Unify Names Philip Vanhoutte of Plantronics a "New Way to Work Global Ambassador"

BOCA RATON, Fla., Jan. 27, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Unify, a leading communications software and services firm, today announced Philip Vanhoutte, senior vice president and managing director for Europe and Africa at Plantronics, as a New Way to Work Global Ambassador. Over the past few years, Vanhoutte has researched and globally implemented radical new workplace changes to support growing trends in agile work communication. These efforts led to the publication of Vanhoutte's book, "The Smarter Working Manifesto," in 2014, which offers employers and employees insight into the freedom of work movement— the ability to identify and determine when and from what environment will yield the most productivity, and flexibility, for individuals, and teams. 

"At Plantronics, we went through this Smarter Working journey and saw huge benefits in terms of employees' self-empowerment, well-being, productivity, and confidence in management; as well as organizational cost savings, and the ability to attract and retain talent," said Philip Vanhoutte, senior vice president and managing director for Europe and Africa at Plantronics. "The right technology, along with a shift in behavior and company mindset is essential for organizations that want to establish a culture of agile communication and collaboration."

As a global leader in audio communications for business and consumers, Plantronics has been an advanced technology partner of Unify for almost 10 years. Plantronics, in conjunction with Unify, creates integrated and intuitive solutions to meet the most diverse work modes and use cases. These solutions simplify and enhance  Unify's OpenScape and OpenStage desk phones, OpenStage DECT and WLAN handsets, OpenScape soft clients and applications, Circuit for Google Chrome browser and iOS apps, and OpenScape Xpert turrets for trade, dispatch and safety critical services.

Plantronics was invited to join the Unify Customer Advisory Council during the summer of 2014 to be one of the first companies to deploy Circuit. "We've experienced, first hand, how Circuit brings the social and collaboration capabilities to any company who wants to adopt this New Way to Work," continued Vanhoutte. "Our own beta-testing team recognized the rich sound quality users enjoy with Circuit when using Plantronics headsets."

"Vanhoutte and his progressive team provided invaluable feedback during our Circuit beta customer program," commented Bill Hurley, chief marketing officer at Unify. "Plantronics was impressed by Circuit's underlying principle that continuous conversation and keeping a contextual history of communication exchanges, which are synchronized across devices, makes collaboration simple and efficient, even with a team that is split across two continents. Vanhoutte's foresight makes him a progressive thought leader in future of work technologies."

Unify's global NW2W Ambassador program honors these leaders, who prioritize the impact of work trends on business. These individuals prioritize new strategies for communication and collaboration in order to successfully embrace the NW2W.

For more information about the New Way to Work Global Ambassador Program, visit the NW2W hub at www.unify.com/nw2w. Additionally, follow the NW2W conversation on Twitter at #NW2W and on LinkedIn.

About Plantronics
Plantronics is a global leader in audio communications for business and consumers. We have pioneered new trends in audio technology, creating innovative products that allow people to simply communicate. From unified communications to Bluetooth^® headsets to gaming solutions, we deliver uncompromising quality, an ideal experience, and extraordinary service. Originally designed for commercial aviation, today Plantronics products are used by every company in the Fortune 100™, as well as by emergency call operators, air traffic controllers, and consumers around the world. www.plantronics.com  

About Unify
Unify is one of the world's leading communications software and services firms, providing integrated communications solutions for approximately 75 percent of the Fortune Global 500. Our solutions, including Circuit, unify multiple networks, devices and applications into one easy-to-use platform that allows teams to engage in rich and meaningful conversations. The result is a transformation of how the enterprise communicates and collaborates that amplifies collective effort, energizes the business, and enhances business performance. Unify has a strong heritage of product reliability, innovation, open standards and security.

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SOURCE Unify

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