VoSKY VAR Calimar installs PBX-to-Skype gateway to let hundreds of yachting team members and staff make low-cost calls abroad during the Galway stopover of the world-famous yacht race

SUNNYVALE, Calif., May 5 /PRNewswire/ -- The Galway Volvo Ocean Race will use VoSKY's Exchange gateway to enable race team members and staff to make low-cost calls abroad via Skype during the stopover of the world's premier yacht race from 23 May to 06 June 2009.

The VoSKY Exchange Pro VIT1/E1 gateway, which has been installed and configured by VoSKY premier partner (VPP) Calimar, will be used by Galway stopover event organisers Let's Do It Galway for the duration of the event. Calimar has set up 118 voice points to cater for the hundreds of long-distance calls, which will be made from the event offices, the media centre and the race village where the teams will stay during the two weeks.

Lets Do It Galway will use VoSKY's VIT1/E1 gateway, which enables medium to large sized organisations to take advantage of calls over the Internet using Skype to benefit from cost savings of up to 90% over traditional telephony.

"Derrick May, CEO for Calimar, said: "The Volvo Ocean Race is one of the biggest sporting events to come to Ireland so we wanted to contribute and get involved as much as possible. As the Galway stopover event organisers, Let's Do It Galway, is a not-for-profit organisation we offered to project manage the telecoms infrastructure during the event for free.

"During the two-week stopover hundreds of yacht team members, supporting staff and media will need to make international calls, so Let's Do It Galway required a robust and reliable voice system which would not only be able to deliver high-quality voice calls, but would have the capacity to cope with the high volume of calls that will be made.

"Furthermore being not-for-profit, Let's Do It Galway needed a cost-effective solution; VoSKY's T1/E1 Exchange is the perfect solution to all these requirements as it will keep communications costs for the organisers low and will be able to support up to 30 concurrent Skype calls. With such a high profile event it's imperative that things run smoothly; there is no doubt that the VoSKY Exchange will more than meet these expectations."

Neil Carney, Operations Director, Galway Volvo Ocean Race, stated, "As organisers of the biggest sporting event and festival in Ireland during 2009, Let's Do It Galway is delighted with the support and services of Callimar and their Vosky communications systems which will enable us to deliver a best in class service to the visiting teams, media and support personnel to the Volvo Ocean Race."

David Tang, VP of global marketing for VoSKY, said: "The VoSKY gateways not only enable organisations and businesses to take advantage of the huge cost saving benefits of Skype, but ensure Skype's functionalities are correctly managed; making them work as effectively as possible for a business without a complex or expensive infrastructure upgrade.

"By working closely with Calimar we have established a mutually beneficial partnership and their involvement in the Galway Volvo Ocean Race is enabling us to reach a wider audience and demonstrate the capabilities of our gateways. We are looking forward to being part of such a prestigious event."

"Skype's goal is to save organisations time and money thus enabling them to stay ahead in these cost conscious times," said Ian Robin, Head of Sales and Marketing for Skype for Business. "This is a great example of how Skype and its partners are able to create a valuable solution for a unique application.

"The Galway stopover promises to be action packed and we are pleased that Callimar have chosen to include Skype as part of their communications solution for the hundreds of staff, team members and press that will be attending this event."

The VoSKY Exchange Pro VIT1/E1 seamlessly integrates with existing PBXs with T1 or E1 digital interfaces, allowing organisations to take advantage of low-cost calls over the internet without replacing their existing network infrastructure. With a VoSKY Exchange gateway, employees can make and receive Skype calls from their regular office phone - no Skype software, computers, or headsets are required. The stand-alone, 1U rack-mountable appliance is easy for telecom/IT managers to configure and manage.

VoSKY's latest gateway can support up to 30 concurrent Skype calls using E1 ISDN PRI or up to 23 calls with T1 ISDN PRI, providing scalable performance for enterprise applications.

The VIT1/E1 gateway was installed in a few weeks and as part of the voice and data deployment Calimar is also working with another vendor to supply the fibre and install a primary rate system to use for all local and national calls.

The Volvo Ocean Race is a nine-month long event, which started in Alicante, Spain in October 2008. The teams will sail over 37,000 nautical miles, finishing in St Petersburg on June 25th 2009. Over 200,000 people are expected to visit the Galway Volvo Ocean Race.

About VoSKY

Based in the heart of Silicon Valley, VoSKY is the global leader in empowering businesses to leverage Skype, the world's largest VoIP community. The company's proven, enterprise-grade solutions create new opportunities for small-to-medium size businesses (SMBs) and enterprises to reduce communications costs and improve productivity. VoSKY Exchange, the company's flagship product, is an award-winning PBX-to-Skype application gateway that seamlessly integrates a company's phone system with Skype. This plug-and-play platform is compatible with any existing TDM or IP PBX phone system.

VoSKY is a wholly owned subsidiary of Actiontec Electronics. In addition to its headquarters in Sunnyvale, CA, VoSKY maintains branch offices in Colorado Springs, CO; Basingstoke, United Kingdom; Beijing, China; Bogota, Colombia; Shanghai, China; and Taipei, Taiwan. For more information please visit the VoSKY website at www.vosky.com.

SOURCE VoSKY