Verizon Business Expands Global Audio-Conferencing Access
Verizon Business audio-conferencing services now are available in significantly more locations globally, under an expansion of country and local city access points
announced Wednesday (May 30).
A leading provider of audio, Web and video-conferencing services,
Verizon Business has added country access points in Latin America and
Eastern Europe, complementing city access points recently rolled out in
France and the United Kingdom. Multinational corporations using Verizon
Business’ global conferencing facilities in more major global business
centers are therefore able to realize cost efficiencies by accessing audio
meetings through local dial-in numbers.
In addition, Verizon Business has also announced direct IP Access to
its Instant Meeting audio conferencing services for Verizon Private IP
customers. These customers already benefit from access to Verizon Video
Conferencing. With IP Access to Audio Instant Meeting, customers with a
Verizon Private IP network in place can now further leverage their existing
IP infrastructure to enhance their global collaboration capabilities. By
utilizing existing corporate bandwidth to support their conferencing needs,
customers are able to minimize the need for additional PSTN access charges.
For multinational companies with widely geographically dispersed
workforces, this can offer a significant cost benefit.
Verizon Business’ audio conferencing services, built on the company’s
expansive global IP network, offer customers a high-quality, simple means
of collaborating around the world. Customer calls are routed through local
access points to provide customers with a cost-effective means of improving
communication and productivity in globally dispersed teams. Millions of
audio conference meetings are currently held per month using Verizon
Business solutions.
The countries added in this access point expansion are Chile, Colombia,
Mexico, Panama, Slovakia, Uruguay and Venezuela. Local city access numbers
have been established in Marseilles and Lyon in France in addition to
Paris, and Birmingham, Edinburgh, Leeds and Manchester in the United
Kingdom in addition to London. Verizon Business therefore now provides its
substantial base of global subscribers with access to 74 points of access
from which to join a conference call. All access points are available to
customers with an existing global access subscription to Verizon audio
conferencing solutions.
“For any multinational corporation, the ability to collaborate cost
effectively across globally dispersed operations is key,” said Roberta
Mackintosh, director, international products, Verizon Business. “Our audio
conferencing solution, part of our integrated conferencing portfolio, is
already part of everyday business life for many global companies. By
expanding local access points, we are ensuring that we continue to support
our customers’ productivity and cost efficiency objectives as they support
their own customers around the world.”
Verizon Business sponsored a Frost & Sullivan study in 2006, “Meetings
Around the World: The Impact of Collaboration on Business Performance,”
that determined that collaboration is a key driver of business performance.
The study — which defined collaboration as an interaction between culture
and technology such as audio and net conferencing, e-mail and instant
messaging — also found that professionals around the world see their
collaborative efforts as highly productive and believe that collaboration
through communications technologies can provide a competitive advantage.
Full details of the paper can be found at
newscenter.verizon.com/kit/collaboration.
Mackintosh continued: “The ‘Meetings Around the World’ study
demonstrated the benefits companies can achieve through collaboration
solutions. As integrated IP communications moves up the agenda for our
global customers, we will continue to harness the latest collaborative
technology to enhance teamwork and break down geographical boundaries.”
With more than 30 years’ experience delivering conferencing services,
Verizon Business is a pioneer in the conferencing industry. The company
offers the convenience of one-stop shopping and a wide range of global
customised products and services, including audio, video and net conference
services, IP- based services and some of the most advanced meeting tools
available today.
About Verizon Business
Verizon Business, a unit of Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ), is a
leading provider of advanced communications and information technology (IT)
solutions to large business and government customers worldwide. Combining
unsurpassed global network reach with advanced technology and professional
service capabilities, Verizon Business delivers innovative and seamless
business solutions to customers around the world.
