March 2007 Archives

On Verizon's FIOS, Vonage Satisfies

March 30, 2007 10:49 PM | 0 Comments
I stumbled across a site featuring a blogger who goes by the moniker “Mr. Credit Card,” who bills himself as an expert adviser on topics like choosing a credit card. While I was not looking for any credit card information, I was stunned when I saw that the blog had a recent entry (this afternoon in fact) that reviewed Vonage’s VoIP service.
 
In lieu of what’s been going on these past few weeks with Vonage, (and my own previous post) I simply had to share.
 
I’m including the link to Mr. CreditCard’s Review of Vonage VOIP Phone Service, and I’m only going to feature several notable quotes. For the full review (and for some pretty helpful credit card related advice), please click here.
 
It’s been a year since I signed up for Vonage’s service. And I have to say that I am very happy about it. Before I signed up, I did tons of research on the web and compared them with other services. Back then, I felt that Vonage offered the most value for the money. It was cheaper than Verizon VoiceWing...
 
...After switching to Verizon FIOS, my Vonage has been working like a charm. I have not had to make a single customer service call.
 
I’m not poking fun at Mr. CreditCard. Not at all. He’s entitled to like the service. I’m just wondering out loud that if Vonage works so well over Verizon’s FIOS, can Verizon possibly be thinking about buying Vonage outright? I mean, that thought’s never crossed anyone else’s mind before… Right?

Another Rough Week for Vonage

March 30, 2007 4:17 PM | 0 Comments
Embattled VoIP provider Vonage began the week expressing confidence in its ability to win an appeal against Verizon and chastising the market for "over-reacting" to its legal set-backs.
 
And Vonage ended the week with the “bold” news that they have created a news hotline for those subscribers who are pressed for time. Apparently Vonage subscribers can simply dial 700-GET-NEWS at no extra charge to get the latest headlines from around the world spoken right over the phone from Reuters news service.
 
I don’t believe Verizon has laid any patent claims to this service yet, but I’m not willing to lay any money on the line.
 
The pitch for coverage came to me as follows:
 
“At cocktail parties, around the water cooler or over grande lattes at the local coffee shop, everyone loves a well-informed conversationalist. But who these days has time to catch the evening news or read the paper — or even boot up a computer — wait — log on and surf to an Internet news site? Your latte will be cold by the time you find the news you're looking for.”
 
Apparently the service will allow users to:
 
“…Call 700-GET-NEWS whenever it's convenient and brush up on global politics, finance, sports, entertainment and much more; now even PTA meetings and soccer practice will never be dull again.”
 
Tonight’s top news item on 700-GET NEWS? “Vonage Rearranges Deck Chairs”
 
 
For you see, somewhere in between Monday’s expression of confidence, and the announcement Friday of the revolutionary new service, Citigroup analyst Michael Rollins had this to say about the Holmdel, NJ-based provider:
 
“Failing to successfully address the patent-infringement suits could force this company into a financial restructuring or bankruptcy in the 2008 or 2009 timeframe.”
 
Ouch.
 
Rollins, who initiated coverage on Vonage with an $11 price target and ``neutral'' rating in July, reduced his rating from ``hold'' and slashed his price target for the stock to $2.50.
 
Bloomberg Bashing
Also on Friday, Bloomberg’s Amy Thomson wrote the following lead to her story:
“Vonage Holdings Corp.'s advertisements tell customers, 'people do stupid things.' Ten months after the company's initial public offering, many early investors may look the same way for buying the stock.”
 
Defending Her Honor
Of course, there remain some people who are still treating Vonage with respect and are posting articles in defense of the VoIP company.
 
Blogging on Techworld, in a piece entitled “In Defence of Vonage,” John E. Dunn writes that it’s ok if the company allegedly lifted some patented technology from Verizon (because the customers like the service). It’s ok that Vonage quality is not quite as good as PSTN service (it’s not Vonage’s fault, but rather the fault of “the technology”). He also claims that the only reason Skype flourished is that they were able to hide behind the skirts of “Big Mama” eBay in order to avoid being sued (hmmm…maybe Zennstrom and Friis are just really innovative, and good marketers to boot?).
 
Still John deserves credit for standing up for Vonage in its time of need. Maybe they should offer him a free news service for his troubles.
 
I don’t know. I’ve been around long enough to know you don’t count your chickens before they hatch, and I’ve seen a few “hanging-on-for-dear-life” companies make remarkable comebacks (wish I bought Nortel in December 2002 for $3–$4), but unless Vonage comes out stronger in defense of itself, I can’t see it happening.  Could it be I’m overreacting?
 
Let me know by commenting below.

More on Vonage v. Verizon

March 29, 2007 4:29 PM | 0 Comments
I received an interesting comment today on the ongoing Verizon vs. Vonage situation. “jay” writes that based on prior art — specifically Lucent’s MMCX — it’s a wonder Verizon was ever granted patents to begin with.
 
Phillip Wolfe opines that we need to have more transparency when it comes to the three patents at the center of this case.
 
Check out what jay and Phillip have to say as well as all the other comments on TMCnet’s Verizon vs. Vonage comments page.
 

