Windstream Takes UCaaS Powered by Avaya Coast-to-Coast

SANTA CLARA, CA--(Marketwired - Jul 31, 2014) -

• Windstream is one of the first U.S.-based Avaya channel partners with a nationally available Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) offering
• Windstream offering the full suite of Avaya Aura® capabilities, including voice, mobility, messaging, conferencing, helpdesk and more

Avaya today announced that its Avaya Aura® unified communications solution is now nationally available as a cloud-based offering for enterprises through Windstream's Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) product. Windstream is a leading provider of network communication and cloud services based in the U.S. An Avaya Connect channel partner, Windstream is one of the first channel partners in North America to make Avaya Aura Unified Communications solution available as a cloud-based offering.

The Windstream UCaaS powered by Avaya solution is ideally suited for midsize to large enterprises seeking simpler and more flexible means of accessing and managing collaboration and communication technologies. Windstream's customers have access to the full suite of Avaya Aura capabilities, including VoIP, unified messaging, desktop video, and a variety of other mobility collaborative solutions. The UCaaS solution is underpinned by Windstream's redundant, enterprise-class data centers and delivered through the company's nationwide MPLS network. 

Windstream and its customers can take advantage of Avaya's utility-based consumption model, which allows both the cloud service provider and its customers to pay for only what they use. Unlike other cloud vendors that require carriers or enterprises to purchase a preset number of licenses, this flexibility enables cloud service providers and its customers to easily scale their service requirements up or down at any time depending on their needs. This shift to an OpEx-based business model helps both Windstream and its customers mitigate the cost of evolving to new services and better manage finances over time.

According to Frost & Sullivan, the hosted IP telephony and UCC market is expected to grow to $13.23 billion by 2020, and with UCaaS powered by Avaya, Windstream is ready to capitalize on that growth.

Quotes:
"We're committed to helping our CSP partners like Windstream address and attack new opportunities in new markets. Windstream's UCaaS powered by Avaya solution offers the agility and affordability that helps companies evolve from legacy, premises-based hardware-intensive communications to take advantage of the agility that the cloud offers and do so at their path, pace and choice."
 - Joe Manuele, vice president, Worldwide SI/SP and Global Cloud Services, Avaya

"We're excited to launch our UCaaS product and value our collaborative partnership with Avaya. Their robust unified communications solution, combined with our private MPLS network and highly secure data centers, presents a unique offering within the marketplace. This high quality product will provide a turn-key solution to Windstream's enterprise customers, meeting all of their business needs and even further underscoring our "smart solutions, personalized service" brand promise to them."
- Matt Preschern, senior vice president and enterprise chief marketing officer, Windstream

About Avaya:
Avaya is a global provider of business collaboration and communications solutions, providing unified communications, contact centers, networking and related services to companies of all sizes around the world. For more information, please visit www.avaya.com.

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.

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About Windstream:
Windstream (NASDAQ: WIN) a FORTUNE 500 and S&P 500 company, is a leading provider of advanced network communications, including cloud computing and managed services, to businesses nationwide. The company also offers broadband, phone and digital TV services to consumers primarily in rural areas. For more information visit www.windstream.com.