Avaya Mobile Collaboration Optimizes Team Performance For Small and Mid-Size Businesses

BASKING RIDGE, N.J. - Avaya, a global provider of business communications and collaboration systems and services, today unveiled Avaya IP Office 8.0 — the new version of the company's unified communications (UC) solution for small and mid-size enterprises (SME). The new version introduces a range of advancements for improving collaboration, including a comprehensive set of mobile capabilities that drive better team performance and keep mobile workers connected to their colleagues and customers wherever they go.  
 
Full-Featured Business Mobility 
The new mobility application for Avaya IP Office 8.0 — called one-X® Mobile Preferred for IP Office — enables users to access a comprehensive set of unified communications capabilities on Android-compatible devices now, and on iPhone devices in early 2012. Key features of Avaya one-X Mobile Preferred for IP Office include:

• Full multi-party conference management via mobile device offers the ability to invite, view, mute and drop participants during a conference call. Users can set up voice conferences by selecting the participants and then, with one touch, initiate the group conference.
• Integrated presence enables users to display availability status to co-workers via mobile device (e.g. available, do not disturb), and show specific times of availability based on a user’s Microsoft® Outlook calendar. Unavailable workers can let colleagues follow them and receive an alert when availability resumes.
• Instant Messaging lets workers easily find business colleagues via an integrated corporate directory and begin a text chat with multiple co-workers simultaneously.
• 'Geopresence' displays one's location anywhere in the world, and is ideal for teams in places such as hospitals, hotels or companies where employees need to quickly identify a co-worker's physical location.
• Visual Voicemail lets users see all of their business voicemails on their mobile device with date/time information. Users can hear voicemail messages as they are being left in real-time and access a call in progress to converse.

 
Avaya's new one-X Mobile Preferred for IP Office application builds on the previously-available Essential Mobility solution for IP Office, a solution that extends voice capabilities such as one number access and call control. Essential Mobility is currently supported on Symbian, Windows Mobile and iPhone devices (support for Android and Blackberry devices available in first quarter of 2012). 
 
SMEs Gain Cost-Saving, Productivity BenefitsAvaya IP Office 8.0 also offers new "serverless" collaboration capabilities delivered through an integrated unified communications module, called the Avaya C110 Unified Communications module.¹ This can eliminate the need for an external server in IP Office implementations, helping to simplify deployment for partners, reduce installation times and decrease equipment costs.
 
Additionally, new desktop IP Office plug-ins embed communications into popular business productivity applications, providing a more convenient way for workers to communicate via their preferred application. This enables users to:

• Use federated presence to bring Google Talk and IP Office contacts into Avaya one-X® Portal for IP Office—the company's 'all-in-one' communications portal for SMEs.
• Make and receive phone calls from a Salesforce.com® page.
• View directory contacts for Google Talk and IP Office in one location, with click-to-call and conference capabilities.
• Use visual voicemail within an employee's Microsoft® Outlook e-mail window.

 
Quotes:
Jeff Stark, technology director, Duluth Entertainment Convention Center (DECC), a 500 employee (full- and part-time) mid-size organization"In our business running a large convention center, you have to be two steps ahead of what is happening to meet client needs. One day we are serving a rock concert, the next a hockey game, so we need the best communications to meet all kinds of customer expectations. The mobility advancements in Avaya IP Office 8.0 are the most comprehensive we've seen, and will be essential in helping us run a location as large as the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center, where you never know where anyone is.  
 
"We'll now have the ability to see who's available, where they are, and keep them connected into the team. Fast collaboration is essential for the 150-plus people we have dedicated to running a day's event at DECC, and we couldn't do it this effectively without Avaya IP Office.
 
"In terms of savings, Avaya IP Office makes it much more cost-effective for us to set up anything from a temporary office to a call center for clients at the DECC. We can estimate savings of up to fifty percent just by bringing in Avaya IP Office, not to mention the flexibility and ease-of-setup the system delivers."
(Note: Avaya Business Partner TelcoLogix helped implement IP Office for DECC.)
 
Justin Jaffe, research manager, SMB and Home Office Markets, IDC "Many general business and IT investment priorities cited by small and medium-sized businesses are associated with improving productivity by leveraging mobile communications and collaboration capabilities. Solutions like Avaya IP Office that are comprehensive, easy to integrate with existing infrastructure, and designed specifically for mobile SMB workers will be particularly attractive."
 
