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5i, a U.K.-based provider of advanced Unified Communications expertise, integration skills and mentorship to IT resellers, announced the expansion of its collaboration portfolio to embrace the rapidly growing opportunity in visual collaboration.

Important offerings from 5i’s collaboration portfolio include complex messaging, mobility, real time communications, telephony, contact centers, multi media, collaboration, conferencing and video technologies. These solutions are offered across multiple communication modes and devices under a single managed support contract.

As part of the new move, 5i announced support for Cisco’s (News - Alert) extended visual collaboration suite across its full range of systems design and managed service offerings, following the successful acquisition of Tandberg (News - Alert) by Cisco.

The company is offering a range of pre-packaged and tested solutions for the small-to-medium business sector. These solutions comprise all the hardware, software and support services required to establish visual collaboration and telepresence in an organization and keep it running as smoothly as possible, company officials said.

“Our experience in Unified Communications shows us that organizations shouldn’t initially focus on video conferencing endpoints when it comes to evaluating or implementing visual collaboration technology,” said Peter Howells, 5i’s managing director, in a statement.

By partnering with industry leaders like Cisco, 5i is able to plan, design, deploy and manage effective visual collaboration solutions that meet these goals. As part of its entry into visual collaboration arena, 5i is launching an innovative extension of their UNIFY Managed Unified Communications (News - Alert) service. This solution, according to company officials, provides organizations engaged in the UNIFY ACTIVE+ support service with a free Cisco TelePresence PrecisionHD USB camera, allowing them to interact with 5i’s live video helpdesk.

“5i’s track record as a Cisco Advanced Unified Communications Specialized Partner makes it a natural choice to help us bring Cisco TelePresence and collaboration solutions to the UK commercial market, said Jeremy Bevan, European director of Cisco TelePresence marketing at Cisco, in a statement.