Juniper Networks Becomes First Networking Vendor to Offer Integrated Wired, Wireless Campus Access for Microsoft® Lync®

Milestone AV Technologies Relies on Juniper Networks to Pave the Way for Wired/Wireless Convergence and Microsoft Lync Adoption

SUNNYVALE, CA--(Marketwired - Oct 9, 2013) - Juniper Networks (NYSE: JNPR), the industry leader in network innovation, today announced that it is has received Microsoft® Lync® qualification for both its wired and wireless campus portfolio. As organizations continue to derive business value from their unified communications (UC) deployments, they must architect their networks to support the convergence of wired and wireless technologies. To make it easier for customers to deploy Microsoft Lync with the assurance of seamless interoperability, Juniper Networks has worked closely with Microsoft to achieve Microsoft Lync qualification for its campus networking solutions.

Because of this qualification, Milestone AV Technologies, a leading designer and manufacturer of branded audiovisual products, selected Juniper Networks wired, wireless and security products for its campus and data center environments to power its Microsoft Lync-based UC deployment. Enabling a positive UC user experience was the primary objective for Milestone AV and given management's desire to increase business agility through real-time collaboration, deploying Lync presented the ideal solution. Juniper's Microsoft Lync qualification for both wired and wireless access networks presented a number of benefits to the customer, such as assured performance, easier network management and significant cost savings.

News Highlights:

Juniper Networks® WLC880 Wireless LAN Controllers and WLA532 Wireless LAN Access Points support Microsoft Lync audio capabilities for mobile voice services at Milestone AV branch locations and factory sites. Integration with Polycom Spectralink phones provided yet another level of assurance that its Microsoft Lync-based voice conferencing services would enable a positive end user experience.In addition to voice and audio services, Milestone AV also actively encourages the use of real-time video to increase collaboration among its global workforce. Juniper Networks EX4500, EX4200 and EX2200 Ethernet Switches seamlessly provide the solid network infrastructure necessary to deliver bandwidth-intensive video conferencing capabilities.In order to receive Microsoft Lync qualification, Juniper Networks wired/wireless campus solutions underwent countless hours of testing to simulate the rigorous network requirements to support a Lync-based UC environment. The testing process demonstrated the ability of Juniper's solutions to deliver the flexibility and performance necessary to ensure a positive user experience.Grappling with a growing, distributed global workforce coupled with management's desire to increase business agility through seamless real-time collaboration, Milestone AV turned to Microsoft Lync as its primary collaboration tool. Juniper's Microsoft Lync qualification status presented a number of benefits to the customer, such as improved performance and simpler network management. Ultimately, Juniper partner, Emergent Networks, helped Milestone AV build out a comprehensive networking solution that incorporates Juniper's switching, routing, security and wireless solutions to support its enterprise-wide Microsoft Lync deployment.

Supporting Quotes:

"As a global company with a highly distributed workforce, we needed a solution that was proven to improve productivity and collaboration amongst employees across a range of communications methods -- including presence, messaging and video -- regardless of location or proximity to headquarters. The combination of Microsoft Lync powered by Juniper Networks, delivered through our long-time IT partner, Emergent Networks, allowed us to deliver a great, real-time user experience that is driving behavioral change, which ultimately leads to a more collaborative, efficient and productive work environment."
-Keith Hogie, vice president of IT, Milestone AV Technologies

"As a solution provider, our value to the customer is our technical expertise and our ability to determine the best technological fit from a technology perspective to help them achieve their business objectives. Working with a vendor partner like Juniper Networks, that brings forth products with the reliability, system-level performance and Microsoft Lync qualification for both wired and wireless environments, is key because it enables us to make recommendations and build solutions for our customers with confidence."
-Jamie Anderson, president, Emergent Networks

"As enterprises look to unified communications as a means of increasing productivity and real-time collaboration among their workforce, network performance and reliability is a critical element of the equation for both the end user experience and IT professional management. Juniper Networks has successfully achieved Microsoft Lync qualification for its WLAN solutions, making it the first networking vendor to be independently qualified for both its wired and wireless solutions. With this new development, enterprises can now deploy Microsoft Lync with the assurance of seamless integration with their Juniper Networks solution, while delivering a consistent user experience across PCs, tablets and mobile devices."
-BJ Haberkorn, director of product marketing, Microsoft Lync