Other Facts: 
--More than 60 percent of medium-sized firms in an online survey indicated that they provide smartphones to employees. Specific company percentages by country surveyed were: 
United States 69 %; UK 70 %; Germany 79 %; China 64 %; Brazil 64 %. Source: IDC report²  
--Small and mid-size business interest in adding UC technologies is considerable with more than 55% of midsize firms and more than 30% of small firms citing plans to buy UC components in the next 12 months. Source: IDC report³
 
For an online media kit on Avaya IP Office 8.0, visit www.avaya.com/news and click on Media Kits.

United States Coast Guard Standardizes on Avaya

FAIRFAX, Va. - Avaya Government Solutions, a wholly owned subsidiary of Avaya, today announced that the United States Coast Guard (USCG) has deployed Avaya's state-of-the-art unified communications and contact center solutions in its new Centralized Service Desk in St. Louis, Missouri. This is the first project under the USCG's Enterprise Architecture Strategy, which makes use of the Avaya Aura® platform. The USCG plans to evolve their existing voice infrastructure to a SIP-based unified communications architecture to better support their mission requirements for the next quarter century.
 
The Centralized Service Desk unifies the functions of 11 separate IT help desks that previously operated independently at Coast Guard locations throughout the United States. The Avaya solution, comprised of Avaya Aura® Communication Manager and Avaya Call Center Elite, provides the USCG with optimized call handling capabilities and enhanced reporting, improving service and support to end-users.
 
"Avaya's communication and collaboration solutions will allow the U.S. Coast Guard to enhance service, improve functionality and reduce costs, all the while leveraging their existing IT infrastructure," said Tim Gentry, senior vice president of civilian sales, Avaya Government Solutions. "For over two centuries, the U.S. Coast Guard has safeguarded our nation's maritime interests in the heartland, in the ports, at sea, and around the globe. We are proud to have been chosen to support their mission requirements."
 
The Avaya Government Solutions team includes HMS, Communications Products, Inc. and American Systems Corporation.

Belden Inc. Selected for Membership in Avaya DevConnect Program

ST. LOUIS, Mo. - Belden Inc. (NYSE:BDC), a global leader in signal transmission solutions for mission-critical applications, today announced it has been selected by Avaya , a global provider of business collaboration and communications solutions, for membership in the Avaya DevConnect program.

Belden and its Hirschmann brand offers a comprehensive line of industrial-grade Ethernet switches, routers and security devices for use in harsh environmental and mission-critical networking applications. These devices complement Avaya's switching, routing and security products to offer a highly tailored solution for harsh environments such as manufacturing or transportation. As a result, companies can be assured that their networks operate at optimal performance.
 
The Avaya DevConnect program promotes the development, compliance-testing and co-marketing of innovative third-party products that are compatible with standards-based Avaya solutions. Member organizations have expertise in a broad range of technologies – including data networking, IP telephony, contact centers and mobility applications – helping companies extend the value of multivendor networks and transform voice into an intelligent business application that delivers true value to the bottom line.
 
"Membership in Avaya's developer community will help us build our business by serving customers more efficiently and effectively within the industrial market segment," said Mike Miclot, vice president, marketing for Belden's Industrial Solutions Division. "By working more closely with Avaya to deliver compliance-tested solutions to the market, we are able to reduce network complexity, improve security and reliability, and speed time to deployment so that businesses can more quickly realize a benefit to their bottom line."
 
The Avaya DevConnect program currently includes thousands of software and hardware developer companies, integrators, service providers and customers. Members have created a broad array of innovative solutions tested for Avaya compliance, including natural language speech recognition applications, wireless services, specialized computer telephony integration and reporting capabilities, and applications tailored for specific vertical industries.

Through the DevConnect program, Avaya provides a number of platforms and interfaces for member companies to develop with and enhance.
 
"Technology partners like Belden are helping Avaya extend the reach of its networking solutions into rugged environments such as manufacturing plants, substations, and transportation infrastructure," said Eric Rossman, vice president, developer relations, Avaya. "Hirschmann's environmentally hardened networking switches, routers, and security devices deliver mission-critical networking solutions to Avaya customers in the most demanding environments. We are pleased to continue adding to our open system architecture ecosystem."
 
