Avaya IP Office vs. FluentCloud

The limitations of this unit are 2000 users, across 32 different locations. It is an SME product that is well past the border into enterprise territory with out having the enterprise expense. To top it off you can virtualize the servers! Anything outside of this scope would need to step into an Avaya Aura system. Do not forget to check with your vendor for leasing options if you do not want to have your new phone system fall into the category as a capitol project.

Incentivized

I have tried a few programs over the years to record and track calls and this one is by far the best. Easy to use and more functions than I will ever use. I love the reporting options. There was one particular scenario that comes to mind where I was glad to have FluentCloud. I had a client that was really really angry, cussing, yelling, threatening suit, etc. because he had gone to an appointment almost 2 hours away and when he got there the woman told him that we forced her to schedule the appointment, that we were pushy and rude and she just wanted to get off the phone. Thankfully I found the recording and was able to prove to him that she DID schedule the appointment but she also picked the day and time, answered all of the questions and took absolutely no persuasion at all. Basically it was an easy close. The client couldn't believe it and still to this day he is my client.

Incentivized

• It is a phone system. It dials calls, makes sure there's a secure login, and keeps securities actually quite good on it. It provides and allows for VPN access into the VPN phones, into it via SIP or via IP sac, and has a good voicemail system.

Incentivized

• Allows us to record thousands of calls per day. As far as I know there is no cap, at least we haven't hit it yet.
• I really like that I can pull reports/recordings several different ways. I can search by caller name/extension, or by phone number, or by date and time of the call, etc. Very easy to use dashboard.
• I also like that we can set security options to where certain people might have more access than others. We have it set up so that the caller can only access and see his/her own calls, but the trainers can see themselves and their team, and then higher management has access to all calls in or out.
• FluentCloud is super easy to use, absolutely does everything we need it to.

Incentivized

• 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

• The whisper coach and other trainer features are a bit frustrating as the caller has to be on a current call to connect and each monitoring session only lasts for the length of that one call. An improvement could be made to allow a trainer to continue piggybacking on the monitored extension, so they can listen to a trainee for as long as they choose.
• The recording system has had some hiccups recently where the recording quality is so bad as to be unusable. They have fixed this issue a few times, hopefully it doesn't pop back up. Along the same lines we have had a few occurrences where recordings we not available to review until 4 or 5 hours after the cal.

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

At this time there our research has found that feature for feature there isn't a better solution for our needs at this cost point. We have had great success and don't foresee a need to change

Incentivized

Avaya IP Office is a great system that is somewhat affordable for most SMB's. However, In our experience, Avaya IP Office has a tendency to shelve some of the license as you upgrade the software release on the PBX switch without giving back any comparable license to compensate. The Voicemail Pro license is quite expensive and most of the functionality that most business needs are not covered in the standard voicemail offering.

Incentivized

I've evaluated Cisco and Mitel as well. So from the phone system, while feature functionalities, they've all do some of the same things. The biggest benefit of the IP office is that it is hybrid. You can do digital analog and IP all out of the same box, the same telecom system.

Incentivized

I have used others besides what is listed below but FluentCloud is by far the best I have used, especially when it comes to tracking and reporting call volume and production of our calls. Being a call center that is production based on call volume having something like FluentCloud is essential.

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

• I am not part of the finance department. But I would say that it has more than paid for itself.

Incentivized