Network vendor Nortel has unveiled four new unified communications systems, jointly developed with Microsoft, which it claimed will make the transition to next-generation communication systems easier for enterprises.

Nortel unveiled its Converged Office unified communications suite, Multimedia Conferencing, and systems for branch offices and hosted service providers.

Companies can now “choose to deploy unified communications via a customer premise solution, managed service solution, or hybrid of the two, helping accelerate the pace of unified communications adoption," said Nortel’s general manager for ICA, Ruchi Prasad.

Nortel's converged Office integrates business-class telephony functionality from its Communication Server 1000 IP PBX or 2100 IP PBX with Microsoft's desktop collaboration system, Office Communication Server 2007. The Nortel CS 1000 IP PBX is currently the only IP PBX currently qualified by Microsoft’s unified communications open interoperability programme

The Nortel Multimedia Conferencing 5.0 for Office Communications Server 2007 gives an audio conferencing system which allows external non-Communications Server 2007 users to dial into a conference.

Meanwhile its UC Integrated Branch gives branch offices unified communications capabilities and combines the Office Communications Server 2007 mediation server capabilities with Nortel’s Secure Router 4134. This combination gives WAN routing, switching, security and VoIP.

With the Nortel/Microsoft Hosted Unified Communications system, service providers can offer SMBs and enterprises instant messaging, VoIP, click-to-call, and video conferencing, through the combination of Nortel’s Communication Server 2000 softswitch, Office Communications Server 2007 and Exchange Server 2007 Unified Messaging.