CTIA: Nuance Communications News

March 28, 2007 4:49 PM | 0 Comments
 
Nuance Communications, Inc., announced a series of new solutions at CTIA this week. The company introduced Nuance Vocalizer for Mobile, a text-to-speech (TTS) solution designed to improve the sound and quality of automated speech on mobile handsets.
 
The solution is essentially a follow-on to Nuance’s RealSpeak TTS (text-to-speech) offering. According to the company, applications for the technology range from SMS or e-mail readout to spoken caller ID or verbal turn-by-turn directions for phone-based navigation applications, or screen readers for the blind and the animation of avatars.
 
“Nuance continues to deliver innovations in the speech industry that have the potential to impact the lives of everyone who uses a mobile phone,” said Craig Peddie, vice president, embedded speech solutions, Nuance.
 
Nuance Vocalizer will be launched in May 2007 and will be available on a suite of Nokia devices. The solution will be available in 35 voices for a total of 24 languages before the end of the year.
 
Nuance also announced the launch of Nuance Mobile Messaging, an application based on Dragon NaturallySpeaking 9, their flagship desktop dictation software. Nuance Mobile Messaging is designed to enable users to compose messages on mobile devices up to six times faster than typing.
 
The service allows users to speak instead of type to compose SMS, instant messages and mobile e-mail using speech recognition technology.
 
From where I sit, I would love to leverage this technology to speak my blog entries. Take it from me… I’m not the best typist in the world!
 
Nuance Mobile Messaging is currently in trials with carriers worldwide, and it’s expected that several carriers will make Nuance Mobile Messaging available to consumers before the end of the year.
 
 
 

Nortel Microsoft to Enable Hosted Unified Communications

March 28, 2007 9:36 AM | 0 Comments
The Nortel/Microsoft Innovative Communications Alliance made news this morning, by delivering a set of solutions that will enable service providers to deliver comprehensive unified communications services to small and medium business (SMBs) and enterprises.
 
A.K.A. The Hosted Model.
 
This is not necessarily a surprise, as it was expected from the get-go that the Nortel/Microsoft alliance would offer carriers the ability to supply unified communications services to their enterprise customers.
 
The release follows below.
 
 
Nortel and Microsoft to Deliver Carrier-Hosted Unified Communications
 
New Converged Office Innovations Benefit Service Providers and Businesses Alike
 
ORLANDO – Nortel* [NYSE/TSX: NT] and Microsoft Corp. are expanding their efforts to drive the widespread adoption of unified communications among businesses around the world. Building on their existing Innovative Communications Alliance (ICA), the companies plan to offer solutions that will enable service providers to deliver comprehensive unified communications services to small and medium business (SMBs) and enterprises.
 
Nortel and Microsoft’s alliance will allow carriers to host unified business communication and collaboration services for their business customers, including e-mail, instant messaging, VoIP, click-to-call, video conferencing and other multimedia services. This will enable carriers to derive greater value from their existing network investments and resources, while allowing SMBs and enterprises to benefit from unified communications without bearing the burden of purchasing, installing and managing additional network infrastructure.
 
Nortel announced the companies’ new carrier-hosted converged office solution in Orlando at Inform 2007, Nortel’s carrier user group conference that is attended by more than 300 global carrier customers.
 
"We are experiencing a dynamic restructuring of the communication landscape, transforming it from disparate computing and infrastructure networks to an integrated communication experience," said Tom Valovic, IDC's program director for VOIP Infrastructure. "New and collaborative business models involving both IT and telecom suppliers will be a major element in this transformation going forward. The Nortel-Microsoft alliance and its extension into the carrier space is an excellent example of a market response targeting new business opportunities presented by this changing landscape."
 
"As one of the world's leading providers to both Carriers and Enterprises, Nortel is uniquely positioned to identify and address challenges that cross the boundary between public and private networks," said Richard Lowe, president, Carrier Networks, Nortel. "With these carrier solutions we can deliver feature-rich Unified Communications to small and medium-sized enterprises through the carrier partners that host their voice services today. Together Nortel and Microsoft are eliminating challenges that SMBs face when sourcing professional grade communications, by stripping the burden of complexity from the enterprise back office."
 
Building on their existing Innovative Communications Alliance, Nortel will integrate its Communication Server 2000 (CS 2000) softswitch with the Microsoft® Solution for Hosted Messaging and Collaboration, which incorporates hosted versions of Microsoft’s familiar, world-class enterprise products Microsoft Exchange, Microsoft Office Live Communications Server and Windows® SharePoint® Services. In addition, Nortel will provide a full range of convergence integration services from the Nortel Global Services portfolio that can accelerate and expedite all stages of a unified communications deployment to unify disparate modes of communication into a seamless model integrating business processes at the applications level. The companies intend to begin field trials the second half of 2007 with general availability planned by the end of the year.
 
