Avaya CEO Jim Chirico recently said, “Communication and collaboration tools are important during business as usual, but absolutely critical during times of crisis.” The response to COVID-19 (coronavirus) has forced some hands when it comes to coordinating ideas and plans. Collaboration is indeed critical. True agility is being tested.

Here at Avaya we’ve had to enable customers and partners in entirely new, reactive, ways. It’s required a level of coordination internally, that’s broken new ground. Whether it be associates in the US and Latin America, my home turf in the UK, or our international teams throughout EMEA and APAC, our own global workforce needed to be 100% aligned to act fast on COVID-19 related tasks and priorities in real time. This persists, with ever-increasing levels of support for our clients, partners and fellow colleagues continuing to be needed.

This is where Avaya Spaces changes the game.

There’s what it delivers, but then there’s what it empowers. Video conferencing, team spaces, and file sharing … check. But most importantly, this single cloud-based app lets you realise, and has enabled an entirely new level of collaboration when we needed it most.

Avaya’s virtual ‘Command Central’

We started by creating dedicated Spaces across Avaya for COVID-19 response teams, some referred to as war rooms, to allow us to support the critical needs of our customers and partners. (An extreme name, perhaps, but it feels appropriate at this time.)

100% of our COVID-19 responses are being coordinated from these Spaces, from guidance, advice, and provisioning changes to setting up processes, hotlines, and everything in between.

This unique Spaces environment is empowering us with:

  • Full zero-hierarchy communications. Anyone in any role is fully empowered to stay informed and engaged, from front line employees to the C suite. The best ideas surface, are refined, perfected, and then put forth.
  • A 24×7, follow-the-sun work model. Toss out a new idea and go to bed. Wake up and someone on the other side of the globe has weighed in to make it even better. Our globally distributed teams can collaborate naturally as if they were in the same room.
  • Hyper-fast decision making. Avaya Spaces breaks down all barriers for true, cross-functional collaboration across sales, marketing, channels, and product to operations, legal and more. Shared files, quick video calls, and chat are instant. No delays, no email confusion.
  • Immersive collaboration. The very nature of Avaya Spaces keeps everyone on the same page, even as things are changing fast. From meetings to sharing content, to tracking tasks and staying up to date with asynchronous notifications on desktop and mobile.
  • Passionate, empowered leaders. We’ve been able to stay current on COVID-19’s ever-changing impact across countries with input from the very people living it. We use this boots-on-the-ground POV to debate ideas, change processes, align on delivery, and provide updates with a targeted, coordinated digital marketing approach.

Avaya Spaces is designed to deliver unmatched agility to unlock the potential of any global organization. And I am proud to be part of the team experiencing it firsthand at Avaya.

There’s more to come..

This blog is just the first in a series that will explore how Avaya Spaces can support the future of a digital workplace in a unique way, whether it’s for unpredicted events like COVID-19 or day-to-day business operations. I’ll be diving into topics like:

  • How Spaces addresses today’s experience economy, through things like speed-to-value, technology partnerships, and innovation at the edge.
  • How some of our education and non-profit customers are using it to keep students and employees connected during COVID-19.
  • And more …

Until then, we continue to look for ways we can make a difference.