June 19, 2008, 7:37 PM — Verizon Business is expanding its unified communications services to several European countries in move that the company says will help "advance global collaboration." (Compare Unified Communications products).
Over the next two months, Verizon will roll out its VoIP portfolio to Spain, Italy, Ireland and Sweden, bringing the total number of European countries with access to Verizon's VoIP services to 10. Additionally, Verizon will expand the availability of its Integrate Communications Package (ICP) to all 10 of the European countries where Verizon will offer VoIP services, including France, Germany and the U.K.
Verizon's European VoIP offering will include features that will let enterprise customers manage their incoming and outgoing calls, send instant messages and synchronize their contacts and calendars. The ICP, meanwhile, is designed to let users manage conference-call scheduling and to set up instant net conference calls by having a display showing what users are available to invite and participate in a conference.
Finally, Verizon Business will also begin offering the newest version of the Microsoft Office Live Meeting platform for its net conferencing services, which the company says will feature a redesigned interface and support for live video. The company says that it plans to add Live Meeting in stages throughout the next couple of months, with the goal of making it available for all of its net conferencing customers by the end of September.
"These new capabilities will spur and enhance our users' ability to collaborate with their colleagues globally, either by impromptu or planned sessions, as well as leveraging net conferences and even web cams," says Roberta Mackintosh, the executive director of global voice services at Verizon Business.
