For Immediate Release: 24-Sep-2002
TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADAAvaya (NYSE: AV), a leading global provider of voice and data
networks to businesses, announced that Red Deer Public Library,
located in Red Deer, Alberta, is improving customer service by
unifying its network infrastructure with Avaya IP Office, an
"all-in-one" Internet Protocol (IP) telephony system. With the Avaya solution, Red Deer Public Library will integrate
two local operations its main downtown location and one branch
location enabling the library staff to provide faster and more
effective services to its customers. The Avaya IP Office is
designed to bring the sophistication of big-business voice and data
communications to small and mid-sized enterprises at an affordable
price. Although situated in a modest community of only 70,000 people,
the Red Deer Public Library is a hub for the city and a popular
destination for local residents, making it one of the busiest
libraries in Canada, with an average of 650,000 visitors per year.
With the number of visitors increasing, and calls to the library
steadily on the rise, Red Deer Public Library decided to upgrade
its communications systems when the City of Red Deer built a fiber
network infrastructure for the city. "Thanks to the City's investment in the fiber network that is
now the backbone of the library network, we have a solid
infrastructure to support the Avaya solutions," said Scott Stanley,
information technology librarian, Red Deer Public Library. "Avaya
IP Office allows us to manage all calls coming into our branches
more efficiently and will create a base for future development,
such as integrated voicemail and email systems." The Red Deer Library has two locations, one located downtown and
the other located in North Red Deer. Traditionally, visitors
calling the Red Deer Library would dial several different numbers
to reach a person, department or a local branch. If a customer
dialled the main number of the downtown branch they would be
transferred manually to different departments depending on their
request, or asked to hang-up and call another number. With the
growing volume of calls, the time-consuming process interfered with
the library's goal to provide the best customer service possible.
Avaya IP Office automatically routes customer calls over the
library's converged Wide Area Network to the most appropriate
department or contact person, and if one branch is closed, calls
are automatically transferred to the other branch. "We always strive to be on the cutting edge of technology in
order to offer customers the best services possible, and this new
solution once again puts us ahead of the curve," said Dean Frey,
director of library services, Red Deer Public Library. "It was
imperative we install a network infrastructure that could support
not only our needs, but more importantly our customers' needs, over
the long-term. The solutions are scalable, so we can build out our
network as our needs continue to expand. For example, it only takes
a few minutes to add a new phone extension and personal voicemail
when a new staff member joins our team." Avaya and Telebyte, a provider of communication solutions and an
Avaya BusinessPartner, worked with Red Deer Library to install
Avaya IP Office, which is part of Avaya's Enterprise Class Internet
Protocol Solutions (ECLIPS). Avaya IP Office will provide the
library with more flexible and cost effective communication, as
well as enhance stronger working relationships with the library's
partners The Family Literacy Program and the Red Deer Adult
Literacy Program which also operate on the converged network. Red
Deer Library has also implemented Avaya IP Hardphones and the Avaya
VisAbility Management Suite, including Avaya MultiService Network
Manager, which provides a comprehensive set of tools to make it
easier for the Library IT staff to manage and monitor the traffic
on the network giving priority to voice traffic over data traffic.
In addition, both the North Library branch and the downtown branch
have been equipped with the Avaya P330 Stackable Switching System
to support the IP telephony workgroup. This eliminates the need to
install a separate telephone system in the second branch, as the IP
telephones are controlled directly from the central system in the
downtown branch. "The Red Deer Library has effectively centralized its calls
helping ensure that callers' needs are met quickly and efficiently,
and allowing the Library staff to focus its resources on working
directly with visitors rather than managing the phones," said John
Williams, director of distribution sales, Avaya Canada. "By working
with a valued Avaya partner like Telebyte, the Red Deer Library
will also have the benefit of a single point of contact to meet all
of its support and communication needs." About Red Deer Public Library
Red Deer Public Library has been meeting the information needs of
the City of Red Deer since 1914. One of the busiest public
libraries in Canada, Red Deer Public Library is a leader in
technology, partnership and customer service. It serves the 70,000
people who live in Red Deer, a thriving community located mid-way
between Edmonton and Calgary. For more information visit the
Library's Web site, at http://www.rdpl.org. About Telebyte
Telebyte, which was established in Red Deer, Alberta in 1993,
provides Business Telephone Systems, Structured Cabling,
PC/Networking, Wide Area Networking and Wireless solutions to meet
customer needs across all regions of Alberta. About Avaya
Avaya Inc. designs, builds and manages communications networks for
more than one million businesses around the world, including 90
percent of the FORTUNE® 500. A world leader in secure and reliable
Internet Protocol (IP) telephony systems, software applications and
services, Avaya is driving the convergence of voice and data
applications across IT networks, enabling businesses large and
small to leverage existing and new networks to enhance value,
improve productivity and gain competitive advantage. For more
information visit the Avaya Web site: http://www.avaya.com With Canadian headquarters in Markham, Ontario, and offices
across the country, Avaya employs more than 350 people in Canada.
For more information about Avaya, visit its Web site at http://www.avaya.ca. | 
