NEC Sphere IP PBX Product Components

Highlights of an NEC Sphere solution include:

High reliability with 99.999% availability as a mission critical application
Full complement of all standard PBX calling features
Enhanced support for E911 including local notification alerts
Full complement of advanced communications features (video telephony, unified messaging, softphone, computer telephony)
Scalable from 10 phones to thousands of phones via flexible migration paths
Built on open industry standards, allowing best of breed solutions built around the customer’s preferences
Proven performance in mission-critical installations backed by a wealth of NEC Sphere reference customers
Flexibility to use appropriate endpoints for cost reduction and performance preferences – analog telephones, IP telephones and softphones

All NEC Sphericall software is acquired via the NEC Sphericall Access License (SAL) which incorporates the right to use all NEC Sphericall software elements including the Manager and Client Software. The SAL is offered for a flat linear fee that enables the enterprise to scale freely and without significant start-up costs. The SAL is required for each instance of access to the NEC Sphere system – station or trunk access – configured on the system.

NEC Sphericall Manager Software

NEC Sphericall Manager software provides a full range of PBX features, sophisticated IP call control, and a robust administrative interface for system management. NEC Sphericall Managers are constructed using inexpensive open source servers running Microsoft’s Windows operating system and the core NEC Sphericall Manager software.

Redundancy and 99.999% System Reliability

The foundation of the NEC Sphere VoIP solution is an implementation of multiple NEC Sphericall Managers, ensuring redundancy to guarantee call set-up and termination for 99.999% system reliability. Each Manager will support up to 1,500 users. Multiple NEC Sphericall Managers provide redundancy and real time load balancing for the system. Managers may be placed anywhere on the network. Multiple Managers can be deployed to scale the system from 10 users to as many as 30,000 users on a single unified network. The NEC Sphericall Manager software also supports critical functionality like Enhanced 911 (E911) necessary for the implementation of a distributed network communications solution.

Trunking

Sphere CoHub Trunk Gateway Trunking is accomplished at each location requiring local interconnection to the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) via media gateways. These access points are shared resources across the network, provide redundancy in the overall design and deliver roll over access during peak busy hours. COHub or BranchHub trunk gateways support a variety of trunk types including all popular interconnections like analog, ISDN PRI and CAS T1. The COHub also provides the ability to trunk into an existing traditional PBX, delivering seamless integration between that PBX investment and the new NEC Sphere VoIP solution. It also performs tandem switching services for multiple traditional PBX systems.

Telephone Stations

Telephone stations can be added directly to the network by adding IP telephones or by adding analog phones through IP gateways. PhoneHubs are IP gateways that allow connectivity to standard analog handsets allowing an organization to leverage their legacy equipment and existing wiring. Each PhoneHub supports a maximum of 24 analog handsets. The PhoneHub also supports FAX and modem connections when combined with a PRI trunk line, eliminating the need for dedicated analog trunks to support those devices. IP telephones are implemented for a single wire to the desktop configuration. IP telephones act as an Ethernet switch allowing the IP phone and a PC to share a single common Category 5 network wire. Both analog telephones and IP telephones receive the full complement of PBX features enabled through the NEC Sphericall Manager software.

IP Media Gateways

NEC Sphere’s VG3 line of IP media gateways are rack mountable, 1RU high, support SNMP management, automatically check in with an NEC Sphericall Manager when added to a network, and support G.711 and G.729A compression.

NEC Sphericall Desktop

The NEC Sphericall Desktop is a client application running on industry-standard Window’s PCs that work in conjunction with an analog or IP telephone. The NEC Sphericall Desktop provides an online phone directory, integration with contact management software, desktop video conferencing, and can function as a stand-alone softphone endpoint. The softphone provides a powerful option for mobile users and home office users, allowing those users to participate in the corporate PBX resources from any location with broadband access.

Receptionists use the NEC Sphericall Desktop as their primary interface for call management. With the administrator granting a receptionist monitor rights, the receptionist can monitor call traffic in real time, identify system users on the phone, and receive caller ID information on all current call transactions. The software application replaces any need for expensive dedicated hardware typically found in traditional receptionist solutions.

Voice Mail Solution

The NEC Sphericall Voice Mail solution integrates voicemail, unified messaging services and more. Fully integrated with enterprise back office email systems, it provides a natural fit for the enterprise back office with NEC Sphere reliability.

Conference Calling

The MeetingHub provides 60 ports of dynamic conferencing resources, allowing for on the fly meet-me conferencing for a single event of 60 participants, 2 simultaneous 30 party events, 3 simultaneous 20 party events or any combination up to 60 simultaneous MeetingHub users. The customization of conference extensions is managed by the administrator and is a plug and play element of the overall solution.

The NEC Sphere solution complies with industry standards by producing customer data records (CDR) for integration into billing and accounting packages and customer response management solutions.

IP Phone Handset Equipment

NEC Sphere Communications provides a choice of industry standard IP telephones for use with the Sphere system. Handsets interoperate with the system and have an array of hard and soft keys providing short cuts to key system features such as forward, transfer and speed dial. The large digital displays provide caller ID information, call duration and relevant caller party information (call status, intended called party, etc.). Many of these phones have a high quality full duplex speaker phone.

Distributed Connectivity

Multiple locations can be joined by leveraging the company’s WAN connection, thus unifying all corporate locations under a single, common solution. The NEC Sphere system allows a company’s data network to become a single voice solution that extends to all users on that network. In effect, multiple locations using NEC Sphere are drawing from a combined pool of resources distributed across the network and will be able to route calls between those locations across the LAN, WAN or outside PSTN connections to allow toll bypass and least cost routing services. The distributed environment is gracefully managed using Sphericall’s administrative software, accessible from any location an administrator can authenticate – either locally or remotely – onto the corporate network.

Request an NEC Sphere Quick Quote Now.

For more information about the Sphere IP PBX solution, click to request a Quick Quote or call one of our consultants at 855-VERGENT (or 855-837-4368).