New Avaya IP Office Makes Unified Communications and Customer Service Simple for Small Businesses

Avaya IP Office Release 5 Delivers Greater Scalability, Business Continuity and Workforce Productivity

BASKING RIDGE, N.J. – Avaya announced the launch of the new version of Avaya IP Office, the company’s flagship communications solution for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The new version – Avaya IP Office Release 5 – is software that simplifies unified communications and customer service for SMEs, while delivering a range of new capabilities improving the scalability, resiliency and productivity of organizations.

To make communications easy for small and medium-sized businesses, Avaya IP Office is now offered in six role-based solutions – tailored to roles such as “tele-worker,” “mobile worker,” and “customer service agent” – each designed to meet specific worker needs. Using this approach, small businesses no longer have to pick from a multitude of application options, removing the complexity of choosing the right communications solution.

Avaya has also streamlined IP Office by consolidating multiple hardware options down to a single, higher-capacity hardware platform(1). It now supports 384 users per system, up from 272, extending the scalability and usefulness of an IP Office system as a business grows. Additionally, conferencing capacity has been doubled from one to two 64-party bridges.

“Small and medium-sized businesses require solutions that are easy to understand and use,” said Deepinder Sahni, senior vice president, AMI Partners, a research and consultancy firm specializing in the small and medium business sector. “With IP Office Release 5, Avaya has effectively incorporated simplicity into the way communications is architected, delivered and communicated. The new role-based solutions improve how business partners meet customer needs, while enhanced capabilities like expanded conferencing are especially compelling.”

Avaya IP Office Raises the Bar for SMEs with New Resiliency, Applications
For SMEs with multiple sites, Avaya introduces a more efficient and reliable method of business continuity. With Avaya IP Office Release 5, a business site can use servers at alternate sites to keep an IP communications network – including phones and voicemail – operating in the event of an outage. For example, if an outage occurs at a site, the system automatically re-registers to another IP Office site. This drives greater network resiliency, and eliminates the need to have a second system at a site solely for continuity purposes, reducing hardware and labor costs.

Avaya IP Office also delivers new productivity-enhancing applications for unified communications and customer service – now accessible via Web browser using a ‘thin client’ model. Using the Web eases user access to essential communications tools, while providing administrators a simplified way to deploy and manage communications. New Web-based applications include one-X Portal for Avaya IP Office, a communications portal designed for PCs providing workers a better way to manage phone communications using real-time call control, presence and call logs.

Additionally, Avaya IP Office Release 5 introduces a powerful new contact center reporting application – also accessible via Web – that is easier to install, update and use. Customer Call Reporter can track customer service progress and agent productivity, while using alarms to help administrators react to issues in real-time. With Customer Call Reporter, agents can see how they are performing against workgroup averages, while supervisors can track factors such as the number of agents logged on, as well as calls arriving, waiting or lost.

“By strengthening and expanding the range of communications capabilities available to small businesses today, Avaya is giving these companies the tools necessary to compete in today’s challenging business environment,” said Anthony Bartolo, vice president and general manager, Small and Medium Enterprise Communications, Avaya. “Today’s IP Office enhancements represent our commitment to simplify offers, and help businesses get the most out of user-friendly unified communications and customer service applications.”

Data Security Company Keeps Customers Satisfied with Avaya IP Office
A customer using Avaya IP Office Release 5 is data security consulting services company Aurora Enterprises, a 25-person business with four offices including its Torrance, CA headquarters. Due to the urgent nature of Aurora Enterprises’ business, the company required an “always-on” communications solution that ensures calling customers have quick access to a live person. To quickly get customers to the best representatives, Aurora Enterprises relies on Avaya IP Office, and its unified communications capabilities. The solution was successfully implemented by Van Nuys, CA.-based Telemasters, a member of the Avaya BusinessPartner program.

Avaya IP Office gives Aurora Enterprise employees seamless access to communications – including phones, voicemail and faxes – from any location. According to Philip de Souza, CEO of Aurora Enterprises, moving to Web-based applications with the new version of Avaya IP Office will help SME employees gain greater flexibility and productivity while working at home or on the road. Aurora currently uses tele-workers on the front lines of customer service, keeping employees motivated, while helping customers reach associates located anywhere.

“Letting home office-based and mobile workers use a unified communications or customer service application via the Web is a major benefit,” said de Souza. “This will not only make it easier for workers to bring up what they need from any location, but will also save us the expense of deploying applications on every employee’s laptop.”

Aurora’s de Souza added that offering Avaya IP Office in just six role-based solutions simplifies purchasing decisions for small business owners. According to De Souza: “This helps us pre-define the tool set we require, giving us a better way to pick exactly what we need. Plus, it does wonders for our budget.”

Avaya IP Office Release 5 Availability
With the introduction of Avaya IP Office Release 5 software, available now, the Avaya IP Office 500 server becomes the company’s single server offering for the SME market. The Release 5 software can also be used on existing IP 406v2 and IP412 IP Office servers.