Citel is pleased to announce availability of several new features, released as Feature Pack 3, for its award-winning Portico™ Telephone VoIP Adapter (TVA™). New features in this release include the following:
- SIP forking
- Portico Installation and Configuration Tool (PICT)
- End user GUI
- Programmable ringtones
- Nortel handset auto-detect
- Siemens handset and add-on module interoperability
Overview
Citel’s Portico TVA was released in February 2007. It is a network-edge device that enables delivery of VoIP features and applications to digital (PBX), P phone (Centrex), and analog handsets, over existing cabling. Feature pack 3 adds robust end user productivity features as well as additional handset interoperability. The Pack is pre-loaded on all newly manufactured Portico TVA units, and existing units can be upgraded in the field through Citel’s Support Wizard.
Feature Pack Item Descriptions
1. SIP Forking – SIP parallel forking, or SIP forking, is a protocol that allows multiple endpoints using the same Address of Record (AOR) to be called simultaneously. This feature may be used in two types of scenarios:
- Simultaneously rining multiple endpoints (land-line, mobile phone, softphone, etc) that all belong to one user.
- Simultaneously ringing multiple users that share an AOR.
When a parallel-forking proxy receives an INVITE request (an incoming call) to an AOR, the proxy will create a new client INVITE request for each user agent registered against the AOR. All of the proxy’s client INVITE requests are issued onto the network at approximately the same time (each endpoint starts ringing). The INVITE terminates as soon as the first available endpoint answers the call. (This contrasts with serial forking, in which a serial-forking proxy issues an INVITE to each user agent in turn until one of them accepts the INVITE; if no agent accepts the INVITE, either the caller cancels the INVITE or the INVITE request fails.)
2. Portico Installation and Configuration Tool (PICT) – Citel introduced the Bulk Configuration Tool as part of Feature Pack 2. For this Feature Pack it has been renamed the Portico Installation and Configuration Tool (PICT). PICT has also been improved to help enterprises configure their new Portico units more quickly and easily.
PICT’s most significant new feature is to enable the configuration of discontinuous extension numbers. Currently, the system administrator can only bulk-configure one continuous block of extensions numbers, for example 7801-7824, with no unused extensions within the sequence. With the new Feature Pack, the administrator can input multiple extension sequences and individual extensions for bulk configuration.
Handset functionality/button mapping will still be configured individually, either by the system administrator or by the user with the End User GUI (new feature described below). The PICT focuses on the structural management of the network, including SIP and directory information.
3. End User GUI – New to the Portico TVA, end users may now assign/map their own handset buttons and speed-dial numbers. With this feature, users can create custom handset button configurations, and correspondingly, the system administrator’s workload will be reduced.
To facilitate self-configuration, the TVA can be powered on before the handsets are cut over to the TVA. Users can pre-configure their handsets and be ready to make and receive calls immediately when the new VoIP platform goes live.
A new “User Locator” makes the GUI even easier to use. The Locator allows all end users to go to a single URL to establish their phone settings. First, the administrator sets up a unique username for each user. When the user accesses the GUI, they will be prompted to enter their username. The Locator looks up which TVA and port that username is attached to, and then automatically redirects to the correct configuration page.
4. Programmable Ringtones – As part of the End User GUI, users may now select ringtones other than the default tone. This feature has been activated for all TVA-compatible handsets. All ringtones that were available with the legacy PBX can be selected through the GUI.
5. Nortel Handset Auto-Detect – To further simplify the configuration process for enterprises with Nortel handsets, Feature Pack 3 introduces the Auto-Detect feature. With this feature, as soon as TVA-compatible Nortel Norstar® and Meridian® handsets are connected to the Portico TVA, the model type of each handset is automatically detected and the default button mapping completed. Auto-Detect will detect and configure multiple handset types in a single enterprise, as long as they are TVA-compatible Norstar or Meridian.
6. Siemens Handset Support – In addition to the numerous handsets from Avaya, Ericsson, NEC, Nortel, Panasonic, and Toshiba that Portico TVA already supports, Feature Pack 3 introduces interoperability with the following popular Siemens handsets*:
|
optiset® Handsets
|
optiPoint® Handsets
|
Add-on Modules
|
|---|---|---|
|
E Entry
|
500 Entry
|
optiPoint 500 16 key module
|
|
E Basic
|
500 Economy
|
optiset E key module
|
|
E Standard
|
500 Basic
|
optiset E handset adaptor
|
|
E Advance plus (comfort)
|
500 Standard
|
|
|
E Memory
|
500 Advance
|
*Please note Siemens support may be delayed 2 – 4 weeks
Affected Citel Products
|
Product Name
|
Model Description
|
Product Code
|
Features
|
|---|---|---|---|
|
Portico TVA12A
|
12-port analog-compatible, 0 FXO
|
H-SIP3A-RUC12
|
1, 4, 5
|
|
12-port analog-compatible,1 FXO
|
H-SIP3AZ-RUC12
|
1, 4, 5
|
|
|
12-port analog-compatible, 2 FXO
|
H-SIP3AY-RUC12
|
1, 4, 5
|
|
|
Portico TVA24A
|
24-port analog-compatible, 0 FXO
|
H-SIP3A-RUC24
|
1, 4, 5
|
|
24-port analog-compatible, 1 FXO
|
H-SIP3AZ-RUC24
|
1, 4, 5
|
|
|
24-port analog-compatible, 2 FXO
|
H-SIP3AY-RUC24
|
1, 4, 5
|
|
|
Portico TVA12D
|
12-port digital-compatible. 0 FXO
|
H-SIP3D-RUC12
|
All
|
|
12-port digital-compatible, 1 FXO
|
H-SIP3DZ-RUC12
|
All
|
|
|
12-port digital-compatible, 2 FXO
|
H-SIP3DY-RUC12
|
All
|
|
|
Portico TVA24D
|
24-port digital-compatible, 0 FXO
|
H-SIP3D-RUC24
|
All
|
|
24-port digital-compatible, 1 FXO
|
H-SIP3DZ-RUC24
|
All
|
|
|
24-port digital-compatible, 2 FXO
|
H-SIP3DY-RUC24
|
All
|
|
|
Portico TVA12P
|
12-port P phone-compatible, 0 FXO
|
H-SIP3P-RUC12
|
1 – 5
|
|
12-port P phone-compatible, 1 FXO
|
H-SIP3PZ-RUC12
|
1 – 5
|
|
|
12-port P phone-compatible, 2 FXO
|
H-SIP3PY-RUC12
|
1 – 5
|
|
|
Portico TVA24P
|
24-port P phone-compatible, 0 FXO
|
H-SIP3P-RUC24
|
1 – 5
|
|
24-port P phone-compatible, 1 FXO
|
H-SIP3PZ-RUC24
|
1 – 5
|
|
|
24-port P phone-compatible, 2 FXO
|
H-SIP3PY-RUC24
|
1 – 5
|