BUPA turns to Avaya for healthier call centres

NEWS BUPA International has turned to Avaya to upgrade and integrate its CRM functions across a number of locations, starting with its headquarters in Brighton and a branch office in Hong Kong. The health care provider is replacing traditional PBX voice systems with a converged voice and data set up which will allow computer telephony integration (CTI), better workflow and call overflowing to home workers. Paul Tidy, BUPA International head of operational development, told silicon.com the deal is worth "a few hundred thousand pounds" but that the 10 year review should see more business go to Avaya and maintenance provider, IP Integration. The Avaya equipment - S8700 and S8300 Media Servers running Linux, an Avaya Media Gateway and MultiVantage software - replaces telecoms equipment from SDX. Ironically, long after winning the BUPA International contract about eight years ago, SDX was acquired by Lucent, the company which then spun off its enterprise networking business in the form of Avaya. BUPA International's Tidy added: "After a review and tendering we thought Avaya had a better vision but most important was how well all the people fitted together. They gelled."