EU approves Avaya, Nortel deal

Business communications firm Avaya's proposed acquisition of Nortel's Enterprise Solutions business has been sanctioned by the European Union, paving the way for the $900-million deal to go ahead, reports V3.

After an auction process in September, Avaya made the bid for ailing Canadian communications giant Nortel, which filed for bankruptcy protection in January and has been selling off pieces of its business ever since.

The European Commission says the deal does not raise any "competition concerns" in the unified communications market or in the PBX and contact centre markets.

Intuit is expanding its line-up with Customer Manager, an application that brings Intuit into competition with established sales software companies like Salesforce.com, states VentureBeat.

Many of the small to medium enterprises (SMEs) that buy Intuit software use relatively primitive tools like a spreadsheet or a whiteboard to track their customers, says Intuit product manager, John Flora, because more sophisticated customer relationship management software doesn't really address their needs.

Flora says his team focused on simplicity, so Customer Manager provides what small business owners need, namely a way to see and update all customer data in one place, including contact information, pending tasks, upcoming appointments, and more without overwhelming them with features.

Outsource call centre operator Conduit, which has recruited around 1 000 workers since the start of the economic downturn, intends to double its workforce over the next two years, says Call Centre Helper.

The company says it believes that high-performing firms can defy the recession and continue growing by making a major difference to their clients' businesses.

Conduit UK, which operates contact centres in Cardiff, Swansea and Plymouth, has increased the size of its workforce from 1 000 to 2 000 over the past 12 months, driven by significant expansion of existing contracts with Sky and Vodafone.