News Release

For Immediate Release:26 Jun 2001

Chicago, IL and Atlanta, GA US -

Avaya Inc. (NYSE:AV), a global leader in corporate networkingsolutions and services, today announced that it has been selectedas the strategic supplier of multi-channel customer relationshipmanagement (CRM) solutions for Home Depot's new customer contactcenters.

The announcement was made in Chicago at Retail Systems 2001.

Using Avaya's Interaction Management solutions, the world'slargest home improvement retailer plans to link to multiple,existing databases in local stores, deliver the information toagent desktops in regional customer support centers and enableagents to seamlessly respond to customers using any communicationmedium. By handling all contacts on a regional level, Home Depotfrees store associates to spend more time with in-store customers.Customers contacting the company through other channels, includingphone and e-mail, will also receive more efficient and accurateservice, with little or no time spent on hold or waiting for aresponse.

"For us, contact center technology is more than getting a callto an agent," said Ed Buter, Senior Manager " Information Services,Home Depot. "We have approximately a million products in more than1,200 stores, with numerous databases kept at the stores for thingslike product orders, delivery and installation schedules, toolrentals or promotional events. Our challenge is to get thisinformation to the agents while quickly and effectively integratingall channels of communication into a system that supports thebusiness. Avaya's contact center solution has the open architecturewe require and will also be able to grow in scale to match ourcustomer support plans to expand into additional areas."

Home Depot's first new customer contact center is scheduled toopen in September in Tampa, Fla., and will employ up to 1,000agents. All calls to local Home Depot stores in the company'sSouthern Division (Fla. and southern Ala.) will be answered byagents in the Tampa center, who will be able to access specific,detailed information relative to each individual location.

"Getting information to the right person at the right time is acritical part of customer support and can turn a service experienceinto a sales opportunity, " said Jim Smith, vice president CRMSolutions, Avaya. "But accessing and delivering the informationacross channels can be a major challenge. With Avaya's InteractionManagement solutions, Home Depot can provide customers in anysetting with a seamless experience that not only answers theirquestions, but reinforces buying behavior."

Avaya's Interaction Management solutions will allow Home Depotto effectively handle customer support through a variety ofchannels, such as web chat, email, voice-over IP and phone. Usingan open platform that easily integrates with existing systems andcommunications equipment from multiple vendors, InteractionManagement solutions will enable Home Depot agents in regionalsupport centers to quickly access information from databases atlocal stores. Avaya Professional Services will be providing designand integration support to deliver solution integrity.

In addition to Interaction Management, Avaya's CRM Solutionsinclude Commitment Management solutions that manage and distributework from the front desk through fulfillment, and BusinessIntelligence solutions to help better understand customer buyingpatterns and preferences to improve the effectiveness of eachencounter between a company and a customer.

Avaya, headquartered in Basking Ridge, N.J., is a leading globalprovider of communications solutions and services that helpbusinesses, government agencies and other institutions " includingmore than 75 percent of the Fortune 500 " excel in the customereconomy. Avaya offers Customer Relationship Management Solutions,Unified Communication Solutions, Hosted Solutions, MultiServiceNetworking Infrastructure, and Converged Voice and Data Networks "including the company's no-compromise Enterprise-Class IP Solutions(ECLIPS) " all supported by Avaya Services and Avaya Labs. Avaya isthe worldwide leader in unified messaging, messaging systems, callcenters and structured cabling systems. It is the U.S. leader invoice communications systems. For more information about Avaya,visit its Web site at http://www.avaya.com.

Founded in 1978, Home Depot has 1,220 stores in the UnitedStates, Puerto Rico, Canada, Chile and Argentina. In February,Fortune magazine named Home Depot the sixth Most Admired Company inAmerica. The company's stock is publicly traded (NYSE:HD) and isincluded in the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Standard &Poor's 500 Index.