The integrated solutions will enable service providers to offer subscribers combined telephony, e-mail, collaboration, presence, instant messaging and desktop services. With these hosted communications solutions offerings, service providers will be able to equip SMB and enterprise workers with advanced tools such as click- to-call, as well as traditional voice communications and in/outbound dialing from their Microsoft Office Communicator desktop client. In addition, workers will be able to place and receive calls and access their calendars and contacts from their PC or desktop telephone whether they are sitting at their desk, working from their home office or from their hotel rooms while traveling.
 
“In the anywhere, anytime world we live in, business users want easy access to all of their communications tools, regardless of location, type of device or time of day,” said Michael O’Hara, general manager, Communications Sector, Microsoft. “Microsoft and Nortel, working with service providers around the globe, are making it easier than ever for businesses of all sizes to get the rich communications services they want, wherever they want, whenever they want them.”
 
Nortel’s Global Services portfolio is focused on smoothing the transition to a secure, optimally converged network environment. Nortel's services lifecycle approach is focused on easing the transition to a secure, optimally converged network environment by mitigating technology and network complexity and optimizing performance throughout the lifecycle of the network.
 
About Nortel
Nortel is a recognized leader in delivering communications capabilities that make the promise of Business Made Simple a reality for our customers. Our next-generation technologies, for both service provider and enterprise networks, support multimedia and business-critical applications. Nortel’s technologies are designed to help eliminate today's barriers to efficiency, speed and performance by simplifying networks and connecting people to the information they need, when they need it. Nortel does business in more than 150 countries around the world. For more information, visit Nortel on the Web at www.nortel.com. For the latest Nortel news, visit www.nortel.com/news.
 

CTIA: Disney Mobile

March 28, 2007 7:30 AM | 0 Comments
What would a wireless show be without an MVNO? And what would Orlando be without Disney?
 
I had the opportunity to touch base with Disney Mobile, a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) that is geared to meeting the needs of parents and kids from the ages of 5–14.
 
Disney Mobile preannounced a series of services and enhancements to its suite of entertainment and family friendly features including an application featuring hooks into content featured on the Disney channel. They also announced a new Samsung handset, which sports a clamshell design and features a VGA camera and is Bluetooth enabled.
 
Some interesting forthcoming features and services that I discussed with Disney Mobile’s VP of business development strategy Mark Young, included the addition of a Photo application and a Family Calendar application that will be added to an existing set of apps (including a pervasive broadcast IP alert that can be sent to up to six phones; a GPS locator and parental call control options).
 
Disney Mobile is definitely playing to the company’s heritage with their entertainment applications with strong links to classic children’s content via a variety of media including Radio Disney, the Disney Channel and hooks into the company’s redesigned Web site at Disney.com.
 
 

CTIA: DragonWave's Horizon Compact

March 27, 2007 8:29 PM | 0 Comments
I first met DragonWave at their offices in Kanata, as part of a whirlwind tour of that telecom heavy suburb of Ottawa. We were visiting a number of the so-called Terry Matthews companies and we had very little time to discuss wireless backhaul with the good folks at DragonWave.
 
Well today at CTIA, I had the good fortune of spending some quality time with Greg Friesen, director of product management at the Canadian company.
 
We spent the entirety of the meeting discussing DragonWave’s latest offering, the Horizon Compact. The first entry into the planned line of products that will wear the Horizon name is a single-unit, native gig-E microwave transmission system with a 400MB capacity (800 MB in full-duplex deployment) for enabling wireless backhaul/carrier Ethernet services.
 
Generally available in April, the Horizon Compact is billed as a ‘quick-payback’ solution designed to offer a full evolution path to all-IP networks as well as being a low-delay solution perfect for 4G deployments.
 
Key to the design is the Compact’s all-in-one configuration, which combines all the IDU and ODU functionality in a single 9-inch square outdoor device that can be outfitted with either a standard 12-inch antenna, or a custom designed 6-inch dish. According to Friesen, the device is easy to deploy, with a full suite of network management options.
 
According to Emmy Johnson, founder and principal analyst with Sky Light Research, “Horizon Compact helps solve the growing backhaul problem for carriers wishing to deploy WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access) or other 4G personal broadband solutions.”
 
DragonWave can be found online at www.dragonwaveinc.com
 

CTIA: PriceWaterhouseCoopers

March 27, 2007 4:59 PM | 0 Comments
Today at CTIA Wireless, PriceWaterhouseCoopers released a study entitled How To Realize The Full Potential Of Enterprise Mobility.
 
I met with Christopher Isaac, principal with PriceWaterhouseCoopers, and we discussed, among other things, the fact that many companies in the enterprise mobility (EMobility) space are possibly focusing too much on technology and not enough on the business impact of adopting an enterprise mobility strategy.
 
Isaac also told me that increasingly the C-suite of enterprise decision makers needs to be involved in making the choice to seek out technologies that will help their businesses.
 
According to the report, PriceWaterhouseCoopers believes the overall market for enterprise mobility (including services, consulting, equipment, handsets, etc…) will reach $100B by 2009.
 
“The status quo will change significantly by 2009,” said Isaac, “As the industry evolves, there is a limited window of opportunity for market participants to reposition themselves. In order to maximize this opportunity, EMobility participants need to move quickly and open their business models to alliances and innovation. The most successful EMobility businesses will have an open, agile model that encourages innovation via alliances and partnerships and also demonstrates a willingness to cede short-term control for the sake of long-term growth.”
 
