Greg Galitzine : Greg Galitzine's VoIP Authority Blog
Greg Galitzine

IP Communications

Mediatrix Releases New VoIP Gateway

November 18, 2008

Just got word that Sherbrooke, Quebec-based Mediatrix has released its latest gateway, the Mediatrix 4102.   The latest in the company's line of VoIP gateway products, the 4102 is designed to offer better performance for the growing SOHO and remote office markets.  

  The device is designed to connect far-flung remote workers to an IP network, allowing for the connection of up to two analog phones and/or fax machines as well as a PC or home router to a broadband modem.   According to the announcement, the 4102 comes in two flavors, the 4102 and 4102S.   The Mediatrix 4102 is a cost-effective low density product supporting current SIP and MGCP applications and rounds-out the 4100 series of gateways. The 4102 also offers Mediatrix's innovative TAS (Transparent IP Address Sharing) technology and an embedded PPPoE client to allow the PC (or router) connected to the second Ethernet port to have the same public IP address, eliminating the need for private IP addresses or address translations. The 4102 also supports high compression codecs simultaneously on both analog voice ports, saving valuable bandwidth.  

Spracht Marries Quality, Design

November 13, 2008

It's not every day you meet with a company and think, "...this may be the next Bose or the next Herman Miller, or the next Apple..." I'm talking of course about companies whose claim to fame is not only offering quality products but also the close attention they pay to the design process to produce a lasting product experience.   I met such a company recently, that produces the Aura Mobile BT, a speakerphone that is equally at home broadcasting a Skype-based phone call next to a laptop, or attached to the visor of your car cruising down the boulevard while you carry on a hands-free conversation.   Spracht is the acoustic division of parent company ODI, an OEM provider of digital imaging, acoustics, LCD image display, and other consumer electronics. Founded in 1993, Silicon Valley based ODI has developed popular products, such as the Connectix Quickcam, for both Fortune 100 companies and technology notables such as Palm and Kensington.   I met Trace Williams, vice president of sales and marketing at Spracht who gave me some background on the company and also talked up a brand-new device that is expected to be launched in the next couple of weeks.   First, we discussed the Aura Mobile BT a full-duplex speakerphone featuring dual 3W speakers, and echo and noise cancellation, powered by the patented SoundClearâ„¢ Digital Signal Processing (DSP) chip.   The device offers eight hours of talk time and can connect up to eight profiles to each device.   The company also offers the Aura SOHO, a conference call device that can be used in an analog phone environment, or converted with the simple swap of a module to operate with digital PBXs, and soon will offer a wireless option as well. The Aura SOHO is designed for conference rooms ranging up to 20' x 40' when utilizing expandable microphones.   Spracht is offering the solutions through multiple channels, including Dell, Amazon.com, Best Buy, Fry's and telecom distributors such as Synnex, NTD, and others.

Objectworld Announces Support for Microsoft's SBS/EBS Solutions

November 12, 2008

Yesterday I met with David Schenkel, the CTO of Ottawa-based Objectworld, and we discussed the company's announcement of support for Microsoft's Windows Small Business Server 2008 and Windows Essential Business Server 2008.   The gist of the announcement is that it is now much simpler for Objectworld's customers and partners to leverage the productivity enhancing features of VoIP and unified communications and integrate these applications into their IT infrastructure.   The new solution is reportedly quick and simple to deploy and allows businesses to save money by simplifying moves adds, and changes and making it easy to create call flows, notifications, and more.   Schenkel illustrated how simple it was to create call flows by creating a simple IVR application on the fly. The solution leverages Objectworld's library of "elements" which via simple drag and drop combine to create a complete call flow.   My colleague, TMCnet's Michael Dinan, has a great interview with ObjectWorld's director of marketing and sales, Vincent Guihan, in which they speak about the relative popularity of the solution's SIP telephony edition and the value of providing Objectworld UC Server as a hosted environment.

Meetings Galore

November 12, 2008

Trade shows serve as a wonderful opportunity to meet with a large number of companies and individuals in a very condensed time frame. Today I got to meet with a rather large and diverse group of companies operating in the IP Communications space.   First among today's meetings was a visit with Todd Woodstra, vice president of unified communications and emerging markets for SpinVox, the voicemail to text company.   SpinVox captures spoken messages and converts them into text. It then delivers these messages via e-mail.   On Tuesday, SpinVox announced that they were playing a major part in Avaya's new Speech to Text solution, along with Mutare Software's EVM gateway.   SpinVox provides the core recognition technology that provides the conversion of the voicemail file to text.   According to Woodstra, SpinVox is only company in this space that can provide the needed scalability to yield a successful solution. To drive the point home, he told me that SpinVox is already deployed at 13 carriers spanning 5 continents.   The service bridges silos of audio files into text and makes those files actionable and searchable, which empowers end users.   I look forward to trialing the SpinVox solution shortly.     Yesterday I wrote about Mitel and how they were getting into the Telepresence space in addition to offering an upgraded suite of Unified Communications solutions.   Today I spoke with Mitel's Kevin Johnson, director of analyst and consultant relations, who shared more details about the company's announcement.   In addition to the telepresence portion of the announcement, Johnson spoke of several upgrades including a revamped UC desktop client for users (Mitel Unified Communicator) and extended mobile integrations for Windows Mobile and Nokia devices and a similar integration on Blackberry devices, which enable mobile users to access PBX functionality when on the go.   Johnson touched on the economy and mentioned that in these trying economic times, UC solutions must offer fast, well defined payback to be seriously considered.   Johnson said Mitel offers UC Solutions "for the real world" -- marketing speak that underscores the company's pragmatic approach to marketing products and benefits to the real world.     I also met with Mike Storella and Michael Knieling of snom, who were excited with the launch of their latest desk phone, the snom 820.   The new 820 phone includes snom's foray into the wideband audio space, and features the company's klarVOICE technology.   Other features include an HD display, WiFi functionality which offers a way to deploy the phone quickly without having to draw a wire to the desk, secure VoIP with SRTP and TLS as well as all the usual standard advanced business-class calling features one expects on a device of this quality.   Storella mentioned that the phone was competitively priced, and that he has high hopes for this new line.

