Description
CommuniGate Pro is a client - server platform. The CommuniGate Pro Server application is installed on a server computer (or on a multi-server cluster) running any version of Unix, Linux, Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, or other supported operating system.
The CommuniGate Pro Server application processes requests sent over the network by a variety of clients - communication applications installed on desktops, laptops, mobile devices and other end-user systems.
These client applications provide users with E-mail, groupware, IM/Presence, telephony, and other services by connecting to the CommuniGate Pro Server via its extensive set of supported standard protocols: SMTP, SIP, IMAP, XMPP, LDAP, XIMSS, CalDAV, WebDAV, and many other.
The CommuniGate Pro Server implements server-server communications, too, communicating with other systems (other servers) to relay E-mails and phone calls, to exchange IM and Presence information, etc.
Interface
WebAdmin Interface
The WebAdmin Interface pages are grouped into five Realms:
1. The Settings
realm contains pages that allow a Server Administrator to modify the Server kernel and module settings
2. The Monitors
realm contains pages that allow a Server Administrator to monitor server and module queues, communication channels and their states, to browse the Server Logs, and to view the Server Statistics.
If a user is granted an access right to the Monitors realm, additional Monitor Access rights can be granted, too (rights to release and reject module queues, reconfigure the Log Manager, etc.)
3. The Directory
realm contains pages that allow a Server Administrator to configure the CommuniGate Pro Directory services.
4. The Users
realm contains pages that allow a Server Administrator to create and remove Domains and Accounts, and to modify the Domain and Account settings.
5. The Master
realm contains the pages that allow a Server Administrator to grant and revoke Server Administrator access rights, and to modify the Server License Keys.
VoIP
VoIP
CommuniGate Pro is the most versatile and scalable VoIP solution available on the market today. Its Signaling engine provides support for SIP and XMPP inter-server signaling, and for a vast variety of SIP, XMPP, XIMSS, ParlayX and CG/PL clients.
The CommuniGate Pro Media Server component provides one-to-one and multi-party communications for RTP end-points, supporting an extended set of codecs. The CommuniGate Pro STUN and Media Proxy modules eliminate most of NAT-related VoIP problems.
A rich set of the bundled applications - from voicemail and conference centers to PBX centers to B2BUA applets - are implemented using the the CG/PL programming language. These application can utilize the internal and external billing systems.
The CommuniGate Pro unique Dynamic Cluster and SIP Farm technologies provide "no-fail" carrier-grade reliability and scalability - for basic phone calls as well as for sophisticated IVR, conference call, and other applications.
PBX Features
Auto Attendant (AA)
An AA system allows callers to be automatically transferred to a user's extension without the intervention of a receptionist.
When the CommuniGate Pro System is installed, it creates an Account named pbx, assigns it the 200 alias, and assign it a Signal Rule to start the stock PBX application. This application implements the Auto-Attendant functions. See the PBX Center section for more details.
Automatic Call Distributor (ACD)
An ACD system distributes incoming calls to a specific group of agents.
The CommuniGate Pro software comes with a pre-designed basic call queue control applications.
Automated Directory Assistance (ADA)
An ADA system allows callers to route calls to given employees by keying the letters of the employee's name.
The CommuniGate Pro PBX Center application includes the Directory Service as an option.
Automatic Ring Back (ARB)
An ARB system provides callers with an option to be called when the destination they failed to reach becomes available.
Call Accounting
A Call Accounting system collects data when a call is made and attaches a cost and a location to the call.
The CommuniGate Pro Signal component generates accounting CDR records. It also maintains the incoming and outgoing call logs in the Account File Storage.
Call Forwarding
A Call Forwarding system allows an incoming call to a called party, which would be otherwise unavailable, to be redirected to some other telephone number where the desired called party is situated.
The CommuniGate Pro Call Control features and Signal Rules provide a very powerful and flexible call control environment. It can be used to implement many different types of call forwarding.
Call Park
The Call Park feature allows a person to put a call on hold at one telephone set and continue the conversation using some other telephone set.
The CommuniGate Pro Services application implements a multi-line, queue-type Parking Service for each Account. Additionally, the Park Center feature allows Domain users to park a call in a Domain-wide (or System-wide) Park Center, where it can be picked up by any other user of that Domain.
Call Pick-up
The Call Pick-up feature allows a person to answer someone else's call.
Call Through
A Call Through feature allows a user to call the PBX system first, and then make the system place a (usually expensive) call on the user's behalf.
The CommuniGate Pro Services application implements the Call Through feature.
Call Transfer
A Call Transfer is a mechanism enabling a user to relocate an existing call to another device or extension.
The CommuniGate Pro fully supports SIP operations required to implement Call Transfer.
The CommuniGate Pro XIMSS module allows XIMSS-based clients to implement all types of Call Transfer operations.
