Avaya buys Traverse Networks to link cell phone users to corporate VoIP

New pricing, features for Avaya's unified messaging software due in early 2007.

Avaya this week acquired Traverse Networks for $15 million and announced simplified pricing for its various VoIP software platforms — moves the vendor hopes will be a one-two punch against Cisco and Nortel in the mobility and collaboration arena.

Avaya acquired Traverse for its fixed-mobile convergence software, which allows users to access corporate IP PBX features, voicemail, e-mail, and other resources over a secure cellphone data connection.

Timed with the acquisition, Avaya announced a repackaging of its unified communications products, including a new four-level product structure that the vendor says will make it simpler and less expensive for customers to buy and install the technology.

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Avaya this week acquired Traverse Networks for $15 million and announced simplified pricing for its various VoIP software platforms — moves the vendor hopes will be a one-two punch against Cisco and Nortel in the mobility and collaboration arena.

Avaya acquired Traverse for its fixed-mobile convergence software, which allows users to access corporate IP PBX features, voicemail, e-mail, and other resources over a secure cellphone data connection.

Timed with the acquisition, Avaya announced a repackaging of its unified communications products, including a new four-level product structure that the vendor says will make it simpler and less expensive for customers to buy and install the technology.

Traverse, a 5-year-old start-up based in Fremont, Calif., makes mobile phone applications — Visual Voicemail and CallConnect — which let mobile users access office telephone features and IP PBX/voicemail services remotely.

Visual Voicemail aggregates a user’s office voicemail messages and displays them on a cellphone in a manner similar to an e-mail in-box. It shows data including coworkers’ names, caller ID, and message time and date. Users can listen to, delete and forward messages on the office voicemail system from the cellphone interface.

CallConnect is software that extends control of a desktop IP phone to a mobile device application interface. From a cellphone, a user can program a simultaneous-ring feature so an incoming call to an office phone extension or cellphone will ring both devices at the same time, for example. Number forwarding and other call-handling options are also part of the software.

PDAs and smart phones running Java 2 Micro Edition, as well as RIM's Blackberry devices, can run the Traverse client software.

The server-based component of Traverse's product sits in front of a corporate IP PBX or IP-enabled phone, behind a corporate firewall. Called Mobility Server, the application communicates with IP PBX and messaging systems and connects these internal servers, via an encrypted data tunnel, to external cellphones running the Traverse client.

Avaya's Traverse acquisition could be considered a counter move to Cisco's purchase of Orative Corp. in October. Cisco paid $31 million for the start-up, which makes software that ties together mobile phones with corporate IP PBX and messaging systems. Orative was already part of Cisco's network of VoIP technology partners, with Cisco-interoperable products, when Cisco bought the company.

Traverse's platform works with Cisco CallManager, but not with Avaya's VoIP technology. Avaya says it will integrate Traverse into its IP PBX and messaging products in 2007, and still continue to support Traverse on Cisco CallManager.