Verizon Business Receives Top Honors from Frost & Sullivan for VoIP Services

Award Cites Portfolio Diversity, Innovative Design Solutions, Efficient
Convergence Strategies as Key Factors

BASKING RIDGE, N.J., July 31 /PRNewswire/ -- Verizon Business has earned
the 2008 North American Frost & Sullivan Award for Product Line Strategy for
its leadership in developing and delivering hosted IP telephony and
voice-over-IP access services. The award is presented by the leading analyst
firm each year to a company that has demonstrated the most insight into
customer needs and product demands.
"Verizon Business combines best-of-breed hosted IP telephony and VoIP
access solutions with the financial and operational stability of the Verizon
brand, enabling it to become a premier provider of enterprise communications
services," said Imran Khan, research analyst, Frost & Sullivan. "While a
number of providers offer hosted IP telephony solutions, few are able to offer
a robust product line that meets the diverse needs of small-, medium- and
large-enterprise customers alike."
The award also singles out Verizon Business for working with customers to
offer hybrid solutions -- combinations of services from the company's VoIP
portfolio -- that enable customers to create a single, network-based solution
to meet their business needs. The award notes the particular benefit this
versatility presents to customers with more complex networks.
"This award recognizes Verizon Business' leadership in helping companies
through the IP transformation," said Nancy Gofus, senior vice president and
chief marketing officer, Verizon Business. "Our comprehensive IP portfolio,
including advanced collaboration capabilities enabled by unified
communications, helps our customers do business better in ways they may never
have imagined."
In selecting Verizon Business, Frost & Sullivan also credited the company
for offering a unified communications platform that integrates voice
communications. Verizon Business' Integrated Communications Package --
available for customers of Hosted IP Centrex, part of Verizon Business' VoIP
portfolio -- provides a dynamic hub where employees can access voice mail,
control incoming and outgoing calls, manage their online presence, send text
messages, and synchronize contacts and calendars. Ideal for managing
communications and enhancing collaboration and productivity, Integrated
Communications Package is available in the U.S. and will soon be available in
Europe.
Moreover, Frost & Sullivan cited the wide array of professional and
managed services available to Verizon Business customers. Verizon Business'
professional services experts are instrumental in helping organizations
navigate the complexity of moving from the traditional legacy voice (PSTN)
world to voice over IP. In addition, the company provides a complementary set
of managed network, managed hosting and managed services offerings, managing
and maintaining more than 4,000 customer networks and over 260,000
communications devices around the world.
Finally, Verizon Business' service level agreements (SLAs) and a wide
range of customer premises equipment (CPE) options and vendors were named as
contributing factors for Frost & Sullivan's recognition.
Last year, Frost & Sullivan awarded its 2006 Product Line Strategy Award
for Enterprise wide area networking (WAN) services to Verizon Business for its
ability to introduce new wide area networking products that are strategically
positioned to balance its already robust overall product portfolio.
About Verizon Business
Verizon Business, a unit of Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ), operates
the world's most connected public IP network and uses its industry-leading
global-network capabilities to offer large-business and government customers
an unmatched combination of security, reliability and speed. The company
integrates advanced IP communications and information technology (IT) products
and services to deliver leading enterprise solutions including managed
services, security, mobility, collaboration and professional services. These
solutions power innovation and enable the company's customers to do business
better. For more information, visit www.verizonbusiness.com.
About Frost & Sullivan
Frost & Sullivan, the Growth Partnership Company, partners with clients to
accelerate their growth. The company's TEAM Research, Growth Consulting and
Growth Team Membership(TM) empower clients to create a growth-focused culture
that generates, evaluates and implements effective growth strategies. Frost &
Sullivan employs over 45 years of experience in partnering with Global 1000
companies, emerging businesses and the investment community from more than 30
offices on six continents. For more information about Frost & Sullivan's
Growth Partnership Services, visit http://www.frost.com.
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SOURCE Verizon Business

Maria Montenegro of Verizon Business, +1-703-886-6063,
maria.montenegro@verizon.com