Alcatel is offering a packaged communications appliance for small
and medium-sized businesses that need to offer telephony, data
transfer, Internet access and e-mail services but cannot justify
the cost of a PBX, writes Eric Doyle.
The OmniPCX Office server is delivered pre-configured to match the
user's requirements. If a company requires all staff to have
telephony and e-mail services but only one user to have access to
the Internet, the modules within the appliance can be configured
accordingly by Alcatel through its resellers. As the user company
grows, the appliance can be reconfigured locally to accommodate
changes.
The appliance is based on Linux. Pierre Dominique, who is
responsible for Alcatel's worldwide e-business group product
marketing and global strategy, said, "This need not concern the
customer because they will not have to learn how to configure
Linux. This is a true appliance which means that the operating
system is irrelevant and totally locked away so that it cannot be
accessed on the network and therefore cannot be hacked."
Like the operating system, the components of the OmniPCX are open
source. Alcatel has brought these together in an integrated package
to save its customers the job. "Many small and medium-sized
businesses have limited IT staffing, and this will save them time
while offering extended services," Dominique said.
The system management software can be used as a Windows program or
via a browser interface for remote access. There are no ongoing
licensing fees but future expansions will incur charges.