Business Phone System Reviews | SE Telecom

The face of the data center is ever-changing. Computers that once filled huge underground rooms are now condensed down into a small box that may even fit under a television. These small boxes also contain several servers thanks to the boom that is virtualization. Avaya is not looking to miss this wave and is coming up with some virtualization hardware of their own.

The Avaya VENA (Virtual Enterprise Network Architecture) is how Avaya is hoping to make it big in the virtualization realm. This new hardware allows organization to harness more of the benefits that come with virtualization. These benefits are realized with a simple and cost-effective architecture that is suited for datacenters and campuses.

The foundation for the new Avaya VENA is the re-branded Nortel VSP 9000. This is similar to the high-end Cisco Nexus 7000 switch. The VSP 9000 can scale up to 240 ports while allowing up to 24 Terabits of throughput. This is just the beginning as more products are in the pipeline and will see their introduction in 2011. These new products will extend this new offering from one campus to one branch.

Avaya is not reinventing the wheel with virtualization, of course. A series of new partnerships that support the new Avaya VENA technology means customers can implement this new technology in their existing datacenters. The most notable of these new partnerships is that of VMware. For those that do not know of VMware, they are one of the leading companies in hardware virtualization. Other companies jumping on the VENA support wagon include QLogic, Coraid, and Silver Peak Systems.

Avaya maybe a communication company, but this new hardware is just one more step to helping them increase their presence in datacenters everywhere. The new Avaya VENA hardware is just one more step towards making virtualization that much more important to companies of all sizes. With partnerships like VMware, Avaya is well on their way to becoming a one stop shop for data and telecommunication products.

Let’s face it, technology changes by the second. You could think you’re at the forefront of this industry, only to turn your head and find something new has just been released. Cloud computing is no different, but this emerging technology is penetrating every market, including those that Avaya, and others, have a large stake in.

Cloud computing has several benefits that companies find very appealing. The biggest benefit is cost. Cloud computing takes the heavy lifting of servers, applications, and huge datacenters and offloads those costs to another company. Hardware/software support, software licensing, electrical bills, and many other cost savings are realized with this budding tech. What once started as a nifty way to share photos and type up documents is quickly turning into a business model companies both love and hate. The telecommunication area is no different.

Skype is a good example of this shifting to the internet for all business needs. Skype is a free service for users to make voice calls to fellow Skype users. Those wishing to use the service for normal type calls are charged a nominal fee. This service is so popular that Avaya has recently decided it is in their best interest to partner up with them. While this partnership is beneficial for both players, it shows just how important cloud based solutions are becoming.

The biggest concern for vendors like Avaya is how a shift to cloud based communication can take away from their bottom line. If vendors underestimate the potential of the cloud, they could end up becoming nothing more than some data application in a sea of similar products.

Do keep in mind that cloud computing is still finding its way. Avaya is also looking to keep their products and services new and on the cutting edge of this market. They are doing this with by not only partnering with Skype, but also pushing the market into the video teleconferencing model. Avaya has proven they are taking budding technologies seriously, and it would not be surprising to see them kick out some form of cloud-based solution in the next few years.

Avaya customers looking for a better call reporting solution are about to get yet another tool to help them do their jobs.VPI (Voice Print International) and NACR have joined together in a strategic partnership. For those unfamiliar with NACR, they are Avaya’s largest business partner worldwide and a seven time Avaya BusinessPartner of the year award recipient.

Now who is VPI and why should customers care? VPI provides analytics-driven call and data recording, quality monitoring, performance management, and workforce optimization solutions for organizations of all sizes. VPI is also a member of the Avaya DevConnect program, and has worked with Avaya for over a decade. VPI is no newcomer to Avaya or their solutions.

NACR will market and distribute the VPI EMPOWER solution. This suite of tools starts at the point calls come into the organization and end with reports on managements desks. VPI EMPOWER captures and analyses customer interactions. This analysis can rapidly identify both customer experiences and issues with operations while minimizing risk. This information is then assembled into real-time reports, color-coded desktop tickers (which can be easily customized to a businesses needs and wants), and automated eCoaching and messaging. This is all accomplished through very powerful, yet easy to install, software that integrates nicely into your Avaya based setup.

While NACR may already have call recording and quality monitoring solutions, they recognize the needs and wants of contact centers, particularly those running Avaya solutions. NACR recognizes that VPI EMPOWER provides not only quick and easy deployments, but also the cost effectiveness of a solution that is scalable and adaptable to the ever-changing market conditions. All of this adds up to a low cost of ownership of the long-term.

NACR has a reputation for providing best-of-breed products and the partnership with VPI only enhances the tools available. Avaya customers benefit from this partnership as the solutions designed to easily work with their communication setup just got that much easier to acquire.

Social media is an ever-growing part of any business’ brand strategy. Social media is more than just some local commercial, or funny billboard a company puts up along some highway. This new form of communication spans beyond country borders and native tongues. Avaya sees the importance of this new and expanding form of communication and is taking it with the seriousness it deserves.

There is a funny thing about social media, and that is how quickly it saturates the market. Think about it this way, it has taken radio 38 years for it to reach 50 million users. In stark contrast, Facebook hit 200 million users in under one year. Facebook is now becoming a part of every companies marketing strategy, and Avaya is no different.

Avaya sees Facebook as a collective effort to not only market itself, but also increase its brand recognition. However, Facebook is not all that Avaya has their hands in. Did you know that Avaya also sees a lot of importance in Twitter as well? There is one more social network that Avaya has only recently embraced, and that is YouTube. That’s right, you can now watch Avaya centric videos right off their YouTube Channel.

