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NORTHEAST USA REGIONAL RECEPTION
SEPTEMBER 15, 2009
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OCTOBER 14, 2009
Hotel Lumiere - St. Louis, MO


2010 WINTER CONFERENCE AND EXHIBIT SHOW
JANUARY 20 - 22, 2010
Royal Sonesta Hotel - New Orleans, LA

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Avaya
Certifications
Cisco
Fax-over-IP
Legal
Market
NEC
Nortel
Power

Avaya

Apparent Networks announces Avaya compliance for network performance management tool
Apparent Networks has announced that its PathView network performance management tool is now interoperable with Avaya’s key IP telephony platform and unified communications architecture. Providing complete visibility into the end-to-end performance of the network paths, PathView allows customers to enhance the performance of their network infrastructures that support Avaya’s IP telephony and unified communications solutions. Customers are able to support the entire process of solution implementations – from pre-deployment assessments to in-life troubleshooting and monitoring – without the need for appliances or agents. PathView not only focuses on VoIP call accounting, but also enables network engineers to proactively predict the performance of UC services all the way through WAN clouds.  Apparent Networks is a Gold member of the Avaya DevConnect program.
Visit www.apparentnetworks.com or www.avaya.com/devconnect.

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Certifications

@Comm's CommView achieves ShoreTel certifications
@Comm Corporation announced the achievement of ShoreTel's prestigious Customer and Partner Proven Certification under the ShoreTel Technology Partner Program for its flagship product, CommView. CommView is a simple-to-use call accounting, department call productivity and traffic reporting solution for both VoIP and legacy PBX and IP-PBX systems; the solution delivers advanced call analysis reports for the ShoreTel UC system. Reports are designed to help reduce telecom expense, detect and measure team productivity and pinpoint workflow bottlenecks.  Report distribution is fully automated and Web browser-based for management simplicity. Available either as a customer premise application or as a secure (SSL 128-bit encryption on all web sessions) SaaS Web based subscription, CommView uniquely provides these reports in a consistent uniform format for any mix of legacy PBXs or IP-PBXs from any manufacturer with CDR (Call Detail Records).
Visit www.atcomm.com or www.shoretel.com.
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Cisco

Cisco warns of Unified Communications flaw
Cisco has issued a security alert about two vulnerabilities in its Unified Communications Manager (UCM) software. The flaws could allow an attacker to create a denial-of-service attack on the tool, which is used to manage enterprise telephony and communication services. Such an attack could bring down voice services and require the system to be restarted. An attacker could conduct the exploit by flooding a certain port on the UCM with TCP information packets, causing the system to reject new connection requests and render telephony systems useless. Cisco said that the flaw affects UCM editions 4, 5, 6 and 7. The Express edition is not believed to be vulnerable. The company has released patches for the 6.x and 7.x versions, and a fix for versions 5.x is scheduled for early September. Administrators are advised to install the updates immediately. The risk of attack can also be mitigated by filtering access to the vulnerable TCP 2000 and 2443 ports and the UDP 5060 and 5061 ports.
Visit www.cisco.com.
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Fax-over-IP

SIP Forum's Fax-over-IP Interoperability Task Group reaches important milestone
The SIP Forum announced that the IP communications association's Fax-over-IP Interoperability Task Group has published its formal FoIP Problem statement - and in the process reached an important milestone for its FoIP initiative. The SIP Forum chartered the FoIP Interoperability Task Group to investigate interoperability issues with the deployment of fax services, specifically ITU-T T.38, in SIP networks. The issues surrounding IP-based fax and the use of T.38 make it difficult for users to determine if T.38 can or will work reliably and thus offer an alternative to traditional TDM-based fax transport. While the T.38 protocol, approved by the ITU-T in 1998, was designed to allow fax machines and computer-based fax to carry forward in a transitioning communications infrastructure of both IP- and TDM-based telephony, today there are enough problems and confusion among vendors, enterprises and service providers to significantly slow the use of IP as a real-time fax transport. Available for download HERE, the FoIP Task Group Problem Statement details the problems the task group has chosen to address.
Visit www.sipforum.org.
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Legal

Cisco Systems and Avaya sued for Visual Voicemail patent infringement
Klausner Technologies says that it has filed suit against Cisco Systems and Avaya for alleged patent infringement. The lawsuit asserts that Cisco's and Avaya's Visual Voicemail services infringe Klausner Technologies' Visual Voicemail patents. Klausner Technologies currently has 24 Visual Voicemail patent licensees, including major U.S. and European wireless service providers, cell phone manufacturers, cable/VoIP providers as well as other providers of Visual Voicemail services. The suit has been filed in federal court in the eastern district of Texas by the California law firm of Dovel & Luner. The company says that the damages could reach as much as US$118 million.
Visit www.cisco.com, www.avaya.com or www.klausnertechnologies.com. 
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Market