As a member of the DevConnect program, companies have access to a wide range of support from Avaya, including technical resources and training. There are three levels of membership – Registered, Gold and Platinum – each entailing progressive levels of marketing and sales involvement. Free Registered membership is available to anyone interested in designing Avaya-compatible solutions. Gold-level members and Platinum members must meet rigorous Avaya criteria for customer satisfaction, product support, business operations, marketing and sales. Belden Inc. is a Gold member of the Avaya DevConnect program.
 

Avaya Goes After Cisco With New Ethernet Switches

Avaya is updating its Ethernet switch portfolio with six new models designed to bring the capabilities of its Virtual Enterprise Network Architecture (VENA) to the edge of the campus network. The additions to the Ethernet Routing Switch (ERS) 4000 portfolio offer plug-and-play capabilities for IP phones, quality of service (QoS) management, and support for both standard and enhanced Power over Ethernet (PoE and PoE+). The company says its Stackable Chassis technology can handle almost three times more traffic than competing solutions while consuming 36% less energy and offering a 40% lower total cost of ownership. An additional 25% to 40% power savings, without traffic interruption, can be achieved by "dimming" the network during off-peak hours with its Energy Saver functionality.

The new switches are another chapter in its VENA strategy, says Avaya, offering both tactical and strategic advantages. Tactically, the switches allow the company to compete better in the enterprise, and strategically, the use of its chipsets future-proofs the products, allowing the addition of capabilities such as virtualization and extending the life of the switches to seven to 10 years.

Tactically, this is a straightforward mid-range, high-performance, stackable switch announcement with PoE+ and Small Form-Factor Pluggable Plus (SFP+) support, says Rohit Mehra, director, enterprise communications infrastructure, IDC. "With some good QoS and, more importantly, [Unified Communications]-related integration capabilities, this will give Avaya customers a reason to look at both its voice and data portfolios." Strategically, he says, this will improve Avaya's value proposition with enterprise IT in terms of being a supplier that provides value through better integration of voice and data networking solutions. Also, from a strategic standpoint, this strengthens Avaya VENA architecture across the enterprise by adding another platform that participates in the virtual services fabric.

The timing is also significant, says Avaya, because a number of Cisco products are about to be discontinued so customers are evaluating different options. While it believes it also fares well against Juniper and HP, the company says Cisco is the only other vendor that can provide a full communications infrastructure, so that's where it sees the biggest opportunity.

Last quarter, the Ethernet switch market slowed down to 7.1% sequential growth after an "exceptional recovery" in the previous year, reports IDC. Second-quarter 10 Gbit Ethernet switch revenue increased 22.6% year over year due to continued adoption in data centers and campus core deployments. Cisco continues to dominate, accounting for 63.4% of the Ethernet switch (Layer 2/3) market share in the second quarter of 2011 and 73.2% of the 10 Gbit Ethernet segment.

Mehra says Avaya and Cisco are both major players within the UC/VoIP infrastructure space. "While Cisco's portfolio has spanned both the voice/UC and data networking markets for quite some time, Avaya, for the first time, is directly leveraging its voice/UC integration capabilities on the network switching side. At minimum, I expect existing Avaya customers to take a closer look at its data networking portfolio so they can benefit from the transition to a converged infrastructure."

Avaya Names U.S. Channel Partners of the Year

The Venetian Hotel - Las Vegas, NV – Avaya, a global provider of business communications and collaboration systems and services, today announced its U.S. Channel Partners of the Year for 2011. The announcement was made here today at the Avaya U.S. Sales and Partner Conference. 

