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Voice and data technology vendor West Corporation has announced an agreement with Smoothstone (News - Alert) IP Communications whereby West will acquire Smoothstone, according to West officials.

West will pay approximately $120 million to acquire Smoothstone, according to company officials, who add that the acquisition is expected to close in the second quarter of 2011 after satisfaction of certain closing conditions, including customary regulatory approvals.

Todd Strubbe, president of West's Unified Communications (News - Alert) operating segment, said using Smoothstone's solution portfolio and the benefits of the cloud-based services delivery model, “our clients will be able to focus on business initiatives that help drive their competitive advantage rather than on evolving IT infrastructure.”

The acquisition will boost West's unified communications business, which includes InterCall. Smoothstone is known for their IP telephony work, selling software-driven apps that exist in the cloud and are delivered through a software-as-a-service (SaaS) model.

The Smoothstone product portfolio will be available to West's base of clients, adding cloud-based IP telephony to West's unified communications.

Last month TMC’s (News - Alert) Rajani Baburajan reported that Smoothstone announced the launch of Mobile Connect application for Android (News - Alert) phones:

“The new fixed mobile convergence app allows enterprises to connect their employees’ phones to the enterprise IP network, enabling them to increase mobility of their employees and drive performance efficiency. This integration also helps enterprises drive down costs.”

Jeff Wellemeyer (News - Alert), co-founder and president of Smoothstone, said the company is “pleased to be joining the West family of companies as we share a common passion for delivering exceptional service to clients.”

Founded in 1986, West is headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, and works with companies and other clients in a variety of industries, including telecommunications, banking, retail, financial, technology and healthcare.

Founded in 1991, InterCall offers telephony, messaging, conferencing and collaboration tools for businesses of all sizes, from large global enterprises to small or regional companies.