Las Vegas — China-based Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) equipment manufacturer and service provider AICO Systems announced that it is taking aim at the U.S. retail market with four new VoIP phones and services under its TalkPro brand.
The company, which also provides VoIP phones and service on an OEM and private label basis, is courting U.S. retailers with its new USB and broadband modem phones, said Stanley Ma, chief operating officer, AICO Systems.
The new corded phones are plug-and-play and can offer VoIP calling to customers who have both dial-up and broadband Internet connections. There will be two lines of phones: the U series is USB-based, plugs into a computer and is for users with dial-up Internet access. It requires the computer to be on to make or receive calls. The U-120 and the U-130 will sell for a suggested $110.
The second series of phones plug directly into a broadband modem and don’t require the computer to be on to send and receive calls. The R-130 will have a suggested retail price of $189.
All billing and account management is done online. Under its service plan, TalkPro users can make free calls to other TalkPro customers and follow a pre-paid scheme for all local and national calls.
According to Ma, because AICO owns its VoIP network and manufacturers its own equipment, it is uniquely positioned to take on other VoIP competitors such as Vonage, that don’t make their own end-user equipment.
