Avaya is broadening its 40-year partnership with headset provider
Plantronics in 2010, looking to raise the partnership’s profile with channel
partners and end-user companies alike as the two companies continue to target
unified communications and call center solutions.
Avaya recently topped ABI Research’s vendor
matrix as the
No. 1 provider of unified communications solutions, beating Cisco, IBM
and Siemens.
The deal with Plantronics calls for Avaya to sell Plantronics headsets under
the Plantronics brand name—a change from the current relationship in which
Avaya sells Plantronics-manufactured headsets under the Avaya brand name.
The relationship will also focus on tighter technology integration and greater
marketing cooperation, the companies said in a statement. Specifically,
Avaya and Plantronics will collaborate on integrated unified communications and
contact center marketing campaigns to both channel partners and end users in
2010.
“Together, Avaya and Plantronics offer customers end-to-end unified communications
solutions that are seamless, minimize risk and spur adoption for IT decision
makers, and deliver great audio and simplicity for end users,” said Linda
Dotts, vice president of product marketing for unified communications at
Avaya. “Expanding our relationship will help customers realize the
collaboration and cost savings associated with unified communications.”
Plantronics offers a portfolio of Avaya-certified headsets that can immediately
provide connectivity and advanced call center functionality with Avaya
solutions. The companies plan to take that a step further with future voice
solutions that exploit Avaya’s suite of collaboration applications and tools.
Avaya notes that Plantronics is the only headset manufacturer to hold Platinum
status in Avaya’s DevConnect program, an initiative to develop, market and sell
third-party products that interoperate with Avaya technology.
Avaya DevConnect promotes the development, compliance testing and co-marketing
of third-party products compatible with Avaya solutions.
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Messaging and Collaboration 
