NexTone Communications, the leader in distributed and intelligent session management solutions for VoIP and other real-time IP services, announced the company has been named one of IT Week's Top 50 Technology Innovators of 2005. NexTone received the award based on its successful session management technology deployments for customers worldwide.

NexTone's session management technology delivers scalable control of real-time IP services such as VoIP and other digital media applications including instant messaging, chat, and video across the IP network. NexTone is the leading supplier of session management solutions with more than 370 carrier and enterprise customers worldwide. These NexTone-based production networks carry over 50 percent of all long-distance VoIP traffic in the world.

RedSky Technologies, a leading provider of E911 location information management solutions, today announced that its latest version of E911 Manager is the first 911 solution for IP phone systems compliant with major Internet protocol (IP) telephony solutions from Avaya, a leading global provider of business communications applications, systems and services.

E911 Manager v5.0 helps companies, government agencies and Voice over IP (VoIP) service providers manage the detailed, life-saving location information necessary for effective 911 emergency response by automating the process of keeping this data accurate and current. This capability has become even more critical as today's IP telephony solutions make it possible for workers to become increasingly mobile.

IPcelerate, Inc., a provider of advanced communications-based software applications, announced today the release of IPStudio version 1.0, the next generation IP Communications Recording solution for business VoIP users. IPStudio allows companies to record and monitor different types of media and data sessions in an organization's IP network. Based upon IPcelerate's proprietary distributed architecture, IPStudio provides a highly scalable and adaptable recording environment for converged IP Networks.

Patton the leader in network access, connectivity and VoIP solutions announces that SmartNode VoIP routers now support triple-play services via IGMP and IP-multicast in SmartWare release 3.20.

Multi-service operators can leverage the new SmartWare features to increase revenues and reduce churn by adding triple-play services to their offerings while preserving their capital investment in Patton customer-premise equipment (CPE). Carrier-providers can download the new SmartWare to their installed CPEs to deliver packet-based video-on-demand, IPTV and streaming triple-play content to a subscriber's set-top box such as Amino Communications' Aminet 110.

BroadSoft, Inc., a leading provider of VoIP application software, and Datatrend Technologies, Inc., a leading infrastructure solutions provider, announced a partnership to deliver a comprehensive VoIP solution for telecommunications and multimedia service providers.

The solution, which is now generally available, combines the BroadWorks VoIP application suite from BroadSoft with a turnkey infrastructure solution (based on IBM eServer BladeCenter and xSeries systems running the Linux operating system) from Datatrend.

The BroadWorks VoIP application platform provides a comprehensive range of advanced applications, including hosted PBX, IP Centrex, mobile PBX, business trunking and residential broadband services fully integrated into a single VoIP application platform. BroadWorks is uniquely capable of providing these applications with the reliability, redundancy, scalability and regulatory capabilities required to deliver carrier-class service.

JDSU announced that its Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) test and performance management service assurance solution, called NetComplete, was selected by Saskatchewan Telecommunications to help ensure reliability, efficiency and quality of service (QoS) for SaskTel's deployment of VoIP services. SaskTel is the leading full-service communications company in Saskatchewan, Canada offering complete wireline, wireless, internet and e-business solutions via a digital network. NetComplete is a triple-play service assurance solution that combines active testing and passive monitoring of VoIP equipment.

Allied Telesyn, a global provider of secure Ethernet/IP access solutions, today introduced new VoIP Solution Bundles, arming its reseller partners with a compelling, cost-effective solution for small- to medium-sized businesses and enterprises.

A simplified, streamlined solution, the Allied Telesyn VoIP Bundles are all-inclusive end-to-end kits that bypass the need for a PBX or complicated server set-up. The draw on Peer-to-Peer- and SIP-based technology creates a distributed, fully featured VoIP system that is resident within the phone handsets themselves.

A plug-and-play solution, Allied Telesyn's VoIP Bundles have no barriers to entry for VARs. They require no expensive or time-intensive certification and are easy to install and support. The solution offers high margins and a clear differentiation because, as an end-to-end bundled system, it is unique in the industry. Resellers can also build on the solution to offer incremental revenue via services and pull-through of Allied's complete line of voice, video and data options designed for SMBs/SMEs.

Verso Technologies, a leading provider of packet-based solutions, announced today a paid trial of Verso's NetSpective M-Class Solution to filter Skype and other peer to peer (P2P) communications with a Tier-One carrier based in China. The trial is for an initial city level deployment and part of a sale for the fourth quarter of 2005, subject to customer acceptance.

