Kerio Operator 1.1 Helps SMBs Manage Voice Communications with Advanced Phone Services Typically Associated with Enterprise Organizations

SAN JOSE, Calif., July 19, 2011 - Small businesses need to control telephony costs, and that means moving away from expensive traditional PBX phone systems. However, in doing so, they can't sacrifice the ease-of-use, advanced features, or security capabilities that are essential for business communications. With that in mind, Kerio Technologies announced a new version of its IP PBX (VoIP) solution for small and medium businesses.

Kerio Operator 1.1 is secure, flexible and can be set-up and deployed within a few minutes. The system improves voice communications, controls telephony costs, and lets users stay connected anywhere, while remaining simple for both the employee and the IT administrator. Kerio Operator 1.1 utilizes the industry-standard SIP VoIP protocol, is compatible with any IP Phone and SIP provider, and will auto-configure with many popular phones.

The key to Kerio Operator 1.1's simplicity for administrators is the intuitive web-based GUI, which has advanced drag and drop capabilities for interface configuration, contextual help, and a configuration assistant. As with other Kerio products, the system can be configured and managed remotely from within an Internet browser.

VoIP has long been plagued by fears that those with malicious intent can exploit the technology and make very expensive calls before being detected. To address this concern, Kerio has incorporated enhanced security mechanisms into Kerio Operator 1.1, including dynamic protection against password guessing and the ability to monitor and address abnormal use of any extension within the system.

"IP PBX is a huge opportunity for VARs to grow their businesses," said Scott Schreiman, CEO Kerio Technologies. "We have worked with the IT channel for years, and our mission is to help them understand that providing voice solutions to their clients is actually very similar to the messaging, security and storage solutions they already provide."

The traditional PBX telephony industry is outdated, and IT resellers are better equipped to incorporate voice into their messaging portfolio. Kerio Operator can be configured and managed remotely by VARs. Thus, end customers will no longer have to pay for expensive onsite visits every time they need to adjust their phone system.

"As a Kerio Preferred Partner focused on providing our clients with top-notch service and support, Kerio's ease of use for both the provider as well as the end-user has always been appreciated. With the release of Kerio Operator 1.1, they've once again taken what was once a complicated and unfriendly technology and made it available to the masses," said Sam Bergin, owner, MacSERV. "When you think of ease of use and simplicity in a product, you generally expect to have to sacrifice advanced features and support. With Kerio Operator, you get the advanced feature set of Asterisk and the very functional and well-respected admin and user interfaces Kerio is known for."

Kerio Operator 1.1 is available as both a software appliance or hardware box. Additional key features include:

• SIP password guessing protection - Enhances safety by blocking an IP after a specified number of login attempts, thus protecting the system from misuse and preventing unauthorized persons from gaining access.
• Detection of anomalous behavior - The IT administrator can set "rules" for normal call routines to monitor behavior of the phone system. He is automatically alerted when calls are made outside of these rules (such as extensive international calls) and can address the situation quickly.
• Email and voicemail integration - Integration with Kerio Connect allows users to access, listen or delete voicemails through their email inbox.
• Auto-provisioning - Automatic "plug-and-play" phone setup eliminates the hassle of configuring new phones to the network. Many popular phones are supported, including Cisco, Linksys, Snom and now Polycom.
• Auto-attendant - Meet the new receptionist who can speak almost any language and works 24 hours a day 7 days a week. Caller will always get a response to their call and can easily navigate through the attendant menus or by directly dialing the extension or name of the called person.
• Personal Ring Groups - One extension can be assigned to multiple phones. Incoming calls will ring on an office desktop phone, smartphone and softphone client installed in your computer so calls are never missed.
• Improved NAT Support - Enables businesses to securely deploy Kerio Operator 1.1 in the public network with phones behind a firewall, or conversely, position Kerio Operator 1.1 on the private network and have some of the phones on the Internet.

Kerio Operator 1.1 is available as a software appliance, with its own security-hardened operating system, as well as a VMware virtual appliance allowing for rapid production or evaluation deployment on standard PC hardware. Kerio's standalone hardware appliance, the Kerio Operator Box, is available in select countries and comes in two models: the slim desktop Kerio Operator Box 1210, which handles up to 40 concurrent calls, and the 1U rack-mountable Kerio Operator Box 3210, which supports up to 150 concurrent calls. Kerio Operator Box 3210 can be built-to-order with a Digium TE122 T1/E1 or Digium B410 Euro ISDN hardware expansion card.

Kerio Operator 1.1 pricing starts at $600 for a 5-user server license. The Kerio Operator Box 1210 with a 20-user license is priced at $2,000 USD and the 3210 with a 40-user license is priced at $3,000 USD. Additional user licenses are at $24 each.