Avaya leads Global IP telephony market for full year 2005

Avaya is a leading global provider of business communications applications, systems and services.

The report shows Avaya leading in IP Port Shipments for the ninth consecutive quarter (as defined by Synergy) with 20 percent of the global market in the fourth quarter of 2005; Avaya also led for the third consecutive year in IP Port Shipments with 21 percent for the full year.

In addition, Avaya led in IP Telephony Revenues for the fourth quarter with 23.1 percent, according to the report. During the quarter, the company also completed its eight millionth IP telephony line shipment, with nearly one million IP port shipments in the quarter alone.

In the region, more than 120 channel partners of Avaya Inc. are registered for a three-day business partner forum in Dubai from 27th Feb to the 1st March, at which mobility, productivity through IP telephony, and enhanced customer contact are the key themes.

"The health of the Middle East's IP telephony market is demonstrated by the fact that Avaya is now hosting this partner training twice a year rather than annually to accommodate the demand. Avaya is delivering the tools that are enabling our regional business partners to build a stable pipeline of contact centers, mobility, and converged communications deals throughout the next year,"

said Roger El-Tawil, Channel and Marketing Manager, Avaya Middle East and North Africa.

The three-day channel event has attracted Avaya partners from Egypt and the Levant, among the company's fastest-growing markets in the region, as well as the largest geography, Saudi Arabia, and the rest of the burgeoning GCC markets.

"Avaya has had significant success in the Middle East market - we have garnered more than 50 new enterprise customers across MENA in the last twelve months. It's an increasingly competitive region, so we're sharing the solution selling and vertical expertise that we've acquired with our channel, while training attendees on best practices, including tips on building relationships and serving customers better," added El-Tawil.

Some of the highlights of the Avaya forum, entitled "Focusing on success" are case studies on some of Avaya's most prominent customers from the region. Subject matter experts will articulate how organizations including Showtime, Aramex, and Arab National Bank are using Avaya solutions to serve their customers more effectively through contact centers and create a more cost-effective, productive workforce.

'Avaya completed a strong year of leadership in a competitive market for Enterprise IP telephony,' said Jeremy Duke, president and CEO, Synergy Research Group. 'Given the magnitude of the Telephony opportunity, a large number of competitors continue to aggressively compete for the hearts and minds of the Enterprise customer. As the Telephony market continues to heat up, Avaya finds itself in the strategic position of possessing a large and loyal installed base of telephony customers who are prime candidates for IP migration.'

'Avaya remains the market leader in Enterprise IP Telephony,' said Michael C. Thurk, Avaya senior vice president and president, Global Communications Solutions. 'For the ninth consecutive quarter, these results demonstrate that customers around the world increasingly choose Avaya Intelligent Communications when they want to improve their business processes and support employees. We will continue to enhance people's ability to collaborate and communicate using IP telephony as the solid foundation.'

The Avaya business partner forum is divided into workshops on corporate strategy, solution updates and applications roadmap, and hands-on sales training.