Johannesburg, 15 Mar 2005
As part of its drive into the emerging South African voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP) market, distributor Comztek has met the requirements for partner certification for Nortel Networks` Business Communications Manager (BCM). The requirements include sales and presales training, an engineer certified for the product portfolio, as well as investment in laboratory and demonstration facilities.
A BCM is an integrated communications system that is designed for enterprise branch offices and small to medium businesses. It is capable of delivering both IP-enabled and pure-IP solutions, integrating key service unit and PBX capabilities, VOIP gateway functions, and quality of service data routing features in a single system.
According to Anton Buys du Plessis, channel director at Nortel Networks: "This device is basically an office in a box, which makes it a very attractive solution especially for greenfields environments. Establishing the same infrastructure using discrete technologies would cost in the region of three times the price of the BCM."
Paul Conradie, managing director of Comztek, says BCM addresses a specific gap in its product portfolio. "We`re moving from the LAN to the converged network: Nortel`s BCM is ideally positioned to address the market`s need for solutions that leverage VOIP," he says.
Buys du Plessis believes there is significant demand for the product in a market that has been crying out for affordable telephony for years. "The demand for this solution is massive - and a popular configuration is to `piggy-back` the existing PABX with the BCM. This offers investment protection for the client, while getting them into the realm of IP telephony, converged communications including intelligent voice recognition, unified messaging and video conferencing," he says.
The Nortel Business Communications Manager is available from Comztek immediately.
Share