You’ve got the network, now all you need is the clever software

So you have a converged telephony network - now what?

That was the question US-based global internet protocol telephony company Avaya set out to answer at its second annual Asia Pacific conference held in Sydney last week.

Its overall message was straightforward and constantly reiterated: although organisations are progressively adopting IP telephony networks, the infrastructure itself does not deliver competitive advantage - intelligent applications do.

"From an infrastructure point of view, all businesses are the same, which does zero for competitive advantage," said Jorge Blanco, vice-president of marketing strategy and portfolio management for Avaya.

The message underlined Avaya's stated direction away from being a traditional private branch exchange and telephony software sales and support company and towards its new role as applications developer, consultant and implementer.

"We understand infrastructure is not really important for our customers, it is the business solution [that is]," said Daniel McConaghy, Avaya Asia Pacific regional sales vice-president.

But Blanco said Avaya was not a one-stop shop for IP telephony customers and partnering with IT vendors was a vital part of its business.

Brenton Hall, national sales support manager for insurance company IAG New Zealand, said Avaya worked well with partners TelstraClear and Gen-i on his company's IP telephony roll-out.

Dozens of IAG business processes now interacted with the new network, which has added flexibility in managing call loads and improved staff satisfaction and management.

"It drives competitive advantage for us because we can spread network load around the country and contact centre staff can relocate for lifestyle reasons and still do their jobs," Hall said. "That not only makes us efficient in what is a tight labour market, it also increases our presence in provincial New Zealand."

He said chief information officers in New Zealand should not be afraid of IP telephony networks.

"There's a lot of talk about what IP can't do for you, but what we have got out of it negates all that."

Avaya will launch an Auckland office within six months.