Marin County Government Selects Avaya Mobility Solutions

BASKING RIDGE, N.J. and MARIN COUNTY, Calif. - For the government employees of Marin County, Calif., keeping in close contact with the community is important, even when their jobs take them away from the office. Elected officials, building inspectors and sheriff deputies are just some of the more than 2,500 employees that must remain accessible and responsive while traveling and working throughout the county. To accomplish these objectives, Marin County chose enterprise mobility solutions from Avaya Inc.

Using Avaya solutions, Marin County's employees and officials can access and manage critical business tools by calling a number and speaking voice commands into the phone. With Avaya speech access, they can now listen to and compose emails, check and schedule appointments, create task lists, and access contacts from any phone - all through speech.

The county's employees also use preference-based capabilities - such as "Find Me" functionality and instant alerts - to gain one-number accessibility while maintaining control over their communications needs. Residents trying to call a county supervisor can choose to "find" them, and Avaya's advanced mobility solutions will attempt to contact the supervisor at a designated phone number (i.e., home phone, cell phone) based on user-defined rules. Employees can set their preferences so that the application will alert them for urgent voicemail or email messages - based on the priority level or the sender. For instance, deputies in the Marin County Sheriff's Department who are out investigating a crime could be reached by supervisors who have critical information or evidence to share.

"Mobility is extremely important to local governments like Marin County," said Barbara Layton, telecommunications manager, Marin County government.  "Our elected officials spend a significant amount of time traveling around their district for meetings, and our county employees are always on the go, whether they are meeting constituents, inspecting buildings in the community, repairing a traffic light, or staffing a local health clinic.

"We have a responsibility to the taxpayer to use funds in the most efficient way, and Avaya mobility solutions help us achieve this," she added. "Giving our employees the tools they need to work remotely or while traveling - without the cost and inconvenience of taking along a laptop - is a real plus."

Avaya mobility solutions also enable Marin County's employees to set up multi-party conferences or call a colleague by accessing the government directory and speaking a name. 

The Marin County deployment utilizes the following solutions in the Avaya MultiVantage Communications Applications suite:

• Avaya Communication Manager: The company's IP telephony software helps organizations migrate to IP telephony at a path and pace of the customer's choosing. Marin County's implementation also includes an S8700 Media Server and G650 Media Gateways.
• Avaya Unified Communication Center Release 2.0: This application uses speech commands to access corporate information from any phone.  This speech-based interface lets users manage: calling and conferencing capabilities; voice, fax and email messages; enterprise directories and databases for contacts; and productivity tools such as online calendars, and task lists. The solution integrates with Microsoft® Exchange® and with IBM Lotus Domino®.
• Avaya Modular Messaging 2.0: This IP application leverages the power of Marin County's IP-based Avaya communications network to support multiple county locations, without requiring a separate server in each office.  With Modular Messaging, callers can choose to leave a message or search for an individual via user-designated phone numbers. Using a PC interface, these features can be customized by preferred time, type of caller or other variables.