In an effort to further accelerate the implementation of IP-based networking, Cisco Systems Inc. and IBM today announced that they are working together on products and services that will make it easier for businesses to adopt converged, voice, video and data offerings.
Businesses will have available to them a broader and more integrated suite of products for IP telephony, unified messaging, contact centers and video conferencing. The two vendors will focus their efforts on providing mobility, integration and security.
Among the integrated offerings will be a combination of Ciscos Unity system and IBMs Lotus Domino; Ciscos CallManager with IBMs Information Management database software; CallManager with Tivoli systems management certification; and support for CallManager on several IBM server platforms.
In addition to integrating technologies, the San Jose, Calif.-based Cisco and Armonk, N.Y.-based IBM will integrate sales, marketing and consulting initiatives, the companies said today.
In conjunction with the partnership announcement, IBM said that it has deployed 20,000 Cisco IP telephones in different countries, served by a variety of carriers. The company said that it plans to centralize its telephony equipment onto standard IBM servers at its major data centers.
The Cisco-IBM news follows a recently announced project between Cisco and L.M. Ericsson to integrate equipment and service offerings to spur telecommunications carriers to offer a wider range of IP-based data, voice and video services. The joint Cisco-Ericsson services will be built on Cisco routers and Ericssons Engine softswitch products. The companies will also provide a broadband access system made up of Ericssons IP-based DSL multiplexer and Ciscos Ethernet switches.
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