Avaya Wins Thomas Alva Edison Patent Award for Unique Method of Enabling Real-Time Collaboration

BASKING RIDGE, NJ--(Marketwire - Oct 3, 2012) -

• Avaya and inventors Birgit Geppert and Frank Roessler receive a 2012 Thomas Alva Edison patent award in the information technology category for "Telecommunications Endpoint for Managing Multi-Conferencing"
• The award-winning Avaya patent comes to life in the Avaya Flare® Experience, providing a unique means for users to manage real-time collaboration sessions

Avaya Inc. today announced that the company and two of its Avaya Labs researchers have won the 2012 Thomas A. Edison Award in Information Technology from the R&D Council of NJ.

Avaya, along with inventors Birgit Geppert and Frank Roessler received the prestigious patent award for a unique method of enabling people to simultaneously manage one or more teleconferences, including establishing smaller group sessions within a larger conference and joining multiple conferences into one. The patent, called "Telecommunications Endpoint for Managing Multi-Conferencing" (U.S. Patent 7,995,733), now serves as a key product attribute of the Avaya Flare® Experience.

Avaya is among 13 other NJ companies and 30 researchers from a wide spectrum of industries receiving this year's award. The Thomas Alva Edison Patent Award is granted each year by the R&D Council of New Jersey to honor the noteworthy efforts of scientists and inventors, as well as their organizations.

This year's award marks the second consecutive year the R&D Council has recognized Avaya for its scientific breakthroughs. In 2011, Avaya was honored in the telecommunications category for "Method and Apparatus Extending Calls to Internal Switch Extensions Out to External Network Endpoints" (U.S. Patent 6,751,309). That patent became the foundation of the company's worldwide leadership in mobility by bridging desk phones and mobile devices. Today, Avaya technologies can turn nearly any mobile device, home phone, smartphone or remote off-site phone into an extension of a single office number (video).

This year's Edison Award winners will be honored at the R&D Council's 50^th Anniversary Celebration on November 8, 2012 at the Liberty Science Center. 

Quotes
"We are very proud that Avaya innovators have again been honored as Thomas A. Edison Patent Award winners. We are working to transform the way enterprises collaborate and communicate, and the 2012 Thomas A. Edison Award in Information Technology is exciting and gratifying validation of our direction."
--KEVIN KENNEDY, PRESIDENT AND CEO, AVAYA

"This year is the Council's 50th Anniversary and we are so pleased to honor Avaya for the second year in a row for its vision and excellence in telecommunications. New Jersey is the birthplace of the telecommunications industry and Avaya is keeping this legacy alive and well." 
--ANTHONY CICATIELLO, PRESIDENT, R & D COUNCIL OF NJ

Additional Resources

• For more information on Avaya Innovations and Avaya Labs, visit: www.avaya.com/usa/about-avaya/our-company/innovation/.
• For a video detailing Avaya's 2011 Edison Award-winning patent, please visit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEzm1mlMvH8&feature=plcp 

Tags Avaya, unified communications, conferencing, business collaboration, patents, innovation, labs, Avaya Flare, Edison Award, R&D, NJ

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.

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