Wholesale Changes

Posted 08/01/2001

Wholesale Changes
Telverse Readies IP Telephony Offering

By Gail Lawyer

After operating in stealth mode for several months, Telverse Communi cations Inc. (www.telverse.com) is readying to go public this summer with its plans to provide IP-based value-added voice services to telcos and CLECs. The company is taking a wholesale approach, which will give these service providers an instantly-available offering of IP Centrex services and additional applications supported by the best-of-breed technology it is rolling out.

Unlike other CASPs already offering services in the market, Telverse will use its founders' ties and experience with established telecom carriers to bring its services to market. "We have forged longstanding relationships with telecom companies," says Karen Frazier, Telverse's vice president of marketing. "If ILECs and CLECs already have those relationships and want to bring more value-add, that is what we can do."

Other communications ASPs (CASPs), such as GoBeam Inc. (www.gobeam.com), TalkingNets Inc. (www.talkingnets.com), and congruency inc. (www.congruency.com), are more focused on working with either value-added resellers that already are selling equipment to end users or ISPs, BLECs and DSL providers that are providing IP pipes directly to the customer.

Where Telverse differs in its approach is that it wants to offer traditional telephony providers a way to bring IP-based value-added voice applications to their customer bases. While small and medium-sized businesses are the sweet spot for Telverse's applications, the company believes that even Fortune 500 companies will benefit from it by creating a "virtual corporate office" of sorts that will enable greater collaboration among all the employees.

Telverse is using the Communications Suite from Sylantro Systems Corp. (www.sylantro.com), which includes an application-enabled softswitch that facilitates PBX-like and cell phone-like functions from an IP desk phone, as well web-based end-user management and remote-access functionality.

"With voice traffic going down to a commodity business, this provides a value-add [that is necessary] for retention and acquisition," says Frazier.

Telverse will first focus on offering IP Centrex-like services, which include all the bells and whistles of traditional Centrex services, and throws in some functionalities of cell phones, such as incoming and outgoing call logs.

But according toresearch complteded by Telverse's vendor Sylantro, anyone branding its offering with the Centrex moniker may run into some confusion in the marketplace. The majority of the small businesses surveyed by Sylantro for its "State of the Market for Managed Telephony Services" study did not know what Centrex was. "So that's not a way to market it," says Laura Thompson, Sylantro's vice president of corporate marketing and channels.

Frazier agrees. "I think it's more about IP telephony, more about the application and use. It's about the features and functionalities," she adds.

Telverse also may run into some issues trying to market to ILECs, which tend to like to build networks and services on their own, without outsiders' help. Frazier admits there is a possibility the large ILECs may want to develop their own IP-based networks and applications, the benefit of reselling Telverse's products is one of time to market.

"For competitive reasons, now is the time for them to outsource this," says Frazier. "Here is an opportunity to provide [it] to the customer now, and a way for them to expand their footprint" beyond their historical territories."

In addition to the actual value-added voice applications, Telverse has relationships with Polycom Inc. (www.polycom.com) and Cisco Systems Inc. (www.cisco.com) for IP phones. "So we'll not only be able to come in and provide the service, but do CPE installation and support," says Frazier.

Frazier notes that once its initial IP telephony offering was out, the company would begin expanding with voice conferencing and data services. Telverse also is considering adding on video, but "it's a tough road to take," says Frazier. "The technology and equipment is still not all that user friendly and accessible."

• * SS8 Networks Inc. (www.ss8.com) introduced its SS8 ServiceController, an IP service control point that will be the base platform for delivering core network services such as local number portability, voice VPNs, 800/900 number translation and conferencing. The ServiceController is what houses that core data and enables edge applications to plug into the core and share the service logic, eliminating the need for service providers to provision that service logic in all of their edge devices. The SS8 ServiceController works with SIP and H.323 platforms, including SS8's SignalingSwitch. The ServiceController includes various components, including a signaling interface, call model, service logic execution environment, service management system, and service creation environment. The company also unveiled the SS8 OneNumber service, an IP-based solution that allows end users to be reached on a wide range of PSTN and IP devices.

• * Everest Broadband Networks (www.everestbroadband.com) is now offering local voice services in New York City as part of its package of voice, data and applications services for small and medium-sized business customers. The company said it plans in the near future to roll out local service in the other major metro markets it serves. Local-service customers in New York are eligible to receive a 25-percent discount off the ILEC rate on each business line, a 10- percent discount off ILEC rates on all local usage and features, competitive flat-rate long-distance service and the option to add high-speed Internet access at an additional discount.

• * Net2Phone Inc. (www.net2phone.com) introduced Personal Voice Dialer, which enables users to reach up to 1,000 contacts and 3,000 phone numbers by saying the person's name. The new utility voice application was custom developed by HeyAnita Inc. (www.heyanita.com), a voice software company.

• * Broadview Networks Inc. (www.broadviewnet.com) launched Broadspeed Voice T1, a digital voice service aimed at small and medium-sized businesses. The service--which is available in New York state, Boston and Philadelphia--includes up to 24 lines for outbound, inbound and two-way local, regional and long-distance calling.

• * AT&T Corp. (www.att.com) introduced a new breed of public telephone that combines high-speed Internet access, e-mail and voice calling. The phones, which will be rolled out initially in major U.S. airports, will cost 25 cents per minute, with a four-minute minimum. The phones will feature a 12-inch, touch-sensitive screen and touch pad integrated into the keyboard.

• * LecStar DataNet Inc., a subsidiary of LecStar Corp. (www.lecstar.com), is offering its Direct/TelConnect, an international VoIP service that combines LecStar's VoIP infrastructure with Cisco Systems Inc.'s (www.cisco.com) VoIP equipment. The service, which is being marketed to international ISPs and multinational businesses, will enable anyone with a dedicated Internet connection to have access to two-way VoIP calling.

• * congruency Inc. (www.congruency.com) introduced its Software Development Kit and Interactive Voice Response Service Creation Platform, which allows third parties to create applications and new capabilities that work with congruency's CNS 3200 Enhanced Hosted Communications Platform and its screen-enabled IP telephone, the i.Picasso 6000.

• * MessageMachines Inc. (www.messagemachines.com) entered into a partnership with Mirapoint Inc. (www. mirapoint.com). Under the agreement, MessageMachines will integrate its cross-device messaging platform's alert, notification, routing and wireless instant-messaging capabilities with Mirapoint's solutions for message storage, access and delivery.

Charlotte Wolter, editor in chief of sister publication Sounding Board, contributed to this article.