2008 PilotHouse Awards For VoIP Service Providers.

NEW YORK, July 21 /PRNewswire/ -- Seven leading providers of Voice over IP (VOIP) services received 2008 PilotHouse Awards from Nemertes Research, based entirely on ratings from hundreds of IT executives.

"This research is a must-have for companies evaluating a new VOIP strategy, or reassessing an existing one because it relies on real experiences from real customers," says Robin Gareiss, executive vice president and senior founding partner, Nemertes Research.

As part of the Unified Communications and Collaboration research project, Nemertes received 555 ratings of VOIP providers and conducted analysis on VOIP best practices. Providers with the highest average scores in each award category won PilotHouse Awards.

IT executives rated their providers on technology, product features, unified communications vision, customer service, value, VAR experience, solution experience, ease of implementation, and management tools. Nemertes issued awards for top providers overall, which includes all scores from all rollout sizes. Additionally, because companies evaluate an average of three vendors, Nemertes segmented the ratings to include the "top tier," or a short list, for three rollout sizes.

           Nemertes Research 2008 PilotHouse Awards: VOIP Providers

  Best Overall VOIP Providers (all rollout sizes combined)
  -- ShoreTel, Inc. - Winner
  -- Siemens Enterprise Communications - Finalist
  -- 3Com Corporation - Finalist

  Top-Tier VOIP Providers - Small Rollouts (<500>2,000 Endpoints)
  -- Nortel
  -- Alcatel-Lucent
  -- Cisco Systems, Inc.

  Best Overall: VOIP Vertical Solutions
  -- Avaya Inc.

  Best VOIP: Industry-Specific
  -- Education - Avaya Inc.
  -- Financial Services - Cisco Systems, Inc.
  -- Healthcare - Cisco Systems, Inc.
  -- Manufacturing - Avaya Inc.
  -- Professional Services - Avaya Inc.
  -- Retail - Cisco Systems, Inc.
  -- State/Local Government - Nortel
  -- Transportation - Siemens Enterprise Communications

About the Research

The benchmark, Unified Communications and Collaboration, examines several key areas, including organizational strategies, Web 2.0, UC applications and strategies, implementation and management, and the business case for VOIP. Nemertes provides a complete analysis of both VOIP and unified communications awards in separate reports.

Tags: VoIP provider, VoIP service provider, 2008 PilotHouse Awards, Nemertes Research, VoIP, Best Overall VOIP Providers, Top-Tier VOIP Providers, VOIP Vertical Solutions, Unified Communications, Collaboration, Web 2.0

Fiji Get It's first licensed VOIP service provider, VoiceNetIP (Fiji)

Fiji Times is reporting that Fiji has got it's first licensed VoIP Provider VoiceNetIP (Fiji). The License to VoIP has been in the work for some time and as usual there are some people that did not get the license first.

Fiji Times;

Fiji's first licensed VOIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) service provider, VoiceNetIP (Fiji) Limited, yesterday announced it would start operations in a fortnight's time.

Company director Joeli Kalou said after three years of waiting, the company given the VOIP license intend to bring maximum benefits and savings to business and the people of Fiji.

Unwired Fiji chief executive John Pollock said based on the consultations with regulators, the licence awarded to VoiceNetIP was not fair.

"Unwired Fiji has been advised that no licenses have been issued and no will be until the compensation mediation between Government and ATH (Amalgamated Telecom Holdings) resolved.

Unwired Fiji has been advised by Government we will be among the first licenses issued, said Mr Pollock

Interim Commerce Minister Taito Waradi could not be contacted last night. However, last August Mr Waradi said the State would go ahead with issuing VoIP licences to entities whose applications made the mark.

Mr Kalou said the company was issued a license last week.

Tags: VoIP provider, VoIP License, voip fiji, VoiceNetIP (Fiji)

Who is the Top VoIP provider in USA?

According to a Yankee group report released on Monday, Comcast os the comcastic service provider.
The Cable TV company with it's multi service model, bundled VoIP IP Telephony services, managed increase the service, 167 percent in 2006 from 3.9 million subscribers to 6.3 million, the report said. The same report predicts that the number will reach 26.2 million by 2011.

This is certainly comcastic for Comcast given that initial service was plagued by quality concerns and the 911 issues are still lingering. But the company seems to have reached the best segment in the market. Many cable users, however, are not aware that their phone service is basd on VOIP, not the traditional copper phone wiring. In a separate 2006 survey, the Yankee Group found that only 9.5 percent of cable telephony subscribers knew what powered their phone service.

Comcast recently emerged as the telephony leader when it reported 2.4 million subscribers during the first quarter of 2007, an 813 percent increase. Those numbers bested previous champ Vonage, a broadband VoIP provider, which struggled last year after a weak IPO and patent battles with Verizon, the report said.

Despite those issues, however, Vonage still managed to add 1.2 million lines in 2006, a 75 percent subscriber increase. The company also added 166,000 lines during the first quarter of 2007.

Maintaining that growth comes with a price – about $300 to attract every new subscriber, the report said. The hefty cost of acquiring new customers likely contributed to the downfall of another broadband VoIP provider, SunRocket, the Yankee Group suggested.

Nonetheless, the Yankee Group predicts that broadband VoIP will grow from 2.8 million customers in 2006 to 6.4 million in 2011. The growth will likely be led by innovative technologies and decreased pricing, the report said.

Going forward, fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) VoIP could be a major threat, the report said. This segment of the market is "almost negligible when compared with the overall consumer VoIP market" but it could explode in the coming years given ongoing fiber projects like Verizon's FiOS and AT&T's U-verse, it said.

Comcast Tops VOIP Providers in 2006

Tags: VoIP, VoIP provider, comcast, comcastic, FTTH, Verizon FiOS, AT&T U-verse, triple play, vonage, sunrocket

TeleBlend snaps Sunrocket assets. Offers lower rates with old numbers

As reported by Narayan Bhat of TMC and Russell Shaw of ZDNet, Teleblend has acquired strategic assets of SunRocket, the now defunct VoIP provider. According to the Teleblend site, now the SunRocket customers will be able to keep their old numbers as well as receive service for discount;
SunRocket Subscribers! The best value in Internet phone service is still available. TeleBlend Internet phone service offers you outstanding customer service along with all of the products and features of SunRocket. We have already been successful in getting your services restored and ready to go. Included is a special offer only available to SunRocket customers. Until the end of your annual contract, TeleBlend will give you the exact same services you know and love for only $12.95/month. (if no annual contract, the fee will be $19.95 a month)

Take advantage of:
• No startup costs
• FREE activation
• USE your existing hardware
• FREE and quick transfer of your current number
• UNLIMITED calling to the US, Canada, and Puerto Rico

The terms and conditions could be found here.

Tags: oIP business, VoIP, Teleblend, sunrocket, VoIP provider