What do you mean by a solution ?

Cistera builds solutions that help our customers solve problems. Examples of problems are when an emergency ward cannot communicate with an inbound Air Ambulance, or when a Call Center needs to provide quality assurance and monitoring capabilities to their customers in realtime. A Cistera solution looks to use communications capabilities over IP to solve these types of problems. For example we integrate Two-Way radio systems into IP Phone systems allowing the emergeny operators to directly take to the Air Ambulance crew through their IP Phones regardless of the type and band of radio being used.

I am confused by all the terms. What are the ones I should understand?

VoIP refers to a way to carry phone calls over an IP data network, whether on the Internet or an organization's own internal network. One of the primary attractions of VoIP is its ability to help companies reduce expenses because telephone calls travel over the data network rather than the phone company's network.

IP telephony encompasses the full suite of telephony services enabled by VoIP, including the interconnection of phones for actual communications; related services such as billing and dialing plans; and basic features such as conferencing, transfer, forward, and hold. These services might previously have been provided by a private branch exchange (PBX).

IP communications evolves the concept another step to include business applications that enhance communications to enable applications such as unified messaging, integrated contact centers, and rich-media conferencing that combines voice, data, and video.

Unified communications takes IP communications a step further by using such technologies as Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) and presence along with mobility solutions to unify and simply all forms of communications, independent of location, time, or device. Users can reach one another at any time based on their preferences, and can communicate through any media using whichever device they prefer. Unified communications brings together multiple phones and devices, along with multiple networks (fixed, Internet, cable, satellite, mobile) to enable geographical independence, facilitate the integration of communications with business processes, streamline operations, and improve productivity and profitability.

My needs are unique, can I get help from you ?

Cistera Convergence Servers offer a high degree of configuration capability on the platform. Think of it as a toolbox that a qualified engineer can modify to meet the needs of a customer. Cistera does not do custom development for customer, so we cannot help, we can refer you to a Cistera Eco Partner would can extend Cistera Convergence Servers with custom components.

Do you have downloads I can look at ?

The Cistera Website has downloads for whitepapers, brochures, Powerpoint, Video and Audio presentations. You can find the main download page here. You can find presentations and brochures on Vertical Solutions on the experience site here.

Can I speak to a Cistera person directly ?

Cistera has Solution Staff available to talk to you during normal business hours. You can dial 1-866-XML-TO-GO and you will be connected to a customer services specialist. You can also email sales here.

These don't exactly fit, where can I get help ?

You can talk directly with a Cistera Solution Specialist by dialing 1-866-XML-TO-GO or you can use the email form here. You can also find a Cistera Specialist from the Partner Directory here.