Florida Taps Verizon for Regional Network Services

Verizon Communications Inc. of New York has won a two-year, $19 million contract to provide voice communications services for six counties in west central Florida, the company announced July 10.

State offices, agencies and departments in the region will be linked using Verizon's advanced intelligent network platform that builds information-handling intelligence directly into the network architecture.

The contract will enable Florida agencies to consolidate multiple networks and adopt an enterprise network model with a common infrastructure used by all state agencies. The approach will provide faster, more accurate service to citizens from a number of agencies, company and state officials said.

The network platform is designed so that software providing key service features is loaded into central computer nodes located throughout the Verizon network. The software then distributes the capabilities across the entire state network, avoiding the application of software patches at every switch.

Among the features provided through the platform are enhanced call screening and forwarding capabilities, advanced billing functions and routing of calls placed through toll-free numbers.

The six counties served by the network platform are Hillsborough, Manatee, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk and Sarasota. This region includes the cities of Clearwater, Lakeland, Sarasota, St. Petersburg and Tampa.