Jon Arnold and I finally got it all together and are proud to announce the launch of our new portal, IP Communications Insights.

I'll let the announcement we sent over the wire this morning fill you in on the details:

Robins Consulting Group and J Arnold & Associates Announce the Launch of IP Communications Insights

New Web Site is Home to IP Communications Industry Newsletter, Blogs, Podcasts, Newsfeeds, and Market Research and Intelligence

NEW YORK & TORONTO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Robins Consulting Group (RCG) and J Arnold & Associates (JAA) – both prominent IP communications industry research, marketing and consulting firms – have proudly announced the launch of their new independent Web platform “IP Communications Insights”, located at http://www.ipcom-insights.com.

IP Communications Insights is the culmination of a partnership between the two firms that includes an array of marketing, communications, advisory, consulting and research services for IP communications technology vendors and service providers.

Designed to be an independent platform for industry thought leaders and market intelligence, the goal for IP Communications Insights is to offer valuable coverage, analysis and information not readily available elsewhere.

In addition, IP Communications Insights will publish an ongoing series of industry reports designed to be very topical, highly strategic, concise and affordably priced. One study in the works, “VoIP Mashups - Where's the Money?” is a critical evaluation and insider view of this rapidly evolving space. The possibilities for VoIP mashups are limitless, but the business case scenarios are not. This ground-breaking report will survey today's landscape and provide a strategic roadmap for making VoIP mashups a viable business.

Marc Robins, IP Communications Insights Co-Founder and Chief Technology Evangelism Officer of RCG, has been involved in the IP communications industry since its inception, and has served the industry as a reporter and analyst, conference producer and magazine publisher, and marketing executive and consultant. Mr. Robins also serves as the Managing Director of the SIP Forum, (http://www.sipforum.org), a prominent IP communications industry association that engages in numerous activities that advance and promote SIP technology, such as the development of industry recommendations, the SIPit interoperability and testing events, special interoperability workshops, and general promotion of SIP in the industry.

“I’m extremely proud – and excited -- to be going “live” with IP Communications Insights,” says Marc Robins. “I believe it accurately represents the vision that both Jon and I share, and creates a new environment for independent analysis and thought leadership that we feel is sorely missing in the marketplace of information. I look forward to working with Jon to continuously refine and add value to our platform, and to working with the many extremely talented individuals who have supported our efforts over the past year.”

J Arnold & Associates, founded by Jon Arnold, one of the IP communications industry’s most highly regarded analysts, is closely associated with VoIP, for both consumer and business applications. His marketing and strategy advice on the broader IP communications market is widely sought from vendors, carriers, the investment community, PR agencies and many facets of the media community.

“For some time now, Marc and I have felt there is a void in the market for independent analysis, and together we believe we can address it,” says Jon Arnold. “More than ever, with so much disruption, innovation and competition, we see a need for this type of perspective, and our intention is for the Web portal to become a focal point of clarity.”

About IP Communications Insights

IP Communications Insights is a portal for independent thought leadership and market intelligence not readily available elsewhere. IP Communications Insights hosts an IP communications industry newsletter, blogs, podcasts, and newsfeeds. The portal is also a new source for industry reports that are independent, authoritative, strategic and affordable. For more information about IP Communications Insights, visit www.ipcom-insights.com.

About RCG (Robins Consulting Group)

RCG, founded in 2003 by Marc Robins, is one of the leading consulting firms for companies in the IP Communications industry, offering market intelligence, high-value strategic planning and communications, messaging and branding expertise, and a variety of marketing consulting services including awareness and demand creation, distribution channel strategies and development, public relations support, and market research and intelligence.

Mr. Robins also serves as the Managing Director of the SIP Forum, a leading IP communications industry association. Prior to founding RCG, Marc served as Vice President of Publications and Trade Shows, Associate Group Publisher and Group Editorial Director at TMC (Technology Marketing Corporation).

Over the course of his career, Marc has authored hundreds of articles and columns for leading industry magazines, and he continues to evangelize new IP communications trends and technologies as a contributor to trade, mainstream and business publications. Marc is also a frequent moderator and speaker at leading industry events. For more information about RCG, visit www.robinsconsult.com.