The CommuniGate Pro Real-Time Application environment can automatically accept Call Transfer operations allowing calls established with applications (such as IVR) to be transferred without limitations. Real-Time Applications can also initiate all types of Call Transfer operations.
The CommuniGate Pro PSTN gateway applications implement Call Transfer internally, thus providing unlimited call transfer functionality for PSTN calls.
Call Waiting
The Call Waiting feature allows a calling party to place a call to a called party which is otherwise engaged, so the called party is able to suspend the current telephone call and switch to the new incoming call, and then back to the previous call.
The CommuniGate Pro SIP and XIMSS based clients can handle several calls at once, so they either do not need the Call Waiting feature or implement it locally.
A special CommuniGate Pro Real-Time application can be used to emulate the legacy call waiting feature for users with single-line devices.
Call Return / Camping
The Call Return feature allows a called party to place a call back to the calling party of the last received call.
The CommuniGate Pro Services application implements the Call Return feature.
Conference Call
The Conference call is a call with more than two participants.
The CommuniGate Pro Conference application is used to set Conference calls.
Custom Greetings
The Custom Greeting feature allows users to change their announcements according to special criteria.
The CommuniGate Pro Voice Mail application can play Custom Greetings. The CommuniGate Pro Services application can be used to edit Custom Greetings. The Custom greetings can also be uploaded directly to the Account File Storage.
Direct Inward Dialing (DID)
The Direct Inward Dialing feature (offered by telephone companies) allows the customer PBX to receive calls for a range of numbers, to get the information about the number dialed, and to route the call to proper extension based on that information.
CommuniGate Pro receives PSTN calls via PSTN-to-SIP gateways.
PSTN gateways providing "SIP trunking" deliver the DID information as part of their SIP requests. This information can be used directly with the CommuniGate Pro Router to send a call to any local or remote Account, Group, or Application.
Consumer-type PSTN gateways require separate "registration" for each DID. The CommuniGate Pro Remote SIP Registration feature can be used to receive calls from these gateways, and to ensure that each call request contains the necessary DID information.
Direct Inward System Access (DISA)
The Direct Inward System Access feature allows a calling party to access internal features from an outside telephone line.
The CommuniGate Pro PBX Center and Voice Mail applications provide the DISA features.
Follow-me / Find-me
The Follow-me feature routes incoming calls to a person trying each number in a pre-configured list until the call is answered.
The CommuniGate Pro Call Control features and Signal Rules implement very flexible Follow-me configurations. Unlike many other PBX systems, CommuniGate Pro can "fork" calls, adding new numbers/addresses to the set of devices being alerted, with all devices in the set ringing simultaneously.
Message Waiting Indicator (MWI)
The Message Waiting Indicator is an audio or visual signal the telephone device send to inform that a voicemail message is waiting.
The CommuniGate Pro Signal component provide the message-summary package. It can be used with any SIP-based device to implement Message Waiting Indicator.
Music on Hold (MOH)
The Music on Hold feature allows the system to play pre-recorded music to fill the silence that would be heard by telephone callers that have been placed on hold.
The CommuniGate Pro Park Center and many other applications use the system ability to play any pre-recorded media file to implement Music on Hold feature.
Night Service
The Night Service feature allows the system to route incoming calls depending on the current time of day.
The CommuniGate Pro Call Control features and Signal Rules implement very flexible Night Service configurations: the calls can be processed depending on the time of day, the working hours of the callee, the callee presences, etc.
Vertical Service Codes (VSC)
The Vertical Service Codes are special short telephone numbers starting with the star (*) symbol/key, used to access system services.
The CommuniGate Pro Services application implements various Service Codes.
Voicemail (voice mail, vmail, or VMS)
Voicemail is a system allowing callers to record and store phone messages, and allowing its users to play and distribute stored messages.
The CommuniGate Pro Voice Mail application allows caller to store messages. Voice messages are delivered to the callee INBOX as any other E-mail message, and can be filtered, sorted, and processed using the Queue Rules.
The CommuniGate Pro Services application can be used to retrieve and manage recorded messages. At the same time, any POP, IMAP, MAPI, XIMSS client or WebUser Interface can be used to retrieve and manage recorded messages.
Multi-Domain
Multi-Domain
Each platform user has an Account created inside the CommuniGate Pro Server user database. The Account name looks like userName@domainName, and it becomes the user's E-mail, Calendar, SIP, and XMPP address.
Each Account (such as Este endereço de email está protegido contra piratas. Necessita ativar o JavaScript para o visualizar.) belongs to some Domain (company.dom in this case). CommuniGate Pro Server supports multiple Domains, each with its own independent set of Accounts, Groups, Aliases, and other Objects, its own set of Default Account settings, own set of E-mail and Signal Rules, own security Certificates, etc
A Domain can have its own dedicated IP address(es), or several Domains can share the same IP address(es).
