Panasonic has announced that as of February 18th, 2013 they will have KX-TDE100, KX-TDE200, KX-TDE600 Version 6.0 available, as well as KX-NCP500 and KX-NCP1000 Version 6.0 available via distribution.   For those customers who have a previous release of  Panasonic TDE or NCP Phone Systems, you can upgrade your system for free by downloading version 6.0 from the Panasonic Dealer Website.

Some of the major highlights of KX-TDE Version 6.0 and KX-NCP Version 6.0, affect ICD group functionality.   You now have the capability to have inbound calls from an ICD Group immediately transfer to a queue busy destination such as a group mailbox or to a standard message, when all agents are logged out.   Another new ICD feature is the ability to automatically log out an agent based on a pre-defined number of missed calls from an ICD group.

The new software release also addresses improvements in DSS Operation.  A user is able to deliver additional information to a busy user when they have a call waiting for them.  This is a class of service setting per user.   Panasonic has also introduced flexible numbering plans, so that both 3 digit and 4 digit dial plans can be used on the same system.  This is particularly helpful in the hotel/motel industry, college campuses, or schools.

In Pansonic TDE Version 6.0, and Panasonic NCP 6.0, there have also been improvements to Trunk Group Access for multi-tenant offices.   In past releases, if all of the trunks for a particular tenant were busy, then a user could not make an outbound call, and inbound callers would receive a busy tone.  In Version 6.0, you can designate a second trunk group to allow for users to still make calls, as long as a trunk is available.

Lastly, another major improvement has been made to Panasonic KX-TDE600 Version 6.0.   There is now finally a 24 port Single Line Extension Card with Message Waiting, and Caller ID, the KX-TDA6179 Card.  This is an improvement on the KX-TDA6178 card, which only had Caller ID for the 24 extensions on the card.  This new card will be very useful for large hotel/ motel applications, and school systems.  This card will be available in distribution on February 18th.

Panasonic has announced a new release of NCP and TDE Phone Systems- Version 5, to be release the end of December 2011. They are adding new features, increased growth and new hardware.

Some of the highlights of release 5 include:

• Panasonic NCP500 increasing growth
  • Can support (2) DLC16 Cards (KX-NCP1172) or (2) SLC16 Cards KX-NCP1174
  • New maximum digital or SLT extension count is 36 extensions
  • Up to 10 Old Style Digital Phones can be used- KX-T7400 or KX-T7200 series phones

• New Single Line Telephone Cards with MW and CID for KX-TDE100 & KX-TDE200
  • MCSLC24 Card- KX-TDA1178 24 Port SLT Card with CLID and MW indicator
    • Up to 5 per TDE100
    • Up to 8 Per TDE200
  • MCSLC16 Card- KX-TDA1176 16 Port SLT Card with CLID and MW indicator
    • Up to 5 per TDE100
    • Up to 8 per TDE200

• Improvements in Emergency Call Handling
  • When a number is dialed that is in the Emergency Dial Table (ie, 911, police department, fire department, hospital), the system sends an alert to a PC
  • Requires CA, PanaLog, or Commsoft Call Accounting
  • PanaLog will display which extension dialed 911

• Call Queuing Enhancements
  • Number of callers that can be held in queue for an ICD group increased from 30 to 100
  • While a caller is in queue they can opt out to leave a message
  • Add more ESVM4 cards and OPB3 cards to handle additional people in queue

• SIP Trunk Improvement
  • Supports Super G3 Fax over SIP Trunk- on V4 only G3 Fax is supported over SIP Trunk

There are many benefits of using SIP Trunks on an Panasonic Telephone System. There are both monetary benefits and technical benefits for each. Let’s take a look at both.

Many Monetary Benefits include:

• Lower per line cost
• Lower rates for Long Distance
• Lower rates for Inbound Toll Free
  Service
• Inexpensive Fax to Email
• Free In-Network calls to local and
  international locations
• No taxes or FCC Charges

Many Technical Benefits include:

• More control over call progress (SIP Messaging)
• Services can be split to Inbound and Outbound
• Free Caller ID with Name and Number
• Quick and easy disaster control
• Easy relocation of service
• Higher audio quality
• No audio loss when bridging lines for conferences
• Outgoing Caller ID control
• Easy DID integration
• On-Line access and control of services and features
• Time of Day Call Preferences / Control

Technical and Monetary Benefits will vary from each Service Provider.

