AltiGen Communications announced that Technology Marketing Corporation INTERNET TELEPHONY magazine has named the IP 705 VoIP Phone as a recipient of a 2006 Product of the Year Award. INTERNET TELEPHONY has been the VoIP Authority Since 1998.

Designed exclusively for AltiGen IP Phone Systems, the IP 705 is AltiGen's second telephone to offer advanced VoIP technology while still providing standard business features such as paging, multiple line appearances, and busy lamp fields. The IP 705 provides a subset of the flagship IP 710 VoIP telephone's features while offering the same level of voice quality at a reduced price.

Pingtel announced that Network World has named Pingtel as one of the top ten VoIP companies that warrants attention as the business environment shifts its voice technology. Pingtel was recognized for its Linux-based SIPxchange ECS solution—a 100% native SIP, enterprise-grade, full featured, software-based SIP PBX with integrated voice mail, ACD, multiple auto attendants and a web-based plug & play system configuration and management tool.

Global Crossing announced that Technology Marketing Corporation's INTERNET TELEPHONY magazine has recognized Global Crossing VoIP On-Net Plus Service with its 2006 Product of the Year Award.

Global Crossing VoIP On-Net Plus is one of the industry's first fully integrated IP network-based voice Virtual Private Networks. It helps enterprises worldwide migrate to a fully converged, IP solution by consolidating voice and data networks on a single IP network. It also simplifies network management and telephony administration by migrating existing voice VPNs to an IP platform.

Bandwidth.com announces that top executives Henry Kaestner and David Morken have been awarded Frost & Sullivan's North American IP Communications Services Co-CEOs of the Year honors for their leadership in both the market and the workplace. This Frost & Sullivan Award is bestowed each year upon the CEO or executive who has demonstrated leadership excellence within their industry. With this year's Co-CEO designation, Bandwidth.com's superior leadership is doubly recognized and shows the teamwork ideology that has made the company one of the fastest growing telecom companies in 2006. Frost & Sullivan has recognized Bandwidth.com's success in the SME market, its traction in the business-class VoIP space and its goals for the coming year with this honor.

Who doesn't love product awards? Well "INTERNET TELEPHONY editors selected the companies which in their view demonstrate the vision, leadership and attention to detail that are the hallmarks of the prestigious Product of the Year award winners."

You can view the entire list here INTERNET TELEPHONY Magazine Announces 2006 Product of the Year Award Winners

CounterPath Solutions announced today that Technology Marketing Corporation's INTERNET TELEPHONY magazine has named CounterPath's eyeBeam 1.5 softphone as a recipient of a 2006 Product of the Year Award. INTERNET TELEPHONY has been the VoIP Authority Since 1998.

CounterPath's SIP softphones, including the eyeBeam 1.5 softphone, and softphone SDKs (Software Development Kits) provide VoIP, Video over IP, IM (Instant Messaging) and Presence functionality and can be either co-branded or private labeled. Built upon open standards in conformance with SIP (Session Initiation Protocol), CounterPath's software application suite powers the VoIP solutions of some of the world's largest service providers and equipment manufacturers including Cisco, Lucent, AT&T, British Telecom and Deutsche Telecom.

Covad has been named the market leader among hosted VoIP providers for business by In-Stat, an independent research group, in a recently-released report. Covad retained its top ranking as the market leader for the fourth consecutive year despite increased competition from existing voice providers and new entrants targeting business customers.

“Covad has remained the hosted VoIP market leader by providing businesses with the right value proposition,” said David Lemelin, In-Stat senior analyst and the author of the report. “Covad has adapted well to the changing dynamics of the business marketplace. The introduction of their Clear Edge Office product is designed to meet the needs of smaller businesses where we expect to see increasing adoption of hosted solutions. This gives Covad a complete portfolio of hosted VoIP services, designed to meet the needs of businesses of all sizes.”

Extending its leadership position in delivering award-winning Bluetooth, wireless and corded headset innovation, Plantronics has been honored with five International CES Innovations 2007 Design and Engineering Showcase Awards.

All of Plantronics' Innovations Awards-winning products will be on display during the 2007 International CES, January 8-11, in the Plantronics Booth #30333 in the South Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center. Plantronics' recognized products include a chic, inventive Bluetooth headset; a pioneering plug-and-play Bluetooth VoIP system; two corded multimedia headsets; and a wireless office headset system.

"This recognition shows the world that our headsets play an invaluable role in enhancing personal mobility and communication," said Renee Niemi, vice president and general manager of Mobile and Entertainment for Plantronics. "These honored products represent our commitment to combining the highest quality sound with unmatched simplicity and remarkable design -- and clearly differentiate us from the competition."

