The Unified Communications Alliance (UCA), the global partnership of accredited Microsoft Lync integrators, today announced the acquisition of software and intellectual property for the ‘UCA Lync Client’ developed by Iscoord AG, the Zurich based comms software specialist.
The acquisition gives the UCA control over a solution that provides simpler, more cost effective integration of Microsoft Lync features with existing Avaya Aura telecoms infrastructure. The deal also includes the employment of two key Iscoord personnel to provide technical and customer support in a full market launch planned by the UCA over the coming months.
UCA Lync Client v3.0, released this week, allows integration of Lync’s agile collaboration features with the reliability of the Avaya Aura communications platform, to enhance the user experience, cut the cost of Lync licensing and prolong return on the original Avaya investment.
Requiring only a Standard Microsoft Client Access Licence (CAL), the UCA Lync Client allows deployment of Lync voice and conferencing without the cost of additional Enterprise and Plus CALs, cutting total cost of ownership by as much as 85%
Tony Parish, CEO of UCA, explains the background to the purchase:
“This acquisition marks the fulfilment of our vision for a Lync integration solution, first envisaged in 2007 when deploying its forerunner, Microsoft OCS. Since then we’ve watched Lync evolve into the most exciting unified communications solution for years.”
“Many businesses think likewise and have already implemented instant messaging and presence features. But going the next step to voice isn’t so easy, particularly when dealing with a complex global infrastructure. It’s not cheap either. The additional cost of Lync licensing for voice is difficult to swallow for those many businesses with only partial return on investment from an existing system.”
Tony Parish goes on to summarise how UCA Lync Client removes these barriers to Lync adoption:
“Lync voice and conferencing requires ‘Enterprise’ and ‘Plus’ CALs and these cost approximately US$246 per user. The UCA Lync Client needs only a Standard Microsoft CAL, so the cost drops to just $35 per user and the customer doesn’t lose any of the award-winning Avaya functionality.â€Â
“Also, UCA Lync Client is deployed at the desktop without impact on communications infrastructure. This simplifies implementation enormously for multi-national businesses with complex multi-vendor, multi-device environments,”
“Typically, taking into account savings on licence fees, installation and maintenance, UCA Lync Client can reduce total cost of ownership by some 85%.”
A development roadmap of future UCA Lync Client features will be published this year, and will include other communications vendors to be supported. After Avaya, the next agreed connector is currently under testing for ShoreTel, whom currently don’t have any integration of their own.
With a worldwide team operating in more than 80 countries and including some 1,000 Microsoft accredited technicians, the UCA is a global alliance established to support multinational enterprises in the deployment of Microsoft Lync, the collaboration platform bringing voice, video and messaging to Microsoft Office users.[signoff predefined=”Enjoy this?” icon=”icon-users”][/signoff]
