Avaya Makes Mobile a 2007 Priority

As 2007 swings into action, so do communications equipment carriers’ plans to bring new products to market. Avaya Inc. is getting in on the game with a host of novel wares – and a fighting attitude about its competitive situation. We garnered much of what follows from Avaya’s Global Industry Analyst conference held in Boston in November. This year marks a few firsts for the Basking Ridge, NJ-based firm. In 2007 Avaya will streamline its products for mobile devices for the first time. Last year, the company acquired Traverse Networks Inc., a Fremont CA software maker focused on the mobile space. Traverse’s program brings detailed voice mail management to wireless handsets, so users can see who left a message, when it was sent and how long the message is, all without dialing a PIN or navigating touch-tone menus. Avaya is integrating Traverse functions into its portfolio; products enriched by the acquisition should start appearing by the second half of 2007.The Traverse purchase both mirrors and is informed by a move from rival Cisco Systems Inc. Last October, that company purchased Orative Corp., which makes software similar to that of Traverse. Orative was also an Avaya partner, but the Cisco acquisition brought the relationship into question. Avaya’s Traverse purchase fills the gap that Orative could leave behind.Business IntelligenceIn 2007 Avaya will extend its communications platforms into the business intelligence space, linking corporate events to phone calls, emails and teleconferences. That’s the work of the new Communications Enabled Business Process (CEPB) system, which takes cues from business events and instigates communication based on the triggers. Whirlpool Corp. is using CEPB. The Benton Harbor MI-based home appliance manufacturer has set up the system to alert the C-suite if the company’s share price moves up or down a certain amount. If the price shifts the requisite number of points, CEPB calls the executives, alerts them of the change, and lets them connect in a conference call to discuss the situation. Whirlpool has also configured the CEPB to contact production managers and begin a conference call if a manufacturing line goes down.The CEPB is a part of an over-arching concept emerging from Avaya: communication is no longer a stand-alone entity. More than ever before – as business phone systems morph from hardware appliances into software packages, and as communication functions are scattered throughout a network, not contained in just a few boxes – communication is a distributed concern.Karyn Mashima, senior VP of strategy and technology at Avaya, said systems integration is the future of the communication industry. Customers don’t want to disrupt their installed IT equipment. If vendors can insinuate their wares into existing heterogeneous environments, they’ll win contracts.She added that Avaya’s communication products will interoperate with Microsoft Corp.’s Office Communications Server (OCS) 2007. Microsoft is pushing to become the enterprise’s communication lynchpin with its software, and with the accelerating move towards software among vendors such as Avaya, Microsoft is poised to become the creature it means to be.Another trend at Avaya: Louis D’Ambrosio, president and CEO, noted a drive to take customer care out of the contact centre and extend it across the enterprise. Businesses want all of their knowledge workers – not just contact centre agents – to have access to customer information at their fingertips. He predicted that contact centre functionality, such as PC-phone integration, would make its way into all aspects of business campuses.Back to Avaya’s firsts, the company is finally packaging its communication products to simplify the purchase process for customers. Combined under the unified communications banner, the packages bring together IP telephony, unified messaging and conferencing in three tiers: Unified Communications Essential Edition provides IP telephony, messaging and basic teleconferencing; the Standard Edition adds mobile extensions to the list; the Advanced Edition offers collaboration tools such as whiteboarding; and the Professional Edition brings video conferencing and speech recognition into the mix.Avaya said the packages would be available in the first half of 2007. But the functionality isn’t necessarily groundbreaking. "We’ve been doing unified communications longer than anyone. What’s been missing is bringing it all together," said product manager Jeff McElroy.The Canadian PerspectiveAvaya Canada president Mario Belanger said his organization is reaping the benefits of Avaya’s new "channel" strategy. Known for a confusing two-tiered sales system – sometimes insisting on using resellers, sometimes insisting on direct sales – Avaya now has a more equal partnership with resellers. Belanger said Avaya Canada’s revenues increased 20% last year thanks in part to this new tactic.

Avaya Makes Mobile a 2007 Priority

News | 02/01/2007 5:00 am EST

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