All of this emphasis on social media has paid off in a big way as well. Avaya is ranked 13^th on the NetProspex Social 50 report, and that is a higher standing than some more widely known companies. Avaya has also been acknowledged by AMI Partners with the Social Media Award for Customer Advocacy in the small and mid-sized sectors. The latter of these awards is the more gratifying as it shows Avaya’s commitment to the little guy who may need a boost in marketing.

Avaya maybe on the cutting edge of the communications for business everywhere, but their commitment to social media maybe overlooked by many. This commitment only further enhances the Avaya name, while keeping them on the forefront of the ever-changing communication space.

There is no doubt about the fact that smartphones are becoming a big marketplace for hardware vendors. Apple, HTC, LG, RIM, and Motorola all saturate this market with sleek and feature rich phones. Dell is once again trying to break into this growing market, but is this a wise decision by the PC maker?

Dell has always had high ambitions and hopes for their cell phones. Unfortunately, these phones have all suffered from abysmal executions. Just look at phones like the Dell Aero. The design of this phone was to allow it to be built around any mobile carrier’s specs while sporting the Android OS. This phone sold in China, but received terrible reviews when launched in the United States. Dell is also trying their hand at an Android based tablet dubbed the Streak. While this market is starting to surge with growth, the Dell Streak was too small and ran an atrociously old version of Android.

This brings us to today. Reports have been flying around that Dell plans to remove all competing cell phones from within its company. Employees will have their choices of Dell based cell phones and various phone operating systems. Dell also has hopes of releasing a new Windows Phone 7 based device called the Dell Venue Pro. Dell committed to handing out 25,000 of these units to its employees, but the phone has yet to materialize.

To Dell’s credit, no major PC maker outside of Apple has had huge success in the cell phone market. HP bought Palm, produced a great set of products, and then dropped the ball on bringing these products to market. Asus and Acer have all faced similar disappointments with releasing grand ideas, only to fail at executing the realization of these ideas.

Is Dell, or any other major PC maker, really doomed to fail at producing cell phones? Trends may suggest so, but the smartphone market is still evolving and growing. Each failure is a point of learning. If these companies can work on execution and making good on promises, Apple may not be the only top PC maker ruling the cell phone market.

OAISYS Receives Avaya’s Stamp of Approval

We’ve all heard the splendid robotic voice reminding us our calls maybe recorded for future use when calling business support lines. That recording process just got a bit easier thanks to OAISYS and Avaya. This is because Avaya has just granted OAISYS the seal of compliancy for their Tracer application.

For those that don’t know whom OAISYS is, they are a leading developer of call recording and contact center management solutions. They have a little something for small businesses to large multi-site enterprises. OAISYS also deals with a wide range of industries including automotive dealerships, financial services, and even those folks in the public sector. Topping all of this off, they are also a gold member of the Avaya DevConnect program. This means they can submit product directly to Avaya for compatibility testing.

The product that has Avaya’s compliance stamp is The Tracer. This application goes beyond a basic recording of calls. This software also allows for live, and automatic, call monitoring, archival of calls, and even employee performance evaluations. The Tracer is now tested and certified to work with the Avaya Aura Communication Manager 6.0 running Avaya Aura Application Enablement Services 5.2.2 (or AES).This bundle provides contact centers with a feature-rich, yet simple to use, recording and quality assurance solution.

What does all this mean for you, the customer? Simply put, the integration of The Tracer paired with Avaya solutions is a highly affordable way to address customer service concerns, regulatory compliance, and even a bit of personal development for those employees who handle customer calls on a day-to-day basis. Avaya customers now have a way to implement a reliable, affordable, and standards-based call recording solution that Avaya has tested in their own engineering labs.

Avaya continues to improve their offerings, and this is no different. If recording calls, looking for ways to improve phone-based customer service, or just want to help your employees improve their interpersonal skills, you now have a new tool at your disposal.

Cell Phone Monitoring Coming to UK Financial Industry

Our friends across the pond are about to instate some pretty scary regulations on their investment bankers. Britain’s investment bankers and traders will soon have every call they make on their company cell phones recorded. Let that sink in for just a moment. The reason this is about to happen is to combat insider trading that has some serious impacts on stock market.

The Financial Services Authority (FSA) is not waiting around to get these regulations in place either. They are hoping to have these in place by November 14. Adding to this, the FSA is urging all financial companies to take what they call “reasonable steps” to ensure employees don’t bypass the new regulations. That’s right, financial companies now need to have little chitchats with their employees about their private conversation on their private devices.

This monitoring doesn’t come without a hefty price tag either. The estimates for these regulations are somewhere near the mark of £2.6m ($4.2m) a year. The other cost comes at possibly breaking multiple privacy laws at a national level. That is a lot of money for something that market abusers will most likely just find a way around to continue their insider trading practices.

While there is a fair amount of opposition to these regulations, the FSA insists that they are an important step to cutting off insider trading. By recording these lines of communication, there is yet another source of evidence to use against those who break the law.

There maybe good intentions here, but where do these new regulations ultimately stop, or how far will they stretch? If an employee is talking to their family, that conversation is now recorded and most likely archived in some data center. This new set of regulations may also find their way drifting across the sea and landing on other countries shores. Remember, all it takes is one precedent and other countries will look upon this as a solution to combat the same issues within their borders. These are some scary regulations that could change how we all look at privacy down the road.