Verizon Business has been named Global Service Provider of the Year, North America, by Polycom. The award, given in conjunction with the 2010 TEAM Polycom, the company's annual partner conference, recognizes Verizon Business for its outstanding sales performance and excellence in meeting customer solution, service and support needs.

"This recognition reinforces our ongoing commitment to providing our customers with the best possible integrated communications solutions," said Kerry Bailey, Verizon Business chief marketing officer. "Collaborative technologies such as conferencing, telepresence and unified communications tools are essential for enabling connectivity for employees, customers and partners across today's globally extended enterprises. Our relationship with Polycom helps us to develop world-class solutions that have a significant impact on our customers' business operations."

Mark Roberts, Polycom vice president of partner marketing, said: "This is an exciting time in the communications industry, and Polycom sits squarely in the middle of this ever-changing, rapidly growing market. Our partners are absolutely critical to our success, and we're proud to be represented by some of the best, most experienced partners in this industry. We're also excited to recognize our top-performance partners for continued excellence in meeting customer needs."

Verizon Business is a leading provider of collaboration and unified communications services, enabling organizations to conveniently and effectively collaborate, virtually anytime, anywhere, helping them improve response time and productivity without the costs and carbon emissions associated with business travel. With 30 years of experience delivering conferencing services, the company uses its global IP network to provide a wide array of advance collaboration and mobility tools to large-business and government customers around the world, including audio, video and Web conferencing; VoIP; contact center services; and managed and hosting solutions, as well as professional services capabilities.