Metaswitch Forum 2012, Orlando, FL, October 1, 2012 - Citel Technologies, Inc., is pleased to announce at the Metaswitch Forum 2012 that it has developed a hardware upgrade to its award winning Portico™ TVA™ that enables its VoIP migration device to be powered by 48vDC when installed in a central office environment for IP Centrex deployments, itself a recent introduction. For the first time carriers who are migrating their customers to an IP Centrex solution from a DMS100 Centrex environment can install the Portico™ TVA™ centrally utilizing a 48vDC power source rather than having to look at other power options or install the device at end user premises.
The Portico™ TVA™ offers companies the ability to migrate their customers to VoIP without the unnecessary burden of ripping and replacing existing cabling infrastructure, purchasing new IP phones and installing Power over Ethernet switches. Customers can retain their existing digital, analog and Centrex phones without removing the existing switches by SIP enabling those phones through the use of the Portico™ TVA™. This is a quick and cost effective means of VoIP migration.
The Portico™ TVA™ was originally developed as a premise based device. However, for carriers wanting to migrate their Centrex customers to a cloud based IP telephony solution it is an issue as most work with the switching equipment is done centrally. At the Metaswitch Forum in 2011, Sales personnel, following discussions with carriers attending the show, asked Citel to re-examine its premise based design. Along with upgrading the device so that it could be installed at a Central Office location ensuring the phones could be SIP enabled more than 15,000 feet away, Citel also investigated a change in the device’s power supply to 48vDC, a voltage frequently used in Central Office exchanges due to its safer and historical use. Although ready for customer testing, the upgraded hardware will still require regulatory approval but due to testing undertaken, said approval is expected without delay. “It is important to listen to customers and to work with them to develop products and firmware that meet their needs” said Ian Gomm, VP Sales and Marketing at Citel. “Companies have been looking at ways of moving their customers over to IP telephony with minimal disruption, and with this 48vDC powered, Central Office version of the Portico™ TVA™, we can ensure the customer can obtain the benefits of VoIP without any of the disruptions that occur when new cabling, PoE switches and IP phones have to be installed.”
About Citel Technologies, Inc.
Citel enables SMBs, large enterprises and service providers to realize the cost and productivity benefits of IP telephony while at the same time leveraging their existing PBX infrastructure. Businesses with single or distributed locations and PBX vendors can now deploy next-generation IP applications and services at their own pace, with minimal business disruption. Service providers can deploy Hosted IP telephony services quickly, without having to “rip and replace” existing enterprise PBX handsets and LAN cabling. Citel is based in Amherst, New York with offices in Loughborough, England (UK) and Toronto, Canada.
About Metaswitch Forum 2012
The annual Metaswitch forum brings together communication service providers, technology vendors and expert speakers from around the world. Presenting leading products, best practices, and innovative thinking, Metaswitch and our Mosaic partners are once again hosting more than 200 network operators at the Rosen Shingle Creek Hotel, Orlando, FL, for in-depth discussions on customer premise, network infrastructure and cloud-based solutions. This year’s event runs from October 1-4. For more information, visit www.metaswitchforum.com, search #MForum12 or follow @metaswitch.