The VoiceOne Communications unit of VoIP Inc. signed a pact with Google in September 2005, and Google began implementing services from the company the following month.
An item from VoIP’s latest SEC Form 8-K filing went mostly unnoticed while Google was making its earnings announcement for the fourth quarter. The company entered into a deal with VoIP Inc for voice over Internet Protocol services. Google later confirmed to a Dow Jones reporter that they were testing click-to-call advertising with VoIP Inc but gave no details.
VoIP Inc was likewise close-mouthed. Company founder Steven Ivester would not comment to Dow Jones about Google, only saying “We’ve been working with them for quite some time.” In 2006, his company expects to see some material revenue from the deal with Google, though.
Om Malik pointed to a fascinating September 2004 article at Light Reading that discussed the origins of the Florida-based company now working with Google:
What do you get when you mix a tea importer, a felon, and a hot new technology? Amazingly, a brand new public company that says it’s making a run at Vonage in the consumer VOIP space.
Ivester is no stranger to entrepreneurship: His previous businesses include All Weather Computers and 21st Century Computers. In 1985 he established a chain of automotive service centers called All State Auto Centers. He’s also got a criminal record. In 1982 and 1983, Ivester served more than 11 months for felony robbery, according to the Florida Department of Corrections.
Also, Malik theorized the Google-VoIP Inc deal could see Google connect its Google Talk service to the PSTN eventually. Likewise, blogger Mark Evans cited comments from VoIP Inc CTO Shawn Lewis:
CTO Shawn Lewis said one could read into what Google may be doing by looking at the services that VoIP offers to carriers, cablecos and CLECs. These include the ability to terminate and originate calls, phone numbers, 911 and 800 services, and unified messaging.
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David Utter is a staff writer for Murdok covering technology and business.
