Alcatel OmniPCX Office provides the ability to control Internet usage, through its integrated proxy server. The proxy server also manages user authentication and enables you to define which Internet services are available to each user. The server uses powerful Web filtering to define the URLs that are authorized or forbidden to each user. It also allows you to limit connection times, by defining authorized time periods for each user or user group. With Alcatel OmniPCX Office, you can reduce costs by limiting access time and ensure that the Internet is used for business purposes only.

Because Alcatel OmniPCX Office is designed to help you in your business, security management is fast and easy. The firewall and proxy server are pre-installed and ready to use. They are easy to manage through user-friendly, Internet-based management software.

The VPN uses the Internet to provide secure, immediate access to the company network. Using VoIP and IP telephony, a remote user or a remote site can access the company network and resources through Alcatel OmniPCX Office from anywhere in the world, all for the price of a local call. Whatever the distance, both hosts will communicate over the Internet using only local connections.
Although it uses the public Internet infrastructure, IP VPN connections are secure. VPN relies on encryption and tunneling technologies to protect information confidentiality. The VPN services provided by Alcatel OmniPCX Office are based on industry-standard protocols (PPTP / IPSEC); the system can therefore be connected to heterogeneous network components that support these protocols.

Private, secure communications with VPN FAQ

Alcatel OmniPCX Office makes internal communications easy with its capability to host an intranet server. For example, it's easy to publish content on the Alcatel OmniPCX Office intranet server, as employees can easily access company information using their regular Web browsers. With the new, built-in file server, users can store files in shared common directories or in individual directories.

1. What is the Alcatel OmniPCX Office Internet solution?
Alcatel OmniPCX Office is an easy-to-use, comprehensive, all-in-one Internet solution that provides small and medium-sized businesses with Internet access, e-mail and Internet-based communications in a safe, controlled and cost-effective way. The solution is composed of integrated components, making it easy to deploy and manage. Key components include an Internet access router, a certified firewall with filtering rules, a Web proxy for precise access control, a Web cache server to accelerate Web access, an e-mail server that supports a unified messaging solution, a secure Internet-based remote access function using IP Virtual Private Networking (VPN) and an intranet server to improve internal information sharing.

2. What are the advantages of the Alcatel OmniPCX Office Internet solution?
Alcatel OmniPCX Office delivers advanced capabilities - including a firewall, access control, integrated e-mail and VPN - in a single system. This affordable, easy-to-deploy solution takes full advantage of Internet services to leverage your business operations and communications capabilities in a secure, controlled and optimized way. Alcatel OmniPCX Office combines best-of-breed technology in voice and Internet functions to deliver a comprehensive, convergent solution for voice and Internet, an approach that will inevitably lower the total cost of ownership by replacing multiple, unrelated components. Alcatel OmniPCX Office can also add key components (such as a firewall or e-mail service) to an existing environment, if needed.

3. With so many integrated elements, how difficult is installation?
Alcatel OmniPCX Office has been designed to be powerful yet simple. The system simplifies administration, using a single centralized, user-friendly Web-based management tool that needs no software installation. Most of the components are fully integrated and only need to be configured.

4. Can I integrate Alcatel OmniPCX Office in my existing environment?
Yes. Alcatel OmniPCX supports standard Ethernet local area network (LAN) connections, for implementation in an existing LAN. If you do not have a LAN, Alcatel OmniPCX Office provides integrated Ethernet switching capability, allowing you to build a LAN to support both voice and Internet communications in a single system. If you already have some Internet components, such as ADSL Internet access, Alcatel OmniPCX Office can provide additional components such as an e-mail server, intranet server, proxy server, VPN server and file server.

5. What are the benefits of shared Internet access?
With Alcatel OmniPCX Office, multiple computers can be connected to the company LAN and can simultaneously access Internet services and applications, such as the Web, e-mail or e-commerce, while using a single high-speed shared connection to the Internet. This eliminates the need for multiple individual connections and Internet subscriptions, and hardware such as trunks and modems. Moreover, the use of a shared access allows administrative control to be centralized at a single, reliable access point that contributes to security and cost control.

6. What are the benefits of Alcatel OmniPCX Office's shared Internet access?
Alcatel OmniPCX Office offers an easy, integrated, all-in-one solution for voice and Internet access. It allows resources to be shared and centralizes administration for both voice and the Internet. With this solution, voice users become Internet users.

7. What types of connections are supported by Alcatel OmniPCX Office?
Alcatel OmniPCX Office supports multiple interfaces for Internet connections, including ISDN, ADSL and leased lines. For ISDN, Alcatel OmniPCX Office uses the shared B-channel resources on ISDN voice trunks to access the Internet, with bandwidths from 64 to 128 Kbps. In addition, Alcatel OmniPCX Office supports DSL and leased line connections (up to 10 Mbps) by means of an external DSL modem or an external router. Alcatel OmniPCX Office is connected to the external modem or router by a second Ethernet plug. This allows smooth migration towards a different type of connection as new needs arise.

