TechWeb announces VoiceCon Amsterdam, the first European venture for the VoiceCon brand. Over the past two decades, VoiceCon has become the event where global business leaders and IT professionals come to learn about the latest in IP Telephony, Unified Communications and Converged Networks. VoiceCon Amsterdam expands to meet new international audiences and is happening October 14-16, 2008 at the Amsterdam RAI.

Large increases in exhibitors and attendees at VoiceCon San Francisco and Orlando demonstrate that the industry looks to VoiceCon for analysis and leadership of all aspects of enterprise communications -- IP Telephony, Unified Communications and Converged Networks. VoiceCon will now deliver the tools necessary to select the right communications platform for international business leaders to maximize their competitive advantage in today's international market. The European market's interest in IP Telephony and Unified Communications is high and growing, and Amsterdam is a central location for the Pan-European market to gather.

Polycom announces the newest addition to its SoundPoint IP desktop phone line, the SoundPoint IP 670. The SoundPoint IP 670 is an application-enabled desktop SIP phone with a high-performance color display, Polycom's revolutionary HD Voice technology, and Gigabit Ethernet connectivity. It provides professionals with an intuitive color interface for easier viewing and navigation of phone functions and productivity-enhancing applications.

The SoundPoint IP 670 also features the industry's first color expansion module. When equipped with up to three color expansion modules, the SoundPoint IP 670 delivers the industry's first color attendant console solution for call attendants and administrative assistants. This solution significantly increases the call handling capability of the phone and enables attendants to better manage incoming calls by being able to view presence status without having to be in front of a PC.

XConnect announces that VoIP Logic has joined its XConnect Ready Partner Program. VoIP Logic has deployed XConnect's Local Directory Server at its facilities, enabling its hosted customers to have a local query to the XConnect Registry and route calls based on ENUM to a database of over 800 Million telephone numbers.

From VoIP Managed Services to its award-winning Cortex middleware system, VoIP Logic delivers a comprehensive set of on-demand solutions for service providers looking to use VoIP technology. The company empowers telecommunications service providers worldwide to build and manage customized, flexible and scalable IP telephony rollouts.

Verizon Business is expanding and strengthening its unified communications services to help multinational companies, faced with dramatically rising travel costs, collaborate better and improve their business processes.

Unified communications uses Internet protocol networks to integrate various systems, media, devices and applications, allowing for more effective and efficient communications. At the NXTcomm'08 trade show, Verizon Business is announcing the following new features and capabilities of the company's suite of unified communications and collaboration offerings:

• Expansion of the Verizon VoIP portfolio, which provides a foundation for unified communications, to four more European countries -- Spain, Italy, Ireland and Sweden -- bringing the total to 10.
• International expansion of the company's Integrated Communications Package, part of the UC platform, to 10 countries in Europe in local languages and integration with Verizon Conferencing for more efficient collaboration. The service was originally introduced to U.S. customers in August 2007.
• Employment of the newest Microsoft Office Live Meeting platform for Verizon Net Conferencing, including a redesigned interface and support for live video. In addition, Verizon Business is introducing enhanced Web-based tools to better manage conference calls.

MetaSwitch has selected standards-based voice quality analysis technology from Texas Instruments for its media gateway products. This analysis technology will enhance the network monitoring capabilities of its MetaView network management system. With the addition of this proactive monitoring and reporting feature across MetaSwitch's entire media gateway product line, service provider networks will be alerted to potential call quality issues -- even while the call is still connected. This real-time feature will allow service providers to more dynamically address a wide range of network problems, resulting in users experiencing greater overall satisfaction with their voice service.

MediaRing introduces its new MediaRing MobileVoIP, a service that offers free unlimited mobile calls amongst its users when connected to the Internet through a WiFi network. MobileVoIP users also enjoy very attractive low rates when calling any fixed-line, mobile contacts not enrolled with the service and/or connected to Internet. The service leverages on MediaRing’s extensive and highly robust Global IP Network.

MediaRing MobileVoIP is available on SIP enabled phones with WiFi capability. These phones currently include the Nokia E & N series phones.

Cox Business is the first multiple system cable operator to join the SIP Forum , further demonstrating the communications provider's commitment to advanced voice services. The SIP Forum's mission is to advance the adoption of SIP-based products and services through collaborative working groups with representatives from leading IP communications companies.

Cox Business launched SIP-based Cox Business VoiceManager in November, 2007. The feature-rich platform integrates existing desktop phones, PCs and wireless devices and can scale to deliver productivity, mobility, business continuity and unified messaging solutions to small businesses and large enterprises. Cox Business VoiceManager is currently available to business customers in Connecticut, Rhode Island, Oklahoma City, Okla., Omaha, Neb., and Wichita, Kan. The company plans to offer this fully hosted and managed IP telephony service in several additional markets by the end of 2008.

