CatalystTech

For several releases users have been looking for an alternative to the Analog speaker phone option in Conference Room solutions.  Until now there was no official support for any IP or Digital  phones on IP Office.  The best option was an analog phone and a page of instructions.  With the introduction of R5 of IP Office, SIP endpoints are now supported.  With SIP endpoints a plethora of options open up for integration, including new Conference Room phones.  SIP is a loose standard and many devices may have at minimum a partial support.   Using this concept we reach the multi-line IP conference phone.

UPDATED (again)
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GREENVILLE, SC – June 18, 2009 – ScanSource Communications, a leading value-added distributor of communications solutions, and Catalyst Telecom, a value-added distributor of voice, video and data convergence solutions, have been recognized by Polycom, Inc., the global leader in telepresence, video and voice communications solutions, for their industry-leading performance. ScanSource Communications has been named Video Distributor of the Year and both ScanSource Communications and Catalyst Telecom have been named Voice Distributor of the Year. The awards were given in conjunction with the Infocomm 2009 conference and expo taking place June 17-19 in Orlando, Fla., and recognize ScanSource Communications and Catalyst Telecom, both ScanSource, Inc. sales units, for outstanding sales performance and excellence in meeting customer solution, service and support needs.

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Aruba Networks is the first vendor to receive Polycom Voice Interoperability for Enterprise Wireless (VIEW) Certification for its adaptive 802.11n wireless LANs. Prior to this certification, voice over wireless LAN handsets from Polycom, Nortel, Avaya, Alcatel and NEC could only be supported on 802.11a/b/g wireless LANs. As a result, hospitals, hotels, education campuses and back-office environments that needed in-building mobile voice and high speed data were unable to upgrade to an 802.11n wireless LAN. That situation has now been rectified – with VIEW certification in hand, you can now offer converged data and voice over wireless LAN solutions built on Aruba’s adaptive 802.11n platform.
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The Polycom (formerly Spectralink) 8020 and 8030 WiFi Phones (a.k.a Avaya 3641 and 3645) are ruggedized.  Just how ruggedized are they?  Are we talking Hummer tough or Geo Tracker tough?  Below are a few videos from the guys over at Polycom showing just how tough the phones are in several scenarios you may encounter on a daily basis, or not.

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IP Phone documentation is a bit scattered, and in some instances can be hard to locate.  Below is a set of links to some known documentation on different series IP Phones.  If you have additional resources on Avaya IP Phones feel free to post links in the comments section.

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The Catalyst ConfigTool version 4.0.6 is now avaliable.  It can be downloaded from the CatalystTelecom web site.  See below for additions/changes/fixes.
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802.11 WiFi based phones remove the range limits from traditional wireless handsets.  These small handsets can operate anywhere the wireless network extends, even into a campus environment.  Polycom carries a great line of proven handsets to meet the need of business class portable handsets.  Handsets connect to an approved traditional WiFi network.  Several Gateway options can allow these phones to connect to a variety of IP, Digital, or Analog interfaces on the PBX.  Detailed setup guides (http://www.spectralink.com/resources/wifi_compatibility.jsp) can even help in configuring the WiFi network to carry the VoIP traffic efficiently.