(TORONTO, ON) June 4, 2002 - Bell Canada and Cisco Systems, Inc. today announced that they are working together to provide IP (Internet Protocol) telephony products and services to Bell Managed Solutions customers. As part of the strategic relationship with Cisco, Bell Canada will deliver the Enterprise Convergent Desktop, a single network solution that manages all the voice and data communication needs of large enterprises.
As part of the Bell-managed IP telephony solution, customers also receive services such as end-to-end network management, pro-active performance and change management, customer care consulting, billing information and statistical reporting. The converged desktop solution eliminates the need to maintain separate voice and data networks, and helps increase employee productivity by exploiting the flexibility of Internet Protocol to support multimedia applications such as unified messaging as well as the ability to add or move telephony stations within the enterprise.
For customers transitioning from traditional PBX systems to a converged voice and data network, Cisco's Architecture for Voice, Video and Integrated Data (Cisco AVVID) technology, provides an intelligent, standards-based infrastructure that is flexible and reliable. Voice and video solutions based on Cisco AVVID support scalable call processing, IP-based business applications, instant video-conferencing, online directory services and devices such as IP phones.
"Companies today are looking for advanced IP-based applications and reliable communications solutions that they don't have to manage themselves," explained Charles Salameh, vice-president, Bell Managed Solutions. "Bell's unmatched experience in managing large communications networks, coupled with Cisco's advanced AVVID IP-technology platform, enables Bell Managed Solutions to provide customers with a one-stop source for network-based communications applications and services. The end result is that customers can concentrate on attaining their business goals, rather than worrying about communication technologies."
"Cisco and Bell have combined their respective strengths in technology leadership and managed infrastructure services to further expand the market for IP telephony," said Pierre-Paul Allard, managing director, Cisco Systems Canada. "Cisco's IP telephony solutions give service providers like Bell Canada the ability to make a broad range of e-business solutions available to their customers. With Enterprise Convergent Desktop, Bell manages the network right up to the desktop phone while companies can benefit from increases in employee productivity and the reduced operational costs inherent in converged networks."
"Network convergence has emerged as a powerful trend in Canada, with more than 50 percent of Canadian businesses expected to move from traditional PBX telephone technology to IP or network-based telephony communications within the next three years," said Dan McLean, senior analyst, IDC Canada. "IDC research also indicates that over 40 percent of medium and large enterprises in Canada want to outsource the implementation of IP telephony solutions and lease the technology from a service provider."
Bell Managed Solutions provides a single source for end-to-end communication solutions to help business customers improve e-business productivity, protect company data and manage network-based applications, services and content. Network-based and fully managed from start to finish, Bell Managed Solutions offers e-Business Solutions, Network Management and Outsourcing, Security and Data Integrity, Converged Desktop Communications and a comprehensive range of related Professional Services. For more information please visit http://www.network-based.bell.ca.
