Source: www.voip-news.com

Canadian SMBs now have a new option in hosted business VoIP and virtual call center services. SimpleSignal Inc. has partnered with virtuallyanywhere.ca to deliver those services to business customers.

“We chose virtuallyanywhere.ca as our partner in Canada because of the excellent pedigree of its management team, which has over 60 years of telecom experience and relationships,” said Dave Gilbert, president of SimpleSignal. “Virtuallyanywhere.ca shares our vision for delivering hosted VoIP solutions that seamlessly integrate with leading business applications in the cloud, so that SMBs have the tools they need to be successful.”

The partnership will also offer SIP Trunking.

“SimpleSignal is one of the fastest growing service providers in the U.S. because of its innovative hosted solutions that are tailored for SMBs,” said Wayne Cook, co-founder and vice president of Operations for virtuallyanywhere.ca. “We are proud to deliver these same solutions to Canadian businesses. Our offerings feature the best technology available, including a virtual call centre, the Polycom Productivity Suite and functionality such as Simultaneous Ring and Remote Office.”

Source: www.voip-news.com

Hosted VoIP and IP-PBX is surging.

According to a new report from Infonetics, revenue rose by 52 percent in 2007, after growing 66 percent in 2006. The growth is expected to continue.

“While VoIP services are being embraced by consumers worldwide, businesses have been comparatively slower in their adoption due to various roadblocks. This is about to change, though, as technical issues are resolved. For example, many PBX manufacturers have already added SIP trunking interfaces to their equipment, and more recently, they’ve greatly expanded the list of certified service providers, and that’s going to fuel the growth in SIP trunking services. These kinds of developments will boost the overall VoIP business services segment for years to come,” said Matthias Machowinski, directing analyst for enterprise voice and data at Infonetics Research

Source: andyabramson.blogs.com

A report from Frost & Sullivan points out the growth that hosted VoIP providers will be seeing.

This is good news for the cBeyonds, Call Towers and client Junction Networks.

Unlike the all you can eat pricing model of Skype, these companies actually make money on calls, as well as services. It’s one reason why the Skype gang keeps talking about the business market. I’d say this report’s tone would point that out.

Source: snapvoip.blogspot.com

Apptix (OSE:APP), the premier provider of on-demand business communications solutions for Small and Medium-sized Businesses (SMBs), today introduced a set of new hosted Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) products and programs which will simplify the adoption of premium quality VoIP telephony solutions among SMBs. The new programs are a direct response to demand from Apptix SMB customers for flexible and affordable hosted VoIP services that leverage the latest VoIP technology.

Since launching Apptix Voice in March 2007 with enhanced business-class features, Apptix has experienced increasing adoption of the company’s Hosted VoIP service, both among its existing Hosted Exchange email customers and organizations new to Apptix. Through ongoing dialog with its SMB customers, Apptix has validated its initial belief that there is indeed significant market demand for hosted VoIP within the SMB market, but that small business customers require flexible contracts and programs that allow them to readily and affordably adopt business-class VoIP solutions.

"Our SMB customers are telling us they are ready to expand their business communications tools beyond Hosted Exchange services and make the move to Hosted VoIP because of the tremendous business value this service offers," said Amir Hudda, CEO of Apptix. "However, small businesses, in particular, are asking for additional flexibility and choices to help them get started. We are very excited to be able to respond to their needs with a new leasing program, a start-up promotional program and the introduction of the latest in VoIP technology - Polycom’s High Definition (HD) phones. Combined with Apptix hosted email and mobile communications solutions, these new hosted voice services provide our customers with a single partner for all their business communications needs. "

Today, Apptix introduces three new additions to its Apptix Voice service:

• Hosted VoIP Leasing Program - Designed exclusively for SMBs, Apptix will now offer qualifying customers an affordable leasing program, which will significantly reduce up-front equipment and service costs and gives SMBs access to the latest VoIP technology.
• HD Phone Availability and Polycom Certification - Apptix is announcing a partnership with Polycom to offer its customers access to the latest in VoIP phones and equipment, including Polycom’s HD Voice™ phones.
• Apptix Voice "Getting Started with VoIP" Program - Designed to introduce small businesses to affordable, business-class VoIP phone service, Apptix will offer two free months of Apptix Voice service to all new qualifying subscribers between November 6, 2007 and December 31, 2007.

"We have been an Apptix customer for nearly two years and based on our experience with their Hosted Exchange services, we felt confident in moving to their new Hosted VoIP service and continuing to work with Apptix as our trusted business communications provider," said Quentin Krengel, Principal and Founder, Krengel Technology. "Our business is all about delivering quality marketing and technology services to our clients and we believe that to do that successfully, it’s all about the people and the way we communicate. Apptix Voice and Apptix Hosted Exchange enable our success by streamlining and unifying the way we communicate with our clients and partners."

"In 2007, we estimate that there are 560,000 Hosted VoIP seats, representing $318.9M in revenues. This market is expected to grow to 2,434,000 seats (45.5% CAGR) and $1,144.6M in revenues (38.6% CAGR) by 2011. Although there are large-scale players dominating the VoIP space for enterprise solutions, the market opportunity in serving smaller companies is still up for grabs," said Will Stofega, research manager for VoIP services at IDC. "Apptix has established a pattern of success delivering hosted Email and Collaboration solutions to the SMB market. With the addition of its new Hosted VoIP Leasing Program, Apptix is well-positioned to achieve further success and can now serve as a ‘one-stop shop’ for small business customers who are seeking to outsource their business communications."
More info at Apptix Voice.

