Social Release: Avaya Unified Communications and Contact Center Solutions "Certified Green" by Independent Test Labs

Avaya Solutions for Mid-Sized, Campus and Large Distributed Networks Are "Earth-Friendly Designs That Can Save Money and Boost Efficiency" According to Miercom Report


BASKING RIDGE, NJ--(Marketwire - January 29, 2009) - Avaya, a leading global provider of business communications applications, systems and services, today announced that its Unified Communications and Contact Center solutions have been "Certified Green" by Miercom, an independent testing organization. The designation verifies that Avaya Communication Manager-based networks are environmentally-friendly designs that can save companies money and boost efficiency.

The Miercom certifications come following intensive, hands-on testing in a lab environment of three model Avaya Communication Manager 5.1 networks under various loads and conditions, which included mid-sized business networks, campus environments and large distributed offices with contact centers. The reports cover how Avaya products and technologies enable enterprises to reduce power consumption, enable environmentally efficient work models, as well as Avaya's policies and processes for ongoing improvement in product design, manufacturing and business operations.

"Miercom is pleased to recognize Avaya for achieving the Certified Green Standard for their Enterprise UC solution, which was recently reviewed," said Robert Smithers, CEO, Miercom. "Avaya's innovation is truly commendable in that they have built sustainable benefits into their products, while at the same time demonstrated responsible environmental practices in production and in the conduct of their business. The certification is based on a holistic review of Avaya's UC products."

According to the Miercom reports for Campus (2000 user) and Large Distributed Office (5000 user) configurations:

"Avaya Communication manager 5.1 IP PBX platform, augmented with Avaya Modular Messaging and Avaya Meeting Exchange for conferencing, provides feature rich function for efficient communication while reducing costs. Telecommuting, branch office operation and remote system management are enabled, thereby providing a viable alternative to large office complexes and reducing business travel with effective multi-media services."

The reports cite how, in substantial size environments, endpoints devices have the biggest impact in terms of power consumption. Relatively minor savings in power consumption by an IP endpoint can have a significant impact when multiplied by the total number of users and the lifetime of the endpoint. Avaya endpoints help minimize power utilization by drawing nearly half the power of the industry average for 10/100 phones and offering a power-saver mode. In addition, Avaya 16CC Agent desk phones are IEEE Class 2 devices and use less power than the Class 3 phones used in other vendors' call-centers.

The Miercom reports also point out the effect of server reduction on direct power consumption, cooling considerations such as air handlers, room size and indirect power, which are decreased with a smaller footprint. Avaya technologies enable companies to use fewer servers through the following means:

--  The Avaya 8300 server embedded in a G450 gateway provides improved
    efficiency with double the capacity in a smaller footprint and reduces
    power consumption by an average 55 percent.
--  Avaya S8730 server can support up to 36,000 stations with 16,000 used
    for IP endpoints such as the Avaya 9600-series units. Scalability of that
    level allows expansion without purchasing additional media servers.
--  Avaya Modular Messaging helps reduce the number of servers in an
    enterprise because the product consolidates voice, email and fax message
    storage on one platform, be it the Avaya Message Storage Server, Microsoft
    Exchange or IBM Lotus Domino.
--  Other green innovations demonstrated by Avaya included replacing
    previous hardware-based solutions such as their conferencing product in
    favor of an all software design solution that can be more efficiently
    deployed.
    

To view the complete "Certified Green" reports for mid-sized businesses, campus environments and large distributed businesses, please visit: http://www1.avaya.co.uk/campaigns/green/green_resources.html

More information about Avaya's commitment to the environment can be found at http://www.avaya.com/gcm/master-usa/en-us/corporate/whoisavaya/environment/index.htm

About Avaya

Avaya is a global leader in enterprise communications systems. The company provides unified communications, contact centers, and related services directly and through its channel partners to leading businesses and organizations around the world. Enterprises of all sizes depend on Avaya for state-of-the-art communications that improve efficiency, collaboration, customer service and competitiveness. For more information please visit www.avaya.com.

About Miercom

Miercom is a leading, independent product test center with hundreds of its product-comparison analyses published over the years in leading network trade periodicals. Our reports regularly appear in Business Communications Review - NoJitter, Communications News, Internet Telephony, Network World, xchange and other publications.

Miercom features comprehensive certification and test programs including Reliability Assured, Certified Secure™ and Certified Green™. Products may also be evaluated under the NetWORKS As Advertised™ program, in which networking-related products must pass a comprehensive, independent assessment of their usability and performance as compared to advertised specifications.

Contact Information: MEDIA CONTACT: Deb Kline Avaya Media Relations 908-953-6179 klined@avaya.com