Business VoIP
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If you use VoIP to make a lot of calls and have concerns about call quality,
what you might try doing is keeping a call log, which you can analyze
later. Use a spreadsheet or word processor program, and keep all or
some of the following information in a grid or table form:
- Date of call
- Time of call
- Duration of call
- Quality
of call - any info, including approximate (great, good, okay, poor,
terrible) or even the number of dropouts you experienced.
- Type of VoIP - both delivery medium and interface (e.g., pure play, soft phone/ IM, power-line, etc.)
- Which VoIP service/ soft phone (e.g., Vonage, Comcast, Skype, Windows Live Messenger)
- Destination locale (local, national, international, or even specific country, state, province)
For example, a few days ago, I spoke to a writer in India using Google Talk,
around mid-afternoon, New York time zone. He sounded like he was in the
next room, over an intercom system. The quality was very good, but
three or four times, his voice dropped out for a few seconds. Although
I probably didn't miss any important words, I suspect I didn't hear
every word.
If I manage to remember to keep a log over the next
few months, I'll be able to analyze the data and compare different VoIP
services/ soft phones. If find any interesting patterns, I'll share the
information here.
Written by ewriter on October 6th, 2006 with no comments.
Read more articles on Software and Business VoIP and Networks and Residential VoIP.
Honduras is all set to welcome VoIP services from GlobalNet Honduras, a local ISP. The company will team up with technology from digital video technologies company Thomson to launch its VoIP services over a DSL network. More than 25,0000 corporate and home users are expected to take advantage of these services that will utilize Cirpack softswitch solutions from Thomson. TMC Net reports:
GlobalNet Honduras sees an increased demand for internet service and potential for broadband over DSL as cable have insufficient capacity to satisfy current growth rates. It expects to use the same platforms to offer a complete triple play service in the future.
Written by pushpa27 on October 6th, 2006 with no comments.
Read more articles on Business VoIP and Residential VoIP.
Here’s one area where VoIP services from eBusiness Infrastructure developer Blue Robins, Inc., scores over similar offerings from ATT and Vonage – iEmployee, the Web-based human resource applications provider, has chosen Blue Robins EnterpriseVoIP after being less than satisfied with VoIP services from the other two organizations. Snehal Shah, president of iEmployee, says that the quality of calls between the company’s US office and its offshore outfits has improved by leaps and bounds after the Blue Robins solution was implemented. IP Communications reports:
EnterpriseVoIP eliminates the need to purchase and maintain a local PBX system. It also frees the users from the costly burden of managing numerous voice and data services and vendors. Redundant IP PBX servers, routers, and voice gateways located in carrier-grade facilities allow EnterpriseVoIP to provide carrier-class service at very low cost.
Written by pushpa27 on October 6th, 2006 with no comments.
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Following a tie-up between BandTel and VegaStream, products and services from the SIP trunking services provider and the VoIP gateway manufacturer are interoperable. Accordingly, the VoIP network from BandTel is now compatible with VegaStream gateways. Customers of both companies will reap the benefits of this partnership in the form of seamless VoIP solutions.
VegaStream’s analog and digital gateways will work in tandem with BandTel’s N-Plus architecture and SIP softswitch technology to allow users access to service from multiple switching centers.
Written by pushpa27 on October 6th, 2006 with no comments.
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The number of options for VoIP service that you have available to you
are quite numerous, whether for business or for residential use. If you
have asked your self some questions about VoIP usage, then you can look at some of the options.
First, consider the mediums of Internet and VoIP delivery, in no particular order.
From these mediums, you still have choices. For example, you can get pure play VoIP over broadband (e.g., Vonage)
or go through your broadband provider - who is very likely to charge
you more for the same service, on top of your monthly broadband costs.
Unless you get a triple-play bundle, which usually includes TV,
Internet access, and VoIP service. But how many small business offices
have either high-speed dialup or cable Internet? Some cable companies
charge a lot more to install cable for a business than for residential.
And then for on-the-move/ on-the-go calls, you can use either a Wi-Fi VoIP phone or a dual-mode
cell phone, over a variety of wireless networks. And depending on the
cell phone/ smartphone/ PDA that you have, if any, you may be able to
use mobile VoIP over its cellular data network. These plans are often
capped at 250 Mb (megabytes) of bandwidth per month, even if the plan
is called "unlimited". Some cellular providers will not allow you to
use VoIP, by their TOS (terms of service).
As you can see, lots of choices. Each choice has its own advantage or
disadvantage, as well as falls into a diverse monthly price range. Not
all of these options will be suitable for you, depending on where and
how you will use VoIP. So to narrow your choice down further, make up a
spreadsheet or table listing your options, in your area, and the costs
of available plans. Then cull the list based on the features you want.
The simplest solutions, though not necessarily best for your needs, in my opinion, are:
- Free soft phones for people who have a computer and broadband Internet access. Skype, Gizmo Project and others have free calling from PC to phone in some countries.
- A plug'n'play VoIP adapter that will let you use a standard telephone over broadband. The adapter comes as part of a VoIP plan, which is offered to you either from your cable/ broadband provider, or a pure play provider like Vonage.
- VoIP via PSTN lines using a service such as Jajah. Gizmo Project has something similar as well. Both require you to register yourself and the numbers you will be calling. Gizmo needs for both parties to be registered online.
The first two require a broadband connection (as do pretty much
everything mentioned above). But if you are tech-savvy or have help,
there are more sophisticated options, especially when it comes to
enterprise or SMB use.
Written by ewriter on October 4th, 2006 with no comments.
Read more articles on Software and Business VoIP and Networks and Residential VoIP.
Can't vouch for this myself, but a couple who have an IT security background relate a recent incident when the wife received a call from Comcast,
and all the "lies" the rep supposedly told her about Vonage, to get her
to switch to the more expensive Comcast "Digital Voice" service. This
is an interesting read, as are the comments that follow it.
The
gist is that outsourced reps who don't know better will be willing to
read off lies about VoIP from a script. As the comments after the
article show, both cable and pure play VoIP providers will lie as they
get their VoIP marketing guns ready. I had a call last Friday from a
third-party hired by my cable Internet provider, trying to sell me the
same VoIP service under yet another non-technophile-threatening name.
I'm wondering if I should not have shooed the person away, and instead
listened to what they had to say, even for a laugh. Oh well.
I still maintain that cable providers have the advantage in the VoIP market,
but that doesn't mean they're right for everyone, especially in a
business environment. If you currently are not using VoIP and do not
know where to start, then first ask yourself these questions:
(1) Am I looking for business, residential, or SMB (small and medium business) use?
(2) Will I need e-911 services?
(3) Do I need a computer? (If you don't already have one.)
(4) Am I calling local or long-distance or both?
(5) Will I want/ have to walk around as I talk? (Do I prefer a handset or headset?)
(6) Will the other persons I call be using mobile phones, regular phones, Wi-Fi phones, or soft phones? Or a combination?
(7) How many people use the system simultaneously (peak)? Will I want to spend money on load-balancing.
(8) How many simultaneous incoming calls do I expect?
These
are a few basic questions you should know the answer to before you
choose a VoIP service. Armed with this knowledge, it's much easier to
choose a suitable service. It'll also help you to avoid paying for a telephony feature that is free elsewhere.
Written by ewriter on October 3rd, 2006 with no comments.
Read more articles on Standards and Business VoIP and Residential VoIP.
The cheapest way to stay in touch these days is Internet telephony. The catch to this communication channel is that call quality is dependant on a variety of factors. To combat this problem, organizations such as Kentrox provide VoIP Quality of Service (QoS) solutions.
The firm’s Q-Series QoS Access Routers were recently used in conjunction with Avaya’s IP Office to upgrade the regular telephone network at the Broward Spine Institute. The Florida-based orthopedic provider migrated to VoIP to effect cost saving measures across its main and satellite offices.
The quality of voice traffic on the revamped communication conduit was maintained at excellent levels by the Quality of Service (QoS) functionality built into Kentrox’s routers. The routers were used at both office locations to connect to a T1 IP service.
Kentrox is promoting its VoIP QoS solutions at the Internet Telephony Conference & Expo, WEST, scheduled for October 10-13 in San Diego.
Written by pushpa27 on September 30th, 2006 with no comments.
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Ken Camp's New IP Media Blog
Ken Camp has moved his old blog about VOIP, IP media, and unified communciations. Congrats and good luck. From what I can tell, posts from the old site have been moved over.
