Vodacom Now Accredited with Microsoft OCS and Microsoft Lync Certification - first in Africa

Johannesburg, 24 May 2012: Vodacom announced today that they have received accreditation for Microsoft OCS and Lync's SIP trunking Certification - the only certified Microsoft accredited SIP trunking vendor in South Africa and Africa.  A SIP trunk is a direct connection between the customer's voice infrastructure and the Vodacom VoIP Platform.  It enables customers to extend Voice over IP (VoIP) telephony beyond their firewall without the need for an IP-PSTN gateway.

"This simpler configuration is easier and less expensive to design, operate, maintain, and upgrade," says Chris Lazarus, Managing Executive at Vodacom Business Services. "What this means is that we can enable new and existing Microsoft OCS and Lync's customers to achieve call termination natively over our VoIP Platform without them having to buy expensive and complicated gateways."

Microsoft® Lync® is a single, unified communications platform that integrates seamlessly with Microsoft Office® and other existing tools and systems, and can enhance or replace existing IP PBX systems. This can lead to improved productivity, increased mobility, and faster responses for customers, partners, and employees. Other benefits may include smoother deployment, easier management, and lower cost of ownership.