Canadian hosted PBX (News - Alert) provider, Versature, announced it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire the phone service business of Octopus IP Communications. With this acquisition, Versature will increase its subscriber base by 20 percent, company officials said. Versature's customer base consists of over 300 businesses from across the country.

Versature announced it has achieved 100 percent year-over-year subscriber growth for its Hosted PBX Business services. With the addition of Octopus IP client base, the company will further accelerate this growth, company officials added.

Octopus IP operates internationally with business interests in many different fields and domains.

In a press release, Karl Gretton, president of Octopus IP Communications, said, “At this time, we felt that it was in the best interests of our customer base that they be transitioned to a company whose sole focus was Hosted PBX and VoIP for Business.”

Following the acquisition, Octopus IP customers get access to some exciting new features such as call queues, automated call distribution, smartphone (iPhone, Android (News - Alert)) integration and agent login/logout, which were not available to them in the past, according to Versature officials.

“We are very pleased to have completed this acquisition,” said Paul Emond, president and CEO, in a statement. “The customer base, the hardware in use, and the services being offered were a great fit.”

“This opportunity presented itself at a very opportune time in our growth curve, and we expect to further accelerate subscriber activations with future acquisitions as they present themselves,” Emond added.

Company officials said Versature is an excellent example of the good-news telecom story that is percolating in Ottawa, somewhat overshadowed by the break-up of our local fallen giant, Nortel (News - Alert).

The company thinks that surviving and thriving in the Telcom2.0 world requires a greater focus on computer networking expertise as the industry transitions to a more network-centric model. “Versature is one of many local firms that are well positioned in that regard.”

In 2009, Versature integrated  a new IP business media phone into its flagship offering. With this announcement, Versature also became the first hosted provider in Canada to integrate the new VVX 1500 phone from Polycom (News - Alert).