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Sangoma Steps up Lync Express Certified to Achieve Market First

By Steve Anderson Contributing TMCnet Writer

Sangoma is a name to be reckoned with when it comes to hardware and software for voice and data, especially when it comes to getting IP communications systems up and running. Its Lync Express solution, meanwhile, has found quite a bit of support in its own right among users looking to get up a PBX replacement system that works with Microsoft (News - Alert) Lync. But not content to rest on its laurels, Sangoma put some extra punch in Lync Express and thus announced the release of Lync Express 2.0.

So what's different in Lync Express 2.0? While Lync Express did well with the aforementioned PBX (News - Alert) replacement, as well as stepping in for other uses like adding telephony support to Office 365, integrating a legacy PBX or bringing in Survivable Branch Exchange systems, Lync Express 2.0 adds an array of new models to its range of support that can scale up to 1000 Lync seats, reportedly. Moreover, Lync Express 2.0 also adds certification for Lync 2013, and for those using SIP trunking, Lync Express 2.0 will also boast a full session border controller (SBC) system.

Lync Express also offers the Microsoft Windows and the Microsoft Lync 2013 server, along with both the Sangoma VoIP gateway and the Sangoma SBC gateway. It can be rack mounted, and comes in an array of different configurations based on needs on the ground.

As for what spurred the upgrade, it was largely—according to Sangoma's vice president of carrier and UC sales Mark Wagner—an issue of user demand. Wagner noted that unified communications (UC) platforms were rapidly gaining in the market, and given that these platforms would often need to interact with public switched telephone networks (PSTN), having a solution that could interact with both fields was going to be both necessary and popular should it work right. Lync Express got a great start on that field, and ended up making for a widely-used platform that only got better with new versions.

Given the response from some of Sangoma's user base, it seems to be mission accomplished. Ingram Micro (News - Alert) UK's head of unified communications, Annette Reynolds, offered this about Sangoma and its help in Lync: "In the U.K. market we are seeing a significant uplift in requests for Lync due to rising interest in UC features like IM, presence and screen sharing. Sangoma's Lync Express makes it simple to provide these capabilities, and a vast array of other features and services, in multiple deployment scenarios spanning PBX replacement, survivable branch exchange implementations, integration of legacy and VoIP networks, and the adoption of Office365 by enterprises large and small. The all-in-one nature of Lync Express is a unique offering that makes things very easy for channel partners like Ingram Micro to deploy and support Lync through our resellers."

Sangoma's continued careful attention to detail and responsiveness to user concerns are likely to make it a valued part of many user technology profiles for some time to come. Just what Lync Express 3.0 will eventually bring to bear remains to be seen, but it's clear that it will likely offer even more in the way of useful UC solutions.

Edited by Alisen Downey