Last year, Logitech – best known for keyboards and mice sold through retailers – embarked on a strategy of being the agnostic peripheral supplier for video and unified communications. The strategy appears to be paying off as the vendor is attracting scores of partners to its nascent channel program.

While hard to quantify, reports are streaming into Channelnomics from solution providers experiencing unusually high sales and request for quotes in what’s normally a low period of the year. The sudden surge is a good omen for 2012.

ShoreTel’s acquisition of hosted UC solution provider M5 gives partners a new choice between on-premise or cloud-based solutions. And its expansion to the cloud continues a growth streak that's turning heads in a red-hot hosted VoIP market.

The new video conferencing package provides end users with the ability to buy hardware or software solutions that contain all the applications they need without use or capacity preconditions. LifeSize believes the flexibility and cost containment will differentiate it from other video conferencing vendors.

A New Jersey federal court has dismissed motions by Avaya that would end the lawsuit brought by independent service provider Continuant. The case will go to trial, and the outcome could change the way vendors and customers work with “authorized” partners.