KVH's TracPhone V11 + CommBox
...Business Class Service for its mini-VSAT Broadband(SM) network. Designed to meet the booming demand for maritime connectivity, KVH's new Business Class Service provides unrestricted, prioritized, multimegabit service with unfettered access to all Internet applications and protocols, including streaming media formats, popular Voice over IP (VoIP) services such as Skype™, and rich media websites. This premium quality service, traditionally only available with very expensive dedicated satellite capacity and used exclusively by high-end cruise ship or megayacht customers, is competitively priced with other shared maritime VSAT services, but delivers significantly faster service and a superior user experience.
KVH's new Unrestricted Rate Plans with Business Class Service address the same challenges that the tiered plans of the world's major cellular service providers address. Rather than block popular high-bandwidth services or limit access through deliberately reduced speeds, KVH's new transparent, usage-based rate plans provide a defined amount of data in a monthly package and give the customer the opportunity to buy more service at a reasonable price if the package threshold is exceeded during the month. Heavy users are free to consume as much bandwidth as they desire because they are paying for the additional service. Further, with these new plans, KVH dynamically monitors usage and can quickly add satellite capacity as required to stay ahead of customer demands.
To support its new Business Class Service, KVH has incorporated the features of its CommBox™ Ship/Shore Network Manager right into the integrated belowdecks unit of its new TracPhone® V7-IP and TracPhone V11 products, providing customers with the tools they need to manage this powerful service efficiently and control their airtime costs. This fully integrated solution provides the ability to set up distinct, firewalled networks for operations and crew use. On many vessels equipped with maritime VSAT service, crew use accounts for 85 to 90 percent of the total bandwidth consumed, so helping vessel owners manage the crew's Internet access is a key aspect of managing the onboard network. KVH also offers Internet cafe and VoIP calling card services to help the crew self-manage their use of the service. At the owner's discretion, industry-leading transmission optimization and onboard caching, least cost routing, and e-mail management are also available as part of the CommBox solution.
To ensure that fast, high-quality service is delivered to all KVH customers, the company has nearly completed a global network upgrade with the implementation of advanced Variable Coding, Spreading, and Modulation (VCSM) technology provided by ViaSat, Inc., (Nasdaq:VSAT), KVH's partner in the mini-VSAT Broadband network.