Chapter 1: Introduction

The Avaya CM Branch Gateways (Avaya G250 and Avaya G350 Media Gateways) form part of Avaya’s solution for extending communication capabilities from the headquarters of an organization to all collaborative branch locations. Avaya CM Branch Gateways help you provide the same high quality services to all organization members, regardless of their location.

The Branch Gateways are high-performance converged telephony and networking devices that are located in small branch locations, providing all infrastructure needs in one box — telephone exchange and data networking. The Branch Gateways each feature a VoIP engine, WAN router, and Power over Ethernet LAN connectivity. The G350 provides full support for legacy IP, DCP, and analog telephones. The G250 supports legacy IP and analog telephones. In addition, the G250-DCP model supports DCP telephones.

The G350 is designed for use in an eight to 72 user environment, aimed at branch offices with 16 to 40 stations. The G250 is designed for use in a two to 12 user environment, aimed at small branch offices with two to eight stations.

Telephone services on a Branch Gateway are controlled by a Media Gateway Controller (MGC). You can use an Avaya S8XXX Server running Communication Manager (CM) call processing software as an MGC. The gateway integrates seamlessly with Avaya S8700, S8710, S8720, S8730, S8500, S8400, and S8300 Servers to provide the same top quality telephony services to the small branch office as to the headquarters of the organization.

Note:

The S8700 Server cannot be upgraded to CM 5.0.

The Branch Gateways can subtend to an MGC located at the headquarters or the MGC can be installed locally. The Branch Gateways can optionally house an internal Avaya S8300 server for Enhanced Local Survivability (ELS), providing full MGC functionality in the event that the connection with the primary MGC is lost, or as the primary MGC for standalone deployment. When the primary MGC is located at a remote location, the Branch Gateway features Standard Local Survivability (SLS). SLS provides partial backup MGC functionality in the event that the connection with the primary MGC is lost.

In addition to advanced and comprehensive telephony services, the Branch Gateways provide full data networking services, precluding the need for a WAN router or LAN switch.

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