Avaya rolls into Ottawa seeking success from disasters

Avaya Inc. expects to meet with representatives of Canadian security institutions when the communication-equipment maker's mobile demo truck stops in Ottawa today. According to a spokesman, the gathering hints at his company's future direction.Tracy Fleming, Avaya Canada's IP telephony practice leader, said a meeting with the Department of National Defence and other security-intensive organizations is part and parcel of his company's latest mantra: find new revenue streams."We're going to position this technology for the Canadian market," Fleming said in Toronto yesterday. He was guiding a tour of Avaya's mobile demonstration truck, a big rig with a trailer full of advanced connective technologies such as interoperable IP phones, PC-based communication clients, and - the big deal - a model mobile command center (MCC), which Avaya hopes will whet the security organizations' appetites in Ottawa today.The MCC is Avaya's communication system for disaster-recovery situations. It has a satellite data connection, software that can bridge myriad emergency wireless services, and links into weather tracking systems. It's a kind of communication collector for first responders - emergency services personnel who arrive early at the scene of a disaster and co-ordinate rescue and safety efforts.Ottawa today, Montreal tomorrow - Fleming said demos in Quebec will cater to a more "commercial" crowd compared to the National Capital Region. The firm will talk about the MCC's role as a communication bridge for large events, such as the FIFA World Cup, for which Avaya provided communication infrastructure last year. "Think of the amount of co-ordination required between 12 stadiums," Fleming said.The demo vehicle has stations displaying Avaya's IP softphone, hard phones and software. Fleming demonstrated connections between H.323 and SIP end points, including an IP phone from rival Cisco Systems Inc. He also showed how Avaya's equipment integrates with Microsoft Corp.'s Office Communicator client. He talked up his company's one-X Quick Edition phones for small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs). And he held forth about the company's future.He noted that Avaya is making headway in the mid-sized business market, where the company previously struggled. "We're starting to get more traction," he said, adding that it's an important sector, particularly here. "There are only so many 5,000-seat call centres in Canada."He also discussed the Microsoft problem - as the software giant's communication technology portfolio grows (be it through acquisitions or partnerships such as the one Microsoft forged with Nortel Networks for unified communications), industry observers wonder if Avaya and other traditional gear makers can hang on. Fleming said Microsoft is more of a partner than a competitor, however. In his opinion, the software company doesn't want to compete directly the likes of his firm. Microsoft would prefer to link into Avaya software and become the de facto entry point for the end-user experience.Nonetheless, even partnering with Microsoft is a tricky science. "We're not going to give too much away, in terms of the value we bring to the table," Fleming said. "This has to be a partnership of equals."Avaya made waves last month after announcing that it would design its IP Office communication system to connect into Google Inc.'s Google Apps hosted desktop software. The move made Avaya one of the earliest network vendors to latch onto the Google platform, which competes head-to-head with Microsoft's PC-based Office application suite."There are all sorts of Web technologies," Fleming said, echoing the now-common notion that in order to survive, equipment sellers must embrace new technologies such as social networking, blogs and wikis - and new software providers such as Google. "There's no question that we have to change."But Avaya also can't afford to alienate its existing, core audience: enterprises that want solid network technology, not necessarily bleeding edge applications. "It's a delicate balancing act," Fleming said.Avaya's mobile demonstration truck will be at the Hampton Inn in Ottawa today. Tomorrow it will be at Hotel Mortagne in Boucherville QC.

Avaya rolls into Ottawa seeking success from disasters

News | April 11, 2007

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