Bahrain, located near the western shores of the Persian Gulf, has managed to become ranked number one in market freedom out of all other nations in the Middle East. This relates largely to its growth over the past decade, as well as its tendency to embrace alternative industries. As such, the island country has turned to advanced solutions, such as virtual PBX (News - Alert) to keep its telecommunications ahead of the game as well.

Lightspeed Communications, a subsidiary of Orange-France Telecom (News - Alert) Group, has become a major player in meeting Bahrain's needs for advanced telecommunications. In fact, the company was the first alternative fixed-line telecommunications operator in the country as well as the first provider of dual-play services.

Meanwhile, PortaOne's (News - Alert) PortaSwitch softswitch/billing platform provides the heart of Bahrain's infrastructure.

"PortaSwitch is a great all-in-one solution," said Alain Groleau, Lightspeed Communications Business Development Director, in a statement. "Not only does it give us a comprehensive, flexible voice implementation that meets the requirements of different classes of customers, but also it lets us deliver additional high-end services that add value and profit."

PortaSwitch is a software-based communication services and subscriber management solution that enables the delivery of a wide range of business models both quickly and flexibly. The platform is comprised of a real-time billing system, class 4 and 5 SIP softswitches and application servers. Together, these components deliver converged billing and provisioning, SIP call control, unified messaging, virtual PBX, IVRs and much more.

PortaSwitch is easy to configure, while frequent upgrades enable service providers like Lightspeed to keep up with current technologies and system capabilities. The platform has allowed Lightspeed to host and maintain a number of value-added services including SIP Centrex services and fax-over-IP capabilities.

All of these services offered by Lightspeed offer great value. In particular, virtual PBX offers reduced costs, as well as improved communication quality among employees and when dealing with customers, increasing customer satisfaction and improving overall business operations.