Verizon (News - Alert) Business will host a voice-over-Internet-protocol service for Maxxium's international headquarters in the Netherlands. The service will help Maxxium, a global premium spirits and wine distribution company, to leverage the functionality, flexibility and cost efficiencies of outsourced VoIP communications to meet its business goals in the highly competitive and rapidly changing global beverages marketplace.

 

The deployment of Verizon Hosted IP Centrex at Maxxium's international headquarters in the Netherlands represents a further step in the distribution company’s strategy to move to an IP-based unified communications architecture. In 2001, Maxxium picked Verizon Business (News - Alert) to provide a Private IP network connecting the company’s 2,300 employees in 50 offices spread over 35 countries. Maxxium has since deployed Verizon Direct Voice, Verizon Internet Dedicated, Verizon Conferencing and Verizon Colocation as part of a comprehensive, integrated communications solution.

 

In January this year, Maxxium consolidated its international headquarters and its local Dutch office into a single building in Amstelveen. This prompted the company to reconsider its existing voice communications infrastructure. Maxxium decided to opt for a fully outsourced, IP-based voice communications infrastructure, built on Verizon Hosted IP Centrex instead of implementing a traditional in-house PBX.

 

Bart van den Heuvel, IT operations manager at Maxxium said that a cost-efficient and scalable IT infrastructure is crucial for any business operating globally and in highly dynamic marketplaces -- and externally managed IT services are an important component to achieve this.

 

van den Heuvel points out that a key advantage of Hosted IP Centrex for them is that no capital expenditure is required, only operational cost; associated costs such as separate cabling for voice systems disappear.

 

“Best of all, we don't have to even think about system maintenance, since we are leaving that to the experts within Verizon Business. Verizon Business convinced us that they can provide the performance and uptime that we need, without us ever having to worry about it,” he said in a statement.

 

Jeff Rallet, regional vice president, Verizon Business, said that Maxxium is one of their key Hosted IP Centrex customers in the Netherlands, and their deployment perfectly illustrates how a fully hosted VoIP solution can take away much of the pain and cost of installing and running on-premises telephony systems. He emphasized that the Verizon VoIP portfolio can help companies achieve significant efficiency wins in tandem with improving business flexibility.

 

Van den Heuvel further explained that their aim has always been to rely on a set of carefully selected, globally capable vendors, as exemplified by companies such as Verizon Business. He added that the company has proven to be a highly reliable partner over the years, and so the decision to entrust it with their headquarters’ voice infrastructure, was simple.