Avaya Preps VoIP Wares

Avaya's VSU-5, designed for small branches and home offices, and the VSU-10000, aimed at large enterprises and service providers, enable enterprises to deploy VPN security over broadband DSL and cable connections, said Mark Leathurby, director of multiservice network solutions at Avaya. The products, to be unveiled at Comnet this week in Washington, are based on technology from VPNet, which Avaya acquired last year, Leathurby said.

Because it handles voice, the VSU-5 allows enterprises to give workers the same access to phone and data services whether they are at home or in the office. Employees working from home or on the road can redirect their office phone to their laptop using a software-only "softphone" via the VPN connection to the enterprise. Scheduled to ship in March, the VSU-5 will start at $795.

A high-speed, high-capacity VPN tunnel aggregation unit, the VSU-10000 supports large mobile and teleworker populations using Avaya's VPNremote client software or the VSU-5. The VSU-10000 supports up to 10,000 concurrent VPN sessions and lets enterprises and managed data service providers effectively terminate large numbers of remote access and site-to-site VPN sessions in a single device, Leathurby added. Slated for availability in February, the VSU-10000 will list for $39,995.

"Making Cajun [Avaya's switch and router line and VPN infrastructure products available to our customers is a natural progression for a full-service solution provider," said Gregory Raskin, CEO of Winncom Technologies, Solon, Ohio, which signed a deal with Avaya to sell its VPN line. "Adding this product line to our portfolio will not only result in significant revenue increase for Winncom, but will undoubtedly add further value to our customers."