Thing5 is leveraging Verizon Business' industry-leading VoIP and hosting services to offer voice and messaging services for hotel employees and guests. Under an agreement with Verizon Business, Thing5 is providing its hosted platform via a software-as-a-service model to approximately 1,300 hotels, covering more than 275,000 phones. Hospitality chains such as Extended Stay Hotels, La Quinta and the luxury boutique hotel collection LXR Luxury Resorts & Hotels outsource the provisioning, management and maintenance of voice and messaging platforms that serve corporate end-users and guests at each individual property.

With the SaaS model, applications such as voice mail, automatic call distribution, audio conferencing, faxing and instant messaging are hosted by a vendor rather than the customer, and delivered as managed IP services over the Web, helping to control setup and operational costs. Customers pay for the computing resources utilized, making the model highly attractive to the hospitality industry.

AT&T announced the availability of AT&T U-verse Voice in parts of Cleveland, Akron, Columbus and other northeastern Ohio communities, bringing consumers a next-generation digital voice service delivered over the AT&T U-verse IP network. U-verse Voice brings together your AT&T wireline and wireless voice, broadband and TV services all on one bill with unique features that provide a new level of integration, convenience and control.

AT&T U-verse Voice completes the company's IP triple play and is available to all new and existing U-verse TV customers in the Cleveland area. With U-verse Voice, customers receive new features that highlight the benefits of having advanced video, broadband, wireless and wireline voice services from a single provider.

TANDBERG introduces a new video VoIP phone for mass enterprise deployment. Replacing the standard office phone, the E20 combines CD quality audio with DVD quality video to deliver the desktop video phone for businesses at an affordable price.

Whether making a quick telephone call to a colleague down the hall, or collaborating on video with a partner overseas, users of the E20 will experience greater audio quality than today’s standard office phones. In addition the E20 provides the ability to instantly communicate face-to-face to build deeper understanding and trust.

Designed with the user in mind, the five-megapixel high resolution camera positioned at eye-level provides a head-on image that eliminates the “nose view” typical of currently available video phones. With the 10.6 inch LCD widescreen, users can clearly see facial expressions and read body language.

Raketu debuts its social networking integrated communications web application optimized for the iPhone. The new web-based application allows iPhone users to participate and share with their friends, family and business colleagues, both inside and outside of the Raketu network. Users can add and participate in blogs, bulletins, comments, groups, friends through conventional social networking and through Raketu's real-time communications. Users can also store and share their media, making it easy to take pictures or videos on their mobiles, save them on Raketu and share them with anyone whether they are on Raketu or not. Raketu also allows sharing with other social networks, including Facebook and MySpace, and users can make international calls, sms-text, instant message, and email totally free or at Raketu's ultra-low rates -- all from within the iPhone application.

Pingo announces rate reductions on fixed-line and mobile phone international calling to 70 countries by as much as 59 percent. The sweeping discounts are made possible by the scale efficiencies of iBasis, one of the top three carriers of international phone calls in the world. This enables Pingo to provide substantial savings on consumer and small business phone service to the more than 100 countries reached by iBasis.

Unlike traditional calling plans, prepaid calling cards, international calling cards and other VoIP services, Pingo allows consumers to purchase minutes on an as-needed basis and make calls from any fixed or mobile phone. Mobile phone users in particular can save as much as 90 percent through Pingo.

Fonality announces that the first quarter of 2008 marked its fifteenth consecutive quarter of high growth, and that the company has doubled in size each year since its founding in 2004. Key to the company’s success is a reinvention of the architecture and delivery of the modern day business phone system. Today, 5,000 commercial customers worldwide depend on Fonality’s PBXtra and trixbox Pro products for affordable, VoIP-powered unified communications. In addition, Fonality’s open source project, trixbox CE, has achieved three million downloads and is now the number one open source telephony project in the world.

As experts continue to call out the latest signs of an approaching recession, businesses respond by cinching up their budgets. But, for those already tasked with keeping their bottom line lean, new ways of cutting costs are getting harder to find, says Bryan Martin, CEO of Internet phone service provider 8x8, Inc.

"In an economy like this, there's a gut reaction to put the breaks on new spending. But, we often overlook the fact that there is room to cut the day-to-day costs of doing business," Martin says.

From remote towns to large metropolitan areas, businesses are adding Internet-based digital phone service to their short list of cost-cutting measures.

Rebtel announces a brand licensing agreement with easyGroup that will allow Rebtel to increase its presence in the UK and reach new markets for its mobile VoIP services. Under the agreement, Rebtel-powered services for making low cost international phone calls from any mobile phone, over any UK network, will be sold and marketed on easyGroup's web site.

Rebtel's mobile VoIP services offered by easyMobile are compatible with any mobile phone without modification, quick to set-up, and work with consumers' existing contracts with their UK operators. Terms of the brand license agreement between easyGroup and Rebtel were not disclosed.