Source: snapvoip.blogspot.com

TORONTO, ON/SEOUL, KOREA – October 17, 2007 – Sigma Systems (www.sigma-systems.com), a premier provider and leader in the design, development and deployment of OSS service management solutionsand Xener Systems, Inc., (www.xener.com), a key provider of Next Generation Networks, of Seoul, Korea, have signed a strategic alliance to accelerate and collaborate on voice over IP (VoIP) solutions in Korea and Asia Pacific.

“Softswitch vendors now recognize the value of an integrated service management platform to enable operators to deliver an end-to-end solution as an integral part of a complete service delivery model,”says Sigma Systems president and COO Tim Spencer. “As such, we have forged a strategic alliance to embark on a joint marketing and sales strategy that will provide a holistic solution for Xener’s current and prospective customers in Korea and APAC.”

“With this agreement, we gain momentum to expand into new markets by taking Sigma Systems’ residential and commercial VoIP expertise and offering a value-added solution that addresses the voice needs of cable and telecommunications companies,” adds Xener Systems CEO Yong-Gu Kang. “Through our mutually beneficial business collaboration, we will leverage our own next generation network capabilities and add Sigma’s service management solutions to expand our voice services business. We will position Sigma as a valued partner as operators expand or transition services for competitive or operations scalability opportunities.”

The Sigma VoIP Service Packages provide a robust OSS service management solution that is pre-integrated to define, provision and maintain residential VoIP and hosted commercial VoIP services on IP networks. The service package encapsulates the voice services domain expertise and best practices that Sigma has gained from working closely with some of the world’s largest communication service providers since 1996. The solution is applicable to any cable, telco or broadband IP service provider looking to offer residential and/or business voice services.

“Our solution will allow quick optimization and automation of operational processes for voice services for many of Xener’s customers,” adds Spencer. “It can rapidly create new bundles of residential and commercial services, including hosted voice service for small to medium businesses (SMBs), voice mail, unified messaging, SIP residential telephony features and Centrex and IP-Centrex call features for SMBs.”

“As the VoIP service market is quickly growing in Korea and Asia Pacific, Xener has focused its efforts in enhancing responsiveness to the customers’ needs on the diverse and differentiated subscriber services by expanding its partnerships with the industry’s best-of-breed solution providers like Sigma Systems,” adds Yong-Gu Kang. Xener has maintained its leading position in NGN and VoIP solution market, deploying the core networks for most of VoIP service providers in the Korean VoIP market such as KT, Hanaro Telecom and Korea Cable Telecom (KCT), and recently extended its coverage into the enterprise IP telephony solution market with its own IP PBX and IP-Centrex solution.

Source: snapvoip.blogspot.com

VoIP IP Telephony @ http://snapvoip.blogspot.com
With VoIP ringing in almost every ear, (By the way today is ears day! June 6th, 6-6)!! Many business and their IT staff is presented with the questions of convergence.
Shall we run voice and data on the same network? or shall we not.
Shall we outsource the VoIP all together or shall we handle our own IPPBX, connected to our traditional PBX during the transition?
Well all those are valid thoughts and questions. But today I am going to lead you to an article that attempt to answer some of the questions. It was published by ZDNet UK. Here is the summery but follow the link for the complete article.

"To converge or not to converge — that is the question. But the answer isn’t as clear-cut as we’d like. There are many advantages to convergence, and it appears to be the way of the future, especially in budget-conscious environments.

However, separating voice and data transmissions can provide better security for both. In addition, it may be a more cost-effective alternative — at least in the short run — if the existing network would require a complete redesign to support VoIP.

A single network can make management and troubleshooting easier if IT personnel have the proper training to deal with VoIP technology. But it also makes the network more complex, and there may be a learning curve before the company can realize the full benefits.

As with so many issues in IT, then, the answer to the question is: "It depends." It depends on the network infrastructure you’re starting with, your security requirements, budgetary considerations, personnel considerations, and many other factors. It’s essential to perform an assessment — not just of the network but of your company’s particular needs in regard to both data and voice, and a projection of future needs — before you make the decision."

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

Source: voipcentral.org

Solegy, the leading hosted VoIP provider has come up with a highly reliable Managed PBX solution that facilitates service providers to offer business enterprises a single-sourced solution for all voice requirements.

The Managed PBX service is available through Solegys ServicePDQ software platform bringing a single point for clients to design, install, manage and charge for services operating in multiple networks.

Solegys Managed PBX solution delivers all the features and functionality of traditional PBX and key systems, while adding a variety of latest IP-based services, improved flexibility and expanded user control.

With Solegy PBX solution, companies can replace both traditional phone systems and telephone company services with one unified solution.

Elaborating the latest solution, Solegy president, Stu Sleppin says,

The new Managed PBX service will allow our service provider customers to approach yet another segment of the market with a flexible, resilient and timely product.

The Managed PBX solution also supports third-party applications including contextual presence, allowing end-users to control how inbound calls are routed based on status and other characteristics.