For today’s carriers, rapid deployment and seamless management of new services can be overwhelming tasks. Hoping to simplify these processes is AudioCodes, a provider of VoIP technologies and Voice Network products. The company has entered into an agreement with BroadSoft, Inc., a provider of VoIP application software, to provide pre-integrated access solutions for hosted VoIP applications.

AudioCodes (News - Alert) will join BroadSoft and a consortium of other customer premises equipment (CPE) and access equipment vendors to build solutions that integrate equipment with hosted applications to simplify the integration challenges service providers face when deploying new services.

As part of the program, BroadSoft’s (News - Alert) Premier Access Solution and AudioCodes engage in joint product development, marketing, sales and support of the BroadWorks VoIP application platform and AudioCodes media gateway platforms, collaborating with each other to validate components with each new product release. AudioCodes provides the ability to connect the BroadSoft application to existing enterprise PBX and/or analog phones and faxes, offering a high level of voice quality gateways.

“Deploying and managing today’s complex services pose ongoing challenges to carriers, especially at the point of access,” said Lior Moyal, vice president of marketing for the CPE Business Line, North America at AudioCodes. “BroadSoft’s Premier Access Solution program is a high-value proposition for service providers looking for quicker and smarter ways to meet customer needs and build revenue.”

In August, AudioCodes completed its acquisition of Netrake Corporation, a provider of Session Border Controllers (SBC) and Security Gateway (News - Alert) solutions. SBCs enable connectivity, policies and security for real-time sessions such as VoIP and video when traversing IP to IP networks. Security Gateways enable secure real-time sessions across wifi, broadband and wireless networks in Fixed Mobile Convergence (News - Alert) (FMC) deployments. Under the definitive agreement, announced on July 6, 2006, Netrake Corporation was acquired for a purchase price of $10 million, which was paid in cash at closing.

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Cindy Waxer is a Toronto-based freelance journalist specializing in business and technology. She has written for publications including TIME, Fortune Small Business, Business 2.0, Computerworld, Canadian Business, and Workforce Management. To see more of her articles, please visit Cindy Waxer’s columnist page.