State of Telecom Industry in Pakistan

Continuing on the topic of leveraging the cloud computing technologies for telecom, here’s news about a unified mobile PBX in the cloud. The mobile PBX combines cellular fixed mobile convergence software, using open source telephony, and provides low-cost, hardware-Free mobile unified communications

Cellular Fixed Mobile Convergence (FMC) provider OnRelay announced the General Availability of its complete Mobile PBX solution, Unified MBX. Unified MBX is a software-only IP business communication system built for mobile phones. By pre-integrating OnRelay’s Cellular FMC software with a feature-rich open source IP PBX, Unified MBX provides Unified Communications (UC) without the expense of proprietary telephony hardware or IP PBX licenses.

Unified MBX can be deployed on-premises, or hosted in the cloud (which is the more interesting case of course) to provide mobile business communications as Software as a Service (SaaS). The ease of deployment was evidenced by the Unified MBX trials in Middle East where customers across ten countries self-installed with only remote OnRelay support.

Read more from the press release below.

“Unified MBX is the perfect convergent application. It helps us, a typical technology-oriented SME, to live the UC-ideal in a smart and cost-effectve way,” comments Martin Fortmueller, CEO of Eltax, converged service provider and Mobilkom Austria partner.

“Unified MBX combines the strengths of Cellular FMC with the cost benefits of open source telephony,” comments Salem Bin-Furaih, Telecoms Consultant, Saudi Business Machines, the representative of IBM in Saudi Arabia. “Our customers benefit from IP telephony without the burden of IP PBX licensing or the costly deployment of IP desk phones. They are understandably enthusiastic about this innovation in enterprise telephony.”

At Unified MBX’s core is OnRelay’s Telephony Internetworking Protocol (TINP). TINP uses voice and data signalling to bring full IP PBX functionality to the mobile phone, over any cellular network – 3G/GSM, EVDO and Low Power GSM.

BT Global Service’s Allan Scott, Head of FMC Product Marketing, comments, “OnRelay’s FMC technology connects business users across multiple networks and when roaming internationally. BT Global Services recognises the strength of this proposition for multinational enterprise and today’s mobile businesses.”

“OnRelay have truly brought the functionality of the office phone to the mobile device,” adds Roy McCullough, Product Manager for BGN, communications provider for world events, including the Formula 1 Grand Prix.

By choosing sipXecs, a SIP-compliant open source IP PBX, Unified MBX provides a highly scalable IP telephony system at a small business price point. “The sipXecs IP PBX brings scalability, resiliency and an extensive feature set including voicemail, presence, remote worker support with SIP trunking, and Microsoft exchange integration,” notes Martin Steinmann, member of the board of SIPfoundary, the sipXecs open source community. “SIPfoundry supports the use of sipXecs IP PBX in leading-edge products like Unified MBX.”