NL Short Takes

Bell Nordiq rates among Caada’s top employersFor the second year in a row Bell Nordiq Group Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Bell Canada and the general partner of both Télébec LP and NorthernTel LP, has made the annual list of Canada’s Top 50 Employers which is organized and administered by Hewitt Associates. "This honour, which reflects on all of the communities that Bell Nordiq serves, is, above all, attributable to the commitment and involvement that our employees demonstrate everyday," said Roch Dubé, president and CEO of Bell Nordiq Group, in a press release. "The pride that we share today reminds us how important it is for Bell Nordiq and its employees to play a role in the development of their communities."Small business spurs hosted VoIP marketA recent study from Scottsdale AZ-headquartered high-tech market research firm In-Stat reports that hosted VoIP technology has experienced another year of steady growth due to uptake in the small business sector. Key findings from the study include: US hosted VoIP seats in service will grow from 373,000 in 2006 to over three million by 2010; cost savings remains the primary attraction to hosted VoIP solutions; multi-location businesses and those with mobile employees are the most attracted to hosted VoIP. In-Stat projects revenues in the hosted VoIP market to exceed $2 billion by 2010.Iristel launches pay-as-you-go VoIPOn January 15, 2007 Markham ON-based Iristel Inc. will nationally launch its residential pay-as-you-go VoIP service. The service features prepaid packages starting at $3.95 a month that enable customers to personalize their communication services. "With today’s busy lifestyles, the average person is not at home very often, and when they are, why pay for a telephone service they are not using?," asked Samer Bishay, president and CEO of Iristel, in a press release. "By continuing to offer the most diverse plans in the marketplace, we are able to provide our customers with a unique product geared towards them, and their lifestyles."Axia NetMedia launches managed security serviceCalgary-based Axia NetMedia Corp. has launched AxiaSecure, its new managed security service. The solution offers reliable network protection and is tailored to organizations that need experienced resources to implement, manage and support their network security cost-effectively and seamlessly. "Axia is committed to educating and empowering our customers about the importance of security, and with information that measures performance and justifies their investments," said Axia’s security officer and acting IT director Dan Chervenka in a press release. "Axia and our vendors share the desire to make a difference in protecting organizations against network and asset exposure."Shift acquires more subscribers in Q4 06Shift Networks Inc. has reported that it signed more than 2,000 new subscriber lines during the fourth quarter of 2006, pushing its total subscriber lines above 8,000, an increase of more than 400% for the 2006 calendar year. "In the latter half of 2006 we made substantial investments of time and money in our net network, and our operating and billing systems software," said Shift’s CEO Trent Johnsen in a news release. "We anticipate significant returns on these investments in the form of lower operating costs, enhanced cash flow and a more efficient subscriber activation process." Shift also ranked 21 on Alberta Venture’s Fast 50, a list of the province’s fastest growing companies under $20 million in revenue.Open Text to showcase ECM products at Summit 2007Enterprise content management (ECM) software and solutions provider Open Text Corp. has announced that it will showcase the latest in ECM solutions at Summit 2007. The conference is the worldwide user event Hummingbird customers and partners since Open Text acquired Humming bird in October 2006. The event will give Hummingbird customers and partners a chance to meet with Open Text executives, as well as hear about the company’s strategy and learn more about its portfolio of ECM products and solutions. Open Text will also provide more details on product plans including continued support for the LiveLink ECM – eDocs products, formerly Hummingbird Enterprise. The conference takes place in Huntington Beach CA from February 11 to 14.Nortel provides IP messaging, mobility capabilities at Caribbean resortThe Cove Atlantis, a new luxury resort from Kerzner International Ltd. opening in the Bahamas this March, will feature a complete communications solution including Nortel Networks IP phones, mobility, VoIP, unified messaging and contact centre. Nortel’s hospitality messaging system provides guests and staff access to instant messaging concerning mini-bar management, housekeeping status service and automatic wake-up. Each suite at the resort will also feature two Nortel IP phones that serve as gateways to information about tours, concerts, events and local information. "Nortel’s solutions are also helping to lower operational costs by increasing staff productivity with the ability to stay in touch on work assignments through mobile communications access wherever they are in the resort," said Kerzner’s CIO Rick Garvin in a news release.Seven technologies to watch in 2007, Info-TechInfo-Tech Research Group has released a list of the seven hot technologies businesses should be on the lookout for in 2007.Adaptive Security – provides consolidated management of systems, users and data sources to ensure security, and ensures information can be leveraged for compliance purposes.Virtualization – Info-Tech reports that businesses adopting virtualization realize a 40-75% reduction in hardware acquisition costs.Web 2.0 – technologies like RSS, blogs, podcasts and videocasts are important tools for marketing departments looking to develop a buzz over time.Collaborative Technologies – geographically dispersed employees need tools to share information quickly and easily.Unified Messaging – integrating different kinds of messages such as email, voice and video into a single in-box connects millions of professionals to customers and collegues, and increases productivity.Software as a Service – small and medium sized businesses benefit from SaaS as costly enterprise applications become more affordable through this on-demand model.VoIP – Info-Tech predicts that feature-hungry enterprises will help drive VoIP from the emerging into the established application category by 2008. Avaya announces offer to acquire UbiquityBusiness communications provider Avaya Inc. has announced a tender offer by its wholly-owned subsidiary to acquire Ubiquity Software Corp. "We believe that the addition of Ubiquity’s next-generation software platform to Avaya’s portfolio will help customers and developers enhance the integration of communications technologies and business processes," said Micky Tsui, Avaya’s VP of global communications solutions, in a release. "We believe that Ubiquity bridges a wide range of fragmented technologies that cost customers money, time and speed-to-market." Ubiquity develops and markets SIP-based communications software for fixed and mobile communications service providers, systems integrators, independent software vendors and channel partners.Bell Nordiq unitholders vote in favour of privatizationBell Aliant Regional Communications Income Fund has announced that the unitholders of Bell Nordiq Income Fund have voted in favour of the Bell Aliant proposal to take Bell Nordiq private. At a meeting held on January 16, 99.8% of all votes cast and 99.3% of the votes cast by Bell Nordiq’s minority unitholders were in favour of the privatization.Said president and CEO of Bell Aliant Stephen Wetmore in a news release: "Bell Nordiq has successfully demonstrated that they have a rich understanding of the customers and employees in their region and we look forward to building on that experience as we grow our business together."Meriton joins IPsphere ForumOttawa-based Meriton Networks Inc. has joined the IPsphere Forum, an international consortium of communications industry leaders focused on unleashing the business and societal benefits of IP convergence. Mertion’s participation in the forum will focus on increasing the visibility and reach of the IPsphere framework – an operational structure for the assembly and delivery of services on converged infrastructures – into the converged next-generation transport architecture. "The IPsphere Forum is dedicated to making the promise of broadband services a reality, while reducing the risks involved with developing, facilitating and delivering these services," said Ken Davison, Meriton’s VP of marketing and business development, in a press release.

NL Short Takes

Brief | January 19, 2007

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