Verizon Adds Collaboration Tools to One Talk

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Verizon is adding new collaboration tools to its business communications portfolio.

Verizon’s Frank Ciccone

The telecommunications provider announced multiple changes to One Talk, its mobile solution that incorporating business phone features. Verizon has added workspace collaboration to One Talk, which will allow users to do live meetings group chats, storage and task management from their mobile devices. The company says employees, customers and suppliers can bridge geographical gaps with Android or iOS apps.

“Employees need to rapidly and securely connect to corporate resources and to customers and suppliers from virtually anywhere and from a multitude of devices,” said Frank Ciccone, executive director of advanced solutions for Verizon Enterprise Solutions. “This isn’t ‘nice to have; it’s ‘must have.’ In fact, year-over-year revenue growth of our collaboration portfolio is up 47 percent due to increasing customer demand for mobile collaboration apps and tools across a number of industries, including manufacturing, health care, travel and retail to name a few.”

The enhancements also help multi-branch businesses with extension dialing and call queuing. Verizon says customizable policy management incentivizes customers to “replace remote phone systems with cost-effective, mobile-first solutions.” One Talk can instantaneously migrate calls from One Talk desk phones to mobile devices on Verizon’s network. Verizon launched One Talk a little over a year ago.

The new capabilities are now available, and partners can access them. A statement from Verizon to Channel Partners says that “the new One Talk capabilities will expand the portfolios of our partners and allow them to sell to more types of customers.”

“These tools help streamline communications, accelerate productivity and deliver satisfying customer experiences in an increasingly global and digital economy,” the company wrote in its announcement.

The main enterprise features of One Talk do not cost additional money, but Verizon says users must pay a monthly rate to add collaboration applications.

The business communications announcement comes as Verizon says it will grandfather out four legacy services in six East Coast states, citing low subscriptions and high costs.