Toshiba America Information Systems Inc., Telecommunication Systems Division (Toshiba — www.telecom.toshiba.com) has announced the availability of its Unified Communications Suite, which bundles Toshiba’s unified communications applications in a single software package. All applications in the Unified Communications Suite run on one UC server, Toshiba’s Media Application Server. Now available from Authorized Toshiba Dealers nationwide, Toshiba’s Unified Communications Suite makes it easy and affordable for enterprises to adopt unified communications.

“With Toshiba’s new Unified Communications Suite, Strata® CIX™ VoIP system users get a full suite of unified communications applications on a single server that provides an affordable entry to unified communications without sacrificing any features,” said Brian Metherell, vice president and general manager for Toshiba Information Systems, Telecommunication Systems Division. “With Toshiba’s Unified Communications Suite, our customers can be assured that they are getting the best possible price and significantly simplifying the process of deployment and management of a single unified communications solution.”

Toshiba’s new Unified Communications Suite includes several unified communications applications including:

• Presence and Instant Messaging: View the status of other users with access to both their telephone busy/idle status and calendar status from Outlook® integration. Users can also maximize efficiency with the ability to call or instant-message contacts in one click.
• Outbound Dialing From Any Application: Making a call is as easy as highlighting a number and clicking the mouse. Users can also launch electronic documents, applications and web pages directly from the Net Phone® call manager interface for quick access to the most frequently used communications tools, saving valuable time.
• Desktop Call Control From Your PC: Combine desktop and telephone capabilities to dial, answer, transfer calls and more, all by the click of a mouse. Drag-and-drop features make call transfer, speed dialing, and other functions faster and easier. Users can manage this Net Phone application at their desks or as stand-alone IP soft phones, providing mobility and remote access as well as the efficiency of combining their telephones and computers into integrated communication tools.
• CRM Integration and Screen-pops: Call-answering personnel can provide better service by immediately knowing which customer is calling through automatic database lookup and screen-pop integration to customer relationship management (CRM) applications and databases, saving company time and improving customer service.
• One Number Access (“find me, follow me” sequential ringing): Incoming calls ring at the user’s desk telephone and mobile phone simultaneously or follow a predetermined phone sequence until it finds the user. If not answered at any of the programmed destinations, the user’s voice mail takes the message. Intelligent routing to any destination and only having one voice mailbox to check provides efficiency and value.
• Off-premise Call Forwarding: Incoming calls are automatically forwarded when the user is out of the office, and the user can change the forwarding destination from any remote location.
• Personal Call Handling: Users can define how calls are routed by combining the features of schedule-based and caller-based routing of incoming calls, One Number Access (“find me, follow me” sequential ringing), call screening (announcing the caller name), simultaneous ringing of desk and mobile phones, and the ability to transfer a call back to the office from a cell phone — the perfect combination of accessibility and mobility.
• Fixed Mobile Convergence: Toshiba’s uMobility solution empowers mobile workers to make and answer their PBX calls from virtually anywhere. The users’ smart cell phones function as their PBX extension phones both while in the office via the wireless LAN and while out of the office via a cellular network. This is an advanced level of mobility that insures the most expeditious handling of incoming calls.
• Video Conferencing and Collaboration: The Toshiba Video Communication Solution (VCS®) provides video communication and collaboration, desktop/application sharing, file transfer, and message board text messaging capabilities. Users can easily add video communications to traditional voice conversations and save money on travel by handling collaboration meetings remotely.
• Unified Messaging: Users can access voice and fax messages from their email inboxes, providing the convenience of checking all messages from one location. Web-based unified messaging also adds mobility, allowing users access to their email, voice and fax messages by using only an Internet browser, without even needing to first access their email providers. This is especially useful when away from the office, enabling mobile users to access and manage their voice and fax messages from anywhere they have Internet access.