Avaya Communications - previously known as the Enterprise Network Group of Lucent Technologies - with headquarters in the United States, is a leading provider of communications systems. Over one million customers, of which over 90% belong to the Fortune 500, are supported by Avaya as one of the world's largest providers of communication networks. Avaya offers sophisticated solutions and services for voice transmission, convergent voice and data transmission, customer relationship management, messaging and multi-service networking. Avaya brings together language, data and convergent solutions under one roof.

VoIP is one of the catchphrases most used in the current data and telecommunication market place. The concept behind this is the transmission of voice over an information network using an Internet protocol (IP). Voice in digitalized form is compressed before transmission, broken down into packets, and reconverted to voice form at the receiving end.

 

The concept of transmitting voice over a data network is based on the fact that data traffic from businesses has long since become more substantial than voice traffic. By merging the voice and data networks, it is possible to combine existing computer applications with telephony.

 

Cost savings and competitive advantages for companies are generated through the operation of a network and by merging IP applications with IP telephony. These include:

 

Is the time ripe?
IP telephony solutions for corporations have not been on the market for long in Switzerland. Most corporate network infrastructures, however, were not set up for this new technology. The result: problems with system stability and voice quality. In the past two years, many things have changed. New solutions make it possible to connect thousands of IP telephones with a 99.9% accessibility rate and voice quality which is very difficult to differentiate from the quality of traditional ISDN telephone networks.

 

Where are the advantages of Voice over IP compared to traditional telephone installations? Through the convergence of voice and data, applications can be introduced that go beyond the performance characteristics of standard telephony. These include unified messaging as well as the creation of telephone directories, calendars, schedules and company information on the IP telephone screen or computer monitor.

 

Besides expanded possibilities, you really need to note the cost savings inherent in IP telephony. It is assumed that the individual cost of a move within an organization is between 150 and 250 Swiss francs. Thanks to IP telephones, these ongoing costs can be greatly reduced. In a company with 200 employees and 75 moves per year, this can lead to savings of more than 15,000 Swiss francs (based on an average cost per move of 200 Swiss francs). IP telephony will continue to gain ground in the corporate environment thanks to the clear advantages it has over traditional telephony.

Unified messaging and unified communications brings together various means of communication such as voice, e-mail, fax and text message or short message service (SMS) and makes information management easier for users. Unified communication is an essential component for overall convergence of communication using voice, data and video over wireless and cabled networks. The objective is to efficiently perform information processing with a central communication platform. In this way, the collecting of all kinds of messages - incoming calls, faxes and e-mails - is structured in a single common directory. Access to this virtual box is possible via various end devices such as telephone or computer. E-mails or faxes can be read out, voice mail can be forwarded as an e-mail attachment.

 

We offer you significantly more efficient access to your messages when you are in the office and far more flexible access to information when you are on the road through a unified communications solution. This means that you can reduce your administration expense significantly. The systems are able to access various communication platforms, such as Lotus Notes or Microsoft Exchange.

 

United communication is the natural successor in the development of e-mail and voice mail and will become the communication form of choice in the 21st century.

The difference to standard call centers is that the agents are connected over IP. The IP agent is a Microsoft® Windows® based call center softphone application, which runs on a computer under Windows system software. This means that agents can work from any computer as long as a connection to the company network is possible.

 

Access to the entire range of agent functions is guaranteed through a graphic user interface where standard drag-and-drop conventions have been implemented. The IP agent has access to information in the company's database (via LDAP) using an intuitive desktop along with integrated call processing functions which provide the agents with a detailed overview. In addition, contact center managers have the possibility of monitoring screen views for frequently occurring cases.

 

As part of a complete portfolio for IP contact center systems and applications, the IP Agent can seamlessly be tied into customer care solutions as well as reliable communications server architectures.

Avaya(TM) Interaction Center is an integrated solution for a multimedia contact center that makes possible the distribution, administration, recording, and evaluation in report form of customer interaction over a variety of communication channels. Among these channels are the Internet, e-mail, and high-capacity telephone systems. Even if your customers use several communication channels for a transaction, you can always still offer exceptional performance in sales, service and customer relationship management.

 

This multimedia contact center solution ensures that your company is able to maintain consistency throughout all of the communication channels. The basis for this are the following features:

 

 

Avaya(TM) Interaction Center works well with applications from other manufacturers and also with back-office systems and existing conventional systems. This makes it possible to realize a comprehensive solution for customer interactions.

 

By using the Interaction Center, you create precisely the consistent and positive contact experience, which finally manifests itself through customer loyalty.

You can save time and money by simplifying your network administration and avoiding the purchase and maintenance of two networks by using only one for voice and data transmission. We make available many of the IP telephony advantages over your current data network using the Avaya™-Media Servers and Media Gateways as the basis together with Avaya MultiVantage software and IP telephones.

 

You benefit from the fact that the operating systems and components correspond to international standards. This makes it possible to easily integrate applications.

 

Avaya™-Media Servers make telephone applications an integral part of your data network infrastructure. Through the use of modern, tried and tested MultiVantage software, these systems can distribute more than 525 telephone performance characteristics via heterogenic multi-protocol networks. We have solutions for small to very large (12,000 connections) companies with the Avaya VoIP systems.