Avaya has announced that its Internet Protocol (IP) telephony solutions have been selected as the winner of Miercom`s annual large IP PBX review, one of the industry`s most prestigious and rigorous competitions.
Miercom, a leading network consultancy and product test centre, gave Avaya one of the highest overall scores ever reported for this test, recognising the company for superiority across multiple categories - including mobility-enhancing features, endpoints and architecture.
As a result, Avaya achieved "Best in Test" honours from Business Communications Review magazine, which features details of Miercom`s competitive review in its January 2005 issue. Avaya`s score reflects the company`s commitment to helping businesses easily migrate to highly-reliable and scalable IP telephony solutions.
In the test, Miercom measured Avaya`s IP solutions against competing IP-PBX entries from four other vendors: Alcatel, Cisco, ShoreTel and Siemens.
The Miercom test measured the capabilities of high-end IP telephony systems designed for businesses requiring 1 000 or more stations. Avaya`s converged platform - comprised of an Avaya S8710 Media Server and G650 Media Gateway - earned a decisive win that reflected one of the highest scores ever achieved in a Miercom review. This platform supports Avaya`s portfolio of IP-based MultiVantage Communications Applications, which includes Avaya Communication Manager, the company`s industry-leading IP telephony software.
"Avaya emerged as the clear winner in this year`s large IP PBX test, earning one of the highest scores we`ve ever recorded in our six years of testing these systems," said Ed Mier, founder of Miercom. "Our comprehensive tests showed that Avaya`s IP telephony solutions deliver the highest levels of quality and reliability across the board, and received the top score in three of six criteria categories: architecture, features and endpoints. Avaya is at the top of its game, and we congratulate them on this win."
IP telephony is a software-based technology that uses voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP) to transmit voice as data over a computer network in a manner similar to e-mail. More enterprises around the world are rapidly adopting this technology, which helps organisations easily and cost-effectively integrate advanced communications applications into a range of business processes. Avaya is the global leader in IP telephony solutions for the enterprise market.[1]
In the performance category of Miercom`s test, Avaya was the only vendor to record a perfect call-completion rate under "gruelling" load tests of 50 000 calls per hour. Avaya also scored highest for the architecture category, where the company had the fastest call-control failover time, which indicates the speed of recovery in the event of a system disruption. Miercom gave Avaya`s architecture high marks for IP quality of service (QoS) settings, which dynamically monitor for maximum VOIP call quality, and for "rich, new SIP support" for third-party end points and SIP trunking between systems.
Avaya also took top honours in the endpoints category, where the company received the maximum score possible. Miercom noted that Avaya offers nearly a dozen IP phones across a variety of price-points, and includes "splashy" and unique functions on its hard phones, PC-based softphones and wireless devices.
A range of mobility capabilities were represented in Avaya`s first-place finish in the features category, which highlighted Avaya Extension to Cellular, a capability that maps one`s office phone extension to any cellular or home phone - providing an easy way to stay in touch with customers and colleagues when away from the office. Also contributing to Avaya`s overall score was its forthcoming seamless communications solution, which features a dual-mode wireless phone that maintains connectivity as users travel between a business` wireless local area network (WLAN) and a public cellular network.
Other top features cited by Miercom included Avaya Meeting Exchange for Web and audio conferencing with SIP-based options, and unique IP Softphone capabilities that enable users to call a phone number listed on any Web site - at the click of a mouse.
In the area of security, Avaya was praised for having high levels of VOIP encryption, with Miercom recognising Avaya`s IP encryption as "the most complete of the IP PBX vendors evaluated. Even Avaya`s softphone supports AES encryption."
Avaya designs IP telephony solutions for companies of all sizes, which include a wide range of large organisations around the globe. Among them are Australian National University, Australia`s leading research university and The Seattle Times Company, a leading publishing company.
"Avaya has reinforced its superior competitive advantage by winning what is largely considered the most comprehensive and challenging IP telephony competition in the industry," said Micky Tsui, Avaya vice-president and general manager, Communications Systems Division. "Our IP telephony solutions are designed to meet the most rigorous demands of businesses, which are seeking simple, cost-effective strategies for an IP evolution. The Avaya solutions demonstrated in Miercom`s test - and the expertise that went into their winning performance - represent what businesses can expect from us in 2005."
To view the full report, please visit www.avaya.com or www.bcr.com.
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Avaya South Africa is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Avaya EMEA Sales Ltd. The company designs, builds and manages communications networks for more than one million businesses worldwide, included among which are 90% of the Fortune 500. Focused on businesses large to small, Avaya is a world leader in secure and reliable Internet Protocol (IP) telephony systems and communications software applications and services.
Driving the convergence of voice and data communications with business applications - and distinguished by comprehensive worldwide services - Avaya helps customers leverage existing and new networks to achieve superior business results. For more information, visit the Avaya Web site at http://www.avaya.com.
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