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Telecommunications New VoIP wholesaler launched
Telecommunications New VoIP wholesaler launched | New VoIP wholesaler launched |
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| by Stuart Corner | |
| Tuesday, 21 February 2006 | |
      
It claims to be "the first company to focus exclusively on providing business-grade VoIP services to the Australian SME market through the ISPs, system integrators, hardware resellers and other IT consultants and channels that serve them." However, there are already several wholesale VoIP offerings in the Australian market place from companies including Freshtel Holdings subsidiary Voicestream Networks and iVox, although not aimed primarily at the SME market. ISPhone claims as a key differentiator the fact that its services to resellers extend to a complete marketing methodology: "a complete marketing plan including customised sales collateral, all end user administration documentation, end user financing, personalised customer and technical service and support," according to its website. ISPhone managing director, Gavin McDougal, claimed that SMEs were poorly served by existing VoIP offerings which, he said were focussed on either the residential market or the large corporate market. "ISPhone plans to fill the gap in the market with a business-grade quality service that brings the cost-saving and functionality benefits of VoIP to all Australian SMEs...We offer our channel partners a total package of all the tools they need to be able to grow their businesses with VoIP including all hardware, installation, connectivity, support, billing and, most importantly, proprietary sales and marketing collateral. It's a complete solution that turns any technology channel into a professional VoIP service provider with none of the risk." ISPhone Australasia began building its Australian VoIP network in mid-2005and commenced commercial operations in late 2005. It claims seven customers and says it aims to be Australia's largest wholesaler of SME VoIP services by the end of 2006. It has further plans to expand into other areas of the Asia Pacific region. McDougal told iTWire that the company had licences for the ISPhone system throughout Asia. ISPhone Australia is one of only two overseas affiliate of ISPhone the other is in Poland. ISPhone in the US was founded in 1997 and now has 45 employees. It has a minority shareholding in ISPhone Australia which is majority Australian owned and which employs seven people. Stewart Attewell, ISPhone Australia's head of operations said the company had designed its network to support all three VoIP protocols: SIP, H323, ad IX. Its switch is located in Verizon's {MCI's) co-location facility in Pyrmont Sydney and it uses Verizon, Soul, Optus and Pacific Teleports for carrier services. Its network is managed by ISPhone US' NOC in St Louis. ISPhone offerings range from IP PABX and IP handsets, in addition to carriage and switching, to simply wholesale termination of minutes. It also has a residential offering with an Integrated access device or analogue telephone adaptor. The company also offers IP centrex and the Asterix open source IP PABX software as a customer premise based solution. It also has a solution tailored to satellite service providers which is being used by Adelaide-based Australian Satellite Services to provide voice services to its customer in remote areas of Australia, at costs claimed to be as little as 10 percent of standard satellite telephone services. Australian Satellite services launch the offering in January and claims to have signed up 20 sites taking a total of 50 services. It expects to double this number by the end of March. |
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