Consumers are excited about the prospect of using voice and video calling on their PCs with the low cost of voice over Internet protocol (VoIP), making it ideal for maintaining meaningful connections with friends and family. But finding the right accessories in retail stores can be like looking for a needle in a haystack. Microsoft Corp. is solving the problem with the new endcap for Windows Live, a one-stop digital communications shopping solution for consumers that will debut this month in more than 1,200 Best Buy, Circuit City and CompUSA locations throughout the country.

Vonage America Inc., a subsidiary of Vonage Holdings Corp., a leading Internet telephony provider, announced that its subscribers in San Francisco, Ca., are now equipped with Enhanced 911 (E911) -- a feature that automatically associates a physical address with the calling party's telephone number.

In addition to San Francisco, Vonage recently turned up E911 at an additional 400 local run emergency call centers across the U.S. in less than three months -- bringing the total percentage of Vonage U.S. subscriber lines that have E911 to over 83 percent.

Host Gator, a leading provider of shared, dedicated and reseller hosting, announced the launch of VOIPo, a Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service. VOIPo will operate as an independent subsidiary of Host Gator, and is targeting late September for a live launch.

After over a year of providing high quality internet phone service in over 2,200 markets throughout the US, ViaTalk is proud to introduce its new late night menu, available for a limited time between the hours of 1am and 2am EST, at ViaTalk.Com.

Pac-West Telecomm, Inc., a leading provider of next generation and traditional voice communications services, announced the additions of New York, Alabama, North Carolina, South Carolina and New Jersey to its nationwide infrastructure services, surpassing the 50% completion milestone of its national expansion.

Cablevision Systems Corp. announced that its digital voice-over-cable product, Optimum Voice, has surpassed the one million-customer milestone. The cable industry's first broadly-deployed VoIP service, Optimum Voice has already attracted one-third of Cablevision's cable television customers and more than half of the company's high-speed Internet customers. Since the launch of the service, Optimum Voice customers have paid an estimated $500 million less than they would have been charged by traditional phone companies for a similar level of service.

BroadSoft, Inc., a leading provider of VoIP application software, announced that DSCI Corporation, an integrated communications solutions provider, has selected the BroadSoft VoIP application software as the platform to deliver its high-quality VoIP services. DSCI is using the BroadWorks platform to deliver hosted PBX and converged voice and data services to mid-sized enterprise customers throughout New England under the iPBX Communications Service brand.

VoX Communications Corp., eLEC Communications Corp.'s wholesale and retail provider of Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services nationwide, announced a wholesale agreement with Lightyear Network Solutions, one of America's fastest growing providers of voice, data and Internet services. VoX will provide local number and VoIP origination services, enabling Lightyear to expand its residential and small business VoIP phone services offering into Puerto Rico.

AccessLine Communications, a leading provider of hosted VoIP services, announced the Atlanta, Georgia launch for the new retail version of SmartVoice Service -- the company's hosted VoIP service that delivers the benefits of advanced business telephone service at a fraction of the cost. Specifically designed and built for Small and Medium Businesses (SMBs), SmartVoice Service offers as much as 50 percent savings over traditional business phone service rates. Combining local, long distance, and toll free phone service with no need for the purchase of any phone equipment, AccessLine's SmartVoice Service delivers savings while making it easy for customers to transition from their current legacy phone service.

voip.com - The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) reports a 32% increase in the number of US broadband subscribers during 2005, giving the US the highest total number of broadband connections in the world.

As of June 30, 2005, the FCC has redefined broadband or high-speed lines as services that deliver connection speeds in excess of 200 kilobits per second (kbps) in at least one direction. They further expand that definition to include advanced service lines where connection speeds exceed 200 kbps in both directions. This clarification allows for more detailed data collection regarding broadband penetration and trends.

US LEC Corp., a full-service provider of IP, data and voice solutions to businesses and enterprise organizations throughout the Eastern United States, announced its agreement to provide MegaPOP VoIP services to Vienna, Va.-based SunRocket, one of the fastest-growing providers of residential Internet phone service.

PRIMUS Telecommunications Canada Inc. and Glentel Inc. announced that PRIMUS's TalkBroadband home phone service, Canada's first Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) phone service, is now available in Glentel's retail mall locations across Canada.

deltathree, Inc., a leading provider of SIP-based Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) solutions for service providers, resellers and end users worldwide, is proud to announce a new partnership between UBIUS, VoIP service provider, and deltathree's award winning consumer group, iConnectHere. Through the new partnership UBIUS is offering Broadband Phone, PC to Phone, and Virtual Calling Card solutions to subscribers in Korea and the United States.

Citynet introduced a new phone service that can cut in half many West Virginians' monthly phone bills.

The new Citynet Digital Phone offers residential customers both local and long-distance service for $24.95 a month using proven technology that has already benefited Citynet's business customers.

Lucent Technologies and Dynavar Corporation, an accredited Lucent Sales Business Partner, announced a contract with Westelcom, a competitive services provider to small-and medium customers in upstate New York, to deploy Lucent's highly reliable integrated switching platform to migrate its network from a traditional Class 4 and Class 5 switch-based infrastructure to an IMS-ready softswitch-based IP network for advanced services.