A new telecommunications company launches June 3, 2003 with the express intention of fully exploiting the convergence of voice and Internet technologies. nPlusOne has been spun out of Edinburgh-based business class ISP, edNET, and will offer a range of Voice over IP (VoIP) services to business customers throughout the UK. Crucially, nPlusOne will offer voice and data services between different organizations and different geographic locations.
The nPlusOne offering is ideal for the SME market. Until now VoIP technology has been out of reach for SMEs both in terms of cost and the infrastructure required. Using the existing broadband IP network, any subscriber can benefit from remote working, hotdesking, multi site PBX functionality, free calls between branch offices and voicemail to email convergence. Network administrators can control all these applications using straightforward web-based tools, all provided over their existing broadband infrastructure.
Unlike existing VoIP technologies which focus on voice traffic within the same organization, (e.g. VoIP PBX, also known as iPBX), nPlusOne has developed an efficient way of using the Internet to channel voice calls out with the organization to anywhere in the world. In essence, both voice and data are channeled through the same broadband infrastructure using one point plugged into an IP handset and the user's PC.
The key to nPlusOne's ability to take voice traffic anywhere via the Internet is the development of its own 'soft switch'. This effectively controls the network, so that nPlusOne can route the call according to its type, where it is going to and where it is coming from. For example, if a call is made from an office, the soft switch deciphers the nature of the call and its destination. It may be an international voice call that does not need to be directed through an ISDN connection but through a VoIP carrier, as this is much cheaper. Intrinsically, the soft switch enables the IP network and the switched telephone network to communicate intelligently.