By: Travis Mast, DBS Account Executive

About six months ago, Avaya introduced IP Office R.7.0.  This release made it possible to further integrate the Nortel brand with the IP Office.  With R7.0, Nortel users could upgrade their phone system to an IPO, reusing their Nortel phones.  This significantly lowered the cost of an upgrade.  Now Avaya has announced the release of IP office R.8.0, which will be available by December 1, 2011.

Avaya has always been the market leader in investing in research and development.  In fact, Avaya invests more money in R&D than most of our competitors make in sales in a year.  So we would expect great things from Avaya.  There are many great upgrades taking place with 8.0 which will improve your communications and lower your install costs, including enhanced cellular phone capabilities for Android, Miscrosoft Outlook integration, and Salesforce.com integration. 

As a mobile worker, I am most excited about the enhanced cell phone capabilities.  I already use mobile twinning, which means that anytime my phone number is called, my desk phone and cell phone ring simultaneously.  If I am roaming around the office and answer the call on my cell, I can press a button on my desk phone and pick the call up on that phone. Coming up with R8.0, I will be able to have more control with those calls.  I can set up a conference call on-the-fly and control who is able to speak on the call.  I can transfer from my cell back to any extension in the office.  I can even screen callers leaving me a voice message, and pick up the call if I choose.  For Android users, this app will make your cell phone just like an extension off of your phone system. 

Microsoft Outlook integration has been around for quite a while via 3^rd party Avaya partners.  Now Avaya is taking some of those features and making them standard on new phone system installs.  Outlook integration will allow you to instant message co-workers, initiate a call via Outlook, and get visual notifications for incoming calls with options to accept or send to voicemail.  I am hopeful that with the next release of 8.x, Avaya will include screen pops, which are still currently only available with an added cost.  Assuming you have the contact in your Outlook, this will allow Outlook to pop up the caller’s information when they call.  This is especially great for salespeople.  Your clients will appreciate it when you answer their call with that added personal touch.  Salesforce.com integration works in a similar way and will allow you to take inbound calls, make outbound calls, hold calls, and transfer calls without navigating away from your webpage. 

 Finally, in the past, Avaya has required an external server for Preferred and Advanced Editions of the IP Office.  With 8.0, Avaya is introducing a module that will act as the server.  This will save a lot of programming time, since the module will come programmed to speak with the IP Office.

By: JT Krohe, DBS Communications

Selling phone systems in Cleveland has never been more exciting. I’m in my 11^th year in the telecom business at DBS Communications and the Avaya product line has never been more versatile and in tune with the ever changing needs of the small business.

A lot has happened in the last decade. Ten years ago we were selling a truck-load of Partner systems, Avaya’s (or at the time Lucent’s) flagship system for the small business. It had inexpensive voicemail and all of the features that the typical small business needed to stay productive and in touch with its customers. The voice and data worlds were separate and simpler.

Jump to 2011. The Partner system is no longer sold. Voice and Data are now synonymous with data vendors adept at phone systems and voice vendors savvy at setting up a data network. Setting up voicemail/email integration is as standard as configuring a voicemail box. Voice-Over-IP is no longer a buzzword. It is the norm. Avaya now has the IP Office – the new flagship product for the small business.

So what does this technology boom really mean to the small-business owner?

First, it means everything that all of the brochures and articles say it does. Mobility features now allows you to communicate anytime and anywhere with customers. Presence applications allow users to have a wealth of information about coworkers’ availability. Internal Conference Bridging. Mobile phones now integrate with desktop phones. The list goes on and on. But while these technology bells and whistles are certainly cool and can create bottom line returns on profits, do all small businesses need all of them? Nope. This brings me to my second point as to what the technology boom means to the small-business customer…

Secondly, and I think most importantly, the technology boom is allowing small-business customers to choose what technology they want, when they want it, and on their terms. A small insurance office in Cleveland doesn’t have a call center, but may have outside agents who have to stay connected with the office. A small urgent care facility has no interest in VoIP, but needs an efficient, small call center to handle appointment calls, prescription refills, and billing calls all while handling the immediate needs of the patient across the counter.

Avaya’s IP Office is a great answer to the small business that doesn’t need all the bells and whistles…just one bell and one whistle. Or one bell and two whistles. Small businesses shouldn’t have to pay for what they don’t need. They can build the IP Office system as they need it and add on to it as new applications can be used and cost-justified.

Finally, the small business shouldn’t have to hire an IT person to manage the new technology. There is no benefit if all the cost-savings and new profits are wiped out by an added salary. Small businesses must consider this prior to selecting their system. Consider what technology is manageable and what vendor, such as DBS Communications or other qualified Avaya Business Partner, will be contracted to offer support.

Selling phone systems in 2011 is certainly exciting. As long as the technology boom and the wealth of options don’t make it scary for the most important person: The Small Business Owner.

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Upgrading your Nortel to Avaya IP Office Do you have an older Nortel system? Check out this document to find out what you need to do you migrate your old Nortel system to the new IP Office Release 7.0. You will now be able to reuse your Nortel phone sets, saving you 40% to 60% on the upgrade!