Extreme Networks (Nasdaq: EXTR) missed its second quarter earnings mark, reporting EPS of 6 cents on revenue of $82.8 million, down from $85.1 million a year ago; analysts had expected the company to earn 7 cents per share on revenue of $83.49 million.

But, the network infrastructure vendor stood behind its full-year guidance, and said it expects third quarter earnings to be $80 million to $85 million, or 6-8 cents a share, shy of Wall Street's expected $83.14 million and 8 cents per share. Shares were up in after hours trading.

"These results show the initial positive effect of our company transformation with product revenue up 8 percent and non-GAAP operating income up 25 percent from Q1," said chief executive Oscar Rodriguez. "We are now focused on driving the success of our new products for the cloud, data center and mobile markets, which will begin shipping this quarter."

Rodriguez said the company had seen strong interest in new cloud-scale products including the Black Diamond X8 and its new mobile backhaul products, the E4G cell-site routers.

Total net revenue for the Americas was $36.8 million, revenue in EMEA was $32.4 million and revenue in APAC was $13.6 million. That compares to revenue in the Americas of $30.8 million, revenue in EMEA of $37.2 million and revenue in APAC of $17.1 million for the same period last year.

Earlier this year, the company announced the general release of its newest Ethernet switch, the BlackDiamond X8, which it said was the "industry's highest density 40 GbE and 10 GbE switch for enterprise core and cloud-based data centers." The company said it expects to begin shipping the product in February.

For more:
- see this release

Special Report: Enterprise Communications earnings in the fourth quarter 2011

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After four straight quarters of earnings bonuses for investors, Acme Packet (Nasdaq: APKT) laid its second profit egg in a row today, reporting fourth quarter non-GAAP EPS of 26 cents, missing Wall Street expectations by 2 cents and falling 40 percent off its earnings a year ago. The market reacted quickly, dropping the company's share price by 10 percent in after hours trading.

The company said rising costs and a soft market in North America, where service providers were reining in capex, were to blame.

Those conditions are likely to persist, said CEO Andy Ory, during an earnings call in which he predicted more woe in the year ahead, growth of just 10 percent compared to Wall Street estimates of nearly double that. The company sad it expects full-year profits of 96 cents to $1 a share, below the $1.24 expected by analysts.

"This reflects a slowdown in capex in the second half of the year and delays caused by consolidation activities among various service providers," Ory said. "We don't expect the North American capex environment to improve in the first half."

Acme reported $83 million in revenue for the quarter, missing expectations of $85.2 million. Total revenue in 2011 was $307.3 million, an increase of 33 percent compared to $231.2 million in 2010.

In January, Acme Packet's share price tumbled some 20 percent after the company downgraded guidance for the year, blaming a turbulent service provider market in North America then, too.

"Outside of the North American service provider market, Acme Packet continued to perform very well--particularly in our enterprise business as well as in our Europe and Latin America businesses," Ory said at the time. Unlike today, however, Ory took a positive note on the future, saying:"Looking ahead, we believe we are very well positioned to leverage the broad, multi-year, secular growth drivers associated with the global transition from TDM to IP for real time communications like voice and video."

The enterprise session border controller (SBC) market was busy earlier in 2011, seeing a 55 percent jump in the first quarter. Hosted unified communications and SIP trunking were among factors that played a role in the growth. As in the service provider SBC segment, Acme Packet is the lead dog in the enterprise market, with Cisco Systems (Nasdaq: CSCO) in second place, followed by Ingate and Sipera.

The enterprise SBC market, however, remains fragmented below that top tier, which means declining prices may loom.

For more:
- see this release
- see this Reuters article

Special Report: Enterprise Communications earnings in the fourth quarter 2011

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RTX is rolling out a new cordless Skype phone that doesn't require a user to be physically connected to a PC to make a VoIP call.

The DUALphone 4088 simply requires a broadband connection to its base station in order to make Skype calls.

