33810X benefits - Avaya Aura? Contact Center Solution Design Updated: 2024

Avaya is shifting away from point product sales and toward the broader, partner-led sale of its full technology portfolio, including a stepped-up focus on contact center, unified communications and data networking by its roughly 1,800 U.S.-based solution providers.

"Everyone has to make the journey to solutions, and we will set the business in that direction," said Tom Mitchell, Avaya senior vice president and president, Go-To-Market. "We have existing customers who aren't selling wide enough. You could have a contact center specialist who's not adding the discussion around video and UC or other areas."

Avaya will continue to support partners focused on particular pieces of the portfolio, be they in any of the buckets. But from Avaya President CEO Kevin Kennedy on down, the push at Avaya's U.S./Government Sales Leadership Partner Conference this week is to encourage broader and deeper sales of the full Avaya stack, be those sales from adjacent technologies or services attachment.

Mitchell gave the example of a telephony-focused partner averaging $200,000 deals, but adding $180,000 per deal based on that partner's expansion into data networking, contact center and services sales on top of his core competency. That's not uncommon given Avaya's breadth, he said.

"It's not like you have to build an entire new business to go there," Mitchell said. "It's very accretive because you already have assets there."

"The customers have greater expectations, and we've got the solutions to fulfill those expectations," added Jeremy Butt, vice president of global channels at Avaya. "Between us and the market trends, partners are naturally moving in that direction but many need help moving in that direction."

Tim McDermott, president of MAC Source Communications, a Syracuse, N.Y.-based solution provider, said he fully backs the strategy.

"We're going to do it because we believe in it, not just because Avaya wants us to do it," he said. "I think for me, the entire scope of the portfolio, being able to go deep and wide with our enterprise customers with an Avaya solution is huge. The rate of introduction of new products has been staggering to say the least, and the products caught up with the hype this year."

John Babcock, president of Relational Technology Solutions, a Columbus, Ohio-based solution provider, said Avaya's strategy would help partners understand what it wants its channel to look like.

"It's been great that there's been this shift toward the channel, but my sense is there are going to be some more changes," he said. "I want them to help me understand how we're going to compete and who we're going to collectively compete against in the market."

Avaya's focus will be architectural, according to executives, with collaboration endpoints, SIP-based infrastructure and the data networking portfolio it acquired through Nortel as an infrastructural underpinning.

"The partner of the future, for us, has to sell the full portfolio," said Steve Bandrowczak, vice president and general manager, Data Solutions, at Avaya. "We've been very clear about that. The ones that will grow with us and that will make the most are the ones that sell the full portfolio."

NEXT: Avaya VARs Applaud Strategy

Many Avaya solution providers see Avaya's full portfolio push as a strategic advantage.

"You talk about selling across the portfolio, there are so many tangential applications and solutions when you're talking about UC, integration into contact center, and a good data story," said Dan Whalen, vice president of engineering at Carousel Industries, an Exeter, RI-based solution provider and Avaya Platinum partner. "I agree with the messaging from Avaya."'

Strategic Products & Services (SPS), a Parsippany, N.J.-based solution provider and Avaya Platinum partner, has been offering Avaya's full portfolio for years.

Avaya has gotten serious about aligning its services and potential cloud-based opportunities with the technologies it wants its partners to sell, said Jim Maynard, vice president of sales for SPS.

"They want to be in a position to support people who want to deliver cloud-based services," Maynard said. "We want to support those and we want them to do it with our infrastructure and our tools."

During the conference, Avaya executives frequently cited the need to move away from point product sales and toward line-of-business solutions-based selling. Avaya VARs and distributors concurred that designing customer solutions is more about business use cases and architecture versus technology reselling.

"We keep talking in terms we're familiar with," said Lynn Murphy, senior vice president of U.S. and Canada for distributor Westcon Group. "Hearing Avaya boil it down into business solutions with technology behind it, I think we have to do the same thing."

