The nation's second-largest telco will soon launch a Voice over Internet Protocol-based (VoIP) telephony product aimed at small- to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) in Australia.
The product -- dubbed ipPhone -- would provide Internet, intranet and voice services, and have the ability to replace the need for large numbers of legacy fixed voice lines, according to an Optus statement this morning. The launch is scheduled for the second quarter of 2007.
Optus and other carriers already offer VoIP services to large enterprises, however the ipPhone will be one of the first VoIP offerings from a major telco to target the SMB sector.
Optus will also offer an "Express" version of the product which is billed as a low cost solution tailored for businesses simply needing additional phone lines.
In the statement, Optus's managing director of its Small and Medium Business division, Paul Kitchin, said SMBs were looking for "big business" solutions to handle their telecommunications needs.
Pricing was not immediately available.
Optus has partnered with networking vendors LG-Nortel and Cisco subsidiary Linksys to offer hardware for the new VoIP product.
If my experience with routers is any indication, they have a long way to go.
The average SME or home user couldn't cope with the poor service provided. Endless F'ware problems are the NORM!