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Avaya And The Rise Of Collaboration In The Workplace

Today’s work environment is vastly changing from day to day. Companies may now have offices separated by vast oceans and massive continents. The item that grows every year is the need to collaborate with teams that may be half way around the world. Avaya has three ideas of why this need to collaborate continues to grow.

1. The economics of a global scale

There should be little doubt that the world now functions on a global level. Companies no longer keep business within the borders of their home country. Manufacturing moving overseas, management staying in the homeland, and engineering may even be moved to a foreign land. Countries like India and Brazil are two prime examples of places business is shifting to. All these locations require constant need and collaboration for work to be accomplished successfully and timely.

2. Employees are key to knowledge

Employees from all over the company are now entering the workforce with a knowledge base that is quite the asset to companies. Employees now bring on certifications, years of knowledge, and decades of hands on experience to the table. Connecting all these employees together is key to solving issues that come up in the day-to-day operations. Collaboration provides the means for these employees to share this knowledge amongst colleagues in the company.

3. Change at the speed of electronics

Change happens at an almost hourly pace. To gain competitive advantage in this evolving world new products and pricing structures need to happen in a quick and efficient manner. Due to this, organizations are realizing the benefits of collaborative efforts in making critical business decisions. Even if these decisions require the collaboration of an office in the remote regions of the rain forest.

Avaya knows there are plenty more reasons why collaboration has become a big key to business success. Technology plays a major part in all this communication. Good thing Avaya is pushing new ideas on how businesses communicate, collaborate, and close miles of distance down with a simple power button.

Most commentators are lamenting our society’s newfound obsession with texting. People are losing the value of face-to-face communication, they say, and teenagers who are becoming obsessed with texting see their school work and ability to actually connect with others suffer.

However, there may be a little talked about silver lining in the texting revolution. On Monday, the Globe and Mail ran a story about deaf people using texting as a new form of communication, allowing them to better blend into their surroundings and converse more normally with others.

Before texting, deaf people continually had a difficult time connecting with others in school, the workplace, and out in the world. It wasn’t abnormal for them to have to drive to a friend’s house to see if they were home, sit isolated in social situations, and struggle to keep up with instructions at school.

While some technological improvements – such as TTY machines which allow people to exchange printed messages over a phone line – made life easier for the deaf, a large gap still remained. That is, until the advent and popularity of texting fully took hold.

Now, with so much of our society’s information being exchanged through text message, the deaf have increasing opportunities to be more involved in the world around them. A wife can text a non-hearing husband with a grocery list, a deaf teen doesn’t look out-of-place texting in a busy mall, and in some cities, a deaf person can even contact 911 for emergency help via text.

“I do use texting to communicate with hearing people,” Derek Schmitz, 19, told the Globe and Mail. “[Communications] between hearing people and deaf people are improving a lot by texting.”

The utility texting and video chatting gives to the death community could have a significant impact on the enterprise sector, as corporations have more leeway in how they hire and utilize deaf workers, who may bring previously-undiscovered talents or capabilities to the table.

The same even goes for the telecommunications industry, as large phone and device makers have new opportunities to produce products that make communication for all people – hearing or not – faster and easier.

If you’re interested in learning more about Avaya or Nortel products, such as corporate phone systems or phone hardware, you can visit the main SE Telecom site. You can also contact SE Telecom directly with any questions by calling  (877) 816-8324.

SE Telecom has offices in Toronto, Calgary, British Columbia & Montreal. We serve enterprise clients with telecommunications consulting, infrastructure, hardware, and ongoing service and support. We are dedicated to the communication success of those we work with, and view our clients as long-term partners.

Apple’s iPad has been released to a divided market. Some consumers, struck by the mini-computer’s capability and portability, have deemed it a technological second coming, bound to land itself in the hands of every salesperson and corporate assistant within the next five years.

Other people, however, have panned the device, mocking everything from its name to its inability to print documents or web pages. For this cross section of the population, the iPad is little more than a paper weight in need of some serious upgrades.

Though Apple will stick with the name, they released today that they’ll be doing something about the iPad’s ability to print. As reported in this Globe and Mail article today, Apple will be rolling out a software update for the iPad that includes a way for the devices to wirelessly print documents.

On Wednesday of this week, Apple said it has already released a beta version of the software, named AirPrint, to the developers that make iPad and iPhone apps. AirPrint processes printing requests by finding partners over home or business wireless connections, and sending information directly to the printer over Wi-Fi.

To start, AirPrint will only work with certain Hewlett-Packard (HP) printers designed for e-printing. We talked about these printers in this SE Telecom blog post earlier this year. Apple didn’t say whether they’d make AirPrint available for other printers later, or continue the exclusive agreement.

AirPrint, part of the larger iOS 4.2 update, will be available for iPad and iPhone users in November.

Reports have been rampant the past few weeks that Avaya was going to introduce a tablet device. This week marked the official unveiling of the new Avaya tablet. Avaya has lovingly named this new tablet the “Flare.”

What does the Flare bring to the table that existing tablets are lacking? The Flare starts out with an 11.6-inch HD touchscreen, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, HD video camera, and Harman Kardon speakers. The Flare goes even further by including an Ethernet jack, two USB ports, and support for 3G/4G broadband cards.

Avaya’s Flare will also come rocking the Avaya unified communications software. This will allow users to seamlessly integrate with their existing Avaya devices and services.

Here is where things start getting tricky. The Flare comes built on the Android OS. This will allow users to pull apps from the Avaya market, but also opens up the world of Android apps on the Android Marketplace as well. This also speeds up application development with an abundance of development tools.