Video Chat: SightSpeed or iChat?
Andy Abramson points to a test that PhoneBoy and Luca Filigheddu did to test iChat vs SightSpeed's
video-conferencing features, and SightSpeed won. I have not yet had an
opportunity to try video-conferencing (see video etiquette rules), but
I do love Sightspeed's video chat
quality. I'm more than impressed with it, and when more people that I
know install it, maybe I'll video-conference then. Now while I like
SightSpeed's video quality, I can watch fairly high-quality IPTV channels with Skype.
Fairweather VoIP Call Quality
The New York Times had an indepth, slightly techy piece a few days ago about call quality
on different types of VoIP service, as well as fairly easy-to-follow
explanation of factors affecting call quality. A interesting piece, but
I hope that the general public reading it don't get the wrong
impression about VoIP in general. I've had excellent quality calls from
both Skype (all the way across the world to a friend who sounded like
he was a few feet away) and from Hullo, which sounded crystal clear.
Written by ewriter on September 29th, 2006 with no comments.
Read more articles on Skype and Software and Business VoIP and Residential VoIP.
Andy Abramson talks about GrandCentral,
a new beta telephony service that lets you manage your phone numbers
from a single GC phone number. He explains why he likes it, despite PhoneBoy's and Ken Camp's
dislike. Don't know about you, but I like to have a single phone
number. When I worked for a certain large telecom's consulting
division, I carried my own pager plus one from the company, and my cell
phone, which later became two. Four phone/ pager numbers for
communication is absurd. I only keep one cell number now, a million
email addresses, a dozen VoIP soft phone accounts, but no other phone
numbers other than the one that I received free from Hullo. Still, I know no one using Hullo, so I only have one (cell) phone number to manage, at present.
On the other hand, I can see myself in the near future paying for Call-In numbers for possibly Skype and SightSpeed. Except it'd sure be nice to have a single VoIP-based phone number that wasn't tied to any one soft phone. That would be some VoIP holy grail
(or a single multi-protocol soft phone). Anyone got anything like that?
As far as I can tell, that's not what Grand Central does, but it does
let you redirect calls to find you - acting like a hub for all of your
phone numbers.
For some people, who have multiple phone numbers,
either for regular phones, mobiles, or VoIP soft Call-In numbers,
GrandCentral might come in handy. But it's another phone number, which
you'll have to give out to everyone - unless you'd rather they just
left you voicemail on whatever number of yours that they have.
That's
not really what I want, but then I only work from home now and am thus
in the minority. (For now anyway.) Still, what I'd really like is a
single web-based Call-In phone number associated with either my laptop,
desktop, or cell phone/ PDA, attached to one soft phone which could
handle calls from any of the popular soft phones (Skype, Gizmo Project, Sightspeed, etc.) and IMs (Instant Messengers) such as Aim Pro, Yahoo Messenger or Windows Live Messenger, etc.
Imagine that communications holy grail. It's a tall order. But I think it might happen before the end of the decade.
Written by ewriter on September 29th, 2006 with no comments.
Read more articles on Skype and Software and Business VoIP and Networks and Residential VoIP.
Most experts agree that VoIP is good for the enterprise, but Skype hasn't typically been considered ready for enterprise despite setting their sights on business use earlier this year. Now, apparently they are working on an enterprise version
of Skype, possibly available in a few weeks. System administrators will
have control over what features employees can use. Though Ted Wallingford
doesn't think it'll go over well if the enterprise version costs money.
Why? Primarily because the product is not open source and companies are
not going to trust Skype to handle all the security without revealing
details, as well as having to pay for it.
A Computer World
piece (also linked above) says that 30% of Skype's 100M+ users use the
soft phone for business. That's far, far higher than I would have
expected, given corporate firewalls and all. As Ken Camp points out, many system administrators are wary of Skype, particularly in terms of network security.
(Even Intel was concerned when some of their employees installed it.)
That's because of the proprietary communications protocols it uses
(despite claims of Skype being cloned). There's also the bandwidth
issue, which is one of the problems that SJSU (San Jose State
University) was concerned about, and for which they had planned to ban
Skype. (Most universities are in fact run like corporations; some even
are incorporated. So it's understandable that they would want to watch
their bottom line.)
Though with some universities picking
Linux-based open source IP telephony systems such as Asterisk, I think
that Skype is missing out on a huge opportunity if they don't address
these problems. If they're listening, they should also consider the
college and university market. There is, of course, Pika Technologies
offering, which bridges Skype and Asterisk for enterprise use. However, there are likely still bandwidth and network security
issues,
at least in the eyes of sysadmins. As my colleagues are pointing out,
if sysadmins cannot monitor and measure activity over their networks,
then they are not going to be comfortable with Skype as a campus (or
enterprise) VoIP solution.
There are other enterprise issues
such as wholesale recording of conversations, which is probably
unnecessary for the university market. But aside from that, there is a
lot of overlap in IP telephony functionality for both markets. And
maybe, just maybe, the security requirements Skype has just satisfied
for Intel will satisfy the rest of the corporate market and the
university/ college market.
Written by ewriter on September 28th, 2006 with no comments.
Read more articles on Skype and Security and Business VoIP and Networks.
Voice over Internet Protocol, aka VoIP, is revolutionizing
telecommunications for many reasons. VoIP may have a few flaws compared
to traditional telephony, such as still lagging call quality, depending
on the provider. There is also no standard e-911 service, but some
providers have their own solutions. Still, VoIP has numerous benefits
for both the home user and the business user. Here are eleven reasons
you should use VoIP (aka IP telephony, IP communications, etc.).
- Free soft phone software.
Soft VoIP clients are almost always free, and not only can you talk in
voice mode, you can simultaneously chat in text mode, even share files.
A regular telephone? Not a chance. And there are loads of soft clients
to choose from. For convenience, here is a VoIP Now article that lists
a few soft phones.
- Free calls PC to PC calls.
Calls on homogenous networks are free. Meaning, if you are, say, a
Skype member, then you can talk free to another Skype member. Over VoIP
networks using an open protocol such as SIP, you can talk to users of any compatible soft VoIP client. Gizmo Project is an example of a SIP-based soft phone. Other calls (see points below) are typically far less than for normal telephony. Small businesses
are estimated to save up to 40% on communication costs. Considering
that profit margins for new businesses are usually between 0-15% for
the first few years, VoIP could make the difference between staying
around or going out of business.
- Calls from PCs to phones. Not only can you call out from your computer to a regular phone or mobile, but such "pc2phone" (aka net2phone) calls are sometimes even free. Skype's
SkypeOut promo for Canada and the US allows such calls, including
calling to mobiles, for free until the end of December. In France, you
can SkypeOut to regular phone lines (but not mobile phones) for free
until Dec 31st. Hullo also has free calling for the present time, but which geographical areas this applies to is not clear. Gizmo Project has free pc2phone calls for 60 countries.
- Calls from phones to PCs.
If you get assigned a "Call In" phone number, people call you directly
on your computer from a regular phone or cell phone. Such phone2pc
calling usually requires you to have a monthly/ yearly subscription for
the phone number, and not all cities in the world (let alone countries)
are represented yet. But Hullo once again offers this for free, though
don't expect a choice in area code for now. Anyway, I used my Hullo
number to call myself from my cell phone to my computer, and it worked
like a charm. Though I had to make a long-distance mobile call to do it.
- Calls from phones to phones. Okay, that sounds obvious but by that I mean that with services like Jajah
or Hullo, you can call phone2phone using their respective VoIP
"bridges". This reduces your per-minute costs (sometimes free). You can
also use plug'n'play adapters to connect your regular home phone to
your high-speed Internet access and reduce your costs, in case you
don't want to use software. Adapters allow anyone with a high-speed
Internet connection but no computer.
- Calls from Wi-Fi VoIP phones or dual-mode cell phones. Need to walk around the house or business while on a call? Wi-Fi VoIP phones
allow you to make calls either through your connected computer or
through a Wi-Fi base station connected to the Internet. Dual-mode cell
phones scan for nearby wireless Internet connections first, and if none
is available, the phone will default to a cellular network. VoIP over Wi-Fi provides inexpensive call roaming (compared to cellular roaming).
