BASKING RIDGE, NJ--(Marketwire - March 31, 2008) - According to a new survey from
Avaya Inc., a leading global provider of
business communications applications,
systems and services, most small businesses agree that productivity suffers
when an employee is out of the office unexpectedly, but few have
calculated the true cost to their businesses.
Avaya conducted a quantitative web survey of owners, presidents, CEOs, vice
presidents, directors and managers of small businesses in the United
States. All the businesses surveyed agreed that productivity suffers when
employees can't get into the office because of bad weather or personal
needs, such as caring for an ill child at home. Only a handful surveyed
had calculated the business cost of lost productivity from unscheduled
employee absences, and most of this small group estimated expenses could
approach $20,000 annually.
"Most people today are already working away from their primary place of
employment at least part of the time, whether it's at home over the
weekend, on the train on the way to the office, or in an airport waiting
for a flight," said Chuck Wilsker, president and CEO, The Telework
Coalition. "Small businesses are definitely beginning to recognize that
their employees can be productive wherever they are -- as long as they have
a laptop, high speed Internet and a phone and the right features to be
truly productive while working from home. Having the right technology is
key to creating a plan that enables employees to work remotely."
Technology such as
Unified
Communications (UC), which brings the communications environment of the
office to any location, on any device, can drive more flexible styles of
working that blend with an employee's home life and ultimately help small
firms retain those employees, maximize their productivity output and avoid
missed business opportunities.
Avaya introduced UC for small businesses earlier this month at VoiceCon
2008, a leading conference and exhibition for enterprise voice, IP
telephony and convergence solutions. The UC applications package enables
employees to work from home, extends a desk phone's functions and features
to mobile devices and supports full time tele-workers. Its platform is
Avaya IP Office, the company's flagship converged solution for small
businesses. Available worldwide, the UC for Small Business solution is
priced at US$129 per user, list (20 or more employees); US$179 per user,
list (less than 20 employees).
"Flexibility is the ultimate asset that small businesses depend on," said
Ray Boggs, vice president of Small/Medium Business and Home Office Research
at IDC. "But this is only made possible by technology that lets staff work
how and where they prefer. Advanced solutions like Unified Communications
lets small firms collaborate and communicate in ways that let them compete
effectively against bigger firms. Support of remote workers makes possible
the kind of sales and customer support once found only in the largest
firms."
U.S. customers gain efficiencies, lower costs with Avaya
Avaya customers All Occasion Transportation and Limousine Eighteen Ltd.,
which are two ground transportation companies based in New England, rely on
Avaya UC for Small Business applications on their Avaya IP Office solutions
to manage their customers more effectively and efficiently and continue
providing the personalized service that helped build their businesses over
the last 20 years. Their Avaya IP Office solutions were configured by All
Business Communications, a certified member of the Avaya Business Partner
program.
"The benefits and payoffs are simply this: we do everything better,
smarter and faster than ever before," said Marc Shpilner, president of
Limousine Eighteen, which is based in Boston and has 21 employees. "Plus,
I'm able to hire great people who might not be able to travel to our
headquarters. I now have two excellent reservationists who work from home
as if they were in the office, with full access to our headquarters-based
reservations system for around-the-clock coverage. That was a huge change
for us, but it proves location doesn't necessarily matter when it comes to
employee productivity."
All Occasion Transportation is based in Providence, R.I., serves 600 cities
worldwide and has 52 employees during its peak season of May through
October. "Our business expanded steadily so we've really outgrown our
downtown headquarters, but we don't want to invest in relocating until we
have a better idea of where the economy is headed. With IP Office, we'll
be able to delay that decision, because our managers have flexible work
arrangements that make the most of the space we have," said Eric Weiner,
president, All Occasion. "For instance, I share an office, but if I'm
expecting a sensitive business call, I can answer my incoming calls on my
mobile phone and step outside to take the call in private. Our manager of
the new wedding transportation division works from home full time, with an
Avaya IP phone and VPN software at her house. And almost any one of our
managers can work remotely when they need to, simply by connecting to IP
Office through their home or cell phone. It's all so easy, which is a
good thing -- because as a small business, we don't have the time or
inclination to be technology experts."
According to Trevor Gruenewald, vice president, North American channels,
small and medium businesses, Avaya, even the most modest-sized firm can use
Avaya UC for small businesses to combine several communications elements
into a single, seamless experience. "In fact, our survey shows that when
their concerns about technology are addressed, most small businesses --
some 90 percent who we surveyed -- are prepared to offer their employees
much more flexible working options," he said. "Now, Avaya has even more
'big business' capabilities at a 'small business' price and we are working
closely with our global network of resellers to bring that experience to
small firms."
About Avaya
Avaya delivers Intelligent Communications solutions
that help companies transform their businesses to achieve marketplace
advantage. More than one million businesses worldwide, including more than
90 percent of the FORTUNE 500®, use Avaya solutions for
IP telephony,
unified communications,
contact centers and
communications-enabled business processes.
Avaya
Global Services provide comprehensive service and support for
companies, small to large. For more information, visit the Avaya Web site
at
http://www.avaya.com.
Note to editors:
-- The survey includes responses that represent the finance, insurance,
business services, professional services, real estate, and import/export
sectors. Most companies surveyed have from 20 to 80 employees.
Contact Information: Media Inquiries:
Barbara Burgess
(908) 953-3348
barbarab@avaya.com