Verizon Business Offers Latest in Collaboration Solutions to Better Enable Productivity, Efficiency for Enterprises

BASKING RIDGE, N.J. - Verizon Business is offering large businesses and government agencies the latest unified communications and collaboration (UC&C) technology while helping to reduce the complexity of managing, monitoring and maintaining these solutions.

The company on Wednesday (Dec. 17) announced enhancements to its managed UC&C portfolio, providing enterprise customers with immediate management of the newest capabilities of the Cisco® Unified Communications System Release 7.0, as well as management of the Cisco Unified Contact Center-Express platform, which integrates UC&C functionality into the contact center.  Verizon Business is the first global service provider to deliver a managed solution based on the Cisco Unified Communications System Release 7.0.

UC&C uses Internet protocol (IP) networks to integrate various communications systems, media, devices and applications, and can help businesses and government streamline business processes, accelerate decision-making, enhance the customer experience and control costs. 

With the availability of the next-generation Cisco Unified Communication System Release 7.0 platform, Verizon Business will deliver advanced end-user functionality by integrating business applications with essential UC&C components, such as mobility, instant messaging (IM) and "presence," which provides the status of an end-user's availability online or by phone.

"Offering the latest unified communications solutions highlights our strong commitment to innovation and technology leadership," said Nancy Gofus, senior vice president - global business products, Verizon.  "We know enterprises are looking for ways to transform their businesses during these difficult economic times, and with these managed solutions organizations can help drive employee productivity, enhance customer service and streamline business processes."

Verizon Business' new managed UC&C offering and the managed Cisco Unified Contact Center-Express service are available immediately to customers in the U.S. and many European countries, and are scheduled to be available next year in the Asia-Pacific region. 

Verizon Business Managed Services and Cisco UC&C - a Powerful Combo

The new managed UC&C offering builds on the robust capabilities and features of the Cisco Unified Communications System Release 7.0.  Expanded click-to-conference capabilities and the ability to simultaneously contact colleagues by multiple phones and IM, along with simplified management, offer employees and information technology professionals an enhanced end-user experience.

Highly scalable, the offering is ideal for large numbers of end users, and can help large-business and government customers control system and management costs by streamlining the number of devices required for enterprisewide UC&C deployments. 

Early next year, Verizon Business also plans to complete the process for certifying the interoperability of the Cisco Unified Communications System Release 7.0 with Verizon's voice-over-Internet protocol (VoIP) portfolio to help enterprises leverage the functionality of Cisco technology.  This will provide Verizon Business customers in the U.S. and Europe with another rigorously tested choice for IP PBX equipment.

UC&C-Enabled Contact Centers Drive Enhanced Customer Service

The new managed offering is designed for use in smaller contact centers that have fewer than 300 agents and support, for example, human resources organizations, or for remote or virtual contact center agents.

The offering combines traditional contact center functionality such as agent configuration, interactive voice response scripting, automatic call distribution, computer telephony integration, speech recognition and database management with advanced UC&C features including presence and instant messaging capabilities.  Its feature-rich capabilities coupled with workforce-management features, such as customer service agent scheduling, can help improve customer satisfaction and reduce the time it takes to resolve customer questions.

Broad UC&C Capabilities Combined with IP and Professional Services Expertise

With these new managed solutions, Verizon Business is expanding its comprehensive portfolio of advanced collaboration services, using its global IP network as the foundation to deliver innovative and flexible collaboration solutions to large-business and government customers.  Verizon Business offers conferencing, mobility, VoIP, contact center, and managed and hosting solutions, as well as professional services capabilities, to help customers maintain the performance and security of communications networks and advanced IP-enabled applications.

About Verizon Business
Verizon Business, a unit of Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ), is a global leader in communications and IT solutions. We combine professional expertise with the world's most connected IP network to deliver award-winning communications, IT, information security and network solutions.  We securely connect today's extended enterprises of widespread and mobile customers, partners, suppliers and employees - enabling them to increase productivity and efficiency and help preserve the environment.  Many of the world's largest businesses and governments - including 96 percent of the Fortune 1000 and thousands of government agencies and educational institutions - rely on our professional and managed services and network technologies to accelerate their business. Find out more at www.verizonbusiness.com.

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