Nectar and Sonus Team Up to Deliver Complete SIP Network Diagnostics for Microsoft Skype for Business Deployments

Integrated solution offers joint customers a single, centrally located UCD system to cut operational costs, simplify monitoring and provide complete session visibility

JERICHO, NY and WESTFORD, MA - June 15, 2016 - Nectar Services Corp., a leader in the development and deployment of proactive network monitoring and management software for the Unified Communications (UC) industry, and Sonus Networks, Inc. (Nasdaq: SONS), a global leader in secure and intelligent cloud communications, announced today an integrated solution to provide complete Session Border Controller (SBC) monitoring and diagnostics for joint customers. Nectar’s Unified Communications Management Platform (UCMP), combined with Sonus’ SBC 1000 and SBC 2000, creates a single, centrally located Unified Communications Diagnostics (UCD) system to monitor geographically dispersed SBCs. This joint solution significantly reduces the number of servers required to provide deep diagnostics monitoring for enterprises deploying SIP-based Unified Communications, such as Microsoft Skype for Business, with critical SBC infrastructure.

“While the decision to migrate to Skype for Business offers many benefits, SIP environments aren’t immune to low session quality issues. Organizations want to quickly identify the location of those network issues before communication and collaboration are interrupted,” said Mykola Konrad, vice president of product management and marketing, Sonus. “As the first SBC vendor to integrate with Nectar’s UCMP offering, we are excited to provide our joint partners and customers with an exclusive monitoring and diagnostic solution that pinpoints network issues and lowers costs by minimizing deployment of additional servers.”

Nectar’s UCMP, combined with Sonus’ SBC 1000 or SBC 2000, provides enterprises with secure quality measurements on the public and private side of the SBC. The unique capabilities of UCMP to monitor and manage multi-vendor platform deployments from Microsoft, Cisco, Avaya and others, along with Sonus’ visibility into all sessions, enables IT managers to take a proactive approach to identify and address poor network performance before it affects call quality. Key benefits of the integration include:

• Scalability: The integration provides the ability to monitor multiple SBCs at remote sites from a centrally located UCD system. This reduces complexity at the network edge and allows monitoring for new sites to be turned up with a simple configuration setting on the Sonus SBCs—significantly reducing the time needed to set up monitoring for new SBCs.
• Centralized Management: A single UCD system, or a set of UCD systems, can be installed in a secure, centrally located data center and leveraged to monitor the SBCs deployed at the remote sites, offering significant operational benefits.
• Lowered CAPEX: By integrating the Nectar UCMP solution directly with the Sonus SBC 1000 or SBC 2000, the number of UCD servers that need to be installed and maintained can be reduced. This drives down network complexity and lowers CAPEX that would otherwise be allocated to purchase additional servers.

"Nemertes' annual IP Telephony and Unified Communications total cost of operations research shows that IPT/UC operational costs are on the rise for most organizations as they struggle to reduce mean time to repair and proactively prevent service issues before they occur, and that the use of third-party management tools results in operational cost savings," says Irwin Lazar, vice president and service director, Nemertes Research. "The Nectar and Sonus solution reduces the cost and complexity of instrumenting IPT and UC application performance and enables operators to improve user satisfaction through proactive prevention of service issues and reduced mean time to repair."

“Diagnosing a networking issue in an enterprise’s SIP environment can easily become a tedious and daunting task when the most efficient tools are not in place and visibility into all SBC sessions is not available,” said Joseph Fuccillo, CTO, Nectar. “The integration of Nectar’s comprehensive UCMP solution and Sonus’ SBC 1000 and SBC 2000 offers unparalleled network monitoring and diagnostics that is designed to provide our joint customers with the tools to proactively manage their networks, before any issues arise, with a unique interoperability that saves both time and resource capital.”

About Sonus

Sonus brings the next generation of Cloud-based SIP and 4G/VoLTE solutions to its customers by enabling and securing mission critical traffic for VoIP, video, IM and online collaboration. With Sonus, enterprises can intelligently secure and prioritize real-time communications, while service providers can deliver reliable, secure real-time services for mobile, UC and social applications. Sonus offers an award-winning portfolio of hardware-based and virtualized Session Border Controllers (SBCs), Diameter Signaling Controllers (DSCs), Cloud Exchange Networking Platform, Policy/Routing servers, and media/signaling gateways. Visit www.sonus.net or call 1-855-GO-SONUS. Follow Sonus on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube and Instagram.

About Nectar Services Corp.

Nectar is a global market leader providing the most comprehensive monitoring and diagnostics software solution for Unified Communication services, and enables IT and operation organizations to proactively ensure the end-user experience. Our flagship offering, the Unified Communications Management Platform (UCMP) improves visibility and service delivery across integrated voice, video and data application solutions by providing unique and critical performance information. Nectar provides monitoring and diagnostics for millions of enterprise endpoints to over 1,400 enterprises in over 86 countries— including some of the largest global banking, search engine, service provider, healthcare and manufacturing organizations in the world.

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 Sonus’ business, please refer to the “Risk Factors” section of Sonus’ most recent annual or quarterly report filed with the SEC. 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.

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