Business News – GRICtalk Puts Carriers in Global PC-to-Phone Business
Posted: 08/2000
GRICtalk Puts Carriers in Global PC-to-Phone Business
By Khali Henderson
GRIC Communications Inc. (www.gric.com) unveiled in late June GRICtalk to enable ISPs, Internet telephony service providers
(ITSPs) and telecommunications service providers to offer privately branded PC-to-phone services without the need to build a global telephony network.
“With these new solutions, GRIC expands its portfolio of services for the existing 350 GRIC Alliance members as well as new service providers,” says Kristin Steinmetz, GRIC’s senior vice president of marketing and business development.
Through its managed global GRIC Alliance Network of more than 350 service providers, GRIC delivers access and termination for IP telephony and prepaid VoIP and remote Internet access.
Under the new GRICtalk program, service providers can enable their subscribers to place domestic and international calls from a PC with Internet access to any telephone. To do so, service providers must join the GRICphone VoIP Network and utilize GRICtalk certified solutions, including the gatekeeper, route server and WebPhone application from NetSpeak Corp.
(www.netspeak.com), and the VoIP gateway from Cisco Systems Inc.
(www.cisco.com).
“GRICtalk expands the enhanced services available to carriers using Cisco’s industry-leading voice gateways,” says Alistair Woodman, director of marketing for Cisco’s Packet Telephony Division. “GRIC’s array of services and the GRICphone VoIP network demonstrate how GRIC, Cisco and NetSpeak are working together to rapidly deliver new, innovative, revenue-producing solutions for VoIP network providers.”
The PC-to-phone service is the first of many IP-based applications GRIC plans to offer service providers through alliances with certified vendors, says Mark Shields, GRIC’s director of product and channel marketing.
Revenues from such web-based communications services are projected to be $96.29 million in 2000 and $5.985 billion in 2004, according to International Data Corporation
(www.idc.com).
