Avaya will also include IT-management capabilities to help IT administrators oversee the new Skype features.
It has long seemed a given that Skype and Avaya would partner on a service.
FORBES: Skype And Avaya To Partner On Communications Service
Rivals like Cisco and Avaya, in contrast, are building their own tablets and mobile apps.
FORBES: Tablets Get High Definition 'Telepresence' Mobile Chat
As expected, Skype and Avaya are joining hands by linking their Internet Protocol (IP)-based communications systems.
Avaya, in turn, gets to link up with a big brand name that is known for being forward-thinking.
Several strategies, including an alliance unveiled last week with telecom services provider Avaya, focus on business customers.
Thomas sits on the audit committees of Lucent Technologies, PepsiCo and Avaya and is chair of the latter.
Avaya said it would use a portion of the proceeds of the deal to pay down some of the borrowings.
Avaya says it will provide these services at no charge, though companies will need to sign up for Skype Connect accounts.
While plenty of other unified communications (UC) services exist, Avaya says Flare is more efficient and fun to use than its competition.
FORBES: Avaya Unveils Android-Based Tablet, WebOS-Like Software For Business Calls
Essentially, Avaya will build support for Skype services directly into its products.
Eventually, Avaya plans to make Flare available on a range of devices, including computers, smartphones, office phones and larger, room-based video conferencing systems.
FORBES: Avaya Unveils Android-Based Tablet, WebOS-Like Software For Business Calls
Potential Cius customers have been lining up despite the iPad juggernaut and the unveiling of business-focused tablets from Avaya and Research In Motion.
On Sept. 29, Skype and Avaya will finally come together in a business deal that industry watchers have predicted for at least a year.
FORBES: Skype And Avaya To Partner On Communications Service
The tablet, which bears the clunky name of Avaya Desktop Video Device, is one way that users will be able to tap into Flare.
FORBES: Avaya Unveils Android-Based Tablet, WebOS-Like Software For Business Calls
And the move to mobile devices will be a new battleground in the enterprise network: Avaya and Cisco are both launching IP phone tablets.
The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Avaya, the communication equipment company, plans on filing for an IPO as early as this week.
Renert says Tello works with products from Cisco Systems and Avaya, makers of traditional private branch exchanges (PBXs), plus Digium, an open-source PBX software company.
Avaya, which is best known for its branded line of office phones and contact center software, is branching into video and trying to hone a reputation for innovation.
FORBES: Skype And Avaya To Partner On Communications Service
Avaya would rather compare itself to Apple than Cisco.
FORBES: Avaya Unveils Android-Based Tablet, WebOS-Like Software For Business Calls
Avaya, which creates communications tools for businesses, has also borrowed know-how developed for games for a product called web.alive, which allows people to hold meetings and conferences in a virtual environment, using avatars.
ECONOMIST: Adapting personal IT for business: The consumer-industrial complex | The
Looking to solidify its dominance in the business communications market, Avaya on Wednesday unveiled a tablet device and new software designed to unite phone calls, instant messages and video conferencing in one easy-to-use platform.
FORBES: Avaya Unveils Android-Based Tablet, WebOS-Like Software For Business Calls
Gartner analyst Jay Pultz says Nortel is likely to remain independent, though it might consider spinning off its enterprise business like Lucent did with Avaya (nyse: AV - news - people ).
Polycom also says that the acquisition should strengthen its strategic partner relationships with companies such as Avaya, Alcatel-Lucent, Cisco Systems and Nortel Networks, and that the merger will create new opportunities for SpectraLink with Microsoft, IBM and others.
Current Analysis senior analyst Joel Conover says Cisco had been lagging in the CRM space, where competitor Avaya (nyse: AV - news - people ) already released software to connect its IP telephone systems to Microsoft's CRM.
Second, the deal is further evidence of pending change in the contact center software market, which is transitioning to cloud-hosted solutions (Angel.com has a cloud-based and mid-market solution) at an accelerating clip and forcing the legacy incumbents (Genesys, Cisco, Avaya) to innovate or acquire.
FORBES: MicroStrategy To Sell Angel.com Unit To Genesys For $110M
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