Nortel Releases Nortel Applications Center Platform

SANTA CLARA, Calif. - Nortel released the Nortel Applications Center that brings together contact center, speech, unified messaging, and multimedia collaboration into an application environment.

The new Nortel Applications Center platform will integrate applications across multiple applications, tools, and reporting modules.

"Applications are the driving force behind convergence," said Bern Elliot, research vice president, Gartner. "Businesses demand innovative applications that will catapult their success to the next level. They want to generate lasting customer loyalty, provide employees with tools that boost performance, and simplify the management complexity of multiple applications. The concept of an open application suite that leverages SIP and integration across multiple applications will allow businesses to become more efficient, driving profitability."

The new Nortel Applications Center leverages Session Initiation Protocol Voice Extensible Markup Language and Call Control Extensible Markup Language.

The Canterbury District Health Board, which is responsible for providing or purchasing Government-funded health care services for communities in New Zealand, turned to Nortel to help ensure its customers receive access to the board's services. "We're in the business of promoting health care by providing information that facilitates out-patient care, surgery, intensive care, mental health and elderly care," said Kerry Varcoe, telecommunications and operation manager, Canterbury District Health Board. "The services that we provide are paramount to our community's well-being. Nortel's customer service applications act as our initial interface to the public and have allowed us to provide better service to those seeking information on our health services."

Specifically, Nortel announced several Nortel Applications Center components:

• Nortel Contact Center Suite 6.0 is a suite of SIP-based contact center and self-service solutions, combined with the real-time collaborative multimedia capabilities available on the Nortel MCS 5100.
• CallPilot* Unified Messaging release 4.0 enables users to access messages from PDAs and other e-mail-enabled devices, empowering employees to work from any location. Additionally, integration with Nortel Call Center Web Portal, allows CallPilot 4.0 messages to be delivered to agents.
• Communication Control Toolkit 5.0 is Nortel's next generation platform that enhances the contact center and self-service environment.

Coweta-Fayette EMC, a consumer-owned cooperative providing electricity and related services to 65,000 members in eight Georgia counties, implemented Nortel's contact center solution to replace its old phone system.

"We were looking to partner with a vendor that could provide upgraded capabilities, industry knowledge and leading edge technology," said Rick Owens, director of customer operations, Coweta-Fayette EMC. "Since implementing the solution, our customers have realized tremendous customer service improvements and faster response times. We view the Nortel applications as an integral portion of our overall customer support program."

In addition to the Nortel Application Center, Nortel announced three infrastructure enhancements that enable the delivery of IP communications:

• Survivable Remote Gateway (SRG) 50 is a new product based on the new Business Communications Manager (BCM) 50 platform. It extends desktop features and user interface to remote users giving them access to the same applications that are available to headquarters locations. The system includes a complete set of converged voice services, voice applications and data networking services, to provide flexibility in meeting customers' needs.
• Communication Server (CS) 1000 Release 4.5 is designed to enhance Nortel IP Telephony solutions. It is capable of supporting an increased number of configured contact center agents located anywhere on the network. It features call routing, bandwidth management and active call failover capabilities.
• The Nortel IP Phone 2007, a full color screen phone, enables communication and information exchange between customers and across the enterprise via multimedia-based content such as Web pages, still frames and streaming video presentations along with a set of business telephony features.