Small- and mid-sized enterprises (SME) will now be able to benefit from an improved version of Avaya’s (News - Alert) unified communications (UC) solution.

The recently introduced Avaya IP Office 8.1, which features an advanced range of capabilities such as new mobility, management and security, will allow businesses to secure BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) environments and take advantage of advanced mobility.

"As a growing windshield installation company – with 18 locations and a busy contact center operation – we require a reliable communications system that supports the highest levels of customer service,” said Rick Maciel, business systems manager at Techna Glass. “Avaya IP Office 8.1 helps us by enabling large volumes of call flows to move smoothly, and providing a great way to manage communications across all locations. We also plan to use IP Office's mobility capabilities in new ways, with features such as chat and presence via iPhone (News - Alert) keeping mobile workers connected, and headquarters employees in touch with branch stores.”

The Avaya IP Office 8.1 features the Avaya Flare Communicator, an advanced mobility app which can be leveraged by Avaya IP Office SME users over Apple (News - Alert) iPad tablets or Windows-based laptops. The tool has been designed to support mobile access to a number of communication services.

With a New Centralized Management and improved licensing capabilities, multi-site communication requirements can easily be managed from a single location which means users benefit from savings in cost, labor and time.

A new SME version of Avaya Session Border Controller, a solution delivering a protective SIP-based firewall, effectively secures SMEs against toll fraud, denial of service attacks and other threats.

Furthermore, with Avaya IP Office Support Service, SMEs will be provided with reliable resolution and technical support from experts, as well as secure remote access. Newly introduced SSL-VPN capabilities of the Avaya IP Office 8.1 ensure secure delivery of upgrades, patches and Web-based services.

Avaya’s IP Office 8.1 can function with the newly introduced ERS 3500 switches from Avaya to quickly automate network set-up – with a single command the switches can be configured to enable IP phones on Avaya IP Office.

SME iPhone users will benefit from robust business-class UC capabilities, as Avaya one-X Mobile Preferred for IP Office mobility app has been made available for iPhone devices.

Want to learn more about the latest in communications and technology? Then be sure to attend ITEXPO West 2012, taking place Oct. 2-5, in Austin, TX. ITEXPO (News - Alert) offers an educational program to help corporate decision makers select the right IP-based voice, video, fax and unified communications solutions to improve their operations. It's also where service providers learn how to profitably roll out the services their subscribers are clamoring for – and where resellers can learn about new growth opportunities. For more information on registering for ITEXPO click here.

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