Source: www.voip-news.com

Could Hosted PBX be the right solution to the Hosted VoIP vs. Skype dilemma? Hosted PBX gives businesses the functionality of IP-PBX without having to buy the hardware for a phone system. Village of Schoolcraft, Michigan, recently took this route for their new offices. Rural Communications installed the flexible and low-cost VoIP-based Hosted PBX system that the Village will use for Internet and voice communications.

Village of Schoolcraft Manager Cheri Lutz said that the town was in need of an updated phone system that was both cost effective to setup and maintain.

“I was interested in VoIP, and not having to buy PBX equipment that could be outdated in a couple of years was very appealing to me. I liked the idea of just having the phones and not all the other equipment that traditionally goes along with a phone system,” Lutz said. “Once our CAT-5 cable was installed in the building, it didn’t take much time for them to come and configure the individual phones,” explained Lutz, “and we were up and running.”

The town is using Cisco 7961 IP Phones that are part of Rural Communication’s self-managed, scalable RC Connect Hosted PBX Solution.
“Besides being very easy to get into, customers like being in control of their costs and functionality. Our RC Connect solution eliminates expensive maintenance contracts, allows the customer to make many of their own move, adds and changes to the station and the stations location, and provide a web tool that allows them to manage all their features, so staying connected in a busy environment has never been easier,” said Raymond Bonkowski, IT director for Rural Communications.

Source: andyabramson.blogs.com

For global companies needing a global hosted VoIP PBX solution Sipcat may provide the answer. Their new service provides access in over 20 countries and with pricing that is the range of as little as 4 cents per minute..

Source: andyabramson.blogs.com

For global companies needing a global hosted VoIP PBX solution Sipcat may provide the answer. Their new service provides access in over 20 countries and with pricing that is the range of as little as 4 cents per minute..

Source: snapvoip.blogspot.com

LEXINGTON, Ky.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–SinglePipe Communications, Inc. (SinglePipe), a facilities-based wholesale communications provider, announced today that it has received an additional $2.5 million in equity funding. The financing was led by Louisville, Kentucky-based Chrysalis Ventures, a leading source of equity capital for growth companies in the Midwest and South. London, Kentucky-based Meritus Ventures, L.P., a Rural Business Investment Company (RBIC) which invests in expansion-stage companies in central and southern Appalachia, also participated as a co-investor.

SinglePipe provides residential and business VoIP services through wholesale and agent channels to clients across the United States with points of presence throughout the Southeast. The company delivers private-branded turnkey wholesale VoIP solutions to a large provider universe that includes Cable Operators, Competitive Local Exchange Carriers (CLEC’s), Internet Service Providers (ISP’s), Wireless ISP’s, VoIP Providers, and Value Added Resellers (VAR’s). SinglePipe offers turnkey solutions for residential VoIP, Hosted PBX, and SIP Trunking/Line Replacement over its own highly reliable network and in conjunction with partners nationwide. Its services include origination/termination, turnkey VoIP with industry-leading support, training and marketing resources.

In January 2007, the company raised a $4.0 million Series A equity investment, also led by Chrysalis Ventures, to fund its acquisition of ALEC, a Lexington, Kentucky-based CLEC and provide working capital necessary to aggressively market the company’s products. As a result of this existing private network, the company is now able to provide wholesale local telephone service at a lower cost compared to traditional voice options, as well as to offer the rapid and cost-effective introduction of new features and services at no additional cost.

According to Matthew J. Phillips, SinglePipe CEO, “We are delighted to partner with Chrysalis Ventures and Meritus Ventures for this additional round of equity financing which will help us continue to grow our business. In addition to capital, both investors provide strong leadership and expertise to support our aggressive entry into the rapidly expanding VoIP market.”

“SinglePipe is off to a great start and we are pleased to participate in this follow-on round of growth capital,” said Wright Steenrod, principal of Chrysalis Ventures and member of the SinglePipe board of directors. “Meritus Ventures is an experienced partner and we are excited they have chosen to invest in the SingePipe team.”

“We are very pleased to be co-investing with Chrysalis Ventures in SinglePipe Communications in this follow-on round of growth capital,” said L. Ray Moncrief, Meritus Ventures Fund Manager. “This investment highlights the fact that high-tech businesses flourish in rural areas and that rural businesses can attract high-quality management teams.”

For more information, www.singlepipecom.com.

Source: snapvoip.blogspot.com

VoIP IP Telephony @ http://snapvoip.blogspot.com
According to a research report released by AMI Partners (http://www.ami-partners.com/) ranked its Packet8 Virtual Office service as the #1 hosted VoIP phone system choice by U.S. based small and medium sized businesses.
"AMI Partners’ recent VoIP report is a very insightful and comprehensive study of the rapidly growing market for hosted VoIP business phone services," said 8×8 Vice President of Marketing & Sales Huw Rees. "We are very pleased that our Virtual Office solution, which is based on 8×8’s own technology, was one of the first hosted PBX solutions to be deployed worldwide and that it has gained significant market acceptance with more than 7,000 businesses now using the service."
Offering a combination of unlimited local and long distance calling in the United States and Canada plus advanced PBX features for just $49.99 per month/extension, the Packet8 Virtual Office solution is currently being used by more than 7,000 U.S. business organizations. Virtual Office enables small and medium sized enterprises to secure distributed corporate class telecommunications capabilities for a fraction of the cost of wireline business services from traditional phone companies. Unlike comparably priced single line VoIP phone services which offer features more suited to individual residential users, Packet8 Virtual Office provides companies with complete business phone system functionality along with the flexibility to operate each extension from any geographically dispersed location with high-speed Internet access.

The Packet8 Virtual Office service includes an auto attendant, worldwide extension dialing, business class voicemail, a full featured conference bridge and ring groups, in addition to a rich variety of other business class PBX and dial tone features not normally found on premise-based PBX systems. Packet8 Virtual Office reduces an organization’s total cost of ownership for telecommunications services because of its minimal initial investment combined with unlimited worldwide calling to other business extensions and Packet8 subscribers, unlimited local and long distance business calling in the United States and Canada and access to Packet8’s low per-minute international calling rates to overseas wireline and mobile phone numbers.

Press release