Avaya Holdings Corp. has launched Avaya Spaces, the cloud meeting and collaboration app, in Saudi Arabia, and is offering free 60-day access to the solution for any organization, as well as free access through August for education and non-profit organizations, amid an increase in the number of people in the country self-quarantining and working from home. That increase stems from government rules that seek to curb the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. Authorities have imposed entry and exit bans on Riyadh, Makkah and Madinah, as well as placed a hold on workplace attendance. Avaya Spaces is recognized for its ease of implementation and the significant impact it can have on organizational resilience and continuity at such a time. Accessible from a browser or mobile app, the solution will enable Saudi citizens and organizations to connect and collaborate remotely — going beyond integrating chat, voice, video, online meetings and content sharing. "The COVID-19 pandemic continues to be a challenging time for the country, with businesses having to quickly move to remote working due to government restrictions. We applaud the government's actions to contain the spread of the coronavirus, while at the same time supporting organizations on the ground as they adapt to the new realities," said Zouheir Diab, managing director – Saudi Arabia, Avaya. "With the launch of Avaya Spaces in Saudi Arabia, people and organizations can benefit from a cost-effective solution that enables business continuity regardless of where employees are located," Diab added. Avaya Spaces provides users with an extensive set of meeting and team collaboration features, including voice and video conferencing for up to 500 participants and unlimited online storage. As a mobile-enabled solution, it also offers a simple, secure and effective way to track communications and manage tasks when travel and connectivity are limited. Since January, Avaya has seen an increase of more than 700% in video collaboration traffic on the Avaya Spaces platform. And in the past weeks alone, several hundred universities, schools and other organizations worldwide have engaged Avaya to gain the connectivity and collaboration capabilities Avaya Spaces provides as they address the challenges of this pandemic. For example, Charter College International High School in Johannesburg, South Africa, is one of many schools that has transitioned to online learning and is using Avaya Spaces to enable this. In the UK, leading IT distributor Westcon made the decision to enable some staff roles to work from home and has used Avaya Spaces to ensured total business continuity for employees without any disruption for partners. In Germany, a driving school is now providing driving classes over Avaya Spaces. And in the UAE, CPI Media Group is maintaining publishing activities by collaborating with Avaya Spaces. — SG
