Chinook Communications recently announced the launch of its latest service offering featuring an integrated bundle of advanced collaboration and communication tools for SMBs. The company, in its announcement, introduced the Total Connect fully integrated bundle service as a first ever global production release of the Microsoft (News - Alert) Lync Server 2010 Multitenant Pack for Partner Hosting. 

In a release, Steve Schwartz, President, Chinook Communications, said, "As subscribers to these Lync-based services, our customers and our Partner's customers achieve more effective collaboration and communication. With our cloud based platform, they get the benefits of ongoing system maintenance and upgrades while offsetting significant operational expenses. In May of 2011 we were among the few organizations selected by Microsoft as a participant in beta-testing the Lync Server 2010 Multitenant Pack. We are thoroughly familiar with the technology, helped shape and perfect its capabilities, and are well ahead of the curve as Lync enters the market in terms of expertise and responsiveness to customer and partner needs."

The Total Connect bundle from Chinook Communications has been designed to feature an extensive range of Microsoft Lync Server 2010 voice communications advantages and functionalities. SMBs leveraging the service will benefit from instant messaging; a hosted Microsoft Lync-based phone system and presence along with PSTN integrated audio conferencing capabilities. Users will also be provided with web-based audio and video conferencing functionalities and will be able to easily share applications. Additionally, the service includes Microsoft Exchange 2010 supported email and unified messaging services along with Microsoft SharePoint 2010-based secure document management capabilities.

Steve Schwartz also said, "Microsoft chose Chinook Communications to be one of their pilot partners due to our established technical expertise. They felt confident that we would help bring the Microsoft Lync Server 2010 Multitenant Pack for Partner Hosting to market successfully."