Avaya IP Office vs. Evolve IP Unified Communications

So I haven't had one where it's not appropriate at all unless somebody was going pure cloud. Obviously, this is not a cloud product, but from an on-premise solution like the IP office is, we've sold it to companies that have five users and we've sold it to customers that have thousands of users. So it's very expandable, adjustable to be it's hybrid, so it's IP and digital mix capabilities. So that's a strong suit.

Incentivized

I would leave it at the "?" rating because what can you rate them? 1 is too high. The only way they'd be "ok" is if: 1. Your company isn't growing and your users never leave the company. 2. You don't have to call support or make edits to the admin portal. 3. Don't need reporting. 4. Only use a physical phone to make/receive calls. 5. Do not plan to use a softphone or call center system. 6. Enjoy systems or people that frustrate you.

Incentivized

• Centralization is key. If you want to have all of your facilities on one phone system, to help mitigate telecom costs this is the system for you. You purchase the necessary licensing (one time purchase) and the licenses stay with you as long as you stay on that platform!
• Flexibility is fantastic. Whether you want to use the IP Office as a key system, or replace your existing partner system, or run as a PBX. This system will do it all, I was very impressed with the compatibility of the IP Office with legacy equipment. Have a Partner system? Not a problem. Have a Definity system? Not a problem!
• Broad based technology. You can utilize CO trunks (POTS lines), ISDN/PRI, T1, SIP, etc.... What ever your carrier hands off to you the IP Office can integrate with. No need to work with a third party vendor to get your interface up and running. AVAYA is a one stop shop, and if you have an existing warranty, just upgrade your IPOSS information on the system and your new hardware is covered.

Incentivized

• One pane of glass to manage multiple sites
• Zero upfront cost of ownership
• Flexibility in configuration

• Rush for updates. At times an updated will fix one problem, and inadvertently create another. However with due diligence from your business partner (Tektivity) patches are tested before being rolled out in production environments.
• Part itemization. If you purchase a new system, the power cord does not come with the unit, that is a separate part. Very minor in the grand scheme of things but as a reseller and a customer still somewhat annoying.
• Large convoluted organization. As a user trying to navigate the AVAYA website, and track down information can be daunting. Even calling support can be challenging, you never know if your call will be routed to India, Brazil, or Denver. That is why the relationship with Tektivity is so important. You can leverage your business partner to get the answers you need so you can spend your time tackling issues that need your attention.

Incentivized

• I'd like to see them build out API functionality for reporting off of call data within the organization. They have a Call Center product that seems to include a fairly robust reporting module, but it would be nice to be able to do some more of this within the standard Phone System product as well.

Incentivized

Oddly enough I have been impressed with the IP Office platform so much that I have integrated one into my home. My wife was not happy with it initially but once she started using it she was very happy with the results. It helped that I programmed it to work just like a home phone but with features and options that I can utilize remotely. I would be more than happy to put an AVAYA IP Office against any other phone system on the market, and let you be the judge.

Incentivized

Support? If I could do everything myself with the time I don't have, I would do it better than their support. I don't like saying it that way, but it is the truth. We hired someone from another company that also used Evolve IP and when they found out that is what we used here, he expressed all of the same complaints and stories that we had.

Incentivized

Much better feature set with Avaya IP Office, and I really feel you're getting feature-rich telephony for a well priced switch. The system is very adaptable and a much better fit than legacy key systems and cloud-based UCaaS solutions competing in the same market.

Incentivized

We switched from 8x8 due to voice quality issues.

Incentivized

• When selling to a prospective customer, I always do a 10 yr ROI to show the benefits of Avaya IP Office or ACO and which scenario would fit best.
• CAPEX vs OPEX
• Number of phones needed as well as other features need to be considered to determine if Avaya IP Office fits best.

Incentivized

• We have reduce operational expenses by an average of 30 percent by switching to EIP.
• Higher level of employee engagement with customers (given phone features).
• Only negativity would be if you have a single point of failure for internet service it proves to be a challenge.