TEO is the new UC product for Tone Commander Systems who has for 30 years provided specialized telephone and network solutions for Fortune 1,000 companies, government agencies, educational institutions and small and large businesses around the world. The company, based in Mukilteo, Washington, offers ISDN and VoIP telephones, NT1 ISDN Network Terminations, ISDN Centrex Attendant Consoles, and Enhanced 9-1-1 (E9-1-1) Emergency Awareness Solutions. TEO is a value added bundle for enterprises seeking an IPT solution for 50 or more users. One minor detail--TEO doesn't advertise as being an IP-PBX but as Unified Communications.
The TEO server supports 2,000 users and includes as standard features with each user license:
* Multiple Device Support
* Mobile Device Support
* Softphone Support
* User Portal Access
* Voicemail to Email
* Call Recording & Call Recording to Email
* Account Codes
* Integrated Fax Server
* Fax to Email
* Redundancy
* E911 Compliance
* Multi Party Video & Multi Party IM
* Contacts Integration/click to dial
* Conference Bridge
Key Features--The TEO platform integrates with Microsoft, Apple and Linux desktops and provides value in attempting to bridge two or three worlds of users in one organization. Another key feature is the Unified Dial Plan Management Tool that Thomas Beck, Strategy Executive of TEO demonstrated to me. Sending out faulty dial plans to the server could be disastrous, and with TEO's error-checking in place, this prevents disruption to the users by warning the administrator of conflicts. The third tool is the dashboard that shows information including fan speeds, temperature, memory and hard drive space/availability.
The TEO server is 2U and is $8,000 and can be stacked but not virtualized. TEO phones range in price from $150-300, user licenses are $200 MSRP. TEO is sold direct by their national sales and support team. Currently, there are 12 systems installed with approximately 2,000 end points. TEO integrates with SIP phones from Polycom and SNOM. TEO has addressed a key concern of what to do when UC isn't Microsoft, MAC or Linux compatible. TEO, pbxnsip and Zultys are providing solutions compatible with all three.
Tone Commander is a lot of art reflecting on telephony. Their bundled features at no additional cost are competitive against other solutions that require separate solutions and middleware. Tone Commander's past was providing those solutions that TDM systems needed, such as call recording, fax servers, attendant consoles and telephones for ISDN Centrex solutions. They also built ISDN products compatible with AT&T, Fujitsu, Nortel, Siemens and Telrad. Now, TEO is a bundle of solutions that are still lacking in some IP-PBXs today such as E911, Conferencing (Bridge), Call Recording and an Integrated Fax server. TEO is attempting to go from providing middleware solutions to providing a UC solution.
They are doing what ADTRAN started previously, and what’s different is TEO or Tone Commander Solutions are found on the inside of the telephony solution where ADTRAN solutions sat on the edge and they worked their way in by converging voice into an IAD and then through acquisition added UC.
What makes even more sense is for another manufacturer--or TEO--to take a hard look for an acquisition. TEO is selling direct and I’d bet that this will change and they will adopt a distribution model.
Another area of the industry that could use some convergence is the gateway arena, and this too serves great potential for providers in delivering robust solutions that provide more with less hardware and outside solutions. Mix into this the need to unify Apple, Linux and Microsoft users and devices. The overall desktop market share has changed, with Apple gaining some points, but the tethered devices present new opportunities that can't be ignored.
Lastly, it's been said that Centrex is dead--no it's not. TEO (Tone Commander) still has a grip on many Centrex installations and for their larger customer organizations that are slower to adopt IP solutions, I'd think they would consider TEO over other solutions. Price still matters and TEO’s prices are competitive. How easy they make it for customers to move into their solution should be revealing, and it seems that another portion of telephony market share is being split.
