Iristel
Encyclopedia
Iristel Inc. is a Canadian provider of Voice over Internet Protocol services, and is designated as a Competitive local exchange carrier
. The company was founded in 1999, and is headquartered in Markham, Ontario
, Canada
.
Iristel has 20 points of presence
around the globe, and its network operations center
is in Bucharest
, Romania
. It has local service coverage areas across Canada, including cities in Alberta
, British Columbia
, Manitoba
, Newfoundland and Labrador
, Nova Scotia
, Ontario
, and Quebec
.
Iristel’s offerings include: Residential and Business Voice, Data
& Fax
Solutions; Virtual Phone Numbers; Hosted PBX and Wholesale
SIP
Trunking Services; and, Wireless
IP Services
.
Its clients include: residential and business customers; Incumbent local exchange carrier
s; and CLECs with Canadian local access requirements.
The company was granted a carrier license by the Canadian Radio-Television Commission
in 2000. Today, Iristel also has domestic operator licenses in Algeria
, Dominica
and Romania
with an additional 20 points of presence throughout the world.
Iristel launched its High Definition (HD) VoIP Telephone Service in February 2007.
By May 2007, the company added Domestic and Global SIP Trunking and Hosted PBX to its portfolio of Enterprise VoIP Solutions.
In December 2007, Iristel began to offer dual mode Wi-Fi
-enabled GSM mobile phones to Canadian customers.
In June 2008, Iristel began offering Iristel IP Mobility, a wireless IP service that combines VoIP over Wi-Fi/GSM, Single Number Reach and Fixed Mobile Convergence. VoIP industry pundits describe Iristel IP Mobility as a “harbinger of things to come”.
Iristel IP Mobility provides users with a single point of contact for fixed, mobile and Wi-Fi calls. Users have on single phone number for both inbound and outbound calling across multiple devices. They can also switch calls back and forth between the mobile network and the VoIP network without interruption to help lower cellular charges. Settings may be configured by users through an online portal.
Iristel has three corporate divisions: Retail
Solutions, Enterprise
Solutions and Wholesale
Services.
Its Retail Solutions are used by both residential and business clients, and include: Voice Solutions (digital telephone service, PC phone service and long distance calling plans), Internet Services (high-speed DSL Internet), Voice and Data Bundles (digital telephone and Internet services), Virtual Fax Services (Internet fax ), Hardware Solutions (VoIP gateways and IP phones), Wireless IP Services (Iristel IP Mobility), Virtual phone numbers.
Enterprise Services offered by Iristel include: Hosted PBX, VoIP Virtual Private Network
, Hosted Auto Attendant
.
The company’s Wholesale Services include: SIP Trunking, Inbound DID
.
The Iristel network features international gateway switches in Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Paris
, France
, and London
, U.K., with subsidiary offices in Romania; a 24x7-monitored Network Operations Centre; and systems to monitor/manage TDM
and IP telephony networks.
Competitive local exchange carrier
A competitive local exchange carrier , in the United States, is a telecommunications provider company competing with other, already established carriers ....
. The company was founded in 1999, and is headquartered in Markham, Ontario
Markham, Ontario
Markham is a town in the Regional Municipality of York, located within the Greater Toronto Area of Southern Ontario, Canada. The population was 261,573 at the 2006 Canadian census...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
.
Iristel has 20 points of presence
Point of presence
A point of presence is an artificial demarcation point or interface point between communications entities. It may include a meet-me-room.In the US, this term became important during the court-ordered breakup of the Bell Telephone system...
around the globe, and its network operations center
Network Operations Center
A network operations center is one or more locations from which control is exercised over a computer, television broadcast, or telecommunications network....
is in Bucharest
Bucharest
Bucharest is the capital municipality, cultural, industrial, and financial centre of Romania. It is the largest city in Romania, located in the southeast of the country, at , and lies on the banks of the Dâmbovița River....
, Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
. It has local service coverage areas across Canada, including cities in Alberta
Alberta
Alberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...
, British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
, Manitoba
Manitoba
Manitoba is a Canadian prairie province with an area of . The province has over 110,000 lakes and has a largely continental climate because of its flat topography. Agriculture, mostly concentrated in the fertile southern and western parts of the province, is vital to the province's economy; other...
, Newfoundland and Labrador
Newfoundland and Labrador
Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada. Situated in the country's Atlantic region, it incorporates the island of Newfoundland and mainland Labrador with a combined area of . As of April 2011, the province's estimated population is 508,400...
, Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...
, Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
, and Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
.
Iristel’s offerings include: Residential and Business Voice, Data
Data (computing)
In computer science, data is information in a form suitable for use with a computer. Data is often distinguished from programs. A program is a sequence of instructions that detail a task for the computer to perform...
& Fax
Fax
Fax , sometimes called telecopying, is the telephonic transmission of scanned printed material , normally to a telephone number connected to a printer or other output device...
Solutions; Virtual Phone Numbers; Hosted PBX and Wholesale
Wholesale
Wholesaling, jobbing, or distributing is defined as the sale of goods or merchandise to retailers, to industrial, commercial, institutional, or other professional business users, or to other wholesalers and related subordinated services...
SIP
Session Initiation Protocol
The Session Initiation Protocol is an IETF-defined signaling protocol widely used for controlling communication sessions such as voice and video calls over Internet Protocol . The protocol can be used for creating, modifying and terminating two-party or multiparty sessions...
