Avaya Inc., a leading global provider of business communications applications, systems and services, today announced the establishment of Avaya (Dalian) Intelligent Communications Co., Ltd., in China's North Eastern Liaoning Province. The newly founded entity is essential to Avaya's business strategy to capitalize on growth opportunities in this country, and to better serve its customers not only in China, but also in North Eastern Asia countries.

The new center, situated in the Dalian Software Park, will serve as a software and services hub for Avaya in Asia Pacific. It will integrate multiple functions including customer service, research & development, and applications design. Equipped with the latest Avaya Communications Solutions and technologies, the new center will support software application development across the region, and to serve customers in China, Korea and Japan with native language speakers.

Establishment of this new company also represents completion of Phase II of the MOU signed in June 2006 between Avaya and the Dalian Municipal government, according to which Avaya will be assisting Dalian to establish itself as a call center hub catering to China and North Eastern Asia markets. With the new company, Avaya is putting more resources into Dalian to facilitate this cooperation. In addition, the new office will be able to provide contact center consulting services and management expertise for customers wanting to operate in Dalian.

"This center will open new growth opportunities for us in China and APAC at large," said Fran Scricco, Vice President of Avaya Global Services. "As a world leader in leading communications technologies as well as innovative and comprehensive services, we are in an excellent position to expand in China, which is one of the fastest growing economies in the world, and help APAC customers benefit from intelligent communications."

Dalian, a coastal city of Liaoning Province, and geographically close to Japan and Korea, has attached great importance to development of the software and services industry. Taking advantages of its location advantage, large talent pool of IT professionals, and abundant foreign language speakers. In 2006, Dalian was recognized as the first "Service Center City" of China by the Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of Information Industry.

In addition to Avaya executives, officials from the Dalian Municipal government, as well as Avaya customers and business partners from China, Japan and Korea joined the ceremony held today to inaugurate the new office. Prior to Dalian, Avaya has set up offices in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Chengdu of mainland China.

Dinesh Malkani, President of Avaya China said: "Enterprises in China are keen to adopt leading communications solutions to be more agile, productive and competitive. In doing that, they want applications that are tailored for their needs and services that enable them to realize the full potential of Intelligent Communications. With the new office in Dalian, we will be able to deliver these applications and services in a more timely and customized manner. We are also glad to further strengthen our cooperation with the Dalian government to jointly grow the call center industry in the city" - Avaya.