Major telco offers VoIP to SMBs

Stephen Withers
Tuesday, 06 March 2007 06:50

Business IT - Technology

Optus says it will offer a high quality VoIP service to small and medium business customers, starting in the next three months.

The company claims that its ipPhone Premier service will provide the same call quality as fixed lines, and will combine Internet, intranet and voice services.

Although Optus claims "This is the first large scale rollout of this product in Australia", it sounds very similar products available from smaller providers that offer bundled VoIP and data networking services to this market. AAPT's IProvide operation also offers a product of this type through its partners.

One advantage telcos have over specialist VoIP providers is that they can provide number portability so a business can move from conventional lines to VoIP without the inconvenience of changing numbers.

For businesses that only want additional phone lines, ipPhone Express will do just that.

"Optus VoIP will allow SMB customers to manage their telecommunication needs with features traditionally enjoyed by big businesses such advanced call routing and a simple call management interface," said Paul Kitchin, managing director, Optus Small and Medium Business.

"Optus' VoIP is the technology that other telcos don’t want customers to know about. We anticipate that both new and existing customers will be impressed with the cost efficiency and functionality of our VoIP products."

The hardware will come from LG-Nortel and Cisco's Linksys division.

Pricing has yet to be announced, and these products will only be offered to customers with a valid and current Australian Business Number.