 

The following Avaya Connect Channel Partners were recognized during the Partner Plenary session:

 

• 
  
• 
  
• 
  Enterprise Partner of the Year: NACR
• Greatest Growth in Acquiring New Enterprise Customers: Imagine
• Highest Overall Revenue from New Enterprise Customers: Integration Partners
• SME Partner of the Year: Synectic
• Data Partner of the Year: Carousel Industries
• Services Partner of the Year: Arrow S3
• Service Provider of the Year: AT&T

 
Quotes:"We congratulate the Avaya U.S. Channel Partners of the Year for their focused efforts on building their business and delivering customer value. Their success is our success, and truly exemplifies what we mean by "The Power of We." 
Steve Fitz, Vice President, U.S. Sales, Avaya
 
"The success of our U.S. Channel Partners of the Year is, in part, reflective of their close alignment with the strategy, training and programs Avaya put in place to help them be successful. Their commitment to Avaya is unequivocally applauded and fully matched by our commitment to them."
Karl Soderlund, Vice President, U.S. Channel Sales, Avaya 

Logitech Selected for Membership in Avaya DevConnect Program

• Products from Logitech and LifeSize, a division of Logitech, are compatible with key Avaya unified communications (UC) solutions

 
FREMONT, Calif. - Logitech today announced it has been selected by Avaya, a global provider of business collaboration systems, software and services, for membership in the Avaya DevConnect program. Additionally, several of Logitech's unified communications (UC) peripherals are now compliant with key UC solutions from Avaya. 
 
Logitech's enterprise-class peripherals help businesses take full advantage of the communications platforms and solutions they've deployed by creating the best possible experience for users. In today's new anytime, anywhere office, peripherals play a critical function in equipping the modern workforce with the products they need to be efficient and effective in any environment. Logitech UC peripherals—including the B525, B910 and B990 HD webcams; BSP420-M and BSP420 USB speakerphones (US/Canada only); BH870 wireless Bluetooth headset (US/Canada only), BH970 wireless mono DECT headset (US/Canada only) and B530 USB headset — now are compliance-tested by Avaya for compatibility with Avaya one-X® Communicator. 
 
The Avaya DevConnect program promotes the development, compliance-testing and co-marketing of innovative third-party products that are compatible with standards-based Avaya solutions. Member organizations have expertise in a broad range of technologies – including IP telephony, contact centers and mobility applications – helping companies extend the value of multivendor networks and transform voice into an intelligent business application that delivers true value to the bottom line. 
 
As a Platinum member of the program, Logitech is eligible to submit products for compatibility testing by the Avaya Solution Interoperability and Test Lab. There, a team of Avaya engineers develops a comprehensive test plan for each application to verify whether it is Avaya compliant. Doing so enables businesses to confidently add best-in-class capabilities to their network without having to replace their existing infrastructure—speeding deployment of new applications and reducing both network complexity and implementation costs. 
 
"In conjunction with our LifeSize division, we're proud to have a fully Avaya compliant, end-to-end communications portfolio – supporting our customers from the desktop to the meeting room," said Eric Kintz, vice president and general manager of Logitech for Business. "Broad interoperability with enterprise vendors is a core component of Logitech's strategy – we know our products need to seamlessly work with whatever platforms our business customers have deployed in order to deliver the best possible user experience. By joining Avaya's DevConnect program and testing our UC peripherals, we're enabling our joint customers to maximize the benefits of their communications infrastructure." 
 
The Avaya DevConnect program currently includes thousands of software and hardware developer companies, integrators, service providers and customers. Members have created a broad array of innovative solutions tested for Avaya compliance, including natural language speech recognition applications, wireless services, specialized computer telephony integration and reporting capabilities, and applications tailored for specific vertical industries. 
 
Through the DevConnect program, Avaya provides a number of platforms and interfaces for member companies to develop with and enhance. 
 
"Development partners like Logitech help ensure that our customers have access to leading enterprise peripherals — for both the desktop and meeting room — optimized to bring out the best our UC platform has to offer," said Eric Rossman, vice president, Developer Relations, Avaya. "Together, Logitech and Avaya are equipping the modern workforce with the tools necessary to be successful, and we look forward to continuing to drive interoperability and ease-of-use with our solutions." 
 
As a member of the DevConnect program, companies have access to a wide range of support from Avaya, including technical resources and training. There are three levels of membership – Registered, Gold and Platinum – each entailing progressive levels of marketing and sales involvement. Free Registered membership is available to anyone interested in designing Avaya-compatible solutions. Gold-level members and Platinum members must meet rigorous Avaya criteria for customer satisfaction, product support, business operations, marketing and sales. Logitech is a Platinum member of the Avaya DevConnect program. For more information on Logitech business solutions, please visit our blog or website. 
 

