Andrew Borg, Senior Research Analyst in charge of the Wireless & Mobility Practice at Aberdeen Group, is conducting an online survey for the upcoming benchmark report on the next inflection point in enterprise wireless LANs.  Andrew asked that we share this survey with our customers and associates.  Please feel free to participate at your convenience.

http://www.aberdeen.com/survey/wlan08/

In appreciation for your taking the 15 – 20 minutes to answer this survey, we will provide you with a complimentary copy (each a $399 value) of:
– The findings of this study when they are available on December 1, 2008, PLUS the
– Voice Over WiFi in the Enterprise Aberdeen Benchmark Report, available immediately after your submission of this survey.

Lots of people are asking us how green NEC products are. In a nutshell, NEC was green when green was just a color.

NEC was one of the first global companies to demonstrate environmental consciousness. Way back in 1971, we issued environmental management guidelines that directed NEC managers to pursue green policies. And we didn’t stop there! In 1991, we published an environmental charter with action plans for our employees to follow to conserve resources, and we initiated internal environmental labeling in 1998 to promote the development of environmentally sound products. Our system worked, and we currently have 5,273 products in 55 categories that carry our Eco label. One of our proudest achievements has been our Forestation Program, which we started in 2002. We committed to planting 6.750 acres of trees by 2010 – and maintaining them until at least 2020. By then, those tress should absorb nearly a million tons of CO2 annually!

In 2007, we committed to reducing our carbon footprint to zero by 2010. See if you can find another global manufacturing company that has publically committed to such an ambitious green goal!

Our commitment to the environment is not going away. This year, NEC Unified Solutions introduced new products that are both power-efficient and compliant with RoHS green manufacturing standards. NEC has also introduced optional bioplastic side panels for our new terminals. By 2010, NEC plans to replace 10 percent of its petrochemical plastics with bioplastics made from corn.

Our new IP products are also in line with our environmental mission. They use less power than our previous products and were manufactured with environmentally safe methods and materials. We’ve even eliminated lead and mercury from their circuit boards.

We’ve demonstrated our commitment. Now it’s your turn! NEC Unified Solutions has the products for you if you want to use less power and help protect the environment.

Today’s businesses continue to face financial challenges. Market globalization, economic downturn and increased consumer demands are issues that confront businesses of all sizes. At the same time, domestic and foreign competition is stronger than ever. To offset these competitive pressures, business decision makers will need to be very strategic in their choice of which technology to invest in to attain their goals. 2008 offers businesses, especially small to medium businesses, a unique opportunity to gain that competitive advantage. Full story

NEC Unified Solutions Receives 2007 Product of the Year Award from Communications Solutions

Automated Message System Honored for Outstanding Innovation

Irving, Texas, June 25, 2008 — NEC Unified Solutions announced today that Technology Marketing Corporation’s (TMC) Communications Solutions (www.tmcnet.com/comsol) has named the Automated Message System (AMS) as a recipient of a 2007 Product of the Year Award.

NEC’s AMS enables businesses of all types and sizes to provide valuable messages and reminders to patients, clients, customers and employees. AMS can also help improve delivery of announcements and enhance responses, resulting in a return on investment by reducing administrative process costs and allowing companies to build longer-lasting customer relationships.

For any announcement, the AMS can send a message via a phone call, email or text message. Each call or message is customized with specific information for each targeted individual. Interactive voice response functionality supplements the calling capability and asks for confirmation that the message was received. The recipient also has the option of being routed to a staff member via a normal extension number or integration with NEC’s contact center solutions.

“NEC’s AMS system can help reduce administrative process costs, improve customer relationships, and eliminate the hours required to manually call customers to remind them about appointments in numerous service-oriented industries,” said Diana Schoenmann, vice president of the National Sales Assistance Center, NEC Unified Solutions. “We are pleased that Communications Solutions has recognized NEC’s leadership in developing innovative products that continue to revolutionize the way our customers do business.”

“NEC has been recognized with a 2007 Product of the Year Award for their excellence in the advancement of voice, data and/or video communications,” said Rich Tehrani, TMC President and Group Editor-in-Chief of Communications Solutions. “NEC has proven they are committed to quality and excellence in solutions that benefit the customer experience as well as ROI for the companies that use them. I am pleased to honor their hard work and accomplishments and look forward to more innovative solutions from them in the future.”

The eighth annual Communications Solutions Product of the Year Award recognizes the vision, leadership and attention to detail that are the hallmarks of the prestigious award. The most innovative products and services brought to market in 2007 were selected as recipients of this year’s Communications Solutions Product of the Year Award for their groundbreaking achievement.

The 2007 Product of the Year Award winners can be found on the Communications Solutions Web site.

