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Small and Medium Hispanic-owned Businesses in the United States Have Greatest Understanding of IP Telephony Technologies, Avaya Study Finds

According to Avaya-sponsored research, over the next 10 years Hispanic-owned businesses will be the fastest growing component of the small and medium business end user market in the United States

24 Feb 2005

Avaya Inc. (NYSE: AV), a leading global provider of business communications software, systems and services, today presented findings of a study that examined the business characteristics of Hispanic-owned small and medium businesses in the United States. At a briefing at Avaya's local headquarters in Miami, experts from Avaya shared with Florida-based resellers the results of research conducted by RDA Global, an international marketing research and consulting firm.

"According to several studies conducted, Hispanic-owned small and medium-sized businesses in the United States total approximately two million firms and generate more than $273 billion in revenues," said Hernan Mariño, Avaya's manager for the U.S. Hispanic and Latin American market, Small and Medium Business Solutions Group. "We wanted to do our own study to understand the needs and behaviors of this powerful economic force to better serve them with our communication solutions and empower them to embed communications technology in the fabric of their business operations. We found that Hispanic-owned business owners have the deeper understanding of the benefits of IP telephony technology than their counterparts, making them a critical market for Avaya, the global leader in IP innovations."

Forecasts from the Avaya-sponsored research indicate that over the next 10 years the growth rate of Hispanic-owned businesses will be at almost three times the rate of overall U.S. firms. The company surveyed Hispanic owners of small and medium businesses in the largest Hispanic markets in the United States including California, Texas, Florida and New York. The sample categories represented included companies of: 1-10 employees, 11-20 employees, 21-50 employees and 51-100 employees. A total of 350 firms were surveyed.

Because of their intrinsic connection to Latin America and need for communications between the U.S. and the region, Hispanic-owned firms are outspending their non-Hispanic counterparts on communication systems and services. Businesses have significant expenditures for basic communication services such as continuous overseas calling, conferencing, faxing and e-mailing. "Beyond cost-savings, there is a tremendous opportunity for Hispanic-owned small and medium firms to make their people more productive, processes more intelligent, and customers more satisfied, by deploying IP-based communications systems," said Mariño.

The seminar, held at Avaya's Executive Briefing Center in Miami, was held in conjunction with Tallard Technologies, one of Avaya's BusinessPartners focused on the U.S. Hispanic market. Avaya and Tallard Technologies have formed a relationship to penetrate U.S. Hispanic firms in Florida, where there are more than 55,000 small and medium Hispanic-owned businesses. More than 70 percent of those businesses are based in South Florida.

"Hispanic-owned businesses of between five and 100 employees are growing at a compounded annual rate of seven percent," said Manny Rodriguez of Tallard Technologies. "This makes them a very lucrative market for a reseller trying to grow their business, especially since these businesses represent the fastest growing segment for business consumers of technology."

About Avaya
Avaya Inc. designs, builds and manages communications networks for more than one million businesses worldwide, including over 90 percent of the FORTUNE 500®. Focused on businesses large to small, Avaya is a world leader in secure and reliable Internet Protocol telephony systems and communications software applications and services.

Driving the convergence of voice and data communications with business applications — and distinguished by comprehensive worldwide services — Avaya helps customers leverage existing and new networks to achieve superior business results. For more information visit the Avaya Web site: http://www.avaya.com

Note to editors:
The Avaya product portfolio for small and medium businesses includes Avaya IP Office, Partner® Advanced Communications System, Merlin MAGIX, and INDeX. Avaya has sold 38,000 IP Office systems, an "all-in-one" office communication solution that brings together voice, data and communications, to small and medium businesses worldwide, through its global network of 1,500 resellers. Avaya has also sold more than one million Partner systems worldwide. Partner is a telecommunications system that supports advanced telephony capabilities, including messaging and wireless applications to enhance company productivity. Merlin MAGIX is a simple and cost-effective telecommunication system that includes applications such as networking, messaging, wireless, and call center capabilities, and INDeX is Avaya's converged communication system for the European market.

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