Small companies that need to ensure business doesn’t stop when employees can’t physically make it into the office can do so now with a new, inexpensive and easy-to- use telecommuter application from Avaya, a leading global provider of business communications applications, systems and services.

Informe Limited, a communications systems provider in the U.K., is among the customers using the new “telecommuter mode” software enhancement that Avaya has added to its Avaya IP Office portfolio for small and medium businesses (SMBs). Avaya IP Office is a complete SMB solution for telephony, messaging, networking, conferencing and customer management.

“With 10 employees, we have a lean, busy and mobile workforce, and we must be able to communicate efficiently and professionally with our customers - that’s a key factor in our success,” said Edward Hobson, director, Informe. “The telecommuter mode gives any of our workers access to our headquarters system wherever they are in the world with just a basic Internet connection. They can make and receive calls using any land-line or mobile phone with the same IP Office features they get in their office, such as conferencing. They can also record and store their calls, just as they usually do at headquarters. As a result, our business runs smoothly wherever our employees are located, and our customers still receive top-notch service.”

Rather than route calls over the Internet where voice quality may not be guaranteed, the telecommuter mode feature sends calls over the public switched telephone network to and from a remote phone, such as a home or mobile phone. From their desktop or laptop PC, users can transfer calls and use speed dial, call history log, account codes and other features typically available only at their headquarters work location.

Avaya also introduced new virtual private network (VPN) software for IP Office. The capability is designed for full-time remote employees who require the same secure and reliable access as their headquarters network and are using an Avaya IP-enabled phone. No remote VPN gateway is required at the remote location.

J. Tech Sales L.L.C., a specialty chemicals distributor based in Boca Raton, Fla., relies on the VPN capability of IP Office to help keep its highly mobile sales organization connected with customers, headquarters, and a network of nine warehouses. CPT of South Florida, a certified Avaya reseller, sold the IP Office to J. Tech.

“For us, the human touch in customer service - and being reachable anywhere, anytime - is a key competitive differentiator when you’re serving multibillion-dollar clients,” said Barry Tannenbaum, executive vice president, J. Tech Sales. “Avaya’s built-in remote capability enables us to provide that all-important personal touch. I can take my IP phone home or anywhere and plug it into any connection, and so can my salespeople, so customer calls are seamlessly routed directly to us. Or I can use the ‘mobile twinning’ feature, which bridges the call and caller ID information from the incoming office line directly to my mobile phone on the second ring, so I know exactly how to answer.”

An IP Office solution provides converged communications for New York City-based Pipeline Trading Systems LLC, which specializes in large-block electronic stock trading. Pipeline has deployed Avaya IP phones with VPN capability to key support personnel as a component of their disaster recovery plan.

“Business continuity is of paramount importance to us and to our clients, and the VPN capability will ensure we can support our growing user community,” said Vincent Aniello, Pipeline’s director of network operations. “With Avaya IP phones and built-in VPN, our employees can dial internal extensions and have all the functions of our headquarters system. They can also forward incoming service calls to our support organization so they can quickly address any issues. Plus, it’s easy to set up. When a user plugs in the IP phone at home, the VPN feature launches automatically.” Optima Communication Systems, Inc. is Pipeline’s Avaya certified reseller.

Avaya IP Office also now features a new T1 interface card designed to help small companies reduce their calling expenses. If a firm’s service provider offers fractional services, businesses can match the number of channels enabled on IP Office with the number of channels from the provider, for a substantial upfront savings.