Nokia and Redstone Telecom plc Announce Europe's First Commercial Deployment of Centrex Over IP
HELSINKI, Finland--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 13, 1999--Today, Nokia and Redstone officially launched Europe's first commercial centrex service based on voice over IP (VoIP) to deliver integrated voice and data over a single connection.
The future of telecommunications is no longer about just delivering voice, but bundling additional services such as
mobility, data, voice and fax, commented Bob Cushing, Marketing Director of Redstone Telecom plc. ``Our mission is to make communications as seamless as possible and using Nokia's technological know-how we are ideally placed to
provide a service offering that is uniform, irrespective of where you are.'
The first phase of this commercial service is to be rolled out by Redstone, with its customer Pinnacle Insurance plc using the Nokia IP Telephony Gateway, Gatekeeper and telephony client devices which enable Redstone to offer IP centrex services.
Unlike traditional centrex or fixed switchboard services, the Nokia IP system is not geographically dependent,enabling the user to travel to any office, ``log on' and receive his/her normal telephone profile. Redstone offers this service by deploying a range of options in the customer's premises with Nokia client devices such as; the IPCourier; an ethernet business telephone; the IPShuttle - a telephone to ethernet adaptor; or the my.way PC client software.
``Innovative services, whether fixed or wireless are the key to meeting the needs of the business user. Voice Over IP is
just one way to deliver that flexibility and we are delighted to be continuing our relationship with Redstone and to be part of its strategic plans as a serious alternative communications service provider,' added Mr Peter Kuhne, Managing Director, Nokia Telecommunications, Nokia UK Limited.
The major benefit of using IP to route voice and data include: geographic independence; runs over existing data
infrastructure; reduced cost of ownership, single point to deliver services previously only deliverable from diverse sources, bundling of value added services over IP, and new features simply added as additional applications.
Redstone will roll out the Centrex over IP offering to other customers next year, and is already investigating the
development of additional value added services, such as the ability to click on a telephone number within a Microsoft
Office document or email, and dial that number automatically.
The complete suite of Nokia IP Telephony solutions enables Service Providers to quickly and easily provision new
services to connect residential and business people the world over. A unique combination of advanced call processing
servers, gateways, IP based end-user devices and applications, Nokia IP Telephony delivers intelligent voice and fax services over geographically distributed, large-scale networks.
Redstone Telecom is the trading name of Redstone Network Services Limited. Since being granted a licence to run a
public telephone network by the DTI in 1995, Redstone Telecom has developed its own switching platform and
associated customer services and billing support systems. The company is privately financed and enjoys interconnect
agreements with other operators including BT, CWC, One 2 One and Global One.
Redstone Telecom offers a range of inbound and outbound telephony products to the corporate, small business and
domestic markets, including a range of personal numbering services marketed under the Callsure brand name, sold
through The Carphone Warehouse, Dixons The Link and DX Communications in Scotland and other dealer outlets.
Redstone also offers a comprehensive range of freephone, local rate, national rate and premium rate phone services. In addition, it markets a suite of products to cut the cost of outbound telephony for corporate users, including indirect access and private wire connection to its extensive UK network.
Nokia is paving the way to the mobile information society with its innovative products and solutions. Nokia is the leading mobile phone supplier and a leading supplier of mobile, fixed and IP networks including related services. It also supplies multimedia terminals and computer displays. In 1998, net sales totaled EUR 13.3 billion (USD 15.7 billion).
Headquartered in Finland, Nokia is listed on the New York (NOK), Helsinki, Stockholm, London, Frankfurt and Paris
stock exchanges and employs more than 51 000 people.
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