Telecom awarded Microsoft Lync 2013 certification

Telecom has been awarded Microsoft Lync 2013 certification, becoming the only Microsoft New Zealand Gold Communications Partner to be certified.

The telco revealed that Voice Connect, the business communications solution delivered by Telecom’s ICT services division Gen-i, has been awarded the Microsoft SIP Trunking qualification for Microsoft Lync 2013.

As a result of the award, Telecom has become one of just 15 providers to be credited with the certification globally.

Gen-i COO Jo Allison says the certification will provide Gen-i clients with additional peace of mind in the design, deployment, and support of their communications solutions.

“The ability to integrate Voice Connect with Microsoft Lync 2013 removes the need for customers to invest in local voice gateways, which can instead be part of Telecom's end to end service - removing cost and complexity,” Allison says.

Achieving the qualification requires passing Microsoft's testing requirements and conforming to Microsoft specifications.

The certification confirms that all interoperability work has been done to permit a seamless transition for Lync clients to a fully supported Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) trunking service from Gen-i.

“Microsoft Lync is rapidly being adopted by New Zealand organisations to replace their outdated phone systems and drive improved collaboration and productivity across their businesses,” says Frazer Scott, Microsoft New Zealand Chief Marketing & Operations Officer.

“With Gen-i’s Voice Connect SIP Trunking service now fully qualified for Lync 2013, their local New Zealand customers can be assured of a seamless and fully supported service which enables a complete transition to a modern Unified Communications solution.

"Gen-i is one of our Gold Communications Partners for Lync, and we look forward to continuing working with them to deliver customers the services and experiences that reflect the strong capabilities of our two organisations."

Voice Connect provides a Session Initiated Protocol (SIP) trunking service that opens the door to more advanced communication and collaboration tools, it connects to in-house or hosted PBX and is powered by the highly resilient Broadsoft VoIP platform.