Avaya

Avaya Inc.

Type	Private
Industry	Next Generation Communications
Predecessor	Lucent Technologies
Founded	2000
Headquarters	Santa Clara, California, United States
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	Kevin J. Kennedy CEO Dave Vellequette CFO
Products	Network equipment for businesses
Revenue	$4.371 Billion(FY 2014) (FY 2014)[1]
Operating income	$197 million (FY 2014)[1]
Net income	$ 298 million (FY 2014)[1]
Total assets	$7.234 Billion (FY 2014)[1]
Owner	TPG Capital Silver Lake Partners
Number of employees	11,701 (Sep 2015)[2]
Subsidiaries	Avaya Government Solutions
Website	avaya.com

Avaya office

Avaya Inc. (/əˈvaɪ.ə/) is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California that specializes in Internet telephony, wireless data communications, and Customer relationship management (CRM) software.^[3] The company also provides business communication solutions for customers.^[4]

Avaya currently provides services to organizations at over 1 million customer locations worldwide with operations divided globally in 5 regions^[5] and is ranked at #101 on Forbes America's Largest Private Companies.^[6]

Origin of the name

Many anecdotes and myths surround the origin of this name. The official statement at the time of announcement of the independent entity stated: “Avaya sounds open and fluid – reflecting a company that’s open-minded and one that provides seamless, effortless interconnections among people and businesses."^[7]

History

Early years (until 2000)

In 1995, the company that would become Avaya was a part of Lucent Technologies. Before that it had been a part of AT&T.^[8]

In 2000, Lucent's management decided to spin off this business, which was then known as its enterprise communications group for flexibility, accelerated innovation, and improved operations.^[8] Avaya Inc., with the stock symbol, AV, became an independent company and started trading on the New York Stock Exchange on October 2, 2000.

Growth (2001–2006)

• 2001 – Avaya Interaction Center for customer relationship management (CRM) debuted which enabled businesses to evolve multi-platform call centers to multimedia, multi-site contact centers.
• 2002 – Avaya IP Office, Avaya Unified Communication Center launched
  • – Proposed "Converged Communications" roadmap focused on the crucial role applications would play in making communications an enabler of better business performance
  • – Ran the communications networks for the FIFA World Cup games in Japan and Korea

• 2003 – Introduction of Avaya MultiVantage Communications Applications, integrated with Avaya Communications Manager
• 2004 – Avaya's Contact Center Express was launched as the first complete multimedia contact center solution designed solely for medium-sized businesses
• 2005 – Avaya Voice Portal 3.0 (later Avaya Aura Experience Portal) was launched as the first software only/VoIP Application Platform (IVR plus other automated channels) for Avaya. ^[9] Voice Portal was the successor to the Conversant IVR and Avaya Interactive Response (AvayaIR) IVR and became the core automation edge to the Avaya Aura Call Center Solution set.
• 2006 – Louis D'Ambrosio took over as the CEO and president of Avaya
  • – Avaya one-X Quick Edition was launched based on the emerging SIP-based communications
  • – FIFA World Cup games in Germany ran on Avaya communications Network

• 2007 – Avaya Customer Interaction Suite based on End-to-end Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) support was launched
  • – Introduction of Avaya Communication Manager 4.0

Going private (2007–2012)

2007

• On October 26, 2007, Avaya was acquired by two private equity firms, TPG Capital and Silver Lake Partners, for $8.2 billion.^[10][11]

2008

• Avaya Speech to Text let people read their voicemail messages on their mobile devices or computers
• Avaya Unified Communications focused on role-based communications needs for teleworkers, home agents, enterprise and small business mobile workers, branch office integration, retail stores and branch banking
• Kevin Kennedy took over as the CEO and president of Avaya.^[12]

2009

• Integrated communication offering Avaya Aura was launched – Nortel Enterprise Solutions was acquired

2010

• Official converged network equipment supplier for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games

• Avaya Aura Contact Center was launched

2011

• In June 2011, Avaya filed with the SEC to raise up to $1 billion in an initial public offering.^[13] On October 4, 2011, Avaya reported that it was acquiring Sipera Systems for its session border controller (SBC) functionality and UC security applications.^[14][15] On October 19, 2011 it was reported that Avaya would buy Aurix.^[16]