Infonetics Research: North American enterprise phone systems sales up 12% in 2Q09
Communications market research firm Infonetics Research released the second quarter (2Q09) edition of its Enterprise Telephony market share and forecast report, which tracks TDM PBX and KTS phone systems, IP PBX phone systems, IP phones and VoIP gateways. "The North American PBX market posted strong results in the second quarter, with a 12% sequential gain. North America declined by more than 20% two quarters in a row, and we are finally seeing some signs of normalcy returning to the market. On the other hand, the Asia Pacific market was down 12%, pulled down by seasonal buying factors. The overall improvement in revenue is a welcome sign, but the difficult worldwide economic climate continues to weigh heavily on the PBX market," says Matthias Machowinski, directing analyst for enterprise voice and data at Infonetics Research. Enterprise telephony market highlights:

• In 2Q09, worldwide sales of PBX and KTS phone systems grew 1% sequentially, to $1.8 billion

• Sales of pure IP PBX phone systems increased 6% quarter-on-quarter, driven by the continued migration from hybrid to pure IP switching

• Vendor results were mixed in 2Q09, with overall revenue leaders Cisco, Avaya, Alcatel-Lucent and Nortel posting gains, with other leaders such as Siemens and NEC losing share

• Shipments of IP phones, which are forecast to have a bright long-term future, increased 4% in 2Q09, more than the overall PBX market

• VoIP gateways are expected to be a $1.7 billion market by 2013

Visit www.infonetics.com.
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NEC

NEC introduces enhancements to UC for Enterprise portfolio
NEC Unified Solutions, Inc. (NEC) introduced significant updates to its unified communications suite, UC for Enterprise (UCE), designed to meet the growing needs for business collaboration, mobility and productivity. Enhancements to the suite include the introduction of UCE Mobility, Microsoft Outlook integration for UCE Desktop Client, and new integration capabilities for the UCE Attendant. When deployed with NEC’s enterprise-class UNIVERGE SV8500 communications server, UCE Mobility empowers enterprise users with an array of powerful benefits, including single-number reach; an easy-to-use interface; simultaneous ring; and unified voicemail. Also deployed with the SV8500 communications server, UCE Desktop Client now provides a centralized interface where users can access collaborative features and options, including Microsoft Outlook Toolbar Integration; UC Collaboration; and Conference Manager. The UCE Attendant is now NEC’s sole attendant console application for the enterprise market and features enhanced productivity features for general business, healthcare and hospitality. All UCE applications and features rely upon the UCE Application Platform (UNIVERGE OW5000), which provides the presence engine and database infrastructure required by UCE as well as the developer tools for third-party solutions as part of the UNIVERGE Solutions Partner Program.
Visit www.necunified.com/uc.
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Nortel

Nortel plans to continue asset sale, exec says
Networking gear maker Nortel Networks is planning to continue the sale of some of its major assets following the sale of its CDMA/LTE business to erstwhile rival Ericsson, an executive said. Armando Pascual, Nortel director for distribution in the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam, in an emailed statement said “the strategy of divesting Nortel’s businesses is now firmly established.” After months of speculations and various offers from different companies, Nortel finally gave in and agreed to sell its CDMA/LTE assets to Ericsson for $1.3 billion, beating a previous offer made to Nortel by Nokia Siemens Network, another rival. “The sale of the CDMA / LTE Access business to Ericsson has been largely completed, a ‘stalking horse’ process for the sale of the Enterprise business is underway, discussions are advanced for other parts of the business,” Pascual said, adding that “the company has completed its move to stand-alone businesses.” Pascual however has assurance that the company’s structure enables Nortel “to effectively continue to serve its customers, and also facilitate the sales of its businesses and integration processes with acquiring companies.”
Visit www.nortel.com.
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Power

Para Systems forges alliance to market General Electric’s UPS products
Para Systems, Inc. announced a marketing and sales agreement with General Electric’s Power Quality division.  Under the terms of the agreement, GE’s LP-33U and SG series of premium quality three-phase uninterruptible power supplies (UPSs) will be available to IT solution distributors currently selling Para Systems’ Minuteman brand of power products. The Minuteman product line currently includes single-phase UPSs ranging from 400VA up to 24kVA, along with a full line of surge protectors, power distribution units (PDUs), remote power managers (RPMs) and a full-featured power monitoring software product.  With the addition of GE’s line of three-phase products, Para Systems can now offer high-end three-phase solutions up to 750kVA.
Visit www.minutemanups.com/3phase.
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