The Danish company said its DUALphone 4088 simply requires a broadband connection to its base station in order to make Skype calls free of charge to other Skype users or have the choice of conventional paid-for landline calls worldwide.

The company's CEO, Jesper Mailind, said the phone "offers consumers a unique way to use Skype."

"We believe there is a growing demand for dual phones from the existing 170 million Skype account holders," he said, adding that the phone also will provide a business opportunity for resellers.

Telecom market research firm TeleGeography recently said international use of Skype was increasing, growing 48 percent in 2011, to 145 billion minutes.

The RTX features a color TFT screen and uses of high definition audio. The phone system can switch between two separate Skype accounts and can be extended to four handsets per household. Standard features including call waiting, voicemail and a phone contact list of 200 numbers that have been enhanced by software to show the Skype status of the user and all contacts.

For more:
- see this release

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Logitech (Nasdaq: LOGI) subsidiary LifeSize this week launched its LifeSize UVC Platform, which the company says is the industry's first integrated and virtualized software solution for HD video conferencing infrastructure.

The UVC (universal visual collaboration) platform integrates the capabilities of multiple single-purpose infrastructure products and makes them instantly available from one interface with one login account.

The company said the UVC platform is scalable and customizable, and includes infrastructure applications like HD streaming and recording, firewall/NAT traversal and Gatekeepers (routing and control).

LifeSize contends that with a single integrated platform and a deployment model to fit every IT environment, administrators can buy what they need now and scale up as the organization's needs grow.

"LifeSize has consistently delivered industry firsts," said Colin Buechler, who was named LifeSize's CEO earlier this month, "We were first to HD, first with one button streaming and recording, and now we are redefining video conferencing infrastructure... LifeSize has fundamentally changed the way businesses deploy infrastructure, unlocking the door to real adoption and growth in the video conferencing industry."

LifeSize is offering a "try before you buy" feature that enables instant downloads of the platform, which is globally available now.

The platform with infrastructure applications lists at $3,999; it currently includes UVC Video Center for streaming and recording; UVC Transit Server, a firewall/NAT traversal server; the UVC Transit Client, which is a firewall/NAT traversal proxy; and UVC Access, a gatekeeper/IP communications routing and control.

For more:
- see this release

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Qualcomm and Ericsson completed the first voice call handover from an LTE mobile network to a WCDMA network using Single Radio Voice Call Continuity (SRVCC), the companies announced today.

SRVCC is a 3GPP specified feature that enables continuity of service by seamlessly switching to a WCDMA network when a consumer on a VoLTE call leaves the LTE network's coverage area; it's a technology required for voice-over-LTE (VoLTE) support.

The call was completed with an Ericsson network using a handset that incorporated Qualcomm's Snapdragon S4 MSM8960 3G/LTE multimode processor. Qualcomm is demonstrating the technology at its booth at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain later this month.

For more:
- see this release

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ShoreTel generated record revenues in its second quarter for fiscal 2012, and surprised analysts by reporting earnings that beat their expectations by 400 percent.

The IP telephony company also announced it had acquired M5 Networks, a hosted VoIP and UC provider for $160 million (see ShoreTel acquires M5 Networks for $160M as it looks to develop cloud business).

Sunnyvale, Calif.-based ShoreTel said revenue grew 22 percent year-over-year to $58 million, and up 8 percent from the previous quarter. Non-GAAP net income was $1.4 million or 3 cents per share, compared with a non-GAAP net loss of $1 million, or 2 cents per share a year ago. Analysts had expected ShoreTel to report a 1 cent loss for the quarter; the second quarter is typically a seasonally strong one for the company.

During the company's earnings call, chief executive Peter Blackmore said the U.S. Enterprise IP telephony market as well as the U.S. pure IP telephony market grew in the September 2011 quarter after three quarters of modest declines. Synergy Research, he said, estimated the U.S. Enterprise IP telephony market was up 9 percent in the quarter and worldwide Enterprise IP telephony also grew approximately 8 percent.

