Mitel has introduced a new multimedia unified communications and collaboration (UC&C) solution with its latest product, the Mitel UC360TM Collaboration Point, designed for use in the personal office meeting space. The device combines multi-party HD video and audio with in-room presentation display including document sharing for remote participants. Priced at less than $2,000, the Mitel UC360 is also affordable alternative, especially when compared to immersive room systems.
The Mitel UC360 architecture takes advantage of Mitel’s Freedom architecture, and it is designed to industry standards to enable interworking work with video collaboration, telepresence, audio conferencing and IP-PBX solutions. Interoperability testing has been initiated with established in room and video vendors including Vidyo and Polycom, and the platform’ interoperability was demonstrated with Vidyo at the recent Mitel Business Partner Conference. The Mitel UC360 is priced at less than $2,000 as an affordable alternative, especially when compared to immersive room systems.
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Commenting in a statement, Ron Wellard, executive vice president of Mitel Communications Solutions, said, “Our customers have repeatedly told us they were frustrated by the technical complexity, hefty cost and need for advanced scheduling required by existing collaboration solutions. Mitel UC360 is our response to those customers. It is as easy to deploy and use as a phone, and delivers a high-quality, rich experience that aligns with the natural way colleagues work together, allowing organizations to reap the full productivity benefits and cost savings of workplace collaboration.”
In a related announcement Vidyo also announced a partnership with Mitel. The companies will deliver a comprehensive integration of Vidyo’s HD multipoint video communications solution with Mitel’s industry leading Unified Communications and Collaboration (UCC) offering.
Commenting on the partnership in a statement, Ashish Gupta, Vidyo’s CMO and SVP Corporate Development, said, “According to research conducted by VMware and Canalys, SMB adoption of virtualized solutions is expected to increase two-fold by 2014, positioning Mitel and Vidyo well in the market as we will deliver rich integrated applications on a common virtualization framework. The virtualized Mitel-Vidyo offering will give SMBs unprecedented choice, delivering unmatched quality, reach and savings to customers looking to deploy on-demand unified communications and visual collaboration solutions … at a fraction of the cost of legacy video conferencing solutions.”