"Part of our approach to solutions selling is that to be successful in this market, you have to defeat the technical jargon we have in our industry," said Ken Gent, president at Sunrise Solutions, an Annapolis, Md.-based solution provider and Avaya SME-focused partner. "It's building something based on their needs."

NEXT: Avaya's Tech, Data, Services Strategies Take Hold

Mobility, security and software will all figure prominently in Avaya's 2012 product roadmap as the company looks to shore up its UC and contact center dominance, and further the story around Session Initiation Protocol (SIP)-based technologies.

Specifically, Avaya will broaden its portfolio around video collaboration, mobile collaboration, an enhanced customer experience in the contact center and network simplification, according to Alan Baratz, senior vice president of global communications solutions at Avaya.

That means new mobility and video endpoints, Baratz asaid, as well as enhancements such as multi-party video access and continuous presence across all Avaya endpoints.

There will also be added capabilities for Avaya Flare, the collaboration platform Avaya launched a year ago. Flare Communicator for Apple's iPad is making its way through Apple's approval process for inclusion in the App Store, Baratz, and will be available as a free download in its beta version -- an announcement that brought applause from the Avaya partner crowd on Tuesday.

To Avaya Aura Conferencing, Baratz said, Avaya is adding integrated audio, video and web collaboration, short voice and video messaging capabilities, continuous presence with customizable windows, and more efficient bandwidth management. There will also be new bundles around Avaya contact center solutions focused on midmarket, as well as a version of the Flare interface for PCs, expected in 2012.

Avaya's data networking portfolio, seen as questionable when Avaya acquired it through Nortel's enterprise group in 2009, has also been a success story for Avaya. According to Avaya's Bandrowczak, Avaya partners traditionally focused on voice that have moved to data over the last three quarters have collectively grown business almost 60 percent, with three times the wallet share of their existing customers.

"This is allows you to be in the ecosystem of selling into everything," he said. "It's how do I sell into business process. It's 'Oh, you run Oracle, here's how I collaborate on top' or 'Oh, you virtualize with Oracle, here's how I enter that.' There's a whole stream of conversations that they've never had before."

According to Bandrowczak, if a partner had attached data networking to every unified communications opportunity sold in Avaya's fiscal 2011, it would have created a funnel of more than $1 billion in potential revenue. Avaya is also seeing gradual interest in its Virtual Enterprise Network Architecture, or VENA, the data networking architecture Bandrowczak says offers better benefits that competing data center fabrics.

"Our vision goes all the way to the branch," he said of VENA. "And we have product right now."

Along with greater adoption of data products, services attachment will also be a major priority for Avaya VARs, said Mohamad Ali, senior vice president and president, Avaya Global Services. Avaya is providing several models for services, with varying rebates and partner rewards such as 17.5 percent for Platinum partners, as well as partner data to educate solution providers on how much money they're leaving on the table without a focus on services attachment.

"At the end of the day, that helps them, and it helps us," Ali said. "We might as well get this all right to begin with. Everybody in our ecosystem needs to be healthy."

When determining the best VoIP services, Forbes Advisor researched the industry and selected 16 providers to analyze in-depth. We then ranked these providers using several factors such as pricing, features, ease of use and customer support. Hard and fast criteria such as price and features were weighted higher than more subjective data points such as reviews.

Mobile App Score

As many VoIP services include downloadable apps for mobile and desktop, we make it a point to check the App and Play Store Star Ratings for the products we review and provide a score between one and five stars. The category accounts for 4% of the overall rating.

Customer Reviews

The experiences of past customers account for 10% of the final score. We review customer reviews from Trustpilot, G2, Capterra, and the Better Business Bureau or BBB. In checking the BBB website, we break down the ratings, and place special emphasis on the ratio between complaints and reviews.

Service and Support

Our primary focus for service and support, which accounts for 4% of the final score, is the availability of live chat and a readily available knowledge base. For live chat, a higher score is reflected by the availability of human support, followed by a bot or AI-generated assistance.

