Avaya Signs Deal with GE's Access Distribution to Broaden North American Sales Channels

BASKING RIDGE, N.J. and WESTMINSTER, Colo., July 26 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- In a move designed to broaden its base of North American resellers and further enhance its expertise in providing data communications capabilities to enterprise customers, Avaya Inc. announced that it has signed a distribution agreement with GE's Access Distribution, a value-added distributor of complex IT solutions.

Under the terms of the agreement, Access Distribution will represent the entire Avaya product portfolio, as well as solutions from Avaya Global Services, including maintenance and installation work."

A global leader in business communications applications, systems and services, Avaya currently has a network of more than 2,500 resellers in North America. Access Distribution has over 600 additional reseller customers experienced in complex IT products, solutions and services -- from network security and storage to enterprise applications software.

"Adding Access Distribution as an Avaya distributor broadens our base and positions us for the future," said Ken Archer, vice president, North America channels, Avaya. "Now, the hundreds of information technology partners who are Access Distribution resellers have the option to become certified in Avaya's Intelligent Communications solutions -- building new revenue streams by offering their customers fully converged voice and data solutions that help them get more out of their network investment."

According to the Global Technology Distribution Council, distributor telecom numbers are increasing steadily and VOIP is a driver of this growth. "The time is right for us to bring on a VOIP vendor in response to this market opportunity," said Scott Zahl, Vice President of Vendor Relations at Access Distribution. "Adding a leading VOIP vendor like Avaya to our portfolio is a significant milestone for Access. We are excited about this partnership because it opens up additional revenue channels for our reseller partners and new growth opportunities for Access."

Access Distribution offers resellers industry-leading, value-added services that are designed to increase their profitability and improve their competitive advantage. These include:

* Support services. Access Distribution's OneTech(TM) Services portfolio will be available to resellers, including a dedicated team of fully certified engineers for pre sales configuration and enterprise architecture assessments. * Marketing Services. Access Distribution will provide resellers with comprehensive marketing tools and support - from timely market data to funding resources to help them achieve their business goals. * Government Systems Support. With more than 50 years experience in selling complex IT solutions to government markets, Access Distribution's Government Systems Group will be available to help resellers identify and capitalize on opportunities with federal, state, local and educational enterprises. * Financial services. Access Distribution can provide resellers with a variety of financing options -- from flexible leasing programs to lines of credit -- through GE Commercial Finance. Access Distribution is part of the Capital Solutions business operating under GE Commercial Finance.

Avaya training programs are underway for Access Distribution sales and support teams.

About Avaya

Avaya Inc. designs, builds and manages communications networks for more than 1 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 (IP) 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 website: http://www.avaya.com/.

About Access Distribution

Access Distribution, a General Electric company and part of the Capital Solutions business, is a premier value-added technical distributor of complex computer products, solutions and services. With headquarters in Westminster, Colo., its breadth and depth of service and expertise offers its partners industry-leading support as they take complex computer solutions to market. Access Distribution provides innovative solutions to increase its partners' profitability and competitive advantage as it focuses on leading technologies and services in the areas of network security, storage, enterprise applications software and the Sun Microsystems, Inc. systems platform.

Access Distribution has service, logistics and sales offices throughout the U.S. and Canada, and also has operations in Europe. For additional information and press announcements, please visit our web site at http://www.geaccess.com/ or, to contact us by phone, call (800) 733-9333.

Access Distribution. General Electric, GE Access, Access Distribution and the GE monogram are registered trademarks of General Electric Company. All other company and product names contained herein are property of their respective holders. Statements in this release that are forward looking involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, which may cause the Company's actual results in future periods to be materially different from any future performance that may be suggested in this release. The Company assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in this release.