VoIP Week in Review from TMCnet

By Johanne Torres

TMCnet Contributing Editor

 

This week, the VoIP Minute Watch brought you news from AltiGen, Avaya (News - Alert), Verso, Yahoo! and Bell Canada.

 

VoIP phone manufacturer AltiGen Communications announced on Monday that it was tapped by water parks and hotels owner Schlitterbahn Waterparks to deploy its AltiContact Manager VoIP Phone and Call Center systems for five of its locations.

 

The water park operator is currently expanding into Galveston, Texas with further plans to move into Kansas City. The company's prior phone system was not up for the task and it lacked all the call center capabilities it required. "We were stuck paying a humongous amount of money every year for a phone system that did very little for us," said Schlitterbahn's director of Information Systems Leigh Murphy in a statement.

 

TMCnet came across big news from Avaya and Kimberly-Clark this Monday as well. Health and hygiene company Kimberly-Clark tapped Avaya as its provider of global telephony applications and communications network services. The new agreement calls for Avaya to provide Kimberly-Clark with the Avaya MultiVantage Communications Applications, a suite of IP-based telephony, contact center, messaging and mobility applications, to connect more than 57,000 employees across the world.

 

Avaya announced on Wednesday that it was selected to participate with nine other companies in a $4 billion U.S. Army project to upgrade voice and data communications infrastructures of the agency's bases worldwide. The Infrastructure Modernization (IMOD) contract will support the Army's Installation Information Infrastructure Modernization Program (I3MP) with a single integrated communications system that will combine voice, data, inside/outside cable plant and transmission products and services.

 

Verso Technologies announced on Tuesday that it was been selected by Startech Connections to deploy the Verso MetroNet VoIP Overlay system, including the I-Master prepaid platform, which will run over a WiMAX-based radio system, enabling services to both residential and business markets in Nigeria. Startech Connections is a broadband-fixed wireless telecom operator based in Abuja, Nigeria, where the initial deployment will occur, with five additional regions to follow.

 

VoIP company iBasis announced on Wednesday that it was tapped by Yahoo! to provide international call termination for the Yahoo! Messenger with Voice service. The move will enable Yahoo! to offer Yahoo! Messenger with Voice users with the ability to place and receive international PC-to-Phone calls over iBasis' global VoIP network at lower rates. The Phone Out feature, which integrates the iBasis Network for international calls, allows consumers in the U.S. can make VoIP PC-to-Phone calls by using their PC to place calls to traditional or mobile phones to more than 180 countries. Calls within the U.S. and to over 30 other countries can be made for two cents a minute or less.

 

Bell Canada, Nortel (News - Alert) and NewHeights Software introduced this week the Bell Canada Personal Communication Manager (PCM) system, a PC-based soft-client combo of voice, messaging and multimedia communications integrated into a single interface that can be used in the office or while working remotely.

 

Bell Canada PCM will enable laptop users to undock their machine and carry with them the same telephone and messaging services and profile that they use at their corporate desktop. The Bell Canada PCM also allows users to initiate calls and multiparty conference sessions with just a point-and-click, know the telephony and messaging status of their colleagues with real-time presence and availability info, and access over 250-features through a single interface on their PC.

 

There you have it folks, another exciting week in the VoIP industry! Stay tuned and read the VoIP Minute Watch for the latest news…

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Johanne Torres is contributing editor for TMCnet and Internet Telephony magazine. To see more articles by Johanne Torres, please visit Johanne Torres' columnist page.