Avaya Receives Top Marks In Multimedia Contact Center Test from MierConsulting

Independent Research Firm Says Avaya Aura® Contact Center Beats Competition In Comparative Review

BASKING RIDGE, N.J. - Avaya, a global leader in enterprise communications systems, software and services, today announced that its next generation customer service solution – Avaya Aura® Contact Center – was chosen as the top contact center product in an independent comparative lab review conducted by MierConsulting. MierConsulting is a leading independent consultancy specializing in the comparative assessment of communications and network products.

In the review (accessible here), MierConsulting looked at products from three leading contact center vendors and gave Avaya Aura Contact Center top marks across the categories. In its assessment, MierConsulting concluded that: “Avaya Aura Contact Center 6.1 raises the bar on the integration of multiple channels, offering one of the most effective agent interfaces we have seen in recent years for cleanly blending a mix of voice calls and text-based contacts.”

“This recognition from MierConsulting reinforces our strategy of offering companies the ultimate multimedia contact center solution that places a priority on customer experiences,” said Anthony Bartolo, general manager, Contact Center Solutions. “As we enter the new year, Avaya will continue to innovate in customer service with capabilities for delivering enhanced customer service for a new era.”

Avaya Aura Contact Center is a multimedia work assignment application for midsize contact centers that connects customers and their information to the right agent or expert via any communications mode (i.e. voice, video, e-mail, chat). In the comparative review, Avaya Aura Contact Center 6.1 was tested against Cisco Contact Center Express 7 and Interactive Intelligence Customer Interaction Center 3 in a range of areas. MierConsulting’s comments on Avaya’s superior results were reflected in categories including:

* Multimedia-contact handling: “All contact types are nicely blended in a single top window...The interface is richer, cleaner and easier to use than Cisco’s or Interactive’s.”
* Web-based administration: “The system is managed and administered almost entirely via a clean, consolidated Web-based interface, facilitating log-in and thin-client access from anywhere.”
* Single fully-blended queue: “Features the ability of the same agent to receive any supported contact types via a single multi-channel (mixed contact type) queue, as well as inbound/outbound call blending.”
* Context-sensitive prompts and auto suggest: “State of the art. E-mails are searched for keywords, and responses are suggested or automatic. IMs are searched too, and routed based on keywords.”


“Avaya’s new contact center solution is oriented towards making the most of an agent’s time and productivity, while ensuring a top-notch customer experience,” said Edwin E. Mier, head of MierConsulting, LLC. “We were impressed with the solution overall, and in our opinion, Avaya is advancing what is possible in customer service via multiple media channels.”

Avaya Aura Contact Center is gaining momentum among all kinds of businesses, with companies finding new ways to serve customers more quickly and efficiently. One business that has implemented Avaya Aura Contact Center is Optimus, an integrated telecommunications company based in Portugal. The company’s main goal was to transform their call center into a multimedia customer service operation.

“We need to be fully equipped to handle customers through chat, e-mail, voice, social networks -- whatever media the customer wants,” said Francisco Monteiro Gomes, core and services operation manager. “With Avaya Aura Contact Center, we now have the means to profile customers more efficiently, and then interact with them via their preferred channel. There is clearly an evolution underway in customer service, and with Avaya’s contact center technology, we can now be part of it.”

For more information on Avaya Aura Contact Center and the MierConsulting, report, please visit www.avaya.com.

About Avaya
Avaya is a global leader in enterprise communications systems. The company provides unified communications, contact centers, 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.

About Optimus
Optimus is Sonaecom’s single brand for the telecommunications sector, and the only integrated player in Portugal, revealing once again its capacity to continue to innovate and lead. With a latest generation converging network of its own, and with a unique customer management system, Optimus offers a complete portfolio of mobile and fixed solutions for approximately 4 million users, individuals and companies.


Optimus directly serves one in three of the Portuguese population, making available for the residential market, individuals and enterprises the most advanced solutions in voice, internet, television and e-services. This includes more than 140 television channels, more than 4,000 video-on-demand titles, home entertainment, new generation Internet through UMT, HSPA, fiber optics and soon, LTE.


Optimus assures that whether customers are fixed or mobile, corporate or individual, they will be able to make the most of new technologies, adapting them to their unique profile and experiences.

NOTE: The MierConsulting ratings discussed here reflect the composite results of objective and subjective test criteria, developed in consultation with Avaya. These were applied independently by MierConsulting senior analysts. Avaya paid a fee for the conduct of the review and creation of this report.

Certain statements contained in this press release are forward-looking statements. These statements may be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “might,” “plan,” “potential,” “predict,” “should” or “will” or other similar terminology. We have based these forward-looking statements on our current expectations, assumptions, estimates and projections. While we believe these expectations, assumptions, estimates and projections are reasonable, such forward looking statements are only predictions and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond our control. These and other important factors may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. Some of the key factors that could cause actual results to differ from our expectations include: our ability to develop and sell advanced communications products and services, including unified communications, contact centers and data solutions; our ability to develop our indirect sales channel; economic conditions and the willingness of enterprises to make capital investments; the market for advanced communications products and services, including unified communications and business collaboration solutions; our ability to remain competitive in the markets we serve; our ability to manage our supply chain and logistics functions; the ability to protect our intellectual property and avoid claims of infringement; our ability to effectively integrate acquired businesses into ours; our ability to maintain adequate security over our information systems and recover critical systems; environmental, health and safety laws, regulations, costs and other liabilities; our ability to mitigate risks associated with climate change; the ability to retain and attract key employees; risks relating to the transaction of business internationally; pension and post-retirement healthcare and life insurance liabilities; and liquidity and our access to capital markets. We caution you that the foregoing list of important factors may not contain all of the material factors that are important to you. For a further list and description of such risks and uncertainties, please refer to Avaya’s filings with the SEC that are available at www.sec.gov. Avaya disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.