After 2009, the report concludes the market may experience a more intense boom as standardized applications become widely available over high-speed networks.
 
According to the research, PriceWaterhouseCoopers believes that large-scale industry cooperation and collaboration will be essential to the success of EMobility.
 
The report concludes several recommended actions for various industry constituents:
 
  • For the enterprise customer: Take control of business transformation.
  • For enterprise mobility suppliers: Cultivate a portfolio of alliances.
  • For infrastructure and device manufacturers: Manage risk through collaboration.
  • For software providers: Collaborate to exploit horizontal opportunities.
  • For system integrators and business consultants: Focus on business processes.
 

CTIA: Day 1

March 27, 2007 4:55 PM | 0 Comments
Today was a busy day of briefings at CTIA.
 
Amazingly enough I was able to stay on schedule throughout the event, even stumbling upon a vendor who was delayed due to other members of the media who could not make it from meeting to meeting across the vast expanse of the convention center.
 
And my worst scheduling nightmares came true this afternoon when I had a series of meetings that alternated between the vendor briefing center in Hall E and the exhibit hall. Suffice it to say the distance between the two areas is vast.
 
Nevertheless, I got a bunch of good information, including some scoop in the unified communications space that I’ll be able to share in the morning.
 
I haven’t attended a trade show in the wireless space in quite a while, and it was nice to catch up with the vendor community serving this market. It was also great to see some old faces, including a former colleague (Matt Vartabedian) who now works for wireless analyst firm IGR.
 
In any event, I plan to report on my experiences here this week, so stay tuned. I’m about to post a story on what PriceWaterhouseCoopers is doing at CTIA. I’ll follow up wioth more later.
 
 

Microsoft Announces IP Phone System

March 19, 2007 11:06 PM | 0 Comments
 Today (Monday 3/19) at the company’s annual Small Business Summit, Microsoft unveiled a small-business IP phone system, code-named “Response Point.”
 
Yes that’s right, Microsoft has announced an IP phone system, and they say it will be generally available later this year. The Beta 2 release of “Response Point” is scheduled for early April.
 
Now in beta testing, the system is being hailed as being easy to install and manage. “Response Point” will be available in three models based on hardware from D-Link, Quanta, and Uniden.
 
According to Xuedong Huang, general manager of the “Response Point” team at Microsoft, “I am proud and honored to work with leaders in the computing, telephony and networking fields to bring ‘Response Point’ to market. Each of our OEM partners brings its own special expertise to our customers, allowing us to serve a much broader range of small businesses.”
 
Microsoft is touting voice recognition and a speech-enabled auto-attendant as the hot features of the impending phone system.
 
Information about the forthcoming IP phone system from Microsoft can be found online at http://www.microsoft.com/responsepoint.
 

Follow-up: Samsung's OfficeServ 7100

March 15, 2007 4:44 PM | 22 Comments
 
A couple of weeks ago I promised to share with our readers some more information on the Samsung OfficeServ 7100, the company’s converged IP PBX for small businesses that soft launched at the beginning of March. At the time, I met with Samsung Business Communications’ director of marketing and business development Ann Irwin, who told me a bit about the latest product offering from Samsung.
 
Well I’ve since received a bit more information on the product, which is set to make its debut on April 19 at the upcoming Graybar technology summit.
 
I asked the Samsung team to describe some of the key benefits of the forthcoming OfficeServ7100 solution, and they echoed their comments from our earlier meeting with regard to simplicity and flexibility.
 
According to Samsung, the primary takeaway is that the smaller end (25 employees and under) of the SMB marketplace finally gets a product designed for them that is affordable, simple, and quick to install, with full converged IP power in a pre-packaged/pre-labeled/pre-programmed system solution.
 
They also pointed out to me that the solution is designed to grow with the user, allowing reuse of all the phone sets and modules, which would allow users to buy the resources they need today and reinvest it in the future when the situation calls for it.
 
I also asked them about their distribution plans for the new product. Here’s what they said:
 
“Samsung’s distribution Plans for the OS7100 will maximize strengths in both direct and two-tier channels, utilizing the wide-scale penetration of our new national distributor Graybar including Graybar’s Call Center, and also Samsung’s current established Regional Distributors. And of course, the 7100 will also be available from Samsung’s Certified Direct Dealers.”
 
Lastly, I’d heard so much about Samsung’s commitment to quality in previous conversations with the company, that I thought I would share some of what I learned. Perhaps the best way to describe their response is to quote two of the company’s leaders.
 
Samsung’s Chairman and CEO, Kun-Hee Lee, proclaimed, “A Defect Is a Cancer.” And, CEO and Vice ChairmanJong-Yong Yun shared Samsung’s secret, “Quality is the conscience of the company. It is the reason for the company’s existence.”
 
Samsung Business Communication Systems, the division managing the OS7100, is committed to providing quality products, just as other company divisions, including displays and cellular have done.
 
