February 10th, 2006
You are currently browsing the articles from the VoIP Digest written on February 10th, 2006.
On Monday, Uniqall will unveil a beta version of Gridborg HMP 1.2 (Host Media Processing) with SIP included. Previous versions supported H.323, however this beta will also speak SIP. The Gridborg HMP 1.2 is available for free download and evaluation from the Uniqall web site. Honestly, I'm not too familiar with Uniqall's HMP solution and how it fits in with Intel's HMP solution. Do these two compete with one another? Are they complementary? Wish I had more time today (Friday) to research this more.
The rest of this entry is an interesting backgrounder on HMP from their press release going out on Monday in case you aren't familiar with it.
In essence, HMP products are software-only replacements for expensive voice/fax cards that are used as building blocks by vendors of IP PBX, IVR, auto-attendant, contact center, voicemail, conference server, fax server and other telephony solutions. As voice traffic migrates from TDM to IP networks, it makes sense to solve both network connectivity (H.323, or SIP) and media processing on the host processor in software. Hence the name, HMP (Host Media Processing).
In the early days of VoIP deployment, H.323 was the dominant protocol, and it still has an enormous installed base. Standardized by ITU-T and with its roots deep in the telecom world, H.323 is a complex collection of binary protocols that can be very difficult to deal with. Somewhat later came the SIP (Session Initiation Protocol), native to IP networks, standardized by IETF. It consists of human readable text messages and shares some design principles with the HTTP protocol that carries Web traffic.
Over time vendors as well as telecom and enterprise end-users were attracted to SIP as a much simpler solution. "Even if SIP is not so simple any more, it clearly has developers' mindshare" said Borko Jandras, lead developer of the Gridborg HMP Server 1.2. "SIP! -- That was the message that we have been hearing the most from our customers and prospects, ever since we released Gridborg HMP Server 1.1 in October 2005."
Since its very beginning, Uniqall has built the Gridborg HMP Server on top of to the open source OpenH323 stack. In order to add SIP the Gridborg HMP Server had to migrate to the OpenH323's successor OPAL. "OpenH323 is a successful protocol implementation that has served us amazingly well over time. OPAL is about integrating different VoIP protocols," said Drazen Dimoti, the developer who led the migration, "OPAL brings protocol flexibility in times of the somewhat makeshift solutions commonly found in today's multi-protocol VoIP environment." Both OpenH323 and OPAL have been created by an almost overlapping group of core developers.
Other new and upcoming features in Gridborg HMP Server 1.2 include improved multi-user support, improved T.38 FoIP (Fax over IP) that now has T.38 Fax Relaying capabilities, support for ring-back tones, as well as an embedded web server that will drive a simple web-based interface for configuration and monitoring.
As well as being available for Windows and Linux (Debian, FC, and SuSE), this version of Gridborg HMP Server also comes with support for RHEL and Ubuntu Linux distributions.
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Written by tkeating@tmcnet.com on February 10th, 2006 with no comments.
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You gotta love the premise of the Sony Pictures movie Click that opens in June -- that life can be controlled by a remote control, just like TV. Adam Sandler (he can be very funny) operates that colorful and surprising simply laid out "Life Menu"
remote (so few buttons! two in a row, four rows), pausing, rewinding and fast-forwarding as necessary to improve the quality of his life. Those close to him also apparently benefit too as evidenced by the “baseball catch” clip that aired during the Grammy Awards.
I’d rate this a “must watch” video or PPV choice, meaning don’t know if it’d be worth the multiple prices of admission at the local movie theater – not to mention the cost of the essential “King Kong”-size combo food snack. (Doesn’t popcorn just taste better at the movie theater?)
Anyway, I digress. Click looks like fun. Write your own review when/if you see it. (Would you add any buttons?)Â And where do you pick up that remote?
Oh by the way, the essential buttons (according to Click) are:
- Play
- Mute
- Delete
- Pause
- FF
- Slo-Mo
- Skip
- Rewind
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Written by tkeating@tmcnet.com on February 10th, 2006 with no comments.
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With the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics just underway in Torino, Italy (the time zone is +6 from EST), it's now really easy to get instant updates on events and athletes during the games. You can sign up for email, SMS and desktop alerts at NBCOlympics.com.
Even better, if you have an Intel Viiv based-PC or Centrino mobile technology-based laptop, you can watch video highlights from the previous day's events available for viewing on demand starting tomorrow. Sign-up is at NBCOlympics.com. Hey, you can see the Games on regular TV, too. Big screen HDTV, please.