Pricing

VoIP services usually charge a monthly fee per user. However, some providers may charge a flat rate for unlimited users or minutes. Be sure to check the fine print—some providers charge additional fees for features such as call recording or transcription, while others include these features for free. We weighed pricing at 10% of the total score.

General Features

General features account for the second-greatest percentage of the overall score at 24%. This includes standard VoIP service tools such as unlimited domestic calling, SMS/text messaging, automated attendants, team messaging capabilities, and unlimited international calls. We also consider the availability of a desktop app.

Additional Features

These features may sometimes be part of a plan, but otherwise be made available as add-ons. Though not always a core part of VoIP service, we find these tools and features can be essential to providing the best possible experience for businesses.

For instance, the most basic include unlimited calling and voicemail, while more advanced features include visual voicemail, call forwarding, toll-free numbers and CRM integrations. Consider which features are most important to your business before making a decision.

Expert Score

The previous methodology sections made up the data portion of the overall score, which accounts for 70% of the rating. The expert score accounts for the remaining 30%. Forbes SMB’s editorial team provides a subjective evaluation based on our research and direct experience with the product or service. The overall rating is the result of four items of consideration; each section is equally worth 7.5% of the total expert score

Features

The expert makes note of standout features, import details that could be relevant to the customers, or anything that suggests the product or service would be a worthwhile investment for potential customers. The more tools and services available and of relevant use, the higher the overall score.

Value for Money

Value goes beyond whether a service is affordable. A product may cost a little more, but ultimately be worth the investment because it provides excellent value not found with competitors. We consider everything that comes with signing up for a plan as well as what’s missing. We even consider the experience of signing up or reaching out to customer service to determine if, at the end of the day, buying the reviewed product represents good value for money.

Popularity

While we do review and test products that are less known, we also are aware that certain products are widely used because they have a wide-reaching reputation. For the purpose of our methodology, popularity refers to how easily the product is to find on Google, the number of customer reviews are available, as well as how many trustworthy review sites have written about the product or service.

Ease of Use

Some VoIP products are designed to be very easy to sign up for and begin using. Others, however, are designed for customers who have extensive, pre-existing knowledge of VoIP-related services. Factors for ease of use include everything from how difficult it is to create an account and sign up for a plan to how much time and effort is involved for downloading the app and beginning to use the product.

Benefits, risks in 90-nm SoC solutions
By Jeffrey L. Timbs, Director of Systems and Architecture, Larry Wakeman, Development Manager, Agere Systems, Allentown, Pa, EE Times
October 20, 2002 (1:03 p.m. EST)
URL: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20021018S0056

With the availability of 90-nanometer process technology, system architects certainly have a new capability for optimized system-on-chip (SoC) solutions. However, depending upon proven capabilities with SoC designs, the cost/benefit of optimization options must be carefully weighed against assumptions on technology maturity. In today's environment, the best approach forces the designer to consider the requirements of the entire subsystem rather than those of only a single component.

Looking toward "all-Internet Protocol" transport requirements, many mobile-system vendors want to retain ATM transport capabilities supplemented by IP transport options. Typically, low-speed wide-area network links (T1/E1) will continue to be used because of their ubiquity and the continued unavailability of affordable higher-speed links. But the combination of low-speed data links and increased protocol overhead of IP protocols for speech or low-speed data requires additional functions for optimized link use with low latency, such as header compression techniques. Likewise, use of low-speed data links to transport high-speed data flows requires the use of link-bundling techniques such as inverse multiplexing over ATM or Multi-Link Point-to-Point Protocol (ML-PPP). Finally, the forward-link data path requires intra-Node-B IP forwarding support ,while the reverse-link data path requires IP traffic management support. Together, these additional functions increase the basic feature set for the radio basestation transport subsystem.

OEMs have two fundamental design alternatives when designing next-generation communications systems: SoC integration or a programmable solution built around a general-purpose processor.

