Verizon Business, a unit of Verizon Communications and a major player in communications and IT solutions, reportedly is expanding its portfolio of solutions that help large businesses and government agencies reduce the complexity of managing, monitoring and maintaining enterprise-wide unified communications and collaboration.

 

According to the company officials, the company is adding management of several applications to its Cisco Unified Communications System Release 7.0 portfolio.

 

Officials pointed out that the new applications, which include presence, contact center and messaging, are available immediately to customers in the U.S. and many European countries, and will be available early next year in the Asia-Pacific region.

 

Verizon Business claims that among global service providers it currently manages the broadest set of Cisco (News - Alert) Unified Communications System Release 7.0 applications.

In December 2008, Verizon Business became the first global service provider to deliver a managed solution based on the Cisco Unified Communications (News - Alert) System Release 7.0.

 

"IT decision-makers continue to view unified communications as a primary way to transform operations and change organizational collaboration both internally and with customers, partners and suppliers," said Nancy Gofus, senior vice president - global business products, Verizon (News - Alert), in a statement.

 

Gofus said that the company’s fully managed UC&C solutions can help enterprises improve productivity, enhance customer service and streamline critical business processes.

 

UC&C uses IP networking to integrate various communications systems, media, devices and applications, helping enterprises streamline business processes, accelerate decision-making, enhance the customer experience and control costs.

 

The Cisco platform, which is highly scalable, is considered 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 enterprise wide UC&C deployments.

 

Officials said that leveraging its extensive UC&C expertise, Verizon Business (News - Alert) provides enterprises with the necessary planning, design, implementation and ongoing management capabilities to deliver high-performance solutions, enabling internal resources to focus on other business-critical projects.

 

"Interest in UC&C capabilities continues to grow and enterprises recognize the transformative value deployments can have across their organizations," said Blair Crump, group president - worldwide sales, Verizon Business.

 

Crump said that Verizon Business - with its support for multiple unified communications platforms; extensive managed, hosted and professional services capabilities; and global IP network - is well-positioned to help customers make the most of UC&C deployments.