SHOREGROUP, INC. RECOGNIZED BY CISCO SYSTEMS AS IP CONTACT CENTER EXPRESS ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY PROVIDER.

ShoreGroup, Inc., a leading converged network professional services and software development firm, announced today that it has achieved the Internet Protocol Contact Center Express Advanced Technology Provider (IPCC-E ATP) status from Cisco Systems, Inc. This ATP designation is by invitation only and recognizes ShoreGroup for having the ability to provide the core knowledge and skills required to successfully deploy Cisco contact center solutions targeted at the mid-range, single-site contact center market.

NEW YORK, NY (PRWEB) September 2, 2003 -- ShoreGroup, Inc., a leading converged network professional services and software development firm, announced today that it has achieved the Internet Protocol Contact Center Express Advanced Technology Provider (IPCC-E ATP) status from Cisco Systems, Inc. This ATP designation is by invitation only and recognizes ShoreGroup for having the ability to provide the core knowledge and skills required to successfully deploy Cisco contact center solutions targeted at the mid-range, single-site contact center market.

ATP partners are instrumental in helping Cisco penetrate new growth markets," said Paul Mountford, vice president, Worldwide Channels at Cisco Systems. ATP partners, like ShoreGroup, are hand selected by Cisco to help develop the solutions, services and support that enable the successful deployment and management of Cisco advanced technologies."

Securing this certification demonstrates our commitment to addressing all facets of the contact center business," said Robert Kennedy, Chairman and CEO of ShoreGroup. ShoreGroup has completed a very focused effort to increase the level of both Cisco sales and support capabilities within our organization. As our success with the IPCC Express has demonstrated, branch offices and small to medium-sized companies are now moving to take advantage of the converged customer interaction capabilities that we have been deploying in larger contact center environments."

To achieve the IPCC-E ATP, ShoreGroup met or exceeded the personnel, pre- and post-sales support and lab requirements outlined by Cisco.

Resource Requirements

The IPCC-E ATP required ShoreGroup to achieve the IP-T Technology Specialization as a prerequisite. To attain the Cisco IP-T Technology Specialization ShoreGroup was required to fulfill, at minimum, the following job roles with individuals who have met specific testing requirements: an account manager, responsible for IP telephony sales methodology; a project coordinator, responsible for project plan development and execution; a systems engineer, responsible for IP telephony solution planning and design; two field engineers, one responsible for the implementation and operation of the IP telephony solution and one responsible for the Unity unified messaging solution; and an operations specialist, responsible for troubleshooting network problems related to IP telephony solutions. In addition to these individuals, the IPCC-E ATP also required ShoreGroup to appoint an account manager responsible for pre-sales support and a system engineer responsible for post-sales support.

Pre-Sales & Post Sales Support

In addition to the personnel requirements, ShoreGroup is to provide pre-sales services, pre-installation site preparation and support, on-site upgrades, capacity planning and traffic analysis as well as system design and architecture. From a post-sales perspective, ShoreGroup will provide the First and Second Level support needed to address Cisco product and mis-configuration problems, as well as one-hour call back during normal business hours and 24-hour call back for after hour calls.

Lab Requirement

The IPCC-E ATP requires ShoreGroup to build a lab for development and customer fault replication. The lab must contain current, upgraded and maintained Cisco contact center products, each configured to reproduce end-user problems. The lab must also be suitable for proof-of-concept demonstration, application development, fault replication and internal training.

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About ShoreGroup, Inc. (www.shoregroup.com)

ShoreGroup is a privately held converged network infrastructure professional services and software development firm based in New York City. ShoreGroup designs, deploys, maintains and develops management applications for high-availability converged networks and customer contact centers that employ IP, IP Telephony, Voice over IP, structured wire, wireless and other emerging technologies.

The company has offices in New York City and New Windsor, NY, with a technology center located in Syracuse, NY that houses the Software Development Group and Technical Assistance Center (TAC) for the CaseSentry Network Management Service and ShorePatrol Operational Support Services.