NATD in the news
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Avaya
Call center
Cisco
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Siemens

NATD in the news

New teeth for Tigerpaw CRM+
Tigerpaw Software, Inc., a leading developer of business manage-ment software, announced the release of Tigerpaw CRM+ version 10.5. The new version – including four powerful new features – will be offered as a free upgrade for existing version 10 clients. Tigerpaw CRM+ version 10.5 adds, among other enhancements, Service Order Escalation, Time Slips, QuickSale and Managed Services Integrator to the venerable CRM, service and inventory control application. Version 10.5 allows the user to orchestrate the escalation of service orders based on a set of configurable parameters. The Service Order Escalation function takes advantage of Tigerpaw CRM+ Workflow notifications to inform necessary personnel of outstanding service issues. Also included in the new version, Time Slips, an outgrowth of Tigerpaw’s long-treasured Time Logs feature, is designed to facilitate payroll information. The new QuickSale feature enables Tigerpaw clients to more efficiently serve their walk-in customers by allowing them to bypass the traditional quote-and-fill procedure and proceed directly to point-of-sale invoicing. Additionally, Tigerpaw CRM+ version 10.5 includes Managed Services Integrator. This new feature connects managed services functionality with service order and Workflow capabilities, enabling MSPs to deliver what Tigerpaw officials termed “richly enhanced customer service.”
Visit www.tigerpawsoftware.com.

Fraud alert from the NATD
NATD member TRCA issued this FRAUD ALERT:
A fraudulent person is using stolen credit cards to order drop shipments to various sites in the United States with the ultimate goal of getting equipment into Nigeria or West Africa. Panasonic is what was ordered from TRCA. The number that was given belongs to a senior citizen.  E-mail address that is being used to  commit these thefts is [email protected]. ^Back To Top

Upfront

Continuant files antitrust suit against Avaya in federal court
Continuant Inc. announced it has filed a federal antitrust complaint against Avaya Inc. that charges the company has a decades-long track record of abusing its rights as a manufacturer of telecom-munications equipment by preventing businesses from selecting their own service provider by illegally locking customers out of their own telephone systems if they hire a competitor. Continuant, a growing Washington State-based telephone system maintenance provider, filed the 35-page complaint against Avaya in the U.S. Federal District Court of New Jersey to ask a jury to decide if the telecom giant has continued illegal anti-competitive business practices that allegedly have continued since the company was AT&T, the original telecom monopoly. The complaint charges that Avaya “has aggressively sought and maintained a monopolistic stranglehold” on nationwide businesses by not allowing anyone but itself and its selected BusinessPartners the right to access hundreds of thousands of private telephone systems across the nation.  Customers are not allowed to choose who accesses their Avaya Definity and Communication Manager systems when they need repair or maintenance—so they can’t shop for the best price or service, according to Continuant’s lawsuit.
Visit www.continuant.com.

TO: Association Members and Official Representatives
FR: Bob Boyle, Legal Counsel
RE: Anti-dumping and Countervailing Duties
From the Department of Homeland Security - US Customs and Border Protection
Before you enter into an agreement to purchase goods overseas for importation into the United States (say for example IBM memory cards), know your supplier.  If those goods, or any part thereof, are subject to an anti-dumping or countervailing duty order from the U.S. Department of Commerce, the amount of customs duties could be very great.  The importer, which may or may not be you, is responsible for paying these duties.  To make matters worse, Customs regulations do not allow the importer to be reimbursed by the foreign supplier once the anti-dumping or countervailing duties are paid.  If the reimbursement is not disclosed and later discovered, both the amount reimbursed and a like amount will be due as a penalty and if you are the importer, you may get singled out for special treatment.
Email [email protected].
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Avaya

Avaya profit sinks, but sales up 5%
Avaya Inc. said fourth-quarter earnings fell sharply from the year-ago period, when the company received a large tax benefit. Yet revenue rose as the vendor sold more Internet-based technology. Avaya reported net income of $48 million, or 10 cents a share, down from $660 million, or $1.36 a share, a year ago. Revenue rose 5% to $1.36 billion from $1.30 billion. Excluding onetime items, Avaya said it would have earned 17 cents a share, down from 20 cents a year ago. On that basis, the vendor was expected to earn 13 cents a share on revenue of $1.34 billion, according to the consensus of analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call. Last quarter, Avaya named Lou D'Ambrosio as chief executive in an effort to boost growth and reduce rising expenses. He replaced Don Peterson, Avaya's CEO since it was spun off from Lucent Technologies Inc. in 2000. Although Avaya's growth has flagged in recent years, recent evidence suggests demand for new phone systems based on Internet technology is picking up again. The company's biggest problem lately, however, has been rising costs. Avaya expanded into Europe, but the vendor has struggled to integrate a German business it acquired. During the quarter, Avaya deducted a onetime pretax cost of $62 million related to job cuts in Europe and the U.S. The company said it expects to take charges totaling as much as $75 million in the first half of fiscal 2007 to account for further job reductions. D'Ambrosio said Avaya would take other steps to curb expenses.
Visit www.avaya.com.
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Call center

LiteScape teams with TC&C to enrich its unified communication solutions  
LiteScape Technologies, Inc. announced that it teamed with TC&C U.S.A., Inc. to incorporate TC&C’s IP audio and video call recording product into LiteScape's suite of converged CRM, collaboration and identity management applications that unify IP communications. TC&C is a technology leader in VoIP software development and has been developing cutting edge solutions in the IP Telephony field including applications like VoIP call recording system, call accounting solution for legacy and IP-based enterprise telecom networks, and CTI solutions for contact centers. TC&C’s award- winning call recording system CARIN is designed from the ground up to meet demanding requirements of a wide range of industries such as banking, insurance, government and specialized customer contact centers. CARIN is optimized for multi-site operation, characterized by ease of use, high performance, scalability, flexibility and has sophisticated enterprise management and security features; thereby providing a  truly high-end solution at a competitive price. CARIN is Cisco certified and one of the first Call Recorder for Cisco IP Video Communication Systems.
Visit www.litescape.com or www.tcandc.com.