Plantronics' award-winning products for 2007 include:

Plantronics Discovery 655:
Honored in the Wireless Peripherals category, the Plantronics Discovery 655 expands on the innovative design of previous Discovery headsets, featuring a modern sculpted look to complement the contours of the face, a snug ergonomic fit and cutting-edge technology. With Digital Signal Processing (DSP) the Plantronics Discovery 655 reduces noise levels to provide enhanced sound for clear conversations. It weight only 9 grams and comes with an innovative charging system that provides up to 10 hours of talk time and includes a unique vibrate ring indicator.

SIPBox, announced that it is the recipient of the 2006 Frost & Sullivan Award for Entrepreneurial Company of the Year for its role as an emerging company with vast potential in the enterprise telephony equipment services market. With a specialty in Asterisk, the industry’s first open source telephony platform, SIPBox offers a complete solution and handles the entire process on site, from design to implementation to ongoing management and support.

Frost & Sullivan has selected Verizon Business to receive the 2006 North American Enterprise VoIP Services Customer Value Enhancement Award. In addition, the firm recently published a report naming Verizon Business as the leading Web conferencing reseller services provider.

"Verizon Business continues to deliver compelling IP-based solutions for the enterprise market," said Lynda Starr, senior analyst, IP communications, for Frost & Sullivan's information and communication technology services. "This sort of focus is essential for service providers to effectively compete by addressing the IP transformation under way today. Businesses benefit from working with a provider that can translate the new capabilities afforded by IP into applications that will enhance business' day-to-day operations and productivity."

Benjamin P. Sayers, the Founder, President, and CEO of VoIP Supply, has been named to Buffalo's Business First newspaper's 15th annual 40 Under Forty honor roll. The honor, launched in 1992, was created to recognize young leaders in the Buffalo Niagara region for their outstanding charitable works and professional achievements. Mr. Sayers was honored, alongside the rest of this year's class, at a luncheon this past week. The honorees were selected by an independent committee of six local business and civic leaders, including five past 40 Under Forty honorees.

"Once again, the 2006 class of 40 under Forty winners showcases the best of this community," said Jack Connors, Business First president and publisher. "It is a class whose members have excelled in the community and their professions to make Western New York a better place.

The complete list of winning companies is available today in a special issue of FierceVoIP and on the FierceVoIP Web site at http://www.fiercevoip.com/top-voip-companies-2006.

FierceVoIP is a bi-weekly email newsletter distributed by FierceMarkets that covers news and insights on the emerging VoIP industry, providing more than 32,000 subscribers a quick, authoritative briefing on the week's top VoIP stories marketplace developments.

"After deep thought, long and careful deliberations, numerous trips to the coffee pot, three bottles of Visine and an absolute minimum of coin-flipping, I am delighted to present the 2006 Fierce 15."

“Top 100 Voices of IP Communications” by TMC’s Internet Telephony magazine was released today. Selected by the editorial staff of the publication, the Top 100 list recognizes the most influential, significant, and groundbreaking leaders who have driven the development of the VoIP market over the last decade. This special 100th issue, available now.

"There was no lobbying for a spot on this list. The editors simply sat around the conference room table and went through the names of many of the more influential, significant, groundbreaking individuals with whom we have had the pleasure of working since the magazine’s inception."

VARBusiness Magazine, a leading publication for the computer channel sales profession, has honored D-Link, the end-to-end networking solutions provider for consumers and business, with the "Tech Innovator Product of the Year" award for its flip-style Wi-Fi phones. The D-Link Wi-Fi Phone gives users low-cost worldwide calling flexibility, secure wireless network access and many value-added features.

Winners in the data/voice products category, D-Link was presented the award in a gala ceremony Monday evening at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Huntington Beach, Calif.

Introduced earlier this year, the industry's first flip-style Wi-Fi phones (DPH-540 for black casing and DPH-541 for silver casing) earned top honors in the competition's data/voice product category. A panel of nine information technology (IT) industry experts judged the products for their usefulness, innovation, price/performance, revenue potential and their "coolness".

TippingPoint, a division of 3Com and the leader in intrusion prevention, announced that its Director of Security Research David Endler has been granted the Shaping Information Security Award from Info Security Products Guide, one of the leading publications on security-related technologies. Endler is also recognized in this month’s issue of Internet Telephony magazine as one of the "Top 100 Voices of IP Communications."