Avaya Kicks Off New Fiscal Year With Americas International Sales & Partner Conference

• Avaya re-affirms commitment to a customer-centric, partner-enabled business model across the Americas International region
• Leverages 'The Power of We™' as it outlines Americas International business focus for 2012 and recognizes high performing channel partners for FY 2011 success

Avaya, a global provider of business communications and collaboration solutions and services, today announced a continued focus and commitment to its channel partner model and the Americas International region as it welcomed Avaya Connect channel partners from Canada, the Caribbean and Latin America to its Annual Channel Partner Conference in Cancun, Mexico.
 
Celebrating the company's regional performance, John DiLullo, President, Avaya Americas International, thanked the company's channel partners for their continued commitment and support of the company's innovation and forward-looking strategy.
 
The communications and networking industry is at a crossroads where the rapid growth in the number of devices and applications are meeting changing user preferences and employee work-styles. The bottleneck for businesses is no longer access to information -- it is the ability to connect people together with the right information at the right time to make smarter decisions in real time.
 
Avaya continues to enhance business collaboration and communication by developing technologies that enable teams to work better together. Over the past year, Avaya focused on driving profitable growth and evolving as a company to deliver solutions, training, tools, programs and resources for its channel partners to exceed customer expectations.
 
Avaya also recognized and honored 14 channel partners in nine categories for excellence in 2011. Winners of the Avaya Americas International Channel Partner Awards for 2011 are:
 
Americas International Contact Center Partner of the Year

• Canada - Branttel Networks Inc.
• Latin America and the Caribbean - Trans Industrias Electrónicas, S.A.

Americas International SME Partner of the Year

• Canada - Bell Canada
• Latin America and the Caribbean - Claro Dominican Republic

 
Americas International Unified Communications Partner of the Year

• Canada - Unity Telecom Corporation
• Latin America and the Caribbean - First Tech Tecnología Ltda.

 
Americas International Networking Partner of the Year

• Canada - Combat Networks
• Latin America and the Caribbean - IKUSI México S.A. de C.V.

 
Americas International Services Partner of the Year

• Canada - TELUS Communications Inc.
• Latin America and the Caribbean - Telmart Tecnologías Em Comunicação Convergente Ltda.

 
Americas International Service Provider Partner of the Year

• Canada - TELUS Communications Inc.
• Latin America and the Caribbean - Consorcio Red Uno S.A. de C.V.

Americas International Partner Challenge Net New Award

• Canada - Branttel Networks Inc.
• Latin America and the Caribbean - Axede S.A.

 
Americas International Marketing Partner of the Year

• Canada - Unity Telecom Corporation
• Latin America and the Caribbean - Consultores en Teleinformática Empresarial S.A. de C.V.

Americas International Distributor of The Year

• Canada - Westcon Canada Systems Inc.
• Latin America and the Caribbean - Anixter International Inc.

Quotes"Avaya Connect channel partners are instrumental to our growth in this region and to helping deliver innovation and value to Avaya customers. The FY 2011 awards honor the partners who made investments and captured opportunities in key areas of growth for both their companies and for Avaya. They are well positioned for continued success." 
-- Roberto Ricossa, Channel and Marketing Director, Avaya Americas International
 
Rapidly changing technologies and rising infrastructure costs have made it more important than ever to make smart technology investments. Customers need solutions that increase productivity and simplify complexity -- that provide cost savings and maximize return on investment. This is what Avaya and its partners have been delivering and what we are committed to helping our customers realize -- faster, smarter, better technologies that enable communication and make collaboration more seamless.
-- John DiLullo, President, Avaya Americas International

Avaya bets on value over volume

CANCUN, MEXICO -- Avaya is in transition and it wants its channel partners to follow suit.

After completing the Nortel integration, the networking vendor has set its sights on recruiting more channel partners, especially in its Americas International region, which is made up of Canada, the Caribbean and Latin America.

Avaya has increased investment dollars to both its channel and direct sales and is in full partner recruitment mode, executives said at the company's annual partner conference.

Avaya's senior vice-president of sales and marketing, Joel Hackney, didn't reveal any specifics about the channel investment nor how many channel partners Avaya is looking for, but said the company wants to replace current partners who are unable to transition away from only selling voice solutions.

“We're interested in recruiting new partners who are interested in bringing new value solutions in collaboration. Many are making this transition from voice to collaboration and we want to invest in them to help bring them to the new world of collaboration,” Hackney said.