IntelePeer Secures $18 Million in Third Round

November 12, 2008

VantagePoint Venture Partners of San Bruno, California has led an $18 million dollar round of financing of IntelePeer Inc. This was the company's third round of financing.   All things being equal, it's fair to say that it's no small feat to attract such a significant amount in such an uncertain economic climate. IntelePeer will use the funds to continue their expansion plans, increase their global presence and support continued growth of their hosted voice 2.0 and rich media technologies.   According to Bill Harding, VantagePoint managing director, and the newest member of the IntelePeer Board of Directors, "IntelePeer is uniquely positioned with its game-changing strategy to address the need to reduce operational costs with an innovative hosted Voice 2.0 applications platform and carrier-class voice peering infrastructure."   Congratulations to the entire team at IntelePeer.

MItel Expands UC Portfolio, Adds Telepresence

November 10, 2008

Mitel has unveiled some new twists to its Unified Communications portfolio including a brand-new telepresence platform, which will be commercially available in Q109. Mitel's TeleCollaboration Solution is designed to improve the telepresence experience with enhanced collaboration capabilities including desktop sharing and recording for a 'better-than-live' interaction.   Mitel is also introducing several new UC clients that are tailored to different worker needs, including:   Mitel Unified Communicator (UC) Express - a desktop UC client that provides productivity enhancements like click-to-call, incoming caller ID pop-up, call history, speed calls list, plus personal and corporate directory integration with public IM presence engines.   Mitel Unified Communicator (UC) Advanced - a comprehensive client that integrates presence and availability, secure IM, audio conferencing and video and data collaboration. Mitel UC Advanced provides simplified access to commonly used Mitel and third-party applications via a 'launchpad' designed to enhance productivity.

Obama Wins, Internet Rocks

November 5, 2008

TMCnet's Jessica Kostek has an interesting story on how the election and post-election reaction played out on the Internet last night.   I actually stepped away from my keyboard around 10:15 pm last night (ET) and watched the results play out on the TV screen in my living room.   Yesterday's historic election produced record turnout, and voters elected the first African-American president in Barack Obama.   In his acceptance speech, Obama spoke of delivering on his promise of change but recognized that he and his administration will face enormous challenges from a painful economic crisis and wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.   Obama's victory led the Democratic party to a sweeping victory that will see them hold majorities in both houses of Congress.   With that kind of clout, it will be interesting to see what an Obama presidency means for telecommunications and for technology in general.   There are a number of important issues on the table, from patent and trade issues to net neutrality to a proposed expansion of H1-B visa rules -- all issues whose effects will be felt in Silicon Valley and beyond.   First up, Obama needs to decide who his CTO will be. When he launched his bid for the presidency, Obama spoke of the need to create a cabinet-level position -- a national chief technology officer -- who would seek to create more jobs through technology.   We'll see how this all plays out. Be sure to check back often to TMCnet to stay up to date with all the latest news and opinion.   And check out our new video archive, featuring daily news in the form of the TMC Newsroom as well as video interviews featuring the industry's leading movers and shakers.

AudioCodes Looks to HD VoIP

November 3, 2008

AudioCodes is getting into the HD VoIP business.

 

The company today announced VoIPerfectHD, its High Definition Voice over IP technology, which is designed to deliver higher voice clarity, better intelligibility and richer sound, and an improved user experience by doubling the audible voice spectrum.

 

AudioCodes plans to embed HD VoIP across its product portfolio throughout 2009.

 

According to the release announcing the move into HD VoIP:

 

The introduction of HD VoIP extends AudioCodes reach to both enterprises and service providers, allowing entry into new market segments which will benefit from enhanced clarity and better speech intelligibility.

Avaya Announces Changes at the Top

October 30, 2008

TMC, Ex-VON Team Join Up for 4G Event, Web Site

October 30, 2008

TMC and Crossfire Media announced they were working together to produce 4G Wireless Evolution, comprising a Web site, an event, and other media to address a growing need for information regarding the next generation of wireless.   4G is the fourth generation of wireless communications, which is expected to be implemented globally in the next 2-5 years, and which will offer significantly faster speeds and broader applications than current wireless networks can allow. The result will be an influx of new technologies and a significant increase in the number of customers using wireless communications for a wide variety of uses.   The 4G Wireless Evolution Conference is the first event dedicated to 4G technologies, and will take place February 2-4, 2009 at the Miami Beach Convention Center.   Industry watchers will note that this collaboration brings together some familiar faces, working together for the first time. In fact, over the past several weeks, the TMC team of Dave Rodriguez, Michael Genaro and I have been meeting with our counterparts at Crossfire Media: Scott Kargman, Joann Varello and Carl Ford to hash out the details of the partnership and to build the conference program and the Web sites. It's amazing to see all that hard work come to fruition today with the official launch.   Of course, now the work truly begins to make 4G Wireless Evolution the industry's #1 resource for all things 4G.
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