Solutions for today’s enterprise customer experience (CX) and employee experience (EX) challenges.
Full-featured contact center solution.
Secure, dedicated and managed cloud contact center running on Microsoft Azure.
Scalable and advanced contact center-as-a-service.
Collaboration tools, seamlessly integrated into your Avaya portfolio.
Unified video, conferencing, messaging, and more on Microsoft Azure.
Call, meet, message, and more—all in one app.
Integrate collaboration apps with Avaya Communication portfolio.
Cloud-ready pathways that integrate Avaya with third-party APIs.
A full-featured unified comms platform managed on-premises.
Rely on our team of experts to help you get the most from your investment.
Consult with the experts to create your best customer journey.
Explore our complete portfolio of devices for individuals and conference rooms.
Move at your pace with Avaya’s hybrid cloud options.
Deliver effortless experiences for customers and employees at every touchpoint.
Help your contact center run smoothly, no matter where your employees are.
Find an Authorized Avaya Channel Partner in your part of the world.
Build new, innovative communications solutions via Avaya’s open solution platforms.
See our partnerships with leading technology companies for unique and value-adding solutions.
Explore all of the partner types and programs available at Avaya
Sell the Avaya portfolio with benefits, incentives, lead gen, training, and marketing resources.
Transition customers to the cloud fast and on budget, supported by Avaya services and features.
Stay up to date on Avaya's latest news and solutions.
Deliver innovative and complete solutions to your customers.
Get to know Avaya through our blogs. Insights on collaboration, customer experience, AI, digital.
Watch videos and listen to podcasts by topic or just browse what’s new. Interviews, solutions, how-to’s, more.
See inspiring ways companies are using Avaya solutions to change the world of work.
Engage with us in an immersive and interactive experience—on site, virtually, or a combo.
Look at what's new in our world—and how it benefits yours.
Learn about the privacy, compliance, and security inside Avaya solutions.
Review the terms and policies associated with Avaya software and services.
Access a full range of information and assistance for your Avaya solution.
For research and support, access our product documentation resources.
Meet Avaya experts at our events, webinars, expos, conferences and more.
In person or online, gain a full understanding of your Avaya solution and its capabilities.
Insights
Did you know that sales from Goodwill retail stores fund community services like helping first time parents by pairing them with nurses, providing adults the opportunity to earn a high school diploma, career and technical training, as well as workforce development services – all at no cost?
Goodwill believes in the power of work and their mission to empower people to achieve their most abundant life. In 2023, over 17,000 people were served by Goodwill Industries of Michiana throughout Northern Indiana, Southwest Michigan, and Southeast Chicago.
Reduced telecom spending
Locations
People served in 2023
Goodwill Michiana consists of 40+ entities including retail stores, education buildings, administrative buildings, and other essential community sites. In mid 2020, when a global pandemic swept the nation and governments cracked down on in-person gatherings, VP of Technology Otto Schlatter was tasked with transitioning Goodwill Michiana’s analog on-premises phone systems to a single, optimized cloud-based system that could meet the comprehensive needs of the business end-to-end.
Schlatter had more vendor options than he knew what to do with (keep in mind, at this time during the pandemic a new cloud solution was popping up nearly every day). The company needed a rock-solid solution it could trust. As a long-time customer using Avaya IP Office, Schlatter says, “We knew we could build on Goodwill Michiana’s foundation with Avaya to centralize the company’s communications, optimize the employee experience, and drive innovation without business disruption.”
— Otto Schlatter
VP of Technology
This trifecta initiative delivered everything Goodwill Michiana needed in its new cloud phone system, from more basic features like call forwarding, Do Not Disturb, and auto attendants (IVRs) for retail stores to more specialized capabilities and integrations. We’ve already mentioned the company’s nursing staff needing a deeper level of personalization, let’s look at their Workforce Development Services staff as another.
These employees went from working fully in-office to working two, three, or as many as five days a week at home during the pandemic and needed a high degree of system flexibility. With Avaya, the team can access their cloud phone system whenever and however they want, be it the web-based Avaya Cloud Office app, the Avaya Cloud Office app on their mobile device, or Avaya Cloud Office in their web browser depending on their circumstances, needs, and level of comfortability with technology.
For example, Goodwill Michiana recently partnered with ReSupply, a national donation hauling and pickup company to expand their donation geography. Goodwill Michiana’s VP of Sales wanted the ability for a customer to call a retail store and navigate through an IVR for this purpose. In this way the auto attendant would initiate, “If you want to schedule a pickup, press “1.” This would seamlessly route to another IVR: “If you want standard pickup, press “1.” “If you want priority pickup, press “2.” This was not possible with their disparate systems and adds great value as an additional service but also improves the customer experience.
The team was able to go into the Avaya Cloud Office system and program this in a snap. So fast, in fact, that the vendor personally reached out to Schlatter to commend him on how quickly and efficiently they were able to implement the IVR across the organization.
Goodwill Michiana also enlisted the help of Avaya’s Customer Experience Services (ACES) team to ensure their network was 100% ready for cloudbased communications. The company had to be sure that phone calls were as reliable and clear as traditional phone services. Working closely with Avaya’s ACES team they were able to swiftly conduct assessments and make the right network adjustments.
“Avaya and its partner helped us reduce our budgeted annual Communications spending by 25%, providing a more accurate picture for financial planning,” says Schlatter.
There’s also been a boost in employee productivity and satisfaction, to the point that Schlatter has seen a noticeable drop in the number of people using their desk phones in lieu of Avaya Cloud Office as an easier cloudbased alternative. Plus, his IT team is working far more efficiently. Overall, they’ve countless hours each month by not having to manually maintain physical hardware and travel to sites for service repairs.
Looking to the future, Avaya Cloud Office opens a host of new options to Goodwill Michiana. For example, as more employees potentially work remotely, some store locations may be able to consolidate floor space that will open new retail space for increased revenue streams such as specialized “boutique” shopping experiences.
Only with Avaya and its partners could Goodwill Michiana continue to build on its strong foundation and long-term relationship to optimize Communications costs and fuel business performance with complete control over their move to cloud modernization – the ultimate win-win-win.
Goodwill believes in the power of work to empower people to achieve their most abundant life.