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Soldiers in Afghanistan phone home with VoIP VegaStream VoIP gateways provide telephone services for military in AfghanistanBRACKNELL, UK / KABUL, AFGHANISTAN, 1st July 2004: VegaStream, a leading supplier of dedicated VoIP (Voice over IP) Gateways, today announced that VoIP is being deployed in Afghanistan to enable Canadian Armed Forces to phone home at very low cost. The Vega VoIP gateways have been integrated with telecommunications provider CALL UK’s secure satellite infrastructure to deliver the Welfare Calling Package. With a contract to supply a communication system to 2,000 troops in Afghanistan, CALL UK needed a VoIP gateway that was reliable and low maintenance. Integrating VegaStream’s Vega 50 and Vega 100 gateways with its existing solution, the company has been able to provide the Canadian army with the Welfare Calling Package: a voice over satellite service that allows each soldier 35 minutes per week of call time with family and friends back home. The solution, which includes a personal voicemail service, is also used by local contractors in Afghanistan as a pre-paid calling system. All elements of the package comply with the stringent security requirements that are needed for traffic from and to military gateways. CALL UK provides telecom switches for carrying both restricted and unrestricted voice, fax and data. With nodes in Brackley, Amsterdam and London, CALL UK is able to cover a satellite footprint ranging from Pakistan to the Falkland Islands. This enables them to capture traffic from particularly difficult and restricted bandwidth locations such as the Middle East and Africa. VegaStream’s VoIP gateways are open standards based and are completely compatible with both CALL UK’s existing infrastructure and Afghanistan’s local networks. Its superior technology and support services mean that CALL UK can provide high quality and reliable communications at a very competitive price. “Military communications services must be secure, failsafe and ideally low cost. For the deployment in Afghanistan, we needed a VoIP solution that was flexible enough to fit in with our existing services and was 100 per cent reliable,” said James Body, Technical Sales Manager at CALL UK. “With VegaStream we found a perfect fit. Its easy to configure VoIP gateways and outstanding support has enabled us to tailor a VoIP solution to meet the very specific requirements of the Canadian Army.” “Voice communications are vital for all of us especially when a long way from home and in a hostile environment, but costs can often be prohibitive,” said Tim Burne CEO, VegaStream. “It is great to see that by using our gateways with CALL UK’s satellite service we have provided a way for soldiers to stay in touch with their loved ones.” About CALL UK CALL UK is a telecommunications provider that delivers niche managed services and network solutions aimed at specialist user groups, including educational institutions, international organisations and the military. All aspects of a specialist solution can be provided, from system design, through to billing, provision of infrastructure connectivity and high quality 24/7 support. The company has state-of-the-art open architecture telecom switches for carrying both restricted and unrestricted voice, fax and data, complemented by an innovative billing platform installed at its premises in Northamptonshire. CALL UK's telecommunications infrastructure includes fibre connectivity to major carriers for break out and carrying inbound traffic from further switches in London and Amsterdam. The company has the capability to network plan, commission and introduce systems that are tailored to meet the specific requirements of virtual private networks and closed user groups. CALL UK services include; Switching, Customer Care & Billing, Voice & Data, Voice Mail, Personal Numbers and Free Phone Numbers (0800), National Rate Numbers (0845), VPN services, VoIP and SMS. For more information, call 01280 761600 or visit www.calluk.com About VegaStream VegaStream is a leading supplier of dedicated business VoIP gateways. VegaStream’s Voice over IP (VoIP) gateways enable service providers and business customers to rapidly deploy and profit from lower telephony costs and improved productivity across their organization’s HQ and remote offices. The award winning Vega 50 and Vega 100 gateways are based on international communications standards – including both SIP and H.323 – to deliver an open and non-proprietary VoIP solution that can be seamlessly integrated alongside existing communications investments. Established in 1998, VegaStream has EMEA headquarters in Bracknell UK, and North American headquarters in Boca Raton, Florida. VegaStream investors include MTI Partners and VegaStream management. For more information please visit www.vegastream.com PR Contacts: Katherine Knox AxiCom (for VegaStream) +44 20 8392 4067 [email protected] |