Wireless Office provides network-based facilities that allow small and mid-sized businesses to merge fixed and wireless voice communications by extending common PBX (private branch exchange) calling features -- such as abbreviated dialing, closed user groups, and call control -- to wireless devices, according to Verizon.
PBX Mobile Extension, according to Verizon, targets large corporate campus applications involving large numbers of mobile workers. The service works with a company's existing PBX system to provide a single phone number that simultaneously rings on a user's cell phone, home phone, or any other pre-selected phone number. If a user can't answer the call, PBX Mobile Extension uses the company's existing voice mail system to provide a unified voice mailbox, eliminating the inefficiencies of multiple voice mail systems.
PBX Mobile Extension also allows workers to move seamlessly between a cell phone and a desk phone to complete a call in progress, conduct quick and secure conference calls, and initiate mass notifications, according to Verizon. One aspect of this capability is that outbound calls by employees using cell phones show the employee's office phone number via caller ID, rather than their cell phone number.
Mobile Conference Connection is said to provide tools to initiate a spontaneous meeting or join a conference call "with a few clicks" on a Windows Mobile or Blackberry device. Meeting leaders can initiate and schedule spontaneous meetings, send email meeting invitations, start meetings, and add participants to conference calls via a link embedded in an email invitation, Verizon said.
Wireless Office and Mobile Conference Connection are available now, according to Verizon. PBX Mobile Extension is expected to be available in the U.S. starting next month, with international roll-out scheduled for sometime next year.
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