UK firm plugs in domestic VoIP

A UK firm has launched a portfolio of residential VoIP gateways which it claims can provide a full range of telephony services to customers at a fraction of the cost of traditional telephony.

The Vega residential gateways from VegaStream are designed to be installed by the end user in the home or office, and then remotely configured and maintained by either a VoIP service provider or company IT department.

VegaStream stated that its VoIP gateways can allow companies to extend a corporate PBX into a remote worker's home or small office using an existing broadband connection, as is currently done for IP VPN access to corporate data.

The functionality of a corporate PBX, such as voicemail, call transfer and conferencing, can be extended to the residential telephone with a quality of service as good as a traditional phone call, VegaStream claimed.

The company explained that service providers could offer new voice services, or bundle bandwidth and telephony into a single connection.

VegaStream chief executive Tim Burne said in a statement: "On the one hand there's the widespread uptake of residential broadband services, and on the other we see the growing adoption of VoIP within businesses.

"Combine these trends and you see the industry at an exciting point in its development."

VegaStream claimed that the cost of its residential VoIP gateways will be "comparable to that for a home wireless gateway or home router".