Avaya Arms For Unified Communication Battle - Page 2

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New vertical offerings, client app and consulting

Along with Avaya's Intelligent Presence server, the company also unveiled today a new slate of vertical industry UC offerings.

Those include Intelligent Branch modules for industries like banking and retail. The product line also features clients for remote offices, small business and teleworker locations, designed to simplify UC implementation and management in those environments, according to Avaya.

A focus on verticals like finance could prove lucrative for Avaya, given its deep-seated call center installed base, Lippis said.

"It's a fascinating product and there's a huge footprint for them," he said, adding that small bank branches could use the UC module to sell new services and products.

"The banks can use digital signs to promote products," he added. "Customers can get more information whether through chat, video conferencing or calling an customer rep that can provide further data. Banks offer hundreds of products that customers aren't aware of and providing efficient communication around those services brings things to a new level."

Avaya also expects hearty role-based application development for the modules given its 6,000-plus-developer community.

"They will provide core products, as will our partners, to build value on top of the vertical module," said Avaya's Mendelsohn.

The company today also debuted a new desktop client, dubbed one-X Communicator. The desktop app (or "softphone") integrates enterprise communication technologies, including VoIP, video conferencing, presence, e-mail and IM, and supports the H.323 and SIP protocols.

Available in second quarter, one-X Communicator will also ship as part of Avaya's Unified Communications Standard Edition suite. one-X Communicator also ties into Avaya's two-year-old IP-based videoconferencing server, Communication Manager, which is another component of its Unified Communications suite.

To help build and integrate all these new products into enterprise networks, Avaya today also announced Unified Communications Services -- an in-house consulting arm and lab for testing interoperability in customer environments.

The three-pronged service includes planning, design and integration support.

"This gives us the ability bring in all the learning and best practices we've acquired with other deployments to help new customers," Mendelsohn said, adding that many enterprises' typically hit snags in UC deployment that hinder their ability to benefit from the technology.

Such efforts could be mean one less hurdle standing in the way of what Lippis expects will be "huge" UC adoption in the near future.

"Right now we're in an early form but one day soon we'll go to work to find a fully-loaded softphone, and deep presence and voice communications at our desktop," he said. "There's no hesitancy on the part of IT to bring it in. They've just been waiting for the products."