8. How complex is the configuration for Internet access?
Alcatel OmniPCX Office has been designed for easy configuration. There is no software or hardware to install; you just set up the system using wizards. Most of the parameters come from the ISP, and configuration takes less than 15 minutes. No specific skills are required, because most of the components are pre-installed and pre-configured. System installation does not call for any particular administration software; you just use a browser to connect to the system.

9. Will my company be continuously connected to the Internet?
No. When using an ISDN connection, the system can be configured so that the connection is established on demand and terminated when there is no more traffic. In addition, a callback mechanism is supported so that the Internet connection can be established by your Internet service provider to allow online access for remote workers over the Internet (see VPN). Alcatel OmniPCX Office allows you to reduce connection time and communications costs.

10. How many Internet users does Alcatel OmniPCX Office support?
Alcatel OmniPCX Office supports an unlimited number of Internet users. However, on a shared Internet access, the connection bandwidth is shared among all users. Thus, recommendations have to be made about Internet usage, depending on the available bandwidth. For instance, on a 128 Kbps link, no more than 20 users should access the Internet simultaneously. It is easy to boost your Internet access capacity by replacing ISDN access with an ADSL connection to increase the bandwidth and support more users.

11. With the Alcatel OmniPCX Office, does specific software have to be installed on each PC to obtain Internet access?
No. There is no need for particular software to be installed on each PC. End users can access Internet services using their standard browsers and e-mail client software.

12. Is Internet access secure with the Alcatel OmniPCX Office?
Yes. Alcatel OmniPCX Office includes a certified firewall that is designed to protect the confidentiality and integrity of local computers against external attacks and intrusion. The Alcatel OmniPCX Office firewall has been awarded West Coats Labs' Checkmark. Using a technique called packet filtering, the firewall inspects every IP packet and ensures that only legitimate traffic passes through. The firewall does not require configuration. Filtering rules can be defined in the graphical rules editor to control outgoing Internet traffic based on source address, destination address, protocol or application.

Furthermore, Alcatel OmniPCX Office implements Network Address Translation (NAT), which allows the entire LAN to share a single public IP address. This mechanism contributes to overall security, since it makes IP addresses on the LAN invisible from the Internet.

13. With Alcatel OmniPCX Office, can I control and limit Internet use in my company?
Yes. To control Internet usage, Alcatel OmniPCX Office offers a proxy/cache server that efficiently controls Web usage, supports Web filtering and provides comprehensive statistics. With the proxy server, you can define user and group profiles to specify who is allowed Internet access, when, and what for. Alcatel OmniPCX Office also manages user authentication by defining user IDs and passwords. In addition, you can specify the criteria that control which Web sites are authorized or forbidden, through lists that can be downloaded from an external server or from the Internet. You can monitor and control Internet access through comprehensive, detailed statistics about Internet usage, including: most frequently visited Web sites, originator, date and time, etc.

14. What are the benefits of the Alcatel OmniPCX Office proxy/cache server?
Both proxy and cache functions improve employee productivity while decreasing Internet access costs. The cache server improves Web site access and file transfer performance by storing Internet objects, such as Web pages, images and files, when a user requests them. These objects can then be delivered immediately to subsequent users without a new Internet connection. Old cached objects are automatically replaced by newer ones. The caching mechanism accelerates Web access while decreasing the WAN costs.

23. Does the Alcatel OmniPCX Office support multiple-site networking and Internet access by remote workers?
Yes. Alcatel OmniPCX Office provides Virtual Private Networking (IP VPN) capabilities that use the public Internet infrastructure as a means of communication. The VPN feature allows remote systems (such as a remote user with a laptop or another Alcatel OmniPCX Office system) to connect to the LAN over the Internet through an inexpensive, secure connection. This solution is highly economical, since both sides make a local connection to the Internet. The VPN connection is secure, since it establishes a tunnel through the Internet between sites, guaranteeing data integrity and confidentiality through encryption. The VPN can be advantageously used for access by remote or home workers as well as for LAN-to-LAN networking among multiple sites. The Alcatel OmniPCX Office supports up to 50 IP VPN tunnels.

24. What VPN benefits does the Alcatel OmniPCX Office offer compared to other solutions?
Alcatel OmniPCX Office is an easy-to-use, cost-effective solution. It is simple to deploy and offers small businesses a communications advantage over their competitors. In providing service to remote workers and remote sites, Alcatel OmniPCX Office is highly affordable, as it does not require a large initial investment or recurrent monthly fees. Moreover, the VPN software is already installed on the system, and needs no additional hardware or software.

In addition, the Alcatel OmniPCX Office VPN can be combined with Alcatel OmniPCX Office IP telephony capabilities to provide a comprehensive voice-over-Internet solution for remote workers. Thus, Alcatel OmniPCX VPN combined with PIMphony over IP gives remote workers all of the voice and data services that are available back at the office.