2012

• On April 30, 2012 the shareholders approved the acquisition of Radvision by Avaya for about $230 million.^[17][18][19]

2013 and later

• Avaya Fabric Connect supported the network backbone at InteropNet 2013

• Official Supplier of Network Equipment for Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games^[20]

• Launch of Avaya Stadium in San Jose, California in 2015

2016

• According to news articles^[21] citing "internal sources" in May 2016, Avaya's Private Equity owners Silver Lake Partners and TPG Capital are considering a sale of telecommunications equipment company Avaya Inc that could value it at between $6 billion and $10 billion, including debt.^[22]
• CEO Kevin Kennedy on the company's earnings call had earlier confirmed that Goldman Sachs was helping Avaya evaluate expressions of interest that have been received relative to specific assets, as well as in exploring other potential strategic opportunities.^[23]
• As of November 2016, Avaya weighs chapter 11 bancruptcy filing.^[24]

Acquisitions

Since 2001, the company has sold and acquired several companies to support its current product set, including VPNet Technologies, Inc., VISTA Information Technologies Inc., Quintus, RouteScience, Tenovis, Spectel, NimCat Networks, Traverse Networks, Ubiquity Software Corporation, Agile Software NZ Limited, Konftel, Sipera, Aurix, Radvision and Esnatech.^[25]

Purchase of Nortel's Enterprise assets

Through Nortel's bankruptcy proceedings, certain assets related to their Enterprise Voice and Data business units were put up for auction. Avaya placed a $900 million bid and was formally announced as the winner of these assets on September 14, 2009.^[26][27]

Corporate information

Avaya's headquarters are located at 4655 Great America Parkway, Santa Clara, California. The company has offices located in over 145 countries worldwide.^[28] The company also sponsors a user's group.^[29]

Training

Avaya sponsors training programs for IT professional certifications and training for use of Avaya's products.^[30]

Government business

In 1985, Performance Engineering Corporation (later PEC Solutions Inc.) was formed to offer technology services to government customers.^[31] On June 6, 2005, Nortel Networks Inc. completed the acquisition of PEC Solutions, Inc. to form Nortel PEC Solutions Inc.^[32][33] On January 18, 2006, Nortel PEC Solutions was renamed Nortel Government Solutions.^[34] On December 21, 2009, Avaya acquired Nortel's government business as part of Nortel's asset sale.^[35][36]

Patents

Avaya bought Nortel Enterprise and acquired its patents, including the following:^[37][38]

• US20050007951 – Routed split multilink trunking^[39]
• 7173934 – System, device, and method for improving communication network reliability using trunk splitting^[40]
• 6496502 – Distributed multi-link trunking method and apparatus^[41]
• 7068641 – UNIStim

