International Business Machines Corp and Cisco Systems Inc said they will launch a joint services and product offering aimed at corporations who buy telephone services over the Internet.
IBM said it would jointly market its consulting services with Cisco's voice, video and conference solutions because it wants to help develop the nascent market.
Calls made using voice over Internet protocol, or VOIP, are converted to data and carried over data networks, making them less expensive than traditional phone services, which use a single dedicated line for each call.
While VOIP has been around for years, recent advancements in network technology have made it an attractive alternative to regular phone services for a growing number of customers.