More Than 40 Partners Deliver Services on Cisco Infrastructure
SAN JOSE, Calif. -- April 26, 1999 -- Cisco Systems, Inc. today announced a new partner program that creates an ecosystem of partners developing innovative voice applications on an open network architecture. Cisco's approach enables the reuse of existing telephony applications in a New World infrastructure and accelerates the innovation of new services that span the voice and data worlds. More than 40 charter members of the Cisco Voice Applications Partner (VAP) program are delivering services on Cisco's infrastructure today.
"The success of this launch is strong validation of our Open Packet Telephony (OPT) strategy," said Larry Lang, vice president of marketing, service provider line of business at Cisco Systems. "Cisco initiated this program to support the growing demand by our customers for open, New World services. We see this as just the beginning."
The Cisco VAP program, introduced recently with a three-day partner conference at Cisco's corporate headquarters, provides developers and value-added resellers (VARs) with the expertise and tools necessary to develop, sell and support profitable voice applications on a range of Cisco platforms. Cisco will actively work to expand both the program's membership and the range of products on which applications are developed.
Cisco partner, Comverse, was recently awarded "Americas Reseller of the Year" award and partner Unisys received the "Europe Reseller of the Year" award at the Cisco VAP conference.
Together with voice application partners, Cisco can today provide voice solutions that span over 30 application categories. These solutions include unified voice/fax/E-mail communications, pre- and post-paid calling card, single number services, tandem switching, operator services, voice dialing, information services, conference calling and directory assistance. In addition to making Cisco's New World infrastructure accessible for the development of these applications, the Cisco VAP program provides partners with a myriad of additional benefits, including access to Cisco's sales channels, training, co-marketing and post sales support. "The ability to attract, retain, and nourish a successful developer community will be a crucial factor for long term success in the next generation public network." said Hilary Mine, executive vice president at Probe Research, Inc. "Cisco's VAP program is a substantive first step in this direction."
Members and Customers Acknowledged the Cisco VAP Program:
Compaq"Cisco's strategy of open systems and next-generation voice over IP is very much in line with Compaq's," said Irene Nagler, Compaq's manager of communications business, CustomSystems, Americas. "Developing solutions with service migration products like the VCO/4K has helped us to quickly gain a foothold in the New World."
Comverse Network Systems
"Cisco has demonstrated the success and vision to support the next generation telecommunications network. We are pleased to be a part of this program that will build new, value-added applications that service providers require to compete in their market space," said Itsik Danziger, chief operating officer of Comverse Network Systems. "We look forward to deploying our wide range of value-added services on these New World networks."
Unysis Worldwide Communications
"We expect that Cisco's Voice Applications Partner program will accelerate industry adoption of New World networks by fostering the creation of differentiating value-added services from providers like Unisys," said Darrell Jennings, vice president and general manager, Unisys Worldwide Communications. "Creating the Cisco VAP program is a win-win for the end customer as well as the members of the program." Unisys was awarded "Europe Reseller of the Year" award at the Cisco VAP conference.
VIP Calling
"Having successfully implemented voice and real-time fax on VIP Calling's Cisco Powered, worldwide IP network, we are perfectly positioned to deploy new, value-added services," said Gordon Vanderbrug, executive vice president of VIP Calling. "With Cisco's excellent reputation for quality and services, the development of the Cisco Voice Applications Partners program reinforces their commitment to provide real-time solutions."
For more information on the Cisco Voice Applications Partner program please send email to cvapinfo@cisco.com.
Cisco Systems
Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) is the worldwide leader in networking for the Internet.Cisco, Cisco VCO/4K, Cisco AccessPath, Cisco Systems, and the Cisco Systems logo are registered trademarks of Cisco Systems, Inc. in the U.S. and certain other countries. All other trademarks mentioned in this document are the property of their respective owners. The use of the word partner is in a generic sense, and does not imply the formation of a partnership between any of the partner companies and Cisco.
