U.S.-based Pingtel, a designer of software-based unified communications solutions and a company owned by Bluesocket Inc, an enterprise mobility solutions provider, has announced it was acquired by Nortel.

As per the agreement, Nortel will acquire the key assets of Pingtel (News - Alert) from Bluesocket and Pingtel employees will be integrated into Nortel's Billerica, Massachusetts facilities.

This transaction brings Pingtel's existing original equipment manufacturer (OEM) relationship with Nortel (News - Alert) in-house.

Thanks to the acquisition, Nortel's enterprise unified communications portfolio is expected to get new software capabilities, as well as additional research and development capabilities.

Pingtel will bring critical software elements like intellectual property, R&D capabilities and its senior management to Nortel's small-to-medium business (SMB) unified communications solution based on the Nortel Software Communication System 500 (SCS500). These solutions integrate communications like email, IM and conferencing with applications, increasing productivity and streamlining business operations.

"This acquisition is another building block in Nortel's vision to be a software-centric company and the leading provider of unified communications solutions," said David Downing, general manager, enterprise and SMB Communications Systems (News - Alert), Nortel.

"We believe that bringing Pingtel's critical R&D capabilities in-house will enable us to further develop software-based solutions that go beyond the boundaries of our previous OEM relationship. We expect that this will enable Nortel to accelerate the development of new IT-centric channels to market."

Nortel is a major player in delivering communications capabilities that make the promise of 'Business Made Simple' a reality for the customers. The company’s next-generation technologies, for both service provider and enterprise networks, support multimedia and business-critical applications.

"Pingtel has established itself as a unified communications vendor with market-leading, very sophisticated solutions based on interoperable software that can run on a multitude of hardware platforms," said Martin Steinmann (News - Alert), senior vice president, marketing at Pingtel.

Steinmann joined Nortel as part of the transaction and will take on an expanded role in business development for next generation solutions and as well find new routes to market in the small to medium business segment.

"The acquisition of Pingtel Corp. by Nortel is the next logical step that will further accelerate adoption of the technology and solutions on a global basis. We are very excited to become part of Nortel, the leading provider in the market for unified communications," said Steinmann.