The Microsoft (News - Alert) Gold Certified Partner program just got a little bigger. Acme Packet, a provider of session delivery network solutions, has reached the Gold standard in the Microsoft Partner Program. Now, the company’s Net-Net Enterprise Session Director is considered fully qualified by the software giant under its Unified Communications (News - Alert) Open Interoperability Program (UCOIP). This designation ensures the solution will interoperate directly with Microsoft Lync 2013.

As a result of this classification, Acme Packet (News - Alert) now provides the enterprise with a seamless integration of the Unified Communications platform, Microsoft Lync 2013, with legacy telephony infrastructures. Real-time communications are protected from security threats thanks to the connectivity between the Net-Net Enterprise Session Director and the service provider SIP trunks. This allows for the provision of service assurance functions.

“For the last five years, Acme Packet has accelerated the deployment of Microsoft Lync in enterprises of all sizes by providing interoperability for SIP trunking, enterprise voice, and bring your own device solutions,” said Mark Vella, vice president, business development, Acme Packet, in this Free Route Server blog. “Acme Packet’s certification for Microsoft Lync 2013 and its Gold Certified Partner status further acknowledge Acme Packet’s strength and leadership in the industry.”

When placed on the network, session border controllers (SBCs) from Acme Packet deliver critical functions for high quality communications across all IP network borders. Least cost routing solution provider, TransNexus, has developed its SDReporter to use the data collected from the Acme Packet SBC to create detailed reporting and alarms related to the Quality of Service.

Information on signaling performance is captured in the SDReporter’s Call Completion Reports. This data is used to create performance statistics to ensure the optimal monitoring of all call routing to ensure profitability. These statistics focus on the ratio for call success, the ratio for answer seizure, the post-dial delay and the average call duration.

Quality of Service reporting will capture information on jitter, packet delay, packet loss, R-factor, MOS score and the percentage of calls with a low QoS. This measurement is critical as it captures the service quality experienced by the user in full view. Plus, customer service issues can be identified and corrected before they reach the customer.

Communications is one area where quality cannot be sacrificed. It’s not uncommon to leverage least cost routing strategies to optimize profitability but it cannot come at the cost of quality interactions. TransNexus (News - Alert) works with Acme Packet solutions to ensure the quality desired is the quality delivered.