DALLAS--One service provider made lemonade out of service interval lemons, and another figured out a way to make fixed/mobile convergence real for its customers. All six winners of the first annual Telephony Innovation awards are finding new ways to solve customer problems.

The awards, presented at the Telephony LIVE Telecom Summit last week, recognized this innovation at a time when service providers globally are trying to differentiate their offerings in a highly competitive landscape. Two winners came from outside the U.S. – Bell Canada and BT. Two others – Verizon and XO Communications – tied for the Most Innovative Service for Small Business award.

The full roster of award winners is as follows:

• Most Innovative Customer Service: Bell Canada Accelerated Installation Service
• Most Innovative Technology Deployment: LightEdge Solutions
• Most Innovative Consumer Service: T-Mobile
• Most Innovative Small to Mid-sized Business Service: (Tie) XO Communications On-Demand Services and Verizon Merchant Services Powered by Chase Paymentech
• Most Innovative Enterprise Service: BT INS Digital Surveillance Services

Bell Canada’s AIS grew out of concern for the time intervals in turning up business services. The company developed a premium installation service for which business customers are willing to pay. It offers an alternative to customers in need of better due dates, using the same concepts used in postal or courier services for overnight shipping and delivery, or in retail for express lines. Business customers can sign up to get AIS for any new service, no matter how complex. With the introduction of this service, Bell Canada was able to reduce the amount of problem installations that require escalation. That translated into lower operating expenses and increased revenues by charging for priority service delivery.

LightEdge Solutions offers managed voice, data and IT services over an MPLS network. To extend the reach of those services, the company deployed Ethernet-over-copper technology from Actelis Networks so that it could offer bandwidth above standard T-1s without having to extend fiber all the way to the business. This competitive service provider is making these managed services available to small to mid-sized businesses in the Midwest and Southwest. The judges felt LightEdge went beyond the standard Ethernet offering to including managed services that small businesses can use.

HotSpot@Home uses Universal Mobile Access technology from Kineto Wireless and specially designed dual-mode handsets to allow consumers to transfer wireless calls seamlessly to any Wi-Fi network. By using a broadband-connected Wi-Fi router at home, consumers not only save wireless minutes, but also get improved wireless reception. Two handsets are available now -- the Nokia 6086 and Samsung t409 -- and 10 more are coming onto the market this year. The service works on any Wi-Fi network. T-Mobile offers free and unlimited U.S. minutes when calls are place or received in the consumers’ home or office, or within range of any of the 8500 T-Mobile hotspots.

XO Communications On-Demand Services XO Communications is now offering on-demand collaboration, mobility and security software applications for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), bundled with its traditional telco services. Teaming with Jamcracker Service Delivery Network, XO offers Arsenal Digital Solutions online desktop backup services, BlackBerry hosted services, McAfee Total Protection for Small Business, Microsoft Exchange e-mail, and Microsoft SharePoint collaboration server and plans to add more.

Verizon Merchant Services Powered by Chase Paymentech teamed with Chase Paymentech to create Verizon Merchant Services (VMS), which combines broadband services with payment processing to give small businesses productivity gains and the kind discounts on card payment processing solutions that larger enterprises get. By replacing the dial-up modems that more than 90% of small businesses use to process credit card transactions today with broadband technology, Verizon enables the small business customer to process credit card transactions in 2-4 seconds rather than 20-30 seconds. In addition, Verizon has included wireless capabilities that will allow customers to process payments wirelessly within their business, or when working remotely at the customer premise. Verizon allows small businesses to gain a competitive edge when they minimize costs and streamline their processes.

BT INS Digital Surveillance Services guide organizations through every phase of design, planning, implementation and operation of digital surveillance solutions. Each solution is customized based on the client’s current and future security needs, existing surveillance, situational analysis, and business drivers. The service takes into account the client’s network infrastructure, storage capabilities, server capacity, application functionality, business needs, operational imperatives, as well as technical, organizational & logistical issues.

The awards were assembled from more than 80 nominations made through an automated process, powered by the mBLAST customer relationship management system. Judges included Telephony editors and guest judges Cindy Whelan, senior analyst with Current Analysis and Teresa Mastrangelo, Principal Analyst and Director of Research, with Windsor Oaks Group and broadbandtrends.com.