So how do you connect your SIP Trunks to your Panasonic Telephone System and which systems are compatible?

SIP Trunks can be connected to the KX-TDA50G Phone System, KX-TDE100, KX-TDE200, KX-TDE600 or KX-NCP500 and KX-NCP1000 Phone Systems by using the correct cards.  The KX-TDA50G has the ability to have up to 8 SIP Trunks by adding a KX-TDA5450 and KX-TDA5451 SIP Trunk cards.  Any of the KX-TDE or KX-NCP Phone Systems can connect to SIP Trunks by using a Panasonic Codec (DSP Card) and the correct amount of IP Trunk Licenses.   There are three DSP Cards to choose from depending upon size and potential growth in the future.   KX-NCP1104- 4 Port DSP Card, KX-TDE0110- 16 Port DSP Card, and KX-TDE0111 64 Channel DSP Card.   Each card comes with a specific amount of IP Trunks and the 16 and 64 Channel can be upgraded by adding more IP Trunk Keycodes.  The NCP500 can have up to 8 SIP Trunks, while the NCP1000 can have up to 32 SIP Trunks. Any of the TDE Phone Systems can have up to 64 SIP Trunks on the latest release software.

Panasonic introduced several SIP Wireless Phones to the market last year, the KX-TGP500 and KX-TGP550 Phone. These phones are a very unique type of phones that bring SIP technology and Panasonic Wireless Technology together on one platform.
The latest in SIP Technology from Panasonic are the new Desktop KX-UT SIP Product line. The new models include the KX-UT113-B, KX-UT123-B, KX-UT133-B, KX-UT136-B.

 These new Panasonic SIP Phones can be used in the same way as any other type of SIP Phone such as Polycom Soundpoint IP Phones, or Aastra SIP Phones. They can work on any type of Hosted PBX or Pure IP Phone systems including Asterix based IP Phone Systems.

The new models of Panasonic SIP Phones can fit into any type of IP Phone System with ease. The KX-UT113 and KX-UT123 SIP Phones are identical model, with the difference being the UT123 has a 2 Port Switch in the back for sharing a cable run between the phone and the computer. These phones can be compared to the Polycom Sound Point IP 321 and IP331. The KX-UT133 Phone has an additional panel of programmable keys on the side of the phone, while the UT136 is nearly identical to the UT133. The UT133 has a 3 line display and the UT136 has a 6 line display.

All of these phones can be powered either by a POE switch, or by using a power adapter (KX-A239). You have the option to wall mount the phones with the KX-A433 Wall Mount Kit. These phones are surely to become a contender in the SIP Phone market due to the design and ease of use of the phone as well as its competitive pricing.

The Panasonic KX-TVA Voicemail Systems have many features that come built into the voicemail. Of course, access to these features may be limited by the type of Panasonic Phone System you are using. Two features that are often used are Voicemail to Email and Record to Voicemail. Voicemail to email is built into the KX-TVA200 Voicemail System, and requires a KX-TVA594 LAN Card if being used on a KX-TVA50 Voicemail System. This feature will send an email to the user with a .wav file attachment containing a recording of the voicemail that was left for them. This feature allows a user to know when they have a voicemail while they are out of the office, as well as allowing a user to forward the voicemail to another person by simply emailing it to them.

The second feature that we mentioned is Record to Voicemail. This feature comes built into both Panasonic TVA Voicemail Systems at no additional fee. This is not meant for use by a company that would like to record all calls inbound and outbound, or all calls to a particular extension. If a customer would like that type of recording, it is recommended that the purchase a 3rd party software such as CommSoft RMS. The built in feature is mainly for people who want to record conversations on a case by case basis. These recording can take up a lot of room on a voicemail system, and particularly becomes a problem on the TVA50 Voicemail because it only comes with 4 hours of storage to start.

One thing in particular to note, on Panasonic KX-TVA Voicemail systems, all email messages are kept until the end of the day in a deleted message email box for each configured mailbox. At the end of the day, a maintenance utility program runs that will deletes these emails. After this happens, the space is returned for use by more messages. If you customers are concerned about the amount of storage time they have and saving messages, you would be better off initially selling them a KX-TVA524 expanded storage memory card for a TVA50 Voicemail system, or selling them a TVA200 Voicemail to start.