VoIP managed-service provider Whaleback Systems now supports larger business customers and can back up access lines to keep phone service alive if one connection fails.

Called Redundant Array of Independent Links (RAIL), the new backup feature gives customers two options for more reliable service.

Level 1 RAIL lets customers of the provider’s CrystalBlue service use their own IP lines -- such as their Internet connections -- as an alternate route for VoIP traffic in and out of their offices. Whaleback had been installing just a single, dedicated broadband IP connection such as DSL for its VoIP service.

With Level 1 RAIL, if the dedicated link put in by Whaleback fails, voice traffic will fail over to the business’s data line, providing some voice connectivity even if the line has a lower quality of service.

Level 2 RAIL uses a second dedicated line installed by Whaleback for redundancy or for additional bandwidth to handle more simultaneous calls. RAIL calls for installing a separate router in the office to direct traffic as instructed by the IP PBX installed by Whaleback as part of its phone service.

This new feature enables the company to sell services to larger businesses. Previously, the company could support as many as 25 phones and now can support as many as 150, the company says.

Whaleback is also announcing compatibility with three more Polycom phones, the 320 phone (which costs $165), the 330 ($195) and the 550, which has four lines, and costs $330. The 550 also includes high-definition sound supported by a G.722 codec.

The company also has introduced a new fee for common-area phones. Rather than charging a full $49.95 per month for phones in conference rooms, lobbies and kitchens, it charges $9.95 per month.

Whaleback has a less-expensive option for phones used by more than one employee on different shifts. Rather than paying for two extensions, customers with such employees can pay an extra $10 per month for the ability to reprogram the phone to accept a different password, set up separate voice mail accounts and voice messages.