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Avaya Contact Center Customers Outpace the Industry Average According to Analyst Study

SANTA CLARA, CA — (Marketwired) — 05/21/13 —

Avaya contact center customers deploy appropriate strategies to meet the challenges of serving more empowered consumers

Study shows analytical tools and access to data drive better service, performance gains and cost reductions

Companies that are using Avaya Customer Experience Management (CEM) solutions are more likely to outperform industry average firms in using technologies and processes to drive a differentiated customer experience, according to an industry analyst study. The study also found that Avaya customers are achieving substantially greater annual contact center performance gains that increase customer satisfaction and reduce costs than their industry average peers.

Findings from an Aberdeen Group research study indicate that the strategic focus of Avaya contact center users is aligned with best practices to ensure compliance, capture and utilize customer and operational data, as well as continuously improve contact center performance. The findings were included reported in an Aberdeen Group Analyst Insight, published March 2013.

The top challenge confronting companies- CEM initiatives today is serving a more “empowered customer” who has access to more technology tools, a variety of channels and is more educated about the products and services they seek to buy. At the same time, companies need to reign in rising contact center operational costs. Companies need to be laser-focused on optimizing customer care activities and operations to survive in the “new normal,” according to Aberdeen.

Avaya customers are aligned with best practices that help them meet these challenges through a balanced focus on people, processes, policies and technology. Among the highlights of the Aberdeen Group report:

To deliver a more analysis of historical data and interaction patterns can help identify and anticipate customer needs and maintain operational excellence — especially when supported by tools such as Automatic Call Distribution and Multichannel agent desktop. The report found the following patterns

73% of Avaya users direct customers to the channels that are best equipped to address their needs

61% of Avaya users can handle customer requests across multiple channels to deliver a seamless multi-channel care

For companies concerned with , call recording and performance management processes and technologies support adherence to guidelines and quality assurance. Avaya users are more likely to have these policies and technologies in place compared to industry average firms:

84% of Avaya users achieved a 6.1% year-over-year increase in quality compliance, as compared to 1.3% industry average

44% of Avaya users are more likely to use call recording technology and 40% more likely to enforce call recording polices compared to industry average firms

The importance of cannot be overlooked since its use and the impact of data is directly related. For Avaya customers, 71% of their senior executives have created a culture of trust in contact center data collected through numerous systems and channels compared to the industry average of 50%. In addition, Avaya customers are 63% more likely than industry average firms to provide agents with easy access to timely, relevant information through their desktop enabling them to be more empowered and do their jobs better.

The contact center activities to accommodate fluctuations in customer traffic is critical since the inability to reach a company or long wait times could mean a loss of business as well as to negative word-of-mouth. Avaya customers are 12% more likely than industry average firms to engage in a practice of scaling activities up and down to meet varying customer demand.

The Aberdeen Group report is based on a survey conducted in 2012 of 478 customer care executives globally on contact center best practices and technology enablement.

Customer needs are constantly changing. Best-in-Class contact centers address these rapidly evolving needs through deploying analytical tools and processes such as the capabilities provided by Avaya, to streamline their data management activities and ultimately improve CEM results.

“The customer experience is the central driver of every aspect of business. As the world becomes more collaborative with the growth of social channels and mobile platforms, customers expect companies to provide them with more than a simple customer service call. Avaya Customer Experience Management solutions enable companies to deliver a superior customer care by offering them a more personalized customer experience to fulfill their needs every step of the way.”

Avaya, customer experience management, contact center, call center, big data, multichannel, analytics, customer service, web service, multichannel service

Avaya is a global provider of business collaboration and communications solutions, providing unified communications, contact centers, networking and related services to companies of all sizes around the world. For more information please visit .

Enabled by its team of 40 research analysts covering 16 industry-sector categories, access to 35,000+ benchmarked enterprise decision makers, and 2.5 million research readers, Aberdeen Group — a Harte-Hanks Company (NYSE: HHS) — is the trusted advisor to global technology markets, providing corporations with insights that drive IT decisions. Aberdeen-s independent, fact-based research and market intelligence is used by the Fortune 1000, Global 500, and Software 500.

Aberdeen has offices in Boston and London. Harte-Hanks operates 25 offices in the United States, and has locations throughout Asia-Pacific, Europe, and Latin America.

Certain statements contained in this press release are forward-looking statements. These statements may be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “might,” “plan,” “potential,” “predict,” “should” or “will” or other similar terminology. We have based these forward-looking statements on our current expectations, assumptions, estimates and projections. While we believe these expectations, assumptions, estimates and projections are reasonable, such forward-looking statements are only predictions and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond our control. These and other important factors may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. For a list and description of such risks and uncertainties, please refer to Avaya-s filings with the SEC that are available at . Avaya disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

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Deborah Kline
P: 908-953-6179