.

Programmable Date & Time Format
The abbreviated date and time presentation shall be revised to present the date and time in full
using the windows long date format. The user can then choose their date format independently
of their locale settings. (E.g. 15.21 Friday 21st June).

Hold Time
It shall be possible to see how long a call has been on hold in PhoneManager, it will reset each
time a call has been answered and then placed back on hold.

QoS settings
The PhoneManager Pro shall allow the QoS setting to be modified by the user.
CLIENT DEPLOYMENT
The goal of the client application tool is to simplify the installation of the IP Office User
applications and reduce the time taken to install these applications at a customer’s location.
The applications that are included as part of the client application tool are:

• PhoneManager (both lite and pro)
• TAPI Lite Driver
• SoftConsole

NEW ECG TERMINAL SUPPORT
2402D - Basic Two Line DCP terminal
The 2402D is a low-end digital handset in the same form factor as the 4602 that utilizes the
DCP protocol. This incorporates a 2 line, 22 characters per line main display with 2
appearance/feature keys with associated indicator icons. A Feature Key provides the system
administrator with the ability to map 12 system features against the dial pad key utilizing keys 1
through to 9 plus 0, *, #. The buttons will be treated as "lampless" buttons and therefore any
feature that requires the availability of a lamp for functionality will not be allowed to be
programmed using the feature key. Appearance and feature keys can be programmed only via
IP Office, not via the phone interface. The status display will show the same information as the
status display lines on the 2420.

2410D - Mid range DCP terminal
4610SW - Mid range IP Hardphone
4601 – Basic IP Hardphone
EU24 Expansion Module for 2420 and 4620
201A RECORDER INTERFACE MODULE


12 PORT MODEM CARD
A new Modem 12 card has been produced to increase capacity and replace the obsolete
component on the existing Modem 2 card.

SMBS HANDSETS
SMBS will be introducing a new series of desk set terminals, which will include both digital and
IP hard phones. Note: these terminals will not be included in the IP Office 3.0 field trial. IP
Office 3.0 will support the new terminals when they are released.


The Digital series of terminals will be based on the 24xx series of digital terminals that are
currently supported and will be designated in the 54xx range as follows:

2402 = 5402
2410 = 5410
2420 = 5420

The physical appearance will be identical with the exception of the product ident and labeling.
The firmware in the 54xx sets will be the same as 24xx sets with one critical exception, the DCP
protocol will be modified to expect a DCP protocol formatted message from the IP Office that
states that it is an IP Office. If this message is not received then the set will not work. This new
handshake must be implemented in the IP Office.

The IP Hardphone series of terminals will be based on the 46xx series of IP terminals that are
currently supported and will be designated in the 56xx range as follows:

4601 = 5601
4602 = 5602
4602SW = 5602SW
4610SW = 5610SW
4620 = 5620

 

[TheMitelGuy]

Do we know if the 64xx will still be supported? I'm assuming they will be.

I would imagine all phones from avaya will be redesigned, as I see that the handsets on the PARTNER phones have been redesigned. I imagine it's only time before the TDL phones get redone, or Avaya makes them dissapear.

Just my opinion.

Neil

 

[IPGuru]

64XX handsets are already supported.
at least the 6408D & 6416D definatley are.

Note:- the D is important 6408 will not work correctly

 

[DJTelco]

With so many new features, I wonder what the feature / bug ratio will be?

I hope there will be a good solid stable 2.* release prior to the 3.0. That will give us a stable rev to use for new installations between now and the resolution of all the new 3.0 bugs that no doubt will exist.

So far, in my exposure to the IPO product, it seems like each install is beta testing.

How many installs have you guys/gals done that were not "money pits" as far as sinking tons of nonbillable time to resolve bugs after the initial cutover?


djtelco

 

[IPGuru]

To be fair up until V2.1 most of ouR IPO sites have entered servise with nothing more than minor tweaking.

Most calls we now recieve are either faulty handsets, customer changes or customer error.

Hopefully V2.1 will soon be the same

 

[Gibsonic]

Any new news on when version 3 will be out? I heard sometime this month.

 

[fonedoc]

Release 3.x is scheduled for release on 21st of March.

Fonedoc

 

[MrIPO]

How about the News of DT's not supported on Version 3 only DS.

Hopefully they will allow Contact Store to work on the 3.0(DT) build when it becomes released in a few months. Other wise they will only have the option basically for the try and buy for a DT Site. Nice upgrade path !!!

Umm anotherprivatebuild !!!

 

[IPGuru]

Contact store WILL NOT be supported on the V3.0DT release
(at least thats the story for now)

 

[sizbut]

V3.0DT = No Contact Store, No line appearances, No Personal Distribution Lists, No Phone Manager Compact Mode, No any of the fixes that have gone into V3.0.

 

[IPGuru]

In short - V3.0DT=NO POINT!