About NEC Unified Solutions
NEC Unified Solutions helps companies unify their business communications through innovative software, applications, development tools, and services. NEC offers a complete portfolio for unified communications, wireless, voice, data and managed services, as well as systems integration and application development. NEC Unified Solutions serves as the North American communications integration arm of global giant NEC Corporation for Fortune 1000, as well as small to mid-sized businesses in vertical markets such as hospitality, education, government, and healthcare. For more information, visit www.necunified.com.

About TMC
Technology Marketing Corporation (TMC) is an integrated global media company helping our clients build communities in print, in-person and online. TMC publishes Customer Interaction Solutions, INTERNET TELEPHONY, Unified Communications, and IMS Magazine. TMC is also the first publisher to test new products in its own on-site laboratories, TMC Labs. TMCnet, TMC’s Web site, is the leading source of news and articles for the communications and technology industries. TMCnet is read by nearly one million US visitors according to Quantcast* and by over three million unique visitors each month worldwide, according to Webtrends In addition, TMC produces INTERNET TELEPHONY Conference & EXPO, Call Center 2.0 Conference and Communications Developer Conference.

WIMAX.TMCnet.com – Now live!
Cable.tmcnet.com – Now live!

For more information about TMC, visit www.tmcnet.com.

Western U.S. floral distributor adopts NEC’s UNIVERGE360 approach to integrate its offices and mobile workforce

IRVING, TX, August 5, 2008 — NEC Unified Solutions, Inc. (NEC), a leader in enterprise business communications, today announced the NEC Sphericall® solution has been deployed at FlorExpo, a global fresh floral importer and distributor, to connect mobile employees and help improve critical delivery time.

NEC Sphericall is a 100 percent software-based alternative to traditional telephony that leverages open standards for flexible, pure IP-based unified communications. FlorExpo uses the Sphericall enterprise softswitch to unify its mobile workforce across three independent distribution centers, which formerly ran on outdated, non-networked analog voice systems. The company now provides increased connectivity to both mobile and office-based workers through presence, the ability of employees to see and act on the status and availability of one another through the NEC Sphericall Desktop client. The application provides easy to use features, such as click-to-call, instant messaging and automatic forwarding of employees’ voice calls and messages to their mobile phones. Employees now have faster access to critical information needed to allow them to offer improved customer service to buyers seeking a perishable product.

“In our industry, staying in touch and being able to respond at a moment’s notice is vital to the company’s success,” said Keith Richards, chief operating officer, FlorExpo. “We believe that NEC’s Sphericall solution has saved us valuable time, as well as helped our business run more smoothly by allowing our mobile sales reps to operate as effectively on the road as they do behind their desks.”

NEC Sphericall offers FlorExpo advanced features such as high-quality VoIP, presence, unified messaging, instant messaging and conference bridging, providing the company scalability, low cost of ownership and integrated communications. Employees can work from a delivery truck, manufacturing facility, farm, office or anywhere they have connectivity just as if they were in the office, creating a cohesive face for FlorExpo. The solution’s advanced failover capability helps ensure FlorExpo has continuity of service and allows employees to provide reliable, responsive customer service.

“FlorExpo needed a solution that could accommodate its growing business and lower the total cost of ownership without locking the company into a single vendor,” said Don Fiorentino, vice president of western regional sales, NEC Unified Solutions. “NEC Sphericall, as part of our UNIVERGE®360 approach, brought FlorExpo employees specific tools that can make doing their job easier, faster and more cost effective.”

Developing solutions that can help improve organizational efficiency is part of NEC’s UNIVERGE360 vision to unify business communications. The approach enabled FlorExpo to recognize the roles within the company, including salespeople, supermarket account managers, account representatives and administrative staff, and then provide each staff member with the tools they need to communicate effectively.

To learn more about the latest version of NEC Sphericall, visit us on the Web at www.necunified.com/sphericall.

About NEC Unified Solutions
NEC Unified Solutions helps companies unify their business communications through innovative software, applications, development tools, and services. NEC offers a complete portfolio for unified communications, wireless, voice, data and managed services, as well as systems integration and application development. NEC Unified Solutions serves as the North American communications integration arm of global giant NEC Corporation for Fortune 1000, as well as small to mid-sized businesses in vertical markets such as hospitality, education, government, and healthcare. For more information, visit www.necunified.com.

About FlorExpo
FlorExpo is one of the largest fresh-cut flower suppliers in the United States, producing more than 600 million stems annually. It sources product from more than 100 western U.S. growers along with 34 farms in Columbia, South America. As a principle supplier of cut flowers to western U.S. retail customers, the company includes Kendal Floral Supply as its wholly-owned distribution subsidiary.