"Voice communication is paramount to us compared to data," he said. "To take care of organ transfers, minutes matter to us and we deal in one world that's both life and death."

Three industry analysts said the sound enhancements to the newest models are important, as are Avaya's plans to allow the phones' plastic face-plates to be manufactured in different colors. Frank Dzubeck, an analyst at Communication Network Architects in Washington, said many large companies may want to buy different colors to match d'cor or their corporate colors. He said he knows of no Avaya competitor offering that capability so far.

Allan Sulkin, an analyst at TEQConsult Group in Hackensack, N.J., said Avaya appears to have provided new features in the phones while keeping costs competitive with Cisco Systems Inc., Alcatel, Nortel Networks and Siemens, among others. Avaya lists the new 9630 at US$525, while the 9620 is priced at $395. Pricing was not announced on two other models, the 9650 and 9610, which will ship in January.

Zeus Kerravala, an analyst at Yankee Group Inc. in Boston, said he was impressed by the sound quality and the usability of the new interface. "The functionality of desk phones is fast approaching where cell phones were in the 90s," he said. All the desktop phone manufacturers "have a long way to go, but the new Avaya phones are a great start."

The WML interface in the phones allows them to be expanded with new Avaya and third-party applications, and Avaya named three companies in its DeveloperConnection program who have created applications for them. Those applications include the ability to turn a phone at a hospital patient's bedside into an appliance providing data for the patient and staff to use. Another application will present a video image from a Web-based security camera to the high-resolution screen on the phone.