Two trends are poised to enhance the richness of unified communications, reports In-Stat. SIP trunking, now touted as a cost-saving mechanism, will ultimately enable interconnection of unified communications islands, thus enriching communications across suppliers, business partners, and customers. Second, the wireless industry’s evolution toward higher data rates is enabling the extension of unified communications to smartphones and other wireless data devices.

Skype and Verizon Wireless announce a strategic relationship that will bring Skype to Verizon Wireless smartphones in March. The new Skype mobile product enhances Verizon Wireless' smartphones for users who have data plans by offering a new way to call around the globe, while also giving hundreds of millions of Skype users around the world the opportunity to communicate with friends, family and business colleagues in the United States using Verizon Wireless.

Nortel has added Edgewater Networks to Nortel CVAS' industry-leading business and voice multimedia solution. The combined offer gives service providers a complete, pre-tested end-to-end hosted VoIP solution that they can provide to small and medium businesses as well as large enterprise branch office locations.

Voxbone has begun supporting SMS to its iNum numbers – phone numbers with the "area code for Earth." With this addition, Voxbone's carrier and enterprise customers can offer their subscribers one global number that can receive SMS messages at competitive rates.

The move marks a breakthrough in iNum usage, as wireless subscribers from a growing number of prominent carriers – including Vodafone, T-Mobile, Orange, Virgin, and Boost Mobile – now are able to text these numbers. The service is already available in the United Kingdom, France and the United States, at prices ranging from 10 to 20 pence per message in the U.K., for example. Voxbone will be adding reachability from more wireless carriers in more countries in the coming weeks.

BroadSoft unveils BroadWorks Mobility Suite, a comprehensive set of mobile features for its flagship BroadWorks Application Server platform. Designed specifically for mobile and converged operators, these capabilities integrate seamlessly with today’s 2G and 3G networks, as well as VoIP-capable 4G LTE and WiMAX networks. With BroadWorks Mobility Suite, mobile operators can pursue new markets, enabling them to increase revenues, improve profit margins and grow average revenue per user, all while ensuring higher customer satisfaction.

Wananchi has selected VocalTec’s VoIP solutions, as part of its plan to launch the country’s first triple-play service. VocalTec will be providing its core Voice-over-IP solution together with a wide range of supporting applications and prepaid billing solutions. This comprehensive offering will enable Wananchi Group to provide VoIP services to both enterprise and residential users in Kenya and Tanzania, under the SimbaNET and Zuku brands. Using VocalTec's Class-5, Essentra BAX Application Server, Wananchi will be able to offer its subscribers the latest in IP telephony services, including an extensive set of applications. These include voicemail, fax, conferencing and others. The deployment also incorporates VocalTec’s Essentra EX, Peering Manager, and Essentra CX, Media Gateway Controller, which provide complete Class-4 capabilities including secure interconnection between disparate VoIP networks, as well as seamless interconnection to legacy PSTN environments.

VoiceCon announces the seven finalists of the Best of VoiceCon program, which recognizes exhibitors who have made significant technological advancements within the enterprise communications industry. A panel of industry leading judges will select the winner, which will be announced at VoiceCon Orlando 2010, happening March 22-25 at the Gaylord Palms Convention Center.

Less than one year since its May 2009 release, more than one million PROGNOSIS VoIP Monitor licenses have been issued to Avaya customers worldwide as more Avaya users, regardless of company size, recognise the value of monitoring voice quality in their VoIP environments. Flexible license choices and a dedicated PROGNOSIS VoIP Monitor product website have helped smaller organisations and those transitioning to IP telephony to download their entitlement license, as well as enabling access to trial licenses for larger organisations wanting complete insight and visibility across all their PBXs and telephony devices.

VoicePulse announces the integration of YouMail, the premier mobile consumer voicemail service with VoicePulse residential calling plans. Residential users now have the option of converting their VoicePulse voicemail to YouMail services. Customers can take advantage of YouMail’s enhanced voicemail feature set while still enjoying VoicePulse premiere residential calling services.

3CX has announced a distribution agreement with Avanzada, a distributor of VoIP products in Spain and Portugal. Avanzada 7 distributes a complete range of VoIP hardware and software. It sells exclusively via its qualified reseller channel and offers technical support and trainings to its partners.

Avanzada recognized the strong demand for a Windows based PBX and wanted to partner with the Windows PBX market leader, 3CX.

VoIPon Solutions announces that in response to the recent strategic partnership agreement between 3CX and Beronet, it will be offering special bundle pricing on 3CX IP PBX software for Windows 3CX Phone System, and Beronet’s Berofix VoIP Gateways to its customers worldwide.

VoIPon to Offer Special Bundle Pricing on 3CX BerofixThe 3CX BeroNet Berofix bundles are structured to suit the needs of reseller and system integrator customers who service end customers with varying business needs—from the small office/home office installation to the enterprise. These highly scalable and reliable products deliver an extensive feature set at a low cost to the consumer.

Cal Net Technology Group has selected ShoreTel as its primary VoIP partner. After evaluating several other providers, Cal Net Technology Group selected ShoreTel for its ability to integrate rich communication media and presence with business processes to streamline collaboration and improve efficiency.

Cal Net Technology Group will use ShoreTel exclusively for its VoIP services to its more than 200 managed clients in a range of industries, including professional services, manufacturing, education, entertainment, banking and healthcare.

Digium announces the Extreme Phone Makeover contest, allowing businesses to nominate their company for a complete VoIP phone system transformation. By telling their story about why they need a new phone system, the most deserving business will win an Extreme Phone Makeover valued up to $10,000. The winner will receive Digium’s innovative Switchvox Unified Communications system and Polycom phones.

Dell’Oro Group recently reported that the total carrier IP telephony market is expected to stabilize in 2010 after two years of steep revenue declines. During 2010, VoIP subscriber growth is expected to accelerate due to an improving housing market and aggressively priced bundled service offerings from service providers. In addition, improved economic conditions are likely to bolster network modernization projects that were deferred during the brunt of the recession and associated economic uncertainty. The report indicates that despite expected increases in equipment shipments, the market is expected to contract slightly in 2010 due to price declines.

Nimbuzz has surpassed 1 million downloads on Ovi Store by Nokia and has been downloaded in more than 180 countries. Nimbuzz’ free to download, free to use application, launched in May 2008, enables millions of users worldwide to enjoy free calls and instant messaging with friends across their own network and favourite online social communities (Skype, Facebook, Windows Live Messenger, Yahoo! Messenger, AIM, Google Talk (Orkut), ICQ, MySpace, Gadu Gadu and others).