Cisco Systems Launches Unified Communications System in Australia and New Zealand

Cisco Increases Leadership in Enterprise Voice Market.

Sydney, AUSTRALIA, May 8, 2006 - Cisco Systems® outlined the next generation of Unified Communications services at its VoiceComm 2006 event in Sydney today and announced that Investa Property Group is the latest customer to deploy Cisco Unified Communications system in Australia and New Zealand.

A leading integrated property services company, Investa Property Group has deployed more than 200 Cisco Unified IP Phone 7970G colour-screen units and is using IP-based applications on its network to reduce operational costs and improve productivity. Investa has more than $A6 billion in funds under management and, as a business, considers voice and data communications as an element critical to its competitive advantage.

Investa’s chief information officer, Mr David Miller, said: “The relocation to a new head office gave us the opportunity to implement a Cisco Unified Communications solution that showcases innovative workplace efficiencies in all aspects of the office. Moving beyond a traditional phone system, Cisco and Oriel Technologies, a Cisco Certified Premier Partner, were able to create a communications solution to match the workplace, integrating with systems from the desktop to multimedia.”

Cisco also announced at VoiceComm that it had increased its industry-leading share of the Australian enterprise telephony market to 16.8 percent, according to research house Frost & Sullivan. For the second consecutive year, Cisco placed first in the enterprise voice market with a leading market share of 16.8 percent for 2005, up from 15.6 percent in 2004.

Ross Fowler, managing director of Cisco Australia and New Zealand, said; “Businesses of all shapes and sizes across Australia and New Zealand are embracing Unified Communications as a critical driver to reduce operational costs and increase productivity and competitiveness. The launch of Cisco Unified Communications will take Internet Protocol communications to the next level as businesses integrate a whole range of applications and mobility services.”

The Cisco Unified Communications system is an open and extensible platform for real-time communications based on presence, mobility and Cisco’s Intelligent Information Network framework. It is designed to interoperate with desktop tools and business applications from companies such as Microsoft, IBM and Nokia.

The Cisco Unified Communications system is based on an industry-leading IP communications portfolio that comprises Cisco Unified CallManager, Cisco Unity , Cisco Unified MeetingPlace and Cisco Unified Contact Center.

The Cisco Unified Personal Communicator is a simple desktop software application that is a powerful tool that helps employees increase their productivity. Among its many features, the Cisco Unified Client can make desktop video calls, sort, view and play voice messages on the desktop and can indicate another employee’s preferred method of contact. It is available for both Windows and MacIntosh Desktop Operating Systems.

Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) support is expanded in Cisco Unified CallManager 5.0 with support of line-side devices - SIP is also used by the Cisco Unified Presence Server to provide interoperability to IBM Lotus Sametime 7.5 & Microsoft Live Communications Server.

Cisco’s Unified CallManager 5.0 is particularly noteworthy, as it is designed for interoperability with the Microsoft Office Live Communications Server and Microsoft Office Communicator. Cisco Unified CallManager 5.0 also supports a customised plug-in for the upcoming release of IBM Lotus Sametime 7.5. When deployed with IBM’s Click to Call functionality, users will be able to right-click on a name in their Lotus Sametime contact list and call the person on their Cisco Unified IP Phone.

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