Infotech Lead America: Aastra has announced the Release 4.1 of the Aastra BluStar Application Server (BAS).
The BAS, combined with Aastra BluStar endpoints, provides users an ecosystem of BluStar enabled devices and clients, including the BluStar 8000i Desktop Media phone, BluStar for PC, BluStar for iPad and BluStar for iPhone.
One of the features for remote workers is the new integrated VPN capability for creating a secure tunnel between the BAS and a remote BluStar 8000i phone. Remote users face many challenges connecting to corporate networks, especially with feature-rich devices that utilize multiple video streams, connections to LDAP servers and have to negotiate the challenges of NAT, firewalls and media routing.
In release 4.1, the BAS has been augmented with an Open Standards based SSL VPN capability that can be administered via the BAS Web user interface without the need for complicated end user configuration changes such as dealing with certificates or forwarding ports on a third party router, making remote deployments easy to manage.
“The mainstream adoption of video conferencing by remote workers has been hampered in the past by technology hurdles such as complexity of implementation, achieving acceptable quality, and deployment security,” said Simon Beebe, vice president of Product Line Management at Aastra.
Another significant benefit of Release 4.1 is the enhanced bandwidth management capabilities. With multi-way video conferencing, the challenges and potential bandwidth consumption can increase significantly. The Bandwidth Manager (BWM) built into the BAS application has sophisticated features that can control the per call bandwidth.
The BluStar 8000i and BAS 4.1 also support the ability to have asymmetrical connections, where the transmit rate can be different from the received rate. This is especially useful for remote users that typically have high downstream bandwidths and lower upstream bandwidths. Asymmetrical channels are utilized with peer-to-peer and multi-way BluStar 8000i conference calls.
“Demand for executive and personal video conferencing endpoints has increased as users continue to look for more convenient and less expensive alternatives to conference room and boardroom meetings,” said Rob Arnold, Program Manager, Unified Communications and Collaboration at Frost & Sullivan.
Delivering true HD video conferencing and powerful collaboration capabilities, the Aastra BluStar solution enables lifelike video images to be delivered to the desktop. The BluStar Application Server is the heart of the BluStar standalone solution. The BAS server acts as the command center for the solution.
