New to ACM - Cordless IP Phones?

[sibuor]

I am very very new to ACM management so please bear with me.
One of my Directors wants a solution to use at his home. He has Internet connection at home. I was thinking along the lines of 4625 IP phones but then he said he wants to be free/mobile in the house, so that he can work from anywhere.

What I have as PBX is an ACM, running R015x.02.1.016.4 (please bear with me, but that is the software version, I believe).

I have looked at Avaya products and seen

http://www.avaya.com/uk/product/ip-wireless-phones,

which seems to tell me there are Wireless IP phones.

What caught me eye is this paragraph:

"The 3641 and 3645 phones integrate with Avaya Aura, Communication Manager 2.2 and higher, and IP Office 4.1 and higher servers. The phones leverage the Avaya Voice Priority Processor and Open Application Interface server. The 3641 and 3645 phones support 802.11a, b, and g networks."

So,
1. I require Communications Manager 2.2 and higher. Do I have that in R015x.02.1.016.4??
2. Do I need anything extra? What is this Open Application Interface Server?
3. If what I have is sufficient, which phone model should I go for? 3641 or 3645?
4. Does these phones have VPN support? My PBX is in a co-lo and only VPN connection is allowed.

"Avaya IP Wireless Phones are durable and liquid/dust resistant. They have large displays with an easy-to-user interface and offer battery options for extended talk time."

What battery options do I have?

Thank you in advance.

 

[telcoguy]

OK, quick explantion. Avaya sometime mixes old and new version numbering.
In short: they started with Definity at release 1.
When Definity hit release 10, the product was renamed, and became Communication Manager (with a few names in between)
So if you will, 15x.02.xx.xx is release 15, or 5 in CM version. So your release is 3 releases up from what you need minimum.
Only the fixed 46xx (discontinued) and the 96xx phone support VPN firmware.

 

[latitude12]

You have a few options:

Wifi phones - you've mentioned 364x phones, there is also the 3631. As has been mentioned, they don't have any VPN capability.

Softphone/1X Communicator in telecommuter mode, using a DECT phone at home.

EC500/1X Mobile to extend the director's calls to his mobile.

 

[Mugsiensedgwick]

Motorola either has a new one out, or will have very soon, that looks very promising. I believe it's EWP3100.
Lots of nice features. It looks like EWP2000 but has extended capability, going seamlessly onto the Cell mode when necessary.
The salsman I talked to sold me on the product but we have yet to purcase any because we need to upgrade our switch before we can. Maybe next year.
I would like some feed back from those who have tried them and what their opinion is.
Thanks,
-Randy