Greg Galitzine's VoIP Authority Blog

Tekelec Acquires VocalData

September 20, 2004

Tekelec just announced that it has acquired VocalData, Inc., a provider of hosted IP Telephony applications.

Tekelec purchased 100 percent of VocalData's outstanding stock for approximately $27.5 million, consisting of $14.5 million of cash and approximately 780,000 shares of Tekelec common stock, or $13.0 million, based on today's closing price. VocalData will be integrated into Tekelec's Next-Generation Switching business unit.

VocalData, headquartered in Richardson, Texas, is a North American market share leader in IP Centrex, accounting for 44 percent of all IP Centrex lines deployed at the end of 2003, based on 2003 IP Centrex NA line shipments reported in a recent Frost & Sullivan study.

Report Pegs VoIP to 40% of business lines by '09

September 20, 2004

According to a recent report published by IDATE, a European information and communications technologies consultancy, VoIP will continue to grow rapidly, culminating in 40% of business lines to be operating over IP by 2009.

We’ve all heard the reasoning behind the decision to move from TDM to IP. This is not news:
• a single network to manage;
• lower price of infrastructure;
• lower MAC and maintenance costs; and most importantly,
• the ability to quickly and efficiently create and deploy new services.

But the report does cite the high potential of VoIP, and points out the following overriding trends:

• By 2009 close to 40% of business lines will be IP-based (180 million lines), regardless of the solution used, which will mean the disappearance of close a third of classic analogue and ISDN lines.
• Centrex (hosted) services will generate roughly 4.5 billion EUR in revenues in 2009.
• Revenues generated by calling will drop by close to 50%.

SIP Is In The Air

September 14, 2004

Microsoft and Polycom today announced a joint marketing and development agreement to deliver rich media collaboration solutions. The initial offering, is scheduled for release in late 2004, and will combine the presence and IM capabilities of Microsoft’s Live Communications Server and Windows Messenger with a slew of Polycom's desktop and group video conference systems, IP phones, voice and video bridges; and the conference portal.

The solution will support SIP from infrastructure to the endpoint. Microsoft and Polycom's SIP strategy is designed to deliver a customer solution that combines the benefits of video with voice, instant messaging, applications, business processes, Web services and Web collaboration.

Nortel Announces "Virtual Enterprise"

September 13, 2004

Nortel Networks is announcing new solutions designed to change the way business is conducted, enabling the “Virtual Enterprise” by providing applications geared toward allowing remote, geographically-dispersed workers to function as a collocated, cohesive, and integrated team.

In a pre-briefing for industry press last week, Nortel’s Vickie Marvich-McGovern, director, Enterprise Multimedia Solutions, shared Nortel’s vision and outlined a number of product portfolio enhancements driving the notion of the Virtual Enterprise. “Work is no longer somewhere you go,” she said. “It’s something that goes with you.”

To that end, Nortel Networks is announcing a suite of office tools accessible via the end-user’s computer, regardless of whether it is a desktop, laptop, tablet, or handheld PC.

VONAGE, OFFICE DEPOT IN DISTRIBUTION PACT

September 1, 2004

Vonage, the broadband phone company, announced that Office Depot will now sell its IP communications services in over 700 of its stores as well as online.

Last week, rival AT&T announced that their CallVantage service would be available online at Amazon.com and at over 600 Best Buy outlets nationwide.

At this rate, how long will it be before my wife send me out to the local 7-11 store to pick up milk and I come home with a new phone service? (Please, no replies about how most of the phone cards sold over the Qwikie-Mart counter are utilizing VoIP already.)

All kidding aside, this mass marketing of VoIP services bodes well for our industry, as this puts VoIP in the spotlight and gives people an alternative to traditional phone services.

Charter To Offer VoIP Services

August 30, 2004

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iPlay3 Hits Into Triple Play

August 20, 2004

Triple Play. It’s on everybody’s lips these days. I had the chance to speak with some good folks at iPlay3 this afternoon, and I thought I’d share some of what they’re up to.

iPlay3 is a consortium made up of NetCentrex, Envivio, and Highdeal — each a successful vendor in their own area of expertise. Together they offer an integrated triple play solution featuring voice over IP, video over IP, and a pricing/rating solution that leverages any type of broadband IP infrastructure including Fiber to the Home (FTTH), DSL, Cable, and Wireless.

GIPS' VoiceEngine Enables Quality Skype Experience

August 18, 2004

Global IP Sound (GIPS), issued a press release today announcing that Skype, the peer-to-peer Internet calling service, is leveraging GIPS VoiceEngine to offer its customers improved voice processing and quality.

“Skype is proving that Voice over IP quality can be better than the public switched telephone network. With over 19 million downloads since the launch of the beta version, this application has clearly launched the market for Voice over IP and set the quality bar,” said Gary Hermansen, President and CEO of GIPS. “We are very pleased with the market response in respect to the voice quality that Skype delivers.”

GIPS VoiceEngine handles voice-related tasks for VoIP soft clients in both personal computer (PC) and personal digital assistant (PDA) environments.

Lingo Goes Worldwide

August 16, 2004

Lingo , the U.S. Internet broadband phone service introduced by Primus Telecommunications, Inc., in June, announced today that they will offer customers the opportunity to select international telephone numbers from cities in 12 international countries for their broadband phone service.

When a U.S. Lingo customer selects a number from an available country for their service, their family, friends, and business associates in that country can call the Lingo customer on that number at the price of an in-country local call.

Freedom Calling

August 13, 2004

A soldier currently deployed in the Sunni triangle north of Baghdad in Iraq was able to watch his wife graduate nursing school in Norfolk, Nebraska using technology supplied by VidiTel.

In cooperation with Freedom Calls Foundation and Connecting Point of Norfolk, Sgt. Gabriel Synovec, Alpha Company 185th CSB, was able to watch his wife, Kim, graduate from Nursing School at Northeast College in Norfolk, Nebraska on August 6th. After the ceremony, Sgt. Synovec was also able to see and talk to Kim, his parents, and other relatives.

Freedom Calls recognized the fact that most front line soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan, faced with extended tours of duty, are not able to speak with members of their families for months at a time.

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