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University of Hull selects Avaya to innovate telephony environment as part of £25m digital transformation project

Avaya technology will enhance staff and student experiences and cut costs
University signs 10-year strategic partnership with Avaya to help fulfil digital vision

Guildford, UK -- 2016 – The University of Hull, a leading UK higher education provider, has entered into a 10-year strategic partnership with global business communications and collaboration company Avaya. The partnership, which forms part of a £25 million digital transformation project at the University, aims to help support staff and attract top students.

The first phase of the partnership is the deployment of an Avaya telephony and unified communications solution which will drive improved internal and external communications and reduce costs.

Improved experience in the contact centre

The IT department is replacing its Unify telephony system with an Avaya Aura solution for its contact centre. The new software will provide greater flexibility and enable the University to better manage peaks in call volumes, for example during clearing. Callers will receive an improved level of customer service as calls are answered more promptly and then passed to the correct departments more quickly, thanks to better routing capabilities.

Greater collaboration and integration in Student Services

With an increasing number of students using email and social media websites, the University team has chosen to deploy Avaya Aura Contact Centre to manage communications across all channels and improve engagement between staff and students. Additionally Avaya’s Engagement Development Platform (EDP) will enable students to design their own communications-enabled business processes. Avaya will also be sponsoring activities around development of this.

The Avaya solution will be rolled out in three phases over the next eighteen months.

Quotes:

“This partnership represents a step change in our University’s telephony service that will open up myriad opportunities to enhance our staff and student experience, while at the same time reducing cost. It is part of a £25m investment over five years that is transforming the provision and use of ICT at our University.

Throughout the procurement process the Avaya team has shown it really understands what we want to achieve and the solution it has provided aligns closely with our University’s long-term goals. We believe that Avaya technology represents an excellent solution for our University and there is a good fit between their mindset and ours. When it comes to selecting suppliers, we also pay close attention to analyst and other third party recommendations. Avaya has a fantastic reputation in the education sector and its track record as a visionary leader in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for unified communications further underlined to us that its capabilities and approach were exactly what the university needs: excellence in innovation, reliability and adaptability.”

John Hemingway, Director of ICT at the University of Hull

“Our experience of working with other education providers means that we understand the challenges that Hull University faces as well as the opportunity it had to improve the daily experience of all those involved with it. Modern communication and collaboration technology is fantastic foundation for digital transformation and when this project is complete Hull will be able to differentiate itself from competitors through the quality of its digital services it offers to staff and students alike.”
Steve Joyner, Head of Sales Engineering, Avaya EU

About Avaya
Avaya is a leading provider of solutions that enable customer and team engagement across multiple channels and devices for better customer experience, increased productivity and enhanced financial performance. Its world-class contact center and unified communications technologies and services are available in a wide variety of flexible on-premises and cloud deployment options that seamlessly integrate with non-Avaya applications. The Avaya Engagement Environment enables third parties to create and customize business applications for competitive advantage. Avaya’s fabric-based networking solutions help simplify and accelerate the deployment of business critical applications and services. For more information please visit www.avaya.com/uk/.

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 www.sec.gov. 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.

Contact

deborah.nazareth@fleishmaneurope.com

+44 7715 701827

About Avaya

Businesses are built by the experiences they provide, and every day, millions of those experiences are delivered by Avaya. Organizations trust Avaya to provide innovative solutions for some of their most important ambitions and challenges, giving them the freedom to engage their customers and employees in ways that deliver the greatest business benefits. Avaya contact center and communications solutions power immersive, personalized, and unforgettable customer experiences that drive business momentum. With the freedom to choose their journey, there’s no limit to the experiences Avaya customers can create. Learn more at https://www.avaya.com.