Avaya Appoints Bob Lyons to Lead Contact Center Division

New General Manager and Vice President of Customer Service Applications to Focus on Helping Companies Turn Customer Service Into a Competitive Asset


BASKING RIDGE, NJ--(Marketwire - June 17, 2008) - Avaya, a leading global provider of business communications applications, systems and services, today announced it has appointed Bob Lyons to lead the company's global contact center organization. As general manager and vice president of Avaya's customer service applications division, Lyons will oversee a business that plays a central role in driving customer service for thousands of companies around the world.

Lyons joins Avaya from Convergys, a global leader in relationship management that provides customer service outsourcing, where he first served as CIO and then increased his responsibilities to oversee operations for the company. Prior to joining Convergys, he was the vice president of enterprise operations and technology at United Health Group, a managed healthcare company.

Lyons was also executive vice president and CIO at Telespectrum, a call center customer services organization, and has been a software entrepreneur and consultant.

Lyons believes that customer satisfaction is a profit-driving asset that can help differentiate companies in a highly competitive business environment. To help companies tap the full potential of customer service, he will focus on leading Avaya to deliver a new generation of contact center solutions that integrate advanced communications technologies, including the 'always on' capabilities of Avaya's unified communications portfolio.

"Avaya is uniquely positioned to help companies gain the full benefits of their contact centers," said Lyons. "By building on its strong heritage in Internet protocol (IP) telephony, unified communications and contact centers -- and by introducing new technologies and analytics into customer service -- Avaya has an opportunity to help companies raise consumer satisfaction and sales penetration to new levels, in the most cost-efficient way." Avaya's contact center division offers a broad IP-based portfolio of customer service software and systems that includes solutions for contact management, outbound communications, self service, intelligent routing, and computer telephony, as well as Session Initiation Protocol (SIP)-based solutions and multimedia applications.

Lyons received a B.A. in management at Moravian College in Bethlehem, PA, and has a Masters degree in Technology and Management from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

About Avaya

Avaya delivers Intelligent Communications solutions that help companies transform their businesses to achieve marketplace advantage. More than 1 million businesses worldwide, including more than 90 percent of the FORTUNE 500®, use Avaya solutions for IP Telephony, Unified Communications, Contact Centers and Communications-Enabled Business Processes. Avaya Global Services provides comprehensive service and support for companies, small to large.

For more information visit the Avaya Web site: http://www.avaya.com.

Contact Information: Avaya Media Relations: Contact: Jonathan Varman 908-953-6432 jvarman@avaya.com