Avaya Updates its UC Apps for SMBs
The applications cover various vertical areas and functions, including SIP trunking, unified communications and collaboration, hospitality management, automated calling, interactive voice response and customer service. Given the increasing competition in the unified communicartions environment, Avaya considers thirds-party application development as an important way of creating product distinction.
According to the company's director of small and medium enterprise marketing, the IP Office system allows SMBs to connect easily to many of their valued apps, which often verticalize or customize the company's solutions for improved collaboration. This perspective alone helps to set the company apart from the competition. Of course, the company uses its program for other purposes besides this.
Although the company uses the SME acronym instead of SMB that is commonly used for this segment, it uses a generally consistent definition. The communications platforms it provides scale accordingly for companies that employ between five and 1,000 workers. Scotto explained that their IP Office platform was particularly meant for companies hiring between five and 250 employees.
The DevConnect program gives access to technnical support, tools and APIs for third-party developers who build applications around the company's UC platform. Since the company started the program in 2002, it has approved about 1,400 compliant apps. About 300 of these apps were designed specifically for the small and midsize business markets.
The program allows the company to add an average of 35 new apps every month, but the developers are free to set their own prices. Joe Marzulla, DevConnect's program manager, justified that by explaining that they were the developers' applications.
The developers always have the last say when it comes to pricing even in cases where the company carries cross-promotions with them. Joe explained that their role was to provide the partners with relevant tools and equip them for the market. However, the respective partners were free to market their applications. Many of these apps provide SIP trunking services.
