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French VoIP provider ippi (News - Alert) will start providing all its subscribers free iNum numbers from Voxbone (News - Alert).

For those unaware, iNum stands for international number. It is a global phone number that is currently making use of the +883 global country code newly created by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). iNum (News - Alert) numbers provide a unique global e.164 area code for IP communications.

Unlike traditional phone numbers that are tied to a particular country or a city, iNum numbers do not have such limitations. So, a user can keep the iNum wherever in the world. Initially, iNum supports voice and SMS, but it will soon support more services.

ippi has 150,000 customers in 100 countries already. In addition to the customer’s regular phone number, ippi will expand the subscriber’s range of free calling to include communication with all other iNum users, anywhere in the world. The iNums can be reached by the iNum initiative’s network of local access numbers in 45 countries as well where not routed by a local carrier.

Stephane Haddad, CEO for ippi, said in a statement, “We love the innovative concept of iNum and are excited to provide our customers with numbers in the global area code for IP communications. With iNum numbers, our customers will be able to receive voice and SMS from their ippi accounts, ippi Softphones, and ippi mobile apps for Android (News - Alert) and iPhone, as well as support new IP communications services in the future.”

“We expect that ippi’s proactive assignment of iNums to each of its customers will encourage broader adoption of these global numbers, as well as help ippi attract more customers and offer new innovative services,” said Hugh Goldstein (News - Alert), director of iNum business development for Voxbone, in a statement. “Consumers and business owners appreciate that iNums are numbers designed to support the full range of IP communication capabilities.”

Brussels-based Voxbone provides local phone numbers to communications service providers and large businesses, over its own private intercontinental VoIP network. The all-IP architecture of the company’s core network facilitates customers to quickly implement new communications services.