ACUTA
Hosted
Migration and Resellers
Mitel
NEC
Nortel
Op-Ed
Polycom
Security
ShoreTel

ACUTA

ACUTA’s Strategic Leadership forum addresses campus technology policies
For college and university leaders, the evolution of communications networks and the ways they are used pose significant policy challenges. The 11th annual ACUTA Forum for Strategic Leadership in Communications Technology will provide the tools they need to develop realistic and effective policies. The Forum, presented by the Association for Communications Technology Professionals in Higher Education (ACUTA), will be July 30-31 in Hollywood, Florida, in conjunction with the organization’s 36th Annual Conference. The Forum combines interactive presentations by campus and industry experts with numerous roundtable discussions, allowing participants to learn both from each other and from presenters. The annual Forum, this year titled “Convergence or Divergence: Technology Policies and User Expectations,” is for individuals in higher education with senior strategic planning and decision-making responsibility for communications technology and information technology. It is open to both members and non-members of ACUTA, the only national association dedicated to serving the needs of higher education communications technology professionals.
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Hosted

SimpleSignal announces “On Demand” business trunking
SimpleSignal announces an industry-first of its “On Demand” overflow calling feature for inbound and outbound business communications. Simply put, this feature adds additional capacity instantly when capacity is reached for making outbound calls and receiving incoming calls. There are no limitations on the capacity on the number of incoming or outgoing calls except as a practical matter of personnel and equipment. SimpleSignal On Demand allows administrators and dealers increased ability to simplify network management and minimize network expenditures.  SimpleSignal “On Demand” works with any SIP-compatible IP-PBX system or SIP device or with an additional add-on IAD device for older systems. SimpleSignal service is available in all cities in the U.S. and Canada with unlimited incoming and local calls including the free bonus features. Discounted international rates apply.  
Visit www.simplesignal.com/independent-agent-special.htm.
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Migration and Resellers

Citel announces new agent programs
Citel announced the new Citel Agent Program and Citel Master Agent Program. These programs are designed to accelerate enterprise migration to IP telephony by providing an alternative VoIP migration deployment strategy for integrators and consultants, and increasing awareness of the Citel Portico Telephone VoIP Adapter (TVA) among enterprise customers. Agents enrolled in the programs will receive tools and resources to effectively sell Portico TVA as part of their enterprise VoIP migration portfolio, while enterprises benefit from the dramatic savings Portico TVA provides compared to a typical “rip and replace” migration. The Citel Agent Program is designed for independent integrators, consultants and others who contract with enterprises to select new telephony systems.  The Citel Master Agent program is designed for individuals or firms who provide telecommunications systems recommendations to an extended network of integrators and consultants.
Visit www.citel.com.
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Mitel

Mitel IP communications systems deployed by Indiana library system
Mitel has snagged a $400,000 contract to replace the telecommunications system of an Indiana library system, winning a competition which saw bids from larger companies such as Avaya and Cisco Systems. The Allen County Public Library (ACPL), one of the largest library systems in the United States, has selected Mitel to provide a unified messaging system, including two Mitel 3300 Internet-protocol (IP) Communications Platforms, more than 300 IP phones and 121 wireless phones. Cincinnati-based MVD Communications, which provides voice and data network applications for small and large businesses across the United States, is working to support and maintain Mitel's solutions. The library and its consultants The Gateway Group said they chose Mitel for its "forward-thinking solutions portfolio, price and continued strong investment into R&D." This is Mitel's second library deployment in recent months, following an August announcement by the Minneapolis Public Library that it had migrated to Mitel's IP system.
Visit www.mitel.com.
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NEC

NEC announces UNIVERGE OW5000 application platform for developer partners
NEC Unified Solutions, Inc. announced its UNIVERGE OW5000 platform, for developers in NEC's UNIVERGE Solutions Partner Program, to assist with the development of customized applications and business solutions. The OW5000 application platform actively promotes interoperability with NEC products and systems, allowing partners to develop and integrate with third-party applications. The OW5000 application platform is a core component of NEC's VoIP and developer strategy, providing support for existing networks and simplifying application development and deployment. The platform supports Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) development with web services for converged voice and data networks, and contains open Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) developers can use to integrate NEC's UNIVERGE SV7000, SV7000 Multiple Purpose System (MPS) and NEAX IPS Controller IP telephony servers with their applications.
Visit www.necunified.com.
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Nortel

