Vonage is adding a new layer to its customer-acquisition strategy with On-Demand Verification services from TARGUSinfo. The services enable Vonage to capture the precise name and address information for each prospective customer so it can follow up with a personalized direct mail piece.

Vonage chose TARGUSinfo in 2006 for the unique precision of its Caller Name Services. The telecommunications provider recently started using TARGUSinfo services to make sure that it can remarket to prospective customers who call but don't immediately subscribe. Vonage also uses TARGUSinfo services to make sure it has the most current phone-number information available for leads that come through other channels.

"Vonage has relied on TARGUSinfo to provide industry-best Caller ID that has helped us to promote customer satisfaction," said Vonage CEO Mike Snyder. "Our new TARGUSinfo services are providing prime opportunities to acquire customers who have already shown an interest in our marketing."

For more information, visit the TARGUSinfo team at Suite Marriott Willow Glen I at VON on March 20-22 in San Jose, Calif. Or visit http://www.TARGUSinfo.com/marketing/.

Packet8 broadband VoIP and videophone communication services announce the availability of International Virtual Direct Inbound Dial numbers with area codes from nine European countries.

With these International Virtual Numbers, Packet8 residential and business subscribers can create a "virtual presence" for themselves in the following locations -- U.K., France, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Italy, Ireland, and Denmark. By adding a Virtual Number from these locations to their Packet8 service, subscribers enable individuals based there to reach them via a local vs. an international call. Businesses, in particular, can benefit from using an International Virtual Number to open virtual sales offices overseas and answer calls from their U.S. based location.

Packet8 subscribers can add an International Virtual Number to the service for $9.99 per month with a one-time $9.99 activation fee. Additional information about Packet8 International DIDs can be found at: http://www.packet8.net/about/features.asp/.

Digium announces the final beta of its AsteriskNOW software appliance. New AsteriskNOW beta 5 features, as well as extensive product testing and feedback from the Asterisk community, make this the final beta leading up to Q2 availability of AsteriskNOW 1.0. Customers can deploy AsteriskNOW in minutes to start using Asterisk, the most popular open source telephone system in the world, in their organizations.

Introduced last quarter by Digium, the creator and primary developer of Asterisk, AsteriskNOW includes all the software customers need to install and configure a phone system that offers the advanced features found in expensive proprietary products. AsteriskNOW is free and can run on customers’ existing servers. An easy-to-read AsteriskNOW screen helps customers who do not have an Internet VoIP service provider choose a Digium Asterisk Certified Service Provider or add another that they select.

An AsteriskNOW installation demo will be held in the Digium World Theatre at VON on Wednesday, March 21 at 11:00 a.m. Copies of the new book AsteriskNOW for Dummies are also available at the conference. Those not attending VON can view a YouTube video of Mark Spencer walking users through the easy installation.

Raketu introduces its LaunchPad interface, the first to integrate VoIP, ipTV streaming video, Video On Demand, and IM/SMS service in a single, easy-to-navigate desktop application. Other Raketu services including podcasting, media player, and news/information feeds will also be accessible via their new LaunchPad interface. In addition, Raketu also introduced the first ever Global Chat capabilities around ipTV streaming, allowing thousands of consumers to chat simultaneously in a real-time, dynamic ipTV channel chat room, as they watch the same channel.

“We currently have over a million consumers using our VoIP, ipTV streaming video and other services globally,” said Greg Parker, President of Raketu. “We wanted to give them a single interface where they could interface directly to all their VoIP calling, IM/SMS exchanges, and ipTV streaming video viewing in a single application/service, while creating a global chat area where friends, family, and other Raketu service subscribers could have real-time interaction around the streaming video programs they are watching.”

Earlier this month I reported on Herb Greenberg's video demonstration of "The MagicJack" and how it might be a Skype or Vonage killer. Om Malik also reported on MagicJack Simpler VoIP than Skype. Well today Om Malik has a follow up from Spring VON 2007 on the MagicJack, which included a live demo and interesting tidbits from Dan Borislow.

"The consumer side of MagicJack goes like this: Users will plug the USB end of the ‘jack’ into their Internet-connected computer, and will plug a phone into the other end of the device. The device then boots a softphone onto the screen (in 28 seconds, in our impromptu test); you then can pick up the phone and start dialing. The MagicJack will cost $39.99 for a jack with a memory chip (for the softphone), or $29.99 for one without memory (you can alternatively download the client and keep it on your PC). Yearly subscriptions thereafter will cost $19.99, Borislow has said."

You should read Om's entire article on The Magic behind MagicJack.

Level 3 announces that it has deployed an innovative, first-of-its-kind combination of services, VoIP solution for Lavalife.

