Advanced collaboration and communications tools are now readily available to small and medium-sized businesses, thanks to a new service offering from Chinook Communications. The company has announced its Total Connect service, which is the first ever production release worldwide of the Microsoft (News - Alert) -supported Lync Server 2010 Multitenant Pack for Partner Hosting.

Total Connect is a fully integrated bundle featuring a complete range of Microsoft Lync Server voice communications features.

It offers a number of additional capabilities, included instant messaging, a hosted Microsoft Lync-based phone system, presence, application sharing, PSTN integrated audio conferencing as well as Web-based audio and video conferencing, Microsoft Exchange 2010-based email and unified messaging and secure document management with Microsoft SharePoint 2010.

Chinook aims to offer best-in-class phone, conferencing, email collaboration and other business services to small and mid-sized businesses. The company provides these services for a fraction of the cost of purchasing hardware and licenses. Chinook's enterprise-grade offerings are provided as web-based services, which enables customers' IT teams to focus on strategic operations instead of server maintenance.

“As subscribers to these Lync-based services, our customers and our partners’ customers achieve more effective collaboration and communication,” said Steve Schwartz, president of Chinook Communications. “With our cloud based platform, they get the benefits of ongoing system maintenance and upgrades while offsetting significant operational expenses.” 

Schwartz added that the company offers a depth of experience in developing hosted productivity resources for the enterprise. Chinook is also known for working in the area of cloud computing.

“In May of 2011 we were among the few organizations selected by Microsoft as a participant in beta-testing the Lync Server 2010 Multitenant Pack,” said Schwartz. “We are thoroughly familiar with the technology, helped shape and perfect its capabilities, and are well ahead of the curve as Lync enters the market in terms of expertise and responsiveness to customer and partner needs.”?

“Microsoft chose Chinook Communications to be one of their pilot partners due to our established technical expertise,” added Schwartz. “They felt confident that we would help bring the Microsoft Lync Server 2010 Multitenant Pack for Partner Hosting to market successfully.”