New Partnership and Services Agreement Targets Growing Marketfor Microsoft Lync Solutions in Canada, United States and Latin America

Key Takeaways

• New sales and service agreement expands Iluminari Tech’s best-of-breed Unified Communications portfolio with industry’s widest selection of Lync-certified session border controllers
• New partnership expected to extend Sonus’ market reach to enterprises and regional carriers in Canada, United States and Latin America

WESTFORD, Mass.- Sonus Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ: SONS), a global leader in SIP communications, and Iluminari Tech, a leading provider of next-generation Microsoft collaboration solutions, today announced their partnership to jointly deliver Unified Communications (UC) solutions to enterprises and communications service providers in the North and Latin American markets.

The adoption of UC technology is quickly growing within the global enterprise market as more companies look to consolidate and extend their communications across their global footprint and through the Cloud. Sonus, which currently offers the industry’s broadest portfolio of Microsoft Lync-certified session border controllers (SBCs), and Iluminari Tech, a Microsoft Gold Communications Partner with extensive experience in delivering best-of-breed solutions on the Lync platform, provide a solution that can help enterprises and communications service providers simplify and accelerate their UC deployments.

Microsoft Lync 2013 plays an important part in many enterprises’ UC strategies. According to Microsoft, 90% of Fortune 500 companies are currently using Lync. The partnership between Canadian-based Iluminari Tech and Sonus is expected to enable Iluminari to help its customers across Canada, United States and Latin America deploy Lync-based solutions globally more quickly, reliably and cost-effectively on the industry-leading Sonus SBC platform. The carrier-grade performance of the Sonus SBC platform, together with Iluminari Tech’s extensive experience with Lync 2013 deployments, provide a proven solution for Microsoft Lync Enterprise Voice deployments as well as next-generation Lync solutions in premise-based, hybrid and Cloud configurations.

Quotes

“Delivering a world-class ecosystem of Lync Unified Communications partners remains an integral part of the value that we deliver to our clients,” said Angela Hlavka, Iluminari Tech’s President and CEO. “We are extremely pleased to be working with Sonus to deliver next-generation communications solutions. Iluminari Tech has gone through the rigorous process of becoming not just a Lync Certified Support Partner but a support partner for all our ecosystem partners including Sonus. The addition of Sonus will provide extended support for our Lync customers and partners.”

“As Sonus continues to invest in building our global presence, we are pleased to be partnered with a recognized Microsoft Lync solutions leader such as Iluminari Tech,” said Joe McLaughlin, Sonus’ Vice President of Worldwide Channels. “We feel strongly that our partnership will strengthen Iluminari’s portfolio offerings across two serviced continents, while providing Sonus with a trusted collaborator known for its exceptional quality of work.”

Other Facts

• Iluminari Tech earned two Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP) awards for Microsoft Lync in 2014.
• For two consecutive years, Sonus has been positioned in the Leaders quadrant of the "Magic Quadrant for Session Border Controllers" and was the largest gainer in the report published on October 21, 2013 by Gartner, Inc.
• Sonus was named to the 2013 InformationWeek 500 List of Top Technology Innovators in the U.S. for a second consecutive year. Sonus received the award in recognition of its 2013 companywide Unified Communications (UC) deployment, featuring Microsoft Lync Enterprise Voice and Sonus SBCs.

Additional Resources

• Click here to download electronic copies 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.
• Download a copy of the CIO Magazine Playbook, “Three Steps to Maximizing ROI for Microsoft Lync Enterprise Voice.”

Tags

Sonus, SONS, Iluminari Tech, SBC, SIP, Microsoft Lync 2013, Unified Communications, UC, enterprise voice, channel partners, Canada, Latin America, resellers, systems integrators

About Sonus

Sonus Networks, Inc. is a leader in IP networking with proven expertise in delivering secure, reliable and scalable next-generation infrastructure and subscriber solutions. With customers in over 50 countries across the globe and over a decade of experience in transforming networks to IP, Sonus has enabled service providers and enterprises to capture and retain users and generate significant ROI. Sonus products include session border controllers, policy/routing servers, subscriber feature servers and media and signaling gateways. Sonus products are supported by a global services team with experience in design, deployment and maintenance of some of the world's largest and most complex IP networks. For more information, visit www.sonus.net.

About Iluminari Tech

Iluminari Tech is a privately held Canadian company that specializes in implementing next-generation Microsoft communication and collaboration solutions. Iluminari Tech is a Microsoft Gold Communications Partner, Managed Partner, Certified Lync Support Partner and Certified Trainer that provides expertise, best practices and training to successfully implement communication and collaboration solutions utilizing Lync and Office 365 on premises and in the Cloud to both customers and partners. For more information, visit www.iluminaritech.com.

Important Information Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

The information in this release may contain certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 regarding future events that involve risks and uncertainties. Although Sonus believes that its expectations are based on reasonable assumptions, readers are cautioned that these forward-looking statements are only predictions and are subject to inherent uncertainties, risks and changes in circumstances that are difficult to predict. All statements other than statements of historical facts contained in this report 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 Sonus’ business, please refer to the “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and “Risk Factors” sections of Sonus’ filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.  Any forward-looking statements represent Sonus' views only as of the date on which such statement is made, and should not be relied upon as representing Sonus' views as of any subsequent date. While Sonus may elect to update forward-looking statements at some point, Sonus specifically disclaims any obligation to do so, except as required by law.

For more information:

Iluminari Tech:
Rara Asmaradewi, +1-877-895-7323
info@iluminaritech.com

Sonus Networks:
Wendy Tullo, +1-972-301-4978
wtullo@sonusnet.com

Lois Paul & Partners:
Anastasia Efstratios, +1-617-986-5873
anastasia_efstratios@lpp.com