Mitel Inc. and Sun will be releasing a joint solution that combines a Sun Ray thin client with a Mitel IP desk phone to be accessed via a Java-based smart card. The Sun Ray Unified IP Client is expected to ship in May at a cost of less than $500, reported Matt Hamblen with ComputerWorld.

With the Sun Ray Unified IP Client, Mitel has taken the ultra thin client Sun Ray technology and created a slim module that snaps securely onto Mitel IP phones, allowing users to securely "hot desk" into both the Mitel IP phones and the Sun Ray thin client terminals using a personal, authenticated Java Card.

Stephen Beamish, Mitel's vice president of business development, explained to Hamblen that data and computer programs can be kept on a centralized server with thin-client technology making the new phone and thin-client product ideal for call centers where workers rotate on various shifts and share workstations.

The Sun Ray Unified IP Client provides voice and data services at any workstation on the network. The simultaneous hot desking takes place within five seconds of the Java Card being inserted into the Sun thin client on any terminal within the network, providing the user with access to their desktop profile as well as advanced unified communications capabilities, such as mobility, unified messaging, video streaming and presence information.

"The Sun Ray Unified IP Client delivers a secure unified computing and communications environment fully integrated into our world renowned Sun Ray solution," said Peter Ewens, Sun's vice president of global OEM. "This combined solution is also among the industry's most energy efficient, providing ongoing capex and opex savings through the elimination of power-hungry desktop PCs and the reduced energy consumption of low power Mitel IP phones."

The combined solution can lower power usage to about 9 total watts, which allows both the phone and thin client to operate over a single Power over Ethernet cable, which provides 13 watts of power, Beamish said. A PC typically will use 80 watts of power, while a laptop uses 60.

The Sun Ray Unified IP Client from Mitel will be sold directly to enterprise accounts by Sun and Mitel and will be taken to the general business market through select Sun and Mitel channel partners supported by Sun and select Sun channel partners.

Several customers already are using or planning to use the unified communications solution. One such client is food services giant Deli XL. With approximately 2,000 employees in 30 locations throughout the Netherlands and Belgium, Deli XL decided to migrate away from an Ericsson voice communications platform to the Sun Ray Thin Client and Mitel Communications Suite IP applications architecture.

"We selected the joint Mitel-Sun solution based on the flexibility it provides to optimize our customer contact center operations, increased customer data security delivered by the Sun platform, and the reduced power consumption of the combined computing and telephony platforms," said Martin Pluijgers, manager IT Support, Deli XL. "With this solution we have a future proof customer contact solution that will ensure our continued market leadership in the highly competitive food service market."

The Telephone Connection of Los Angeles, Inc. (TTC), which provides enhanced services such as follow-me, conference calling and virtual automated attendant and voice mail service catering primarily to the medical community in Southern California, also expressed interest in the Sun Ray Unified IP Client.

"There are some very compelling benefits to the solution Sun and Mitel are bringing to market given the nature of the services we provide to the medical community," said Marc O'Krent, president, TTC. "As thin clients allowing zero security threat from intruders, the Sun Ray Unified IP thin client married with a Mitel Teleworker Solution using Secure Real Time Protocol rather than VPN connectivity provides much stronger security for each individual user accessing private medical information. We think this partnership between Mitel and Sun Microsystems will continue to deliver innovative solutions like the Unified IP client that will benefit companies such as ours for a long time." [...read more...]

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