OVERLAND PARK, Kan.—Sprint Nextel Corp. unveiled Voice over Internet Protocol services for business customers, and said it plans to integrate wireless capabilities with services that are expected to be deployed later this year.
The Sprint IP Voice Connect service offers local and long-distance service, simultaneous ringing to multiple phones, abbreviated dialing and unified messaging features. According to Sprint Nextel, the service uses existing dialing plans and telephone numbers, and sites or individual users can be migrated to the VoIP service one at a time to ease migration concerns.
The company also indicated that it wants to expand integrated wireline and wireless capabilities for business customers later this year, such as providing subscribers with the same features of their private office telephone system on their mobile phones.
“IP Voice Connect is a building block for us to deliver a converged wireless and wireline customer experience,” said Randy Ritter, Sprint Nextel vice president for product marketing.
The announcement is the second this week from Sprint Nextel that ties together wireline and wireless services. The carrier also announced that it would offer unlimited calling from their cellular phones to a landline home or business number, without depleting users’ monthly allowance of wireless minutes.
