Avaya Names Relational Technology Solutions as the 2008 Communications Applications BusinessPartner of the Year


BASKING RIDGE, NJ--(Marketwire - October 17, 2008) - Avaya, a leading global provider of business communications applications, systems and services, today announced that Relational Technology Solutions of Rolling Meadows, Ill. is the 2008 Communications Applications BusinessPartner of the Year for North America. The award honors the leading member of the Avaya BusinessPartner program demonstrating significant revenue performance and overall growth in the sales and service of unified communications and contact center applications during the past year.

The award was recently presented at the Avaya Global Sales and Partner Conference in National Harbor, Md.

"The Avaya Communications Applications BusinessPartner of the Year designation recognizes a company's ability to understand their customers' business opportunities and how Avaya unified communications and contact center applications can help them address the opportunity," said Carol Giles Neslund, vice president, North America Channels, Avaya. "Relational Technologies has successfully worked with customers to develop solutions that help improve customer service and employee productivity throughout the entire organization."

In 2008, Relational achieved 60 percent growth in sales of Avaya Unified Communications and Contact Center applications to enterprises.

"We are excited to receive this prestigious award from Avaya," said John Babcock, senior vice president and general manager of RTS' Technology Services Division. "It represents the strong partnership we have developed with Avaya over the past 10 years and recognizes our innovations in applications development, which are instrumental in deriving maximum value from communications solutions. We look forward to continuing our relationship with Avaya and growing our respective businesses."

In a recent deployment, RTS worked with Four County Electric in North Carolina to upgrade and enhance its telecommunications systems.

"We needed to upgrade our existing solution in order to provide a higher level of service to our customers," said Doug Krynicki, vice president of Information Technology at Four County Electric. "We selected RTS because of its proven track record in delivering custom application solutions that enhance customer service and responsiveness. With the Avaya implementation at our customer service center, we are now able to handle calls more intelligently without increasing staff, especially during peak outage periods such as the recent hurricane Hanna. With the increased call-handling capacity, pay-by-phone features, and intelligent routing we estimate a fast return on our investment in approximately 18 months."

Relational Technology Solutions is a Platinum-certified member of the Avaya BusinessPartner program.

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.

About Relational Technology Solutions

Relational Technology Solutions (RTS) is a premier independent technology and financial solutions provider dedicated to helping its clients solve business challenges with an integrated suite of solutions for technology acquisition, finance and disposition. Founded in 1990, the company now manages nearly $1 billion in assets for Fortune 2000 and mid-market companies across all industries. www.rts.com

About Four County Electric Membership Corporation

Four County Electric is a not-for-profit electric Cooperative owned by the people it serves. As a hometown utility, Four County is committed to providing safe, reliable and affordable energy to its more than 31,000 commercial and residential member-owners in six North Carolina counties, including Bladen, Duplin, Pender, Sampson, Columbus and Onslow counties. www.fourcty.org

Contact Information: Deb Kline 908-953-6179 klined@avaya.com