New Expanded Suite Gives Customers Unprecedented Choice and Greater Simplicity
in Moving to Converged Environment
Enables Corporate End-Users to Benefit from IP-enabled Features
BOSTON, Sept. 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- FALL 2005 VON -- Helping
companies simplify the move to IP Telephony, MCI, Inc. (Nasdaq: MCIP) today
announced it has expanded its Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) suite of
services to include two new solutions-Managed IP PBX and IP Trunking Services.
With MCI's newly-extended Advantage portfolio, companies can now choose the
VoIP solution that best matches their business and technical needs, while
taking advantage of their existing voice and data infrastructure. Solutions
can be hosted within MCI's network, located at the customer's premise or a
hybrid of the two, giving customers far greater flexibility.
MCI's next-generation VoIP portfolio consists of four enterprise solutions
and includes its newest additions-Managed IP PBX and IP Trunking - to its
flagship Hosted IP Centrex and IP Integrated Access offerings. The new
solutions are ideal for a broad range of companies and MCI Advantage
customers, such as Officescape, already are experiencing the same reliability,
quality and calling features they have come to expect from traditional
business telephone services, with the cost savings opportunities and
multimedia applications that VoIP makes possible.
"MCI is helping customers transition to a converged IP environment at
their own pace and path," said Nancy Gofus, MCI senior vice president of IP
Services. "We know that one-size-doesn't-fit-all and with our new portfolio
MCI is well-positioned to help customers simplify the complexity of deploying
and operating VoIP services, while eliminating the traditional constraints of
migrating to a converged IP environment."
According to industry experts, the adoption of VoIP is now just beginning
to gain critical mass. Infonetics Research forecasts the North American market
for business VoIP services will grow from $1.8 billion in 2005 to $11.4
billion in 2009. With savings opportunities in cost and resources, voice over
IP enables companies to realize more value from their current infrastructure
while deriving new functionality. With IP convergence, enterprises can expect
to pay for less bandwidth overall, reduce management complexity, procurement
issues and billing headaches, all of which translate into lower costs and
better utilization of resources for enterprise customers.
As MCI's latest addition to its portfolio, Managed IP PBX Services allow
customers such as Danka to offload the management of their premise-based IP
telephony systems. From WAN to LAN, MCI is extending its networking
capabilities and combining its global networking, voice and security offerings
to deliver a comprehensive managed IP telephony solution with high levels of
performance, reliability and restoration. MCI's new offering is based on
Cisco's cost efficient and highly scalable CallManager platform with
assistance in the design and implementation from NEC Unified Solutions, a
leader in converged voice and data solutions. MCI will provide the ongoing
management and continuous optimization of the IP PBX solution, as well as aid
in the planning, designing, and implementation phases of the service,
delivering a true end-to-end solution for enterprise customers.
"At Danka, we partnered with MCI to run our critical communications
infrastructure," said Michael Wedge, CIO of Danka. "With MCI's Private IP
infrastructure and IP PBX management, we are able to achieve high levels of
performance yet gain additional functionality through the use of IP, all while
significantly reducing our communications costs."
MCI's other new addition to its portfolio is its Advantage IP Trunking
Service which uniquely enables customers to use converged access to carry
local, long distance and data traffic, eliminating the need for multiple
access facilities for each separate service, greatly simplifying the
deployment and management of enterprise VoIP services. MCI's new service also
performs the conversion and termination of VoIP calls via its network-based IP
gateways. As a result, customers no longer need to purchase and manage costly
premise-based IP to PSTN gateways, traditionally used to terminate calls to
non-VoIP locations. MCI's IP Trunking offering is initially available with
Cisco CallManager with plans to roll-out additional IP PBX platforms in 2006.
This service is the perfect complement to MCI's new Managed IP PBX offering.
With MCI's VoIP portfolio, benefits to customers are many. With all of its
offerings, customers can tap into enhanced voice and data applications,
helping to increase employee productivity both in and out of the office with
an array of Web-based features. With the expansion of its IP Telephony
capabilities, MCI offers customers integrated functionality, including call
screening, simultaneous ring, auto attendant, third-party conferencing, and
Web-based receptionist services. This enables MCI to offer large enterprise
customers and their teleworkers the voice features they demand in a
consolidated package, while delivering cost-effective new communications
capabilities to smaller organizations.
MCI's Advantage Services also are available with the company's MPLS-based
offering and fastest growing service, Private IP. MCI's Private IP delivers an
ideal VPN environment for high-priority applications like voice while enabling
customers to achieve greater functionality and efficiencies from their current
network operations and streamlined network management. Private IP's advanced
MPLS platform allows businesses to gain better control over their networks and
enhance efficiency by leveraging the inherent security and traffic management
capabilities of MPLS along with Quality of Service (QoS) to deliver an ideal
surround for carrying voice traffic.
MCI's new dedicated team of IP Telephony experts work closely with each
customer to understand their individual business and technical requirements to
design, develop and implement a solution tailored to their specific
communications environment. Available immediately, MCI's Advantage portfolio
is backed by industry-leading service level guarantees. MCI will demonstrate
its Advantage suite at Fall 2005 VON in Boston, Booth #1315.
About MCI, Inc.
MCI, Inc. (Nasdaq: MCIP) is a leading global communications provider,
delivering innovative, cost-effective, advanced communications connectivity to
businesses, governments and consumers. With the industry's most expansive
global IP backbone, based on the number of company-owned points of presence,
and wholly-owned data networks, MCI develops the converged communications
products and services that are the foundation for commerce and communications
in today's market. For more information, go to http://www.mci.com.
SOURCE MCI, Inc.
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Related links:
http://www.mci.com
CONTACT:
Janet Brumfield of MCI, +1-800-644-NEWS, or
Janet.Brumfield@mci.com
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