iPad users will be able to make full use of their employers' Avaya unified communications and collaboration systems: Avaya has released a version of its Avaya Flare Experience software for the iPad. According to Avaya the iPad version, Avaya Communicator, works over 3G and WiFi networks and enables users to: - view the availability of enterprise associates from the contacts card and simply tap a single location to launch an instant message (IM), voice call or email; - manage two simultaneous voice calls using the iPad while mobile;- multi-task on the iPad tablet while communicating, eg read email, attend a web conference and use the iPad browser, and attend a voice conference call and IM, or use other productivity applications; - search the corporate directory and add associates to the Avaya Flare Communicator contacts fan for easy access; - engage in secure communication and collaboration remotely using Wi-Fi hotspots or 3G connectivity; - reduce mobile expenses by using the data channel and avoiding roaming charges while travelling across different cellular networks. Avaya announced the Flare Experience in September 2010 and was extremely vague about its exact nature. It debuted as Android software running only on a dedicated Avaya tablet but Avaya played down the role of this device and in so doing caused a deal of confusion among commentators and analysts. {loadposition exchange1}

Salmat, which claims to be Australia's largest outsourced call centre operator, is to spend millions of dollars with Avaya to upgrade its call centres by replacing Genesys with Avaya technology.

The Australian market for contact centre applications bounced back in 2010, recovering from a decline in 2009 to record growth of 16.4 per cent, and with strong growth forecast for the next seven years. Genesys, Avaya and Cisco are the top vendors with a full range of contact centre solutions, while Verint and NICE Systems lead in monitoring and optimisation solutions.

The Australian market for unified communications is predicted to soar to revenues of $1 billion over the next six years as government incentives for video deployments and pent up demand in the wake of the 2009 economic slowdown fuel renewed strong growth.

Enterprise IT services vendor, AVAYA, has appointed a new head of its data business division for the ANZ region.

Avaya has published the result of its Contact Centre Consumer Index, and the results aren’t good news for contact centres,  with the majority of customers left unimpressed.

The push by employees at all levels to integrated their tablet devices into their employers' IT environment has been well documented. Less widely reported have been the moves by big unified communications vendors, Cisco and Avaya, to counter this trend and maintain their grip on the enterprise unified communications market.

IP telephony and data player Avaya today announced it has signed a US$1 million contract to deploy integrated voice and data solutions for Cochlear, replacing previous vendors Cisco and Alcatel at the hearing giant's head office in North Ryde.

Hitachi Data Systems and Teradata have been listed as one of the 2011 World's Most Ethical Companies by the Ethisphere Institute. Several other players in the ICT industry also made the list.

Global enterprise networking giant Avaya has won the trust of the Department of Defence, and will deploy routing and switching solutions throughout the organisation's network.