Phone System facilitates small firm business transactions.
Press Release Summary:
Consisting of SIP-based, peer-to-peer telephony solution, Avaya Quick Edition v3.1 targets small sites or small branch offices. All software is in phone, eliminating need for communications server. Software-enabled features include presence and status monitoring, alternate auto attendant greetings, call detail recording, and programmable softkeys. With analog telephone adapter, companies can plug fax machines, credit card readers, and cordless phones directly into Quick Edition.
Original Press Release:
Avaya Intelligent Communications Makes it Easy for Small Firms and Branches to Transact Business Efficiently and Effectively
- New enhancements to the Avaya Quick Edition market leading, innovative peer-to-peer phone system enable more companies worldwide to improve customer service and reduce expenses, transacting business with a simple yet sophisticated IP telephony system
- Multi-faceted web design and hosting firm, and full-service construction firm implement Quick Edition to better serve customers and improve business operations
BASKING RIDGE, N.J., June 25 /- A multi-faceted web design studio and a full-service construction firm are among the small companies worldwide who rely on Avaya Quick Edition, an innovative converged communication system that enables small businesses and branch offices to convey a professional image, improve customer service and drive down costs.
Avaya Quick Edition is an innovative Session Initiation Protocol (SIP)-based peer-to-peer telephony solution that is ideally targeted to very small sites or small branches offices such as small medical or legal offices and other professional services firms, retail outlets and chain restaurants. The system is simple to set up and use, with all the software in the phone and no need for a communications server or advanced installation skills. When the Quick Edition IP phones are plugged into the local area network, they automatically "discover" each other. In minimal time, users have access to commonly used telephony applications, including voice mail, conferencing and auto attendant.
Today Avaya announced the new 3.1 release of Quick Edition, with additional software that delivers a range of new features and two new hardware components designed to enhance customer service, reduce expenses and simplify maintenance and administration of the system.
"With Avaya Quick Edition, which is extremely simple to install and use, small businesses or branch offices can become more productive, more efficient and more effective, while maximizing their return on investment," said Geoffrey Baird, vice president and general manager, Appliances, Mobile and Small Systems Division, Avaya. "Small businesses are constantly challenged to grow their business and become more responsive to customers. Implementing a solution such as Quick Edition enables small companies to enhance the image they project to their customers and clients, and improve their business processes with 'big business' features such as voice mail, conferencing and auto attendant for all their employees, whether they're in the office or working remotely or from home."
Among the new software-enabled features, which can be uploaded to existing Quick Edition systems, free of charge, are:
- Presence and status monitoring. An icon next to an employee's name on the phone's screen shows whether the employee is busy, on the phone or away from the office.
- One-touch, alternate auto attendant greetings. Users simply press a key to change a customized greeting when there's a special promotion, they are out of the office or the business is closed for the evening, enhancing customer service.
- Call detail recording. Companies can log calls and search and report by type of call (incoming or outgoing) or type of voice mail activity, allowing for a simplified way to track employee phone usage and bill back for time spent on the phone on behalf of clients.
- Programmable softkeys. Users can speed up call handling by having single-button access to frequently used functions, such as paging, do not disturb or call forwarding.
The new hardware components include:
- An analog telephone adapter (ATA). Companies can plug their fax machines, credit card readers and cordless phones directly into Quick Edition so they can connect into the PSTN (public switched telephone network) to send faxes and transaction data or to make calls from cordless phones. Separate analog phone lines are no longer needed.
- A G20 Basic Rate Interface (BRI) ISDN gateway. Now Avaya customers in Europe can use Quick Edition with their BRI trunk connections.
"By adding more capabilities to Quick Edition, Avaya is 'advancing the bar' for IP telephony systems aimed at the 'S" in the SMB (small and medium business) marketplace," said Frank Dzubeck, president, Communications Network Architects, Inc. "Research shows that small businesses want the same advanced communications systems available to large companies in a cheaper, flexible package they can customize to fit current and future needs. With Quick Edition, now even the smallest firm can achieve the cost savings and operational efficiency benefits of IP telephony."
