Video conferencing specialist Yorktel Corporation has acquired U.K.-based First Connections, combining two companies with similar expertise in video conferencing and integration, giving Yorktel's offering greater global visibility and making the New Jersey-based company a stronger player in the European market.

Terms of the deal were not released, but the company said Keith Gyford, founder of First Connections, will become COO for Yorktel EMEA. David Berger will run the combined European operations as managing director, EMEA, and will report to David Phillips, Yorktel's president and COO.

The expanded corporation will continue to operate as Yorktel and will remain headquartered in Eatontown, N.J. EMEA offices will be in Windsor and Basingstoke, England.

First Connections has eight locations in the U.K. and Ireland and has 15 years of experience in audio/visual solutions, private video networking, video streaming and integration. The company earned Cisco's (Nasdaq: CSCO) 2011 TelePresence Partner of the Year award for EMEA and is a Cisco Advanced Technology Partner and a Polycom (Nasdaq: PLCM) Platinum Reseller.

For more:
- see this release

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There are over 100 service providers offering business VoIP services in EMEA and new ones being added every quarter, according to “EMEA Business VoIP Services Leadership Matri,” a new report recently released by Infonetics Research.