AVAYA ANNOUNCES UC EXPERIENCE EVERYWHERE WITH NEW COLLABORATION AND DESKTOP OFFERINGS

New cloud enhancements and desktop modernisation create consistent and connected experiences for users

Today Avaya (NYSE: AVYA) announced that more end users can realise the benefits of true unified communications, now enabled by compelling enhancements to its signature user experience, Avaya Equinox®. Already known for creating seamless communication experiences across applications, browsers, and the devices people use every day in and out of the enterprise, Avaya Equinox delivers new features and capabilities for team collaboration and conferencing.  Avaya also announced a series of enhancements to its desktop experience, including both new devices and services.

As a single UC application, Avaya Equinox makes employees more productive with its “Top of Mind” home screen. Here, users have a simplified view of their day and intuitive access to one-touch calling, messaging, audio and video conferencing, as well as web collaboration. Avaya Equinox now delivers a fully integrated user experience that is connected and consistent across the Avaya portfolio and all deployment models: on-premises, hybrid and cloud. Updates to Avaya Equinox include:

• Enhancements to Avaya Equinox Meetings Online, a cloud-based meeting and conferencing service for customers that can be deployed with or without an Avaya infrastructure. The economical, pay-as-you-go cloud model offers the same capabilities as an on-premises deployment, making it easy to take a hybrid approach and mix and match between the two.  A new, zero download option via webRTC enables pure browser-based video and web conferencing in addition to app support on Windows, Mac, Android and iOS devices. Equinox Meetings Online now offers enhanced web collaboration with an interactive whiteboard and true application sharing. Equinox Meetings Online supports 50 fully interactive participants and 500 viewers for streaming. Participants can use the unique “slider” to review meeting content previously presented without disrupting the presenter.
• The extension of Avaya Equinox benefits to mid-market Avaya IP Office™ users to get the same contemporary experience of Avaya Equinox as those with Avaya Aura®.
• The introduction of Avaya Equinox Attendant, a PC-based software application that allows attendants and receptionists to efficiently manage inbound calls. Equinox Attendant enhances customer service and brings the power of unified communications to front-desk operators with capabilities such as ‘Look Ahead’ with presence services, quick access to the most common destinations, suggested call routing, and contextual information that allows the operator to provide a more personalised touch.

With more than 100 million endpoints and desktops sold to date, Avaya also introduced a series of new devices and services designed to enhance the Avaya Desktop Experience, including:

• Essential Experience – Avaya is adding new designs for its industry-leading desktop phones with the J139, J169 and J179, for a state-of-the-art user experience as well as Bluetooth and WiFi connectivity.
• Vantage Experience – Avaya has enriched the open Android-based Vantage portfolio with a new device for users that prefer a traditional keypad, support for Avaya IP Office for the midmarket customer, and enhanced Avaya Equinox integration.
• Conferencing Experience – The new Avaya CU-360 Collaboration Device provides an easy to set up and use, all-in-one video collaboration experience that delivers the benefits of the corporate conference room into smaller spaces. The Avaya CU-360 also provides additional conveniences, such as wireless device connectivity and control and access to cloud-based applications.
• New Device Deployment and Management Services – These new service offerings include Avaya Device Enrollment Services, which provides two-step automated device provisioning, and Avaya Endpoint Management Services, which covers software, configuration, application control, inventory management, and remote troubleshooting and monitoring.

Avaya Equinox Attendant and Avaya Equinox Meetings Online are currently available and Avaya Equinox on IP Office is expected in the second quarter of 2018. Avaya Desktop Experience devices and services will also be available in the second quarter of 2018.

These Avaya Equinox updates, new devices and service enhancements demonstrate Avaya’s commitment to delivering consolidated real-time and non-real-time multimedia communications which enable faster responsiveness, increased productivity, and more informed decision-making, all while reducing IT management and operating costs.

Watch the Avaya Equinox Video here

Quotes

“These new software updates, devices and service offerings are the latest manifestation of our strategy to deliver a streamlined experience that helps improve productivity and reduce the workday stress on employees in both large and small organizations. We solve the challenge stemming from too many apps, clients, and systems that are inefficient to use, a burden to support and not customizable. These new solutions and products offer flexibility and ease of use that brings benefits to the individual, their department and the business overall.”

Laurent Philonenko, SVP and GM, Technology and Solutions, Avaya

“Green Shield Canada has more than 850 employees across seven offices in Canada – from Montreal to Vancouver.  We saw an opportunity to explore technology upgrades that would enhance company-wide communications and bring our teams across Canada closer together. With just a single training session on Avaya Equinox, employees have hit the ground running with the tools. The video conferencing option has provided a solution to overbooked meeting rooms and the instant messaging feature is already cutting down on the number of emails being sent.”

               Jim Mastronardi, Director, Enterprise Infrastructure, PMO and Procurement,

Green Shield Canada

“IT leaders tell us that improving the end-user experience is the primary way that they can increase their unified communications and collaboration success.  Enhancing ease of use, integrating collaboration tools into a common user interface, and applying intelligence to enable customization and easy access to frequently used features leads to increasing adoption, and demonstrable business value for collaboration investments.”

Irwin Lazar, Vice President and Service Director, Nemertes Research