Avaya Launches Outsourcing Solutions to Improve Performance, Reduce Costs of Business Communications Networks

BASKING RIDGE, NJ--(Marketwire - Feb 29, 2012) -

• Solutions tap Avaya's global managed services scale, investment and expertise to accelerate cost-savings, performance and transformation across many locations
  
  
• Avaya is North American market leader in communications managed services according to Frost and Sullivan; company has 3 million ports globally under contract
  
  

Avaya today introduced a new set of outsourcing services to help companies dramatically increase the performance, reduce the costs and accelerate the transformation of their communications environments. With the new offer, Avaya Communications Outsourcing Solutions (COS), Avaya takes on the task of managing all of a company's communications operations -- regardless of age, location or vendor -- to help them compete in a new era of advanced collaboration.

Avaya Communications Outsourcing Solutions is part of the company's portfolio of Managed Services, which enables businesses to have Avaya take on the management of their communications infrastructure and applications. COS is Avaya's first fully-outsourced offering that provides custom-built solutions and comprehensive management of a client's entire communications environment, including applications for unified communications, contact centers, data networking and video communications. COS offers a higher level of managed services by serving as a client's communications arm, integrating directly with their IT processes and managing their overall communications functions (such as production, billing, operations and more).

Avaya Communications Outsourcing Solutions are custom-managed services typically designed for two types of businesses: Those who are ready to migrate their aging infrastructure and transform it with advanced capabilities, but may have constraints around internal resources or budget; and those who are not ready for a technology transformation, but want to improve the cost-efficiency and performance of their existing infrastructure.

These services solve customer issues in four key areas -- performance, resources, tools and cost. Avaya Communications Outsourcing Solutions includes:

• Seamless worldwide multi-vendor support using nine global Network Operation Centers (NOC) supporting 3 million communications ports under contract¹.
• Extensive communications applications expertise and support, driven by an organization of more than 700 dedicated voice managed services experts.
• New Operating Expense procurement (OpEx) options encompassing hardware, software and services in an all-inclusive per-user price, minimizing or eliminating the need for capital purchase for a technology transformation.
• Customized Service Level Agreements (SLA) delivering guarantees on availability and reliability, helping to ensure peace of mind.
• Full alignment with Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) standards for multivendor environments. ITIL is a best-in-class set of standardized practices to support IT infrastructure.
• A breakthrough communications management platform, Matrix -- the result of a $15 million+ investment in a predictive, preventive cloud-based platform. This includes a customized Web portal to let supervisors get a clear view into Avaya services.
• Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) improvements can be delivered by COS. Typically, 15 to 20 percent in TCO improvements are driven by Avaya Managed Services through improved performance and reduced investment needs.²

Quotes:
"At Bharti Airtel, the customer is at the core of everything we do. We constantly innovate and partner with the best to offer our customers a world-class service experience at every touch point. Our partnership with Avaya was in line with this philosophy and a game changer for our customer contact services and collaboration. Avaya Communications Outsourcing Solutions enhanced our service capabilities, and helped us deliver superior customer experiences across our operations in India."
-- Dr. Jai Menon, director of Global Innovation & IT at Bharti Airtel, and group CIO of Bharti Enterprises

"More companies are looking to move their communications infrastructure towards a managed or outsourced model. The vendors that offer deep communications expertise and scale will be in the best position to help businesses optimize their communications environments for higher performance and cost-efficiency. Improving one's communications infrastructure and applications is critical as we enter a new phase of advanced enterprise collaboration."
-- Eric Goodness, research vice president, managed services, Gartner, Inc.

"Avaya has invested significantly over the past year to provide a level of communications outsourcing support that is truly unique in the industry, bringing dramatic, transformative benefits to customers. With a custom-built solution for each client, Avaya Communications Outsourcing Solutions can help remove financial and support constraints for companies, and enable them to get the most out of their communications infrastructure investments."
-- Ed Nalbandian, vice president, Avaya Operations Services

Additional Facts:

• Avaya is the North American leader in the enterprise telephony implementation and management services market, with nearly 24 percent of the market, according to Frost & Sullivan.³

About Avaya:
Avaya is a global provider of business collaboration and communications solutions, providing unified communications, contact centers, networking and related services to companies of all sizes around the world. For more information please visit www.avaya.com.

Certain statements contained in this press release are forward-looking statements. These statements may be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "anticipate," "believe," "continue," "could," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "might," "plan," "potential," "predict," "should" or "will" or other similar terminology. We have based these forward-looking statements on our current expectations, assumptions, estimates and projections. While we believe these expectations, assumptions, estimates and projections are reasonable, such forward-looking statements are only predictions and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond our control. These and other important factors may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. For a list and description of such risks and uncertainties, please refer to Avaya's filings with the SEC that are available at www.sec.gov. Avaya disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

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¹ Based on internal Avaya calculations

² Based on internal Avaya calculations

³ According to Frost & Sullivan's December 2011 report on the enterprise telephony implementation and management services market, North America, 2010.