Conferencing
Avaya IP Office conferencing applications provide a private audio-conference bridge for communicating with a large number of people. The IP Office conferencing capability supports up to two conferences with as many as 64 participants on a single conference call (or combinations thereof). Multiple conferences can take place simultaneously. With the Meet-me Conferencing Bridge a PIN number can be added for more secure conferences, requiring participants to input a code before entering the call. The Conferencing Center application adds management through the Scheduler component and audio control for the host through the Web Client component. The Scheduler interface enables conferences to be established, e-mail invitations to be sent, or set up ad hoc. The Web Client enables the host to upload and publish documents and presentations for real-time viewing. The Web Client interface allows the Host to manage the audio portion by controlling who has Speak and Listen privileges or who has Listen only capabilities. It is through the Client interface that the Host can Whisper to a specific individual without disruption to the conference call. Participants can also send messages using the web chat functionality privately to the Host or to all participants.
Employees can cost effectively conduct meetings over the phone and spontaneously collaborate, share information and make decisions creating more effective work practices leading to shorter project times and increased employee productivity. The Meet-me Conference Bridge can lower conferencing costs by reducing the need for third-party conferencing service providers. ROI on IP Office conferencing solutions can be as short as 9-10 weeks, depending on location and provider fees.
Messaging
IP Office offers several messaging applications designed to meet the needs of the business. IP Office VoiceMail Lite, Embedded Voicemail and VoiceMail Pro is available supporting features such as automated attendant, voicemail, unified messaging, e-mail reading, fax routing, Integrated Voice Response (IVR), text-to-speech (TTS), centralized voicemail, and networked messaging. Voicemail provides a telephone answering machine with a personalized greeting on every employee's desk and allows callers to leave spoken messages when the user cannot answer a telephone call. Voicemail messages are retrieved either locally or remotely via any telephone (users are prompted for a PIN if they are using any telephone other than their allocated extension or a trusted location e.g. mobile telephone). For users that prefer to have email as their main message store, they can forward their voice messages to their email and collect them via their email account.
Messaging applications are vital for businesses that want to ensure that every call is answered, even after hours or when everyone is busy, and that messages are properly and efficiently managed. Employees stay connected to the business at all times from any location, helping customers reach the right person, extension or department, which can lead to improved customer satisfaction. Employee efficiency and productivity are maximized as calls are appropriately routed and quickly handled during peak call periods.
Networking
Small Community Networking links multiple IP Office systems via a standard data network, providing feature transparency and advanced applications such as centralized voice messaging.
Businesses can extend communications capabilities -- including applications such as messaging -- to remote locations, unify voice communications across multiple sites, or connect branch sites. Networking can cost-effectively enhance the value of existing data network by improving operations, inter-company communications and processes while controlling communications and system management costs.
