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Vol. 2, No. 1 • Spring
2006
In This Issue...
CEO Connect
Net2Phone Looks Forward: An Interview with CEO Liore Alroy
Customer Spotlight
Hurricane Victims Reconnect with CMA and VoiceLine
E911 Update
Delivering Enhanced 911 Across the Country
Product Spotlight
Arris Touchstone TM512A Embedded Multi-Line Media Terminal Adaptor
What's Happening @ Net2Phone?
Links to recent press releases and a list of trade shows and
events where Net2Phone is scheduled to appear
CEO Connect:
Net2Phone Looks Forward:
An Interview with Liore Alroy
 Editor's
Note: The activity surrounding IDT's tender offer and how
it will impact Net2Phone's operations going forward has raised
some questions. To answer the most pressing questions, we sat
down with Net2Phone CEO, Liore Alroy, for a brief interview.
Q. There's been a lot in the news lately about Net2Phone
and the IDT tender offer. What can you tell us about that?
A. Well, let's first talk a little about Net2Phone's history.
Net2Phone was originally founded by IDT in 1996. Net2Phone went
public in 1999. IDT has been Net2Phone's controlling shareholder
for the last three years. What's happening now is that IDT is
acquiring all the shares they don't already own. Since IDT has
been our majority shareholder for the past few years, we've
been executing a business plan that's been reviewed and approved
by IDT. It was IDT's entrepreneurial spirit that created Net2Phone
and that spirit combined with the IDT and Net2Phone employee
base will only make Net2Phone an even stronger partner.
Q. Looking at calendar year 2006, how does this activity
impact Net2Phone's business and its partners?
A. I can't stress this point well enough; it's business as usual
for Net2Phone. We're going to continue with the momentum we've
built in the past few years and work with our cable partners
to find new and innovative ways to enhance their business and
commensurately grow ours. We're not stopping looking for new
partners either. We now have relationships with four of the
Top 25 MSOs in the U.S. and we're actively working to increase
that number. We expect to see continued growth as subscriber
levels keep ramping upwards.
Q. You mentioned innovation, does that include new products?
A. We're working hard to maintain our edge as innovators in
the VoIP space. In 2005, we received several U.S. patents to
bring our total to 31 and we have several more applications
pending review.
We're always investigating new products and new ways to empower
our partners to remain competitive in their respective markets.
Success in deploying residential digital landline service isn't
the end point in VoIP offerings for our partners. MSOs are already
providing video and high-speed data to commercial establishments.
The natural segue is to enable them to deliver a VoIP solution
to small and medium sized businesses. To that end, we signed
an interoperability agreement with Arris. That agreement has
helped produce the multi-line adapter featured in the Product
Spotlight section of this newsletter.
To bring things full circle, I'd say our outlook for calendar
year 2006 is bright as we look to continue the opportunity to
innovate, nurture our existing relationships and create new
ones.
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Customer Spotlight:
Hurricane Victims Reconnect with CMA and VoiceLine
It's not everyday that an MSO can save the day for thousands
of people. Yet, when Hurricanes Katrina and Rita pummeled the
Gulf Coast, destroying everything in their wake, CMA Communications
did just that.
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| Hurricane winds and rising waters easily displaced
normally immovable objects, such as this truck. |
As a true business leader in the Dallas, Texas area, CMA is
a privately-held cable operator with over 40 cable systems in
Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, and Nevada. Passing over 130,000
homes, CMA provides digital cable TV, high definition TV, high
speed Internet, and commercial business services. As part of
their plan for growth, CMA has been working to bring Internet-based
phone services to its markets.
In so doing, CMA partnered with Net2Phone to offer VoiceLine
VoIP telephony to the Belle Chasse, Louisiana area. Little did
they know how integral this business decision would be in the
hurricane relief effort.
