ZyXEL used this week's Voice over IP (VoIP) for business 07 conference at London's Olympia to unveil a new quad-band smartphone aimed at helping smaller businesses take advantage of the benefits up for grabs from fixed/mobile convergence (FMC).
The V660 Smartphone, which comes with built-in virtual private network (VPN) support, will be available in the third quarter of this year and will give consumers and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) greater freedom of choice in how they communicate with friends and colleagues.
As well as fixed or mobile call functionality through a single device, users can also access e-mail, the internet and instant messaging services using the Windows Mobile Edition 5.0-powered V660.
Calls are routed based on network availability to ensure quality of service and cost effectiveness.
The phone is bundled with Skype software has a 1.9-inch display and 2.0 mega pixel camera, in addition to a video and MP3 player, 64mb of on-board memory and a MicroSD expandable memory slot.
Standard encryption methods including WPA/WPA2/TLS are used to ensure data integrity.
In addition to coming with a range of Microsoft applications out-of-the-box, the device supports Microsoft Office Mobile so that users can access tools like Excel, PowerPoint and Word on the move.
"The growing army of mobile workers is placing businesses under increasing pressure to provide a single device to replace the many that currently occupy our bags and pockets," said Rob Mackinnon, VoIP product manager at ZyXEL.
"Whilst most technical innovation creates as many problems as it solves, the V660 combines a myriad of devices and ensures that SMBs and consumers alike always have instant access to the world's sources of information and entertainment."
Author: Maggie Holland
VoIP for Business: ZyXEL launches smartphone for SMEs