"ShoreTel's market share within both worldwide and the United States have grown significantly year-over-year," Blackmore said. "We expect to build these market share gains and continue to close the gap between our current number three position and the number two player in the U.S."

ShoreTel said highlights for the quarter included an expansion of its channel. The company added some 60 new partners globally, 38 via its relationship with ScanSource. Blackmore pointed to the addition of Howard Industries, which has revenues in excess of $1 billion and is the largest employer in Mississippi; it selected ShoreTel as its exclusive UC provider.

"We also added a record of nearly 1300 new customers in the quarter, a sequential increase of 24 percent over quarter one," he said, singling out First Republic Bank, which will also use ShoreTel's UC solution including ShoreTel Mobility for 3,000 employees at 65 sites.

ShoreTel forecast revenue of $53 million to $57 million in the current quarter.

For more:
- see this release
- see this SeekingAlpha transcript

Special Report: Enterprise Communications earnings in the fourth quarter 2011

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ShoreTel (Nasdaq: SHOR) has agreed to acquire M5 Networks in a deal valued as much as $160 million, giving it a major entrée to the booming cloud services business in the form of a strong hosted VoIP and UC operation.

M5 shareholders will receive approximately $84 million in cash and 9.5 million shares of ShoreTel stock, which equates to a total of $146.3 million in initial consideration based on a ShoreTel's average stock price over the prior 30 trading days. In addition, M5 shareholders may receive additional contingent consideration of up to $13.7 million. The contingent payments are payable over the two years after closing and are based upon the achievement of certain revenue performance milestones for the year ended Dec. 31, 2012. The deal is expected to close by the end of March.

Privately held M5, which was recently given a visionary position in Gartner's Magic Quadrant for UC as a service in North America, caters primarily to businesses of between 50 and 500 seats. It has more than 2,000 customers and more than 60,000 recurring revenue seats in the U.S.

M5 itself made a pair of major acquisitions recently, in April buying contact center software vendor Callfinity, and in November 2010 buying hosted VoIP provider Geckotech.

With forecasts pointing to continued growth in the hosted UC market, Gartner estimates the market to be $700 million today and expects it to grow at a 36 percent compounded annual growth rate to $2.2 billion in 2015; the deal could be very good to ShoreTel.

ShoreTel CEO Peter Blackmore, during the company's earnings call (see ShoreTel tops analysts estimates in 2Q, ups revenue 22%), said M5 brings a proven hosted UC solution to the company. And, he said, ShoreTel, after eight months of performing an extensive buy-versus-bill review "determined that the secret sauce in hosted UC is not just a well developed R&D solution, but more fundamentally experienced in running a very different business model."

Blackmore said M5 also was attractive because it brought with it a low churn rate, high average revenue per unit, competitive customer acquisition cost and expertise in running in 24/7 data centers.

"The management skills required to run a hosted business are in many ways different from those necessary for the on-premise business," he said. "For us to build this expertise would have taken time and investment and would certainly have involved distraction and therefore risk to our current business. We therefore determined the best way to enter this market quickly and establish a strong position is to find a company with a proven business model, a significant recurring revenue stream, a good management team and then bringing that organization into ShoreTel as a new business unit."

Blackmore also said ShoreTel plans no changes in its current distribution model.

On the nuts and bolts side:

• ShoreTel is acquiring M5's entire operation including its customer base, distribution capability and proprietary network, and will be extending offers to substantially all of its 200 employees;
• Following the close of the acquisition, M5 will be operated as a ShoreTel business unit;
• M5 CEO Dan Hoffman will become president and general manager of the new business unit;
• M5 engineering teams will remain separate, but they will cooperate and coordinate in order to leverage the innovation and best practices of both groups; and,
• The current ShoreTel Champion Partner reseller program will evolve to include the ability to offer hosted services once the reseller has been qualified and certified.

For more:
- see this release
- see the earnings call transcript from SeekingAlpha

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Plantronics (NYSE: PLT) Tuesday reported lower profits in its third quarter than a year ago, but still beat Wall Street's expectations, setting UC revenue records along the way.

