Session initiation protocol (SIP) trunking is one of the biggest new technologies to emerge lately. It's catching on with a lot of businesses out there as a way to improve communications and even help the bottom line. With so many new developments landing, it's a good idea to step back and take stock of all the news arriving with our Week in Review coverage!

First we had a look at Mitel (News - Alert)'s move to acquire Mavenir Systems, in a deal valued at around $560 million. Reports suggest that the move was made in order to take advantage of the substantial number of synergies between the two firms, as Mitel focuses on enterprise and cloud communications while Mavenir focuses on the LTE (News - Alert) market.

Next came word from Alteva, which joined up with Level 3 Communications to form a new partnership focused on providing unified communications (UC) solutions for enterprises. There's already been some interest, according to reports, as Focus Pointe Global turned to the partnership as its next supplier and carrier. Focus Pointe Global recently referred to the duo as having “a level of professionalism and reliability we had been missing.”

Zultys (News - Alert) brought in the next bit of news, bringing out a new sales model for channel partners handling the MX virtual system. Under the terms of the new model, the channel partner acts as a reseller, offering not only the sale but also after-sales support to the end user, with Zultys handling hosting and billing, as well as the services in question. This adds to a series of other models the company uses, providing a degree of versatility in the field that makes it a welcome partner for several businesses.

Then we had a look at Vodafone, who got together with Secusmart (News - Alert) to develop a new breed of call encryption app known as the Vodafone Secure Call app. Vodafone Secure Call uses Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) 128-bit encryption, which is impressive by most any standard. With such systems in place, according to Vodafone chief customer officer Philip Lacor, companies of all sizes will have access to call security that's top-notch, while at the same time easy to use.

Finally, we had a look at the Voxox Cloud Phone system, now in white-label status and available for not only mobile carriers, but also for original equipment manufacturers for rebranding as needed. Cloud Phone (News - Alert) is a business phone solution with a particular focus on the smartphone, and Voxox recently discovered that a many users are turning to consumer apps for business purposes. Sensing an opportunity, Voxox brought out a powerful new tool geared toward the business user, one that would hopefully recover some of that ground.

That was the week in SIP trunking, and with so many developments going on, it's good that we had a chance to run down the high points in the field. Be sure to join us here next week for the very latest, as well as every weekend for our Week in Review coverage!