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Avaya Enhances Business Collaboration for the Small and Medium Business Owner

Avaya is looking to make things simple, nice, and cost effective for the small to medium business owner. One of the most significant moves they’re making in this direction is by launching a brand new version of Avaya IP Office, the company’s highly-coveted communications solution for small and medium-sized enterprise (SME).

Avaya has gone to great lengths to make this key solution not only more cost effective, but also improves the ease-of-use for SME workers. The first part to reducing the total cost of ownership was to take an installation that once spanned several sources and DVDs, and bring all of this into one simple DVD install. This means that not only does the Linux OS install off the DVD, but key communication applications are also installed as well. This simple step can reduce installation times by almost as much as 75%. A further benefit is the use of Linux, as this does not require user licenses. Thus, maintenance, licensing, and management costs are further saved.

This is not all that Avaya is doing to help the SME in need. Advancements in other Avaya products are looking to make things easier and more robust. Improved Contact Center Reporting means that SME’s can now report on all calls flowing into a contact center by geographic location breakdown. This reporting happens with a handy map to serve up some visual stimuli behind the numbers. Another improvement is in the different video options in the new Avaya IP Office. HD videoconferencing with up to four parties is now bundled right in the installation. The best part of all of this comes in extended support with Nortel IP devices in the IP Office environment. A simple step taken to keep legacy Avaya and Nortel customers on the cutting edge.

With so much focus happening at large scale enterprises, it is great to see the little guys get some new technology that puts a good amount of benefit and cost savings in their laps.

Avaya is adding a bit more bang to their channel program with the addition of new skills training, certifications, and support systems. Avaya is hoping this will help partners to get enterprise customers rejuvenated in their businesses with the use of open standards and real-time communications and collaborations. By equipping partners with the technology, skills, and certifications they need, this will hopefully enable each partners success in this competitive industry.

There are a few growing areas that Avaya is not taking lightly. Video and data are the biggest areas of focus of these budding trends. This new direction is partly due to the Nortel acquisition. The emphasis in this emerging market has led Avaya to come up with a Video and Data Expert certification. This certification will help identify an Avaya Connect Channel Partner with the skills and knowledge to sell and support new video and data solutions.

Another new item from Avaya is a course offering that ends with participants receiving a Professional Diploma in Marketing Business Services and Solutions. The course syllabi is graciously provided by ITSMA and the Chartered Institute of Marketing. To make things even better, this diploma marks an acknowledgement of professionalism and skill that many channel partners can use to distinguish their excellence in an ever more competitive market.

Lastly, the Avaya Connect Partner HelpDesk has also been updated to include the new program additions. The service is also available in 10 languages, while providing a single entry point for those partners with questions on Avaya programs, tools, and services.

Why is Avaya doing all this? The answer is simpler than you might think. Avaya is finally becoming a real contender in the Unified Communications market. While Cisco still maintains a lead in this area, the margin of supremacy is shrinking on an ever more rapid pace. As businesses grow and expand, the need for better and more innovative forms of communication continues to rise. These new programs are just one way Avaya is continuing to support their customers and partners.

Avaya Adds Two More Awards To Its Wall

Avaya may have been the small guy a few years ago, but they are quickly becoming the king of the hill with new awards, high praise, and a market dominance that has big dogs like Cisco quivering in their doghouses. Avaya has once again illustrated to the industry by achieving not one, but two prestigious awards in the Middle East. Keep in mind, these awards are the ACN Arab Technology Awards and are some of the highest awards a company can receive in the IT Industry in the Middle East.

The first award is the Enterprise Networking Vendor of the Year (ITP title). This award honors the vendor who has gone to great lengths to in helping their customers meet their networking infrastructure needs. Avaya did just this by providing solutions to more than 350 new customers in the MENA region over the past twelve months. This was ultimately a result of the global expansion policy, and thusly has led to one of the most comprehensive portfolios for voice and data in the industry. The second award is the Hardware Vendor of the Year (CPI title).

These are not easy awards to win though. Judges smiled upon Avaya mainly due to their achievements over the last year, as well as a healthy market growth in its operations within the region. This increasing domination saw the introduction of unified communication solutions, along with servicing existing customers while acquiring other companies’ enterprise solutions. The final winning straw comes in Avaya’s continued push in increasing regional projects and partnerships with the leading service providers in the region.

The awards that Avaya has earned only go to recognize the hard work that Avaya has only begun to fully put into place. With two of the most highly sought awards for a company operating in the Middle East under its belt, continued growth and an ever-expanding presence in the area are sure to easily follow.

Bell Canada Takes the Top Spot In Complaints

Cell phones might be great for chatting with friends while you walk to the local pub, but they have also brought on a world of stress. We have all dealt with dropped calls, bad bills, and horrible contracts that make even lawyers cringe. A new survey has been tallied, and this is not the happy go lucky kind of survey that companies want to take the lead on.

