Merrill Lynch has contracted with voice and data network provider Avaya for the supply of mutlimedia-enabled Internet Protocol (IP) telephony solutions for its corporate campus in New Jersey and its new regional headquarters building in Tokyo, Japan.
The new solutions will be based on Avaya's Communication Manager IP telephony software and media servers.
The media servers will distribute Communication Manager applications across each of the two networks and provide access to more than 600 distinct telephony features - from meet-me conferencing to malicious call tracing and emergency call override capabilities.
Merrill Lynch will use a mix of IP and digital handsets to serve its 5800 employees in New Jersey and 1800 employees in Japan, routing IP calls over its data network and digital calls over its new voice network.
Avaya says the bank's mobile employees will be able to make and receive calls remotely from a laptop or PC using its IP Softphone application, or can use its 'Extension to Cellular' feature to divert incoming calls to mobile phones.