Feb, 2009 : LightEdge Launches Unified Communications

📅 February 10, 2009 - Hosted voice, data and IT over IP provider LightEdge (lightedge.com 👉 Total Reviews: 3
🙌 Average Rating: 2.3 / 10
👍 Good Reviews: 1
👎 Bad Reviews: 2
👈 Official Responses: 0) has fully integrated BroadSoft's (broadsoft.com) hosted business voice with Microsoft's (microsoft.com) communications and collaboration software, creating a hosted unified communications service, offering voice, email, instant messaging and calendaring on a single platform.

According to LightEdge's Tuesday announcement, hosted unified communications is part of the "LightEdge Connected Office" product suite, designed to help SMBs more easily and cost-effectively obtain unified communications as a hosted service. LightEdge Connected Office suite also includes Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 for hosted email, BroadSoft's BroadWorks Hosted PBX VoIP, Office Communications Server 2007 for instant messaging and presence, Microsoft Office Live Meeting and Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services 3.0. The solution can be purchased incrementally or as an entire integrated bundle to support a business' email, calendaring, conferencing, voice and collaboration needs.

"Our goal is to offer SMBs a better and more cost-effective way to provide communications and IT systems to their employees," LightEdge president and chief operating officer Jeff Springborn said in a statement. "Hosted Unified Communications helps us reinforce this aim, by providing an attractive alternative to purchasing, implementing and maintaining business communications systems in-house."

According to LightEdge, its hosted unified communications offer a higher level of service than on-premises systems, because LightEdge offers 24/7 management and maintenance and faster provisioning. Streamlining communications for employees, LightEdge allows them to communicate with the right person, using voice and video conferencing, and enterprise-grade instant messaging.

Microsoft Worldwide Software + Services communications division general manager John Zanni said that it is important to offer SMBs "the flexibility to choose whether to deploy a UC solution in a hosted environment or on-premises, depending on their individual needs."

Zanni said in a statement, "Hosted Unified Communications utilizes the BroadSoft platform and Microsoft software to deliver a protected, fully hosted unified messaging and communications solution that allows SMBs to focus on their core business, without spending their time, money and resources managing a complex VoIP infrastructure."

BroadSoft products division vice president David Bukovsky congratulated LightEdge on its fusion of the array of services offered by Microsoft and BroadSoft.

"Forward-thinking providers like LightEdge understand the powerful capabilities that result from combining best-of-breed solutions -- business communications from BroadSoft and Microsoft's business productivity software -- and are able to deliver UC in an innovative way," Bukovsky said in a statement. "There's a growing demand among SMBs for UC to be delivered in a software as a service model as it enables them to reap all the productivity benefits of UC without the burden of deploying and maintaining UC solutions on their own."

Also part of LightEdge's Tuesday announcement was the news that it has achieved Microsoft Gold Certified Partner status in the new Hosting Solutions Competency, which distinguishes it as an expert in the hosting industry, joining other certified hosts including Server Intellect (serverintellect.com 👉 Total Reviews: 9
🙌 Average Rating: 9 / 10
👍 Good Reviews: 9
👎 Bad Reviews: 0
👈 Official Responses: 0).