The Commission for Complaints for Telecommunications Services (CCTS) has received over 3,700 complaints from cellular customers of all kinds. The complaints breakdown with 1,428 of these going to Bell Canada, 657 addressed to Telus, and 540 hitting Rogers. Of course, these numbers take in the smaller subsidiaries like Virgin Mobile, Solo Mobile, and Fido that are all part of the bigger conglomerates.

While these numbers may indicate a fair amount of complaints, it is not a direct indication of unhappiness. At least that is what Bell Canada wants to point out. Jacqueline Michells, spokesman for Bell Canada, went on to point out that when you take the number of complaints and put it up against the subscriber base, the number of complaints ends up being rather small. Keep in mind; Bell Canada has roughly 20 million wireless, landline, and internet customers. Therefore, a mere 1,428-registered complaints is miniscule.

The biggest problem, and everyone has been here, comes by way of billing issues. Not only do customers enjoy the pains of clearing up billing mistakes, but the legalese and unclear contracts only compound the headaches of customers. Just how bad are the complaints here? Billing errors make up as much as 44% of the issues, while contract disputes rake in 33% of the unhappiness. This is surprising as service stability is the one area that rings out loudly amongst customers and media.

Sadly, the CCTS has no real authority in this situation. They take the complaints, investigate them, and try to resolve said issues with the telecom company. While these complaints numbers maybe small in the grand scheme of subscriber numbers, it is still sad to see customers dealing with the same types of issues they did ten years ago.

Need Help Learning About The Avaya Aurora Contact Center? There Is A Class For That

You ordered that brand new Avaya Aurora Contact Center, and it has arrived in all of its shiny goodness. Yet, you have not a clue on the proper installation, administration, or even how to handle the daily reporting needs your boss is on you about. Thankfully, Global Knowledge has taken up the torch and has some training to help you get the job done.

Global Knowledge, for those who do not know, is a worldwide trainer in the IT and business skills area. Global Knowledge operates in over 1,200 countries with a focus on specialized training and certification. Their main focus is on Cisco, Microsoft, Avaya, VMware, Red Hat, and business process improvement. Training is delivered in both brick and mortar buildings or over the Internet for those who cannot make it to a designated training facility. Clearly, Global Knowledge knows how to train you.

Global Knowledge now has three classes centered on the popular Avaya Aurora Contact Center. The first is on installation and configuration. This class not only teaches people how to install and configure the Contact Center Manager Server, but students will also learn basic daily management tasks.

The second class is centered on administration tasks. Students learn how to configure items like Threshold Classes, Call Presentation, Classes, and Call Center Supervisors in the Contact Center Manager Administration. Most importantly, students learn how to use the Avaya Configuration tool that is integral to this process.

The third, and final, class is a melding of several classes into one. Instead of needing 15 days to learn all the nuances in the Avaya Contact Center, students spend 10 days learning about installation, configuration, and scripting that all comes with this new hardware. This class teaches the essentials and is not meant as a deep and in-depth supplement to the several classes it combines.

You can look at all the classes that Global Knowledge has to offer by heading to www.globalknowledge.com/avaya. Global Knowledge adding these new Aurora classes only solidifies how big this Avaya solution is becoming. Thankfully, there is a company looking to help educate you on all the complexities this product brings.

It Is All About the Flare Experience

There has been a lot of hype the past few weeks over the Avaya Flare and how this device is hoping to the way in which we view communication. Despite all this hype, there is a fare bit of speculation on how well this device will hold up when Android, Apple, and even Cisco all have their hands in the tablet communication arena. This is where Avaya has an ace in the hole.

You see, the Flare is more than some amazing Android tablet sporting the Avaya branding. At the heart of this new device is the Flare Experience. This software is how the user will interact with the Avaya tablet and perform everyday tasks like video calls. This software is where the Avaya strategy to remain relevant comes in, even if the Flare does not do so well.

The idea behind the Flare Experience is to provide a rich, and engaging, communication platform that is cross platform compatible. That is right, Avaya has plans to bring the Flare Experience to Windows, Mac OS, iOS, Blackberry, and even Android based devices not carrying the Avaya logo. Some of these devices may even get the Flare experience as soon as mid 2011.

Now why port this software to competing devices and platforms when Avaya is trying to sell their own device? This is where the wise backup strategy comes into play. If the Flare happens to fail to take the market by storm, or we see the iPad continue its enterprise saturation, then Avaya has a second mode to dominate the market where others fail. By simply porting the Flare Experience to competing devices, then Avaya is able to continue to provide a great communication experience, sell their software, and grow their business ideas. Where companies like Cisco and Blackberry are keeping their software tied to specific hardware, Avaya is branching out.

There is still plenty of time to sit and watch how this new strategy unfolds, but making the software available on multiple platforms is a wise decision. The news is already reporting how Apple’s iPad is slowly penetrating the enterprise arena with subtle force. By porting the Flare Experience to multiple devices, Avaya has taken steps to ensure they are still relevant regardless of what device is king in business across the globe.