Time Warner spruces up VoIP for businesses

Time Warner Telecom on Wednesday announced new Internet telephony services targeted at businesses.

The package, TW Telecom One Solution, is for customers with PBX (private branch exchange) phone systems and features trunking, IP FX virtual numbering and conferencing services, the company said.

The offering will be available in 21 markets initially, the company said. More areas will be added later this year. In addition, the company is offering a free voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP)-based virtual private network service to its site-to-site business customers in the 44 markets it serves.

In VoIP services, voice calls are carried over the Internet instead of traditional telephone lines. Several service providers are offering Internet telephony services to home users as well as businesses. In a boost to this trend, the Federal Communications Commission in a recent ruling said that such telephony services are not subject to telecom regulations.

Time Warner Telecom said the package is designed to enhance flexibility of voice networks and could lower overall network and support costs by 40 percent.

"Our strategy is to layer VoIP-based business-class solutions on our robust metro Ethernet platform. This leverages our network strengths and relationships with customers to meet their mission-critical voice needs," Michael Rouleau, a Time Warner Telecom senior vice president, said in a statement. "As more and more businesses converge their voice and data networks, aligning with the right service provider is becoming even more critical."