San Jose, Calif. — Linksys announced it will enter the consumer VoIP market in conjunction with service provider Vonage, with the shipment this month of two Linksys VoIP products bundled with Vonage service to dealers.
The Linksys products include the PAP2 Phone Adapter for a suggested $59 and the RT31P2 Broadband Router for a suggested $89. Both are equipped with two standard telephone jacks, support session initiation protocol (SIP), and are compatible with a cable or DSL broadband Internet modems.
The PAP2 phone adapter comes equipped with two RJ-11 phone ports and one Ethernet port. Users connect their existing home phones to the phone adapter and then connect the phone adapter to a router or modem via the Ethernet port to place calls over the Internet.
The RT31P2 broadband router features three 10/100 BaseT Ethernet ports, supports advanced security management functions for port filtering, MAC address filtering, DMZ hosting and Quality of Service (QoS) to prioritize voice data for improved voice quality. This latest version of the Linksys wired router integrates the phone adapter function, allowing consumers to share a broadband connection while also making VoIP calls.
The router comes with a 3-port switch for connecting three Ethernet devices directly to the network. Users can also connect a wireless access point to the router.
The new Linksys VoIP hardware was developed in conjunction with its parent company, Cisco Systems, which supplies network and enterprise-level IP telephony products such as switches and routers to carriers and businesses.
“Over time we believe IP networking is the future for all telephone and communications services, given its significant advantages over traditional telephone systems,” said Charlie Giancarlo, president, Cisco-Linksys.
Market research firm In-Stat/MDR (owned by TWICE parent company Reed Elsevier) recently reported that by the end of 2008, 10.3 percent of the 59.1 million broadband users in the US will use IP telephony.
In related Vonage news, the company announced that it landed another retail partner, office superstore Staples, which will carry both of the Linksys VoIP products in all of its nearly 1,200 stores on online.
The retailer is Vonage’s first national office supply chain partner.