"When companies deploy UC tools like Microsoft Lync, they need high-performance networks to ensure optimal delivery of real-time applications. The network's ability to scale to deliver these services seamlessly has a direct impact on the user experience. As the first networking company qualified by Microsoft to meet the system level requirements of Microsoft Lync across both our wired and wireless portfolio, customers like Milestone AV can deploy a comprehensive UC solution with assurance that they deliver an exceptional user experience."
-Denise Shiffman, vice president of product management and strategy, Campus and Data Center Business Unit, Juniper Networks

Additional Resources:

About Juniper Networks

Juniper Networks (NYSE: JNPR) delivers innovation across routing, switching and security. From the network core down to consumer devices, Juniper Networks' innovations in software, silicon and systems transform the experience and economics of networking. Additional information can be found at Juniper Networks (www.juniper.net) or connect with Juniper on Twitter and Facebook.

Juniper Networks and Junos are registered trademarks of Juniper Networks, Inc. in the United States and other countries. The Juniper Networks and Junos logo and QFabric are trademarks of Juniper Networks, Inc. All other trademarks, service marks, registered trademarks, or registered service marks are the property of their respective owners.

View the original article here

Read more »

Eiffel Tower becomes musical tool for New York composer

U.S. composer Joseph Bertolozzi makes sounds by striking the surface of the Eiffel Tower for a musical project called 'Tower music' in Paris June 7, 2013.

Credit: Reuters/Benoit Tessier

By Johnny Cotton

PARIS | Fri Jun 7, 2013 12:59pm EDT

PARIS (Reuters) - Star of songs, sketches and the silver screen for over a hundred years, the Eiffel Tower is now taking the lead role in a musical composition which will see the landmark speak for itself.

The structure is an instrument for a piece to be entitled "Tower music" - a project conceived by U.S. composer Joseph Bertolozzi.

With latex mallets, drumsticks and even a large log wrapped in lambs wool in his box of tricks, Bertolozzi moves all over the 324-metre tower, hitting its surfaces with varying intensity and recording the sounds produced.

The idea is to weave them together, creating chords and melodies over a percussion base.

Bertolozzi's team have collected since May 27 nearly 2,000 samples from the iron structure's railings, panels and girders.

The 54 year-old who lives in New York, told Reuters on Friday that the idea came from his wife.

"My wife was mimicking the way I play my percussion with my arms flailing and everything. She was near a poster of the Eiffel Tower, took a swing at it and she went 'Bong!'," he said.

Inspired to make music with the monument, Bertolozzi had to overcome practical difficulties, notably his lack of French and the fact he had few contacts in Paris.

He first decided to start small with a composition for New York state's Mid-Hudson suspension bridge. The resulting "Bridge Music" spawned a CD which reached number 18 on the Billboard Classical Crossover Music Chart in 2009.

For the organist and choirmaster whose day job sees him perform at weddings and bar mitzvahs, the tower is an instrument just like any other.

"A guitarist knows the character of each string, one string is wound with metal, another one is maybe gut string, they're thicker, they're thinner, they know how they respond. So when I look at the tower, now more than before, I know how the thing will respond as an instrument," he said.

He says that he has a tendency to bash out rhythms on household objects, citing dinner glasses, doorknobs and dishes as regular targets.

The team have spent nearly two weeks weaving in and out of the tens of thousands of tourists who climb the Eiffel Tower every day.

Most are bemused by Bertolozzi and his entourage of sound technicians and producers, but he had some support on Friday with one pair of visitors improvising a rap to the beat he drummed out on one of the structure's many staircases.

When the work is finished in nine months, Bertolozzi says he dreams of coming back to perform it live at the Eiffel Tower to celebrate its 125th birthday in 2014.

Organisers said the show would require over a hundred musicians with microphones installed all over the iron structure, relaying sounds to the public below.

The tower's managers are still to be convinced, citing possible security concerns.

(Editing by Paul Casciato)

View the original article here

Read more »