An SoC integration strategy promises a long-term cost advantage while offering feature-rich solutions within aggressive cost and power consumption constraints. But SoC strategies represent significant design challenges and in the short term can represent cost hurdles-a common dilemma when choosing a cutting-edge technology. Some silicon vendors skirt the problem by redefining the solution in a narrow sense and then offer the customer semiconductors that address the limited goal, leaving the OEM to fill in the gaps.

A second design alternative is to compensate for lack of functional coverage by opting for a programmable solution based on a general-purpose processor. But this approach does not address the cus-

tomer's need for a complete solution that optimizes functionality against total cost, where the cost calculation includes power consumption, area used and total development time.

In general, OEMs and system designers benefit from solutions that solve more of their problem without sacrificing architectural flexibility. The key for the silicon designer is to avoid leaving a large homework problem for the customer-something that can be addressed by simplifying the SoC application programming interface (API).

The r isks associated with SoC integration must be mitigated by a strong hardware/software co-development effort. The ability to get an early look at operations, administration, maintenance and provisioning for SoC/subsystem solutions improves the accuracy of system turn-up and reduces overall design cycle times, enabling some customers to be operational within an hour of installing new devices.

Co-development environments are essential to bridge the gap between design intent and device samples by providing the capability for system software developers to configure, debug, simulate and integrate software for an entire networking-subsystem solution. Codevelopment platforms promote rich APIs as well as efficient integration and analysis, speeding time-to-market.

The complexity of today's ATM and IP architectures and network economics is being addressed by the capabilities of new silicon, taking advantage of shrinking geometries and new co-design approaches. For example, ATM equipment OEMs can take advantage of real SoC devices designed to accommodate today's ATM-based Node-B transport interface requirements. These devices now integrate an eight-port full-function T1/E1/J1 framer, inverse multiplexing over ATM (IMA) and a user-to-network-interface transmission convergence sublayer, as well as a full ATM traffic management layer and packet adaptation functions for ATM adaptation layers 2 and 5 (AAL2 and AAL5). An embedded ARM960 is also onboard, for management layer processing.

One such device available today consists of 130 million transistors (approximately 4.5-Mbit/second logic gates and 13.5 Mbits/s of embedded SRAM) and was produced in 0.16-micron technology, combining functions from several standalone devices of an earlier generation. The SoC device realizes a reduction in footprint, power and cost for system designers while at the same time enabling packetized voice and data transport over a selection of transport techniques.

Compared with 0.16-micron technology, however, 90-nm d esigns may consist of up to 20 million gates through integration of several chip-level macroblocks. A macroblock is a communication intellectual-property function that may be provided as a standalone chip in prior process technology. Readying chip-level products for integration as subchip macroblocks requires careful partitioning and reusability guidelines.

A methodology that enables process migration of intellectual property and uses formal techniques for functional verification is essential to large SoC designs. Reuse methodology at 90 nm requires the team to rely more on logic built-in-self-test, on-chip ad hoc self-testability and timing closure, simply because automated test equipment cannot test 20 million gates with acceptable coverage. Market cycles mandate fully functional devices without the luxury of time for bottom-up reverification of macroblocks.

Another consideration in moving designs built in prior process technologies forward for integration involves the effects of routing parasitics and crosstalk, which impact timing closure of the new 90-nm design. To make all this happen in a world of shrinking geometry and more devices per square centimeter, IC designers will need to take advantage of signal-integrity analysis and flip-chip IC/packaging co-design tools from commercial CAE tool vendors. These investments enable ASIC customers to reuse the same communication intellectual-property macroblock functions and tools created and tested by the silicon vendor, typically as part of either an ASIC or application-specific service processor product development.

Flip-chip packaging co-design tools provide a seamless link between package substrate design and silicon floor planning, placement and routing that becomes important as packages evolve from 1,900 to 2,500 balls. The tool allows you to define legal bump locations and to keep out regions for memories, phase-locked loops and so on, and also makes it possible to mix serdes macros with area array cells while specifying signal a nd power/ ground bumps.

