Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise (ALE) launched its flagship portfolio of cloud-based business communication services called Rainbow in 2017. Its highlight was the library of open communication platform as a service (CPaaS) APIs, which we reviewed in detail. Over the years, the company has added to and grown its capabilities to make ALE Rainbow suitable for various use cases and deployment scenarios. Let us unbox the ALE rainbow solution and explore its key features and functionalities.
What Is ALE Rainbow?
Rainbow is a communication solution encompassing collaboration, PBX, cloud telephony, compliance, and Office suite integrations. Optional add-ins for audio conferencing, customer relationship management (CRM), and meeting rooms are available for desktop and smartphone environments.
ALE Rainbow is a cloud-first – and not cloud-only – communication solution. It has options that allow customers to deploy it on-premise or on their private remote servers. It also has a suite of APIs to support your CPaaS requirements and integrate the solution’s functionalities into existing applications and processes.
Its key components include:
- The Rainbow app for all-in-one cloud communications
- Rainbow Edge for on-premise and private cloud deployment
- Rainbow Room to convert any space with basic hardware and a smart television into a conferencing room
- SaaS connectors – i.e., CPaaS capabilities
- Rainbow Classroom, a Europe-hosted platform to support remote learning
- Rainbow Office, which is a UCaaS solution in partnership with RingCentral
What Does ALE Rainbow Mean for Businesses?
ALE Rainbow offers many vital benefits to businesses and enterprise users.
- A single platform
ALE Rainbow brings together various communications capabilities, from voice to video, on one platform. It reduces the need to deploy multiple licenses, and Rainbow may be installed on-premises, in a hybrid environment, or the cloud, depending on your requirements. Its open design and support for advanced telephony enable it to connect with your current phone system and embed it into business processes and other SaaS applications.
- Global availability
The company has paid particular attention to worldwide availability for its business communications features, with access in 75+ countries. Enterprises can also use ALE Rainbow in 22 different languages, making for an easier learning curve. In 2021, RingCentral and ALE joined hands to create the Rainbow Office solution, which would be available to Europe and the UK. “It is a compelling offer for existing customers and new ones looking for an all-in-one public cloud solution,” Claudio Soland, Senior Vice President, Strategic Partnerships & Business Operations at ALE, commented during the Europe launch.
RingCentral also aided the solution’s launch in the UK. “This public UCaaS solution, which includes outbound and inbound calling minutes, represents a fantastic opportunity for companies who want to accelerate their transformation to the cloud,” Heather Zhang, UK Country Lead for ALE, explained.
- The free tier
ALE Rainbow is among the few business communications platforms available for free, albeit with some feature limitations. Small teams can try the essential plan, which supports up to five folders and 50 bubbles or channel conversations, with a group chat with 20 participants. Notably, the solution will be free forever without any SLA guarantee. It also includes basic telephony features like access to OmniPCX Enterprise, call logging, call history, etc.
- Enterprise-grade capabilities
ALE Rainbow has all the features one would need to massage and support communication workflows in an enterprise environment. For instance, you can allow guest access, share your screen during video calls, hold audio conferences with 100 participants, connect with all major office suites, host your information on a regional data center and up to 20 administrators. Even a Rainbow app for Android TV box can turn virtually any room into a meeting space with no specialized hardware.
The Top Features of ALE Rainbow
Some of the solution’s top features include:
- Unlimited search across people, bubbles, channels, messages, and companies
- Built-in voice and video calling and screen/app sharing
- Up to 20 GB of storage and 120 audio participants for calls
- Local dial-in numbers across 50+ countries
- Second call management, 3-way call, and call forwarding
- Third-party PBX connectors for Avaya, Cisco, NEC, Mitel Asterisk, and others
- Certified for ISO/IEC 27001, ISO/IEC 27017, ISO/IEC 27018, ISO/IEC 20000-1, and EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)
- Call me back in 180 countries with optional add-ons
- User provisioning and de-provisioning through CSV files and Microsoft Azure AD
- 99.5 percent guaranteed uptime SLA
- VoIP calling to PBX extensions and public phone numbers
- Ad-hoc web conferencing, where you can add participants to a one-on-one call
- Member network, member groups, and business contacts
- User self-enrollment and profile management
What’s New with ALE Rainbow in 2022
While the solution has been around for five years now, Rainbow by Alcatel Lucent keeps evolving to provide its customers with the latest features and functionalities. In December, it announced the launch of ALE Rainbow Service HDS, a tailored version of Rainbow compliant with French healthcare data regulations. During the pandemic, ALE has rapidly expanded its global footprint and is now available in Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Ireland, Spain, Ireland, and the Netherlands, among other regions.
To get started with the platform, we’d recommend that you visit Rainbow’s website and click on the “Download App” button. This will install a free, desktop-compatible version of ALE Rainbow on your system for an unlimited trial period.
As you know more about the platform, you may explore ALE’s customized solutions for enterprises such as Rainbow Healthcare, Rainbow Government, Rainbow hospitality, Rainbow Transport, and Rainbow Education. Billing is based on cloud resource usage or per-user subscriptions, or enterprises can opt for a pay-as-you-grow model with API consumption using the Developer Hub.
