[December 7, 2004]

Avaya and Verizon Tackle Small and Medium Biz

BY JOHANNE TORRES

Nowadays, small and medium companies have many VoIP ( define - news - alert) solutions to choose from. VoIP developers and resellers, including big companies like Avaya (quote - news - alert) and Level 3 (quote - news - alert), have been adapting their products and making them available for smaller groups of users.

Today Avaya announced a deal with Verizon (quote - news - alert), agreeing to collaborate with the company to offer a product suite including systems, applications and services from both companies to be targeted toward the small and medium-sized business market.

According to the new agreement, Verizon will now offer Avaya’s IP Office and PARTNER Advanced Communications System products to businesses – both single- and multi-site – in retail and wholesale trade, transportation and other industries.

The Avaya IP Office suite is an all-inclusive office communication product that integrates voice, data and communications apps addressing mobility, customer contact, and conferencing oriented to small and medium business needs. The company has sold more than 38,000 IP Office systems for businesses worldwide since its development.

The Avaya PARTNER Advanced Communications System is an advanced telephony system with features such as e-mail and voice mail access, as well as management from a single PC mailbox, and connectivity to digital subscriber lines (DSL) for high speed Internet access and VoIP. There are more than a million Avaya PARTNER systems in operation worldwide.

“The Avaya products are an excellent complement to Verizon’s network services,” said Kathy Koelle, senior vice president of sales and marketing for Verizon’s business solutions group. “The PARTNER key system is a compact yet powerful solution for small firms, and the IP Office solution offers an easy migration path to companies considering converged voice and data solutions.”

The companies said their collaboration will enable additional small and medium companies to enhance their operations with advanced telephony applications. According to the agreement, Avaya and its distributors will provide training and support for the Verizon sales team. Avaya Global Services will be responsible for customized installation and maintenance support through the company’s 24 Network Operations Centers and 13 Technical Centers. Avaya distributors will be responsible for inventory and logistics. Distributor Catalyst Telecom is working with Verizon and Avaya as part of the agreement announced today.

Pat Hume, group vice president, small and medium business solutions, Avaya, said: “Communications is at the heart of every business, no matter what size. With Avaya’s voice heritage and data expertise focused on the enterprise, combined with Verizon’s strong sales channel, we're opening the door to a greater number of small and medium businesses that realize the importance of communications and want access to innovative technology, advanced features such as mobility, sophisticated applications such as contact center solutions, and more, designed especially to enable them to work smarter and more effectively.”

Avaya Inc.
www.avaya.com

Verizon Communications Inc.
www.verizon.com