Avaya has stated that the Flare User Experience software just might find its way to other devices as well. Most notable in this will be the Apple iPad and iPhone. Keep in mind that Avaya has supported these devices in the past with their one-X mobile client.

The question on all of this fancy new hardware is pricing. Avaya has announced that this new hardware will come in at around $2,000. Let that sink in for just a moment. The iPad retails for a fraction of that price. Cisco has hinted their tablet will retail for under $1,000. Laptops can be had for even less than all of these devices. Has Avaya priced themselves out of the market before dipping their feet into the pool?

It might be great to see Avaya embracing the tablet market, but they have essentially made an overpriced laptop. Unless Avaya drops support for any device other than the Flare, it will be hard to see this becoming a success. Designing the software around Android means the Flare User Experience easily ports to other devices running Android. Time will tell if Avaya succeeds with this new hardware.

Tablet devices are becoming the hot new toys of businesses and consumers alike. This has been a long time coming though. Tablet devices have been on the market for a decade, if not longer. Avaya is about to join the ranks of tablet makers.

This new tablet is most likely a direct combatant to the Cisco tablet touch-screen device they unveiled in June. The Cius is Cisco’s 1.15-pound, seven-inch screen, and video conferencing geared device. Cisco is currently planning to sell this new device for under $1,000.

Avaya is touting their new device as the next best thing to happen to phones across desktops all across the world. The new device will come with video-teleconferencing and wireless access. This will allow executives to take video calls no matter where they are at work.

There are plenty of skeptics that don’t see the point in these new devices from Avaya or Cisco. The big issue is due to companies like Apple, Samsung, and Dell all pushing out touch-screen devices that do more than just one particular item. These devices also have deeper market saturation than what many can expect to see from Avaya or Cisco.

In addition, there is the issue laptops and desktops providing the services that these new tablets provide. Almost all laptops now come with cameras attached. Desktops have the luxury of many communication devices that easily integrate into the user environment. There is also the simple fact that these items litter cubicles and offices everywhere.

Software solutions for desktops are also a big player in the changing face of communication. Where the desktop phone is removed, new software is quickly installed on the desktop. Teleconferencing is but one small part of these hefty software packages.

Avaya is entering into a market full of big players already laying claim to best of the best. This new tablet will need to really be impressive to knock players like Apple out of the corporate marketplace. Yes, the iPad is already finding its way into hospitals, schools, and corporations everywhere. Avaya has a steep climb on its hands.

Avaya is growing by leaps and bounds as of late. New developers are getting Avaya certified, business is growing, and the Nortel merger led to big business booms. Avaya is now taking their software pricing to a new competitive edge. Avaya is bringing software pricing changes in three phases:

Phase I is all tactics

Phase one is a focus on improving product marketing. Limited-time offers and a re-packaging of already existing products are a big part of this phase. Avaya has reduced the cost of the Modular Messaging license by 40% for example. Avaya also reduced the Communication Manager software support costs by 55%. Top that off with the creation of a brand new UC all-inclusive license bundle. This all adds up to big savings for new, and current, customers.

Phase II is focused on simplicity

Everyone enjoys simplistic licensing models. Avaya recognizes this fact and is moving towards cutting the complexity down to something even common folk can understand. Avaya is replacing the 9-tier transactional framework with a drastically reduced 3-tier model. This new model will apply to Avaya’s core enterprise product lines.

Phase III contains new toys

Avaya has already wrapped up parts of this phase. Avaya product teams reduced the licensing models to levels far exceeding the company’s original plans. This was all on top of the complexities of bringing Nortel into the fold.

All of these phases add up to a new two upgrade option system. This will help bring budgeting costs to an easier decisions making process. Items include per user licensing based on Standard or Enterprise level packages. Pricing is as low as $25/user on the Avaya Aura Standard Edition.

There is a lot of change happening at the Avaya HQ. A massive focus on customer ease appears to be at the heart of all these changes. Simplicity, cost reductions, and better offerings all round out for some very competitive offerings that should make other companies take notice in a hurry.

One thing can be said about AT&T customers, they sure do like to complain horrible service. AT&T found this out the hard way yesterday. Even sadder, AT&T was just trying to say thanks for all the love and support.

Here is the breakdown. AT&T sent out an email to some of their current subscribers. This email thanked users for their continued support. It then went on to explain how the company is working harder and harder to grow their network and make their service even better. Doesn’t seem like too shabby of a deal.

Customers are a finicky bunch though. This email sparked a whirlwind of hate on the AT&T Facebook page. Customers flocked to this page to post how unhappy they are with the service provider. Some comments went into great detail on how the service has deteriorated with dropped calls, horrible signal strength, and poor customer service. So much for thanking users for their support.

There is a bit of irony to all of this Internet hate flying around right now. First up is how customers get to post these unhappy comments on AT&T’s Facebook page. Customers must first like the company on Facebook, and then post their scathing responses.

The second issue is more of a contradiction. You see AT&T really is working hard to expand their network and increase their reliability. The issue comes in certain geographic areas that are already full of competitor cell towers. These areas make it harder for AT&T to get approval to put in cell towers.

To compound the issue, customers in these congested areas often block AT&T’s new cell tower plans. People want better signal, but they don’t want the tower in their backyards to boost that signal. AT&T tries to help, but the same customers complaining about poor signal block AT&T from improving their service.

It might be fun to jump on the AT&T hate wagon, but realize this is not helping anyone. For every unhappy customer, there are three happy customers. No service is perfect. Switch networks and see that the grass is not always greener on the other side of the fence.