Avaya Demonstrates New IP Telephony Applications.

Avaya recently announced new firmware for its IP telephones that will offer users new functionality in their personal digital assistants (PDAs), the enhancement of telephony capabilities and access to Web-based streaming text via the phone's display panel. The company also announced a new version of its IP Agent, aimed to make the remote contact center agent more efficient and effective. Avaya will take advantage of its IP Telephone's downloadable firmware capability and infrared port to offer the new PDA-based functionality. New firmware, developed by Avaya Labs, will allow users to dial and control the phone using their PDA's infrared interface. This eliminates the need to remember phone numbers, keep multiple phone directories or look up a number and dial it in a separate step. With the appropriate PDA application software and the new firmware, users will be able to dial directly from the existing PDA "address book" database, as well as provide a remote control for pushing telephone buttons such as confer ence, transfer and hold. It will also be possible for users to log-in and log-out from a telephone via their PDA to support shared office and hoteling applications. The new firmware, which also features enhanced voice quality and faster start-up, is available to users of Avaya IP Telephones as a free upgrade. Additional capabilities raking advantage of the Avaya IP Telephone's infrared port will be available later in 2001. These include the ability to send business card contact information (vCards) from one PDA to another over the phone. Other LAN-enabled PDA applications will be supported via the infrared connection in the future, including e-mail and Web browsing.