In the year-plus since the integration of Nortel, Avaya has redefined itself as a collaboration company. Hackney told CDN that it's no longer a phone or IT company.

“We're now a technology company helping customers do faster collaboration and make better decisions. What was the purpose of the phone? It was to speed up collaboration. The only remaining competitive advantage left in business today is finding that idea from an employee, hearing it, getting a team together fast and make a decision on it. This is what we done on a base technological level,” Hackney said.

The direction will also mean channel program changes that will see channel partners rewarded more for delivering value-based solutions over straight volume selling.

“In the past if you sold a lot you'd get a favourable relationship and benefits from Avaya. Going forward, we're changing that. Those who bring in the most value helping customers collaborate faster and smarter will have more financial rewards,” Hackney said.

Hackney was unable to provide any more specifics on these financial rewards, but CDN will be getting more details on this new development during this conference.

Avaya has also turned itself into a more channel friendly organizations because of the Nortel acquisition. John DiLullo, Avaya's president of the Americas International, said that Avaya before Nortel had only 40 per cent channel sales; the rest was direct. With Nortel, Avaya now has between 75 to 80 per cent channel sales.

“We needed to be a more engaged with the channel,” he said.

In the SMB, Avaya will only conduct business through the channel, DiLullo added.

“The belief was that the channel used to be an extension of the manufacturer's sales force. Now, the channel is an extension of the customer's IT department and you need to have a lot of touch to have success in this market. We're not looking back,” DiLullo said.

More on the Aurix Acquisition

Hackney had more information on Avaya's recent acquisition of the U.K.-based Aurix, a vendor of speech analytics and audio data mining technology. The company will be part of new wholly-owned subsidiary of Avaya.

Hackney said speech recognition technology will be a key differentiator going forward in business especially in call centres. This acquisition will bring additional capabilities to Avaya's collaboration products but will increase the process speeds by 24 times. “We're a fit for purpose company and we're driving collaboration, and speech is key technology of that. We needed to build on that,” he said.

Could Avaya be the Apple of enterprises?

Avaya, one of the top players in the Asia Pacific region in unified communications (UC) and contact centre (CC) solutions business, seems set to turn a new leaf.

Addressing about 200 representatives of Avaya's Asia Pacific (AP) channel partners in Bangkok on Wednesday (19 October), Joel Hackney, Avaya's senior vice president, global sales and marketing, and president, field operations, tomtomed the arrival of a 'New Avaya'.

What is this new Avaya? According to Hackney, the 'New Avaya' brand promises "faster, smarter, and better" collaboration to get the best ideas first in the market. Avaya stands for the power of team work, the power of we, he said, referring to the "Accelerating Growth: The Power of We" motto of the Bangkok conference.

"We cannot fall in love with the formula of the past," he said. He pointed out that what worked for Avaya in the past should not make the company and its partners complacent. Hackney says Avaya now has to focus on winning solutions-video collaboration, mobile collaboration and network simplification.

To his channel partners, the new Avaya's message is simple-don't sell products, sell value. "Value selling makes more money any day," Hackney said. And stay motivated, he told Avaya's channel partners.

At the same event, Brett Shockley, senior vice president, corporate development and strategy, Avaya, spoke of "innovation as the key to change customer conversation". One of the company's key innovations is the SIP-based Avaya Aura that provides one click, no apps required video service. Besides Aura, the company came out with nearly 60 innovative products last year, so much so that its channel partners found it difficult to cope with the new releases.

Alan Baratz, senior vice president and president, global communications solutions, Avaya, said in Bangkok that three years ago, Avaya took the leadership path in its industry and made a bold move from VoIP to SIP. The strategy has worked for Avaya as it facilitates true 'UC'-it provides real time communications and reduces the total cost of ownership.

Rumours about Avaya IPO?

Avaya made steady progress as a company (in 2007, a combination of Silver Lake Partners and the Texas Pacific Group paid $8.2 billion for the company) but after acquiring the networking hardware division of Nortel in 2009, it took the game to a new level.

After the Nortel acquisition, the biggest hurdle for Avaya was overcoming Nortel customers' fears that stemmed from a year of uncertainty they faced due to Nortel's bankruptcy. That hurdle now seems to have been crossed.