- Mobile VoIP. This is not the same as the last item. Many smartphones and connected PDAs have the ability to give you mobile VoIP
calls (with the right service/ software) through a cellular data
(wireless) network, thus reducing your overall cell phone minutes usage
and hence your monthly costs. Imagine being able to call long distance
from your cell either free or for next to nothing. You will have to pay
your provider an extra monthly fee for access to their data network.
- Portable phone numbers.
Using soft VoIP facilitates having a portable phone number. That means
that if you move to another city or country, you can take your number
with you. It also means that if you live in a small town but want a big
city number that clients can call you on at no charge, you can just get
yourself a Call In number. Some telecoms are able to port your landline phone number to VoIP.
- Cut business operating costs.
Depending on what VoIP solution you decide upon, your monthly phone
bill could be reduced by hundreds or even thousands of dollars per
month. Some estimates, for SMBs, are monthly savings of up to 40% on communication.
- Sophisticated voice data applications, IVR, and CRM.
VoIP turns voices into data, which can be processed, recognized and
analyzed, and which can trigger events that help customers through an
automated system. Voice applications mean sophisticated IVR
(Interactive Voice Response) for call centers and powerful CRM
(Customer Relationship Management) solutions for businesses small or
large. What's more, if you want to develop your own apps and you are
using an open source package from Asterisk, you can build sophisticated telecom apps on a shoestring - even for as little as 1/100th of the cost using hardware and components from traditionally telephony.
- Enable a virtual office. With mobile VoIP,
free software, free/ cheap calling, Call In numbers and phone number
portability, you can have a virtual office. No need to manage multiple
phone numbers. If you have a good smartphone or connected PDA with a
cellular wireless plan as well, you can go on the road with confidence.
In
summary, VoIP offers a fair bit of variety, costs savings for both home
and business use, and sophisticated voice data applications for
businesses.
Written by ewriter on September 26th, 2006 with no comments.
Read more articles on Skype and Software and Wireless and Business VoIP and Residential VoIP.
This is just a quick summary on the types of Internet service and the types of VoIP calling that result.
Types of Internet service:
- Pure play - offered by vendors such as Vonage and SunRocket.
- Broadband - includes cable, high-speed dialup. I suppose satellite goes here too, but some people may put it in its own category.
- Cellular wireless - Internet access offered by cellular providers under a separate payment plan.
I get the feeling I'm forgetting something, but I can't think what. You
can achieve VoIP calling from all three types of Internet service.
Types of VoIP calling:
- PC to PC. Typically free, but requires software download.
- PC to phone/ mobile. Requires software and usually a paid Call-Out type of plan.
- Phone to PC. Requires software and usually a paid Call-In type of plan, including a real phone number.
- Phone to phone.
This requires some sort of plug'n'play adapter or router to convert the
regular telephony calls while enroute to the VoIP bridging system.
Vonage and Sunrocket are included in this category. You need a
broadband Internet connection but not a computer. This is probably the
best kind to let your grandma VoIP.
- Mobile to phone/ mobile.
There are several different ways to accomplish this, which are
essentially a variation of one of the above types. (I'll get into
details another time.) I have had little success with either this or
the next type, as mobile VoIP solutions are often phone model-specific.
- Mobile to PC. This type of calling is prone to just as many problems as the one above.
- Wi-Fi phone or device to whatever. Wireless
phones are essentially an extension of a PC, so this type of calling
usually functions as well as calling from a computer. Wireless VoIP
calling works over devices that can access the Internet either via a
Bluetooth connection on yourconnected computer, or using a wireless
router attached to your broadband connection.
Written by ewriter on September 22nd, 2006 with no comments.
Read more articles on Vonage and Wireless and Business VoIP and Residential VoIP.
Many, many years ago, when I was still working in the bricks-and-mortar
world instead of online, I cursed this new telephony feature called
voice mail. It soon became one of the most inefficient features of
communication, often causing me to have several conversations with an
inanimate object until I could reach the desired person. Not
surprisingly, at least to me, John Parkinson points out this
talking-to-voicemail phenomenon as being the primary motivation behind
a communications feature called "voice presence", which started with IM (instant messaging) client and is now being explored witih VoIP. He goes on talk to about the four reasons why VoIP is a good call
[CIO Insight], a conclusion reached based on the analysis of a pre-VoIP
telephony system's CDRs (Call Detail Records) and call analysis. (I'll
warn you that it's fairly technical article.)
The gist of the
analysis is that, from an enterprise viewpoint, there were four lessons
learned, which result in the conclusion that VoIP is a better choice.
Lesson one: use of voicemail
wastes time and reduces productivity. Lesson two: conference calling is
growing in use, and is poorly handled using regular phones. Lesson
three: conference calls often use multiple channels. I.e., voice and
text chatting, application sharing, etc. Lesson four: VoIP offers a unified communications channel to support these activities, including video calling.
On a related note, Leon Erlanger has a 4-page article on building VoIP into the enterprise
[ComputerWorld], providing several company case studies including
Subway restaurants, a school, a credit union, and a training center.
Enough there to probably extrapolate from, in case you are planning to
convert to VoIP in your business.
Written by ewriter on September 20th, 2006 with no comments.
Read more articles on Business VoIP and Networks.
News reports in Nepal are suggesting that the ISPAN (Internet Service
Providers Association of Nepal) is causing the loss of revenue to the
Nepal Telecommunications Authority and to the Nepalese government due
to ISPs allowing international calls via VOIP. The ISPAN denies this,
but given that this appears to be the case in other countries it
wouldn't be surprising if it's happening in Nepal. It's not clear from
this Nepal News
article whether VoIP is illegal, but ISPAN said that their ISPs cannot
be responsible for their own clients' misuse of services.
Very
interesting. I don't think I've come across any other government's
telecom authority feeling threatened by VoIP. Sure, there are other
issues such as wiretapping and CALEA,
but nothing like this that I'm aware of - it almost seems some sort of
inversion of Net Neutrality. Then again, Nepal is a relatively small
country compared to the US, and VoIP use really could cut into telecom
license profits to a significant level.
Written by ewriter on September 15th, 2006 with no comments.
Read more articles on Business VoIP and Networks and Residential VoIP.
Russell Shaw muses on Alex Saunders discussion of how Asterisk
enables the technically-savvy to practically create their own little
mini VoIP service provider environment with just an old used PC. While
that's true - and exciting for some people, no doubt - Russell points
out that for the most part, small businesses (or even big ones) who
actually have someone capable of modifying Asterisk code (it's open
source, in case you didn't know) that might build their own advanced IP telephony applications.
But most businesses will probably buy VoIP solutions out of the box.
That's mainly because, unless you want some fifteen-year old kid (my emphasis) monkeying with your company's telecom system, you typically have to shell out $100/hr for an Asterisk "code jock".
However,
Asterisk's open source nature opens up a lot of aftermarket
possibilities for developers to build affordable open source IP
telephony systems with plug'n'play modules for custom uses. This is
probably already happening, but I haven't studied Asterisk-based
development companies enough yet to give you a clear picture. Pika
Technologies recently announced a system that bridges
Asterisk's IP PBX with Skype's VoIP IM client software. Suffice it to
say that I think Asterisk stands a very good chance of making VoIP
providers obsolete, with powerful hybrid-Asterisk solutions. Or at
least reduce some businesses' (future) dependence on them.
Written by ewriter on September 15th, 2006 with no comments.
Read more articles on Skype and Software and Business VoIP.
Packet8 does business VoIP? Now of course, I'm aware many residential VoIP service providers, including
Vonage "offer" business VoIP plans, but they don't really promote it that much. Has anyone seen Vonage promote "business VoIP on their "woo hoo" commercials? No? I didn't think so. Well, Packet8 seems to be very high on business VoIP. I was reading
Rich's blog and he pointed out that
Packet8 has partnered with TMC on a Business VoIP portal called
VoIP Services for SMB and Residential, which has
unique VoIP news, articles, and features that you won't see elsewhere on TMCnet or
anywhere else on the Net for that matter.
TMC continues to strive to provide our readers with the best information on VoIP and the new Packet8 portal is no exception. Make sure to
check it out regularly.
Speaking of providing our readers with the best information on VoIP - I just got my September issue of TMC's Internet Telephony Magazine, which is a
whopping 168 pages!!! No other magazine in the world exclusively dedicated to IP communications has that many pages in their print publications. Hat tip to my fellow TMC team members on a job well done.
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Written by VoIP & Gadgets Blog on September 8th, 2006 with no comments.
Read more articles on VoIP and Business VoIP and Packet8.