Richard Ki Heum Kong, Director Samsung Telecom America, said, “We have designed our product for the SMB market. The modular design enables businesses to invest in the functionality they need today and still have the communications platform to add future resource modules. Traditional voice utilizing TDM or IP data communications or VoIP is supported with a full set of features and applications on both the station and network side. We can interface to a customer provided LAN or offer enterprise class gigabit routing, switching and security on the same platform.”
 
 

Verizon v Vonage What Say You?

March 15, 2007 1:41 PM | 0 Comments
If you haven’t seen it yet, TMC has created a Verizon vs. Vonage Comments page, where the industry’s thought leaders are submitting their thoughts on the case and how the ruling might shape the industry in the weeks and months ahead.
 
The most recent comment is from Matthew Schulman, a Regulatory Consultant with REGNUM GROUP, INC., who believes the ruling has far greater implications than the fines levied against Vonage. He recommends that the VoIP industry examines the “benefits of laissez-faire policies” in order to “seek protection from the entities that it initially wanted to avoid.” Schulman fears that this case may have a tremendous impact on the entire telecom industry.
 
To check out Schulman’s full comments and to see what the other industry leaders have to say, check out the Verizon vs Vonage Comments page.
 
And if the spirit so moves you, I invite you to submit your own comments, either via the “Add to this discussion” tool at the bottom of the page, or by sending e-mail directly to me.

Done Deal. Microsoft Acquires Tellme

March 14, 2007 12:20 PM | 0 Comments
 
It’s official. As was alluded to yesterday Microsoft will acquire Tellme after all. I’m pasting the full text of the press release I just got from the Microsoft team.
 
Of note: Financial terms were not disclosed.
 
 
 
 
Microsoft to Acquire Tellme Networks
Combined expertise will bring the power of voice technology to everyday life.
 
REDMOND, Wash. — March 14, 2007 — Microsoft Corp. today announced it will acquire Tellme Networks, Inc., a leading provider of voice services for everyday life, including nationwide directory assistance, enterprise customer service and voice-enabled mobile search. Microsoft and Tellme share a vision around the potential of speech as a way to enable access to information, locate other people and enhance business processes, any time and from any device. Combining Tellme’s talented people and expertise in high-volume voice services with Microsoft’s platform, resources and worldwide customer reach will inspire new and innovative solutions.
 
“Speech is universal, simple and holds incredible promise as a key interface for computing,” said Steve Ballmer, chief executive officer of Microsoft. “Tellme brings to Microsoft the talent, technology and proven experience in speech that will enable us to deliver a new wave of products and revolutionize human-computer interaction.”
 
Tellme is a leader in voice services for the phone, including its popular mobile search services on 1-800-555-TELL. Founded in 1999, the privately held company answers millions of calls every day for information such as finding local businesses, driving directions, sports scores, stock quotes, weather, news, movie show times and more. Businesses use Tellme’s voice services and platform to provide customers with voice-access services ranging from banking to package tracking. These services are built on Tellme’s voice platform that analyzes caller requests to continually improve the system’s accuracy and overall caller experience.
 
Potential areas of development resulting from the deal will range from hosted voice-enabled customer service solutions that complement Microsoft’s existing unified communications offerings to voice user interfaces in existing Microsoft products to search services on mobile phones that integrate with Live Search for mobile offerings. In addition, developers and partners will be able to build new speech-based solutions on top of a scalable, standards-based voice-enabled applications platform.
 
“We’ve made great strides in speech technologies, but have only scratched the surface of what is possible,” said Jeff Raikes, president of the Microsoft Business Division. “The acquisition of Tellme will bolster Microsoft’s existing speech capabilities, bringing both immediate and longer-term value to our customers and partners.”
 
“Tellme was founded with the idea that anyone should be able to simply say what they want and get it from any device, starting with the phone,” said Mike McCue, co-founder and CEO of Tellme. “Now, with Microsoft, we’ll be able to extend that vision to millions of businesses and consumers around the world.”
 
This acquisition will mark an important step forward in Microsoft’s strategy for delivering software plus services that put people at the center of technology solutions in the office, at home and on the go. For more than a decade, Microsoft has enabled speech, handwriting and touch as forms of natural user input, making computing and digital devices easier to use. Combining Tellme’s technologies with Microsoft’s existing and future products and services will help improve the way people use voice to find, use and share information:
 
Unified communications. Tellme’s voice-enabled services and solutions for enterprise customers complement Microsoft’s unified communications voice services portfolio. This will allow customers and industry partners to build highly scalable voice solutions that leverage rich identity, presence, messaging and application integration.
 
Speech platform. Tellme’s robust voice-enabled platform helps open new doors for Microsoft’s hundreds of thousands of developers and partners to build innovative speech solutions based on open standards.
 
Mobile services and search. Tellme’s speech expertise and work in mobile search, combined with Microsoft’s innovative local and mobile search offerings, will help take the mobile search usability experience to the next level.
 
Software plus services. In the long term, Tellme technology will enhance Microsoft’s many voice-enabled applications, including the Windows Vista™ operating system, the Microsoft Office system, and mobile applications such as Windows Mobile® and Windows® Automotive.
 
