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Avaya Wins Two Awards from Network Computing Magazine For IP Telephony Contact Center Solution


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Avaya submission noted for solution’s built-in security, ability to support remote workers, and thorough return on investment (ROI) analysis for IP Contact Center migration

01-May-2006, INTEROP 2006, LAS VEGAS BOOTH 1548 and BASKING RIDGE, N.J. – In a Network Computing lab test that pitted IP telephony contact center solutions from seven leading industry vendors against each other, a contact center from Avaya Inc. (NYSE: AV) won the publication’s “Well-Connected Award” as well as the “Editor’s Choice” award for the best mix of features, integration with existing systems and reasonable price.

“The Well-Connected Awards are unique because they’re the only industry awards given by technologists based on real-world use and integration. We view all products, technologies and services from the same perspective as our readers - our peers - do,” said John Siefert, publisher of Network Computing. “This is an important distinction from any other award program - the products selected in the Well-Connected Awards have been tested in an actual business environment and judged by our editors themselves. They are truly innovative solutions that work - and we have the metrics to prove it.”

To test the capabilities of the vendors’ solutions, the magazine’s test lab created a fictional company, a manufacturer of thermal-management products with 1500 employees and 200 full time call center agents, to determine the complexity of migrating from a conventional TDM (time-division multiplexing) call center to a high-tech, IP-enabled contact center. The fictional firm’s growth was being inhibited by high phone toll charges, an inability to handle multimedia routing and unpredictable blind call forwarding. The company also wanted to let some agents work from home to save on facilities costs and increase retention.

Overall contact center and integrated components were evaluated in four major areas: system design, agents, reporting and price. The products’ ability to prioritize contacts, route callers to skilled agents, create rules and handle multimedia messages was critical to the evaluation.

Avaya’s contact center was the only one to include built-in VPN capabilities to support telecommuting agents, and the only one with endpoint-to-gateway encryption to ensure superior security. Avaya also submitted the most thorough ROI, detailing cost savings over five years to help the fictional company’s IT department justify going to VoIP across the enterprise.

Another key element contributing to Avaya’s award win is its IP telephony contact center’s capability to automatically respond to email from clients to tell them approximately how long they would have to wait to speak with a call center agent.

Avaya submitted its Avaya S8500 Media Server running Avaya’s flagship IP telephony software, Avaya Communication Manager and Avaya Interaction Center. Each switch supports a distributed enterprise over an IP infrastructure with up to 3,200 ports. Avaya Interaction Center is Avaya’s enterprise class multimedia contact management software that streamlines real-time contact resolution of voice, email and web chat requests by offering standards-based interfaces, configuration wizards and tools that simplify applications integration and agent administration.

To view the Network Computing article, visit http://img.cmpnet.com/nc/graphics/lilogo.gif.

Avaya Interaction Center is a contact management platform that manages interactions across multiple communication channels, including voice, email and web, and matches the right agent with the right information the first time.

“The Network Computing awards are additional proof points that Avaya offers the capabilities, security and flexibility to meet business needs,” said Eileen Rudden, vice president and general manager, Enterprise Communications Applications, Avaya. “This is another clear indicator for our existing and potential customers that Avaya contact center solutions are designed with Intelligent Communications capabilities that enable enterprises of all sizes to differentiate themselves via customer service and serve their clients with excellence.”

In February, Avaya was positioned in the leaders quadrant in the Gartner Inc. 2006 Magic Quadrant Report on North America contact center infrastructure. Gartner is a global research and analysis firm focused on the information technology sector. The full report can be viewed at http://mediaproducts.gartner.com/reprints/avaya/vol2/article1/article1.html
Advanced applications from Avaya will be on display at Avaya Booth #1548 at Interop 2006 in the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas, May 2 – 4, 2006.

About Avaya
Avaya, Inc. designs, builds and manages communications networks for more than one million businesses worldwide, including over 90 percent of the FORTUNE 500®. Focused on businesses large to small, Avaya is a world leader in secure and reliable Internet Protocol telephony systems and communications software applications and services.

Driving the convergence of voice and data communications with business applications - and distinguished by comprehensive worldwide services - Avaya helps customers leverage existing and new networks to achieve superior business results. For more information visit the Avaya Web site: http://www.avaya.com

About the FIFA World Cup and Avaya
As the Official Convergence Communication provider for the FIFA World Cup 2006™, Avaya is providing a champion communications network for the World’s largest sporting event. The converged network – that combines voice and data on the same infrastructure – will connect the 12 host stadiums, the international media centres in Munich, Berlin and Dortmund and the FIFA headquarters in Berlin. Players, coaches, volunteers and fans alike will benefit from the Avaya network that will be instrumental in player and journalist accreditation, the reporting of results, material tracking, accommodation confirmations, transportation, and ticketing among other critical functions. With an estimated 45,000 network connections, 30,000 network devices and over 15 terabytes (or 15,000,000,000 bytes) of data, it is the largest converged communication network ever built for a sporting event.

About Network Computing
Network Computing is the trusted information source which helps 220,000 Technology Leaders turn business strategy into reality. The editorial team consists of real-world IT veterans who provide objective information and analysis on technologies and solutions that are tested in IT media’s only Real-World Labs – a setting which mirrors our audience’s work environment.

Network Computing’s critical analysis of market solutions and their impact on an organization is infused in every aspect of the brand, from the award-winning publication and networkcomputing.com, to NWCReports.com, and the events such as the Expert Series Tour and Technology Leader Forum. Network Computing is consistently honored for its editorial excellence, garnering accolades from the American Society of Business Publication Editors (ASBPE), as well as winning Maggie Awards from Western Publications Association and Folio magazine’s Ozzie Awards.



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