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PROS:
CONS:
Avaya IP Office is a superior phone system for smaller businesses. The basic platform can support businesses with up to 3000 employees offering over 600 different additional features. The system itself is highly customizable and the price depends hugely on the add-ons and the number of users you wish to cover. The Avaya Communicator app allows your employees access to their business lines even when they’re out of the office. With many different apps that allow better worker communication, Avaya is an excellent phone system solution for small businesses.
Avaya IP Office is a great phone system for small businesses since it’s highly customizable and easy to use. It’s an on-site system that offers different platforms to suit each small business’ individual needs for specialized tools and features.
Avaya ranked so highly in our top ten best phone systems for small businesses since it has considerably more features than most of the other systems in our review. There are five different systems in Avaya’s offer, and they all differ in the number of features and employees supported. The most common features among the 600 in offer are caller ID, call holding, on-hold music, call transferring, call switching, voicemail, voicemail-to-email etc. Considering the number of features, you can also restrict, or allow certain employees from using specific features. The most basic functions like making and receiving, holding or transferring calls are available to everyone. Higher level clearance office workers can use the video voicemail, search the directory or integrate their stations with one of the supported programs like the MS Office or Salesforce. Power users have the highest level of control over the system. They can make and receive calls over 3G/4G, Wi-Fi or cellular connections. They can also easily transform their home phones into office lines.
Aside from the regular phone features, you can make use of Avaya’s set of tools and features for companies in need of call center stations. These features allow the callers to reach the company through channels like email, phone or web chat. The employees can also make telemarketing calls or access the history reports.
Like other highly ranked systems in our review, Avaya offers the Avaya Communicator – an app that your employees can use when they’re away from the office but need access to their work phones. With the application, you can make and receive calls as if you were doing so from your business line, make video calls, IM other worker or check someone’s availability through the presence feature.
Features:
Since you can customize so many things about Avaya, the pricing hugely depends on the size and needs of every individual business. Also, aside from regular costs, you have to take into account some additional for installation and possibly training.
For the purpose of our review, we posed as the owner of a small business with 100 employees and we asked for 25 call center lines. The quote for the on-site system we received included the voicemail, conference calling and mobility modules and would set our fictitious business back by $500 per employee. Although it might seem like a lot, you have to consider it’s a one-time cost and that the quoted price includes a basic phone and installation. For the call center service, we got an offer for $1200 per user. However, neither of these quotes take into account the price of SPI trunking or PRI circuits needed to make and receive calls. The cloud-based system is priced differently with recurring monthly costs of $25-$30. This fee range gives you 500 available minutes per line. If you want a call-center service, it comes at an additional $36 per month per line. Even though this might seem like the cheaper option compared to the on-site system, this arrangement comes without the equipment and installation, so to get a phone and have it set up you’ll have to pay another $400 per user. Of course, it’s important to note that these prices were given to us based on our made-up business’ particular needs, so the prices you get can be considerably different. To get the best deal, we advise you to contact one of Avaya’s authorized resellers and get the best offer for your company’s individual needs.
Avaya is a VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) phone system for small businesses that can fully customized to each business individually. For the purpose of our review, we look at the Avaya IP Office plan more closely. This particular platform can support businesses with 5 – 3000 employees. For larger business that have several thousand employees, Avaya has the Aura platform that can support up to 250,000 users on one server.
One of the reasons Avaya IP Office was ranked so highly in our review, was the fact it allows you to choose if you’d like the system to be set-up on-site, or in a cloud. Although both options are highly functional, you might have a few more worries with the on-site option since your IT staff will be in charge of maintaining and upgrading the system when necessary. The cloud based option is fully handled by Avaya. Despite the hassle of having your staff fix and maintain the system, the on-site system has many advantages. For one, it can be easily customized to your specific wants.
When your system is set up, you start with the basic platform which you can further build with different add-ons. The major features can include different mobility options and call centers, and you can always expand the number of features as your business grows. Additionally, if your business is located in several different locations, Avaya can be set up to work in 150 different places. If you have many different stores or offices, it can be difficult to keep track of and manage their phone systems, so Avaya lets you handle all your users from a single interface.
Email: support.avaya.com/contact
Phone number: support.avaya.com/contact
Website: www.avaya.com
Support: support.avaya.com
Avaya, unlike some other systems we reviewed, handles their sales and support through authorized resellers across the country. These smaller resellers then communicate to their neighborhood business in providing them with individual services specifically tailored to their needs. As with some other companies we contacted, our initial contact with Avaya’s customer support wasn’t that great. We asked about different systems and features and got very basic answers. Nevertheless, when our call was returned by the official reseller for our county, we got a much fuller picture about everything we wanted to know. The sales representative was highly informed and seemed very eager to help with even the most intricate details we asked about. After the call, we received an email further detailing everything we asked about.
On the other hand, if you need support after you’ve purchased the service, Avaya provides support in-house. To contact a tech support representative, you’ll need to fill out a ticket on the website and someone will address your issue.
Our editorial staff evaluates products and services independently, but Best Review Guide may earn money when you click on links. Read our advertising disclosure.
By: Kurtis | Last updated June 5, 2017 
