Resources from Unified Communications

Jenne to Distribute New Avaya Cloud-Based UC

By Casey Houser
Contributing Writer

Jenne, a distributor of information technology software, will be working with its own league of resellers to market the new Avaya (News - Alert) OnAvaya cloud-based unified communications application.

Avaya is well known and has years of experience developing software for businesses large and small. Its latest release, OnAvaya, will operate from within the Google (News - Alert) Cloud Platform to give small and midsize end users access to voice, video, conferencing, and Web messaging – everything they would expect from a full Avaya IP Office install, but accessible in the cloud.

Joe Lohmeier, the vice president of the Global Channel Organization at Avaya, commented on how this switch to cloud operations can help customers concentrate on operational expenses rather than capital expenses.

“As the market for cloud-based solutions grows, channel partners like Jenne are embracing the opportunity to help customers navigate the deployment options for communications applications that can help their businesses operate at peak performance,” Lohmeier said. “With the Jenne OnAvaya offer, customers will have industry-leading unified communications solution in a highly flexible, usage-based model.”

Further, John Kruszka, Jenne’s director of Avaya products, commented that his company is excited to work with its resellers and bring the cloud into a range of new businesses. He said customer demand helped this situation progress.

That demand may come from a desire for savings, according to West Unified Communications (News - Alert). West’s latest study addressed the opinions of 250 IT managers to find out how they used unified communications products. The study showed that 67 percent or more of surveyed businesses regularly use screen sharing, videoconferencing, instant messaging and presence, Web conferencing, and audioconferencing.

It is CIO’s opinion, however, that businesses could do much more to take advantage of unified communications. First, more businesses could get into the habit of utilizing the previously listed tools. They could then move all those tools to the cloud, like Avaya can now offer.

The unified communications-as-a-service (UCaaS) model can give companies the best of both world by linking all their communications modes under one roof while also moving that roof to remote servers. UCaaS can make it possible for businesses to link in-office employees, at-home employees, and mobile workers through any medium they each prefer. Office communication can latch onto the ease of use that will make team chats possible from any location. Furthermore, customer service and marketing employees can more easily connect with customers, regardless of whether or not they telecommute or take a sales call on the road.

This new release from Avaya and Google will make its way to customers through Jenne, and each party should have something to celebrate. At the lowest level, it has the potential to show exactly what a cloud-based suite can bring to the office.