Maybe all of the action will inspire us to get off the couch and outside ourselves?
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Written by tkeating@tmcnet.com on February 10th, 2006 with no comments.
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Is it just me or did the Grammy Awards the other night reveal that once again music is becoming more overtly political (a ‘60s/’70s reprise)? Yes, of course, everyone loves a good beat and a clever hook, but live performances by Jay-Z & Linkin Park and Bruce Springsteen had political messages right out front for everyone to hear. (And how about that Grammy for the JZ/LP “best rap/sung collaboration”? Reminds me of the classic Run-D.M.C./Aerosmith “Walk This Way” just from a collision of two musical genres into something good.)
On the other hand, surprised by Bono’s comment on How To Dismantle an Atomic Bomb (talk about an in-the-news political theme) that the U2 album title had nothing to do with politics, unless you reduce it right down to the most elemental political form – the relationship between two individuals.
Will be interesting to see if MP3 downloads of the Grammy winners surge this week and next; it used to be that CD sales of winning artists went up dramatically after winning an award. Wait and see ...
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Written by tkeating@tmcnet.com on February 10th, 2006 with no comments.
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Lucent technologies is buying assets of Riverstone Networks , which makes carrier Ethernet routers for $170 million in cash. The deal is a signal that the carrier interest in Ethernet is on an upswing, and as more demands are put on the infrastructure, this market could see a sharp increase.
Lucent will acquire substantially all of Riverstone’s business operations, not including its cash and convertible subordinated notes, for $170 million in cash.
Credit Suisse First Boston analyst Paul Silverstein told his clients that he doesn’t believe that the deal “offers the prospect of significant potential reward.” Why? Because Cisco is so dominant, and at best he expects Riverstone to contribute $50-to-$100 million in sales to Lucent every year. Riverstone’s future has been under a cloud, and the company is being investigated by the SEC though a settlement might be around the corner.
Written by Om Malik on February 10th, 2006 with no comments.
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Eutectics phones have been integrated in the latest Point-of-Sale (POS) Customer Kiosk made by Micro Industries that is designed to enable customers to reach a company representative while in a store. They claim, "Micro Industries' Touch & Go Paigezilla VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) is the newest self-service innovation for retail environments. Paigezilla, a state-of-the-art all-in-one computer allows the consumer to communicate via VoIP handset with your company, while they are in-store."
The Paigezilla with VoIP is designed to help retailers boost their sales while offering their visitors a virtual personal assistant. At first glance it seems a bit overkill to stick a PC with a USB phone in retail outlets when a standard phone works just as well. However, if they integrate other features into the built-in touch-screen such as a price checker, product finder, etc. it might make sense, especially considering many stores already do have touch-screen displays for assisting customers in finding products and for price checks.
The Paigezilla computer was designed to work silently, and built to operate dependably in retail environments. It can be bolted to a store counter, or mounted to a wall or column on its own accessory shelf. Using less than one cubic foot of space, the Paigezilla VoIP features a 10.4-inch LCD touch screen, integrated card swipe and bar code reader, and VoIP handset from Eutectics. The card swipe provides quick payment transactions while the internal printer issues receipts and coupons, creating a virtual sales associate. Paigezilla can be connected and content can be remotely managed via wired or wireless LAN.Here are the features:
Â
* Interactive Touch Screen System
* Patent-Pending Fanless Operation
* Intel Pentium M or Intel Celeron M Processors
* Micro Industries Motherboard
* Microsoft Windows XP Embedded or Professional
* Wireless LAN, Cell-Phone Card or Bluetooth Enabled
* SAW or Resistive Touch Screen
* Integrated Countertop Stand
o Up to 3 USB 2.0 Expansion Ports
o 10/100 Ethernet Interface
* 10.4" Ultra-bright Flat Panel LCD
o 350 Nits Brightness Level
o 800 x 600 Resolution
o 16-bit Color
o Wide Viewing Angle
* Built-in 60mm Thermal Receipt Printer
* VoIP Handset
* Stereo Speakers
* Durable Construction
* Dimensions: 13.98"H x 14.59"W x 9.77"D
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Written by tkeating@tmcnet.com on February 10th, 2006 with no comments.
