Verizon is offering three new VoIP and Internet packages available through the Verizon Global Wholesale division. The offers are designed to respond to the rapid growth of VoI in the small and medium business realm and the resulting demand for powerful high-speed Internet connections. In addition, the offers support Verizon Global Wholesale customers' marketing efforts to small and medium sized businesses.

Verizon Business has been named Global Service Provider of the Year, North America, by Polycom. The award, given in conjunction with the 2010 TEAM Polycom, the company's annual partner conference, recognizes Verizon Business for its outstanding sales performance and excellence in meeting customer solution, service and support needs.

Skype and Verizon Wireless announce a strategic relationship that will bring Skype to Verizon Wireless smartphones in March. The new Skype mobile product enhances Verizon Wireless' smartphones for users who have data plans by offering a new way to call around the globe, while also giving hundreds of millions of Skype users around the world the opportunity to communicate with friends, family and business colleagues in the United States using Verizon Wireless.

More businesses can now maximize the potential of their IP-enabled communications, thanks to Verizon Business. The company's award-winning Burstable Enterprise Shared Trunks feature is now available in Europe, enabling customers to enhance the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of their IP networks by allowing capacity to be allocated on demand to support business needs across customers' VoIP locations.

J.D. Power and Associates, recently gave Verizon Business a leading ranking for customer satisfaction among large-enterprise data service customers, has now ranked Verizon Business highest in overall customer satisfaction among large-enterprise voice services providers.

Respondents to J.D. Power and Associates' 2009 Major Provider Business Telecommunications Study -- Voice Services determined that Verizon Business sets the benchmark for five of the six factors used to measure customer satisfaction: performance and reliability, sales representatives/account executives, billing, cost of service, and offerings and promotions. Verizon Business' overall score of 684 on a scale of 1,000 was 22 points higher than the large-enterprise segment average score, and the company ranked particularly high in both the offerings and promotions and billing factors.

Communications market research firm Infonetics Research launched a new North America Business VoIP Services Leadership Matrix that analyzes and ranks the top service providers in the VoIP business services market.

"In the aggressive North American business VoIP services market, Verizon Business stands out as the market leader in both IP Centrex and IP connectivity services. Still, in this highly competitive market, a number of providers, such as New Global Telecom and Cbeyond, are finding success in offering compelling solutions for businesses," said Diane Myers, Infonetics Research's Directing Analyst for Service Provider VoIP and IMS.

Businesses and government agencies will immediately be able to take advantage of the latest certifications of Verizon Business' VoIP and contact center services with Avaya's complete line of equipment and software.

The two companies have completed certifications of Verizon IP Contact Center suite of services and Verizon IP Trunking with Avaya Communication Manager 5.1.1/SES 5.1.1 and Avaya Communication Manager Branch to enable the most current capabilities of both companies across Verizon Business' complete suite of VoIP and Contact Center Services.

Texas A&M University faculty, students and administrators will benefit from the reliability and flexibility of advanced communications services provided by Verizon Business. Under a three-year, $20 million renewal of its master services agreement, Verizon Business will provide traditional voice and data network services, cabling, and managed services. Under separate agreements, Verizon Business will also migrate the majority of Texas A&M's operations to VoIP while also providing the university with advanced audio-conferencing services.

Verizon Business will provide a range of local voice and data services to federal agencies in five Mid-Atlantic states under a new agreement, valued at as much as $120.8 million, with the U.S. General Services Administration.

The agreement, known as the Mid-Atlantic Local Services Acquisition contract, covers three years and four renewable option years. Under terms of the deal, the GSA and other federal agencies in the Mid-Atlantic region -- which covers Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, Virginia and West Virginia -- can immediately buy local voice and data services. They include Centrex, ISDN services, network-based voice messaging, private line data services, and related managed and professional services.

In a dynamic move sure to rattle devotees of plain old home phones, Verizon Wireless will introduce the new Verizon Hub on Feb. 1. Only Verizon Wireless can launch a new touch screen home phone system designed to replace old-style home phones with a souped-up home communications system, bridging wireline and wireless connectivity in one simple service, that runs on any broadband connection – whether supplied by Verizon FiOS Internet or DSL or any other high-speed service provider.

Students, teachers and parents in the Sherman Independent School District in North Texas are leveraging the power of advanced communications in and out of the classroom, using new services from Verizon Business. The services will be provided under a new agreement that expands the company’s decade-long relationship with the district, which is located about 60 miles north of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, near the Oklahoma border. The Sherman ISD serves about 6,100 students at 12 locations.

Verizon Business is currently completing the installation of a new VoIP platform and is deploying wireless LANS for each school campus to expand the district’s communications capability and reach. The new services are provided via the district’s existing high-capacity Ethernet network, which also carries the district’s Internet, data and voice services.

Consumers looking to cut costs without sacrificing satisfaction for Internet, television, and telephone service should consider bundling with Verizon FiOS or AT&T U-verse. In Consumer Reports' latest survey of major telecom providers and bundled services, featured in the February issue, Verizon FiOS and AT&T U-verse, whose networks are fiber-optic based, were the most consistently satisfying providers for their Internet, television, and telephone services.

Enterprise customers will be able to get a bigger bang for their VoIP buck by leveraging several enhancements to Verizon Business' leading global VoIP portfolio.

New capabilities announced Thursday (Dec. 4) include:

• A new Verizon VoIP Interoperability Lab where customers can test drive the compatibility of their premises equipment with Verizon's VoIP or IP Contact Center products.
• Certification of an additional Nortel IP PBX for Verizon's IP Trunking offering.
• Availability in Europe of automatic call rerouting for VoIP customers, to provide business-continuity benefits unavailable in a traditional voice-communications environment.

Wholesale customers now have more choices when they purchase Verizon Business' Advanced Toll Free service. Verizon Business is adding an IP termination service, available immediately on a limited basis, to the company's switchless-termination and dedicated-termination toll free services, which use traditional telephony technology.

Wholesale telecommunication providers sell each segment of a telephone call -- access, transport and termination -- individually.

Verizon customers who make frequent calls from their home phone to other countries can now add the Verizon International Single Rate plan to their service and get great rates for up to 500 minutes of calling a month.

Customers with a Verizon Freedom voice plan can add the International Single Rate plan for $10 per month for 300 minutes (five hours) or $15 per month for 500 minutes (more than eight hours). Verizon Freedom Essentials is a common component of Verizon's bundled offerings of voice, broadband Internet and video services.

Customers who do not have a Verizon Freedom voice plan can enroll in the International Single Rate plan for $14.99 per month for 300 minutes or $19.99 per month for 500 minutes.