About JAA

Jon Arnold is Principal of J Arnold & Associates, an independent analyst and marketing consultancy with a focus on IP communications. JAA works with a wide variety of clients in this sector, with expertise in VoIP, cable telephony, IPTV, Triple Play, enterprise IP, WiFi/WiMax, Peer-to-Peer, Web 2.0 and Open Source. His views are frequently cited in the business and trade press, and he regularly speaks at leading industry events. He also maintains an active profile through his widely followed blog and podcasts. Previously, he was the VoIP Program Leader at Frost & Sullivan, where he was responsible for managing their subscription service for Global VoIP Equipment Markets. The consultancy was launched in March 2005. For more information about JAA, visit www.jarnoldassociates.com.

 

 

 

 

Jon Arnold just let me in on the official "hard" launch of a new Web portal called "IP Convergence TV", of which Jon is Portal Editor. Here's Jon's blog post about it.

IP Convergence TV is a non-profit initiative that Comverse is heading, along with a group of charter sponsors including Intel, AudiCodes, Tilgin, BEA, and Blueslice. All these companies support the initiative by contributing content about all the various aspects of IP convergence - IPTV, Triple Play, FMC, etc.

Already, there's a good chunk of content on the site, and it has a nice, clean layout and very easy navigation. Definitely worth checking out!

 

 

I'm off to the VON show in San Jose, CA tomorrow morning, and I'm interested to see if there's any truth behind Thomas Howe's brave post today about why he's not attending the event. I'll be meeting with other technologists while I'm there, so I'm curious whether this position is shared by them.

For my part, I'm looking forward to shooting the breeze with my industry friends, making new friends, and (hopefully) discovering new innovative solutions and sussing out relevant industry trends.

Also, let me extend an invitation to those also attending the event to contact me if you're interested in meeting up.

I just absorbed some sobering statistics, courtesy of Fareed Zakaria's excellent column "Hassle and Humilation" in the February 26 issue of Newsweek magazine,  about the state of our International visitor visa process and the negative impact it is having on business travel and tourism.

Apparently, the situation is getting so bad that many important meetings scheduled to be held in America are being passed up by International business travelers due to an "increasingly demeaning process for visa applications."

Prepare to sober up: According to the piece, a group of Arab leaders recently landed at John F. Kennedy airport to attend a meeting of the Arab and American Action Forum, launched last September at the Clinton (as in Bill Clinton) Global Initiative meeting in New York: The idea: to bring together 100 young Arab leaders from all walks of life and introduce them to a similar group of Americans. The Arab backers are all pro-American, pro-business individuals who have attended American universities and who have spent extensive time in the U.S.

According to Fareed: "the first group of participants, mostly CEOs of large companies, were pulled out of the regular immigration lines...made to stand for two to five hours as Department of Homeland Security officials grilled them {about} why they had come to America, and whether they had any experience using weapons, what they thought of the Iraq war, and other such questions."

And if you think this is just an Arab issue, when "Discover America, a group set up by the tourism industry to encourage travel to America, polled 2,000 randomly selected international travelers and asked them "'which one location on the map is the worst'" in terms of visa hassles and nasty immigration officials, the United States topped the list by far."  If you're thinking they were probably anti-American to begin with, 72% still had a overall favorable view of the United States when asked.

The impact of all this hassle: "Total international arrivals into the United States declined 10 percent between 2000 and 2004, and business travel has declined 10% in the last 2 years...Once No. 1, the United States has dropped to third as a travel destination."

What's more:  "Over the last 14 years, global tourism has been thriving, having increased by 52 percent. But America's share has been declining, down 36 percent in the same time frame...with travel and tourism...employing 17 million people and generating $105 billion in tax revenues."

So, what are we to do while we wait and wait and wait for our State Department to significantly improve the situation? It seems to me that technology often comes to the rescue and saves us from damage caused by inefficient and ineffective processes and situations -- and perhaps this sad state of immigration affairs will ironically provide a boost to the nascent telepresence industry.

Telepresence technology -- high-end, somewhat costly (but rapidly dropping in price) IP-based audio/video conferencing equipment designed to provide a high-def, high-quality conferencing experience -- is poised to benefit from the unwillingness of a large and growing global group of professionals to subject themselves to the trials and tribulations of a system slipping into irrationality -- but still desiring to make contact with each other for business, academic and other peaceful and beneficial purposes. My partner, Jon Arnold, is also hot on this technology, as his numerous blog posts attest.

On the Telepresence newsfront, a number of companies are working hard to mainstream the technology, including Cisco, Tandberg and Polycom.