Verizon Business Network will soon allow customers to use its Toll Free and automated voice response (AVR) services without springing for a gateway; they can just plug into the VoIP offerings using either a broadband connection or a leased line.
The two applications were unveiled at VoiceCon Fall 2006, and will be available in the United States from September. Enterprises can leverage IP Toll Free to provide customers with a free contact number while IP IVR enables customers to access a call center using voice commands.
The services are offered either through the Internet or Verizon’s own IP network that runs through 150 countries. Verizon’s network supports gateways between IP and traditional carrier infrastructure, allowing both VoIP and circuit-switched users to tap into it.
Verizon is not offering any cost discounts on these services though. The IP services are priced at the same level as the current circuit-switched Toll Free and IVR services.
Written by pushpa27 on August 25th, 2006 with no comments.
Read more articles on Business VoIP.
Organizations are getting used to the fact the VoIP video conferences are becoming a major part of corporate culture. For those who are just testing the VoIP waters, this site offers comprehensive advice on the hardware and software requirements for a successful videoconference.
A high speed Internet connection is a must, the minimum requirement is a 300-400 kbps broadband connection. Cameras, speakers, microphones, headsets and monitors depend on the company’s hardware budget, but the site recommends 20â€-35†monitors for full facial views. Apt software would be Microsoft’s NetMeeting which encodes and decodes video signals before and after transmission respectively.
Extraneous factors like seating and lighting arrangements and background noise can be ironed out by holding rehearsals. Audio and video quality should also be tested before the actual event.
Written by pushpa27 on August 18th, 2006 with no comments.
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There is one VoIP reseller who has marked its target audience very clearly - TalkFree. The reseller targets only developing countries and has stayed far away from the over killed markets of North America and Europe. Its mission is to provide affordable telephony through advanced technology. It provides its users with clarity while using phone-to-phone, fax-to-phone, PC-to-phone and PC-to-mobile telephony via the internet.
TalkFree has a unique product offering in the form of ‘VoIP Business in a Box’. Through this it is able to provide a complete, turnkey, plug-and play business to several local in-country distributors and entrepreneurs. These companies are given complete freedom to create their own accounts and set their own rates. The main advantage of this service is that the end users can ‘pay-as-you-go’ are able to pay in their local currency. This makes their job very easy. Other VoIP companies lack this offering and demand immediate payment by credit card. The main countries that the reseller is operating in are Brazil, South America, the Caribbean Basin, Asia and the Middle East. Pr.com reports:
To deliver these services to end users in developing countries, TalkFree assists hundreds of local in-country distributors by providing these entrepreneurs a complete, turnkey, plug-and play business by way of its ‘VoIP Business in a Box.’ For a minimal cost TalkFree distributors create their own global phone company quickly and easily.
Written by Peter Poffenberger on August 14th, 2006 with no comments.
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Switchvox has been offering small-to-medium sized businesses an IP PBX solution built from open source software. Now, it has made headline by partnering with VoIP Supply, which is a single source for VoIP products and services. The deal will enable VoIP Supply to sell Switchvox SMB on its new PBXSelect website. The agreement will allow VoIP Supply to deliver Switchvox to end users and resellers in a faster and more flexible way. The new VoIP Supply site provides SMBs with IP PBX systems like Switchvox SMB.
TMC Net reports that -
Switchvox SMB is built from open source software and uses open standards. The IP PBX allows companies to make calls using traditional analog lines, as well as VoIP services.
Written by Sagar on August 8th, 2006 with no comments.
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News has it that VoIP service providers are reaping rich profits from the services they provide. Revenues have been found to double practically all over the world from North America, Europe to the Asia Pacific in the year gone by. It is also predicted that VoIP will continue to ride a HIGH till about 2010.
VoIP benefits in the form of increased functionality, greater flexibility, improved productivity and the potential of growing revenue through better customer service is why most corporate sectors are switching to VoIP services. Latest news also has it that many Small offices and Home offices are likely to switch over to VoIP only taking up the subscriber base.
Some interesting stats projected by researchers at Infonetics:
1. In Asia-Pacific VoIP revenue doubled that of Europe and American in 2004.
2. VoIP revenues in North America pretty evenly split between business and residential customers (49 percent and 51 percent, respectively).
3. Residential VoIP in Europe taking up almost 72% in Europe and 83% in Asia-Pacific.
4. Global VoIP subscribers base is expected to top 47 million by the end of the year.
Others getting a piece of the VoIP pie – the cable companies Cablevision and Time Warner Cable both have double-digit share and combined account for more subscribers (39 percent) than market leader Vonage. AT&T, Comcast and Cox are the only other providers with North American VoIP subscriber share greater than 3 percent.
Chinese government is helping China to be a great market leader by encouraging carriers to accelerate the migration to IP Centrex and IP PBX from their existing TDM Centrex. Vonage continues at its top spot in North America with a strong residential and SOHO base, but its market share overall fell from 34% in 2004 to 27% in 2005.
VoIP is officially getting to be a global phenomenon now.
Written by shiama on August 1st, 2006 with no comments.
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Small Office Home Office or SOHO is an old concept. Basically it referred to people who had converted a small portion of their homes into offices and operated from there.
The biggest advantage with this style of operation - You are answerable to only yourself and so you decide when to work and for how long. The other big advantage this offers is cost savings. You’ll save on infrastructure cost, rent and even your lunch money.
However, one area where the home office cannot make a cost difference is when you look at the expenses of services utilized such as Internet and telephone. For this you still end up paying as much as any regular office. But all that is set to change thanks to VoIP.
Switching to VoIP: The number of US households with income-generating or corporate home offices are more than twice as likely to implement VoIP in the next 12 months compared with households in general, reports vnunet.com.
Not surprising, since VoIP is the cheapest option, in the essential area that is communication. It is best sutied for a home office that has to make frequent International calls. VoIP calls can be quite a saving compared to regular landline calls or mobile phone calls.
Studies also revealed the numbers interested in VoIP...
1. Almost 40 percent of corporate home offices and
2. 23.7 per cent of home-based businesses.
3. Only 10.8 percent of households without home offices are VoIP aware.
Besides cost savings the other important feature that is going to promote VoIP spread into Home Offices is the fact that it permits convergence with Mobile phones.
One thing is for certain with competition already brewing in the VoIP sector and the ever reducing costs of VoIP calls, a switch to VoIP for your home office can only be a win-win situation. Regular homeowners are you listening?
Written by shiama on August 1st, 2006 with no comments.
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Despite its deal with Transcom falling through, Internet service provider (ISP) Chariot has decided to go ahead with its plans to provide VoIP services. The Australia, Adelaide-based firm had earlier paid $5 million for a 37.74 percent stake in Transcom International, London, and for an 80 percent stake in its subsiadiary, Transcom, Australia. It also paid $1 million as part of a license agreement, but will not use Transcom’s technology to launch its VoIP services. Chariot will offer plans that start at $10 a month. VoIP News reports:
This initial deal was reportedly restructured after what Transcom Australia claims was a failure by Chariot to fund its operations. It looks like Chariot's investment in Transcom was converted to a wholesale distributor agreement. Transcom is currently suing Chariot for $3.2 million over the soured deal.
Written by pushpa27 on July 30th, 2006 with no comments.
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Huge! That is the word for Nortel is enjoying. First, a deal worth US$ 20 million for providing VoIP services and secondly, to Rolls-Royce – a brand to give an impetus others will be jealous of. It comes about from the recent agreement under which Rolls-Royce is to transform its telecommunication services (makeover) from Nortel worth US$ 20 Million. Rolls-Royce, as everyone knows, is a world's leading provider of power systems and services is going for a overhauling of its entire telephone network into a single, advanced network to be provided on VoIP services based on Nortel technology under a seven-year contract.
The agreement has upped Nortel position as the preferred provider of enterprise telephone network solutions for global voice network. It is going to serve about 26,500 users in the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Norway, Germany and France for Rolls-Royce company which feels that Nortel is going to simplify their communication network.
Nortel has established itself as a global player having expertise in management and integration of voice and data networks. It enables to deliver a platform to address future communications requirements for a company but there are more challenges when there is a new client. Its global voice network for Rolls-Royce is to make sure that its client receives a comprehensive voice calling services, unified voice, fax and e-mail messaging, and a platform for introduction of advanced mobility services for communications and collaboration. But will it? The numbers of raised eyebrows are less, as decision comes from the Rolls-Royce! Now, Nortel has to live up to expectations galore.
