Avaya Vantage Review: a step forward or a step too far?

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Business Phone ReviewsMeeting Rooms and Devices

Published: December 5, 2016

Ian Taylor Editor

Ian Taylor

Editor

As a well-respected, multi-national technology company that offers cutting-edge communication solutions for a wide range of different businesses and different areas within those businesses, Avaya is a brand that very rarely disappoints its customers – but does the Avaya Vantage live up to the reputation of its predecessors?

In this article we shall give an impartial review of the pros and cons of the Avaya Vantage, informing you of what the product is capable of, what area of business it is most suited to and what makes it different from other products available on the market. However, it is important to note that we are not selling this product, nor are we directing you towards any businesses or websites that do, we are simply giving our professional opinion on how useful the product may or may not be to your business and we encourage you to do the same by contributing to our comments and review section located at the bottom of this page.

What is the Avaya Vantage?

Released in the summer of 2016, the Avaya Vantage is a top of the line, high quality, multi functional communications device that offers users a multitude of innovative features that are easily accessible via an extremely stylish and eye-catching all-glass, touch screen display.

At first glance you can’t help but notice how beautiful and elegant this handset looks when placed next to a less contemporary (albeit a lot less expensive) model. In lieu of clunky plastic buttons and a low visibility display, the Avaya Vantage offers a large, sleek glass facing that looks more like an iPad than a telephone and undoubtedly gives office spaces and desktops a much more classy and professional forward-thinking business look.

What are the Standard Features?

Along with the many unique features offered by this phone system (which we shall explain later), the Avaya Vantage remains consistent with its standard features that the brand has become well known for. These include both making and receiving calls with enterprise quality audio, as well as offering users staple communication features like Call Hold, Transfer, Forward, DND, Redial and Voicemail access all at the click of a button (or in this case a tap on the screen).

What are the Advanced Features?

Alongside a beautiful 8” Capacitive Touch display with an 800×1200 resolution, this device can also come with an integrated video camera for face-to-face conferencing and/or business related calls, as well as operating on both wired or wireless network connectivity for added mobility in and around the office.

Thanks to an integrated Bluetooth system, the Avaya Vantage can also be paired with a wide variety of accessories such as headsets and wireless handsets to free users from the restrictions of the traditional desktop phone and allowing them to continue with other tasks whilst taking a call.

What are our favourite bits?

Clicking through the Touch Screen Display and quickly finding the relevant contact information or service feature is a breeze and is actually quite enjoyable. For some reason even the most menial of tasks become fun and make your regular old button-pushing phone system feel like a relic that was that was resurrected from the ancient tomb of some Egyptian Pharaoh.

We also loved the fact that there is an option for an Integrated Eye-to-Eye Camera that allows users to speak face to face with clients or colleagues and believe this factor can really help bring a business into the 21st century where video calling is fast becoming one of the most popular means of communication.

Finally we also loved the fact that use can put all of their applications on this phone and, thanks to the Avaya BreezeTM Client SDK, are able to personalise the handset to match their own particular preferences for a much faster and comfortable way of business communication.

What don’t we like?

In truth there isn’t much we don’t like about this phone, though it must be stressed that one of our favourite features, the eye-to-eye camera, does not come as standard and requires that you choose to include the feature before purchasing the product.

What kind of person or business is best suited to this product?

With its suave finish and multi functional interface, we feel this product would be an ideal addition to the desk of any business manager or executive looking for a way to communicate quickly and efficiently with their staff and clients while simultaneously giving off an impression of slick corporate professionalism.

Along with business managers and executives, we believe that the Avaya Vantage’s numerous, easy-to-access functions would be highly useful for a front of house staff member or receptionist whose job consists largely of handling and redirecting calls to other members of the workplace on a daily basis.

How compatible is this phone?

Along with the Avaya BreezeTM Client SDK, Vantage also supports SIP protocol support on Avaya Aura 7 Platform, offers standard based codec support for OPUS, G.722, G.711, G.729, G.726 and operates in Brazilian Portuguese, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Latin Spanish, Russian and Simplified Chinese.

Where to buy and how much?

Available from your nearest Avaya solutions provider (just Google your local area for further information), the Vantage typically starts at RRP $604.00/£475.00 (incl. shipping), making this admittedly quite an expensive handset that is not really ideal for businesses on a budget or for those looking to buy minimal functional handsets on a vast scale i.e. call centres.

So what do we think?

Obviously this is a great phone that can really help make a difference to the appearance of your business, the productivity of your employees and the level of good quality communication with your clients and customers. However, as mentioned in the previous section, a phone as high in functionality as it is in price isn’t necessarily going to be the right choice for every type of business and employee.

Though we’ve heard of numerous examples where this phone has been deemed successful at a high end corporate and/or managerial level, we would like to hear if anybody out there has had any different experiences with this device and whether or not you agree or disagree with any of the points made in this review.

We’d love to hear whatever you have to say and if you have any questions about this article or the Avaya Vantage, please feel free to interact with our comments section below and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can.

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