User-configurable, embedded SRAM with self-repair and customized asynchronous multiport memories enables optimal performance and area. Crosstalk mitigation benefits arise from Web-based signal-integrity analysis tools and layout-oriented "correct-by-construction" approaches related to gate sizing, route spacing and buffer insertion. The signal-integrity analysis tools typically analyze more than 500 blocks or chips per month.

Turning back to the additional features required for all-IP mobile-transport subsystem solutions, by extrapolation from 0.16 micron, it's clear that 90 nm certainly enables a solution with a 4x improvement in raw gate density and at least a 2x improvement in speed. Memory cell size improves by 2.5x, while dynamic power is 0.09x that of the 0.16-micron process. As a result, embedded memory, which makes up a substantial portion of a packet/cell transport solution, can scale even further to satisfy the additional processing steps introduced by IP tra nsport, such as incorporation of various header compression algorithms as well as rich IP forwarding and classification rules.

Moreover, the incorporation of on-chip Layer 2 processing (link/bundle management and framing per IMA and ML-PPP) and packetized-voice multiplexing/demultiplexing (AAL2 or IP/UDP/RTP flows) makes up the entire data path of an all-IP transport solution while retaining ATM transport alternatives.

While technology provides the opportunity for system-level solutions and benefits, the economics of the development process will continue to pressure the SoC design cycle. The ability to provide meaningful solutions to system-level problems requires a broad intellectual-property and analysis portfolio.

See related chart

See related chart

Sam Darwish is a serial entrepreneur who recently launched ServiceDemand. Sam has years of experience in sales, operations and startups.

Outsourcing is a great way to help your business as it progresses through its various growth stages. In fact, some of the largest companies in the world outsource some of the work they do. In order to maintain steady growth and productivity, you should find a happy balance of in-house employees and outsourced resources. In this post, we’ll discuss how outsourcing can benefit your business.

In order to understand why outsourcing could be the right decision for your business, you need to understand why other companies choose to do it. What advantages does it bring and what value does it add? Let’s look at some of the top reasons companies of all sizes look outside their company for their staffing needs.

Grow more rapidly. 

During growth, companies will often find that they would benefit from having more staff on hand, but can’t afford the expenses that go into hiring and supporting more full-time employees. This limits the potential for growth and slows any momentum that your company has built. Some companies may take a gamble and hire new staff, only to find that gambling doesn’t always pay off. Rather than growing slowly, they’ve reversed their growth. 

Because it's more affordable to outsource the work than it is to build your own in-house team, and because you can cancel an outsourcing contract without having to put people out of work, it's a great way to ensure that your company maintains a steady growth while keeping the core of your team focused on internal tasks. 

Retain flexibility.

The truth is your business may not need the same level of staffing year-round. At the very least, outsourcing provides you with flexibility. Your business can staff up before a busy season without the financial commitment of hiring in-house employees, the cost of which can take years to break even on. After you’ve made it through a busy season, you can easily switch back to an entirely in-house team. An experienced outsourcing agency can allow you to scale your outsourcing needs.

Benefit from top talent.

The world's largest companies can offer pay and benefits far beyond what you can likely offer, so the top talent goes to the largest firms. This can limit your company's ability to achieve the best results. It could even put you at risk of having your best employees poached by larger companies offering better incentives. Outsourcing agencies are capable of attracting top talent to ensure customer satisfaction and competitive results. 

Maintain company focus.

Another benefit of outsourcing is the ability to stay focused on the important internal tasks of your business. For example, customer service is an important part of any business. That being said, it can be time-consuming and distracting for key members of your team. Outsourcing for customer service has two benefits. First, you provide your customers with consistent customer service. Second, you allow your internal team members to focus on their own tasks, helping your business run more efficiently and ultimately increasing your ROI.

Outsourcing firms are a tool that should be utilized. A secondary benefit of outsourcing is the image it gives your company. Gone are the days where outsourcing firms were unreliable and lacking quality control. You can expect modern outsourcing firms to represent your business with the highest of standards. Small businesses often lack the ability to provide mass customer service. Outsourcing this aspect of your business will provide your company a more professional image.

