BASKING RIDGE, N.J., Dec. 12 /PRNewswire/ -- RE/MAX(R) Unlimited Northwest, a real estate agency that covers the Chicago suburbs of northern Illinois, is improving client service, reducing costs and growing its operations after implementing Avaya IP Office, a secure, easy-to-use converged voice and data system for small and medium offices. RE/MAX Unlimited Northwest is a franchise of RE/MAX International, a worldwide network of agents providing residential and commercial real estate services. The company operates in one of the nation's most competitive industries, making it imperative to maintain an ongoing focus on customer service. Its IP Office system was installed and configured by Converged Communication Systems LLC, which recently achieved "SMB Expert" designation from Avaya for its proficiency in core areas that include customer support, technology knowledge and expertise, sales revenues and marketing support. "We get hundreds of calls daily from clients who are selling or looking for real estate," said Christine Zatz, operations manager, RE/MAX Unlimited Northwest. "We have less than 100 employees covering a territory that forms a radius about 50 miles from Chicago, and every single client wants personalized service and to reach their agent immediately. If our customers don't get the kind of service they expect, they're likely to take their business to another agency. That clearly would affect our revenue." RE/MAX Unlimited Northwest recently added to its operations by purchasing branch offices in Algonquin, Crystal Lake and Cary, Illinois, known as the Tri-County region of the state. Each of the new sites had outgrown its existing Avaya private branch exchange (PBX), leading the company to turn to Avaya for advanced communication capabilities that could be sized for its growing operations and tailored for its mobile workforce. "Our Tri-County offices have about 60 employees who are constantly in and out of the office," Zatz said. "The features of IP Office are ideal because agents can set their own preferences and can choose how they want to stay connected to their clients." Now, with IP Office systems at each Tri-County location, agents no longer have to call in to see if they have messages. The Avaya system can automatically page them when they're on the road to let them know they have a message or can send an alert directly to a mobile phone or handheld device. As a result they can quickly get back to their clients. Each agent also can choose how they want incoming calls to be handled. They can forward calls to their cell phone when they are away from the office or can set up a personal auto attendant to offer callers options. Auto attendant prompts might allow callers to press a key to leave a message, have their call routed directly to the agent's mobile phone, hear more about available properties or speak with the office operator. Agents also can choose to route their calls to a backup person when they are out of town. In addition to features that appeal to agents and their clients, IP Office offers a number of easy-to-use administrative features that allow Zatz to maintain the three systems remotely from her laptop, eliminating the need for site visits. She uses simple menus to add extensions, send alerts to the staff and set up agents' preferences for being contacted. "It literally takes me two minutes, and I'm done," Zatz said. As RE/MAX Unlimited Northwest grows, Zatz said, networking the IP Office systems is an option the company is considering. "The Avaya system we have in our three key offices is definitely capable of expanding along with our business," she said. 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(R). 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/. About Converged Communication Systems, LLC Converged Communication Systems (CCS) is a single-source provider of leading-edge telecommunications solutions and support services for businesses ranging from 2 to 360 employees per location. CCS's areas of expertise include multi-location Voice over IP networking/IP telephony/IP home workers, converged voice and data solutions, call centers/CRM, wireless solutions, and unified messaging. CCS was founded in March 2003 and the partners of the firm have extensive tenure and training from their experience at Lucent Technologies. CCS's goal to implement new solutions with minimal downtime and disruption to its customers' businesses becomes a reality pre-implementation process, attention to detail and exceptional first day of business training and support. CCS's high customer retention and progressive growth are results of the company's continued commitment to providing and implementing cutting edge solutions and by supporting customers for the long term. DATASOURCE: Avaya Inc. CONTACT: Media Relations, Barbara Burgess, +1-908-953-3348, ; or Investor Relations, Matt Booher, +1-908-953-7500, , both of Avaya Inc. Web site: http://www.avaya.com/

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