Soundpipe Inc. (www.soundpipe.com) will launch its IP-based unified messaging service in North America this quarter. Next month the telephony ASP expects to begin field trials of its services with a well-known DLEC.
Sung Park, co-founder and vice president of marketing, says Soundpipe will sell its outsourced services -- unified messaging is just the first offering -- to carriers for a flat monthly rate. Customers can outsource the service entirely or buy server equipment from the vendor to run it themselves.
With the service, small business and consumer end users can access their voice, fax or e-mail messages from anywhere. It's all stored on distributed servers that are accessed via Internet links. End users can check their messages over their PCs or other devices by visiting a specific URL.
Carriers that sell Soundpipe services also distribute to end users a device called the Internet Voice/Fax Station (IVS). The IVS operates like an answering machine but can deliver not just voice, but also fax and e-mail, messages. Soundpipe went with a device-based approach because people like the message indicator lights on answering machines and also use answering machines for call screening, says Park, explaining they can do the same with the IVS.
Soundpipe expects its IVS devices and capabilities will eventually be available through other channels. Samsung has licensed Soundpipe's reference design and plans to embed the IVS capability into its DSL modem. Soundpipe expects to have similar licensing deals with other equipment suppliers, says Park.
