Verizon Business Delivers Cisco UC&C Solutions

Unified communications and collaboration (UC&C) technology enables organizations to act as one, bringing interactions internally and directly between customers and the people they need to reach. UC&C therefore offers the ability of them to improve efficiency, customer service, and retention, which will reduce costs and retain, if not garner, more revenue.

 

Verizon Business now offers enterprises and government agencies hosted access to Cisco’s Unified Communications System Release 7.0, as well as management of the Cisco (News - Alert) Unified Contact Center-Express platform, which integrates UC&C functionality into contact centers.

 

Verizon Business (News - Alert) is the first global service provider to deliver a managed solution based on the Cisco Unified Communications System Release 7.0. With this, the service provider will deliver advanced end-user functionality by integrating business applications with essential components, such as mobility, instant messaging, and presence. The new offering has expanded click-to-conference and the ability to simultaneously contact colleagues by multiple phones and IM, along with simplified management.

 

Verizon Business’ new services are available immediately to U.S. customers and many European countries, and are scheduled to be available next year in the Asia-Pacific region.

 

Verizon is now working on making the Cisco UC&C solution available to SMEs sometime next year. It is in the midst of certifying the interoperability of the offering with Verizon’s VoIP portfolio to help enterprises leverage the functionality of Cisco technology. This will provide Verizon Business’s U.S. and European customers with another rigorously tested choice for IP-PBX (News - Alert) equipment.

 

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 at-home contact center agents. It will combine contact center functionality such as agent configuration, IVR, speech recognition, ACD, CTI (News - Alert), and database management with advanced features including presence and IM. 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.

 

“Offering the latest unified communications solutions highlights our strong commitment to innovation and technology leadership,” says Nancy Gofus, senior vice president of global business products at 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.”