It is one of the big challenges for any small to medium-sized enterprise today: giving their employees the benefits of fast, efficient communication to enable them to undertake their tasks quickly and effectively, while at the same time keeping a close watch on cost and security issues. In answer to the challenge (and doubtless, to a lot of office managers' prayers, too), Ericsson has introduced the Enterprise Multimedia Server (EMS), a business communication solution for companies ranging from 40-500 employees.

Many employees have to juggle between fixed-line phones, mobile phones and computers when at work, which often means a large usage and cost redundancy among these devices – something EMS aims to solve. EMS gives business users a single point of contact for any form of communication – voice, fax, SMS or instant message – regardless of where they are and what device – fixed or mobile – they want to use. Presence information, preference management and real-time monitoring of colleagues are available for all users on all devices.

Rajiv Bhatia, Product Marketing Manager for the Enterprise Multimedia Server, says: "The Ericsson Enterprise Multimedia Server is built around the individual and their communication needs. It also extends office communication features to the mobile employee, creating real ‘reachability’ and greater efficiency." The server is supplied ready-configured with a complete suite of applications, including web-based conferencing, voice mail and Ericsson's patented Mobile Extension Client.

These efficiencies are evident in a number of important ways. For a start, EMS is available in a single unit server with powerful auto-provisioning capabilities. This optimized design makes it simple to install and requires no specialist start-up procedures. "A service engineer just needs to configure the basic IP addresses of the solution into his computer," Bhatia says. "And then it's a matter of following the installation wizards. This also means that it requires minimal management effort.”

Another cost-saving feature of EMS is Dynamic Mobile Least-Cost Routing, an ideal service for employees traveling abroad on international roaming. It enables the client on a mobile phone to route a mobile call according to the cheapest tariffs available.

EMS is based on the open Session Initiation Protocol (SIP), a non-proprietary standard, and can therefore be easily integrated with third-party applications, third-party SIP gateways and SIP phones. "It's a complete enterprise communication solution that can be integrated into collaboration applications such as Microsoft OCS and telecom operators' IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS infrastructure and future IMS-based) services," Bhatia says.

"EMS has been specifically designed keeping in mind that most small and medium-sized companies don't have the resources or the time and money to build up complex systems," he adds.