Client Solutions

Client solutions include multimedia, client-facing endpoints as described in further detail in the following sections.

Cisco IP Communicator (Predecessor: Cisco IP SoftPhone)

Cisco IP Communicator, whose predecessor was the Cisco IP SoftPhone, is a desktop application that turns a computer into a full-featured IP telephone. IP Communicator is designed for use as a supplemental telephone when traveling or as a telecommuting device. When using IP Communicator remotely, users aren't just taking their office extension with them, they also have access to the same familiar phone services they have in their office. When registered to CallManager, IP Communicator has the features and functionality of a Cisco IP Phone, including the capability to transfer calls, forward calls, and conference additional participants to an existing call. This also means that you can provision IP Communicator just like any other Cisco IP Phone, greatly simplifying IP phone administration. Figure B-5 shows the IP Communicator user interface.

Figure B-5. Cisco IP Communicator

Learn more about IP Communicator at the following link or search Cisco.com for "IP Communicator":

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/sw/voicesw/ps5475/index.html

Cisco VT Advantage

Cisco VT Advantage enables you to add video to your existing Cisco IP Phone models 7940G, 7941G, 7960G, 7961G, 7970G, and 7971G-GE, in effect turning the phones into videophones. Cisco VT Advantage application software, coupled with the Cisco VT Camera, allows a PC connected to a Cisco IP Phone to add video to phone calls without requiring any extra button pushing or mouse clicking.

Cisco VT Advantage works so well that video telephone calls are just like regular phone calls. Features such as call forward, transfer, conference, and hold, are available with video and are all initiated through the IP Phone. IP telephony and IP video telephony are delivered to every employee using a unified dial plan and a common directory through CallManager. When a user places a call to another IP Phone with video capability, the call proceeds as a video call seamlessly. If the other party does not have video capability, the call proceeds as a voice-only call. In addition, because Cisco VT Advantage utilizes standards-based video protocols such as H.263, it can interoperate with H.323- and H.320-based videoconferencing devices.

Learn more about Cisco VT Advantage in the Cisco IP Video Telephony Solutions Reference Network Design (SRND) guide, at the following links, or search Cisco.com for "VT Advantage" or "SRND":

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/sw/voicesw/ps5662/index.html

http://www.cisco.com/go/srnd