When the platform is used for hosting, each Domain can be administered remotely by Domain Administrators - Accounts in that Domain with administrative rights granted to them.
E-mail
E-mail
CommuniGate Pro is the most advanced E-mail server on the market. It exchanges E-mail with all other Internet E-mail servers using the SMTP protocol and its extensions, and it provides access to Account mailboxes via POP, IMAP, MAPI, and AirSync protocols.
Users can also work with their E-mails via the built-in customizable WebUser Interface (WebMail), the Pronto! Flash-based Unified client, and via other clients utilizing the XIMSS protocol.
CommuniGate Pro Automated Rules provide an extensive set of automatic "reactions" to incoming messages - auto-replies, mailbox sorting, IM and SMS notifications, etc.
The E-mail Queue subsystem processes all E-mail messages. It can scan them using a variety of anti-spam and anti-virus engines which run as separate processes.
The SMTP module implements many sophisticated abuse-prevention techniques - from RBLs and delayed responses to automatic blacklisting of suspicious IP addresses.
GroupWare
GroupWare
CommuniGate Pro implements the standard Groupware features, such as Calendaring, Tasks, and Contacts. The Groupware data storage is integrated with the Mailbox storage, and each Account can have several Calendar-type, Tasks-type, and Contacts-type folders.
The Groupware data can be accessed and managed using a variety of client applications employing any supported groupware protocol, such as CalDAV, CardDAV, MAPI, AirSync, or XIMSS.
The Groupware data is also avaliable via the built-in customizable WebUser Interface (WebMail) and the Pronto! Unified client.
The Groupware data can be used by other CommuniGate Pro components - for example, incoming phone calls can be redirected to voicemail during the scheduled meetings, meeting alarms can be sent as reminder Instant Messages and/or SMSes, or as reminder phone calls, etc.
IM/Presence
IM/Presence
CommuniGate Pro implements an IM/Presence (CPIM) system, merging both the XMPP and SIP models. This system is linked with other CommuniGate Pro components - Rules engine, File Storage, etc.
Users can connect to their CommuniGate Pro Accounts using any XMPP and/or SIP CPIM client, or a XIMSS client, such as the Pronto! Unified client.
CommuniGate Pro allows its users to exchange IM and Presence information with users of other systems.
It communicates with those systems (servers) using the XMPP and/or SIP protocols, and it can communicate with proprietary CPIM networks (ICQ, AIM, Yahoo, etc.) using XMPP-based gateways.
CommuniGate Pro can send and receive IM messages as SMS messages, using its SMPP module. The module "dialog" feature allows SMS recipients to send replies which are delivered as Instant Messages.
Multi-user "chatrooms" and other applications are implemented as CG/PL programs, and can be easily customized.
Applications
Applications
Many CommuniGate Pro components - such as PBX, WebMail, etc. are implemented as programs utilizing CG/PL - a JavaScript-like language. While the system comes with a large set of "standard" or "stock" applications, the CommuniGate Pro is also a robust platform to develop and deploy various Web-based, Telephony-based, E-mail and Groupware-based applications.
The CG/PL applications can access all CommuniGate Pro components and subsystems - including E-mail and Groupware storage, VoIP, File Storage, IM and Presence, Billing, and Adminstration.
Being deeply integrated into the CommuniGate Pro core, the CG/PL environment is much more effective than generic Java-based environments.
The rich XIMSS protocol provides the foundation for client-side development. Like CG/PL, XIMSS also provides access to E-mail, IM, Groupware, VoIP and many other subsystems - all via a single, XML-based protocol. The included XIMSS libraries greatly simplify communication client development. They are available for the JavaScript, Java (including Android), and Objective C (including iPhone) environments.
Scalability
Scalability
CommuniGate Pro is the most scalable E-mail server (by the Spec.org tests) and the most scalable VoIP solution (by the published tests) on the market.
Running on a medium size server hardware, the CommuniGate Pro Server can support from 10,000 to 200,000 users (depending on the usage pattern).
Partitioning ("Static Cluster") and the unique Dynamic Cluster architectures can be used to build multi-server "farms" with virtually unlimited scalability.
Many CommuniGate Pro Cluster installations all over the world serve several million users each, while the Single Service Image technology makes multi-server Clusters as easy to manage as a simple Single-Server system.
Unlike traditional "partitioning" systems, the Dynamic Cluster provides reliable service to all Accounts and their users even when several of its servers experience software or hardware failure.
The most sophisticated Dynamic Cluster and SIP Farm technologies require generic commodity server hardware, the simplest Load Balancers, and generic off-the-shelf Shared File Storage, such as NFS servers or Cluster File Systems.
CommuniGate Pro is a client - server platform. The CommuniGate Pro Server application is installed on a server computer (or on a multi-server cluster) running any version of Unix, Linux, Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, or other supported operating system.
