Avaya IP Office systems are installed at Ginsburg's Valhalla, N.Y., headquarters and regional office in Danbury, Conn. A third system supports a remote construction office at the Casperkill golf course in Poughkeepsie, N.Y.

Over time, Ginsburg plans to add IP Office systems at each of its regional offices and construction sites across New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.

Ginsburg chose to integrate Avaya IP Office with Microsoft Outlook(R) to be able to give employees one consolidated inbox for both email and voicemail messages that could be accessed from any PC or laptop computer.

"Now, we can manage all our interaction with homeowners in one spot, helping us improve communication, build rapport and minimize confusion and discrepancies during the construction process," Gora said.

Avaya IP Office supports many different end points -- including IP, digital or analog phones. Consequently, Ginsburg has the capacity to save money by reusing its existing inventory of telephone handsets while still maintaining a single, coherent corporate environment for communications. The phones and other aspects of the network are managed centrally using an intuitive Graphical User Interface that could be accessed from anywhere.

An affiliated legal organization and marketing company with Avaya IP Office systems have joined the Ginsburg network -- taking advantage of the

centralized administration and maintenance Ginsburg can provide while maintaining their own independent cost accounting, directory structures, caller menus and music on hold selections.

Ginsburg uses the IP Office auto-attendant feature to tailor recordings and message trees for specific conditions or communities -- from inclement weather updates to holiday announcements. The simple .wav files the system

uses can be changed on the fly, whether the administrator is on site or chooses to dial into the system remotely. Third-party software from Bogen Communications, Inc. interoperates with IP Office and it powers an overhead announcement system for the company and controls office doors so guests can be buzzed in after hours. Bogen is an Innovator level member of the Avaya

DeveloperConnection program, which promotes the development, compliance-testing and co-marketing of innovative third-party products that are

compatible with standards-based Avaya solutions. There are three levels of participation in the DeveloperConnection program: Innovator, Premier and Strategic, entailing progressive levels of marketing and sales involvement by the members.