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iBasis Click-to-Call Powers VoBB Service Provider Tokiva in Fast-Growing
Consumer Market For Enhanced Voice Services
Tokiva Enlists iBasis VoIP Expertise and Technology to Establish New
Click-to-Call Service; Cites Quality, Scalability and Ease of Bringing New Services To
Market Among Benefits
BURLINGTON, MASS. - October 30, 2007 - Today at Fall VON 2007,
iBasis (NASDAQ: IBAS), the global VoIP company™, introduced its DirectSIP™
Click-to-Call solution, which enables Voice over Broadband (VoBB) service providers to
capitalize on fast-growing consumer demand for enhanced voice services. The click-to-call
(CTC) solution is part of iBasis' new DirectSIP (see related news) portfolio of wholesale
VoIP offerings allowing session initiation protocol (SIP) voice applications and services
to be brought to market quickly, cost-effectively and with unsurpassed quality, scale and
global reach. According to ABI Research, by 2012 almost half of all telecom consumers will
use at least one SIP-based service, creating a market projected to generate more than $150
billion in revenue annually.
iBasis DirectSIP's optimized SIP interconnection enabled Tokiva to
overcome technical obstacles the company encountered in creating its click-to-call
service. Today, subscribers to Tokiva's mobile social communications platform create a
profile on the Tokiva web site (www.tokiva.com),
download a software application to their mobile phone, and then initiate calls through
Tokiva to take advantage of international calling rates that are typically 90 percent less
than those of traditional carriers. Already, Tokiva's subscriber base has grown to nearly
a half million users globally, with its website registering 35,000 unique subscribers each
week. Tokiva's platform delivers mobile voice, messaging, presence and sharing services on
top of a user's current phone and carrier relationship. Tokiva expects to add mobile email
access, profile sharing and instant messaging later this month.
"Tokiva mobile voice service is high quality yet very cost effective,
which is made possible through the deep VoIP expertise and worldwide network coverage of
iBasis," said Tong Li, founder and CEO of Tokiva. "We had previously tried to create this
service through other means but were frustrated by the technical limitations of other
carriers. With DirectSIP, the voice quality is superb, we can quickly scale up in response
to increasing demand, and we have in place a means to rapidly respond to new developments
in the marketplace and bring our customers the latest applications and services."
The DirectSIP Click-to-Call service is designed to provide network
interconnect capability for CTC service providers that includes the connection and
bridging of media associated with a two-leg call request. Primary applications of the
solution include:
- Web-Activated Calling: Useful in areas where inbound access is unobtainable or not
cost effective. It eliminates one or both inbound PSTN legs of a call in order to reduce
costs;
- Web-activated Customer Service: Enables a consumer to click on an icon on a web page
and speak to a customer agent, enhancing overall service and offering businesses
immediate and context-appropriate cross-selling opportunities; and
- Web-activated Directory Assistance: Provides the ability to connect businesses and
consumers directly from a web portal.
Capabilities and additional benefits CTC service providers gain with
the iBasis solution include:
- RTP Media Bridging: Provides superior call quality while optimizing call and media
routing within The iBasis Global Network;
- Flexible Customer Call Flow Requirements: Presents CTC service providers the option
of remaining in the media path if necessary;
- Multi-Codec Support: Compatibility with a full range of voice codecs ranging from
low bandwidth to high fidelity;
- Security and Back-End Protection: Secure SIP Interconnects with call data records
and other traffic data provided through web portals.
iBasis' new DirectSIP Click-to-Call offering builds on DirectVoIP
Transcoding, an existing solution that has long supported a wide variety of codecs
including several variants of G.711, G.723, G.726, G.729, GSM-FR, and iLBC. iBasis
customers can take advantage of DirectSIP at no additional charge.
"The growing demand for CTC and other SIP-based applications and
services gives innovative application developers like Tokiva tremendous opportunities to
bring exciting new services to market," said Ofer Gneezy, president and CEO of iBasis.
"With DirectSIP, service providers gain the technology necessary to quickly introduce new
applications that work reliably, can accommodate a very large volume of customers
throughout the globe, all delivered with superior voice quality."
About Tokiva Technologies
Tokiva offers a mobile social communication platform aimed at helping
mobile users stay connected with people and information that are important, useful and
interesting. Tokiva's mobile communication platform converges wireless voice and data
traffic in one global IP network. Tokiva is built on open source platforms that consist of
a Mobile Virtualization Engine, Mobile Application Extension Platform and Mobile Network
Connectivity. Tokiva connects with mobile operators in over 200 countries and offers
inexpensive and convenient communication services to mobile users world wide. Tokiva is
headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, with a development office located in Beijing, China.
For more information call (888) 886-5482 or visit www.tokiava.com.
About iBasis
Founded in 1996, iBasis (NASDAQ: IBAS) is a leading wholesale carrier
of international long distance telephone calls and a provider of retail prepaid calling
services and enhanced services for mobile operators. iBasis customers include KPN, KPN
Mobile, E-plus, BASE, and many other large telecommunications carriers such as AT&T,
Verizon, Vodafone, China Mobile, China Unicom, IDT, Qwest, Skype, Telecom Italia,
Telefonica, and Yahoo. In October 2007, iBasis acquired KPN Global Carrier Services to
create one of the three largest carriers of international voice traffic in the world, and
KPN became a majority stockholder of iBasis. On a pro forma basis, the combined company
carried more than 20 billion minutes of international voice over IP (VoIP) traffic in
2006. The Company can be reached at its worldwide headquarters in Burlington, Mass., USA
at +1 781-505-7500 or on the Internet at www.ibasis.com.
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