Verizon Business, a premier provider of advanced global communications and information technology (IT) solutions, announced that it has added Internet protocol capability to its Verizon Web Center service, enabling businesses to more effectively communicate with customers using both traditional and IP telephony.

Available this month, IP Web Center, a hosted contact center solution, will allow companies to quickly start up or expand their customer communications operations in response to rapidly changing business plans or business continuity requirements.

Verso Technologies, Inc., a global provider of next generation network solutions, announced it will host a VoIP solutions seminar at the Ramses Hilton Hotel in Cairo on March 6, 2006. The event is co-sponsored by Cairo-based technology distributors Laroncom and NourConsult, which recently formed an alliance to become a key distributor of Verso products in Egypt.

Featured speakers include Stefan Schoofs, sales director, Verso Technologies, Dr. Mohamed Sakr, managing director, Laroncom, and Hussein Nour Eldin, managing director, Nour Consult. The two-part seminar will include business strategies sessions for decision makers as well as technical sessions targeted to engineers.

TelTel, a provider of SIP-based global Internet telephony services with presence-enabled features, announced that it has secured $8.8 million in Series A venture capital. Purple Communications Ltd., Acorn Angels and Parawin Venture Capital participated in the funding. The investors selected TelTel because it is the first to offer an immediate turnkey VoIP solution that enables service providers and enterprises to rapidly deploy VoIP and multimedia solutions to their customers. With over 1.5 million registered users and partnerships with service providers worldwide, TelTel hosts the world's largest SIP-based Internet telephony user community.

Sonus Networks, Inc., a leading supplier of service provider voice over IP (VoIP) infrastructure solutions, announced that JAPAN TELECOM Co., Ltd., ("JAPAN TELECOM"), one of Japan's largest carriers and a wholly owned subsidiary of SOFTBANK Corp., has selected Sonus' award winning architecture as the foundation for its next generation voice network. Enabling a rich set of broadband applications and services, JAPAN TELECOM's new Sonus-based network significantly expands its market opportunity by facilitating the delivering of innovative new VoIP services across Japan. By selecting Sonus, JAPAN TELECOM will also achieve greater internetworking capabilities with its parent SOFTBANK Corp and will be able to leverage a seamless migration path for future network evolution.

CommuniGate Systems, the leader in scalable carrier-class Internet Communications solutions, announced the immediate availability of CommuniGate Pro (CGP) All Active Dynamic Cluster, which holds the SPECmail world record and supplies the largest Internet Service Providers (ISPs) with a scalable infrastructure for Internet Communications. The solution comes in a new Micro Dynamic Cluster offering, designed specifically for SMBs looking to deploy voice communications. The consolidated, all-in-one server assures SMBs of 99.999% uptime for email, IM, SIP-based applications and VoIP.

BroadSoft, the leading provider of VoIP application software, and Vonair, a carrier-class multimedia communications software company, announced that they have entered into a joint venture to develop, market and distribute a VoIP client management solution. The collaboration, called Netria, will focus on resolving client management challenges such as integration, deployment and management of SIP-based customer premises equipment (CPE) for service providers globally. Additionally, BroadSoft has entered into a reseller agreement with Netria, whereby BroadSoft will resell products developed by Netria.

Frost & Sullivan's 2006 Product Innovation Award in the field of VoIP interoperability has been presented to Piscataway, N.J.-based Telcordia Technologies, Inc. for their development of the Telcordia VoIP Routing Registry.

The Telcordia VoIP Routing Registry facilitates cross-carrier VoIP calling, a feature that is increasingly driving consumer adoption of IP-based communication services. The registry is part of the Telcordia® Maestro IMS portfolio, a powerful set of wireless, wireline and converged products, services and applications that enables carriers to offer any service, over any network, via any device.

Fusion Telecommunications International, Inc., said it has acquired proprietary intellectual property that will allow Directed Peer-to-Peer Internet phone connections between Session Initiated Protocol (SIP)-enabled devices without the need to route the calls through a network of third-party computers, as typically occurs in a peer-to-peer environment.

