The Citel Handset Gateway helps businesses migrate to a next-generation IP telephony platform, while maintaining much of their existing handset and wiring infrastructure. The solution now is compliance-tested by Avaya for compatibility with Avaya Communication Manager IP telephony software and the Avaya Converged Communication Server, an application that enables SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) services and extends the value of a company's investment in its network.

"Citel is proud to have obtained this important milestone with Avaya," said Mike Robinson, CEO of Citel. "Now, enterprises with multiple locations and PBX handsets from multiple vendors can connect seamlessly to Avaya's robust SIP-based IP platform, reduce total costs and minimize the disruption to their business as they migrate to a voice over IP network."

Citel is a member of the Avaya DeveloperConnection Program -- an initiative to develop, market and sell innovative third-party products that interoperate with Avaya technology and extend the value of a company's investment in its network. As a member of the program, Citel is eligible to submit products for compatibility testing by the Avaya Solution Interoperability and Test Lab in Lincroft, N.J. There a team of Avaya engineers develops a comprehensive test plan for each application to verify whether it is Avaya compliant. Doing so ensures businesses can confidently add best-in-breed capabilities to their network without having to replace their existing infrastructure -- speeding deployment of new applications and reducing both network complexity and implementation costs.

"By offering compliance testing to the many innovative companies like Citel who are members of our DeveloperConnection program, Avaya promotes fully interoperable solutions that help businesses unleash powerful new possibilities," said Eric Rossman, vice president, developer relations and technical alliances, Avaya. "They are able to use Intelligent Communications to connect employees and customers to information from wherever they are, over whatever device they have available -- getting more out of their multivendor network and delivering new value to their bottom line."

Source: Telephony World