Cygnal Technologies named Nortel's Convergence partner of the year
Cygnal Technologies announced that it has been designated as Nortel's Canadian Convergence Business Partner for the third consecutive year. Cygnal has again achieved this prestigious industry award by demonstrating excellence in delivering winning voice, VoIP and data networking solutions for enterprises including securing over $7 million dollars of Nortel revenue throughout 2006. Nortel Networks presented the award in recognition of strong success and real commitment to Nortel Networks in 2006. Cygnal Technologies offers a full range of technologies and solutions for service providers and enterprise customers. The Company has expertise in voice, video and data solutions over traditional and next generation converged technologies.
Visit www.nortel.com or www.cygnal.ca.
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Op-Ed

Used network equipment dealers unite to drive best practices, fight counterfeit
Mike Sheldon, Network Hardware Resale

The elevated prominence given the secondary market during last month’s Cisco Partner Summit is the clearest evidence yet that providers of pre-owned networking gear continue to gain traction—and attention—at even the highest levels.

On the Partner Summit section of its web site, Cisco admits that used equipment dealers are effectively selling against the OEM in the government space while also winning on the small side of the SMB market. In response, the network equipment behemoth has fueled an international brand protection campaign with the message that genuine Cisco gear ONLY comes from Cisco and its partners.

So, does this mean customers who have purchased “genuine” Cisco gear now have equipment with little to no residual value? Industry observers equate this condition with how it would feel to drive a new car off the lot knowing it now was worthless.
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Polycom

Wire One Communications:  Polycom’s highest volume reseller
Wire One Communications, the largest provider of visual communication solutions and the leading provider of managed video services, received recognition last week at the Polycom Global Partner Conference as Polycom’s Highest Volume Reseller for 2006. 
“We are proud to be working with an industry leader like Polycom,” said Wire One’s CEO, Dan Connors.  “Wire One has been successful selling and supporting Polycom equipment since 1998.  We attribute our success to the value our managed services bring to customers.  Through our unique approach to managed services, we make video so reliable and easy that our customers want to use more video, and they have a much better experience with it.”
Visit www.wireone.com or www.polycom.com.
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Security

Centale, Inc. introduces multi-faceted communication platform
Centale, Inc. announces the introduction of the CommunityAlertPRO for use by all Universities. The core value of the CommunityAlertPRO solution is the effective delivery of time sensitive and critical information when needed most. In the case of an emergency, the student would receive direct communication to his or her desktop, email inbox and cell phone. The architectural design of Centale's core technology (the Catalyst EV) and ease of customization is the primary reason the company can react so quickly to market needs and deliver such robust applications. The traditional desktop notification would be replaced with a yellow colored alert flashing on the middle of the screen, notifying the student of exactly what has taken place and instructions for subsequent steps. The student could then forward the message to all of his or her friends using the tool itself -- this 'send to friends' feature quickens the notification process in the time of crisis. The intent is to use this multi-pronged communication mechanism to deliver critical news to desktop, email and cell phones ensuring that, when required, there is no single point of failure in communication.
Visit www.centale.com.
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ShoreTel

ShoreTel adds more VoIP options for SMBs
IP PBX provider ShoreTel launched a mixed bag of IP Telephony enhancements designed to make end users more productive and organizations more efficient, and to reduce the total cost of ownership of ShoreTel IPT products. ShoreTel has released a new version of its software, added new, smaller-footprint IP PBX hardware and built its first SIP (Session Initiation Protocol)-based IP phone. A key new feature in the ShoreTel 7 release is escalation notification, which allows administrators to create a mandatory response process for incoming calls. The escalation feature, built into ShoreTel's voice mail system, allows administrators to define business rules and routing so that a mailbox can call out to a phone, pager or e-mail. New user productivity functions in the Personal Call Manager desktop client provide a dial-out, wizard-based approach to transferring calls. At the same time, administrators can define tool bars with programmable buttons for specific employee roles such as call center agent, salesperson or secretary. The buttons allow users to perform standard telephony functions with a single mouse click, and to launch other applications or a Web browser from a programmed button.
Visit www.shoretel.com.
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