"This technology will give Fusion the opportunity to expand its existing suite of paid service offerings and participate in the growing peer-to-peer telephony market through its efonica brand, including the free call segment now dominated by Skype," said Matthew Rosen, President and Chief Operating Officer of Fusion.

Intrado Inc., a global provider of integrated data and telecommunications solutions and leading provider of VoIP 9-1-1 services, today announced agreements with three leading location determination technology vendors, Rosum Corporation, S5 Wireless, Inc. and Skyhook Wireless Inc. The agreements reflect the growing importance of location determination in VoIP E9-1-1 service delivery. Intrado will work with these companies to demonstrate a range of location determination solutions and their ability to integrate into Intrado V9-1-1 Services.

XO Communications, Inc. announced enhancements to XOptions Flex, its industry-leading voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services bundle, that enable small and medium-sized businesses with larger offices to take advantage of the cost-savings and flexibility of VoIP.

XOptions Flex is the industry's first VoIP services bundle for businesses that combines unlimited local and long distance calling, dedicated Internet access and web hosting for a flat monthly price. XOptions Flex leverages the latest in VoIP technology to provide customers with advanced capabilities such as unlimited voice calling, dynamic bandwidth allocation, voice virtual private networking (VPN), and a simple Administrative Web Portal.

BellSouth announced that it is providing a complete voice and data communications solution to support the operations of VIPGift, a Chattanooga-based service company that provides simplified employee incentive programs for companies around the world.

VIPGift's incentive program is unique because customers' employees are issued a redemption card or electronic number that can be instantly redeemed for millions of gifts, including catalog products, movie tickets, phone cards, charitable donations and pre-paid Visa and MasterCard gift cards. The redemption process is IP-based, but can be executed online or through an automated process over the phone.

RedSky Technologies, Inc., the leading provider of automated E911 solutions to the enterprise, announced that it has joined forces with Intrado Inc., a global provider of integrated data and telecommunications solutions and leading provider of VoIP 9-1-1 services, to add Intrado V9-1-1 for Enterprise to RedSky's Enterprise E911 Location Information Services offering.

RedSky will pair Intrado's service with its award-winning E911 Manager, the industry's first solution that automatically tracks the physical location of IP-based phone users regardless of where they are located. The rapid adoption of VoIP by business, government and education customers has created the need for enhanced 911 (E911) solutions that are extremely flexible. With today's IP soft phones, users can be working inside a company facility, traveling and using a soft phone to access their company's private network, or working remotely using company-assigned IP phone equipment.

GlobalNet Corporation announced that its iDial-IP Turn-Key VoIP Solution has been named winner for a second year of a "Best of Show" award at Technology Marketing Corporation (TMC)'s INTERNET TELEPHONY Conference and EXPO East 2006. TMC reports that the conference, attended by over 8,000 people last month at the Ft. Lauderdale/Broward Convention Center in Ft. Lauderdale, FL, was the best-attended VoIP conference ever held.

"iDial-IP is a flexible private label consumer VoIP platform designed and built specifically for service providers who require performance and ease of installation," commented Mark T. Wood, GlobalNet's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "Our turn-key product provides ISPs and major telecom business customers with a scalable solution for becoming leaders in VoIP technology without product development investment and costly telecom equipment, inherent in building out a carrier-class VoIP Platform."

NetWolves Corp., a global managed network and security provider, announced that it has successfully deployed a VOIP Pilot with one of its existing large University customers, and has solidified and presented an extensive offering to its vertical market ranging from providing hosted PBX solutions, to a virtually unlimited VOIP solution for students on-campus.

JAJAH Inc. introduces web-activated telephony. So far existing VoIP solutions were only popular with technically skilled users on broadband Internet connections: With JAJAH Web, the international VoIP provider breaks down hard- and software barriers and introduces Internet-telephony to the common computer user.

Simple as ordinary phone calls

JAJAH Web establishes phone-to-phone connections through the Internet for cheap calls. The process is simple: Callers type in their own number (landline or mobile) on www.jajah.com, then insert the desired destination number. JAJAH connects the callers, and the actual call is not different to any other normal phone conversation, only significantly cheaper.