The company Virtual PBX offers SMBs the cost-effective traits of traditional hosted PBX services and VoIP technology. Customers can choose a VoIP Network, softphone, handset and more to meet their specific needs.

“Virtual PBX is making a market-leading move here,” said Rob Enderle, president and principal analyst of the Enderle Group. “Hosted PBX services are becoming ever more valuable because companies can get started with very low cash outlay. Adding VoIP interoperability can further reduce costs, improve service and provide the ‘make or break’ difference many small businesses need in today’s hard economic times.”

According to Virtual PBX:

A hosted PBX service provides customers with advanced phone answering and call routing features without the expense of purchasing PBX hardware or the added costs of installation, ongoing maintenance and support. Virtual PBX was the first company to bring this service to market. Hosted PBX services have become very popular among small businesses due to the inviting combination of low upfront costs and high-end business features.

“Conventional hosted PBX services send all calls over the standard phone network, whether to land lines, cell phones or even VoIP phones,” said Paul Hammond, CEO of Virtual PBX. “Meanwhile, hosted IP-PBX suppliers usually require use of their own proprietary network, phones, adapters and softphone clients to send calls to VoIP phones. Virtual PBX’s ability to marry a traditional hosted PBX with the delivery of calls over both PSTN and VoIP services brings an important new level of interoperability and cost savings to the telecommunications industry.”

PIKA WARP the Appliance is now compatible with the Asterisk-based FreePBX Graphical User Interface. The WARP product began shipping in June.

“We are very pleased to have supported the effort to adopt the FreePBX application to run in the PIKA Warp environment,” said Terry Atwood, vice president of sales, marketing and customer care at PIKA Technologies. “Used in many Asterisk implementations around the world, including Trixbox, FreePBX has proven its value, time and again. When the FreePBX team expressed their willingness to work with us to port to the Warp Appliance, we jumped on the opportunity.”

According to the company:

WARP’s flexibility has now been extended to include FreePBX, one of the top Asterisk GUIs in use today. The FreePBX application provides pre-programmed functionality for users wanting to ease the work required to configure the Asterisk open-source platform.

“FreePBX has become the de facto standard for enterprise grade PBX functionality delivered to the SMB business and includes a very rich set of functionality and customization potential,” said Philippe Lindheimer, open source community director of Bandwidth.com and leader of the FreePBX project. “But no GUI is complete without a wide range of hardware options to complete the package. We are delighted that PIKA can now include FreePBX in the PIKA WARP and bring our two eco-systems together.”

XO Communications has inked a deal with VIXXI Solutions.

Under the agreement, XO will refer their customers to VIXXI Solutions for their E911 needs. According to XO: “VIXXI was chosen because their IP-based, geospatial technology is ideal for VoIP vendors who are required by the FCC to provide their customers with an E911 Solution that identifies caller location information and correctly routes emergency calls to the appropriate PSAP.”

XO considered factors like speed of deployment, cost-effectiveness, flexibility, scalability and compliance when choosing the vendor. VIXXI’s geospatial routing set them apart.

VoIP Managed Services is now available from Bell, the communication and information technology provider in Canada.

According to Bell:

The suite of services includes VoIP device surveillance, sophisticated incident diagnosis and problem solving, as well as access to the specialized bilingual expertise of Bell IP technical support staff around the clock.

“With the largest installed base of VoIP-enabled PBXs in Canada, we knew that our customers were looking for more help in getting the most out of their IP technology,” said Stephane Boisvert, President, Bell Enterprise Group. “VoIP Managed Service meets that need, helping them be more productive by leveraging Bell’s unmatched expertise.”

The managed solution includes incident and problem management, advanced surveillance, a bilingual service desk, and more.

“We ensure that customers’ systems are performing at their peak with maximum uptime, and at a cost that is both predictable and, with no need to build their own support staff, less than if they manage it themselves. With access to Bell’s industry-leading toolsets and experts, our customers can free up their time to be more responsive to their business and their customers.”

LocalTel Communications has launched Integra5’s TV Caller ID application in Washington state. The service is powered by i5 Converged Services Platfor,.

LocalTel offers VoIP, video, and high-speed internet as well as HDTV and DVR services.

“One of the many reasons we selected Integra5 for our converged service rollout was the large number of positive references we received from other service providers who have deployed the i5 CSP, and who are seeing tangible revenue and retention benefits - including direct feedback from subscribers stating that these services are as important to them as other advanced features like VOD,” said Dimitri Mandelis, president of LocalTel Communications. “Integra5’s platform also offers compelling ROI benefits, allowing us to quickly roll out TV Caller ID today, with the flexibility to easily add on new applications and features, such as personalization and social media - that can reach any subscriber device - whenever we choose.”

The solution helps make LocalTel’s solutions more seamlessly integrated.

“Consumers increasingly expect to be able to communicate seamlessly across all of their devices,” said Ed Perry, vice president of sales at Integra5. “By deploying the i5 CSP, providers like LocalTel are positioned to harness this shift in communications behavior, with the ability to deliver blended services that encompass subscribers’ TVs, PCs and mobile and landline phones and present new opportunities to generate revenue, build loyalty and differentiate themselves from the competition.”