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Wideband Audio Technology Featured Article
December 18, 2008
Hosted VoIP's Alteva Sells Polycom's SIP-Based, IP-PBX-Ready HD Voice IP Phones
By A Philadelphia-based provider of hosted VoIP solutions today reportedly added to its portfolio two flagship devices from an industry leader in telepresence, video and voice communications.
Officials at Alteva say they’re now certified resellers of products from Andover, Massachusetts-based Polycom Inc., and are now offering a pair of IP phones that are interoperable with SIP-based IP-PBX and Softswitch platforms.
Specifically, Alteva is offering Polycom’s (News - Alert) so-called “HD Voice SoundPoint IP 550” and “650” models.
According to William Bumbernick, chief executive officer at Alteva, while other IP phone service providers fall short on quality and reliability, his company’s network was built specifically for business VoIP phone service, using live, real-time digital voice that is offered at an affordable rate.
“Teamed with Polycom’s portfolio of HD Voice enabled phones, we are now able to offer a hosted solution that surpasses reliability standards and is able to deliver more innovation to businesses than premise-based systems, offering superior voice quality and enhanced productivity,” Bumbernick said.
According to Polycom, the 550 model is a four-line manager’s phone, while the 650 is a six-line executive’s phone, pictured right.
Alteva says its IP phone service provides affordable, easy-to-use hosted IP-PBX (News - Alert) – a type of low-installation cost, low-maintenance solution that, as TMCnet has reported, is emerging as an attractive option in this slower economy. The Alteva solutions provide calling functionality to SMBs over a single IP network interface, and include IP telephony options such as HD voice – a specialty of Polycom’s – as well as call recording, call log reporting, mobile access and conference calling.
Tim Yankey, director of product marketing for Polycom’s desktop and conferencing solutions, told TMCnet during an interview that resellers want to ensure not only that their solutions are fully interoperable, but also that a select feature set is guaranteed to work on their phones and that if any problems arise, the phones will be supported.
“Polycom and its partners bring to market high-quality handsets that are feature-rich and fully interoperable with the leading hosted and premises-based SIP VoIP platforms,” Yankey said. “Resellers deploying these solutions can sell to their customers with confidence in the products and solution as a whole.”
For the vice president of Polycom’s voice communications solutions division, Chalan Aras, SoundPoint IP phones improve productivity by offering lifelike HD voice.
According to Alteva’s chief executive officer, William Bumbernick, one of the main drivers for the company’s increased sales is cost reduction, derived through many avenues.
One way to reduce cost is by the customer’s ability to eliminate ongoing maintenance fees, Bumbernick told TMCnet during an interview.
“A second cost-saver is massive reduction in up-front fees associated with the purchase of a new phone system – hosted VoIP is $350 one-time per person while on-premise VoIP is $1000 per user one time,” he said. “Lastly, reduced monthly telecom costs due to consolidation. The economic downturn is creating opportunities due to the fact that the prospect is forced into looking at alternatives which includes hosted VoIP.”
For the vice president of Polycom’s voice communications solutions division, Chalan Aras, SoundPoint IP phones improve productivity by offering lifelike HD voice.
“Alteva’s VoIP solution provides a good example of how Polycom can work with hosted system providers to deliver a comprehensive, reliable, business-grade communications solution to businesses of any size,” Aras said.
Clients already are hailing the Polycom-Alteva combined product for its voice quality.
Joel Pina, chief financial officer of Conshohocken, Pennsylvania-based Keystone Risk Partners said his firm has taken a “leap” forward in quality by using Polycom’s high- SoundPoint IP 550 phone with the Alteva solution.
“In addition to crystal clear voice, we have significantly improved integration with Microsoft (News - Alert) Outlook, improved communications with remote offices and gained long-term cost savings,” Pina said.
Don’t forget to check out TMCnet’s White Paper Library, which provides a selection of in-depth information on relevant topics affecting the IP Communications industry. The library offers white papers, case studies and other documents which are free to registered users.
Michael Dinan is a contributing editor for TMCnet, covering news in the IP communications, call center and customer relationship management industries. To read more of Michael’s articles, please visit his columnist page.
Edited by Michael Dinan
