Avaya Spoken Acquisition Screams AI, Cloud & More
January 29, 2018
By Maurice Nagle
Web Editor
The mass exodus from legacy solutions to the cloud is well underway, as this transformational technology is driving a new age in communications – from the c-suite and conference room, to the contact center. With the influx of innovation and adoption comes growing attention, which opens eyes to opportunity.
Cloud communications company Avaya (News - Alert) announced the acquisition of Contact Center as a Service provider Spoken Communications. The deal is expected to officially close in Q2 2018, and the all cash transaction includes more than 170 patents and patent applications.
While the cloud is a key component of this transaction, the real-time customer experience management applications and the conversational AI therein add much in the way of value to the Avaya portfolio.
"With this acquisition, Avaya's large contact center customer base around the world will have a clear migration path to the cloud," said Jim Chirico, president and CEO of Avaya. "Customers can retain all the functionality of their existing premises-based technology and seamlessly migrate that functionality, at their pace, to achieve all the benefits of cloud."
The two firms partnered in 2017 to develop and offer CCaaS solutions to Avaya’s existing customer base. Avaya had the opportunity to get up close and personal with Spoken’s cloud-native multitenant architecture and application capabilities. Avaya‘s ominchannel suite (Oceana, for instance) and its Avaya Aura and Elite technologies seamlessly integrate with the spoken architecture.
Inside the contact center, managers can deploy AI and deep learning applications such as IntelligentWire to optimize operations. And, from a big picture perspective the transaction adds a healthy dose of cloud-powered, feature-rich and future forward solutions.
"This transaction is a critical step in positioning our customers, partners, and new Cloud business for increasing success," said Mercer Rowe, senior vice president and general manager, Cloud, for Avaya. "We are now moving at cloud speed, capitalizing on Avaya's momentum to give our customers greater choice and flexibility in how they buy and consume our solutions, with the same outstanding experience whether it's on premises, in the public or private cloud, or a hybrid model."
SMB and enterprise alike are reaping the rewards of cloud adoption. The alphabet soup powering our modern age is only in its infancy, and Avaya plans on being present for its maturity.
What does your organization have in the cloud?
Edited by Maurice Nagle
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