Package will be offered to voice service providers such as call centers Level 3 Communications Inc. announced the commercial availability of a new voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP) service Tuesday that will allow toll-free long-distance calls across the U.S. and Canada.Level 3 is marketing its (3)VoIP Toll Free service as a wholesale package to voice service providers, such as call-center operators and conferencing companies.The new service complements Level 3’s (3)VoIP Marketplace local phone service, launched in September. The Marketplace service provided local VOIP phone service to 73 U.S. markets, said Shane Unfred, director of VOIP product management at Level 3. The new service allows telephone service carriers to manage the routing of calls made on the service, to either VOIP phones or to the public switched telephone network (PSTN). By using VOIP, voice providers can also save money on equipment and other costs associated with using the PSTN, Unfred said.“Our customers will save a tremendous amount of money, compared to a traditional toll-free offering,” he said. “(The service) offers them more flexibility in how they run their businesses.”Six carriers have already signed up for the new Level 3 VOIP service and have been testing it for up to 10 months. Tuesday’s press release from Level 3 announced the commercial availability of the new (3) VoIP Toll Free service. On Monday, Level 3 announced the international availability of its (3)Voice Termination service. The softswitch-based (3)Voice Termination service enables telephone carriers to hand off traffic directly to Level 3’s IP network using an IP interface and lower their network costs, according to Level 3. Technology IndustrySoftware Development