OREANDA-NEWS. March 16, 2012. NEC Corporation (NEC; TSE: 6701) announced today the expansion of UNIVERGE® Cloud Services, a set of enhanced Software as a Service (SaaS) offerings to help businesses improve IT operations, cash flow and to thrive in a competitive global economy.

These services will be released in the U.S in the second quarter of 2012. Services in other regions will follow later in the year.

NEC's Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) is an expanded SaaS that includes a comprehensive suite of voice, data and video services featuring a simple, Web-based end-user client that is deployable across virtually any device, including PCs, smartphones and tablets. The UCaaS offers a wide array of options, such as IP telephony, voicemail, audio and video conferencing, as well as Web collaboration, presence and IM and contact centers - all in a simple, service-based model designed to replace high costs with an affordable monthly fee.

"Organizations today aim to minimize the costs from purchasing equipment that requires complex operation and expensive upgrades," said Taichiro Hashizawa, Vice President and Executive General Manager, NEC Corporation. "UNIVERGE Cloud Services are designed to empower businesses with the tools to be productive, competitive and profitable, while minimizing operational efforts. NEC's long-standing presence in the market also provides customers with the peace of mind they seek from a cloud services provider."

NEC's UCaaS is based on a software-based unified communications and collaboration solution that is adaptable to private, hybrid and public-cloud deployment models. The service will offer a wide variety of features that include:
 Video collaboration
 IP telephony
 Unified messaging and voicemail
 Web collaboration & conferencing
 Mobility and fixed-mobile convergence
 Softphone
 Presence and IM
 Contact center capabilities
 24/7 x 365 customer support
 Extensive secured NOC services and more.

UNIVERGE Cloud Services UCaaS are powered by NEC's proven enterprise-grade cloud infrastructure designed for mission-critical performance.