Financial Services Companies Select Avaya IP Office to Speed Collaboration, Enhance Customer Service

BASKING RIDGE, NJ--(Marketwire - Aug 8, 2012) -

• Three financial services firms -- AmeriMerchant, Fuoco Group and RootWorks -- stay connected to customers and colleagues with Avaya unified communications
  
  
• In communications planning, majority of financial services companies (46%) rate mobility as their highest priority¹
  

More professional services firms are choosing Avaya IP Office to stay connected, including a growing number of financial services companies that are experiencing transformative changes in their industry. By adopting Avaya IP Office -- the company's unified communications solution for small and mid-size enterprises (SME) -- financial services companies can enhance collaboration, mobility and customer service across their company, and turn communications into a secure, strategic business asset.

Three financial services companies that have chosen Avaya IP Office to improve their communications are AmeriMerchant, a merchant cash advance company, Fuoco Group, an accounting and advisory firm, and RootWorks, a consulting company dedicated to helping accounting practices succeed. Each company is sharing details of their experiences:

AmeriMerchant Speeds Customer Service to Stay Ahead of Competitors
AmeriMerchant -- a NYC-based business working capital company with 100+ employees -- is in a time-sensitive industry, serving businesses ranging from restaurants to retail stores. These companies rely on AmeriMerchant's financing services to keep business flowing, which requires highly-reliable communications and the ability to get customers routed to the right person quickly to get the information they need.

To achieve this, AmeriMerchant chose Avaya IP Office. According to Andrew Altschuler, vice president, business development for AmeriMerchant, IP Office's advanced contact center capabilities enable customer calls to get answered quickly, and on the first try. This helps AmeriMerchant achieve their goal of eliminating missed or mis-routed calls, which can lead to lost sales -- something Altschuler no longer needs to worry about with Avaya IP Office in his business.

Avaya IP Office also helps AmeriMerchant improve customer service through salesperson training, enabling supervisors to view customer call statistics, listen on calls, and then provide tips or help struggling workers. Through nightly reports, supervisors can see if production is up or down, and improve customer service as needed.
DJJ Technologies was the Avaya Business Partner for AmeriMerchant's implementation.

Fuoco Group Accountants Count on Avaya Connectivity
When Fuoco Group, based in New York, sought a solution to keep accountants across multiple locations in close collaboration, they turned to Avaya so that their 85 employees across four locations remained in communications -- a critical factor during the busy tax season. To achieve this, they brought in Avaya IP Office, which simplified their approach to communications, while upgrading their capabilities.

According to Joseph Manzelli, director of operations, Fuoco Group, Avaya IP Office was quick to implement, and he could easily manage it by himself. This was in contrast to their last system from another vendor, which according to Manzelli, was a "fiasco" that took six months to implement. Additionally, Avaya IP Office meets Fuoco Group's key goal, which is to keep employees accessible at all times. Among Manzelli's favorite capabilities: keeping employees connected by extending business calls to their mobile phones, and incorporating functions like presence that not only show availability, but enable automatic "call-backs" to callers once employees are off the phone.
Manhattan Business Systems was the Avaya Business Partner for Fuoco Group's implementation.

Mobility Tools Keep RootWorks in Close Contact with Clients
For Darren Root, CEO of consulting and accounting services company RootWorks, advanced communications is essential for overseeing multiple businesses while on the road or in remote locations. In addition to helping accounting firms succeed with his guidance, the Root manages CPA practice Root and Associates, and also serves as executive editor of CPA Practice Advisor Magazine. To remain accessible -- and manage it all effectively -- RootWorks' CEO chose Avaya IP Office.

Root' s multiple responsibilities and busy travel schedule require him to have constant connectivity, since his clients remain demanding whether he is teaching a class, at his firm or at the airport. Both Root and his employees get help from Avaya IP Office's softphone application, which includes videoconferencing capabilities that let employees stay in touch visually with customers while mobile. Root plans to enhance mobility with the IP Office app for iPhone devices, enabling him to see presence of staff members, and have a wide range of conferencing capabilities (including the ability to quickly add, drop or mute contacts) at his fingertips.
G3 Technologies and Forth Phaze were the Avaya Business Partners for RootWorks' implementation.

For more information on Avaya IP Office, visit here:

Quotes:
"In our business, it's important to get someone on the line immediately. For instance, if our underwriter misses a call, or a customer seeking information on a product gets sent to the wrong person, we can lose the sale. Fortunately, we have Avaya IP Office, which delivers results. We've seen up to a 25% productivity increase through improved call response times, call volumes and sales tied to better call management."
-- Andrew Altschuler, vice president, business development for AmeriMerchant

"We deal with many demanding clients -- from real estate to healthcare companies. This requires 24/7 access and service, and Avaya IP Office recognizes this by making communications across all our offices a pleasure, while giving our accountants the tools needed to stay in touch."
-- Joseph Manzelli, director of operations, Fuoco Group

"I used to see larger companies with these advanced capabilities, and now with Avaya IP Office, we have all those capabilities too -- plus more. We also get the added benefit of a cost-effective system that is easy to manage by yourself. Unified Communications and mobility are very important for a small business like ours to have, and fortunately we have it with IP Office."
-- Darren Root, CEO of RootWorks

Research:
In a study of Networks & Telecom decision-makers, when asked which initiatives were likely to be your firm's top priority, the majority of financial services vertical respondents (46%) said mobility support for employees, customers or business partners was a 'high priority over the next 12 mos. This rated highest amongst all priorities. (Forrsights Networks & Telecommunications Survey, 2012 Q1, Forrester Research, Inc., 2012)

About Avaya
Avaya is a global provider of business collaboration and communications solutions, providing unified communications, contact centers, data solutions 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.

¹ (Source: Forrsights Networks & Telecommunications Survey, 2012 Q1, Forrester Research, Inc., 2012)