Net income for the quarter was $30.9 million, or 71 cents a share, down slightly from $31.6 million, or 64 cents a share a year ago. Adjusted net income was 75 cents per share, topping analyst's forecasts of 68 cents per share, and topping last year's adjusted income of 66 cents per share. The lower profits were primarily due to Plantronic buying back 2.1 million shares.

Revenue, meanwhile was $183.2 million, up slightly from $181.6 million during the same period a year ago.

Plantronics said it expected a strong fourth quarter, forecasting revenue of between $175 million and $180 million for the quarter, with net income of 63-68 cents per share. Analysts expected revenue of $1877.6 million and adjusted earnings of 67 cents per share .

During yesterday's earnings call, Ken Kannappan, Plantronics' president and chief executive, said the company set a record in the quarter for UC revenue, which saw 90 percent growth due to rapid adoption of UC globally. The company also saw 8 percent growth in office and contact center revenue.

"We continue to see broad adoption of UC across all size of enterprises in all major geographies," he said. "Our investments in UC continued to yield solid results. And, in the first nine months of fiscal 2012, we made good progress in differentiating our product line, as well as making huge strides in our corporate marketing and brand positioning."

For more:
- see this release
- see this earnings call transcript from Seeking Alpha

Special Report: Enterprise Communications earnings in the fourth quarter 2011

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Radvision (Nasdaq: RVSN), which has been fighting an uphill battle to establish itself in the high-end videoconferencing space against Cisco (Nasdaq: CSCO) and Polycom (Nasdaq: PLCM), this week rolled out what could be a big win for the Israeli company.

Its Scopia XT5000 endpoint is the first room system, it says, to combine dual HD 1080p/60fps video and content, HD audio, H.264 High Profile and SVC.

"It's brand new architecture," said Bob Romano, corporate VP of global marketing. "We've redesigned it from the ground up and it's simply the most powerful endpoint in its class."

Romano said the Dual HD 1080p allows users to videoconference in HD, and to also stream a second channel in high-definition. That means users who might want to share images or video during a presentation can do so without sacrificing quality. More specifically, users who might want to use a second camera, in an education setting for example, can do so in HD.

And, with both H.264 HP and H.264 SVC, the system delivers bandwidth efficiency along with performance. The endpoint also includes three beamforming mics per unit, meaning the mics can find where a voice is coming from and reduce or eliminate superfluous surrounding noises.

Radvision offers businesses the option of using a standalone MCU or an embedded MCU. The advantage to an embedded MCU, especially for small businesses, is price, said Romano.

"A lot of our customers don't want to put in a standalone MCU," he said. "So we embed one that can be dialed into. It can mean more scale and functionality for an SMB."

Another of the useful elements included with the XT5000 is the ability to interface with it via a standard remote control, or by using an iPad app.

The iPad controller makes use of the tablet's user interface, meaning you can zoom in by pinching your fingers together on the screen or pan the camera by swiping left or right.

"A remote control can be intimidating," said Romano, adding that the iPad controller has been well received in the marketplace.

The XT5000 will be available in the first quarter of 2012 and carries a pricetag that isn't very intimidating, either. The unit lists at $10,500.

For more:
- see this release

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Contact center solutions vendor Zeacom said its Communications Center (ZCC) contact center software is now available for Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) Lync following a beta program that saw ZCC deployed at Lync sites in Northern Europe and Asia-Pacific.

ZCC helps organizations build out their help desk, call center or multimedia contact center to the Lync platform, and it currently has 4,000 customer sites worldwide. Targeting up to 400 seats on Lync, ZCC allows contact centers to control the delivery of every contact--from voice calls and email to SMS and social media alerts.

Zeacom use's Microsoft's native UCMA architecture and conferencing platform, allowing it to offer additional functionality. Zeacom offers solutions for multimedia contact centers, business process automation and unified communications.

For more:
- see this release

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