Fairmont Studios links teleworkers, Sarcon Construction improves customer response time with Quick Edition
Fairmont Studios (www.fairmontstudios.com), which provides customized Web design and hosting to small businesses, is using the newest release of Avaya Quick Edition to connect its president, whose home-based office is in the Washington, D.C. suburb of Clarksburg, with an employee who also works at a home office, some 30 miles away. "The 'presence' feature is extremely useful," said George Stafford, president, Fairmont Studios. "When a customer calls and I need to transfer a call, I know who's available just by looking at employee 'available,' 'in a meeting,' or 'out of office' icons on my phone. Now I can look like a bigger player with a single location, and I can take better care of my clients." Fairmont has two Avaya Quick Edition 4621 phones in his home office, and an Avaya Quick Edition 4610 at his remote employee's site.
Sarcon Construction, based in Sante Fe, New Mexico (www.sarcon.net) has an office staff of six who manage multiple construction projects simultaneously. "We pride ourselves on excellent communication -it's the foundation of our core values and key to our success among clients," said Peter Brill, president. "With Quick Edition, we can now listen to our voice mail in our email - and forward those messages to each other - even if we're out of the office, which not only speeds customer response time but lets us share information faster, and with greater accuracy. And because it's so intuitive, we can change our own personal messages, without having to go through an administrator. Plus, we upgraded our Internet connection with a full T1 line, so we reduced our calling costs." Sarcon's configuration includes a Quick Edition 4621 IP phone at the receptionist desk, and eight Quick Edition 4610 IP phones throughout the office. Sarcon plans to upgrade to the 3.1 release so they can connect their Polycom(R) speaker phone into their Quick Edition network.
Altura Communication Solutions, a Platinum certified member of Avaya's BusinessPartner program, configured Avaya Quick Edition at Sarcon Construction. "We know that our small business customers such as Sarcon want to increase productivity and reduce their communications costs at the same time," said Denny Porter, area vice president, Altura. "With Avaya Quick Edition in our portfolio, we can now offer an intuitive, easy-to-use system with high mobility and productivity features our clients want. Quick Edition gives us the ability to serve both single site and branch locations with a high-value solution that meets the needs of our customers. That's very important to us."
Teltek Systems, Inc., a certified member of Avaya's BusinessPartner program, configured the Quick Edition solution at Fairmont Studios. "Fairmont Studios needed a communications solution to link its two offices and appear to be a single location to their customers," said Chris Nicoli, president of Teltek. "With Avaya Quick Edition, our small business clients such as Fairmont can present a 'big business' face to their customers, at an entry price they can afford, with a system that can grow with their business. That's an extremely attractive value proposition for us to offer - especially because Quick Edition will enable us to provide cost advantages to our customers as their needs change over time."
Avaya Quick Edition is available in North America and selected countries in Europe, Africa, and Asia (U.K., Germany, Italy, Austria, Belgium, Spain, Switzerland, the Netherlands, France, South Africa, and Singapore) from certified Avaya resellers and from Best Buy for Business, PC Connections, Zones and CDW. Pricing for a basic three person configuration, which includes and Avaya G11 or G20 Gateway, two Avaya Quick Edition 4610SW phones and one Avaya Quick Edition 4621SW phone is less than $2,000.
Avaya programs and tools enable channels to better serve their small business customers
Avaya also has introduced a special Quick Edition "demo kit" for resellers that includes three Quick Edition phones, an Avaya G10 Gateway to connect Quick Edition to the PSTN and new Quick Edition 3.1 software. Resellers who are part of Avaya's BusinessPartner program have been invited to special webinars on Quick Edition to learn about the solution and the benefits it can deliver to customers. They also can download advertisements, direct mail literature and other demand-generation tools from the Avaya BusinessPartner website and customize them to suit their needs.
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(R), 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: www.avaya.com/.
