End-user access to Unified Communications - regardless of platform, network, device, application or location - is key networking trend for 2007, says Avaya

"Unified Communications is among the next major wave of initiatives in our industry that will further shape the regional market and change how businesses deliver strategic communications and collaboration tools to workers wherever they are, on any device," said Nidal Abou Ltaif, managing director, Avaya Middle East and North Africa.

"Currently, organizations in the Middle East have business communications systems that are fragmented and diverse, and what is urgently required is a means to deliver the right applications to the right devices for various segments of workers with these different needs -- from basic communications right through to highly collaborative, strategic communications - to help employees improve productivity wherever they are conducting business. Increased business travel, the need for constant email and Internet access, and the growing numbers of people who work remotely all make Unified Communications a pressing business concern for the region," he added.

Analysts have also highlighted the emergence of unified communications as a key business trend. According to Gartner Group, "In 10 years, wireless e-mail will be fully replaced by unified communications and collaboration." Research conducted in December 2006 by Aberdeen Group cited that increased employee productivity is the most critical factor driving unified communications adoption, followed by better internal collaboration.

Avaya is building 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. The new family of Avaya Unified Communications editions includes:
• Unified Communications, Essential Edition for office-based users who need 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.

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.

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, to better leverage our customers' current technology investments," said Abou Ltaif. "We anticipate that Unified Communications will be one of the three most significant advances in the Middle East's networking sector throughout 2007."