One telepresence solutions provider, Telanetix, recently announced plans to offer a new interoperable digital presence platform that gives users the ability to initiate a video conference between a high-end telepresence system and a standard video conferencing solution (such as those offered by Polycom and Tandberg).

According to Telanetix, up to now, a major barrier preventing businesses from expanding their video conferencing capabilities is that traditional video room conferencing systems were extremely costly. Because of Telanetix’s interoperable IP platform, businesses can keep their existing hardware-based systems and still install an IP telepresence solution that will operate seamlessly with it. According to the company, this is an industry first.

The text of the full release follows:

TELANETIX ANNOUNCES INTEROPERABILITY BETWEEN ITS DIGITAL PRESENCE SYSTEM AND EXISTING VIDEO CONFERENCING SYSTEMS

Company’s New Platform Eases Customer Transition To Telepresence

San Diego, California, February 15, 2007 -- Telanetix, Inc. (OTCBB: TNXI), a leading developer of Telepresence technology, announced today its plans to offer a new interoperable digital presence platform by the end of the first quarter of 2007. The new platform will give Telanetix users the option to participate in Telepresence meetings with standard H.263 and H.264 SIP enabled video conferencing systems currently being offered by video conferencing providers such as Polycom, Inc. and Tandberg.

"The Telepresence market currently has a large number of organizations that are using a mixed suite of conferencing products and services," stated Rick Ono, Telanetix Chief Operating Officer. "In an effort to offer our users the most advanced digital presence solution, Telanetix has created one of the first truly interoperable platforms for Telepresence. As video conferencing continues to become a mainstream application for businesses, our powerful solution offers all the benefits of Telepresence without requiring our customers to abandon existing systems. Our interoperability platform shifts the market in a new direction and will have significant impact on the Telepresence industry for years to come."

The interoperable platform will be offered as an option to Telanetix’s popular Digital Presence System. The platform is a combination of hardware and software components that facilitate seamless connectivity directly with the core of the Telanetix System.

“There are several methods that we could have used to accomplish interoperability,” said Rob Arnold, CTO of Telanetix, Inc. “While we have always supported room interoperability through integration of existing legacy systems, we found many people were looking for a more elegant solution. Based on that feedback from our customers and potential customers, we opted for a fully integrated solution that does not involve the use of a third party system, which enables us to ensure the installation, management and maintenance of our system remains seamless and hassle free.”

The interoperable platform will be available on all Telanetix Digital Presence products. Existing installations are easily field upgradeable.

About Telanetix, Inc.

Telanetix, Inc. has developed a unique technology which creates a fully immersive and interactive environment that integrates audio, video, and data from multiple locations into a single environment regardless of geographic boundaries. The company's Digital Presence Technology delivers full size, face-to-face images of real-time video, audio, and data in high quality resolution at 30 frames per second which is so profoundly real that users feel as if they are all present in the same room. Using Telanetix developed Codecs and advanced MPEG-4 compression on a Linux platform, the Company has effectively replaced the central videoconferencing bridge of legacy systems with high quality decentralized IP multicasting which provides speed and resolution which is significantly greater than those found in most existing technologies.

I just returned from travels south, to Fort Lauderdale and Internet Telephony EXPO -- and arrived in Winter in New York. It was bound to arrive at some point (although I thankfully missed the deep freeze, eight-degree temperatures of a couple of days ago).


The show was great -- well-attended and full of good content in the conferences.  Jon Arnold and I spent some time together basking in the glow of our recent announcement.  See Jon's post about show highlights.

And yes, I did spend a little time in the sun -- and barely escaped serious harm. I keep forgetting that the Florida sun can burn you alive -- even in the dead of winter...
  

Here are a few takeaways from the show  -- a mix of events, observations, and the like:




Peering is Hot:

Apparently the VoIP Peering Fabric sessions had to be relocated to larger quarters due to the overflow turnout.  Greg Galitzine has more on this and other happenings in his show recap.


SIP Trunking Adoption Gaining Momentum

The other standing-room-only crowds I saw were soaking up as much as they could about SIP Trunking. A number of sessions, including the SIP Trunking Series hosted by Ingate with presenters from BandTel, Cbeyond, Sphere, Ericsson, Objectworld, Level 3, pingtel, and Shoretel, covered everything from a basic introduction to SIP and SIP trunking, to deep dives into the service provider and enterprise networks, a look at SIP trunking in Latin America, and case studies showing SIP trunking actually at work -- delivering real-world benefits.

