Across The Telecom Spectrum: 6 Moves That Made Waves In The Channel In November

Shiny New Products And Services

Just in time for the holiday season, telecom service providers were rolling out new offerings and services for business customers. From UC applications to security and performance monitoring solutions, telecom industry players have been working diligently to expand their portfolios and become more valuable to their channel partners and end customers.

Here are six newsworthy items that happened in the telecom industry last month that solution providers should know.

BroadSoft Unveils UC And Collaboration Application

UC software and services supplier BroadSoft launched its communications and collaboration application, BroadSoft Team-One.

Team-One includes content management and screen sharing with UC capabilities, such as click-to-call, video meetings and team messaging functions. The application helps businesses keep communications and projects and files in one place, according to Gaithersburg, Md.-based BroadSoft.

Team-One is available now through BroadSoft's channel partners, the provider told CRN.

New Jersey-Based Communication Solution Providers Join Forces

Ancero, a Mount Laurel, N.J.-based communications solution provider, said it would acquire Ground Swell, a network and telecommunications solution provider based in Egg Harbor Township, N.J.

The two solution providers said that combination would give more small- to midsize-business customers in New Jersey access to IT services and support. Ground Swell's team will continue to operate from its current office in Egg Harbor Township under the direction of Ancero following the close of the acquisition.

Terms of the deal have not been disclosed.

VeloCloud Adds Voice Monitoring To SD-WAN Offering

SD-WAN provider VeloCloud released an SD-WAN offering that includes a Voice Quality Monitoring (VQM) capability for the first time.

VeloCloud's VQM offering uses a passive agent on the VeloCloud Edge. This VoIP monitoring software will let service providers and business customers monitor, diagnose and pre-emptively troubleshoot network issues that could impact voice communications, the Mountain View, Calif.-based provider said.

Mitel, VeloCloud Partner On Communications Performance

UC provider Mitel teamed up with SD-WAN player VeloCloud to enhance the reliability and performance of cloud-based business communications.

MiCloud Edge, a new networking offering, is powered by software-defined networking technology from VeloCloud. The offering lets companies take advantage of its available bandwidth resources to run voice and video applications using the highest-quality path, according to Mitel.

MiCloud Edge also lets businesses manage their networks across multiple office locations. The offering is available now in North America.

XO Communications Unveils DDoS Mitigation Service

Telecommunications provider XO Communications introduced a Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) Mitigation service as a part of its XO Security Services portfolio.

The latest security service from XO Communications gives business customers a cost-effective way to handle potentially crippling network attacks, the Herndon, Va.-based provider said. The latest service provides businesses with 24/7 support and pricing plans that are based on a customer's bandwidth.

Telecom giant Verizon unveiled plans to buy XO Communications for its fiber-optic network assets in a deal worth about $1.8 billion in February. The deal received regulatory approval in November.

TierPoint Continues Data Center Expansion

Data center operator TierPoint has been on a data center build-out mission, and the provider recently completed expansions of two of its East Coast data centers.

St. Louis-based TierPoint recently added close to 12,500 square feet of raised floor space within its Boston West Metro data center in Marlborough, Mass., one of TierPoint's largest facilities. The provider also added about 3,000 square feet of raised floor space to its Baltimore data center, one of the largest carrier-neutral data centers in Maryland. Tierpoint said it is considering further expansion within the Baltimore market in 2017.

TierPoint invested approximately $13 million in both data centers, and has invested about $45 million in data center expansion projects in 2016, according to the provider.