Avaya to Offer Dual-mode Mobile UC Solution from DiVitas

[Libby]

Avaya announced that they have selected DiVitas Networks to be their preferred solution dual-mode mobile UC partner. Avaya will still offer their own cellular-based FMC offerings: oneX-Mobile UC and oneX-Telephony. Avaya has a long history in dual mode, having introduced the first such product with Motorola and Proxim back in 2004, but have been downplaying their own dual mode solution the oneX-Dual Mode, and steering most prospects to third-party solutions like DiVitas.

The DiVitas solution supports dual-mode Wi-Fi/cellular handsets with the ability to transparently hand off calls between the two networks when a user moves out of Wi-Fi range. Single number reach and single voicemail are inherent in the DiVitas solution, and mobile users will now be able to activate in-call features on the Avaya Communications Manager and SIP Enablement Services.

On the mobile UC front, DiVitas will integrate with Avaya’s Modular Messaging and allow DiVitas users will also get message waiting indication, visual voicemail, and the ability to download voicemail messages to the DiVitas handset. The one key UC feature that is absent is presence, though it is promised for 4Q09. A lack of presence support isn’t surprising. Unlike Cisco, Nortel, NEC, and Siemens, Avaya doesn’t provide presence notification on any of their mobile UC solutions.

DiVitas does support a variety of Nokia E- and N-Series smartphones along with a handful of Windows Mobile models including the HTC TyTN II. One shortcoming of all of the dual mode solutions is a lack of support for any BlackBerry devices. With this joint agreement, the Avaya sales force and some of the major Avaya distributors will now be marketing the DiVitas solution.

Analysis

The dual mode solutions represent a rather small and specialized segment of the mobile UC market, one that is dominated by DiVitas and archrival Agito Networks. Siemens markets a dual mode solution called Mobile Connect, and lesser-known Varaha also has a product. A joint agreement with Avaya can only be a good thing for DiVitas, but dual mode remains a special case in FMC. For the cost-conscious, shifting mobile calls to a WLAN can result in significant savings. However, that assumes the wireless LAN covers the entire facility and is engineered for the anticipated volume of voice traffic. Even then, dual mode users have to give up their BlackBerries, and that’s a sacrifice most are not ready to make.

Agito had a major coup last year when they were selected by Cisco as a partner in their Motion Architecture announcement, and currently they are the only dual mode solution that supports the Mobile Intelligent Roaming feature of Cisco’s Mobility Services Engine (MSE). Agito claims that will provide a better decision as to when a call should be handed off from Wi-Fi to cellular; DiVitas would argue that point in a debate that would bore the finish off a table. However, from a UC standpoint, the key deficiency of Agito’s product is that it uses inband DTMF signaling; severely limiting the range of UC functionality it can deliver. With your signaling vocabulary limited to DTMF tones, visual voicemail, presence, and the other key mobile UC features are not getting to the mobile user.

However, the PBX vendors face a bigger problem than in that in mobile UC with their apparent inability to get customers to move past Phase 1. Phase 1 is extension-to-cellular that delivers single number reach, but the real mobility solution is being provided by a BlackBerry/BES or equivalent smartphone solution. Extension-to-cellular (or simple call forwarding in older TDM PBXs) is ringing the user’s cell phone, but the PBX vendors’ mobile UC package clearly isn’t ringing the customer’s bell.

It’s no secret that Microsoft and the UC platform vendors plan to incorporate the PBX functionality in their overall offerings essentially eliminating the PBX as a separate element in the network. One of the key opportunities the PBX vendors have in reversing that onslaught will be to offer a better and more functional approach to integrating mobility. To do that, the PBX vendors will have to establish a bigger role in the mobility value chain. Lacking that, they run the risk of disappearing in an environment dominated by Microsoft and RIM.