Financial terms of the acquisition were not announced. The deal is expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2007. Tellme, which has more than 320 employees, will continue to operate from its Mountain View, Calif., headquarters as part of the Microsoft Business Division. Following the closing of the acquisition, the Tellme business is expected to be maintained, and members of the Tellme executive team and staff are expected to join Microsoft.
 
At 9:30 a.m. PDT today, Microsoft and Tellme will hold a teleconference to discuss the acquisition. To participate, U.S. residents can dial (888) 790-3163, and those outside the United States can dial +1 (212) 547-0237. Passcode is 4386031. The call will be available for playback beginning at 11:30 a.m. PDT today through 11:59 p.m. PDT March 23. To access the playback, U.S. residents can dial (866) 376-2435, and those outside the United States can dial +1 (203) 369-0299. Passcode is 93469.
 
About Tellme
Through innovation and design, Tellme improves how people and businesses use the phone. By combining Internet data and a voice interface, Tellme radically simplifies how people use the phone to get the information they need every day. Today the company powers billions of calls to hundreds of phone services used by more than 40 million people every month. Some of the applications running on Tellme’s platform include business search on 411, information search on 1-800-555-TELL as well as customer service and ordering for companies like Merrill Lynch, E*TRADE and American Airlines. Headquartered in Mountain View, Calif., Tellme’s goal is to let anyone say what they want and get it, from any phone.
 
About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.
 

Scott Coleman on Lawful Intercept

March 13, 2007 12:41 PM | 0 Comments
Scott Coleman has a new post on his Demystifying Lawful Intercept and CALEA blog today.
 
In today’s entry, Scott answers the question: How Long Do I Get To Implement A Wiretap Request?
 
Scott discusses the requirements and the expectations that go hand in hand with requesting a wiretap as well as the start & stop dates, the duration of the wiretap, etc…
 
You should definitely check it out.
 
Just a reminder for those VoIP providers who might have their head planted in the sand: The May 14 CALEA compliance deadline for “facilities-based broadband” and “inter-connected VoIP” providers is just around the corner. Only two months remain.

Report Has Tellme to Microsoft for $800 Million

March 13, 2007 8:25 AM | 0 Comments
Tellme? Try sell me.
 
The Wall St. Journal is reporting that long-rumored talks of Microsoft purchasing Mountain View, CA-based Tellme Networks might be inching closer to becoming a reality.
 
Tellme, which specializes in Web-based voice by combining Internet data and a voice interface is said to be worth upwards of $800 million to the Redmond giant, which if true, would make it one of the most expensive acquisitions ever carried out by Microsoft.
 
According to Om Malik’s blog, Microsoft is willing to place such a huge bet because the stakes in voice-activated mobile search are so high. Malik refers to a May 2006 quote by Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, where Ballmer tells the Wall Street Journal, “The leading edge battleground between us and Google in local search really will come on the phone.”
 
According to Malik, “…on mobile phones the search business is still up for grabs… and  with Windows Mobile growing like crazy… Tellme’s technology could make Windows Mobile phone infinitely more user friendly.”
 
Tellme is led by CEO Mike McCue, who is one of the original founders. Prior to founding Tellme, Mike worked at Netscape as Vice President of Technology. Corporate leadership also includes Sanjeev Agrawal, Tellme’s Vice President of Marketing, who prior to his current gig was the Global Director of Product Marketing at Google.
 
Tellme claims 35–40 million users each month resulting in billions of calls to hundreds of phone services. Some of Tellme’s most recognizable services and customers include 1-800-555-1212; Cingular’s 411 service; 1-800-GOFEDEX; 411 for Verizon home phones; 1-800-DOMINOS; as well as customer service and ordering for companies like Merrill Lynch, E*TRADE and American Airlines.
 
 

Vonage Hangs Tough

March 12, 2007 9:33 AM | 0 Comments
The aftershocks of last week’s Verizon court victory over Vonage are still being felt throughout the VoIP industry.
 
Last week, a federal court found that has found that Vonage Holdings Corp. infringed on three key patents owned by Verizon Communications, Inc.
 
An eight-member jury found that Vonage must pay Verizon $58 million in past damages. The jury also declared that Vonage must pay a 5.5 percent royalty rate on any sales going forward.
 
Immediately after the verdict was issued, Verizon requested an injunction that would prevent Vonage from using the technologies covered by the patents.
 
Jan Dawson, VP of the U.S. Enterprise Practice of Ovum believes the lawsuit and the subsequent request for an injunction are designed with an end goal of shutting the Holmdel, NJ-based Vonage down.
 
According to Dawson, “Verizon is asking for an injunction which will effectively close Vonage down, so if that goes through, it would affect any other VoIP provider that has the same technology,” said Dawson.
 
“This case could have a ripple effect across the whole VoIP market. There are lots of other, smaller players who stand to be hit,” he went on, citing in particular 8x8 Inc., the company behind the Packet8 Broadband Phone Service, and SunRocket, Inc., which operates the SunRocket Internet Phone Service. “They are competitors to Vonage and are in line to be affected,” said Dawson.
 
