Mitel Communications Director

At the heart of our proposed solution is the scalable, feature-rich and versatile Mitel Communications Director (MCD). MCD can be deployed in just about any environment, working with (rather than replacing) existing processes and systems to enhance them with the latest IP solutions and features. This attribute will not only protect your legacy investment, but will also prepare existing systems for future growth.

MCD brings unprecedented flexibility to the communications infrastructure, functioning equally well in both hosted and distributed environments. Whether a company has 30 users or 60,000, MCD brings powerful call handling, a profusion of features, simple management and flexible deployment options.

Among MCD?s embedded features are leading-edge mobility capabilities and standard unified messaging. Mitel Dynamic Extension establishes a single identity for users whether they are communicating internally or externally. Dynamic Extension works with any device (desk phone, cellular, remote office, home phone) and extends the corporate system to any location on any network. This not only greatly improves the accessibility of the user, but also reduces costs and ensures first-call resolution.

MCD also includes inherent auto attendant, automatic call distribution, and Wi-Fi as well as an IP DECT wireless gateway. These combined with over 500 telephony features such as hot desking and audio conferencing will enrich the user experience and invigorate existing processes. In distributed environments, MCD works over IP or traditional telephony networks to provide a virtual single system. In addition, MCD provides support for networking standards such as SIP, QSIG and DPNSS, which facilitate interconnection with third-party PBXs and applications.

Along with end-user ease of use, MCD offers simple system management. Administrators sign on only once to manage all the capabilities of up to 19 other MCD platforms. Through the same Web-based interface, they can also reach through to various applications to view and change administration forms on any MCD platform in the system.

MCD has no dedicated server hardware, but instead runs on either Mitel proprietary 3300 Controllers or industry-standard Sun, HP or IBM servers. It operates across virtually any LAN or WAN infrastructure, regardless of manufacturer. It can also be implemented in any way you prefer or require, whether in a distributed model where call control is managed at local sites, or in a hosted model where call control servers are colocated with gateways to deliver resilience and business continuity.

For further flexibility, MCD can be configured to provide different services running on separate hardware platforms within a single solution. For example, it can be configured to run as a call controller on one hardware platform, a media gateway on another, and an applications and services gateway on a third controller, all combining to form a single system.

Whatever the configuration, MCD consistently delivers efficient, seamless call handling. In all scenarios, MCD provides native call setup, tear down, and signaling between Ethernet IP-connected telephones. For traditional telephony, such as POTS and PSTN trunks, call handling is also conducted natively by MCD through a conventional TDM circuit-switched subsystem. The ability to use two different switching techniques simultaneously means:

• all traffic is switched with minimum conversion between packet and traditional telephony to provide optimum voice quality in all call scenarios
• embedded gateway functionality is only required between the IP and non-IP networks, optimizing the use of system resources
• migration from traditional PBX to IP telephony is seamless and efficient

Whether through call control, feature support or deployment options, MCD?s high level of flexibility ultimately revives legacy systems and saves your company money and time. MCD is designed to IP-enable the legacy PBX, which protects existing investments while delivering all the advantages of a unified communications infrastructure. In addition, all features available on Mitel IP phones can be ported to legacy phones (desktop, wireless, cellular, remote), eliminating the need to buy new phones.

MCD provides the foundation for countless capabilities across enterprises of any size. Its flexible design makes it possible not only to immediately enhance the user experience, but also to extend high-level benefits over the long term. In a time when both power and cost-effectiveness are in demand, MCD is a wise investment.

The following diagram illustrates a sample MCD converged network for medium to large businesses; however, it is easily scalable for smaller organizations as well.