I've been covering the SIP trunking movement for a while -- here's a link to a whitepaper I authored a ways back -- so, I'm glad to see the excitement over it -- and the adoption rate -- is building nicely.


VoIP Security Issues Finally Getting Respect

Some really good education came out of the sessions covering VoIP Security. It's an area I've covered before in blog posts and columns, and I'm glad that not only is information about current VoIP vulnerabilities coming into the light, but awareness is also growing about the ways to effectively deal with them. Greg also wrote up a nice review of the issues that were presented by Mark Collier, CTO of VoIP security specialist SecureLogix and VoIP security blogger.


Billing Takes Front and Center

I had the pleasure to moderate the session, "VoIP and NGN Billing: A Primer" last Thursday at the show, and was very impressed by each and everyone on the panel, which included  Bruce Trvalik, Director, Product Management at Sonus Networks; Joe Hogan, CTO and Founder of Openet Telecom; Jim Dalton, CEO, TransNexus, Inc.; and David McNierney, VP of Market Development at Highdeal Inc.

The discussion was lively and insightful, and I found it very interesting to hear that billing and other "back office" functions are starting to migrate to the "front office" of providers -- all the way into the executive suite -- as they start to play a bigger and bigger strategic role and become integral in various marketing, cross-selling, and promotional activities. 

For more about current billing trends, you should check out Rich Grigonis' terrific article in the January issue of Internet Telephony magazine.


Great Drawings

I was sure the Harley was mine. Then the next day I was sure I was driving the Toyota TJ Cruiser home. But alas, this did not come to pass...

The bike and SUV were in close approximation to Internet Telephony yellow -- and were definite crowd-pleasers -- and great choices for grand giveaways.

Jon Arnold and I figured that since most everyone else was making some sort of announcement, issuing press releases and generally making noise  -- especially to pull in the crowds at Internet Telephony Conference & EXPO East going on right now -- that it was OK to make some noise of our own.

Hopefully it will be music to your ears

---

         




NEW YORK, TORONTO, and FORT LAUDERDALE, January 23, 2007-- Robins Consulting Group (RCG) and J Arnold & Associates (JAA) – both leading IP Communications industry research, marketing and consulting firms – have proudly announced a new partnership that includes the two firms joining forces to provide an array of marketing, communications, strategy consulting and market research services to their growing roster of IP communications technology vendors and service providers.

In addition, RCG and JAA will be jointly developing new information resources, including an electronic newsletter and related Web site, which will offer unique industry analysis, a healthy dose of opinion, provide a new platform for other industry thought leaders, and offer valuable coverage and information not readily available elsewhere about the rapidly evolving IP communications industry.

Veteran industry thought leader Marc Robins, RCG's founder and Chief Evangelism Officer, has been involved in the IP communications industry since its inception, and has served the industry as a leading reporter and analyst, conference producer and magazine publisher, and marketing executive and consultant.

“I’ve known Jon for several years, and have come to consider him one of the best minds in the industry,” says Marc Robins. “I’m thrilled to be forging this new partnership with Jon and JAA, as I believe the unique combination of our highly complementary capabilities will allow us to deliver even more value to our clients and to the industry at large. I also look forward to working with Jon to create exciting and compelling new resources of industry intelligence to help industry professionals navigate the constantly shifting sands of this dynamic, fast-moving industry.”

J Arnold & Associates, founded by Jon Arnold, one of the IP communications industry’s most highly regarded analysts, is closely associated with VoIP, for both consumer and business applications. His marketing and strategy advice on the broader IP communications market is widely sought from vendors, carriers, the investment community, PR agencies and many facets of the media community.

“Marc brings a rich perspective to this space, and is an independent voice that is widely followed,” says Jon Arnold. “Together, I think can we offer a valuable resource that can benefit anyone involved in the IP communications market. In a nutshell, I’d like to think of us as the go-to-guys for all things IP.”

About RCG (Robins Consulting Group)

RCG, founded in 2003 by Marc Robins, is one of the leading consulting firms for companies in the IP Communications industry, offering market intelligence, high-value strategic planning and communications, messaging and branding expertise, and a variety of marketing consulting services including awareness and demand creation, distribution channel strategies and development, public relations support, and market research and analysis. Prior to founding RCG, Marc served as Vice President of Publications and Trade Shows, Associate Group Publisher and Group Editorial Director at TMC (Technology Marketing Corporation.)