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ntl, a UK-based cable broadband company is teaming up with BitTorrent and Cachelogic to conduct a technical trial to evaluate ultra high-speed, legal video downloads in the UK. The trial download service will feature a large amount of licensed broadcast quality video content including popular movies, music videos and television programmes. As part of the trial, Cachelogic’s P2P content cache devices will be deployed in ntl network and will accelerate delivery of the content. BitTorrent client will be used for distribution. If this works, this could have huge implications for legal video distribution. This will also help legitimize BitTorrent, and give a big leg-up to company’s plans to distribute legal content. Clearly media players are beginning to realize that P2P is not going away, and trying to harness the technology’s potential to meet their own ends. Recently Time Warner (Germany) and AOL announced plans to tap P2P for video distribution.
Written by Om Malik on February 10th, 2006 with no comments.
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I was just reading an article entitled "VoIP Startup Isn't Quite Spyware, But It's Close." The piece on the Extreme VoIP website seems to imply that the software for a new VoIP service called Jajah might actually have another role than letting you talk to your friends and family on the very cheap. And over [...]
Written by Russell Shaw on February 10th, 2006 with no comments.
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Skype has launched SkypeWeb which is a web presence feature that has been already integrated into more than 50 websites in 20 countries around the world. It allows people to see Skype users’ online status and call or chat with them from any website with a simple click of a mouse. SkypeWeb has integrated Skype seamlessly into any website. It allows web administrators to easily enable all site visitors to talk freely over the internet. Companies which have been using SkypeWeb in their websites have already started getting the benefits of increased ease of communication and interaction.
via [VoIP Central]
Written by gautam.chabbra on February 10th, 2006 with no comments.
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NetComm is offering a VoIP phone bundle that works straight out of the box. The V100LS Telephone Adapter/CECT Phone Bundle is a plug and play device which plugs straight into a broadband router and provides calls via a DECT phone. This bundle provides users from any technical background the opportunity to reap benefits of VoIP technology. Users would have to connect the DECT phone based station to a broadband router and the VoIP service is ready to be used. It comes pre-configured with a connection to MyNetPhone which locks the user into a service provider and offers the user a level of ease to use it. The MyNetPhone account is available with five dollars of credit. The bundle is available for $ 179 and the V100 and DECT phone are available for $129 and $99 respectively.
via [VoIPNews]
Written by gautam.chabbra on February 10th, 2006 with no comments.
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Trendnet Today has launched a Skype handset which connects via Bluetooth. This TVP-SP1BK ClearSky VoIP Bluetooth Phone with Bluetooth Adapter also includes a wireless handset and compact Bluetooth adapter. It supports all of the popular Skype standard functions such as Call List, Contacts, Conference Call, SkypeOut etc. It is powered by a rechargeable Lithium-ion battery which provides a six hour talk time and over 60 hours standby time. The bundled USB Bluetooth Adapter supports enhanced data range and makes use of Class 1 radio technology in order to extend coverage distance up to 100 meters. The shipping for the product would begin next month and it would be available for around $ 100.
via [TG Daily]
Written by gautam.chabbra on February 10th, 2006 with no comments.
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The strategy of Vonage to go public would help the company to continue funding an aggressive marketing push aimed at funding off growing competition from rivals like cable and phone giants. Vonage plans to raise $250 through its much awaited initial public offering. The company is already a known name as it has been hugely spending on television, internet ads and print. The company which pioneered internet technology is planning an even bigger war chest in order to compete in the ever growing VoIP field. On the other hand analyst beleive that an initial stock offering by Vonage would not boost the market for IPOs where activity in technology related offerings has continued to be lukewarm.
via [MercuryNews]
Written by gautam.chabbra on February 10th, 2006 with no comments.
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Emmanuel Proulx is a SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) developer who has written an excellent tutorial on the signaling protocol that is widely used in VoIP to initiate communications sessions between callers and respondents.If you want to learn the basics of SIP but don't want to take a course or invest in a book full of [...]
Written by Russell Shaw on February 10th, 2006 with no comments.
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Vonage, the New Jersey-based VoIP services provider filed documents with the Securities & Exchange Commission yesterday, hoping to raise a whopping $250 million in a widely anticipated initial public offering. The marquee group of investment bankers are hoping that investors would over look the obvious structural problems in Vonage’s financial model, and buy the stock in the company. Business Week has a rather in-depth look at the chances of the public offering. The Stalwart does a stellar job as well.
