Verizon Business announced several new features aimed at increasing functionality and adding choice for its SIP Gateway VoIP customers. Among these are:
- Foreign Telephone Number Assignment (FTNA), the ability to assign a U.S. telephone number outside the normal local calling area for that number. For example, a resident of Dallas could be assigned a Chicago-area telephone number, allowing friends and family in the Chicago area to place a local call. Businesses could use this function to maintain local numbers for their customers while controlling costs by centrally locating all or portions of their business elsewhere.
- The ability for wholesale customers to pick and choose specific functions. For example, wholesale customers will have the ability to order two-way telephone numbers associated with SIP Gateway Service with or without E911 service. Many wholesale companies rely on multiple VoIP providers, so they prefer the savings and efficiency associated with unbundled 911.
- Flexible pricing model, including the ability for wholesale customers to select metered or unmetered pricing for SIP Gateway Service Inbound Complete.
- Discretionary Call Blocking, giving wholesale customers the ability to designate blocking of eight specific types of calls (such as international long-distance) at the time the order is placed. Verizon Business then integrates the selected blocking into its network switch, thus freeing the wholesale customer from managing the blocking function.
- Seasonal pricing, which allows a wholesale customer to keep a telephone number but temporarily suspend the ability to make or receive calls, except 911. This feature is especially attractive to wholesale subscribers who have multiple homes or who travel extensively.
- More robust fraud detection and treatment capability. Verizon Business can improve detection of fraudulent VoIP traffic, alert the wholesale customer, then temporarily or permanently block the suspected traffic based on the wholesale customer's direction.