The solution Level 3 designed for Lavalife comprises a robust combination of Level 3 Local Inbound Service, Level 3 Toll Free Service, Level 3 International Termination Service, Level 3 Colocation Service, and Level 3 High Speed IP service. Lavalife and Level 3 collaborated to implement a solution that could provide significant operational cost savings and quickly and effectively manage Lavalife's localized promotions.

The solution results in increased efficiencies for Lavalife and gives the company the opportunity to grow into new markets -- all with the ease of doing business with one company. The solution has already helped Lavalife save significant costs on telephone-related equipment and production hardware by replacing Lavalife's TDM-based infrastructure across 40 cities with Level 3's IP services technology. Lavalife is anticipating considerable annual maintenance cost savings resulting from the implementation of this solution.

"We are very pleased with the VoIP solution that we have been able to develop and operate in conjunction with Level 3," said Marina Glogovac, chief executive officer for Lavalife. "By converting millions of minutes of Interactive Voice Response Personals traffic from legacy telecommunications infrastructures to VoIP and processing them centrally, we have reduced costs and improved efficiencies in a number of categories."

"Lavalife is a forward-thinking company using powerful technology to solve its real world business problems," said Myrle McNeal, senior vice president of Voice Service Provider markets for Level 3. "We are proud to provide Lavalife with the solutions and support they need to quickly and nimbly enter new markets and continue to grow their business into the future."

Pac-West Telecomm announces that its national network now provides Service Providers with the ability to reach to over 167 million people in the United States.

Hank Carabelli, Pac-West President and CEO, commented, "Service Providers now have access to one of the largest local interconnection networks in the country. The Pac-West network provides our customers with a national single-source solution that supports their needs for a bridge between IP and PSTN-based networks, phone numbers and telephony database services."

"A nationwide provider like Pac-West presents us with robust and scalable voice communications services and the necessary infrastructure elements to help support our expansive and growing residential Internet phone service membership base," said Mark Fedor, SunRocket Chief Technology Officer.

Carabelli continued, "We are pleased to see SunRocket on our nationwide network. Pac-West continues to add new customers who are seeking alternative choices to bridge IP and traditional PSTN-based networks."

Pac-West's national infrastructure is designed to serve the needs of VoIP Providers, Wireless Broadband Providers, Internet Service Providers, Carriers and other companies looking to provide voice services to their customers.

Phoenix Audio Technologies introduces the “Quatro” Speakerphone, the highest performance device of its kind. The Quatro features revolutionary, patent pending, concepts and un-paralleled audio pickup and broadcast qualities.

The Quatro utilizes next generation digital signal processing technologies aimed to bring participants closer, even when they are situated far away from the speakerphone. With its multiple microphones and multiple speakers, the Quatro analyzes the room’s acoustics and eliminates noise, reverberations, echoes and other acoustic interferences.

The Quatro operates as an add-on device to existing telephones. It utilizes their Man Machine Interface features (like dialing, memory storing and other), while seamlessly taking over the audio portion of the communication and replacing it with its processed and improved audio stream.

Packet8 has begun shipping its recently introduced Packet8 Video Terminal Adapter, a one-of-a-kind broadband phone adapter with a built-in LCD screen that turns any regular home phone into a state-of-the-art, full motion videophone.

The Packet8 Tango Video Terminal Adapter takes the concept of traditional analog terminal adapters one step further with the addition of advanced H.264 video, allowing for significantly better video quality compared to H.263 at the same bandwidth. The Packet8 Tango is fully SIP compliant and interoperates with 8x8's previous generation videophone, the Packet8 DV326 as well as its video soft phone, Packet8 Softalk. This sleek-looking 8 1/2" x 5 1/2" x 1.38" free standing device incorporates a built-in, high resolution 5" LCD color display and 180 degree rotating CCD camera to deliver advanced full-motion video at up to 30 frames per second along with crisp, delay-free audio.

"The Packet8 Tango VTA received rave reviews during its debut at the 2007 Consumer Electronics Show," said 8x8 Vice President of Marketing & Sales Huw Rees. "8x8's goal in developing this device was to create a very stylized, consumer friendly product that delivers outstanding video communications at an affordable price. Additionally, by enabling users to plug their regular home phone into the device and make voice-only Internet calls as well as video calls, we expanded the functionality beyond that of competitive offerings."

Jaxtr launches the public beta of the world’s first service that brings voice to social networks and blogs. The company also introduced a new VoiceBlast feature, which allows jaxtr users to record their own voice to automatically greet and update people who visit their profile or blog.

