Empire Access Expands Unified Communications Portfolio with Ribbon’s Kandy Business Solutions

WESTFORD, Mass. – Ribbon Communications Inc. (Nasdaq: RBBN), a global leader in secure and intelligent cloud communications, today announced that Empire Access, a leading regional telecommunications service provider in the northeastern United States, has deployed Ribbon’s Kandy Business Solutions including its Smart Office Unified Communications (UC) clients to enhance its mobility and collaboration offerings. Smart Office clients enable Empire Access to deliver its business customers voice, video, IM, presence and collaboration capabilities on both desktop and mobile devices.

“Kandy’s Unified Communications solution is a great addition to our portfolio, providing us with a proven hosted product that immediately expands our business services offerings,” said Bob VanDelinder, Director of Marketing for Empire Access. “Smart Office’s premium end-user video conferencing, collaboration and mobility experiences allows us to be a “one-stop shop” that can meet all of our customers’ communications needs, regardless of whether they seek fixed, mobile or both.”

VanDelinder added, “With our ability to now offer HD videoconferencing and screen sharing as part of our new UC suite, we are already working with an international customer interested in leveraging these capabilities.”

“We have a very strong, longstanding partnership with Empire Access and are pleased that we continue to build on this important relationship with their deployment of our Kandy Unified Communications services,” said Elizabeth Page, Director of Independent Operating Companies for Ribbon. “In today’s mobile first world, businesses and consumers want the same communications capabilities whether they are at home or on the go. Our Smart Office clients provide the same rich collaboration and communications experience whether you are in the office or on the road.”

Ribbon’s Smart Office platform is available to both service providers and enterprises or as a Service (aaS) within Ribbon’s Kandy Business Solutions and can be easily branded and resold in a multi-tiered model. Smart Office delivers mobile workers an improved user experience and offers enhanced support for native iOS and Android notification and calling services. With Smart Office, service providers and enterprises can easily and instantly add new functionalities and applications across all mobile and desktop soft clients.

Key Takeaways:

• Leading regional telecommunications provider Empire Access has deployed Ribbon’s Kandy Business Solutions Smart Office application to enhance its mobility offerings to its business customers.
• Smart Office is Kandy’s Unified Communication clients that allows service providers and enterprises to deliver advanced voice, videoconferencing, IM, presence and collaboration capabilities on both desktop and mobile devices, while also delivering a common experience across PC, Mac, iOS and Android or a web browser
• Empire Access selected Kandy because of its proven carrier-grade capabilities and Empire Access’ longstanding relationship with Ribbon.
• Empire Access is also leveraging Ribbon’s professional services and support team for the new deployment. 

Empire Access

Empire Access provides Fiber Optic based telecommunication services to residential and business customers in New York and Pennsylvania. Empire has delivered communication services for over 100 years, as a family owned company now thriving under the third generation.  Empire offers a wide range of products and services from basic phone service to customized phone systems, scalable high-speed Internet with speeds up to 1 Gbps, digital TV service, and security system solutions to meet varied customer needs.  Today, Empire supplies communication services and solutions to a variety of customers ranging from residential, retail, manufacturing, wineries, banks, and schools to law enforcement. As they continue to grow and evolve, their focus remains on exceeding customers’ expectations with high quality service. Empire Access is continually expanding their Fiber Optic network to provide service to new areas. For more information on Empire Access, visit empireaccess.com.

About Ribbon Communications

Ribbon Communications is a company with two decades of leadership in real-time communications. Built on world-class technology and intellectual property, the company delivers intelligent, secure, embedded real-time communications for today’s world.  The company transforms fixed, mobile and enterprise networks from legacy environments to secure IP and cloud-based architectures, enabling highly productive communications for consumers and businesses.  With a global footprint, Ribbon’s innovative, market-leading portfolio empowers service providers and enterprises with rapid service creation in a fully virtualized environment.  The company’s Kandy real-time communications software platform delivers a comprehensive set of advanced embedded and unified (CPaaS and UCaaS) communications capabilities that enables this transformation. To learn more, visit ribboncommunications.com.

Important Information Regarding Forward-Looking Statements  

The information in this release contains forward-looking statements regarding future events that involve risks and uncertainties. All statements other than statements of historical facts contained in this release are forward-looking statements. Our actual results may differ materially from those contemplated by the forward-looking statements. For further information regarding risks and uncertainties associated with Ribbon Communications' business, please refer to the "Risk Factors" section of Ribbon Communications' most recent annual or quarterly report filed with the SEC. Any forward-looking statements represent Ribbon Communications' views only as of the date on which such statement is made and should not be relied upon as representing Ribbon Communications' views as of any subsequent date. While Ribbon Communications may elect to update forward-looking statements at some point, Ribbon Communications specifically disclaims any obligation to do so.