Written by Peter Poffenberger on July 29th, 2006 with no comments.
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In order to increase the session border controllers and security gateways to its VoIP, voice over broadband, FMC and IMS product offerings AudioCodes acquired Netrake Corporation. AudioCodes is a leading provider of Voice over Packet (VoP) technologies and Voice Network products. With Netrake Corporation into hand which is a leading provider of Session Border Controllers (SBC) and Security Gateway solutions, AudioCodes has increased its prowess manifold.
This agreement of acquisition is seen as an act to provide more products to help service providers and Network Equipment Providers (NEP) in enabling connectivity between disparate VoIP networks and deploying Fixed Mobile Convergence as well as IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) networks in future. SBCs will enable AudioCodes connectivity, policies and security for real-time sessions such as VoIP and video when traversing IP to IP networks.
Industry is poised at the way AudioCodes is to function now onwards with the Netrake team surrounded with speculations on rift between the two. But, according to AudioCodes, it would now be able to offer Session Border Controllers in addition to its Media Gateway and Media Server products, which will be three key network elements within IMS that enable the convergence of networks and applications.
The agreement of purchase price consists of $10 million payable in cash at closing, with an additional $1 million if Netrake achieves certain financial measures as of the closing date. This condition is also viewed as a narrow mindedness on part of AudioCodes that would only give rise to rift (if there isn’t) and not solve its aim to take two teams together jointly. Following the transaction, Netrake will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of AudioCodes.
Written by Peter Poffenberger on July 27th, 2006 with no comments.
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MIPS Technologies joined the SPIRIT Consortium, which is a global organization focused on establishing multi-faceted IP/tool integration standards that drive sustainable growth in electronic design. MIPS is a leading provider of industry-standard processor architectures and cores for digital consumer and business applications. It joined the SPIRIT Consortium for its proven and accepted IP specifications required for SoC design which is MIPS would employ to help its customers simplify their design process, lower costs and deliver superior designs to market in minimum time. For SoC designers it is important to integrate IP from multiple sources quickly and efficiently for achieving high standards of quality.
Involving industry leaders in the IP supply chain, the SPIRIT Consortium includes major EDA tool vendors, IP providers and integrated device manufacturers among its members along with a number of innovative small and medium-sized supply-chain companies. Even last year, MIPS Technologies became a charter member of the system Register Description Language (RDL) alliance, a standards organization established and chaired by Denali Software to promote standardized usage of RDL in the development and delivery of select intellectual property (IP) products used in system-on-chip (SoC) designs. These steps on part of MIPS is showing too much of desperation in its act. Now, together with RDL description language and the SPIRIT Consortium environment-neutral exchange formats MIPS would provide efficient mechanisms for creating SoC design descriptions, and integrating complex design flows.
The SPIRIT Consortium is looking forward to participation from MIPS in helping to implement the specifications that will help accelerate the SoC design process and enable the timely delivery of more flexible and efficient solutions.
Written by Peter Poffenberger on July 26th, 2006 with no comments.
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Customers of Sonus Networks in Japan can take advantage of new IP-based voice applications to personalize and tailor their communications needs. The company is providing the suite over a Sonus IP Multimedia Subsystem IMS-ready architecture that is developed with Sonus IMS application development tools like the Sonus IMX Multimedia Application Platform. Thanks to the standardized development methodology followed by Sonus, the application supports as many as 49 international signaling variants, facilitates network operators to localize the user interface and integrate language translation features with ease, and enables them to utilize all the benefits of IP-based voice systems. TMC Net reports:
"The Asia-Pacific market has typically been on the leading edge of the adoption curve when it comes to new applications and features for enhancing the communications experience. By deploying a Sonus-based IMS-ready architecture, network operators can dramatically reduce the cost and complexity of introducing new services to market, promoting new levels of experimentation and innovation," said Sonus' chairman and CEO Hassan Ahmed in a statement.
Written by pushpa27 on July 23rd, 2006 with no comments.
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Do you have plans to integrate VoIP to your other applications in your business and want to make the shift in an easy manner? You may have just got your wish with Nokia getting into VoIP integration in a big way.
Nokia’s VoIP plans are elaborate and the mobile communications giant aims to have phones available that can interoperate with any back end system yet are able to integrate with the VoIP infrastructure. Towards achieving this Nokia has come out with Intellisync integration software. Nokia feels that the availability of Intellisync will allow local enterprises to integrate many types of back-end applications, including those developed in-house, and make them available in the field.
According to General manager of Nokia's enterprise solutions, Vaughn Madeley, "With Intellisync we can provide an enterprise with push e-mail, [but] the IT managers' issues were about how to manage these devices and operating systems which Intellisync allows them to do. Adding the software also allows devices to be erased over the air. The next question was about being able to take back-office CRM systems and bringing them out on the road to devices."
There is demand: It is an undeniable fact that several service providers are moving towards mobile solutions or solutions on the move. Under those circumstances, it is only natural that companies bring out solutions to meet that requirement and the Nokia Inyellisync is a logical step in that direction.
Mobile solutions involves going beyond just Email and voice communications to CRM. It remains for both the organization making the switch and for the service providers to understand the business needs fully before they can come out with a working optimal solution.
Nokia's new E Series will ship out with the requisite client software pre-installed and the Intellisync server has to be purchased separately. According to Vaughn "As a dual-mode device, if you are running a VoIP environment at the end of this year you will be able to get a client that will allow you to step from a GSM to VoIP by switching manually and seamlessly, in the future.
Written by shiama on July 19th, 2006 with no comments.
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There is no reputable business house in the world that would not want to cut costs of operation. While lay-offs and job cuts is one way of achieving this target especially if yours is a multinational company spread across the world.
Business Process Outsourcing is yet another method and many have successfully outsourced their processes to India and China. Interestingly there is yet another way of reducing one’s operational costs even more - slashing your phone bills.
In today’s age of VoIP phones, do you need to really look any further for a more cost effective solution? Leading the way down this unchartered path is Rolls Royce. Rolls Royce has signed a contract worth US$20m (£11m) to transform its phone network into a single network providing voice over IP services (VoIP).
Considering it has in excess of 36,500 employees spread across the globe, Rolls Royce definitely sees the savings it can generate from making this switch over. Once the new system is in place, the global voice network will provide Rolls Royce with comprehensive voice calling services, unified voice, fax and e-mail messaging.
According to the company IT director Jim Reed, ‘we wanted to transform and simplify the network and telephony infrastructure. It delivers a highly comprehensive and competitive managed service as well as the ability to build large, reliable networks for delivery of new services.’ Nortel has been entrusted with the responsibility of this major transformation.
Initially it would provide the network connectivity to its Rolls Royce Offices in the UK, US, Canada, Norway, Germany and France. Nortel will handle the complete integration and deployment of the IP telephones and associated software and also manage the existing TDM based networks.
Clearly Rolls Royce will be setting corporate standards in global use of VoIP thereby heralding a totally new generation. Once this project is complete the company could also probably think of future introduction of advanced mobility services for communications and collaboration virtually anytime and anywhere.
Written by shiama on July 11th, 2006 with no comments.
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“Sorry sir, there seems to be a problem with your bank accounts. Please call…for instructions to assist our managers to fix this problem†- alarming news received on your Skype phone. Panic sets in, you call up the number prompted and proceed to help the person trying to help you fix the problem...
You have just divulged all your details to a fraudster who was VISHING your details away! Gone are the times, when scammers emailed unsuspecting web surfers email links to fake sites that phished your details, it seems. In today’s age of cheaper VoIP calls over the Internet or Wi Fi phones, crooks no longer depend greatly on emails and fake websites to wreak havoc.
Vishing, coined from “voice†and “phishing†begins with an automated recorded message alerting you of a banking emergency and directs you to call a certain phone number to resolve your problems. According to Secure Computing - a company that makes security appliances, once the account holder calls that specified number; they would be instructed to enter their sixteen-digit credit card number amongst other things.
Asking for your PIN number is a big red flag for anyone but the automated message and the urgency makes even careful people throw caution to the winds. Almost every bank warns their customers not to ever let out their card number or PIN number to any bank employee. Why on earth would then a customer care if that very bank now insists on hearing from you your card number? Well in times of crisis logic and reason cease to exist and that vulnerability is exactly what these crooks tap into.