Beyond the immediate wrath of a ferocious storm -- aside from
the flooding, the collapse of homes, and the survivors waiting
on rooftops for rescue -- natural disasters are merciless toward
the everyday conveniences people rely on. In an instant, electric,
phone, and cable services can be wiped out, leaving the masses
isolated and unable to communicate. When the local telephone
infrastructure crumbled beneath the unthinkable destruction
of the storms, CMA and Net2Phone accelerated their timeline
to bring VoIP to Belle Chasse. Within a month of Katrina's landfall,
CMA and Net2Phone were able to offer 30 lines to FEMA and locals
-- at no charge -- so they could contact relatives, place insurance
claims, and begin to get their lives back on track.
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| The ferocity of a powerful hurricane can be seen in
this photo of a collapsed water tower in Buras, Louisiana. |
"We had already planned to work with Net2Phone to bring
VoIP service to the Louisiana and Mississippi markets. But when
the storms hit and all regular phone service went down, we knew
we had to act quickly. Luckily, some of our cable infrastructure
survived the storms, so we contacted Net2Phone and together
we set up a VoIP call station in the Plaquemines Parish Community
Center that could handle 30 simultaneous phone calls over our
cable lines. Finally, victims and volunteers could reach loved
ones and the lengthy process of insurance claims could be started,"
said Dave Beasley, Vice President of CMA.
Not only did CMA directly help local residents, they also formed
a relationship with FEMA, giving coordinators and volunteers
a communications outlet. At the peak of call volume, the CMA
lines were handling over 6,000 calls
per day. "Rita came on the heels of Katrina, and the whole
process made us realize that we truly are partners with the
community," said Beasley. "It reinforced our local
relationships while forcing us to step back and evaluate our
role as a communications provider. Cable service is a wonderful
modern convenience, but it is not as critical as phone service.
Providing telephony is a serious business, and emergency response
can't be taken lightly."
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| Pictured above is the VoiceLine equipment array at
the Plaquemines Parish Community Center in Belle Chasse,
Louisiana. |
"For the victims of the hurricanes, losing everything
was an enormously emotional thing to go through. Stress levels
were high; hopes were low. The last thing they needed to deal
with was a total communications breakdown. In many ways, these
hurricanes helped CMA and Net2Phone expedite the process of
bringing VoIP to market, and we're now commercially launched
in the area."
Though CMA rose to the challenge of providing free phone service
to the Belle Chasse area from September 22 through the end of
2005, their operations were not entirely spared from hurricane-inflicted
damage. "The destruction of Belle Chasse cost CMA considerable
money with regard to lost customers and damaged equipment. We're
reassessing where to go and what to do from here. We have a
blueprint with Net2Phone now, and this experience has had a
dramatic impact on our business."
Like most of the large MSOs, CMA intends to realize success
with the triple-play bundle. The data business is the future
of CMA and they intend to emphasize high speed Internet and
digital phone service as they go forward. "Over the years,
our 'pie chart' of services has dramatically changed and continues
to do so. We're now a cable business that doesn't think solely
about providing cable service." They're also a heroic company
that has maintained a humble attitude. "We wouldn't wish
that kind of devastation on anyone. What we did is just a small
gesture amidst a huge disaster that can only be overcome if
everyone pitches in together."
That's just the sort of "people over profits" culture
that CMA and Net2Phone strive to continue. And, as CMA expands
its service offerings and grows its market share, this commitment
is proof positive that companies can do well while doing good.
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E911 Update
Enhanced 911 (E911) continues to be a hot topic in our industry
since it has the potential to save lives. That's why Net2Phone
searched its database of current existing customers, flagged
non-E911 accounts, and converted them free of charge.
Now, Net2Phone only buys and sells phone numbers that are E911
enabled. Our MSO partners then decide whether or not to use
the service based on the availability of E911 in the rate center
they serve. We currently provide E911 service to 3,133 rate
centers, approximately 69% of all U.S. households. Furthermore,
all of the phone numbers Net2Phone sells direct-to-consumer
are E911 ready.
