VON: MCI expands global VoIP portfolio

BOSTON--MCI today announced two additions to its VoIP services for enterprises, as well as an expansion of its wholesale VoIP product.

At a VON press conference, MCI said it is working with NEC Technologies and Cisco Systems to offer hosted IP PBX services and IP Trunking services on a global basis. The IP PBX service is available immediately in 52 countries, while the IP Trunking service is available in the U.S. today and will roll out globally in 2006.

“We want to make sure our business customers have the widest possible range of choices to get [to VoIP] when and as they are ready,” said Nancy Gofus, MCI senior vice president of IP services. “We are building a VoIP infrastructure globally and building in the quality aspect that cannot be ignored. We will allow our customers to migrate at their own pace with a mix-and-match set of services.”

MCI already offers Hosted IP Centrex and IP Integrated Access services.

The new product offerings will take NEC’s expertise in installation and sales support, and Cisco’s Call Manager product line.

The Managed IP PBX service is aimed at companies with between 200 and 5000 users who want to migrate to VoIP, perhaps because their existing TDM PBXs are nearly the end of their life cycle, but are concerned about the management complexity of the newer technology, Gofus said.

“NEC will support us actively on Day 0 and Day 1 of these installations, and MCI will take over on Day 2,” she said. The carrier will draw on its existing expertise and internal systems that today support managed LAN services, Gofus added.

The integration of Cisco Call Manager technology, along with MCI’s existing network-based gateways, will enable MCI to offer a complete convergence package including local, long-distance and IP services over a single IP trunk, eliminating the need for on-premises gateways and separate LEC trunks.

Gofus said she expects the entire VoIP portfolio to fit well into Verizon’s plans when the two companies complete their merger next year.

“We have just begun our integration plans with Verizon,” she said. “But if Verizon didn’t want a global company, they wouldn’t have bought us. We bring them a private IP infrastructure in 90-plus countries, and in our discussions with them, the feedback has been to spend more, not less, to build out that global portfolio.”