M5
Networks, a provider of business phone systems, announced the launch of M5
Labs, a technology preview opportunity for clients.
Products
and features in varying stages of development will be made available from time
to time. Some will be very near release and others will be ideas that may
never make it to production. These technologies will be available to M5
customers at no charge during the Labs period.
“We
think Google has the right idea on this one,” said Jeff
Valentine, senior vice president of Product at M5 Networks.
“Because
we own our own technology at M5 and build software from scratch, we can lead
the rest of the market with the latest innovations in cloud communications.
M5 Labs is our way to expose interested customers to these new products
and get real world feedback on which features really excite them and which ones
need more work,” Valentine added.
M5
Labs is launching with two products related to unified communications and
mobility, M5 Mobility for iPhone and M5 Connect for Apple Address Book.
M5
Mobility for iPhone turns an Apple iPhone into an extension of the user’s M5
Networks phone system. Clients can use the iPhone to make and receive calls
while presenting their business identity. Call recipients will see the M5
business phone number, rather than a private mobile number. Key features of M5
Mobility for iPhone include; integration with iPhone Contacts, speed dial,
speaker phone, mute, hold and Do Not Disturb.
“Our
team uses Macs exclusively. When we first signed up with M5 in 2003, we
saw the click-to-dial feature for Outlook and have always wanted to be able to
do that from our Mac address book,” said James
Rinzler of the Law Firm, Kagan Lubic Lepper Lewis
Gold & Colbert.
