[March 31, 2014]

Orange Business Services to Unify Communications and Develop Collaboration between 20,000 Users for JTI

Orange Business Services has been chosen by JTI (Japan Tobacco International) to transform its digital working environment by moving its existing communications landscape to a fully managed unified communications solution based on Microsoft (News - Alert) Lync^® 2013.

JTI is a leading international tobacco manufacturer headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland.

To create a workspace that fits JTI's requirements, Orange (News - Alert) Business Services will deploy and manage a unified communications solution to 104 JTI sites in 40 countries initially. The Lync-based solution will unify communications for 20,000 users with IM, Presence and Web conferencing services while 12,000 users will be enabled with Lync Enterprise voice and desktop video services, integrated with videoconferencing rooms. Orange will manage a hosted architecture and the entire ecosystem, including Sonus gateways and thousands of Polycom VVX Business Media Phones. An additional 3,000 mobile devices, tablets and smartphones will be Lync enabled.

This managed Lync solution enables JTI to bring the right people into the conversation very quickly, improves the speed of decision-making and communication-enabled business processes. In addition, JTI's mobile workforce will be supported with the same powerful unified communications tools no matter what device they use or where they are working.

"Ease-of-deployment is a key requirement for enterprises evaluating UC solutions," said Brian Riggs, analyst, Ovum (News - Alert). "Having a UC solution that can be deployed across all geographies and customized to a company's business requirements by a single global integrator is among the topmost requirements for large enterprises. Companies deploying Microsoft Lync have a strong need for comprehensive consulting services, such as those offered by Orange Business Services (News - Alert), that create the best-suited UC solution with the highest level of security and expertise at the critical crossroads of networks, devices and IT."

Guilain Rogg, JTI Global Technical Center VP, said: "To ensure the success of this major initiative, we selected Orange because of their expertise and knowledge about the existing environment to create a long-term strategy and associated roadmap. Their global capabilities support our geographical footprint and they have the ability to deliver end-to-end services, from transformation to operation, including management of all underlying service blocks."

Under the 5-year contract, Orange Business Services' key objective is to create a comprehensive global approach for JTI's end users by creating a unified workspace that includes a seamless set of tools to enable collaboration between team members, partners and customers. This contract includes a transformation program during which Orange will deploy one site every week during a two-year period, starting with the European and Russian markets.

"We are very pleased to help JTI transform and provide its employees with new smart and mobile ways of working, facilitating and optimizing their day-to-day activities with a business-critical unified communications solution based on Lync," said Dr. Helmut Reisinger, senior vice president for Europe, Russia and CIS, Orange Business Services. "Unified communications and collaborative solutions are a key pillar of the workspace transformation that is ongoing within companies. We are committed to support them in this evolution and in this specific case with JTI - at the global level."

About JTI

JTI, a member of the Japan Tobacco Group of Companies, is a leading international tobacco manufacturer. It markets world-renowned brands such as Camel, Winston and Mevius (Mild Seven). Other global brands include Benson & Hedges, Silk Cut, Sobranie, Glamour and LD. With headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, and about 27,000 employees worldwide, JTI has operations in more than 120 countries. Its core revenue in the fiscal year ended December 31, 2013, was USD 12.3 billion. For more information, visit www.jti.com.

About Orange Business Services

Orange Business Services, the Orange branch dedicated to B2B services, is a leading global integrator of communications solutions for multinational corporations. With the world's largest, seamless network for voice and data, Orange Business Services reaches 220 countries and territories with local support in 166. Offering a comprehensive package of communication services covering cloud computing, enterprise mobility, M2M, security, unified communications, videoconferencing, and broadband, Orange Business Services delivers a best-in-class customer experience across a global landscape. Thousands of enterprise customers and 1.4 million mobile data users rely on an Orange Business Services international platform for communicating and conducting business. Orange Business Services was awarded four of the telecom industry's highest accolades at the annual World Communication Awards 2013 - Best Global Operator, Best Cloud Service, Best Enterprise Service and Best Small Business Service. Orange Business Services is a seven-time winner of Best Global Operator. Learn more at www.orange-business.com or follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter or Facebook.

Orange is one of the world's leading telecommunications operators with annual sales of €41 billion in 2013 and has 165,000 employees worldwide at Dec. 31, 2013. Orange is listed on the NYSE Euronext Paris (symbol ORA) and on the New York Stock Exchange (symbol ORAN).

Orange and any other Orange product or service names included in this material are trademarks of Orange Brand Services Limited.

Microsoft and Lync are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries.

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