Vishing is basically phone based and crooks set up voice response systems using stolen identities are using even personal mobiles. Elsewhere in the UK and Iceland, crooks are using mobile phones to send SMS text messages to lure people into malicious web sites. Whichever the method, the crooks are out to get as much of your personal and confidential information as you so carelessly part with.
According to Paul Henry, vice president of strategic accounts for Secure Computing, who was talking about vishing: "Consumers need to be extra-vigilant when giving out their information on the phone. Common sense is the first line of protection." But, common sense is not so common after all is it?
Written by shiama on July 11th, 2006 with no comments.
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“Sorry sir, there seems to be a problem with your bank accounts. Please call…for instructions to assist our managers to fix this problem†- Alarming news received on your Skype phone. Panic sets in, you call up the number prompted and proceed to help the person trying to help you fix the problem...
You have just divulged all your details to a fraudster who was VISHING your details away! Gone are the times, when scammers emailed unsuspecting web surfers email links to fake sites that phished your details, it seems. In today’s age of cheaper VoIP calls over the Internet or Wi Fi phones, crooks no longer depend greatly on emails and fake websites to wreak havoc.
Vishing, coined from “voice†and “phishing†begins with an automated recorded message alerting you of a banking emergency and directs you to call a certain phone number to resolve your problems. According to Secure Computing - a company that makes security appliances, once the account holder calls that specified number; they would be instructed to enter their sixteen-digit credit card number amongst other things.
Asking for your PIN number is a big red flag for anyone but the automated message and the urgency makes even careful people throw caution to the winds. Almost every bank warns their customers not to ever let out their card number or PIN number to any bank employee. Why on earth would then a customer care if that very bank now insists on hearing from you your card number? Well in times of crisis logic and reason cease to exist and that vulnerability is exactly what these crooks tap into.
Vishing is basically phone based and crooks set up voice response systems using stolen identities are now using even personal mobiles. Elsewhere in the UK and Iceland, crooks are using mobile phones to send SMS text messages to lure people into malicious web sites. Whichever the method, they are out to get as much of your personal and confidential information as they can to take you to the cleaners.
According to Paul Henry, vice president of strategic accounts for Secure Computing, who was talking about vishing: "Consumers need to be extra-vigilant when giving out their information on the phone. Common sense is the first line of protection." But, common sense is not so common after all is it?
Written by shiama on July 11th, 2006 with no comments.
Read more articles on Security and Business VoIP and Networks and Residential VoIP.
Wireless licenses being auctioned by FCC is all set to rake in a large sums of money and the ones bidding seem to think the market is there to fork out these large amounts. The FCC is scheduled to begin auctioning the licenses for advanced wireless services on Aug. 9 in a sale that analysts have said could raise between $8 billion and $15 billion.
Who did not qualify include Cingular Wireless, the No. 1 U.S. wireless carrier, was one of the bidders that failed to initially qualify, according to forms filed with the FCC. However, Verizon Wireless and Deutsche Telekom's T-Mobile have qualified to participate in an August sale of valuable wireless licenses, according to the U.S. Federal Communications Commission.
Companies are interested in netting the 1,122 licenses to get more more third-generation mobile networks capable of shuttling voice, data, video and other services at higher speeds.
VoIP service on airplanes - In June, the FCC auctioned off frequencies for in-flight wireless Internet access on all domestic flights. These licenses allow the carriers to offer wireless seat-back phone service as well as Internet broadband access on all domestic flights. Decision has not been made to lift the ban of cell phones and VoIP access on airlines by the FCC and FAA. However, FCC has already begun proceedings to determine the feasibility and safety of such a service.
Frequent business flier survey reveals fliers don't want cell phones and VoIP on planes: This entire race to get the wireless license strangely is not doing much for the targeted consumers of these companies it seems. An International Airline Passengers Association (IAPA) survey of frequent business travelers released last week found the respondents fear “that the impending introduction of cell phones onboard commercial jets will be disruptive, anti-social and even dangerous, possibly even sparking air rage between passengers, according to Travel.com.
Written by shiama on July 10th, 2006 with no comments.
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Meetings in posh boardrooms will soon become a thing of the past if the indications in the number of users who have switched over to virtual conferences are anything to go by. A survey conducted across a section of 3,000 IT managers in the UK revealed the burgeoning popularity of conducting business meetings and operations through the use of VoIP and virtual technology.
An astonishing 69 percent of the respondents said they used voice and video conferencing facilities as a routine in the course of their work. As many as 73 percent said they would be switching to IP standards and methods as a way to reduce operational costs, while 57 percent are planning to review and upgrade their voice and data requirements this year.
Poor picture and sound quality being ghosts of the past, the virtual conference table has spawned a large number of advantages for businesses of all kinds, especially those in the financial and manufacturing spheres. With the advent of the broadband high speed connection, video conferencing is now being used by 69 percent of the financial services industry, 65 percent of the manufacturing industry, and 56 percent of the retail, distribution, and transport industry.
VoIP and video conferences enable organizations to take decisions in real-time, besides reducing the costs associated with telecommunications and traveling between venues. Employee training and collaboration, document reviews, and virtual presentations are a few other benefits of this technology.
The survey was commissioned by Zycko, which provides storage, voice, and network distribution services, and was conducted by Vanson Bourne, which offers research-based IT marketing and consultancy services.
Written by pushpa27 on July 6th, 2006 with no comments.
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Moving one step closer to its goal of becoming one of the top five voice carriers in Europe by the year 2010, the Sweden-based telecom operator TeliaSonera AB has introduced VoIP Connect, a feature that will enable service providers to offer VoIP services for customers. TeliaSonera’s International Carrier clients can use a gateway to access the company’s network without investing in telephony servers. IP Communications reports:
TeliaSonera estimates around 30 to 40 new customers will be using the new service in the Nordic countries, Europe and the U.S. before the end of this year. The company believes that voice over IP will grow by 10 percent each quarter in Western Europe and that 30 percent of broadband users will use IP-telephony by the end of 2007.
Written by pushpa27 on July 5th, 2006 with no comments.
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VoIP can be wonderful for businesses based at home or otherwise and yes it is the cheapest way to communicate. Employers are also finding that VoIP is also empowering employees and there are many factors that make it so. Net telephony allows workers to be more mobile in their own office even though you are still plugged-in.
When employees move around an IP telephony network, one of the benefits is they can plug their phones into any LAN (local area network) points and still retain their call preference. So if you have businesses far-flung in Europe and Asia you can have your people in these areas connected to you cost effectively and yes you can carry your phone extensions along to meeting rooms and just plug in to check with them.
Now if that is not empowering your people, the demand for IP communications that is growing in all enterprises small and medium businesses will not be the reality it is today. But, this was not the case till IP telephony happened in a big way as many SMB customers were without an in-house phone-conferencing bridge because the infrastructure required to achieve this is typically far too expensive.
Today technology can transform a small and medium businesses and humble home offices to operate like a large enterprise. Voice over IP helps employees in getting instant access to the data irrespective of the location. Customers are also able to deploy network with less upfront costs or with extensive in-house expertise, so it is preferred not only by business but also by an individual.
Therefore, if a business frequently schedules conference calls its not a big deal anymore cost wise. I know of several individuals who revived their home business thanks to VoIP enabling them to talk to customers all over the world. The time is great for home businesses! To sum up, VOIP is easy to understand, operate and yes the mobility part of the technology is indeed empowering.
Written by shiama on July 3rd, 2006 with no comments.
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If you have ever been to Asia you may have seen the powers surges that can occur to any equipment most homes have a power stabilizer for all home appliances. However these power hikes also affect the telephony equipments and the problem is being more pronounced with VoIP being so popular.
Researchers at Frost & Sullivan Asia-Pacific, told ZDNet Asia that the region's enterprise IP telephony market is "picking up tremendously". Frost & Sullivan expects sales of IP-PBX systems here to post a strong compound annual growth rate of 16.7 percent to eventually reach US$3.2 billion by 2012.
Power surge problems have a new answer in Raychem Circuit Protection, which introduced its 2Pro device series, that features integrated overcurrent/overvoltage circuit protection technology designed to help prevent damage to telephony communications equipment.
The device's small footprint, resettable functionality and coordinated protection capabilities allow for use in a wide range of telephony and voice-over-Internet-protocol (VoIP) equipment applications such as cordless phones, VoIP gateways, data modems, set-top boxes, security systems, main distribution frame (MDF) modules, analog linecards and integrated services digital network (ISDN) linecards.
