Avaya delivers integrated unified communications and mobility platform

The company builds on an established base of Unified Communications customers, innovative technology and a strategy based on delivering end-user driven solutions that are built on open standards. These initiatives are led by the introductions of a Unified Communications product family, as well as the acquisition of enterprise mobility innovator Traverse Networks (see Nov. 16 press release, 'Avaya Acquires Traverse Networks').

'The GulfComms exhibition will give regional customers an unrivalled opportunity to discuss the impact of Avaya's new wave of initiatives with regional and EMEA executives,' commented Nidal Abou Ltaif, managing director, Avaya Middle East North Africa.

'Avaya has enjoyed significant success in 2006 in the MENA region, with a significant number of customer wins across vertical sectors and the expansion of the channel program. We are confident that this new wave of Unified Communications initiatives will enable our customers to reach new heights in innovative communications solutions to address tomorrow's business needs.'

The new family of Avaya Unified Communications editions gives businesses the flexibility to deliver the right applications to the right devices for various segments of workers with different communications needs, to help employees improve productivity wherever they are conducting business. These editions include:
Unified Communications, Essential Edition for office-based users whoneed advanced IP telephony and messaging support and basic conferencing functionality;

Unified Communications, Standard Edition for mainstream users who benefit from advanced mobility tools including unified office and mobile communications tools across all major mobile platforms;

Unified Communications, Advanced Edition for users who gain a competitive advantage by collaborating with large teams using integrated voice and 'whiteboard' sessions;

Unified Communications, Professional Edition for strategic communicators who take advantage of video communications and speech recognition, including high-definition video conferences and voice-driven access to messages and other personal applications.

Today's business communications systems are diverse, global and fragmented. The Avaya Unified Communications family is based on open industry standards and cross-platform protocols that make it easy and inexpensive to integrate communications tools between disparate networks, applications, devices, and most importantly, user segments. Avaya is the first company to execute a broad, open Unified Communications strategy and as a result, the only company able to integrate the fragmented and diverse standards, protocols and platforms and deliver a truly unified end-user experience for Unified Communications. The four new editions in the Avaya Unified Communications product family will be available in the first half of 2007, and pricing will vary based on deployment and license terms.

With this next wave of Unified Communications initiatives, Avaya is advancing its vision for Intelligent Communications - embedding communications applications within business processes for improved service, shorter product cycle times and competitive advantage.

'Avaya's Unified Communications strategy has consistently emphasized streamlined integration of our solutions with existing networks and applications,' said Eileen Rudden, who is the vice president and general manager of Avaya's recently formed Unified Communications Division. 'For instance, our flagship telephony messaging and conferencing products provide integration of communications with Microsoft Exchange and Outlook, as well as IBM Lotus Domino, Notes and Sametime, the most popular desktop interfaces. We will ship Microsoft Office Communicator integration next quarter. Likewise we have partnered with industry leaders including Nokia and RIM Blackberry to extend mobile enterprise communications to these familiar personal productivity devices.'

Traverse Networks Acquisition
Avaya also announced today the acquisition of Traverse Networks, a privately held developer of enterprise mobility solutions for Unified Communications. The acquisition will provide yet another capability in the execution of Avaya's Unified Communications strategy. Traverse's server software and easy-to-use interfaces extend enterprise communications applications to mobile devices, enabling mobile workers to be more productive and responsive to customers. Traverse Networks will be operated from Avaya's Unified Communications Division.