Verizon Enters Voice-Over-Internet Phone Market

January 27, 2009

By Mike Peters

Verizon has announced it will enter the voice-over-Internet phone market on February 1 with the new Verizon Hub. Verizon Wireless will launch the new touch screen home communications system bridging wireline and wireless connectivity in one simple service that will run on any broadband connection provided by a high-speed service provider.

"The Verizon Hub reinvents the home phone system that's been centered on your kitchen counter for years. We're bringing huge new functionality to a common household device that will unlock its true potential. And in the process, Verizon Wireless is updating the tools busy families can use to manage their lives," said Mike Lanman, vice president and chief marketing officer at Verizon Wireless. "The Verizon Hub is going to change the way you think about what you want and need your home phone to do. Whether you're thinking about getting rid of your home phone or can't live without it, now is the time to try out the Verizon Hub."

The New Verizon Hub Home Phone System Runs on any Broadband Connection

The Verizon Hub will work with any open broadband connection from virtually any broadband provider - telecommunications or cable -- anywhere in the U.S. The Verizon Hub will have all the calling features users expect from the most advanced home phones, plus visual voicemail and robust contact list management. Verizon Wireless has also added exciting messaging options, including text message calendar alerts and audible turn-by-turn directions delivered to Verizon Wireless phones from the Verizon Hub -- with just a few simple taps on the screen.

Features of the Verizon Hub Voice-Over-Internet Phone

With the Verizon Hub, customers will be able to check local traffic and weather, update the calendar and automatically receive a text when an appointment changes or as a reminder not to be late, get directions to the new site when the location of an activity is moved, find the number of a new restaurant to order take-out, preview trailers from an upcoming movie and then purchase tickets. Customers can access all the information and functionality of the Verizon Hub remotely from a companion website, even adding calendar entries for family members and inputting new contacts from the website. The home-based Verizon Hub is instantly updated.

Verizon Hub customers can connect to popular applications including VZ Navigator and Chaperone, as well as incorporate their wireless devices through text, picture, and video messaging between wireless phones and the Verizon Hub. New V CAST content will also be available on the Verizon Hub, and when not in use, the Verizon Hub doubles as a digital picture frame displaying all of your favorite photos.