Vonage, Motorola team on phone, router

Vonage and Motorola today announced a co-branded wireless router designed to make it easier for consumers to use fax, telephone and Internet services at the same time. The VT2542 includes VoIP capabilities along with a four-port wired and wireless access point to support up to four computers on a home network.

The wireless access is 802.11 b/g compatible and supports two VoIP lines for either voice or fax, over a single cable modem or DSL line. The router is design to provide “voice over data prioritization,” the two companies said, so that voice quality isn’t disrupted by simultaneous computer usage. In addition, the router features Virtual Private Network pass-through support, s secure Web-based user interface and support of Vonage’s standard calling features such as conference calling, call forwarding, call transfer and call waiting.

“The Motorola VT2542 is just the latest innovation that gives our customers more options to meet their communication needs,” said Vonage CEO Mike Snyder, in a prepared statement. “Vonage's successful relationship with Motorola has produced ground-breaking devices that help our customers communicate, when, where and how they choose.”

The Motorola-Vonage link is the latest in a series of partnerships between VoIP providers and hardware makers. SunRocket and American Telecom Services last week unveiled a new cordless multi-handset phone system based on the DECT 6.0 standard. Deltathree teamed with Panasonic to offer its joip service with the phonemaker’s Globarange series of hybrid 2-line cordless phones.