Huw Rees is Vice President of Marketing & Sales at 8x8, parent company of the Packet8 Internet phone service. “Unfortunately, the U.S. jury ruling in favor of Verizon’s patent infringement claims ultimately affects consumers, as large telcos continue to seek out ways to thwart the availability of lower priced, competitive VoIP phone services,” said Rees. “That being said, 8x8 is confident in the defense of its own proprietary technology which has been awarded 66 U.S. patents and remains at the core of our Packet8 residential and business Internet phone service.”
 
TMC president Rich Tehrani moderated a panel last week at the Voice Peering Forum, and asked representatives from Packet8 and SunRocket their thoughts on the outcome of the lawsuit. According to Rich’s blog, “…the two company representatives said they both think they are not in the same position as Vonage and these patents do not apply to them. They also said there are likely other providers who are going to be liable.”
 
Rich also mentioned that attendees at his session “…seemed to think that many service providers will have to raise prices to compensate for the ‘Verizon tax.’”
 
In another blog entry, Rich poses the question, “how is the consumer benefiting from this lawsuit?” Rich believes that the large carriers are using their wealth and legal might to stifle creative and innovative companies, and he laments the fact that this is a sure sign pointing to the fact that “The United States of America is the third world of telecom.”
 
For their part, Vonage issued a statement following the jury’s decision stating their belief that the company would not be adversely affected by the ruling.
 
In fact, according to the company statement, Vonage “expressed the utmost confidence in the following:”
 
  • Vonage is not going out of business.
  • There will be no loss of service to our customers.
  • Our customers will experience no change in their phone service.
 
And, in case it wasn’t completely clear, Vonage chairman and chief strategist Jeffrey R. Citron reiterated the sentiment. “We are confident in Vonage’s future health, growth prospects, and longevity,” Citron said.
 
It remains to be seen what will happen. A judge is set to rule on March 23 whether Verizon’s injunction request will be granted.

Lincoln U Deploys Alca-Lu...

March 7, 2007 5:45 PM | 0 Comments
Alcatel-Lucent announced that Jefferson City, MO-based Lincoln University has deployed Alcatel-Lucent’s higher education solution, for a complete network transformation of its entire campus with the help of two business partners, CT Innovations and Melsernet.
 
Lincoln University’s new converged network includes a full range of voice, data, wireless and security services, supported by a 10 Gigabit backbone to accommodate additional applications and capabilities in the future, such as video conferencing, lectures or learning outside the classroom.
 
This deployment is in keeping with Alcatel-Lucent’s recently articulated message that they intend to continue building their enterprise business with a goal of becoming a “heavier hitter” in the North American enterprise space. This of course includes their historical focus on vertical markets, which includes education.
 
The new network includes over 700 IP phones for staff and faculty, 750 analog ports for students and nearly 3,000 data ports across its campus.
 

Nortel News Update

March 7, 2007 5:30 PM | 0 Comments
Nortel announced some big things this week. I was lucky enough to spend some time with Paul Templeton, GM, Enterprise Voice and Sanjeev Gupta director of Nortel's Ethernet business.
 
Among the things we spoke about was a new version (Release 5) of the CS 1000, which is designed to provide improved reliability and redundancy, enhanced network and voice call security and new E911 capabilities, This new release will deliver unified communications capabilities as part of the Innovative Communications Alliance with Microsoft that was announced last year and built upon this past January.
 
A key feature of the new release is that it will be offered on industry standard hardware platforms such as those offered by IBM and other suppliers.
 
Additionally Nortel announced a new release of the Multimedia Communication Server (MCS) 5100. With this new release, Nortel hopes to improve users’ productivity by offering integration of telephony and multimedia applications within IBM Lotus Notes. The revamped MCS 5100 also features improved and simplified collaboration capabilities and enhanced mobility capabilities designed to provide a rich communications experience for mobile workers. The new MCS 5100 release also introduces support for new SIP-based IP phones.
 
Nortel also announced a new family of Ethernet routing switches designed for businesses that are migrating to VoIP and unified communications. According to Nortel, the new Ethernet Routing Switch (ERS) 2500 and ERS 4500 “...provide the foundation of a unified communications solution by enabling enterprise local area networks (LANs) to intelligently prioritize real-time business communications like voice, video, and multimedia services.”
 
 
 

Skype Hits Half Billion Download Mark

March 7, 2007 4:54 PM | 0 Comments
Skype announced today that its software has been downloaded more than 500 million times by users around the world.
 
It took them slightly over 42 months to reach this milestone.
 
The release quoted CEO and co-founder Niklas Zennstrom:
 
"The entire Skype team owes its success to the global community of registered users we have today who tell their loved ones how much they enjoy using Skype. We’re absolutely delighted that so many people are embracing Skype and speaking to friends or family all over the world for free or very little cost."

FCC Recognizes VoIP Provider's Rights

March 6, 2007 9:13 AM | 0 Comments
Looks like the FCC is recognizing the rights of VoIP service providers to be granted access to incumbent local phone companies’ lines.
 
A petition brought by Time Warner after  attempts to access local lines were denied in Nebraska and South Carolina  set the process in motion.
 
