Optimum Lightpath Gives Customers a Voice in Developing Next-Generation Hosted Voice

JERICHO, N.Y., Sept. 30, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Optimum Lightpath®, a market leader in Ethernet-based communication solutions for New York metropolitan area businesses, today announced the availability of its next-generation Optimum Lightpath Hosted Voice. The cloud-based phone service is designed for mid-market and large businesses and offers an array of new features, including capabilities to keep mobile workforces seamlessly connected on the go. It is based on flat-rate pricing, requires little or no upfront costs and runs over Optimum Lightpath's 100 percent fiber network for high reliability.  

Delivering A Comprehensive Feature Set

Optimum Lightpath Hosted Voice incorporates significant customer feedback and builds on Optimum Lightpath's first generation hosted voice product announced in January 2009. The service is sold as an add-on to Optimum Lightpath's popular Internet Voice Bundle. It includes additional Internet bandwidth to support phone calls and a range of phone minutes of use packages. The service also offers free calling to other Optimum Lightpath Hosted Voice customers and HD Voice. It is simple enough to be managed by non-technical staff and includes a comprehensive feature set tailored for end users, system administrators and receptionists, enabled by Metaswitch's MetaSphere multimedia application server:

• Call Processing: Auto attendant, voicemail (urgent message to email or mobile), class of service (restrict long distance, toll or premium), authorization codes, abbreviated dialing, speed dial, one-touch transfer, call park, call forward, do not disturb, directed call pickup, selective call treatment, multiple station/bridged line appearances, music/message on hold, incoming fax server.
• Convergence: Unified messaging (voicemail to email and fax to email), soft phone integration, widgets, visual voicemail.
• Mobility: Find me/follow me, remote phone, app support for Android™, Apple® iOS™ and BlackBerry®.
• Collaboration: 3-party conferencing and Meet-Me audio conferencing, featuring web-based and Apple iOS support.

"For almost two years, Optimum Lightpath Hosted Voice has successfully delivered value, flexibility and control to mid-market and large businesses, while helping them reign in voice costs and eliminate phone management headaches," said Julia McGrath, Senior Vice President of Marketing and Business Development, Optimum Lightpath. "For our latest Hosted Voice offering, we spent considerable time learning more about what businesses wanted from our service, how they wanted to buy it and what features would help empower those using it. The result is our next-generation Optimum Lightpath Hosted Voice."

Through extensive research, Optimum Lightpath confirmed that mid-market and large businesses have increasingly complex communications needs, but not always the necessary budget or dedicated IT staff required to operate the latest voice systems. Optimum Lightpath Hosted Voice was specifically designed to remove these critical barriers with a cost-effective, high-performing IP-PBX system that is devoid of typical heavy management requirements and upgrade costs. The service includes a powerful Web-based management portal that makes it simple for businesses to make real-time changes to the system from anywhere, also eliminating ongoing administrative fees. Optimum Lightpath will also provide, install, maintain and monitor new Cisco® IP phones and all other equipment necessary, such as Power over Ethernet switches, to run the service. All installations are backed by a thorough LAN assessment, certification and remediation to ensure quality of service.

"Businesses are eager to free themselves from the complexity involved with successfully installing and maintaining a dynamic voice service that supports the latest in collaboration, mobility and messaging," said Elka Popova, Program Director of Information and Communications Technologies, Frost & Sullivan. "A hosted voice offering such as Optimum Lightpath's that makes it easy to buy, use and manage advanced communications and collaboration applications is becoming the smart choice for more businesses. We expect to see the market for hosted communications continue to grow as customers increasingly acknowledge the value and efficiency such services deliver."

For more information about Optimum Lightpath Hosted Voice, visit http://www.optimumlightpath.com/hosted_voice.shtml.

About Optimum Lightpath

Optimum Lightpath, a division of Cablevision Systems Corporation (NYSE: CVC), is an industry leader in providing advanced Ethernet-based data, Internet, voice, video transport solutions and managed services to businesses across the New York metropolitan area. Optimum Lightpath's Network is a highly reliable, resilient, and scalable fiber-to-the-business-premises network extending more than 4,400 route miles connecting more than 4,500 fiber-lit locations. Exclusively focused on meeting customer needs in the world's largest business market for 20 years, Optimum Lightpath has been continually recognized for its high level of customer service. For 13 straight years, the New York State Public Service Commission has given Optimum Lightpath its Commendation of Excellence. Optimum Lightpath has received many industry awards for innovation and leadership. For more information, visit www.optimumlightpath.com.

SOURCE Optimum Lightpath