Mitel’s offerings to the voice communications market seem oriented to the large user and the service provider with smaller customers, rather than the small- or medium-sized business markets. By providing both equipment and negotiated rates with U.S. signal carriers, Mitel offers to be your communications partner.
Hardware / Infrastructure – The company’s flagship product line – the model 3300 IP Communications Platform – is scalable from 10 to 65,000 users – -that’s right – 65,000 users. It is a full-function PBX system with embedded capabilities including unified messaging and auto-attendants. It is designed to run in most Local Area Network (LAN) and Wide Area Network (WAN) environments, and supports IP phones, wireless phones and audio conferencing gear.
Other “infrastructure” offerings include set-ups for up to 52, 250, 600 and 1,000 users. A further offering enables the 3300 series to run on Sun Microsystems hardware.
Software – the Communications Director program — is designed to run on Mitel’s proprietary hardware or on industry-standard servers from third-party suppliers. The company also offers a Multi-Instance version in which multiple copies can be run on a server or servers to offer the same functionality to a large user or – in the case of a service provider – multiple small and medium users.
Management and Reporting – Mitel offers programs aimed at simplifying and improving the management, reporting and troubleshooting of Mitel networks. Enterprise manager includes a suite of tolls for configuring and controlling even enterprise-wide systems from a single portal, reducing costs and streamlining administration.
Another program offers remote management functions, enabling outside engineers to diagnose and troubleshoot system problems even from a faraway location, reducing the need – and expense – of on-site visits.
Phones and Accessories — Mitel offers dozens of of telephones and accessories to go with its systems. Ranging from basic IP-enabled desktop phones to high-end multi-line speakerphones and special-use units such as the model 5560 IPT which designed to withstand the rigors of the stock-exchange trading floor. Accessories and peripherals include everything from headsets and stands to interfaces for analog phones, programmable key modules softphones (a phone run on a PC) and digital handsets.
Applications – Mitel’s applications suite offers a broad range of programs designed to add increased functionality to the company’s systems. Applications include Business Dashboard for telephone-system reporting and management, Customer Service Manager, Unified Messaging to integrates voice with other communications, audio and web conferencing, teleworkers and a mobile program for unified communications.
Wireless — Another area in which Mitel has a broad range of offerings is in wireless products. It offers phones, gateways, wireless IP phones, phones designed to work in the ubiquitous 802.11b wi-fi environment (including PDA-based softphones).
Finally, Mitel offers a variety of services to complement it’s hardware and software offerings. Choices include everything from systems design and engineering services to hosted solution to completely outsourced management of your phone system.
Mitel has even negotiated deals with a number of ISPs around the country for reduced cost signal carriage, and may be able to offer competitive rates for phone, Internet, data transport and other messaging services.
Mitel sells through a network of reseller partners. Given the large numbers of both resellers and possible combinations of software, hardware and services, it is impossible to say anything meaningful here about pricing.
According to Techcrunch.com, Mitel, a privately-held company with annual sales of almost $750 million and more than 2,000 employees, is in the midst of an IPO filing in Canada worth an estimated USD$230 million.
The company is headquartered in Kanata, Ontario, Canada and can be reached there at 613-592-2122. U.S. operations are based in Chandler, Arizona, and can be reached at 480-961-9000. Customer Service is open from 8 am to 6 pm EST and can be reached at 1-800-267-6244.