Said Thomas Navin of the FCC wireline competition bureau, carriers "…are entitled to interconnect and exchange traffic with incumbent local exchange carriers when providing services to other service providers, including VoIP service providers."
 
Granted the rules in most states already allow VoIP carriers access to the lines of local phone companies, so this is not as earth-shattering as it may seem up front, but nevertheless it can serve as a victory for VoIP providers.

Monday Highlights: Sipera, Samsung, Aspect

March 6, 2007 6:56 AM | 0 Comments
I’m down in Orlando this week at VoiceCon, and I’ve already had some interesting meetings with several companies.
 
Sipera Systems made a couple of announcements. I spoke with director of marketing Brendan Ziolo, who told me that the company released the latest in their IPCS family, the IPCS 210. Key takeways include the fact that this product fills a need at the lower end of the scale, as it is designed to serve up to 200 users. Previous IPCS offerings were designed for 1,000 to 10,000 to 100,000 users. While designed to serve a smaller constituency, the IPCS 210 still carries with it the software DNA of its larger siblings, offering much of the same functionality, such as VoIP firewall/Session Border Control; VoIP Intrusion Prevention; VoIP Anti-Spam; and a Unified Communications policy manager. The only feature not included is the VPN capability of the larger IPCS devices, but Sipera told me that they’re working on solving that riddle as well.
 
Sipera also announced a deal with AGN, an Internet Telephony Service Provider, to offer secure SIP trunking for AGN’s IP telephony deployments. Essentially AGN will incorporate the Sipera security solution into its OnDemand SIP offering, which will use Secure RTP (real-time protocol) and TLS (transport layer security) in combination with SIP truking to offer end users a secure communications service.
 
 
I also met with Samsung Business Communications’ director of marketing and business development  Ann Irwin, who was excited to share with me some details on the latest Samsung product offering, the OfficeServ 7100. The product is set to be unveiled at an upcoming Graybar technology summit this April 19 (which should tell you something about the distribution plans), but Ann shared some of the details with me yesterday. The 7100 is targeted at SMBs and essentially completes the OfficeServ product line, which now offers a solution to fit the needs of most enterprises.
 
This particular offering is a 4-line, 8-station setup that comes with 6 IP phones — preprogrammed — and is expected to list at about $1,800. Voicemail is included as is the data capability that comes with the larger systems.
 
I’ll have more on the OfficeServ 7100 later.
 
Finally, I met with representatives from Aspect Software who shared with me their announcement of a deal with Microsoft to deliver a solution geared towards small and midsize contact centers. The initiative will essentially couple Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 Speech Server as an embedded component of the Aspect Unified IP product.
 
Expected availability of the solution is set for July 2007.
 
Today it’s back into the fray with a whole raft of meetings and hopefully new product announcements.
 

Joost, YouTube Announce Content Partnerships

March 2, 2007 1:21 PM | 0 Comments
Joost has announced a deal to carry content from global video carrier JumpTV, Inc. that will will bring a whole slate of international or ethnic programming to the fledgling Internet TV provider. JumpTV owns the rights to television shows from networks in 70 countries. The company’s business model is to pipe the shows over the Internet, and sell advertisements and subscriptions. The programming is geared towards expats and ethnic communities.
 
Joost, until recently operating under the code name ‘The Venice Project,’ is the brainchild of Skype founders Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis. The service is still in beta test mode.
 
The Joost team has been busy of late arranging deals to carry video content from a variety of media publishers. Just last week, it was announced that Viacom Inc. agreed to let Joost show programming from popular properties MTV, Nickelodeon, Paramount, and Comedy Central.
 
About two weeks ago Joost announced the following list of content additions in an e-mail to beta testers:
 
  • Documentaries from National Geographic;
  • Loud noise and fast cars from the Indy Racing League;
  • Healthy living programming from Lime;
  • A variety of reality series in the Lazy TV channel from Endemol;
  • Cartoons like Rocky and Bullwinkle in Saturday Morning TV (Classic Media);
  • A lineup of independent film makers from IndieFlix;
  • More reality TV with the Bridezillas series from September Films;
  • Video gaming tricks and reviews form Gamestar;
  • Comical, irreverent and edgy programming from Bite TV, and
  • Cool new Bollywood music videos from Savvn
 
 
In related news, Google’s YouTube announced a deal with the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) whereby Three YouTube channels will show clips of BBC news and entertainment programming.
 
According to BBC reports, the broadcaster hopes the deal will help it reach YouTube’s 70 million+ monthly users and drive extra traffic to its own Web site.
 
There is also an advertising revenue share agreement as part of the announcement.
 
The three channels will include:
 
BBC: One of the BBC’s two entertainment channels will be a “public service” featuring no advertising.
 
BBC Worldwide: The second entertainment channel will feature self-contained clips mining popular programs in the BBC’s archive. Clips from Top Gear, The Mighty Boosh and nature programs presented by David Attenborough will appear here.
 
BBC News: The news channel, which will be launched later this year, will show about 30 news clips per day. It will be advertising funded.
 
 
 
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