Verizon Takes IP Services International

Verizon Communications Inc.’s Verizon Business unit took the VON Europe stage to announce a major push to extend its IP service portfolio internationally.

Verizon Business, which includes mostly services and resources of the former MCI, is taking IP network services that have been announced recently in the United States –Hosted IP Centrex, IP trunking and managed IP PBX, as well as an enhanced IP integrated access – and repackaging them for international business.

The IP Centrex product is based on the BroadSoft Inc. hosted business voice system, while the managed IP PBX service manages PBXs at the customer premises. The service now includes Cisco Systems Inc. PBXs and will expand to Avaya Inc. by the end of the year and other large IP PBX makers after that.

The IP trunking product is a SIP trunking service that can support H.323 as well.

Verizon also is expanding its VoIP gateway service, which now covers five European countries, to 12 by the end of the year, with further expansion into the Asia-Pacific region on the drawing board.

The company also has shifted strategy in this arena.

“In addition to large multinationals, MCI also had an SMB focus. Also there was an emphasis on building in-country networks, like a network in the United Kingdom to compete with BT,” said Eric Bruno, vice president of strategy at Verizon Business. “We have reoriented that strategy to focus on multinationals. We will not abandon the existing customer base but will not expand it.”

Verizon Business will invest less in building its own in-country networks internationally, “so we can make more investments in global capacity, more global MPLS PoPs (points of presence),” Bruno added. He said local partners are able to provide such service.

The international offerings also follow a strategy Verizon Business has adopted in the United States. Rather selling a large firm a single type of service, such as managed IP PBX or IP Centrex alone, Verizon has developed these services so they can interoperate.

“Large enterprises have small sites and large sites,” said Bruno. “Where we are going for a product strategy is, using IP Centrex and IP trunking and managed IP PBX, we can create a set of solutions that an enterprise can mix to solve its business problems.”

Under this strategy, a large multinational could have its own managed IP PBX at a large central site – which many large companies prefer to hosted services – with an IP trunking access network, but smaller sites could be served with the IP Centrex offering. If there is an interruption in connectivity to the large central PBX, smaller sites will not lose calling features.

Other plans include expanding the services for MPLS and IP trunking internationally, which is the backbone network that will enable Verizon to deliver services anywhere. “One thing that is paramount is a globally consistent experience in product, features and SLA (service-level agreements,” said Bruno

Avaya Inc. www.avaya.com
BroadSoft Inc. www.broadsoft.com
BT www.bt.com
Cisco Systems Inc. www.cisco.com
Verizon Communications Inc. www.verizon.com

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