The Inter-Tel 7000 will be a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP)-based IP PBX that can support as many as 2,000 IP phones, as well as analog handsets, via a built-in gateway. The phone system includes built-in multimedia messaging applications based on SIP that could improve user productivity with features such as unified-messaging options and integrated instant messaging and presence technology, according to Inter-Tel.

The Inter-Tel 7000 includes two appliances: a call-processing server, which has SIP-based call control and features; and a media server, which includes presence IM and unified voice mail and e-mail applications. One media server feature lets users set an out-of-office reply in Outlook that will be flagged as such in the IM and voice mail systems.

If a user is on the phone, his status will reflect this as well. For smaller deployments (fewer than 100 users), a single-server appliance can be loaded with the call-processing and media-server software.