Greg Galitzine's VoIP Authority Blog: VoIP Archives

Expert Panel to Explore HD Voice at ITEXPO

January 12, 2009 11:49 AM

On the events side at TMC, we're always looking to deliver compelling content to the attendees at our shows. As many of you are no doubt aware, ITEXPO is just around the corner. The show will be taking place this February 2-4 in Miami Beach. For more information, or to register, please visit the ITEXPO event Web site.

The purpose of this post is to draw your attention to a very special session that we are offering to ITEXPO conference attendees.

On Tuesday, February 3^rd, from Noon to 1:00 P.M. Conference Luncheon attendees will be treated to a panel discussion entitled: "HD -- What's the noise and are we ready?"

We've heard a lot over the last six months about high-definition voice solutions and about the possibility for IP Communications solutions that leverage wideband codecs to exceed the fidelity and clarity of the PSTN. Microsoft Office Communicator and Skype have seeded the market with examples of applications that allow users to experience this new fidelity.

We've invited a cross section of industry leaders to a special panel discussion to discuss this topic and find out if we indeed are ready for HD.

The session moderator is Rich Tehrani - President and Group Editor-in-Chief of TMC, and panelists include:

· Alan Percy, Director of Market Development, AudioCodes

· Tim Yankey, Director of Product, Marketing, Voice Communications Solutions, Polycom

· Debbie Greenstreet, Director of Service Provider Marketing, Texas Instruments

This promises to be a very interesting session, so make plans now to attend.

Click on the following link for more information on the show or to register to attend the sessions.

Goin' Mobile With Skype

January 9, 2009 8:44 AM

Out in the woods

Or in the city

It's all the same to me

When I'm drivin' free, the world's my home...

When I'm mobile...

Ok, I admit it. Sometimes I can't help myself. I reach for the most clichéd classic rock lyrics when writing about IP Communications. It happens. But then again, there's absolutely nothing wrong with The Who.

The whole mobility theme is brought on by this week's news from Skype, whereby the company announced a deal with Boingo Wireless, announced the release of a lite version of Skype, a 'thin' client for Skype that can be downloaded on Android-powered devices, (as well as more than 100 other Java-enabled mobile phones), and announced the availability of Skype 1.0 Beta for Intel-based Mobile Internet Devices (MIDs) based on Intel's Atom processor and Moblin-based Linux OS.

(Catch Tom's take on the Skype Lite Java client.)

One of the key takeaways from all this is that for the first time, Skype is available to mobile users in the U.S. Previously operators were loath to allow Skype on their mobile devices for fear of losing precious minutes to the free VoIP service.

But in the never ending quest to make their service sticker and their devices more popular, operators and manufacturers are looking for new and innovative ways to attract new users. And, with Skype's growing popularity (currently more than 370 million registered users globally), this presents an opportunity too rich to pass up.

It also marks the first availability for Android devices; users can download the beta in the Android Market. Skype says the thin client is also available for over 100 popular Java-enabled phones from the likes of LG, Motorola, Nokia, Samsung and Sony Ericsson.

Better Living Through... VoIP?

January 5, 2009 10:15 AM

TMCnet and INTERNET TELEPHONY magazine are looking for customer case studies. If you are a provider of IP communications products or services, and you want to show the world how your solutions are helping your customers save money, increase productivity and all-in-all achieve a higher quality of life due to the adoption of IP Communications, then let me know.

We'll publish these case studies online at TMCnet as well as select a few compelling stories for publication in Internet Telephony magazine's monthly VoIP in Verticals feature.

We're looking for case studies highlighting customers in the following verticals:

· Healthcare

· Finance

· Hospitality

· Education (K-12)

· Education (Higher Ed/University)

· SMB

· Retail

· Government

OrecX Taps Sangoma's Wanpipe Driver

December 31, 2008 8:36 AM

OrecX, a provider of low-cost open source VoIP call recording, announced a new option for low-cost TDM and call recording, and said they would be using Sangoma Technologies' new Wanpipe driver that supports RTP tapping.

Bruce Kaskey, CEO of OrecX, offered the following in a statement:

Overall, Sangoma's RTP tapping solution gives more choice for situations where TDM and VoIP are blended. The Wanpipe driver with the RTP tap mode enabled converts a TDM signal to VoIP seamlessly for scalable recording.

The details can be found in this news item.

Ultimately, as Kaskey explained, the solution enables customers to tap TDM and or VoIP using their existing Sangoma equipment.

