Verizon Business, a unit of Verizon Communications Inc., has enhanced its wholesale SIP product line, adding new features and options for service provider customers.

When Verizon introduced the wholesale SIP service in the middle of 2005, it had three options: inbound-only from the PSTN to IP endpoints, two-way local and two-way complete, which includes incoming and outbound calling, local and long-distance, as well as 911 and directory listings.

At that point there were a couple of things we did not support: operator services and directory assistance, said Mike Yancey, director of wholesale voice product marketing, Verizon Business. That was not a show stopper in the short run but in the long run it was needed.

Verizon also added a per-minute option for retailers to use for customers who do not make many local calls. The option has a lower monthly fee, and the per-minute charge makes the service commercially viable for Verizon when it has to terminate calls to another carrier.

So, it is a way for them to purchase services at a more economical rate and incorporate that into an all-you-can-eat package maybe to a residential customer, said Yancey.

Verizon has its own gateways, as well as its own Class 5 switches in the territories of other incumbents. The company also is looking at situations where it can do VoIP-to-VoIP connections that do not touch the PSTN.

[I]t is a tiny percentage now, a very tiny opportunity today and is not a top priority now, Yancey added. But it is definitely a priority as we go into the future, because it is a benefit to us and to customers.

Verizon Communications Inc. www.verizon.com
Verizon Business, www.verizonbusiness.com