Verizon Business' IP Networking Powers Thing5 Software-as-a-Service Offering

BASKING RIDGE, N.J. - Thing5, a leading provider of messaging-based software services to the hospitality industry, is leveraging Verizon Business' industry-leading voice-over-Internet-protocol (VoIP) and hosting services to offer voice and messaging services for hotel employees and guests.

Under an agreement with Verizon Business, Thing5 is providing its hosted platform via a software-as-a-service (SaaS) model to approximately 1,300 hotels, covering more than 275,000 phones.  Hospitality chains such as Extended Stay Hotels, La Quinta and the luxury boutique hotel collection LXR Luxury Resorts & Hotels outsource the provisioning, management and maintenance of voice and messaging platforms that serve corporate end-users and guests at each individual property. 

With the SaaS model, applications such as voice mail, automatic call distribution, audio conferencing, faxing and instant messaging are hosted by a vendor rather than the customer, and delivered as managed Internet protocol (IP) services over the Web, helping to control setup and operational costs.  Customers pay for the computing resources utilized, making the model highly attractive to the hospitality industry.

"The hospitality industry has a set of unique business characteristics and requirements," said Bill Faxon, managing director, Thing5.  "Working with Verizon Business, we have a flexible and reliable IP network over which we are able to provide our customers highly available voice and messaging platforms.  The IP networking capabilities delivered by Verizon Business enable Thing5 to help our hospitality clients control costs through our SaaS model."

Verizon Business provides the IP trunking that connects hotel properties to Thing5 data centers.  A newly available feature of Verizon Business IP trunking, Burstable Enterprise Shared Trunks (B.E.S.T.), enables on-demand sharing of under-utilized trunk capacity.  Verizon Business is the only major North American service provider to offer this VoIP capability that quickly shifts bandwidth from one location to another.

Thing5 also uses Verizon Business hosting to augment its own facilities, thereby enabling load balancing of traffic and providing redundancy to strengthen business continuity.

"The work we are doing with Thing5 underscores the transformative power of IP," said Stephen P. Young, senior vice president, corporate and government market sales, Verizon Business.  "Using the SaaS model, our IP services help Thing5 deliver services to hospitality clients with ease of management and low cost.  Our IP capabilities not only help power Thing5's business, they also enable its customers to operate more efficiently."

Verizon VoIP solutions enable high-quality voice communications in a converged network environment, leveraging Verizon Business' vast national and international footprint and a wide range of innovative features. Verizon Business is a leader in developing and delivering IP solutions helping large businesses and government agencies transition to VoIP on their own path and pace. The VoIP services also allow customers to use their existing infrastructure, enabling them to mix and match services, whether network or premises-based.

About Thing5
Thing5 L.L.C. is a provider of next-generation hosted voice solutions, including out- and in-bound calling, delivered on a highly scalable and geographically redundant platform.  The company's solutions are delivered as software-as-a-service (SaaS), offering better security and control, as well as expertise in telecommunications solutions.  Thing5 is currently serving over 1,400 locations, 300,000+ end-points (phones) and millions of calls per month.  For more information, visit www.thing5.com.

About Verizon Business
Verizon Business, a unit of Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ), operates the world's most connected public IP network and uses its industry-leading global-network capabilities to offer large-business and government customers an unmatched combination of security, reliability and speed.  The company integrates advanced IP communications and information technology (IT) products and services to deliver leading enterprise solutions including managed services, security, mobility, collaboration and professional services.  These solutions power innovation and enable the company's customers to do business better. For more information, visit www.verizonbusiness.com.

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