Cochlear Deploys Fully Integrated Avaya Unified Communications and Data Solutions in New Global Headquarters

New Network to Enhance Productivity and Deliver Reliable, Seamless Communications Experience

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA – Avaya, a global leader in enterprise communications systems, software and services, today announced that Cochlear Limited, the global leader in implantable hearing solutions, has chosen an integrated Avaya voice and data solution for its new global head office at Macquarie University in Sydney. The solution is being implemented by Avaya Connect Channel Partner NSC in a deal valued at approximately US $1 million.

Cochlear wanted to simplify communications for its employees, providing its mobile workforce with a communications solution accessible at any time and from any location. The company was also looking for a more reliable and efficient integrated data platform, which would avoid the occasional outages it experienced on its legacy system, and provide true always-on capabilities to its users.

The one vendor solution from Avaya will provide significant benefits for Cochlear, improving uptime, enhancing security and delivering significant energy efficiency savings – an important element for a company committed to driving more environmentally aware practices into its operations. Cochlear also anticipates the enhancement of overall employee productivity, thanks to single access numbers, enhanced conferencing and presence capabilities, seamless mobility solutions and end to end network management improvements.

By consolidating its two Sydney offices into the one purpose built location, Cochlear will centralise its manufacturing and logistics, research and development, quality and regulatory divisions alongside its corporate offices. The new office will serve as the company’s new global headquarters and will see 1000 Cochlear staff members connected to Avaya’s new voice and data solutions.

“Our employees need a communications system that lets them get on with their job in a simple, efficient and above all reliable environment. That is what Avaya’s new integrated voice and data solution will provide them,” said Mark Salmon, Asia Pacific President, Cochlear. “We also have a responsibility to help protect the environment and Avaya’s solution enables us to save up to 40 percent on our power usage across the network. Ultimately, Avaya’s Unified Communications will not only help us to integrate and simplify our communications infrastructure at our new Sydney offices but also allow us to cater for future global deployments,” he said.

According to Rob Wells, Managing Director, Australia and New Zealand, Avaya, “First class companies like Cochlear need a first class communications solution – one that is resilient, flexible and scalable, easy to manage, has the redundancy to ensure total reliability, and is future proofed to safeguard the company’s investment. Working with our Partner NSC, we were able to demonstrate how we can deliver all of this – at a total cost of ownership that makes great economic sense for Cochlear too.”

“NSC was selected following an intensive process based on its comprehensive quality Avaya solution combined with its experience,” said Craig Davies, Manager - Global Communications, Security & Projects, Cochlear.

“We are very honoured to have been selected by Cochlear for this important project,” said Craig Neil, NSC Group Managing Director. “It is particularly pleasing to have been awarded both the voice and the data contracts as these were separate tenders – both of which were hotly contested.”

“Our infrastructure at our previous sites was a mixture of different vendor switches running Spanning Tree,” said Davies. We faced a number of outages and needed a more reliable network. The Avaya Split Multi-Link Trunking (SMLT) solution will deliver us the network resiliency we need for our real-time communications. Working with Avaya as a single vendor for the new Cochlear offices enables us to provide seamless voice and data solutions for our staff and cater for the growing needs of our mobile workforce,” he added.

Cochlear’s energy efficiency goals are further helped by the Avaya Enterprise Policy Manager which can globally schedule power savings on all the Power over Ethernet ports in the network. The network design ensures that there is no single point of failure in the network, ensuring maximum network uptime – a vital reliability differentiator for a global leader in a competitive market. And powerful, easy-to-use management tools ensure that Cochlear can better manage its network evolution now and into the future.

The voice and data solutions provided by Avaya and deployed by NSC include Avaya Aura®, Avaya Aura Session Manager, 9630G IP handsets, 3631 Wireless handsets, Avaya Unified Communications All-Inclusive End-user soft clients (Avaya one-X® Mobile, one-X Communicator, one-X Portal, EC500, IP Soft Phone), Avaya Modular Messaging, Avaya Ethernet Routing Switches including the ERS4500 Series, ERS5650, and ERS8394, Identity Engines Solution, Configuration and Orchestration Manager, Enterprise Policy Manager, Visualisation Performance and Fault Manager.

About Cochlear
Cochlear is the global leader in implantable hearing solutions. It has a dedicated global team of 2,000 people who deliver the gift of sound to the hearing impaired in over 100 countries. Its vision is to connect people, young and old, to a world of sound by offering life enhancing hearing solutions.
www.cochlear.com

About NSC
For more than 20 years, leading systems integrator, NSC Group has specialised in the design, implementation, management and support of highly sophisticated business technology solutions. NSC offers consulting, applications and solutions for converged voice and data networks and unified communications as well as state-of‐the‐art solutions for contact centres and data centres. Further information is available at www.nsc.net.au

About Avaya
Avaya is a global leader in enterprise communications systems. The company provides unified communications, contact centres, data solutions, and related services directly and through its channel partners to leading businesses and organizations around the world. Enterprises of all sizes depend on Avaya for state-of-the-art communications that improve efficiency, collaboration, customer service and competitiveness. For more information please visit www.avaya.com.