On-Net provides unlimited, global telephone service between fleet vessels and home office – for one, low cost monthly fee. Traditional barriers to cost-effective shore-to-ship voice calling have been eliminated.
Vobal Technologies today announced the launch of Vobal “On-Net” telephony service, which allows commercial ship owners or operators to replace expensive traditional satellite calls with unlimited calling for a low, flat monthly fee. Fleet vessels equipped with Vobal’s S3 Maritime GSM or S2 VoIP services (which both allow multiple voice calling capability) can now reduce their operational calling rates from dollars, to cents.
The company, an Inmarsat Certified Solutions Provider, launched its Vobal S2 optimized VoIP product with Multi-Voice capability in 2011 to meet high market demand for additional voice lines. This allows the vessel operator to segregate calling for vessel operations from crew personal requirements. The Vobal S2 VoIP Multi-Voice, On-Net and S3 Maritime GSM products work with all Inmarsat FleetBroadband terminals (without need for firmware modifications) and VSAT terminals, including systems that switch between the two.
Vobal’s S2 and S3 products are designed specifically for use on Inmarsat FBB Standard IP Data channels, providing the lowest cost basis for Inmarsat satellite bandwidth backhaul. They are also technically compatible in L-Band, Ka-Band and/or Ku-Band “managed services” solutions which exercise failover routers. Vobal’s products provide up to eight concurrent voice calls, unique international DID numbers for each line, integration with vessel’s PBX or analog phones and Crew GSM mobile phones.
“Despite all the advances in maritime communications, the costs for shoreside correspondents to call Inmarsat equipped ships at sea have always been expensive. Indeed, voice calls to ocean code 870 often cost several dollars per minute. Alternative single or two-stage dialing platforms require complicated dialing schemes and PIN codes – with only marginal cost savings. Vobal On-Net is a very low cost solution that’s easy to install and use,” stated Ronnie Raviv, COO of Vobal Technologies.
Vobal Technologies provides the first commercial VoIP telephone service certified by Inmarsat to run over FleetBroadband’s Standard IP. The Vobal system is characterized by exceptionally high quality voice and efficient utilization of bandwidth – only 6kbps Fully Loaded (voice plus overhead) means that it consumes less than 1 megabyte of data for every 20 minutes of voice traffic. This unique and patented technology is currently serving Crew and Passengers on commercial merchant ships, offshore oilfield support vessels and small cruise ships. The Vobal VoIP technology is utilized by Global Marine Network’s award winning suite of Redport “VoIP enabled” Satellite Routers, which also include Vobal’s multi-voice and optional On-Net features.
Vobal Technologies’ VoIP technology has enabled dozens of leading wireless carriers, broadband service providers, and satellite communications companies to offer powerful, differentiated VoIP enabled services while improving subscriber profitability. Vobal Technologies’ team has built a reputation as a global leader in the development and delivery of these low cost, high quality solutions. Vobal is actively seeking additional distribution partners. To become a distributor or for more information about how Vobal can improve your vessel communications, visit http://www.vobal.com.