Sonus Networks and Westcon Group to Make Enablement and Security of Real-Time Communications Easily Accessible to U.S. Government

Agencies Can Now Procure Sonus' Session Border Controller Portfolio at Pre-Negotiated Terms via Westcon Group GSA Program

Key Takeaways:

• The entire Sonus Session Border Controller (SBC) portfolio is available for the first time to U.S. government agencies through the General Services Administration (GSA) IT Schedule 70 program.
• The agreement between Sonus and Westcon Group will allow U.S. government agencies to expedite the procurement of Sonus SBCs at pre-negotiated pricing and terms.

Sonus Networks, Inc., a global leader in enabling and securing real-time communications and Westcon Group - the value-added distributor of security, Unified Communications, network infrastructure and data center solutions - announced that Sonus' complete line of Session Border Controllers (SBCs) is now available to U.S. government customers via the distributor's General Services Administration (GSA) program. The reseller agreement marks the first time Sonus SBCs are available to both civilian and Department of Defense (DoD) agencies through the GSA's IT Schedule 70 − the most widely used acquisition vehicle in the U.S. federal government.

Sonus solutions play a critical role in enabling real-time communications, such as Voice over IP (VoIP) and video solutions, to deliver superior call quality and value-added features − such as least-cost routing and advanced network security against denial-of-service flooding, hacking and other network attacks. Sonus offers the most complete portfolio of SBCs on the market today, ranging from virtualized instances to hardware-based devices that are architected to support up to 150,000 concurrent SIP sessions.

Sonus SBCs support Microsoft Lync, Broadsoft and other Unified Communications environments out-of-the-box and enable technologies such as high-definition (HD) voice services and Session Initiation Protocol (SIP trunking), which can significantly reduce communications costs and provide better customer service. The complete portfolio of Sonus SBCs includes the Sonus SBC 1000, Sonus SBC 2000, Sonus SBC 5110, Sonus SBC 5210, Sonus SBC 7000 and Sonus SBC Software edition (SWe).

The Westcon Group GSA program enables U.S. federal government agencies to expedite the purchase of IT products rather than engage in a long and detailed bidding process. The distributor currently offers a variety of products through its GSA program to address a broad range of IT solutions − including Unified Communications, security, mobility and wireless. U.S. federal government agencies can now purchase Sonus SBCs directly from the Westcon Group GSA Catalog at pre-negotiated prices and terms through the reseller agreement with Westcon Group.

Quotes:

"Westcon and Sonus have had a strong commercial relationship in place for a number of years," said Brenda Reynolds, director of Government Programs, Westcon Group. "Sonus' market-leading SBC products − combined with our expertise in government purchasing, logistics and pricing − create a very compelling proposition for meeting the VoIP and Unified Communications needs of the government. Our extensive reseller program adds even more value by providing focused partners on every voice and Unified Communications project."

"Through Westcon, government agencies can now conveniently procure Sonus solutions as they seek to secure and enable voice and video communications," said John Winters, vice president of Sales at Sonus and president of Sonus Federal. "Sonus has built a strong partnership with Westcon and the reseller agreement with the Westcon Group ensures that our government customers receive pre-negotiated pricing with all of the appropriate Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) clauses included."

Other Facts:

• The Sonus SBC 5110 and Sonus SBC 5210 Session Border Controllers meet the U.S. Department of Defense's (DoD) Unified Capabilities Requirements (UCR2013) and are included in the JITC's Approved Products List (APL).
• Sonus was positioned in the Leaders Quadrant of the "Magic Quadrant for Session Border Controllers," published October 21, 2013 by Gartner, Inc.

Additional Resources:

• Click here to download electronic versions of Sonus' educational guides, published in partnership with John Wiley and Sons, Inc., publisher of the world's best-selling For Dummies® reference series: Lync Enterprise Voice for Dummies, SIP Trunking for Dummies, Session Border Controllers for Dummies and WebRTC for Dummies.
• View complete information about the Sonus SBC portfolio at www.sonus.net.