Verizon Business Earns 'Cisco 2008 U.S. Managed UC&C Partner of the Year,' Other Top Cisco Awards

Innovation and Customer Satisfaction Underpin Recognition

BASKING RIDGE, N.J., July 15 -- Verizon Business' continued success as a Cisco channel partner has earned the company the Cisco 2008 U.S. Managed UC&C Partner of the Year Award, as well as four other top honors for services sold in the U.S. and Canada.

In addition to the managed unified communications and collaboration (UC&C) award, Verizon Business received the Cisco Public Sector Partner of the Year Award - U.S. and Canada, the Cisco Top U.S. Public Sector Service Provider Partner for Services Award and the Cisco U.S. Enterprise Partner of the Year Award for the South region. Verizon Business and Northrop Grumman were also named Collaboration Excellence Partners of the Year - U.S. and Canada.

Additionally, at the annual Cisco European channel partner summit in May, Verizon Business received the 2008 Cisco Service Provider Partner of the Year Award for the region consisting of Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg (Benelux).

"Over the past year, we further accelerated our close collaboration with Cisco, enabling Verizon Business to quickly and efficiently deliver services based on advanced Cisco-based technologies," said Nancy Gofus, senior vice president - global business products, Verizon. "These awards underscore the success of these efforts and highlight the combined strengths of our two companies in delivering innovative IP services that power enterprises around the globe."

During the past year, Verizon Business became the first global service provider to deliver a managed solution based on the Cisco Unified Communications System Release 7.0. The company also launched a managed service to support the Cisco Unified Contact Center-Express platform and expanded availability of its managed LAN, wireless LAN and UC&C offerings.

"I have the privilege of recognizing Verizon Business as a Cisco Partner Summit theater and regional award winner," said Wendy Bahr, senior vice president - U.S. and Canada channels, Cisco. "These awards recognize Verizon Business' performance and success as a Cisco channel partner in the United States and Canada."

The awards were presented last month at Cisco's annual partner summit in Boston. Cisco selected Verizon Business from among Cisco's U.S. and Canadian channel partners.

Cisco Partner Summit Awards are presented to channel partners meeting a specific set of requirements designed to identify the best channel partner in each category. The formal nomination and selection process begins with each sales theater, or region, nominating a channel partner for each category. Nominations are reviewed and final selections made by a group of Cisco worldwide and regional channel executives. Customer satisfaction is the basic criterion for the awards, which also comply with the requirements of the Cisco Channel Partner Program.

"These awards highlight the strong relationship between Verizon Business and Cisco," said Kerry Bailey, senior vice president - global services, Verizon Business. "By combining Verizon Business' professional services capabilities with Cisco's advanced technology platforms, we can deliver transformative solutions to enterprises around the globe."

Verizon Business, a Cisco Gold Partner, has a worldwide service and support team of more than 6,500 personnel, as well as nearly 1,000 employees with Cisco Qualified Specialist Certifications in advanced routing and switching, wireless, security and unified communications.

Verizon Business manages 270,000-plus network, security and hosting devices across more than 4,000 customer networks spanning 142 countries and territories, overseeing non-Verizon connections from more than 60 network providers around the world. Verizon Business offers a comprehensive suite of professional services to help customers successfully and securely deploy and manage IP networks and applications.

About Verizon Business

Verizon Business, a unit of Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) , is a global leader in communications and IT solutions. We combine professional expertise with the world's most connected IP network to deliver award-winning communications, IT, information security and network solutions. We securely connect today's extended enterprises of widespread and mobile customers, partners, suppliers and employees -- enabling them to increase productivity and efficiency and help preserve the environment. Many of the world's largest businesses and governments -- including 96 percent of the Fortune 1000 and thousands of government agencies and educational institutions -- rely on our professional and managed services and network technologies to accelerate their business. Find out more at www.verizonbusiness.com.

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