IP Office Release 6 is a major release which allows IP Office systems to address better the needs of smaller sites, as well as adding considerable capabilities in the areas of multi-site networking, user productivity and new telephones.

New Platform and Hardware Support

IP Office Control Unit Support

IP Office Release 6 is supported on the IP Office 500 (IP500) and the new IP500 V2 and as well as the IP406 V2 and IP412 (no longer sold).

IP Office Release 6 is not supported on the Small Office Edition (SOE), IP401, IP403 and IP406 V1.

Note: Not all of the features in IP Office Release 5 are supported on all platforms and all phones- please see each feature's description in the chapter Features for details.

IP Office 500 V2 Control Unit

The IP500 V2 is a new control unit which is an evolution of the existing IP500 and is fully backwards compatible with it. It has 4 card slots into which all existing IP500 cards can be inserted, as well as several new cards which are introduced with Release 6. The IP500 V2 requires the presence of a system SD (Secure Digital) card to operate and to act as its feature key. For more information see the chapter IP Office Platform. The IP500 V2 operates in standard IP Office mode as well as a new Avaya IP Office Essential Edition PARTNER Version.

SD Card Features

As well as acting as the Feature Key for the IP500 V2 system, the system SD card acts as storage for Essential Edition messaging, with two ports of voicemail enabled as standard. Additional increments of 2 ports can be added through licenses up to a total of 6 ports. The system SD card also enables faster implementation times since it can be pre-loaded with the correct software, configuration and licenses before installation and then sent to site where it can simply be inserted in the system to complete installation with no management software required.

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Combination Card

The IP500 V2 supports up to two new Combination Cards which combine multiple station and trunk ports with voice over IP resources in a single cost effective card. These cards are available in two variants supporting either analog or ISDN BRI trunks.

For more information see the chapter Features.

ETR 6 Card

The IP500 V2 supports up to three new ETR 6 Cards which support up to 6 PARTNER ETR phones. The cards are supported in Essential Edition – PARTNER Version mode in North American locales. For more information see the IP Office Essential Edition - PARTNER Version chapter.

Essential Edition – PARTNER Version

The IP500 V2 supports a new mode of operation which resembles PARTNER ACS in many respects, including enhanced key and lamp operation, simplified administration and support for ETR telephones. This mode is only available in North America and Mexico locales. For more information see the IP Office Essential Edition - PARTNER Version chapter.

New Telephone Support

Release 6 adds support for the following new telephone families:

Licenses for Avaya IP Telephones

Release 6 removes the need to purchase VCM channel licenses and instead requires the use of IP Telephone licenses for Avaya IP phones. This makes the configuration and purchase of IP telephony simpler and more intuitive. See the Chapters "IP Telephony" and "Licenses".

New Telephone Features

Release 6 adds support for en-bloc (on-hook) dialing as well as distinctive ringing for selected telephones.

New Softphone

Release 6 adds the new Avaya IP Office Video Softphone for Teleworkers and Power Users. See the Chapter "User Call Control Applications".

New Licenses for Editions and User Profile

Release 6 builds on the new application licensing framework introduced in Release 5 by allowing all the functionality of a system edition or user profile to be enabled with a single license key rather than multiple licenses. See the Chapter "Licenses".

In addition a new user profile of Office Worker has been introduced giving access to the call and message control functionality of one-X Portal for IP Office from within the office.

The Teleworker profile license now additionally enables access to Unified Messaging and the new IP Office Video Softphone.

Access to Phone Manager has now been removed from the user profiles (although legacy Phone Manager licenses remain supported and available).

The four main user profile licenses (Office Worker, Tele-worker, Mobile Worker, Power User) are now distributed around the SCN so that when a user hot-desks from one system to another on the network their profile (Office Worker, Power User, etc) moves with them.

Upgrade License

If upgrading to Release 6 from a previous release an Upgrade License must be present. This comes in three variants:

For new installations, no upgrade license is required on the IP500 V2 platform.

Small Community Networking Enhancements

Resilient Voicemail & expansion to 1000 users

Enhancements to SIP Trunking

Dial from call log using configurable line prefixes.

Easier setup of incoming SIP calls to Hunt Groups.

Support for SIP session timers.

Multiple account credentials per SIP trunk.

Register SIP Line using domain name.

The Diversion header can be used to present the originating calling id to twinned devices (where supported by the carrier).

Enhancements to ISDN Trunking

The Redirecting Number information element can be used to present the originating calling id to twinned devices (where supported by the carrier).

Calling Name can be presented for outgoing calls (where supported by the carrier).

Enhancements to Mobility

Mobility Callback can save mobile call charges in some countries by allowing a Mobile Worker user to dial into the IP Office using a dedicated number and be called back and presented with dial tone without the original call being answered.

Voicemail Enhancements

Preferred Edition (VoiceMail Pro) now supports Resilient and Distributed voicemail scenarios (see the Voicemail chapter).

Essential Edition (embedded voicemail) now enables extension numbers to be dialled directly from an Auto Attendant without the need to dial a digit first.

On the new IP500 V2 platform, Essential Edition with 2 ports of voicemail is provided as standard, while additional ports can be added through licenses up to a maximum of 6.

Other Enhancements

Persistent SMDR storage – the buffer for storing SMDR records now persists after a reboot of the IP Office.