Frisco, Texas.  September 11, 2012— GENBAND, a leading developer of IP infrastructure and application solutions, today announced the launch of its second annual GENFuzion Developer Challenge, a program designed to expand the universe of third party applications powered by the GENBAND A2™ Unified Communications Application Server. This year GENBAND has partnered with Polycom Inc., the global leader in open standards-based unified communications (UC) video and IP handsets, to expand the program, offering incentives to contestants who develop applications that enhance the capabilities of Polycom IP voice solutions, like the Polycom® VVX® 500 business media phones. The developer challenge runs from September 2012 through January 2013, with winners to be announced by end of January 2013.  GENBAND is looking to duplicate the success of the first annual GENFuzion Developer Challenge, which produced multiple innovative communications-enabled applications. 

“By opening the new GENBAND RESTful APIs to developers and providing a collaborative testing environment for application development, GENBAND has created an outstanding developer eco-system for fostering innovation,” said Jim Kruger, Senior Vice President of Product and Solutions Marketing at Polycom, and one of the judges of the challenge. “We are pleased to join forces with GENBAND to empower developers to create breakthrough apps for our combined customers.”

The GENFuzion Developer Challenge recognizes the top three applications across several strategic categories that include IP Phones, Family Applications, Converged Applications (TDM and IP environments), Mobility and Business Productivity. The top three overall winning applications will receive cash prizes of $20,000, $15,000 and $10,000 respectively; category winners will be recognized with honorable mention prizes.

“The interest and results generated from the inaugural GENFuzion Developer Challenge have been phenomenal and we believe this year’s contest will be even more successful with additional strategic categories and increased cash prizes,” said Mark Pugerude, President of Global Sales and Marketing for GENBAND. “We are excited to add Polycom as a key partner and welcome their extensive knowledge and expertise in providing world-class IP voice and video solutions. Polycom’s advanced IP phones allow us to extend our unified communications and provide developers with even more possibilities to deliver creative applications that our combined customers can leverage.”  

Pugerude added, “With the introduction of the new GENBAND RESTful APIs, we are promoting the latest in WEB-based APIs, making it easier than ever for the developer community to leverage widespread existing HTTP support and enable their communications applications.”

Through its GENFuzion Developer Community, GENBAND provides “Sandbox” testing for applications and creates a collaborative discussion forum in addition to opening its APIs to developers. The GENFuzion Developer Community has become a strategic development resource for operators, enterprises and resellers to leverage, while also providing developers a vehicle for reaching new customers. All GENFuzion developed applications are promoted through the GENApps Showcase.

“The GENFuzion Developer Challenge empowered us to leverage GENBAND’s unified communications platform and collaborate with other developers,” said Manish Jha, Vice President, SwitchPoint Solutions, winner of the inaugural GENFuzion Developer Challenge. “The contest provided us with the opportunity to have our applications marketed and made available to GENBAND’s global customer base, assisting us in delivering our solutions to market. The program presented a phenomenal opportunity for our business, providing us the platform, tools and open architecture necessary to develop IP-rich and intuitive communications solutions.”

For more information on the second annual GENFuzion Developer Challenge, please visit http://genfuzion.genband.com.

About GENBAND
GENBAND is a global leader of IP infrastructure solutions, enabling service providers and enterprises around the world to evolve communications networks through IP innovation. The Company offers market-leading Switching, Applications, Networking and Service solutions, with products deployed in over 600 customer networks spanning more than 80 countries. GENBAND is headquartered in Frisco, Texas, and has vast resources in R&D, sales and support spanning more than 50 countries. To learn more, visit us on the web at www.GENBAND.com.

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Contact:
Kim Lee
GENBAND
+1.972.265.3766
kim.lee@GENBAND.com