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Ribbon SBC 5000 series certified for DoD

Ribbon Communications has announced that its Session Border Controller (SBC) 5000 series has been certified by the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) as part of a combined Microsoft Skype for Business solution and is now available for deployment by DoD agencies and within its communications network.

“Adding our SBC 5000 series as part of the Microsoft Skype for Business JITC certified solution further solidifies Ribbon as a trusted and proven partner for delivering the secure and interoperable communications technology that the Department of Defense demands,” said Tony Scarfo, Executive Vice President of Products, R&D, Support and Supply Chain, Ribbon. “We now have best-of-breed solutions for voice, video and desktop collaboration that are JITC certified, virtual and provide extensive SIP interoperability from Ribbon, Poly and Microsoft.”

“The addition of the Ribbon SBC 5000 series to Microsoft’s Skype for Business JITC certified solution allows us to deliver even more feature, functionality, flexibility and security capabilities to the DoD,” said Bill Hartwell, Vice President of US Federal, Ribbon. “There is a high degree of interest by many legacy DoD and former Nortel PBX agencies to procure a straight-forward and cost-effective TDM to IP transformation solution.”

In addition to SBCs, Ribbon is continuing to advance its Application Server (AS) platform for DoD deployments. The Ribbon AS platform release 12.1 completed JITC certification and is now available on the DISA APL. Ribbon’s latest certified AS release enables the DoD to significantly reduce operational costs and assure communications investment protection by having a choice of SIP or Assured Services SIP (AS-SIP) endpoints (the DoD Information System Network’s standard signaling protocol which provides end-to-end Assured Services) and carrier-class session control through open IP-based technology. The Ribbon AS 12.1 JITC certification includes support for Poly’s latest line of VVX phones including the VVX 150, 250, 350 and 450 desktop voice clients, providing the DoD with more options for open SIP endpoints.

“The Application Server certification allows end-users to maximize the security and interoperability of the Poly VVX phone series,” said Darrius Jones, Executive Vice President of Strategy, Poly. “This important integration ensures Poly’s solutions are seamlessly standardized with Ribbon AS 12.1 JITC certification as well as VoIP and video for a truly secure unified communications experience, which is crucial at the Federal level.”