Frost & Sullivan recognises Avaya as North American Leader in inbound contact routing

Avaya Inc has announced it has received Frost & Sullivan's 2008 North American Market Leadership Award for inbound contact routing, based on its dominant position in shipments, leading market share position in revenues and its proactive approach to innovation in this key segment of the contact centre market. This is the second consecutive year that growth-consulting company Frost & Sullivan has recognised Avaya as the leader in advanced contact routing technologies.

Inbound contact routing is a core component of contact centre operations, and is central to providing intelligent communications in customer service. Intelligent routing of each inbound contact ensures that customers are automatically and optimally served by the agent most skilled in handling their unique needs.

Frost & Sullivan's award was based on its new report, which analyses all aspects of inbound contact routing and the market's key vendors. The report shows that Avaya's market leadership in inbound contact routing is evidenced by its dominance in shipments and revenue generation for 2006-2007. In revenue generation, Avaya maintained the top position with 37.2% of the market, a figure that was greater than the total of its four closest competitors.

“Avaya continues to lead the pack with reliable, proven contact centre technology that is essential in driving customer satisfaction in the contact centre,” said Ashwin Iyer, research director for Frost & Sullivan's Contact Centre practice. “The company's strength in the contact centre space and the combined breadth of its offerings give Avaya an advantage when looking to lead in new markets. The company's climbing growth rates in newer geographies shows strong execution on that potential.”

According to Frost & Sullivan, inbound contact routing is comprised of an intersection between three markets: automatic call distributor systems, computer telephone integration and IP contact centres. They state that Avaya's strong revenue from this area is powered by its strong leadership, presence and strategy in these markets.

Adds Frost & Sullivan's Iyer: “In the face of ever-escalating competition, including competitors from completely new corners of the technology world, Avaya has maintained its strong lead in market share in the North American inbound contact routing market, which is no small feat in the current economic environment."

Products that power Avaya's contact centre routing capabilities include Avaya Interaction Centre, Avaya Call Centre and the company^1s flagship IP telephony software, Avaya Communication Manager. In the past year, Avaya has focused on integrating new communications-enabled business processes within customer service capabilities to provide call centres with new real-time, multi-channel communications. This integration speeds response times, reduces human delays and frees workers to focus on decision-making.

“This endorsement validates our strategy for delivering innovative customer routing technologies that help customers get the most out of their IP contact centres and interaction management solutions,” said Bob Lyons, vice-president and general manager of Contact Centre Solutions, Avaya. “Consumers expect a high-quality experience when they call into a contact centre. Our priority is ensuring companies can meet this demand, which has a direct impact on their bottom line.”

Frost & Sullivan previously recognised Avaya for other achievements in the contact centre market, including awards for North American leadership in outbound routing and interactive voice response.

To learn more about Frost & Sullivan's research, please visit http://www.frost.com.