The trial marks the introduction of the NetSpective M-Class with Skype filtering technology, a first of its kind carrier-grade application filter for mobile operators offering a bandwidth optimization and content management tool specifically for the mobile carrier market.

XO Communications, Inc. announced that it has interconnected with Stealth Communications' Voice Peering Fabric (VPF), the world's largest peering network that allows members to exchange voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) traffic without relying on traditional telephone networks.

The VPF is revolutionizing the telephony industry by allowing calls on different VoIP networks to be traded without the expensive task of traversing the public switched telephone network (PSTN). The VPF is a distributed Ethernet network that functions as an exchange or meet-point for VoIP traffic by allowing enterprises and service providers to establish peer-to-peer connections in a secure, quality-of-service environment.

GPON market leader Optical Solutions Inc. announced that its FiberPath 500 GPON platform has been enhanced with carrier-class quality VoIP service based on the SIP protocol. The integrated VoIP service, which is provisioned without a truck roll, can be deployed as part of an all-IP triple-play offering or offered in tandem with existing TDM voice.

"Our GPON system sets a new QoS standard for VoIP, while also providing a streamlined solution for carriers and their customers," said Optical Solutions President and CEO Mike Dagenais. "Moreover, like our IPTV solution, FiberPath GPON VoIP provides flexibility for carriers no matter where they are in transitioning from a legacy to an all-IP network."

Veraz Networks, Inc. announced that Technology Marketing Corporation's INTERNET TELEPHONY magazine (www.itmag.com) has named the Veraz ControlSwitch as a recipient of an INTERNET TELEPHONY Excellence Award for 2005. INTERNET TELEPHONY magazine has been the VoIP Authority since 1998.

The Veraz ControlSwitch softswitch and service delivery platform, via its open and distributed architecture, enables services providers around the world to deploy VoIP-based networks and revenue-generating IP services. Whether migrating to an IP network, evolving towards IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS), or creating enhanced business models such as Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO), Veraz customers benefit from a cost-effective way to build a service-rich VoIP network to attract new subscribers over any access network including wireless networks.

BridgePort Networks, the leader in MobileVoIP convergence, and China Unicom, China's second largest mobile operator and the third largest in the world, announced today that technical trials of BridgePort Networks' MobileVoIP convergence solution are underway by China Unicom Telecommunications Corporation's Guangdong Branch.

China Unicom's Guangdong branch will test a Mobile/IP convergence, single identity service, that could ultimately target more than 100 million subscribers through the use of a cellular phone, PC based VoIP soft client, fixed SIP phone, analog telephone adapter and/or dual mode cellular/Wi-Fi mobile phone.

The trial uses BridgePort Networks' open standards based NomadicONE Network Convergence Gateway (NCG) to seamlessly converge China Unicom Guangdong Branch's cellular network with VoIP delivered over their broadband fiber backbone and access networks.

Mindspeed Technologies Inc., a leading supplier of semiconductor solutions for network infrastructure applications, today announced its OpenMind development program that enables voice-over-IP (VoIP) system designers to gain a competitive advantage by combining the company's Comcerto processors with open-source applications and other products and design services from its growing network of third-party companies. Mindspeed's OpenMind program provides customers with a broad range of development choices to increase design flexibility and accelerate their time to market. The company will demonstrate OpenMind solutions in booth 402 at the Fall VON 2005 Conference & Expo, Sept. 19-22, at the Boston Convention Center.

MBG, a leading telecom expense management solutions provider, announced the expansion of its VoIP management offering beyond providing normalized Call Detail Records (CDR). These new services include inventory capabilities that assign ownership and track usage by employee regardless of the VoIP platform, along with backup and recovery services. All of these VoIP management solutions are aimed at providing organizations with an efficient and cost-effective method for chargeback identical to those that traditional telephony systems provide.

VoIP systems typically do not provide the same level of standardized call detail essential to manage, report, and charge back for those services. Even when it is possible to capture some VoIP data, companies are finding that it is complex and difficult to normalize before incorporating the information for analysis.

Force10 Networks today announced that Vonage Networks, a subsidiary of Vonage Holdings Corp. and the leading provider of broadband telephone services to residential customers in the U.S., is deploying the TeraScale E-Series switch/routers to increase the capacity of its nationwide network and build in the scalability to support an increase in VoIP calls over the next several years. Leveraging the industry-leading density and innovative architecture of the Force10 TeraScale E-Series, Vonage is upgrading its network with a combination of high density Gigabit Ethernet and 10 Gigabit Ethernet to accommodate increasing traffic demands.