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December 31, 2007
MERA Sees Growing Demand for VoIP
By Rich Tehrani
MERA Systems (News - Alert), Inc. is a leading player in carrier-grade VoIP
solutions and information security systems. To date, MERA has over 600 carrier-grade deployments in 68 countries and controls 70 percent of the VoIP softswitch market in Russia & CIS countries and about four percent worldwide. Svetlana Anishchenko, is PR Manager for MERA Systems’ marketing department. She took the time to respond to some questions I had posed regarding the state of the company, their view of the market at large, and what attendees can expect to see at the MERA Systems booth at the upcoming ITEXPO (News - Alert) in Miami Beach this January.
solutions and information security systems. To date, MERA has over 600 carrier-grade deployments in 68 countries and controls 70 percent of the VoIP softswitch market in Russia & CIS countries and about four percent worldwide. Svetlana Anishchenko, is PR Manager for MERA Systems’ marketing department. She took the time to respond to some questions I had posed regarding the state of the company, their view of the market at large, and what attendees can expect to see at the MERA Systems booth at the upcoming ITEXPO (News - Alert) in Miami Beach this January.
RT: What has been your company’s biggest achievement in 2007?
SA: In 2007 MERA Systems has successfully launched its flagship product MERA VoIP Transit Softswitch II. Almost 50 companies deployed MVTS II softswitch during the year and 15 more service providers are now carrying out tests of the product. In 2007 MERA Systems also developed a new product MERA VoIP Transit Softswitch Pro, which the company plans to release next year.
RT: What can we expect to see from your company in 2008?
SA: In 2008 MERA Systems is going to announce the release of MERA VoIP Transit Softswitch Pro. MVTS Pro is a class 4 softswitch, next generation of the MVTS version 1, which combines MVTS version 1 functionality with MVTS II modular architecture. Together with other MERA solutions (MVTS, MVTS II, MERA IP-Centrex) MVTS Pro will form a holistic MERA product portfolio designed to satisfy needs of various MERA customers.
) MVTS Pro will form a holistic MERA product portfolio designed to satisfy needs of various MERA customers. RT: How do you see the communications market evolving?
SA: Demand for IP-telephony systems is strengthening among enterprise customers. But companies exploring VoIP market face a number of serious difficulties. In particular, tough competition makes VoIP providers adopt new definitions of retail and wholesale businesses and find innovative strategies to target customers with the most suitable services tailored specifically to their needs.
RT: How do you think the future of the market looks?
SA: The VoIP market is now surviving a number of serious changes that will influence its future. Carriers should consider new definitions of wholesale and retail business to identify new opportunities and expand addressable markets. Another change that will have a great impact on the state of the market in future is a growing attention of telcos to value added services. Although market prices will continue to decline, commodity and value added services will play a crucial role in attracting customers to VoIP carriers.
RT: Are you growing more quickly in the U.S. or abroad?
SA: We are trying to cover as many regions as possible. It’s quite fair to say that U.S. market is the biggest one, but Asia markets start to grow very quickly as well.
RT: Are hosted solutions changing your corporate strategy?
SA: We think that the ability to explore new business models using hosted solutions is a crucial issue for our customers to survive in today’s crowded VoIP market environment. Hosted solutions also provide such obvious benefits as saving time and money for installation and maintenance. The hosted market is clearly growing today and we try to reflect this trend in out products’ specifications.
RT: What do you think the communications market might look like in five years?
SA: The communications market is developing extremely fast so it is quite difficult to imagine what it might look like even in the mid-term perspective. However, we believe some trends are quite obvious. The world of telcos will successfully survive transit to NGN and we see emerging VoIP markets playing a key role in it. The market will see boom of service development which is going to bring new revenues to the incumbents.
and we see emerging VoIP markets playing a key role in it. The market will see boom of service development which is going to bring new revenues to the incumbents.RT: What will attendees see in your booth at ITEXPO this month?
SA: MERA Systems will feature its flagship MERA VoIP Transit Softswitch II at Internet Telephony (News - Alert) Conference and EXPO East 2008. Deployed by almost 50 companies during the last year MVTS II proved itself as a cost-effective, off-the-self, ready-to-go solution for VoIP wholesale businesses. MERA Systems is showcasing its solution at booth # 826.
RT: What sorts of companies should come to your exhibit?
SA: Any VoIP carriers considering a VoIP platform for traffic exchange.
RT: Why should customers choose your company’s solutions?
SA: MERA Systems develops industry-leading IP Telephony products and solutions that enable VoIP carriers and service providers to efficiently manage VoIP sessions on their networks. The MERA solutions offer a powerful combination of efficiency, scalability and rich functionality, bringing added value and revenue-generating opportunities to carriers globally. To date, MERA is a key provider of highly reliable and cost-effective VoIP softswitches and service delivery platforms.
Telephony products and solutions that enable VoIP carriers and service providers to efficiently manage VoIP sessions on their networks. The MERA solutions offer a powerful combination of efficiency, scalability and rich functionality, bringing added value and revenue-generating opportunities to carriers globally. To date, MERA is a key provider of highly reliable and cost-effective VoIP softswitches and service delivery platforms.RT: Please make one surprising prediction for 2008.
SA: Since we see the VoIP market being more about services in 2008, we reckon that a new type of service will appear. It will be a breakthrough for the whole VoIP industry and will make companies totally revise their service policies.
Rich Tehrani is President and Group Editor in Chief at TMC (News - Alert). In addition he is the Chairman of the world’s best attended IP Communications event, Internet Telephony Conference & EXPO.
Mark your calendars! Internet Telephony Conference & EXPO — the first major IP communications event of the year — is just days away. It’s not too late to register for the event, which takes place in Miami Beach, FL, January 23–25, 2008. The EXPO will feature three valuable days of exhibits, conferences and networking that you won’t want to miss. So what are you waiting for? Sign up now!
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