Network Equipment Technologies (News - Alert), a company focused on providing secure real-time communications for unified communications, SIP trunking, enterprise mobility, and IP-based multi-service networking, announced the general availability of the UX1000, a multi-function, single box appliance for branch office communications needs.

A company statement indicated that the new appliance gives mid-size businesses access to enterprise grade unified communications without taxing IT and financial resources.

"Extending unified communications systems to remote offices poses significant challenges for enterprises, including providing disaster recovery, navigating firewalls, ensuring security for UC traffic, and implementing tools for the real-time diagnosis of network issues," Kevin Isacks, acting chief development officer at NET said in a press release.

"We are proud to introduce the UX1000, which solves these challenges," Isacks added.

NET's (News - Alert) UX Series is based on a modular 1U platform that has been purpose-built for unified communications and enterprise session border controller applications. As a session mediation platform, UX Series products reduce both capital and operational expenses by eliminating the need to purchase separate infrastructure components such as a PSTN gateway, session border controller, and application server. The UX Series is qualified as a Survivable Branch Appliance for Microsoft Lync 2010.

NET’s newly announced UX1000 is noted to be the latest product based on the company's Unified Exchange Series high performance mediation platform. With the addition of the UX1000, NET believes that it has significantly expanded the range of opportunities that can be addressed by the UX Series for Microsoft (News - Alert) Lync applications, by providing a solution appropriate for small- to mid-size branch offices.

NET's UX1000 Solution offers true signaling translation, media interworking, and security between Microsoft Lync and SIP Trunks, TDM and IP PBX's (News - Alert), legacy analog endpoints, and the PSTN. The UX1000 also interconnects various IP-based endpoints. Moreover, with NET's optional SmartSIP application, enterprises can also continue to use legacy non-Lync SIP clients in their Lync environment.

Other key features include; A range of I/O and call capacities, Support for up to 45 IP to IP calls, Support for SRTP (secured VoIP media) and TLS (secured VoIP signaling), Enhanced voice media quality, Advanced call routing features in branch offices and Integrated Enterprise Session Border Controller

The UX1000 is made available with immediate effect for a starting price of $1,700.

Other related news about NET is that recently L’Occitane en Provence successfully deployed NET’s VX Series.