Arvato Services Incorporates Avaya IP Telephony for Worldwide Communications

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina, June 28 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Arvato Services, a global provider of CRM services through IT systems applications, has selected communication solutions from Avaya Inc. to connect its call and contact centers using Voice over IP (VoIP) technology. Avaya is a leading global provider of business communications applications, systems and services.

Arvato Services, which has experienced significant growth over the past few years, chose an Intelligent Communications solution from Avaya to connect its contact centers in Buenos Aires, Argentina and in Kitchener, Canada to help it maintain high standards of service.

Arvato Services offers customer and financial services, database management, printing, production, distribution and e-commerce transactions through CRM global solutions. The Avaya solution allows Arvato to record incoming calls in order to monitor individual performance, detect errors, adjust training processes and prioritize calls to redirect them to the right agent, thus reducing wait times and improving customer service.

A team of specialized Arvato professionals offers clients end-to-end business solutions at every stage in the value chain, the basis for its CRM (Customer Relationship Management) strategy.

At the Argentine location, Arvato Services employs 350 people who offer personalized solutions for each company. They cover all aspects of customer relations management, such as: data treatment and modeling, integral development of business intelligence applications, global CRM services, print services that include the outsourcing of productive processes, large-scale mailings and direct marketing campaigns. In addition, the contact center agents receive calls from the Canada call center, which receives and transfers the calls.

Based on Arvato's needs, Avaya installed an Avaya Communication Manager 3.0 on S8700 servers and Avaya G650 Media Gateways. Using Avaya Automatic Call Distribution (ACD) physically located in Canada and Argentina, the solution brought together the company's telecommunications, allowing the Buenos Aires call center to receive calls when there is an overflow at the Canadian Call Center -- without the need for agents to be involved in the process.

Avaya CMS (Call Management System) applications were also installed, creating management platform that enables a greater availability of reports, helping Arvato to see the evolution of operations while ensuring greater flexibility in the short term.

This year, Arvato Services Argentina plans to add 150 new posts to its contact center and it is currently implementing the new Avaya Smart Call Agent solution (predictive dialer). At the same time, Arvato is continually evaluating Latin American markets as it considers the possibility of opening new call centers for its customers.

"At Arvato, we are fully aware of the importance of understanding our customers' needs and offering them the best service possible both quickly and accurately," said Robert Kresing, General Manager of Arvato Services S.A. "In this case; our main objectives included high availability, scalability and flexibility for call management. All these components were the key when selecting the supplier who would provide this technology. We selected Avaya Intelligent Communications solutions, thanks to its excellent service at the local level and its leading position worldwide in terms of VoIP technology."

IP telephony enables voice communications on convergent networks based on Internet protocol (IP). The benefits of this innovative technology include: call transfer, teleconferences and voice messaging, as well as other improvements to telecommunication networks that can help companies reduce their costs significantly. IP telephony allows companies to use advanced capabilities for their call centers through IP networks, making it possible to provide great customer service from any location across the globe.

"Providing the set of applications most appropriate for Arvato Services represented a huge challenge: we had to offer a solution that was customized to the market, compatible with existing equipment, and totally open to allow for other technology incorporations in the future, but we could make it thanks to the great performance of avaya's network," explains Javier Braun, Avaya's general director for the Southern Cone.

Founded in 1835, Arvato AG is the media service provider of Europe's largest media corporation, Bertelsmann AG. Headquartered in Gutersloh, Germany, the Arvato Services Group provides international outsourcing solutions to a wide range of businesses both nationally and globally. With record annual sales totaling $3.9 billion dollars in 2004, the company operates in more than 25 countries and employs 15,000 workers around the world. Arvato provides services to more than 200 customers and handles more than 50 million calls and 10 million e-mails per year. The company's client list includes Fortune 500 companies in industries such as tourism, information technology, financial communication media, and others.

About Avaya

Avaya Inc. designs, develops and manages communication networks for more than 1 million companies around the world. Ninety percent of its clients are on the Fortune 500 list. With services aimed at both large and small companies alike, Avaya is the world leader in IP telephony systems and applications for communications software and services.

As a pioneer in the convergence of voice and data communication through business applications -- and renowned for a full range of global services, -- Avaya helps its clients strengthen existing networks and create new ones to achieve the best business results. For more information on Avaya, you can visit http://www.avaya.com/.

About Arvato

Arvato AG is one of the leading international service providers, with more than 60 companies across the world, 22,000 workers and sales totaling 4 billion euros per year.

Arvato is a subsidiary of Bertelsmann AG, the largest media corporation in Europe. Bertelsmann has more than 300 companies in 55 countries, with an annual volume that exceeds 20 billion euros per year. The group employs more than 80,000 people across the world.