Verisign Offers VoIP Providers Easy Way To Connect To Telecom Carriers

Verisign has announced a new service that offers Voice-over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service providers a cost-effective way to exchange voice traffic with traditional telecommunications carriers.

The company's new SIP-7 (Session Initiation Protocol 7) Services allow SIP providers to connect to Verisign's SS7 network. By offloading the complexity of interworking with the SS7 system, VoIP carriers can decrease capital expenditures and speed time to market for launching production services, according to Verisign.

VeriSign's services can be used by carriers and ISPs to introduce new services based on SIP and VXML (Voice Extensible Markup Language), including local number portability, voice virtual private networks, and other intelligent network services. SIP-7 customers will also be able to gain access to VeriSign's Public IP directory for IP-to-IP connectivity.

"One of the biggest challenges VoIP carriers face is that they still need to invest in people and equipment to connect to the SS7 network, and this can be one of the biggest cost items for jumping into VoIP technology," Vernon Irvin, executive vice president of VeriSign Communications Services, said in a statement. "This new VeriSign service offering will help drive business for VoIP providers. One IP connection to VeriSign now connects them to almost every switched operator in North America."

"In the near future, service providers must be able to support seamless PSTN to VoIP network signaling ranging from basic call management to enhanced features," added David Fraley, principal analyst, Gartner. "As public network signaling adopts the SIP protocol service providers that are using SIP-to-SS7 services will bridge the convergence gap."