The Avaya one-X Deskphone Edition models also include a USB port for connections to keyboards and a variety of devices including handheld computers, Avaya officials said. The new 9620 and 9630 models will ship July 10, with other models to follow in January.

The phones are aimed at boosting employee productivity and reflect Avaya's awareness of how often workers need a desktop phone that interacts with all kinds of wireless devices, desktop PCs and applications, said Lou D'Ambrosio, senior vice president and president, Global Sales and Marketing for Avaya. "Voice is still the most intimate and powerful form of communication," he said.

Russell Stewart, IS technical support manager at LifeNet, a nonprofit human organ donation agency in Virginia Beach, Va., is conducting live tests of eight of the phones inside LifeNet's help desk. The help desk supports nearly 500 workers, and so far, Stewart and the help desk workers have noticed a marked improvement in sound quality and ease of use.

They are testing the new 9620 and 9630 models, and Stewart said the USB port has already allowed him to use a small USB drive to transfer directory information to the new phones. "It's sort of like sneaker net from the floppy world and makes things a little easier," he said.

In general, Avaya has shown an ability to create technologies that adapt to future needs, Stewart said. He said he is eager to hear more about Avaya's plans to release a cell phone with Motorola Inc. that can take a call from a desk phone and allow a user to move from a WiFi connection to a cellular network using the same phone number.