I spent the evening reading through the entire document, which frankly has more red-flags that the great Boston dig. And the biggest one is churn. Why is churn important? As someone who has sold internet services to consumers explains, “Churn reduces the lifetime value of a customer which affects the amount you can pay to acquire them. You can see how these problems compound and exacerbate each other.” Something akin is playing out with Vonage.
“During the nine months ended September 30, 2005, we experienced average monthly customer churn of 2.11%. Our churn rate among those U.S. direct and retail customers with us for more than six months was lower,” the company says, in its filing. That seems to be a rather innocuous number. To be fair, the company’s churn rate of 2.11% is pretty darn good - if you compare it to other Internet related services business such as web hosting and DSL High Speed Internet that see about 1%-to-3%. Vonage is actually doing much better than it had reported earlier. [Talk about being wrong in my estimates previously. The numbers reported in the S-1 were exactly half of what I had estimated with the help of others. My original estimate was 4% churn and $400-per-customer acquisition cost.]
Vonage in its S-1 filing that it lost 115,000 customers to churn. Given that it costs Vonage about $213.77 in marketing expense to win a new customer, the cost of replacing those 115,000 customers is about $24.5 million. That churn cost the company about $27.6 million in revenues (@ $26.63 a month per customer) for the nine months ending September 30, 2005. The churn cost the company about $52 million (in the first nine months of 2005.) The problem is that the churn is not going away and is in fact rising — from 1.7% in first quarter 2005, to 2.08% in second quarter to 2.26% in the third quarter of 2005. The irony of this is that if the current trends continue, it would become a mud-pit without a bottom.
We will always be required to incur some marketing expense in order to replace customers who terminate our service, or “churn.” Further, marketing expense is not the only factor that may contribute to our net losses. For example, interest expense on our senior unsecured convertible notes of at least $12.5 million annually will contribute to our net losses. As a result, even if we significantly reduce our marketing expense, we may continue to incur net losses.
Buried in the S-1 is the fact that Vonage had about 1.4 million subscribers. At the average churn of 2.11% (assuming it stays constant), one could estimate that the monthly loss of customers is in the 29,450 range and the estimated monthly cost to replace them will be $6.3 million, while the lost revenues (per month) would be around $784,000. In the September 2005, the S-1 says the company had a churn of 2.26% which comes out to about 23,997 and lost revenues of $639,000. (If you use the 2.11% average, then the number of customers lost to churn are about 22,403 and lost revenues were around $600,000 a month.)
A higher rate of customer terminations would negatively impact our business by reducing our revenue or requiring us to spend more money to grow our customer base …. Because of churn, we have to acquire new customers on an ongoing basis just to maintain our existing level of customers and revenues. As a result, marketing expense is an ongoing requirement of our business. If our churn rate increases, we will have to acquire even more new customers in order to maintain our existing revenues. We incur significant costs to acquire new customers, and those costs are an important factor in determining our net losses and achieving future profitability. Therefore, if we are unsuccessful in retaining customers or are required to spend significant amounts to acquire new customers beyond those budgeted, our revenue could decrease and our net losses could increase.
Churn is a nagging worry, and yet if the company can reign in other costs, it could one day hope to be a profitable company. “If they can maintain a true churn of 2.11% and maintain a $213 (in acquisition costs), they should have a profitable business on paper,” says Chris Lyman, founder and CEO of Los Angeles-based Fonality, a start-up that sells open-source Asterisk based PBX systems. “The only problem is it takes them 1.25-to-1.5 years to break even on a customer. This means they are going to suck cash as they grow.” The price wars are already in place, and the competition from cable companies, the time required to get profitable is going to stretch out.
There is one aspect of churn which made me queasy but I clearly am not understanding the implications. In the ISP business there is something called bi-modal churn. This is people who decide to cancel the service within first 30 days of signing up. This number is pretty high in the 3% range. (Any telecom analysts who have thoughts and explanation about this, please leave a comment or email me.)
Vonage’s S-1 says this.
Terminations, as used in the calculation of churn statistics, do not include customers terminated during the period if termination occurred within the first 30 days after activation….Other companies may calculate churn differently, and their churn data may not be directly comparable to ours.
How many customers do you think they lose in the first 30 days? Still that is big pop for retailers like Best Buy who might actually become the only folks to profit from Vonage!
Written by Om Malik on February 10th, 2006 with no comments.
Read more articles on Vonage and VoIP (the New Phone).