UPDATE: Avaya Helps Small Healthcare Companies Enhance Customer Service, Gain New Efficiencies

BASKING RIDGE, NJ--(Marketwire - March 23, 2010) - Small and mid-sized healthcare organizations are looking for new paths to improve patient care, deliver best-in-class service and operate more efficiently. To achieve this, many are turning to IP telephony-based unified communications (UC) solutions that serve the urgent communications needs of both healthcare professionals and patients in a cost-effective way.

Avaya IP Office, a communications solution for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), is what many SMEs in healthcare are choosing to improve patient and client service with efficiency. It helps them use unified communications to increase mobility, speed responses and automate tasks to reduce human latency. Avaya recently launched a new version of IP Office that features enhanced unified communications capabilities and makes UC up to 40% more affordable for many small businesses.(1)

Companies such as IntrinsiQ, Bay Shore Medical and SPEAR Physical Therapy are just a few of the healthcare organizations using Avaya IP office to help enhance service to patients and clients, while improving operations through communications. Below, they share their experiences.

IntrinsiQ Speeds Service to Clients

IntrinsiQ, a 90-employee healthcare information systems company that is the premier source for U.S. oncology data and analysis, is the provider of IntelliDose®, a software application that captures treatment details of over 17,000 patients a month. This Waltham, MA.-based company manages a large database on medical oncology care that is vital to healthcare practitioners, researchers and patients.

IntrinsiQ brought in Avaya IP Office -- with design and implemenation expertise delivered by All Business Communications -- to better serve clients ranging from small doctors' offices using IntelliDose software to pharmaceutical companies analyzing data. Their clients need quick access to IntrinsiQ's employees for support, information, expertise and data.

Avaya IP Office gives IntrinsiQ representatives reliable unified communications capabilities, keeping them accessible regardless of their location and highly responsive to client requests. For instance, employees who are on the road use Avaya's Mobile Worker solution to maintain contact with clients via one number -- a single extension for their mobile, home or office phones. Approximately 40 remote workers use the Teleworker solution to receive calls while away from the office so calls won't go unanswered and research is shared in a timely manner.

"With IP Office, we can improve service while gaining some significant savings," said Becky Maung, manager of Network Operations at IntrinsiQ. "For instance, the system lets us simplify management, and easily oversee the phone system internally, which not only speeds processes, but also reduces support costs by $2,500 a year. Moreover, the Avaya system costs 60 percent less than the total cost of the multi-year equipment lease of our previous system. It's this type of ROI improvement -- along with the ability to serve clients better -- that reinforces the value of Avaya IP Office."

SPEAR Physical Therapy Speeds Service To Patients

SPEAR Physical Therapy, a Manhattan-based physical therapy network, depends on the ability to react quickly to patient and physician requests. By adding the advanced call routing capabilities of Avaya IP Office, with help from Avaya business partner Consolidated Technologies, Inc., SPEAR can ensure that patient calls will get to the right person working on a relevant case. This helps decrease the amount of missed calls and eliminates the task of making callers go through an operator to get to the right resource.

"In this business, our patients' health is on the line, and we need fast and reliable communications support," said Dan Rootenberg, President at SPEAR Physical Therapy. "Avaya IP Office not only provides the quality communications support we expect, but also goes further by helping us deliver higher levels of inter-office collaboration for better customer service."

SPEAR is also using the IP Office Mobile Worker solution to provide employees on the go with one extension for instant reachability via any device. It also extends the functionality of their office phone -- such as conferencing and call forwarding -- to a mobile device. This helps SPEAR provide patients with direct access to staff members whether they are at the office, at home, or in the field. It also helps SPEAR physicians communicate with each other more easily and the staff is able to reduce the time it takes to respond to patients.

Bay Shore Medical Finds Greater Convenience Through Communications

Based in Ronkonkoma, NY, Bay Shore Medical is the largest buyer and seller of previously owned diagnostic imaging equipment in the United States. With 20 employees total, Bay Shore Medical wanted to equip its staff with the right tools to optimize the time spent with customers. With sales staff members on the phone for up to three hours a day -- making between 60 to 100 calls a day -- it is important for the company's staff to have an efficient, simple way to communicate with customers.

To do this, Bay Shore Medical sought out a communications system with capabilities that deliver greater flexibility in managing its customer interactions and call center operations. The company implemented Avaya IP Office with help from Avaya business partner Consolidated Technologies, which helped its employees communicate more effectively with its customers -- comprised of busy healthcare facilities -- and with each other. Bay Shore Medical's sales staff uses the voicemail-to-email feature of Avaya IP Office to conveniently and instantly replay voicemail through email, along with the caller's phone number display. Using voicemail-to-email functions, Bay Shore Medical's staff can now quickly forward voice messages to the right person for an immediate response, even if they are working remotely or on a mobile device.

About Avaya

Avaya is a global leader in enterprise communications systems. The company provides unified communications, contact centers, and related services directly and through its channel partners to leading businesses and organizations around the world. Enterprises of all sizes depend on Avaya for state-of-the-art communications that improve efficiency, collaboration, customer service, and competitiveness. For more information please visit www.avaya.com.

(1) Based on Avaya estimates for companies with fewer than 20 employees.

Contact Information: Media Inquiries: Jonathan Varman 908-953-6432 jvarman@avaya.com