Over the course of his career, Marc has authored hundreds of articles and columns for leading industry magazines, and he continues to evangelize new IP communications trends and technologies as a regular contributor to trade, mainstream and business publications, and as the author of his popular column “Mind Share 2.0” for Internet Telephony® magazine and blog “Beyond VoIP”. Marc is also a frequent moderator and speaker at leading industry events. For more information about RCG, visit www.robinsconsult.com.

About JAA

Jon Arnold is Principal of J Arnold & Associates, an independent analyst and marketing consultancy with a focus on IP communications. JAA works with a wide variety of clients in this sector, with expertise in VoIP, cable telephony, IPTV, Triple Play, enterprise IP, WiFi/WiMax, Peer-to-Peer, Web 2.0 and Open Source. His views are frequently cited in the business and trade press, and he regularly speaks at leading industry events. He also maintains an active profile through his widely followed blog and podcasts. Previously, he was the VoIP Program Leader at Frost & Sullivan, where he was responsible for managing their subscription service for Global VoIP Equipment Markets. The consultancy was launched in March 2005. For more information about JAA, visit www.jarnoldassociates.com.

I'm looking forward to a little travel now, just as the weather is starting to behave wintery (pretty soon NYC will look like this).

Thankfully, upcoming travel will take me south to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, for Internet Telephony Conference and EXPO East.

I'll be moderating, checking out the latest technology on the show floor and sussing out the latest trends, holding meetings in the press room and elsewhere in the convention center (maybe out on a sun-drenched  patio) and generally enjoying catching up with folk and putting new faces to new names.

I'll be attending from midday Wednesday, January 24th till the show's end on Friday afternoon. If you're also attending the show and would like to meet up, please let me know.

The folks at blog VoIP Lowdown have come up with a great list of ten leading-edge VoIP, VoIM, IP and mobile applications we should all be keeping our eyes on -- apps that go WAY BEYOND plain vanilla VoIP calls. The writer -- the mysterious "ewriter" -- is definitely a person after my own heart.

Tomorrow, November 28, I'm honored to be the opening presenter at the 4th Annual Industry Conference on Broadband Communications and VoIP, hosted by the New York Society of Security Analysts (NYSSA). The event is a half-day investor conference attended by institutional investors and analysts, and features companies that want to get more exposure on Wall Street, and includes CTI Group, mPhase, and VoIP Inc.

The New York Society of Securities Analysts (NYSSA) is the premier membership organization on Wall Street for portfolio managers and security analysts, and the largest society of its kind in the world. Founded in 1937, it is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to educating investors and advancing the competence of investment professionals. Founders included Benjamin Graham, considered to be the father of security analysis.

According to a new 2007 Industry Review study from Boonton, New Jersey-based Insight Research Corp., the worldwide telecom industry is in a strong growth mode, and overall industry revenue is expected to climbs to $1.3 Trillion in 2007.

According to the study, strong growth in wireless is leading the way as wireless service revenues are expected to grow at a compounded rate of nearly 10 percent over the next few years, while wireline service revenues grow much more modestly at two percent. Nearly all of the growth in both sectors is expected to occur in broadband services, with wireless broadband service revenues expected to grow at a compounded rate of more than 60 percent over the forecast period, while wireline services grow at 10 percent over the same forecast horizon.

“The 2007 Industry Review states that in the growth environment set off by the rush to meet subscriber demand for broadband services, service providers are trying to create viable business models on the fly in order to deliver new types of IP-based services, including Residential Video Telephony, Fixed Mobile Convergence, File Sharing/Downloading Services, Audio/Video Streaming Services, Location-Based Services, and Presence-Based Services.

The study highlights rapidly growing industry segments such as VoIP, WiFi and WiMax, fixed-mobile convergence, IMS, IPTV and streaming media, as well as technological innovations such as grid computing and DWDM and WDM in fiber optics. The report also looks at changes in telecommunications buying patterns among enterprises that purchase managed services as well as other communications services.

“According to Insight Research president Robert Rosenberg, the telecommunications industry has fully recovered from the malaise of the past few years and is again in a growth mode as it ramps up to build the broadband networks that will provide new service types. “But even with the build-outs going full steam ahead, the overall revenue contribution from these new IP services is expected to be modest. Voice still rules, and will for some time to come.

An excerpt, table of contents, and ordering information for the 279-page report are available online here.