Citel Technologies, a provider of solutions that realize the cost and productivity benefits of IP telephony, announced that its state-of-the-art Portico TVA media gateway is capable of enabling legacy phones to tap into the power of the Internet. Users can “SIP enable” their legacy phones and make them offer features like IVR, simultaneous ringing and more assigned to buttons during provisioning.

According to Citel, the Portico Telephone VoIP Adapter (TVA) allows the migration to VoIP utilizing existing digital (PBX (News - Alert)), IP phone (Centrex), or analog handsets and existing phone cabling. Some of the advanced features the solution enables might require large screens and those can be accessed via a browser window. It supposedly changes the dynamics of VoIP migration by enabling enterprises to obtain all the benefits of IP telephony utilizing the PBX telephones and wiring infrastructure they already have in place.

The Portico TVA is compatible with numerous networks running on either a hosted IP platform and premise based IP-PBX systems. Without having to purchase newer IP phones, users can enjoy benefits such as lower cost business phone calls, higher productivity, enhanced functionality and convergence of applications.

Some of the benefits and features that enterprises get to realize after deploying the Portico TVA include reduced monthly telecom operating expenses through centralized voice mail, IP network utilization, and the elimination of PBX and/or key systems across the enterprise; maximum productivity through centralization, or even outsourcing, of voice network management combined with enterprise-wide distribution of features and applications; and seamless migration to a unified communications platform.

Citel claimed that the Portico TVA is essential for all organizations that have a legacy phone infrastructure and cannot afford to take the rip-and-replace process to move to a VoIP platform.

During a recent TMC Webinar event, “The Best of Both Worlds: Legacy Handsets in a VoIP Environment,” sponsored by Citel, company officials highlighted the different considerations to investigate before migrating to VoIP.