Lightning can also cause huge problems for telephone networks be it the PSTN or VoIP network and this could lead to damages to equipment. The RoHS-compliant 2Pro device incorporates PolySwitch polymeric positive temperature coefficient resistor (PPTC) overcurrent technology with a metal oxide varistor (MOV). component into one innovative, thermally protected device to help provide current limiting during overcurrent events and voltage clamping during overvoltage events. This single-device approach to coordinated circuit protection helps reduce component count.
Popularity of VoIP in recent times is forcing providers to secure VoIP gateways at homes and businesses. With the implementation of the 2Pro device equipment manufacturers comply with UL 60950 and remain operational after specified lightning tests. It also helps equipment comply with surge tests per TIA-968-A, IEC 60950, and ITU-T K.20/K.21.
Written by shiama on July 2nd, 2006 with no comments.
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Hosted VoIP applications provider, ZivVa has acquired Vocalocity, which is a provider of OEM software for standards-based telephony solutions. However, the combined firm will operate under the name Vocalocity because of the market leadership position of the Vocalocity brand. The new products and services launched by these firms will provide enterprise customers and OEM partners with two powerful VoIP platforms under a single brand. The two VoIP platforms are on-demand service-based platform and OEM-driven standards-based VoIP platform. The acquisition will help the enterprise customers easily build automated voice response applications using standards-based creation and integration tools such as the Vocalocity App Center, and run on-demand VoIP applications that include office PBX.
Written by Sagar on June 29th, 2006 with no comments.
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Organizations are mandated by compliance measures to save every email, every document, and every transaction. They are unsure of what to delete and what to retain, for fear of litigation at a later date. The problem is compounded in the case of voice mails. The use of VoIP tools suites that deliver voice mails to a user’s email inbox is on the rise, and with it, the quandary of storing voice files that are much larger than text files.
Storage issues rear their ugly head when there are multiple copies of the same file stored in different locations – on the voicemail system, the recipient’s inbox, in personal folders, on backup tapes, and on the server. If the mail in question has been forwarded to a few colleagues, the copies in their email boxes are also stored. The need of the hour is for voice mail to be included in an organization’s document-retention policy that decides what should be saved, how long it should be kept, where it should be stored, who has access rights. Naturally, voice mails that affect compliance will have to be retained.
Content-addressed storage, where only a single copy of any non-duplicated file is maintained, is not much use in such situations as such storage platforms come into the picture only after the data on the file has outlived its usefulness.
The solution is a voicemail system should be smart enough to retain just a single copy of the same file sent out to multiple recipients. This process, known as single-instancing, can help reduce redundancy, reduce server workload, and save a large amount of disk space.
Written by pushpa27 on June 28th, 2006 with no comments.
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Cable broadband systems operator Suddenlink Communications has teamed up with Nortel to provide a suite of telephone and multimedia services to their customers. The new service is comprised of network design as well as integration, management and maintenance services. The move will enable Suddenlink to expand its telephony services. Suddenlink sources revealed that this new network would provide VoIP-based telephony services to company's national customer base. It will also include conversion of approximately 30,000 telephony subscribers acquired from Cox. IP Communications has published an article on the Same Topic.
Suddenlink will be using PacketCable-qualified Nortel Communication Server 2000-Compacts (CS 2000-Compact) as the exclusive softswitch on their Suddenlink backbone. The CS 2000-Compact uses industry standard SIP protocol for cost effective interconnect to the public phone network and Nortel will also provide Suddenlink with IP Unity's PacketCable based Mereon(x) 6000 Media Server and Mereon Unified Messaging application.
Written by Sagar on June 22nd, 2006 with no comments.
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Instant messaging services, the new turf for the VoIP war sees the launch of Internet giant Microsoft’s live messenger service following Yahoo Beta’s foray. Everyone wants to have a piece of the VoIP pie and why not? We already have AOL and Google already offering internet telephony with their services.
So what’s new in Microsoft's latest version of Windows Live Messenger? It comes with a new feature called Verizon Web Calling that lets users place local, long-distance, and international calls from their computers to almost any phone, including cell phones. The Verizon partnership is new and if you remember Verizon has sued Vonage for patent infringement. Now is this a clear taunt by Microsoft to competitors Skype and Vonage?
The charges for North American calling, as well as calls to the U.K., France, Germany, and several other nations for 1.9 cents a minute. As with SkypeOut, you buy credits in advance. Available call credit packages are $5, $10 and $25, all of which you can charge to your credit card. The only hitch in the Windows Live Messenger is that you cannot cannot receive incoming calls and which should in time be rectified.
All said and done there is still the problem of IM’s security risk as MSN, Yahoo and AOL with their large consumer base can tempt even the business community into internet telephony through IM and that could be a security problem for businesses. How can IM security risks be addressed?
For now Skype need not be worried they have been pioneers and have huge consumer base that are loyal. AOL’s AIM users are complaining about the irritating ads that come during calls and let’s not forget the user fees AOL charges for their service – All factors that make Skype sit pretty for the time being. What do you think?
Written by shiama on June 21st, 2006 with no comments.
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$4.1 billion dollars is what eBay paid to buy Skype out. There are competitors and more competitors but now despite all that the industry is beginning to wonder if the entire VoIP industry is a big hype - a bubble waiting to burst? This is what a recent article had to to say - Skype as an investment was a bad one for eBay and also points a finger at the Vonage IPO debacle as another reason to believe this.
Offering free VoIP calls without a business plan is what is said to ail Skype since eBay took over an the auction giant really did not have a plan after takeover. Vonage investors also got taken for a ride as the IPO went out at $17 a share and today it is under $10!
Talking of the VoIP sector it goes on to say that it is indeed a great technology but will not make fast money. So, why won’t VoIP make quick money for providers?
An LA Times article comes out with an answer to the fast money question though totally unrelated to eBay's business plans. Cheap Internet phone calls could get more expensive under provisions added to federal legislation. An amendment to the first major telecommunications legislation in a decade would give states authority over payments to state universal service funds and over rates that Internet phone companies pay to complete calls.
Internet calling companies estimate that a $25 monthly bill would raise $1.77 with the universal service fund fee. They did not estimate what state access charges could be, though they said the average cost is 5 cents a minute and can go as high as 34 cents.
Telecom experts say Vonage and other Internet calling companies, including cable providers that offer phone service, have to start shouldering some of the burdens that wireless and landline phone companies have long had. So there’s trouble ahead for VoIP even though there is no dearth of newer companies wanting a piece of the VoIP pie.
Written by shiama on June 17th, 2006 with no comments.
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Skype is no doubt a name to reckon with in the VoIP industry. Competition has been there and now another company called Fusion Telecommunication is set to launch its brand of VoIP services. New York based, Fusion Telecom believes with the launch of its Efonica service, it will have an edge over Skype.
Efonica will introduce the world's first worldwide Internet Area Code (10), which is dialed ahead of your standard phone number. This is to be used instead of a new number or user name when connecting via the VoIP service. With voice processing technology that can withstand up to 30% packet losses, Efonica should prove to be a better solution for use in countries where broadband is not so prevalent.
The company also claims that it took more than 5 years to develop a new IP telephony architecture termed DSP technology (Directed SIP Peer-to-Peer). According to the company sources this can "substantially improves upon current methods of delivering VoIP calls" Unlike Skype that eats into much of the users machine resources and bandwidth, Efonica will leverage more on Fusion's carrier-class network and back-office infrastructure.
The company's website also claims that with DSP, it will greatly reduce exposing a subscribers computer to allow it to be used as temporary transit points thereby making it relatively safer -"This not only uses the computer and network resources without the explicit knowledge of the subscriber, but also creates an enormous network security risk for enterprise networks".
Efone plans to focus its attention in Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean where use of broadband is rather low. To start with Efonica services will be available in 3 forms - Efonica FREE, Efonica PLUS a paid service, and Efonica PRO for business users.
Efonica no doubt promises the best and with Call Waiting, Caller ID with Name, Call Hold, Call Transfer, Call Forwarding, and Do Not Disturb. All for free! It remains to be seen if they will have a defenite edge over Skype.
Written by shiama on June 17th, 2006 with no comments.
