Avaya offers single-server Aura UC package
Avaya has unveiled a single-server unified communications product for medium-sized businesses that uses standards-based virtualisation technology.
The Avaya Aura midsize product, announced on Monday, is based on the Aura architecture that the company introduced for large enterprises in May.
Aura is a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP)-based UC (unified communications) architecture that lets large organisations securely incorporate social media such as Facebook and Twitter, as well as text messaging and peer-to-peer communications, into their communications infrastructures.
The new offering is intended for companies with between 100 and 2,400 users in up to 250 locations, and introduces a Xen-based virtualisation architecture that Avaya said will become its standard way of deploying applications.
Aura System Platform is a custom-built virtualisation technology that Avaya says is tuned for the real-time requirements of UC services. Such services usually demand a dedicated server for each constituent communications service, due to speed and responsiveness requirements. The technology also complies with the Open Virtualization Format (OVF) standard.
System Platform cuts costs by reducing the product's hardware, maintenance, cooling and power requirements, the company said, since it allows Avaya's Communications Manager, Voice Messaging, SIP Enablement Services, Application Enablement Services, Utility Services and Media Services products to be deployed on a single server.
The medium-sized business system also offers simpler installation and maintenance than Avaya's previous offerings, the company said.
Other communications providers, sich as Cisco, are also taking advantage of the benefits of virtualisation in their UC products. Cisco said in July that it would create a version of its WebEx UC product based on cloud computing, an approach that typically relies on virtualisation.
Avaya Aura midsize solution for enterprises will also compete with Vodafone One Net, a hosted UC offering for smaller companies that was announced in September.
Aura midsize solution for enterprises will be available in November, Avaya said. The Standard Edition is priced at $205 (£129) per user, while the Enterprise Edition, which includes Avaya's Unified Communications All Inclusive licence, begins at $285.