Yet, E911 service continues to only be as good as the information
on file. Thus, at the request of our largest telco partner,
we created "Heartbeat" functionality which recognizes
when a customer disconnects their device. When the user reconnects
and attempts to make a call, they are met by an automated prompt
asking if they have permanently moved their device to a new
location. If they haven't, they can opt out of the automated
system: if they have, they are transferred to a customer service
representative who can then update their address information
for the E911 system. Though this service was developed for and
is currently used by just one of our partners, we can now make
it available to other service providers at their request.
Safety continues to be an industry concern, and Net2Phone continues
to bring users the safest and highest quality service available
anywhere.
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Product Spotlight:
Arris Touchstone TM512A Embedded Multi-Line Media Terminal Adaptor
As the cable telephony industry evolves, Net2Phone and our
MSO partners continue to seek new and innovative ways to expand
service offerings and cultivate a larger customer base.
While, in the past, much of the cable telephony business focused
on servicing residences, there is great opportunity to bring
VoIP to the small and medium business (SMB) market, thus generating
incremental revenues.
Net2Phone has been working with Arris to introduce the Touchstone
TM512A Embedded Multi-Line Media Terminal Adaptor to our
MSO partners through a joint interoperability program for use
with Net2Phone's CableLine VoIP service. Many MSOs currently
provide video and high-speed data to the SMB market, and can
increase revenue by offering voice services in a triple play.
The TM512A enables high-speed data and voice to be delivered
through common equipment, supporting from one to twelve lines.
The 12-port unit has a low profile design, maximizes rack space,
and is intended to be installed in a switch room or telephone
closet. The ability to support multiple line appearances and
multiple co-resident businesses with one device has many advantages.
It decreases implementation cost, decreases truck roll expense,
and minimizes the number of devices to be monitored and managed
on a single commercial site to the MSO, while providing a rich
feature set and commercial grade offering.
The Arris TM512A eMTA incorporates next generation POTS interfaces
while maintaining the feature set of the widely deployed Arris
Cornerstone and Touchstone line interfaces. Network Operations
Center (NOC) support for toll grade small business and multi-line
dwelling voice service requires advanced provisioning, performance
monitoring, and diagnostic capabilities.
Net2Phone and Arris are working cooperatively to ensure that
the TM512A eMTA is fully certified through Net2Phone's interoperability
lab. Net2Phone performs network and systems integration services,
provisioning of the eMTAs, real-time fault management, and certification
of new hardware and software interoperability with the SoftSwitch,
RKS, CMTS, end-to-end SLAs and telephony NOC.
Net2Phone's NOC uses the Cable Voice Operations Support System
(CVOSS) to provide the MSOs with automated flow-through provisioning,
fault management and diagnostics, remote access via HTTP, and
the generation of MOS scores on the per-line performance of
the device. The MSOs offering the CableLine managed service
also have access to the network tools used by the NOC. The Arris
TM512A has performed well in initial testing under heavy load,
with both voice and data transmissions, with many various telephony
features activated, and simultaneous network surveillance processing.
Product Features:
- 12 lines of telephony
- Integrated DOCSIS 2.0 Cable Modem
- Software compatibility and feature parity with existing
Touchstone Software Rev14.4
- Carrier class telephony interface implementation
- Line diagnostics, 48V loop voltage, current boost mode
- Wall/Rack mountable; support for extended temperature range
(wiring closets)
- RJ45/10/100BaseT high speed data interface
- Support for external battery backup; AC and 48V DC power
input and telemetry support with a power switch
- Supports up to 14 non-blocking simultaneous call events
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What's Happening @
Net2Phone
Click
here for a list of recent press releases and company announcements.
Click
here for a list of upcoming trade shows and events where
Net2Phone is scheduled to appear. At the bottom of the list
is an online form for arranging a meeting with a Net2Phone representative.
Please note that the above links will open in new browser windows.
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