Current IP-PBX system : NEC

NEC
NEC has grown to be a corporate giant while, unlike most of its competitors, keeping the same name for over a century. Within a wide range of telecommunications and electronics products, NEC is a major force in PBX and CO systems. The company is the third-largest supplier of enterprise voice switches in the United States, conducting the development of its PBX systems in Dallas, Texas.

NEC sells three sizes of PBX systems, ranging from the NEAX 1000 through the 2000 and the 2400. Of particular interest with IP telephony developments are the NEAX 2000 Express, 2000 IPS, and the 2400 IPX.

The NEAX Express was one of the first IP-oriented PBXs to be announced by a legacy PBX maker and is based on a unique design. NEC took a different approach by compressing its existing NEAX 2000 into a few circuit cards and sharing one chassis, with a common power supply, between the small PBX and three cards that operate as a standard Windows NT server. This approach is shown in Figure 1.


Figure 1: NEAX 2000 Express system.

This configuration provides IP communications to Microsoft BackOffice Server, with computer-telephony integration, so that voice mail, autoattendant, and unified messaging can be delivered to small and branch office environments. Third-party developed applications, such as ACD and Interactive Voice Response (IVR), can also run in the NT-based server. The basic model of the NEAX Express supports 36 digital and 8 analog stations, but can be expanded to 100 users. It employs the reliable voice-switching matrix from the widely used NEAX 2000 and, while it can deliver the applications promised for IP telephony, does not have interfaces for IP phones or to IP WANs.

NEC launched its NEAX 2000 Internet Protocol Server (IPS) at the end of 2001 as a medium-sized product that is complementary to the NEAX 2400. The 2000 IPS includes both packet and circuit switching in the same system and can be configured in any mix from all TDMs to 100% IP telephony, with up to 500 stations.

Rather than producing a series of IP telephones, NEC sells an IPW-2U adapter, which fits into the bottom of its digital Dterm series E phones. This IP enabler dynamically acquires all the information it needs to interoperate with a NEAX IPS or IPX.

The NEAX 2400 IPX is a version of NEC's large PBX that supports IP telephony on the trunk and line sides, while retaining its standard switching fabric. This IP-enabled PBX can be closely integrated in a network with the NEAX Express or 2000 IPS, as well as with earlier 2400 ICS. This architecture allows customers to migrate to IP telephony, whether they have a new or an upgraded system.

The NEAX 2400 has been on the market through various developments for nearly 20 years and is a powerful PBX with distributed control processing that can have up to 24,000 lines on one system. This PBX has excellent ACD functionality and has achieved a reputation for reliability, as shown by its widespread use in hospitals and military bases.