Telecorp Products Inc. becomes first distributor of blueButler iDR in the U.S.
Telecorp Products Inc. is announcing its partnership with blueC 802, an expert in digital call recording and unified communications software for the enterprise. blueButler is a suite of unique Web-based enterprise communication efficiency applications that complement Telecorp’s CentrEE Solutions call performance management and display technology products. blueButler uses a combination of technologies not normally found in other call recording systems. For example, corporations are now able to manage their branch offices, home office recordings and mobile workers from one location. Unlike other similar systems, blueButler provides a rapid return on investment and can reduce wireless communications expenses for the organization by up to 45%. blueButler is unique in its ability to provide self-service and fully automated “one number,” “follow me” and “voicemail push” services for mobile employees and teleworkers. It supports plug-and-play integration with existing communications infrastructure and mobile devices. blueButler SIMPANION  is also an excellent replacement for in-building wireless phones that have become obsolete or are no longer supported.
Visit www.telecorpproducts.com.
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Cisco

Cisco ingests Orative
Cisco Systems Inc. has bought mobile software partner Orative for $31 million cash in a move that will allow the networking giant to extend its call-routing and mobile application capabilities for cell phones. A privately-held company based in San Jose, Calif., Orative produces software designed to extend traditional enterprise PBX capabilities to mobile phones. Orative's software enables users to have corporate voicemail routed to their handsets, change their availability status, and use the phone to set up collaborative groups with other users. Orative's software works with the Research In Motion Ltd. (RIM) BlackBerry and Symbian Ltd. operating systems and over Java-enabled handsets. The company has been a Cisco partner for nearly two years. The move signals Cisco's intention to add new capabilities in order to outpace rival Avaya Inc. in the PBX market. Cisco currently leads in the market for IP phones, but Avaya ships more IP-PBXs. Both firms are working to extend PBX call routing and control capabilities to mobile phones and build more fixed/mobile convergence (FMC) functionality into their systems. The need to add more mobile capabilities is driven by the fact that more and more enterprise communication takes place over the cell phone. Research firm IDC estimates that more than 60 million people in the U.S. now use their cell phone at work.
Visit www.cisco.com.

CXtec named as Cisco Advanced Security Specialization partner
CXtec, a global provider of new and certified pre-owned computer networking and technology equipment, announced it has met the resource requirements to become a Cisco Advanced Security Specialization partner.  The Syracuse, N.Y.-based company has demonstrated to Cisco they are qualified to support customers with their advanced security in the United States. The Cisco Advanced Security Specialization recognizes partners like CXtec for their knowledge and expertise in integrated network security solutions. This specialization enables CXtec to address a wide range of customer needs — from enterprise-scale organizations to small and medium-sized business (SMB) customers. The specialization focuses on developing sales, technical and services capabilities that distinguish partners as being among the industry’s elite in providing collaborative, adaptive security applications.  As of today, CXtec is one of just 15 Advanced Security Specialized partners for Cisco in the United States.
Visit www.cxtec.com.
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Moves, adds & changes

SpectraLink joins Symbol
SpectraLink has joined Symbol Technologies' PartnerSelect Program as an independent software vendor (ISV). SpectraLink is leveraging its PBX integration and voice over Wi-Fi technologies and expertise to develop telephony applications for voice-enabled, third-party devices. Through membership in the PartnerSelect ISV Partner Program, SpectraLink will work with Symbol to develop technical, sales and marketing programs to address current and future customer demand for wireless telephony applications utilizing Symbol's mobile computing platforms. This partnership is part of SpectraLink's initiative to deliver enterprise-grade telephone features to third-party mobile devices to address a wide variety of applications and user requirements. SpectraLink's existing wireless telephone systems support digital integration with more than 90 percent of the installed base of large PBX systems in North America. This integration technology is being extended through mobile device applications to deliver business telephone features with additional capabilities including push-to-talk functionality and text messaging support for enterprise applications.
Visit www.spectralink.com or www.symbol.com.
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Siemens

Communications SOA from Siemens achieves “Powered by SAP NetWeaver” status
Siemens Communications, Inc. announced that its Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) has achieved “Powered by SAP NetWeaver” status through its integration with the SAP NetWeaver Portal and SAP NetWeaver Application Server.  Full compatibility between the Siemens Communications SOA and the SAP NetWeaver platform has been established to enable flexible integration of communication services as part of a company’s business processes. Siemens also offers interoperability between its open communication systems, including the Siemens’ HiPath 8000 open communications solution, and SAP NetWeaver.  Such interoperability enables transactions in a Siemens open communications solution to be initiated from any compatible SAP solution. Furthermore, this communication can be enriched by context-oriented information from the business work-flow. The Powered by SAP NetWeaver designation of Siemens Communications SOA solution is an outcome of ongoing work with SAP AG, and complements work with other leading industry players such as Microsoft Corp. to develop a Communications SOA framework that reduces the time it takes to integrate communications into workflow processes.
Visit www.usa.siemens.com/communications.
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