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Mexico seems to be virgin territory for VoIP entry according to top management at Toshiba. Wanting to be the first major player to tap most of this market Toshiba has recently set up a division Toshiba de Mexico Digital Solutions - to make its VoIP solutions - mostly the Strata SIX range - widely and readily available for the Mexican small to medium sized businesses (SMB) market.
Mexico seems to be an ideal place to set up such a facility plainly because of of a large number of SMBs eager to start using the technology. The improved network infrastructure is also coming in place to aid the rapidly growing market potential. A study conducted by Toshiba indicated that nearly roughly 54 percent of Mexico-based companies plan to upgrade their communications systems and nearly 80 percent plan to switch to IP telephony.
Brian Metherell, vice president and general manager of Toshiba’s Telecommunication Systems Division, said - “With the launch of its new Toshiba de Mexico Digital Solutions Division, Toshiba is now bringing its Strata CIX family of IP business communications solutions to Mexico; Toshiba’s Strata CIX family allows users to embrace the expanded reach and mobility capabilities of IP-based telephony systems, with Toshiba quality, reliability and durability.â€
The Strata CIX is designed for SMBs wanting to make a smooth transition to IP based communications. Additionally the FeatureFlex software that accompanies the equipment is powerful enough to lets developers rapidly and easily add new telephone system features such as call control capabilities and voice processing capabilities. The fact that it can handle a mix of analog, digital and IP telephones is a additional plus point.
However, one issue that may degrade the performance after having made the switch is the fear that the network operators like Telmex, who have already been accused of blocking VoIP signals across its network, will block or degrade VoIP signals to the point where having made the switch may seem worthless. While this is a problem for now, it is hoped that things will improve in the days ahead as the competition from other players entering the Mexican market rises.
Written by shiama on June 14th, 2006 with no comments.
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All this wiretap business began with the FCC deciding to issue a ruling to allow government wiretap based upon the Department of Justice concerns that new technology would not accommodate police wiretaps under the 1994 Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act, known as CALEA.
This lead education bodies on a legal warpath against the FCC arguing that information services should be exempt. The court held up the FCC decision for wiretapping - and the ramifications it will have on the VoIP market needs to be examined. The first thing will be the cost factor - to make all this wiretap available providers mainly the broadband ones would have to up their costs and this could only be passed on to Internet phone service soon.
The American Council on Education however got its way, the court ruled that private networks, particularly those at universities, are not covered by CALEA.
The other major point about this ruling is the security aspect of VoIP especially business VoIP. If the law enforcement authorities are going to be listening in so can others and this factor can make VoIP unattractive for businesses. As accessing public routers, used by the two sides using IP telephony, is how the wiretapping will be done is itself a huge security problem. What says Skype, Vonage and the rest?
The whole system will be opened up and identity theft password theft and other information can be compromised. This could be the chink in the VoIP machine that has been zooming in growth. If the routers are not secured properly and this will be the point of attack malicious people can exploit the situation.
The ease of VoIP and the user-friendly aspect of changing IP addresses are however a problem for government wiretap authorities and this is the other side of the story. To sum up- costs and security issues can spell doom for business VoIP and smaller Internet service providers while the implementation will be the problem of the government snoopers.
Written by shiama on June 14th, 2006 with no comments.
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Hot on the heels of the furor on the issue of people’s right to privacy comes the ruling from a U.S. appeals court that states that companies that provide web-based telephone services must allow law enforcement agencies to their lines. Private networks such as those at universities, and communications between computers like chat and instant messaging are excused from following the ruling. According to Philip J. Weiser, a professor of law and telecommunications at the University of Colorado, this will mean a rise in costs for Internet telecommunications companies, as broadband networks are not inherently designed to be wire-tapped. The ruling is a 2-1 decision from a panel of judges in Washington, and upholds a verdict of the Federal Communication Commission that the 1994 Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act applies to companies such as Vonage.
Written by pushpa27 on June 13th, 2006 with no comments.
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Customers of Ennovative Commerce Solutions will now be able to administer and maintain VoIP phones as well as support IP-PBX applications in their enterprise by taking advantage of environmental, transport, monitoring, and maintenance services provided by TelCove Network VoIP Service (TNVS) from TelCove, which provides business telecom services to enterprise customers and carriers. IP Communications reports:
"Ennovative had an easy choice in deploying TelCove's Network VoIP Service," said TelCove's southeast regional vice president Joe McCourt in a statement. "As an existing TelCove customer, Ennovative simply swapped out their TelCove analog business lines with our TelCove VoIP solution. In doing so, they gained tremendous flexibility for their telephone services and many added features and functions. They also benefit from much simpler voice service administration and better reporting capabilities, while consolidating their voice and data networks and eliminating usage charges.
Written by pushpa27 on June 13th, 2006 with no comments.
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Business communications technology vendor Avaya has added to its array of one-X IP phones with the introduction of Avaya one-X Deskphone Edition, which the company claims will provide better user experiences through intelligent access to intelligent communications. The one-X range already boasts of impressive members such as the Avaya one-X Mobile Edition and the Avaya one-X Quick Edition, which allow users to access to an impressive array of IP applications across Avaya devices and interfaces in an easy and consistent manner. Avaya is also looking to tap into the global market with these phones by adopting an international design and incorporating screen prompts in 14 different languages. TMC Net reports:
The Avaya one-X Deskphone Edition models have been developed to meet the needs of a wide range of users, categorized into four basic profiles — ranging from power communicators who are often mobile, to those who require only basic telephony functions. The categories are currently designated as Walk-up (e.g., customers, visitors), Everyday (e.g., engineers, accountants), Essential (e.g., sales executives, bankers, lawyers, etc…), and Navigator (e.g., executive assistants, receptionists).
Written by pushpa27 on June 13th, 2006 with no comments.
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Before you jump the gun and label this article as Trash or Nonsense let me tell you the answer is Yes! Thanks to Intel. Intel Corp. during the Computex 2006 Exhibition in Taipei revealed a product, which will allow you to make VoIP calls using your existing telephones.
More about the Product:
Labeled Intel 600SM, it is PCI phone adaptor which is basically a add-in card that allows phone interface. With it comes the software, called the SoftPhone agent. Once configured this phone will allow you to not only call regular landline numbers as before but also cell phones using various services, including engin (an Australian VoIP provider), Packet8, Skype or yak. This new adaptor will definitely make it easier for those who are reluctant to change over to the special phones required to make VoIP calls. Additionally it will also reduce the phone bills as well. It will also greatly enhance voice quality.
With Skype being the only real universal VoIP provider till date it seems like most people will have to depend on its service to make VoIP calls except in places where local providers exist. The downside of this is that you may not be able to make any emergency calls as Skype does not support it. It means if you want to make emergency calls you will have to have a regular phone in addition to your converted phone to make your distress calls.
Should you buy it?
You have to ask yourself two questions then: Do I change over to a VoIP connection buying the Intel 600SM and save a few bucks on my phone bills or Is my neighborhood generally unsafe warranting the need for distress calls often? In there, lies the answer to whether you should go for it or not.
Written by shiama on June 7th, 2006 with no comments.
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Sonus Networks, provider of VoIP technology solutions, has introduced the Self-care Access Portal as part of its Sonus certified Voice over Broadband (VoBB) system, in collaboration with fellow VoIP technology provider Atreus Systems. According to the agreement, Atreus will become a member of Sonus’ Open Service Partner Alliance (OSPA), and thus be able to offer service providers an integrated portal for the automation of VoIP configuration and management. TMC Net reports:
The portal will also deliver a Web-based self-care service for consumer VoIP; a user-driven voice feature configuration; detailed logs of incoming, outgoing and missed calls; voicemail download and playback, and an entry-level system for an easier migration to the full self-provisioning system for Business VoIP, Wholesale VoIP and IMS-based offerings.
Written by pushpa27 on June 7th, 2006 with no comments.
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Skype and Dell announced a partnership in order to provide faster VoIP calls. They agreed to ship Skype software with new Dell XPS mobile systems. The XPS mobile systems include the XPS M1210 and XPS M2010. Dell customers now will be able to access Skype's voice and video Internet calling software. Dell will also preload Skype on the XPS 2010 mobile systems. The XPS 1210 will be configured with Skype as part of an optional audio-video communications package. IP Communications reports:
Skypers are able to conduct PC-based calls to other Skypers across the world without worrying about the cost or the distance of the call. Unveiled today, the Dell XPS M1210 and M2010 are available immediately worldwide.
Written by Sagar on May 31st, 2006 with no comments.
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