Communications solutions integrator Amillan and Grey Convergence have today announced a strategic partnership to bring Microsoft Lync voice and unified communications applications to market in the UK.

This partnership blends together the exceptional business and technical expertise that Grey Convergence has with Microsoft UC and Amillan's many years' experience of integrating voice and unified communications applications to build one of the UK's strongest Microsoft Lync practices.

Grey Convergence has partnered closely with Microsoft throughout the development of Lync, and its forerunners LCS and OCS, during which time it has implemented a number of large OCS/Lync deployments, including a 43,000 seat implementation for Kings College London. Russ Kirk, founder of Grey Convergence, which holds Silver partner accreditation in Lync, was the first individual to be awarded Microsoft Lync MVP status (Most Valuable Professional) in the UK, and is still now one of only four.

Amillan has over 20 years' experience in large voice and unified communications applications and has provided these for some of the UK's largest enterprises, educational and public sector organisations including The University of Westminster, Currys/PC World, The NEC and Swinton Insurance.

Russ Kirk, managing director at Grey Convergence, said: "As a Microsoft specialist we have built up a great deal of expertise in providing Microsoft OCS and Lync solutions enabling organisations to gain maximum benefit from these deployments, be this technical assistance or helping organisations adopt new ways of working.

"This strategic partnership allows these skills to be applied to deploy Lync into a wider base of environments due to Amillan's integration expertise in applying new voice technology into the legacy PABX market, and the larger scale of its operation. It really is an ideal blend of skills and experience."

Richard Reid, strategic development director for Amillan, said: "Over the past 6 months, Amillan has been working towards our own Microsoft Gold accreditation on Lync voice applications and our Lync specialists have worked closely with the team from Grey Convergence throughout this time. It has become apparent to both parties that a strategic agreement would allow us to align Amillan's extensive experience in integrating voice solutions with Grey Convergence's unrivalled expertise in Lync deployment to create a compelling offering into the market, just as Lync is being widely adopted in several vertical markets."

Grey Convergence is already working as part of the Amillan team on a number of significant Microsoft Lync opportunities.