Avaya iPhone hook-up hits Oz

Corporate telephony giant Avaya today said it would launch a tool in Australia in November to integrate business telephony systems with Apple iPhone handsets.

(Credit: Avaya)

The company's one-X Mobile platform already allows those with BlackBerry, Palm, Symbian, Windows and other popular mobile phones to integrate their handsets with Avaya's unified communications (also known as internet protocol-based telephony or VoIP) platform.

For example, one-X Mobile allows employees to search corporate directories, take desktop calls on their mobile, switch from desk phone to mobile mid-call, view voice messages on their handset and so on.

Avaya south pacific technical specialist Mark Duncan told ZDNet.com.au that the Avaya system could work on the iPhone either through a Web browser, or by using an applet downloaded to the iPhone from a company's Avaya back-office installation. He said he had seen a lot of corporate interest in the iPhone platform, although most people still used BlackBerry or Nokia handsets.

The news comes as corporate technology providers such as IBM, Oracle and their rivals are increasingly updating their platforms to make them compatible with Apple's popular handset. For example, overnight IBM said it would release a tool dubbed iNotes Ultralite that would allow iPhone users to access their Lotus Notes/Domino-based email.

Spokespeople from Avaya's main VoIP rival in the Australian market, Cisco Systems, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether the company had a similar solution.