New Verizon Offering Helps Enterprises Conduct Video Meetings Across Variety of Devices, Platforms and Networks

NEW YORK, March 27, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The growing popularity of information technology innovation has accelerated demand from enterprises for the latest communications capabilities on a variety of devices, platforms and networks.  To help meet this demand, Verizon is launching a new offering that enables businesses and government agencies to conduct secure, high-quality video meetings across private or public networks on multiple video platforms – including telepresence and video conferencing -- on desktops and tablets.    

The innovative solution, Verizon Open Video Communications, makes it possible to link video systems that were previously incompatible and to create a virtually limitless open web of video communications and end points.

The solution, which will roll out in second-quarter 2012, will enable Verizon customers to communicate via video beyond corporate firewalls and proprietary video platforms and networks to a larger, community of business-to-business partners and customers.  With Verizon Open Video Communications, businesses will be able to instantaneously add participants to a meeting and the service will be delivered with usage-based pricing.

"One of the biggest challenges in video adoption by large-business and government customers is the ability to communicate beyond the four walls of their business," said Mike Palmer, vice president of product strategy for Verizon Enterprise Solutions. "With the deployment of 4G LTE and a strong desire for workers to employ in the workplace commonplace apps such as video, this offering is an important step toward Verizon's goal of enabling our customers to use any device to connect to the people and information they need to work most effectively."

"Being able to connect across telepresence or traditional video conferencing networks to potentially millions of new locations greatly expands the value of video to customers, so they can more quickly see a return on their video investment," Palmer said. 

The new capability expands the reach of Verizon's immersive video – or telepresence -- offering across the company's global Private Internet protocol networking platform, currently available in more than 170 markets across the globe.  Telepresence replicates face-to-face interactions so realistically that it feels as though everyone is in the same room -- even though they may be thousands of miles apart.

(View a video of Verizon's visual communications solutions here.)

Verizon, including its predecessor companies, has more than 30 years of experience as a leading provider of unified collaboration and communications (UC&C) services, enabling organizations to effectively collaborate for increased productivity while reducing costs and carbon emissions associated with business travel.   Verizon offers some of the most advanced meeting tools available today, as well as UC&C professional consulting services to help organizations tailor the best UC&C strategy to meet their specific goals.

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE, Nasdaq: VZ), headquartered in New York, is a global leader in delivering broadband and other wireless and wireline communications services to consumer, business, government and wholesale customers.  Verizon Wireless operates America's most reliable wireless network, with nearly 108 million total connections nationwide.  Verizon also provides converged communications, information and entertainment services over America's most advanced fiber-optic network, and delivers integrated business solutions to customers in more than 150 countries, including all of the Fortune 500.  A Dow 30 company with $111 billion in 2011 revenues, Verizon employs a diverse workforce of nearly 194,000.  For more information, visit www.verizon.com.

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SOURCE Verizon