In Miami, Integration Rules at IT EXPO

The first telephony trade show of 2009 got under way today in Miami Beach, and judging from the news out of Internet Telephony Expo it’s clear that the one-word theme for the year will be “integration.” Companies including Microsoft (MSFT), Digium, and Grandstream Networks are debuting hardware and software that move beyond VoIP to deep integration of telephony systems and Web-based applications and services.

Switchvox, a unit of open-source telephony provider Digium, previewed the 4.0 version of its IP PBX today. Designed for SMBs, Switchvox 4.0 boasts a range of features and applications aimed at giving smaller companies the power and integration of much more elaborate and costly IP-based telephony systems.

Built for deep integration with Web-based and back-office applications, Switchvox 4.0 offers video-phone support (based in the industry standard codecs H.263 and 264), instant messaging via a private chat server, presence and status displays, and a Web-enabled interactive voice response system. (The software also allows instant fax sending and receiving, not necessarily a cutting-edge feature for many businesses that are trying to move away from paper faxes altogether.)

Perhaps most important is Switchvox Extend, an XML-based API that will allow IT directors and developers to create new extensions and applications for the Switchvox platform.

The new release is “from the ground up compatible with any Web applications,” said Tristan Degenhardt, director of product marketing for Switchvox. The software makes it “easy to mash up phone systems with other Web applications.”

Digium, the primary distributor of the open-source telephony software Asterisk, acquired San Diego-based Switchvox in October of 2008 in an effort to bolster its portfolio for smaller companies. Now, with the platform integrating with popular Web services like Google Maps, Salesforce and SugarCRM, Switchvox has become a “truly Web-aware UC solution,” said Switchvox co-creator Josh Stephens in a statement.

Combining the power of the Web with critical voice and messaging capabilities is also the focus of IP phone system vendor Grandstream, which is previewing its next-generation IP video phone at IT EXPO this week. Advancing on Grandstream’s previous phone models, the GXV3140 blends real-time video conferencing and IM with Web and social networking applications, including Internet radio, Yahoo’s Flickr Web photo service, RSS feeds, and so on.

Like Switchvox 4.0, the new Grandstream device will be available in early March.

The deeper integration of telephony and the Web being displayed in Miami this week represents the cutting edge of systems that eventually will offer seamless automation for many routine business communications tasks, pointed out Degenhardt.

“Every function you do as a human being through the interface — clicking around, running reports, keeping call logs, creating extensions — all those functions in the [interface] should be able to be done programmatically by computer,” she added.

Microsoft, meanwhile, is showing off Response Point SP2, the latest version of the software giant’s IP PBX. With advanced features like speech-recognition and two-way intercom connections, SP2 is designed to unify Microsoft’s telephony software with its dominant desktop applications for businesses. Microsoft Response Point general manager John Frederiksen will deliver a keynote address at IT EXPO on Tuesday morning at 10 a.m. ET.