Avaya Launches UC Consulting Practice
Avaya used the VoiceCon Conference in Orlando, Fla., this week to announce a new Unified Communications Services to help companies succeed in the era of virtual business.
The services provide an open, end-to-end approach to unified communications, enabling today’s increasingly distributed organizations to realize the full potential of their new and existing UC investments. This helps all of a business’ employees – based in the office, at home, or on the road – achieve the productivity and customer service benefits driven by UC.
With the launch of Avaya UC Services, the company is investing in a new in-house consulting practice dedicated to the business and technical impacts of UC, a broadened partner ecosystem to incorporate open multivendor solutions for UC, and new Solutions Labs to test interoperability with third-party business partners in real-world customer environments.
To provide an end-to-end approach, Avaya UC Services created a Unified Communications Readiness Model comprised of three phases: planning at the very beginning using Avaya consultants; design, using solution architects to identify the best technologies and processes available; and integration and Implementation, to drive a smooth installation in multivendor environments.
At the planning phase, Avaya consultants will help an organization identify worker profiles that define how people work within a business. Avaya will then assess what types of applications (i.e. soft phones, one number access) fit different user profiles, and compose a business case that identifies the costs and benefits that can be expected with a deployment.
In the design phase, Avaya’s solution architects will determine the specific technical requirements of a UC implementation—including equipment, carrier plans and applications—and choose the technical design that makes a UC business plan work. This phase can also include phone expense analysis and telecom carrier negotiations, as well as analysis regarding the best infrastructure and application choices for a company.
During integration and implementation, Avaya UC Services pre-tests the technology in Avaya Solutions Labs and begins multivendor platform installations and deployments. Using worker profiles, Avaya can set up training programs, worker policies and specific workflow needs, such as the integration of presence information.
In addition to planning, design, and integration and Iiplementation, Avaya also offers ongoing support through multiple options, including Software Support Plus Upgrades, which provide a three-year subscription to major releases.
One of the first customers for the new Avaya UC Services offering is Black & Decker, the tool and hardware manufacturer. With support from Avaya UC Services, Black & Decker will unify its Avaya Communication Manager IP telephony product with Avaya Modular Messaging, an application that unifies voicemail, email, and IP deskphones and softphones to create a cost-effective long-term mobility strategy for Black and Decker’s employees.
"Avaya’s UC consultants helped us gain a better understanding of the technology choices available to us for unified communications, and create a long-term strategy for our global mobile communications," said Karen Dean, director of global telecommunications at Black & Decker. "By tapping the expertise of Avaya UC Services, we expect to see greater cost savings and employee productivity driven by our increasingly mobile workforce."