Trunking Services; and, Wireless
Wireless
Wireless telecommunications is the transfer of information between two or more points that are not physically connected. Distances can be short, such as a few meters for television remote control, or as far as thousands or even millions of kilometers for deep-space radio communications...
IP Services
Internet Protocol
The Internet Protocol is the principal communications protocol used for relaying datagrams across an internetwork using the Internet Protocol Suite...
.
Its clients include: residential and business customers; Incumbent local exchange carrier
Incumbent local exchange carrier
An ILEC, short for incumbent local exchange carrier, is a local telephone company in the United States that was in existence at the time of the breakup of AT&T into the Regional Bell Operating Companies , also known as the "Baby Bells." The ILEC is the former Bell System or Independent Telephone...
s; and CLECs with Canadian local access requirements.
Background
Iristel was established in 1999 when founder Samer Bishay set up a VoIP technology business to address the needs of under-served African markets.The company was granted a carrier license by the Canadian Radio-Television Commission
Canadian Radio-Television Commission
The Canadian Radio-Television Commission came into being as a result of federal government legislation enacted in 1967 and coming into force in 1968...
in 2000. Today, Iristel also has domestic operator licenses in Algeria
Algeria
Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...
, Dominica
Dominica
Dominica , officially the Commonwealth of Dominica, is an island nation in the Lesser Antilles region of the Caribbean Sea, south-southeast of Guadeloupe and northwest of Martinique. Its size is and the highest point in the country is Morne Diablotins, which has an elevation of . The Commonwealth...
and Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
with an additional 20 points of presence throughout the world.
Iristel launched its High Definition (HD) VoIP Telephone Service in February 2007.
By May 2007, the company added Domestic and Global SIP Trunking and Hosted PBX to its portfolio of Enterprise VoIP Solutions.
In December 2007, Iristel began to offer dual mode Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi or Wifi, is a mechanism for wirelessly connecting electronic devices. A device enabled with Wi-Fi, such as a personal computer, video game console, smartphone, or digital audio player, can connect to the Internet via a wireless network access point. An access point has a range of about 20...
-enabled GSM mobile phones to Canadian customers.
In June 2008, Iristel began offering Iristel IP Mobility, a wireless IP service that combines VoIP over Wi-Fi/GSM, Single Number Reach and Fixed Mobile Convergence. VoIP industry pundits describe Iristel IP Mobility as a “harbinger of things to come”.
Iristel IP Mobility provides users with a single point of contact for fixed, mobile and Wi-Fi calls. Users have on single phone number for both inbound and outbound calling across multiple devices. They can also switch calls back and forth between the mobile network and the VoIP network without interruption to help lower cellular charges. Settings may be configured by users through an online portal.
Services
Iristel has three corporate divisions: Retail
Retail
Retail consists of the sale of physical goods or merchandise from a fixed location, such as a department store, boutique or kiosk, or by mail, in small or individual lots for direct consumption by the purchaser. Retailing may include subordinated services, such as delivery. Purchasers may be...
Solutions, Enterprise
Business
A business is an organization engaged in the trade of goods, services, or both to consumers. Businesses are predominant in capitalist economies, where most of them are privately owned and administered to earn profit to increase the wealth of their owners. Businesses may also be not-for-profit...
Solutions and Wholesale
Wholesale
Wholesaling, jobbing, or distributing is defined as the sale of goods or merchandise to retailers, to industrial, commercial, institutional, or other professional business users, or to other wholesalers and related subordinated services...
Services.
Its Retail Solutions are used by both residential and business clients, and include: Voice Solutions (digital telephone service, PC phone service and long distance calling plans), Internet Services (high-speed DSL Internet), Voice and Data Bundles (digital telephone and Internet services), Virtual Fax Services (Internet fax ), Hardware Solutions (VoIP gateways and IP phones), Wireless IP Services (Iristel IP Mobility), Virtual phone numbers.
Enterprise Services offered by Iristel include: Hosted PBX, VoIP Virtual Private Network
Virtual private network
A virtual private network is a network that uses primarily public telecommunication infrastructure, such as the Internet, to provide remote offices or traveling users access to a central organizational network....
, Hosted Auto Attendant
Automated attendant
In telephony, an automated attendant allows callers to be automatically transferred to an extension without the intervention of an operator/receptionist). Many AAs will also offer a simple menu system...
.
The company’s Wholesale Services include: SIP Trunking, Inbound DID
Direct Inward Dialing
Direct inward dialing , also called direct dial-in in Europe and Oceania, is a feature offered by telephone companies for use with their customers' private branch exchange systems...
.
Network
As a fully licensed CLEC, Iristel does not resell other operator’s services. The company has its own VoIP network infrastructure.The Iristel network features international gateway switches in Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, and London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, U.K., with subsidiary offices in Romania; a 24x7-monitored Network Operations Centre; and systems to monitor/manage TDM
Time-division multiplexing
Time-division multiplexing is a type of digital multiplexing in which two or more bit streams or signals are transferred apparently simultaneously as sub-channels in one communication channel, but are physically taking turns on the channel. The time domain is divided into several recurrent...
and IP telephony networks.
See also
- Voice over Internet Protocol
- List of Canadian telephone companies
- Freephoneline.caFreephoneline.caFreephoneline.ca is a residential VoIP service provided by Fibernetics Corporation, a Canadian company who owns Wordline, 295.ca, and Vonix. Fibernetics Corp. is also a Competitive local exchange carrier....