Increase brand loyalty.

A highly trained customer support staff, backed by management with years of experience, will provide your customers the type of service that keeps them coming back. Going from no support staff to an industry-leading support staff is nearly impossible to do internally. The financial strain and experience required to put together such a team are simply too overwhelming for most businesses. The professional services that an outsourcing company provides will leave your customers feeling cared for and appreciated.

Fulfill compliance requirements.

Even large companies can feel the financial impacts of new regulations. Several industries have strict privacy and security requirements that can add costs to maintaining a staff.

More importantly, they add severe consequences. Having a poorly trained staff that doesn’t properly follow regulations could cost your company big. Without the resources of a large corporation, it’s hard to put together such an experienced staff.

Look to hire an outsourcing firm that is PCI level 4 and HIPAA compliant. This prevents your team and company from facing the risk of potential lawsuits and other hardships that come with noncompliance.

As you can see, outsourcing has a lot of potential benefits — from flexibility to professional representation — and businesses small and large are wise to consider scaling their outsourcing needs throughout the year.

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A portion of net proceeds from year-round sales of the Coconut + Almond Butter + Chocolate Chips MacroBar® benefits non-profit organizations building stronger, healthier communities

VIOLA, Wis., January 01, 2024--(BUSINESS WIRE)--GoMacro®, known for its organic, plant-based nutrition bars, is excited to announce their continued partnership with Feeding San Diego and Solutions for Change for the eighth year in a row. As part of GoMacro’s provide Back Bar® program, a percentage of annual net proceeds from the Everlasting Joy MacroBar® is donated to the two non-profit organizations.

Feeding San Diego takes a comprehensive approach to hunger relief in San Diego County through their network of distribution partners, donors, food pantries, farms, and over 22,000 volunteers. Their projects focus on maximizing food rescue to meet the nutritional needs of at-risk groups such as kids, families, military and veterans, and senior citizens. Thanks to their wide variety of services, the organization distributed over 34 million meals in the 2023 fiscal year alone, while also rescuing over 31 million pounds of high-quality food. In doing so, they not only helped alleviate hunger but also reduced the equivalent of 27,500 metric tons of CO₂ this year.

Solutions for Change offers tailored solutions that address the root cause of an individual’s struggles to help them break out of the cycle of poverty, homelessness, and dependency. Considering each family’s needs, the organization offers programs to teach vocational skills, financial literacy, personal development, family management, and more. Through these initiatives, individuals are educated, equipped, and inspired to make change and thrive. To date, Solutions for Change has impacted the lives of over 1,300 families and 2,800 children. In fact, 93% of their participants have permanently overcome the cycle of homelessness to live happy, independent lives.

"Our company is rooted in health, and not just physical health," said Jola Sonkin, CEO and Co-Founder of GoMacro. "We’re passionate about creating healthier, happier communities, and we’re proud to partner with these two organizations that address and help solve urgent needs locally."

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In addition to the Everlasting Joy MacroBar, GoMacro offers a handful of other provide Back Bars — Smooth Sanctuary®, Protein Replenishment®, Sunny Uplift®, and all Kids MacroBar® Multipacks — that benefit non-profits throughout the year.

The Coconut + Almond Butter + Chocolate Chips MacroBar is available for purchase at retailers nationwide, Amazon, and gomacro.com.

About GoMacro

GoMacro® is the transformative leader in healthy and delicious plant-based protein and nutrition bars. Mother-daughter owned and based in a small rural community, their mission is to spread awareness for a balanced, plant-based lifestyle with products that make a positive impact on the planet. The GoMacro facility is powered by 100% renewable energy, and all MacroBars® are made with high-quality, sustainably sourced, plant-based ingredients to help you have a healthy body, sharp mind, and bold spirit. Follow @gomacro on socials and learn more at www.gomacro.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240101699234/en/

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