See also

• Avaya Stadium

References

1. "Avaya, FY 2014 Financial Results" (PDF). avaya.com. Retrieved Jan 16, 2015.
2. "SEC filing Sept 2015". SEC.
3. "Avaya on the Forbes America's Largest Private Companies List". Forbes. Retrieved 2016-05-31.
4. "company overview" (PDF). Avaya.
5. "Office locations by Country". Avaya.
6. "America's Largest Private Companies". Archived from the original on March 22, 2016.
7. "History – Avaya UK".
8. "The Avaya Story". Avaya.com. Retrieved Jan 21, 2015.
9. "Speech Technology with Impact - Avaya Voice Portal 3.0 and Dialog Designer 3.0". speechtekmag.com. Retrieved Nov 23, 2016.
10. "Avaya, Form 8-K, Current Report, Filing Date Nov 1, 2007" (PDF). secdatabase.com. Retrieved Jan 19, 2013.
11. "Investment Firms Pick Up Avaya For $8.2 Billion". Informationweek.com. June 5, 2007. Retrieved 2011-08-18.
12. "Avaya Leadership". avaya.com. Retrieved Jan 23, 2015.
13. Julianne Pepitone (June 9, 2011). "Avaya files for $1 billion IPO". CNN Money. Retrieved June 9, 2011.
14. "Avaya, Form 8-K, Current Report, Filing Date Oct 4, 2011" (PDF). secdatabase.com. Retrieved Jan 19, 2013.
15. Larry Hettick (October 4, 2011). "Avaya acquires Sipera". Network World. Retrieved Oct 6, 2011.
16. "Aurix Acquired by Avaya". Yahoo!.
17. "Avaya, Form 8-K, Current Report, Filing Date Jun 6, 2012" (PDF). secdatabase.com. Retrieved Jan 19, 2013.
18. "RADVISION Acquired By Avaya". Radvision. Retrieved 4 Sep 2012.
19. Shoshanna Solomon (15 March 2012). "Avaya Agrees to Acquire RadVision for About $230 Million". Business Week. Retrieved 4 Sep 2012.
20. • James Emmett (December 1, 2011), Sochi 2014 signs telecoms supply deal, Sports Pro Media, retrieved January 3, 2011
    • Abdul Rahim (December 7, 2011), Sochi 2014 Announces Its Supplier of Network Equipment, The Olympics Sports, retrieved Jan 3, 2011
21. "Avaya's Private Equity Owners Explore Sale". Fortune. 2016-05-20. Retrieved 2016-05-31.
22. "Avaya's private equity owners explore sale: sources". May 20, 2016 – via Reuters.
23. "Edited Transcript of Avaya Inc earnings conference call or presentation 16-May-16 9:00pm GMT". www.yahoo.com. Retrieved 2016-05-31.
24. "Avaya Weighing Bankruptcy Filing, Sale of Call-Center Software Unit". Wall Street Journal. 2016-11-23. Retrieved 2016-11-30.
25. "Avaya Acquisitions". avaya.com. Retrieved Jan 22, 2015.
26. "Nortel Networks, Form 8-K, Current Report, Filing Date Sep 14, 2009" (PDF). secdatabase.com. Retrieved Jan 19, 2013.
27. Sean Michael Kerner (September 14, 2009). "Avaya Closes Nortel Enterprise Deal for $900M". internetnews. Retrieved Feb 16, 2010.
28. "Avaya Worldwide Locator". Retrieved Aug 18, 2011.
29. "IAUG". Retrieved Jan 30, 2015.
30. "Avaya Professional Credential Program". Avaya Learning. Retrieved Nov 9, 2014.
31. "PEC Solutions Inc.". Washington Post 200PEC Solutions Inc. 2005. Retrieved Apr 1, 2011.
32. "Nortel Completes Acquisition of PEC Solutions, Inc.". Business Wire. June 7, 2005. Retrieved Apr 1, 2011.
33. Witte, Griff (April 27, 2005). "Nortel to Buy PEC Solutions For $448 Million". The Washington Post.
34. "Nortel PEC Solutions Renamed Nortel Government Solutions". Nortel. January 18, 2006. Retrieved Apr 1, 2011.
35. "Avaya/Nortel combination aims for greater growth". Nortel. Dec 21, 2009. Retrieved Jan 11, 2012.
36. "Who We Are". Avaya Government Solutions. Retrieved Apr 1, 2011.
37. "Avaya Closes Nortel Enterprise Deal for $900M". Internetnews. Sep 14, 2009. Retrieved Feb 26, 2011.
38. "List of Patents that have Issued to the Nortel Family of Companies" (PDF). Nortel. Retrieved Feb 26, 2011.
39. • "Routed split multilink trunking". Retrieved Feb 23, 2011.
    • "Routed split multilink trunking United States Patent Application 20050007951". Retrieved Feb 26, 2011.
40. "System, device, and method for improving communication network reliability using trunk splitting". Retrieved Feb 26, 2011.
41. • "Distributed multi-link trunking method and apparatus". Patentstorm. Archived from the original on October 13, 2012. Retrieved Feb 26, 2011.
    • "Distributed Multi-link Trunking Method And Apparatus – Patent 6496502". Retrieved Feb 26, 2011.

Further reading

• David Rohde (July 3, 2000). "Lucent spinoff Avaya plays to its strengths". Network World. Retrieved March 2012. Check date values in: |access-date= (help)
• Jeffrey Burt (March 15, 2012). "Avaya to Buy Radvision, Ramping Competition with Cisco". eWeek. Retrieved March 17, 2012. Avaya, after months of speculation, is buying Radvision

External links

• Official website