Cisco® and Personeta have announced that the two companies are delivering a fixed-mobile converged voice solution to GLOBUL, the fastest-growing mobile operator in Bulgaria. The solution supports GLOBUL's innovative mobile virtual private network (mVPN) and Office Zone services, the first integrated mobile and fixed-line telecommunications offering of its kind in the country. mVPN and Office Zone are available to companies of all sizes that want a state-of-the-art communications network to help increase productivity and save costs, while making it easier and more convenient for end users.

"Companies in Bulgaria are looking for a converged service that supports single-number reach for employees, whilst optimizing their communication infrastructure and costs. The offering, based on a solution from Personeta and Cisco, will also serve as the foundation for innovative value-added services for our business customers," said Stefan Kolev, director of switching and services at GLOBUL. "With the introduction of GLOBUL's renewed mVPN and Office Zone services, we expect to add more firms to our growing roster of business clients," he added.

The mVPN service allows companies to create a single virtual private network for a fleet of mobile phones and corporate desk phones, while the Office Zone service lets users assign a fixed-line number to a mobile phone and make calls with preferential rates within the company premises. Additionally, users can access one mailbox for messages from both mobile and fixed networks. "Bulgarian businesses can now realize the benefits of mobile and fixed-line phones working together effectively to enable higher productivity for employees while saving costs," said Kaan Terzioglu, vice president Central and Eastern Europe at Cisco. "The commercialization of both services by GLOBUL illustrates the exceptional business value delivered by the solution from Cisco and Personeta," Terzioglu added.

"The mVPN and Office Zone services will help GLOBUL gain a competitive edge in a fast-moving market," said Bibi Rosenbach, co-founder, president and chief executive officer of Personeta. "The successful launch highlights the robustness and maturity of the Mobile Office solution."

The Mobile Office solution allows service providers to treat any combination of communication devices as a single entity with access to a rich set of features, independent of the underlying infrastructure. Examples of services supported by Mobile Office include the extension of existing private branch exchange (PBX) features to traditional, IP and mobile handsets, the ability to integrate communications functionality with existing PBXs, and the support of a single unified dialing plan across various types of customer premise equipment (CPE). These services can be accessed over any network and managed through intuitive Web-based interfaces.