OrecX will also be participating at the upcoming Digium|Asterisk World, which is being collocated with ITEXPO in Miami Beach this February. The company's co-Founder and CTO, Bruno Haas will be speaking in the presentation theater during the event.

For a complete list of sponsors and exhibitors, please visit the Digium|Asterisk World site.

Infonetics: Carrier VoIP is Down...

November 20, 2008 2:55 PM

A new research report from Infonetics tells us something that many of us have felt coming for some time.

According to the report Service Provider VoIP and IMS Equipment and Subscribers carriers are not likely to engage in VoIP equipment purchases at this time, which Infonetics expects will bring down the worldwide service provider VoIP market 8% sequentially to $816 million in 3Q08.

All is not doom and gloom however.

Infonetics is reporting that in the third quarter of 2008, sales of session border controllers and media servers were up.

Other highlights from the report:

· Cisco enjpoyed a 37% sequential jump in worldwide trunk media gateway revenue, propelling them to the #1 spot, followed by GENBAND and Huawei;

· Nortel maintains its #1 position in the worldwide softswitch market

· Voice over broadband (VoBB) will continue to be the big driver across the board

To view the full press release, click here.

New TMCnet Blog Serves Up Technology, Recipes

November 18, 2008 5:15 PM

One of my favorite things about my job is to give other people the opportunity to reach our audience, be it in the form of a column, or a one-off article, or even a blog.

As you may have heard, Rich Tehrani kicked of a new TMCnet program called Blog Aid, whereby unemployed workers can stay in the public eye -- in order to improve their hiring prospects in a tough economy.

As Rich wrote:

In the last few months, many good marketers, PR people, engineers and others who have been laid off. These potential Blog Aid bloggers have a good deal of quality commentary and information to share which could be very useful to the TMC community of online readers.

If you're interested in starting a blog, drop me a line at ggalitzine@tmcnet.com

On another, blog related note, one of my favorite new blogs on TMCnet is one that takes two very interesting subjects -- technology and food -- and mashes them up, so to speak.

David Byrd, vice president of marketing and sales at SIP Trunking provider BroadVox, has started a blog called SIP and Serve by a Foodie. I strongly recommend you check it out.

The blog so far has dealt with the economy, President-elect Obama, SIP Trunking, IP PBXs, the FCC, USF and Net Neutrality, and of course, the twist that makes it interesting: Cioppino, Alligator, Crab Cakes, Grilled Romaine Hearts and more...

You see every Monday, David recounts what he has prepared over the preceding weekend, and the resulting blog entries make my mouth water. This is in addition to tech-related blog posts every Wednesday and Friday too.

So I guess I'm officially welcoming David to our TMCnet family of bloggers.

Welcome aboard David. Now what's for dinner next weekend?

Mediatrix Releases New VoIP Gateway

November 18, 2008 1:47 PM

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 1:19 AM

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 SoundClear™ 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.

Texas Instruments Unveils New IP Phone Platform

November 13, 2008 12:11 AM

Earlier this week, Texas Instruments introduced their latest IP phone development platform that's designed to allow IP phone manufacturers to create solutions that will offer a truly feature rich experience to end users.

I was fortunate to meet TI's Kim Devlin-Allen who heads up the company's business development efforts for CPE VoIP Communications Infrastructure and Voice DSP Systems to discuss the latest news.

Devlin-Allen told me that the latest offering from TI - the TNETV107x family -- is designed to allow developers to build solutions to serve the full range of clients, from entry level IP desk sets to fully featured executive IP phones. She explained that the new platform will include the TMS320C64x series digital signal processors and will allow developers to leverage a wide range of TI's silicon and software solutions to create their IP devices.

Developers can also take advantage of TI's OMAP technology for ultra low power and amazing graphics capabilities to give their customers more options.

One of the things driving developers to design more fully featured phones is the fact that a younger generation of employees entering the workforce are demanding all the bells and whistles of unified communications and a platform that would allow them to access all the features and applications they need to be more productive.

The chips will be available in the first half of next year.

Texas Instruments also announced a new customer that is leveraging TI's TNETV1055 platform to develop a high-definition voice IP phone. TI announced the Yealink Network Technology has designed the SIP-T28 to support the wideband codec G.722.

The phone is described as a "stylish 6-line IP phone featuring 16 programmable function keys, four soft keys, an XML screen, SMS language customization and 'groupable' enterprise phone books, among other features."

Objectworld Announces Support for Microsoft's SBS/EBS Solutions

November 12, 2008 11:57 AM

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.

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