Everyone around the world can now sign up to receive a free jaxtr account that links their mobile or landline phones with their online network. By adding their jaxtr widget to their online profile or blog, users can hear from callers worldwide while keeping their existing phone numbers private. Jaxtr works with the world’s most popular social networks and communities, including MySpace, Facebook, LinkedIn, Friendster, Flickr, YouTube, Wikipedia, Craigslist, eBay, LiveJournal, and Blogger.

TeamOnCall software released providing real-time call status. While VoIP phones are being adopted by small and medium sized businesses at a growing rate, the tools to make effective use of the phones are lacking. In a business environment where a receptionist receives an incoming call and needs to transfer the call to the appropriate representative, the receptionist has no way of knowing which representative is free, unless the company has deployed a costly and complex call center solution.

"Using passive network packet monitoring, TeamOnCall automatically discovers all the phones on your network and tracks their call status. A receptionist using a web browser can see in real-time if a phone is idle, or in use. No longer will the receptionist blindly try an extension only to find it busy. The customer's call is transferred quicker, with less wait time for the next customer," says Tony Leung.

VONaLink TeamOnCall works with any SIP based VoIP system, including hosted services such as Voipfone or Vonage. TeamOnCall runs on Windows Vista, XP Pro, 2003, and 2000. Pricing starts at $299 USD for up to 5 phones. Download evaluation from www.vonalink.com

Fonality announce a new enterprise telephony appliance based on trixbox and a range of complementary professional support options. The trixbox Appliance comes pre-installed with the trixbox software platform and is an industrial grade rack-mountable server with dual hard disk and dual power supply redundancy options. It is aimed at businesses with five to 500 employees and can be purchased for use with VoIP, E1/T1 or up to 48 analog lines. Created for trixbox and Asterisk resellers, as well as IT professionals, the trixbox Appliance costs $999 and delivers the industry’s best price performance value for a PBX.

The trixbox Appliance is powered by Intel and comes with pre-configured Sangoma line cards with industry-leading Octasic echo-cancellation hardware inside. Broad support for the appliance has been announced by a growing trixbox ecosystem that includes phone manufacturers Polycom, Aastra, and Grandstream, as well as VoIP service providers VoicePulse and Teliax.

DigiLinea announces partnership with Skype to provide internet calls to selected Latin American markets. The DigiLinea platform allows service providers to offer local Latin American numbers, unlimited calling plans, and direct termination. This provides a turnkey suite for serving the Latin American community whose needs are very different from the average US or European consumer. DigiLinea allows service providers to quickly and efficiently launch customized internet-calling services that lower their customers' cost of communications to and from Latin America while increasing service-provider revenue and profit per line.

"We are delighted to be working with Skype," said DigiLinea CEO and Chairman Gregory Keough. "They realize that Latinos spend more per month on telecom services than other demographic groups, due to their high volume of calling to and from Latin America. By partnering with DigiLinea, Skype will be able to offer features that address the specific needs of the Latin American markets."

UK VoIP operator Group 3 Technology has unveiled details of the company’s revolutionary new web-browser based Internet Phone service called VePhone. The new service gives every User a real UK telephone number and is accessed on a standard web page with no software to download.

G3T claim VePhone is the first product in the world that allows consumers to enjoy the benefits of internet telephony without having to download any software. G3T CEO Gerry Leighton claims “For the first time in the world our users can access free telephone calls on the move from any PC in the world with access to the internet. VePhone can have the same impact on internet telephony as hotmail managed for email!”

User’s familiar with VoIP technology won’t be disappointed as VePhone loses none of the functionality of other services. Calls between VePhones are free, and savings of up to 90% are available on calls to international landlines and mobiles. VePhone is compatible with G3T’s other services and enables free calls to ePhone and NETePhone users too.

The UK Telephone Number stays with you and can be used anywhere in the world by logging in to the website. The low cost ‘Pay as you Go’ philosophy means no monthly contract or line rental which makes VePhone ideal as a second line, or use while traveling abroad.

NuVox announces the availability of its new Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) product, VoxIP, in Wichita, Kansas. The latest VoIP technology has been integrated into the NuVox network enabling the company to now offer customers an expanded array of highly reliable communications services.

VoxIP will provide Wichita business customers a flexible, high bandwidth data and voice solution, packed with a suite of bundled services over NuVox's private Internet Protocol network.

Two key advantages of VoxIP are the ability to maximize dedicated Internet service with a minimum of 768 Kbps of bandwidth, even with 24 calls in progress simultaneously per T1, and a robust web portal for real-time changes to service. VoxIP services are delivered via NuVox's state-of-the-art, fully-redundant private IP network and on-premise integrated access devices. Choosing VoxIP allows customers to future-proof their network while using the business' current equipment and providing the foundation to upgrade to more advanced systems later.