Enghouse Interactive has gained entry into an exclusive club, achieving Microsoft gold application development and communications competencies.

The rating puts the unified communications and contact centre solution provider within the top one percent of Microsoft's partner ecosystem.

“These partners have a deep expertise … and their proficiency will help customers drive innovative solutions on the latest Microsoft technology,” says Phil Sorgen, Microsoft corporate vice president, worldwide partner group.

To earn a Microsoft gold competency, partners must complete exams to prove their technology expertise and then designate those certified professionals uniquely to one Microsoft competency, ensuring a certain level of staffing capacity.

Customer references demonstrating successful projects must also be submitted, revenue commitments must be met for most gold competencies and technology and/or sales assessments must be passed.

Enghouse Interactive's portfolio of contact centre and customer interaction solutions includes the Enghouse Interactive Communications Centre, which is native to the Lync environment and includes screenpops and the ability to dial from Microsoft Dynamics CRM.

The Toronto Stock Exchange-listed company – which acquired New Zealand's Zeacom several years ago – has been working with the Microsoft Partner Network for more than 12 years.

The company recently bolstered its support of channel partners with the hiring of a new marketing manager, the addition of a dedicated training resource and a new partner portal.