Avaya has released a new platform for business communications that it claims fulfills the “long-sought promise” of unified communications (UC) by delivering streamlined, mobile-first communications within the applications and browsers employees “live in” for their work.
The new Equinox platform, by consolidating various applications and interfaces into one experience, liberates employees and IT departments from “disjointed communications that hinder productivity and increase stress”, according to Avaya.
“The multitude of real-time and non-real-time communications methods used by workers typically requires a disruptive two- to three-step process of leaving a business application to communicate,” the company says.
Gary E. Barnett, SVP and GM, Avaya Engagement Solutions, says Avaya’s vision for unified communications has always been a “streamlined, user and IT-friendly experience that enables work to proceed without disruption”.
{loadposition peter}“Integrating the wide variety of forms and methods of communication into a single flow has been an unmet challenge – until now. Avaya Equinox has conquered that challenge for the good of end users, IT departments and businesses worldwide, delivered by a company with the vision, focus and expertise to define the future of UC.”
According to Barnett, while the vision of UC was to merge methods and simplify access, vendors today still struggle to fully merge all the communication application infrastructure and cloud-based services into a single platform that offers the simplified user experience of Avaya Equinox.
Avaya lists key elements of Avaya Equinox including:
• Mobile First Experience, Action Oriented Workflow for Immediate Response - Workers can quickly see all scheduled meetings, messaging updates, and communications history in one place and take immediate action with a single touch. Optimised to the device – mobile, tablet, desktop, browser and Avaya Vantage – the experience maintains mobile simplicity while embracing the benefits inherent in a wide range of devices.
• Skip the Download: Collaborate from a Browser - Avaya Equinox enables robust collaboration from within HTML5 browsers with no downloads or plugins needed thanks to WebRTC technology. This best-in-class browser experience with full collaboration capabilities eliminates migration challenges for organisations in the process of transitioning desktop business applications to the web and/or shifting applications to the cloud.
• Drive Performance and Differentiate with Smart Digital Solutions - Embed Avaya Equinox communication and collaboration capabilities within business processes or context, or into any business application to create and integrate unique solutions for vertical needs and competitive differentiation. Extend and accelerate smart digital solution creation with the single solution-wide Avaya Breeze Client SDK, workflow automation and Avaya Snapp Store ecosystem. Avaya Vantage runs Equinox right out of the box, but is also infinitely customisable through the Client SDK.
• Simply Access True Enterprise Class HD Video and Voice Anywhere, Anytime - Provides reliable, secure, high-quality HD voice and video for communication anywhere on any device, with easy, remote access including VPN-less connectivity. One number reach for all devices accelerates enterprise workflows and deployments; workers even can simultaneously use multiple devices.
• Message with Continuity and Always-On Effectiveness - Persistent, multimedia messaging for text, audio, video, images and files allows employees to access and send team messages in real time -- or anytime. A conversation initiated on the desktop in the morning can be picked back up on the mobile device at lunchtime, for example. Workers can even message those who are offline for more efficient team interaction. One click from the messaging function escalates the session to a call or conference.
• Reduce the Complexity and Expense of Multiple ‘UC’ Solutions - Avaya Equinox provides a single platform that supports all the different modes of conferencing. High scale audio conferencing, extensive web collaboration, rich multi-vendor HD video, even event streaming to 100,000 users in an all in one software solution. Users have one login and one easy solution to learn, and IT has one solution to support with one set of statistics, single provisioning, a smaller footprint with higher efficiency and lower costs.
Rich Costello, senior research analyst for Unified Communications and Collaboration program, IDC, says that the continuing dislocation of the workplace demands solutions that are “inherently mobile, secure and accessible from virtually any device”.
“Avaya Equinox delivers on this and more with a total communications solution that can be embedded in browsers and business applications. The Avaya Breeze Client SDK is not your everyday API – you have all the tools you need in a single solution that can be customised by vertical industry and workgroup needs, just what UC was intended to be."