Voxbone announced today that Sonetel, a Swedish VoIP provider with users in more than 200 countries, has begun giving all of its subscribers free iNum numbers from Voxbone. The agreement to provide iNums expands Sonetel's relationship with Voxbone, which has provided the certified reseller more than 17,000 geographical phone numbers since 2010.
iNums are global phone numbers that Voxbone launched in 2008 to support IP communications. Using the international number range of +883 5100 assigned to Voxbone, iNums enable a customer to establish a local presence in new locations with a single, portable number. By providing every customer an iNum, Sonetel will extend the subscriber's range of free calling to include communications with all other iNum users, anywhere in the world.
Sonetel offers a free hosted PBX solution that is particularly popular with small and medium businesses (SMBs) in price-sensitive regions, such as Africa and Asia. The company then upsells those customers on call termination and Voxbone-provided premium origination services. Together, Sonetel and Voxbone help business owners cost-effectively add local phone numbers, as well as launch virtual offices in any country where they see a market opportunity.
Sonetel has begun providing iNums to its more than 40,000 existing users and will assign them to the 200 to 300 customers that sign up for service each day. In the process, Sonetel is helping enhance the value of iNums by expanding the number of businesses and other organizations worldwide that can be reached for free via iNums.
iNums are distributed and routed by a growing list of service providers. Where not routed by a local provider, iNums also can be reached by the iNum initiative's local access numbers in 45 countries.
"Sonetel's decision to provide free iNums to all of its customers is the latest example of increasing adoption of these flexible, global numbers that support IP communications features," said Voxbone CEO Rod Ullens. "The addition of iNums to Sonetel's innovative freemium PBX solution will enable a business to create a professional, global presence quickly and cost-effectively."
"The iNum concept is ideally suited to the needs of our SMB customers and a natural complement to our existing offerings," said Sonetel CEO Henrik Thomé. "Providing free iNums will add value to our solution, making it easier for our customers to drive global growth."
Comments