VoIP Blog - Tehrani.com

Social networking investments are certainly happening at a rapid pace and many never would have thought Comcast would purchase one. As you may remember however, Plaxo service is integrated to the telephony offering Comcast sells and the contacts are actually automatically downloaded to special web browsing home phone I wrote about many months ago.

For Comcast this move ensures an important partner does not get taken out by a competitor and it further allows the company to leverage Plaxo as it rolls out more web services.

By having profiles of users and tracking them online, the cable giant can now target advertising more effectively leading to higher premiums and better content targeting for users of Comcast services and websites.

Oh and by the way, I suppose this news puts an end to the rumors that Google was buying the company but then again there could have been an auction process or Plaxo may have reached out to the search giant for interest prior to the sale going through.

This could be a good move for Plaxo as it adds a stronger parent into the mix. The cultural issues of dealing with a social network/cable company merger is another story.
Tags: comcast, google, plaxo

Search Technorati: comcast, google, plaxo
Related Tags: Comcast, Plaxo, plaxo, comcast, company

Taken at the Westin. I just finished my tour of the country and now I spend a day with Nortel execs learning about the optical, wireless, UC and a variety of other markets the company plays in.

Blogged via wireless handheld

Related Tags:

Taken at the Westin. I just finished my tour of the country and now I spend a day with Nortel execs learning about the optical, wireless, UC and a variety of other markets the company plays in.

Blogged via wireless handheld

Related Tags:

I am looking forward to my meetings today and the weather seems to be cooperating. Hope you enjoy these great views.

Blogged via wireless handheld

Related Tags:

I am looking forward to my meetings today and the weather seems to be cooperating. Hope you enjoy these great views.

Blogged via wireless handheld

Related Tags:

I am looking forward to my meetings today and the weather seems to be cooperating. Hope you enjoy these great views.

Blogged via wireless handheld

Related Tags:

I am looking forward to my meetings today and the weather seems to be cooperating. Hope you enjoy these great views.

Blogged via wireless handheld

Related Tags:

When you look around the tech market you see factors which suck the profit out of every nook and cranny. In hardware there is a trend towards standards-based hardware which is not slowing down. As this trend continues, prices shrink and more competition exists in building computers, etc.

Moreover, as computers get more powerful they suck the life out proprietary solutions. It is very difficult to build a proprietary hardware system and not get undercut by a competitor who uses PC-based technology.

Software should be immune to this trend but open-source has made this segment of the market more challenging. Open source firewalls, routers, CRM software, etc. There is virtually no area of software where open source hasn't appeared.

But as software evolves and once separate systems such as telecom and datacom continue to become more interdependent, a strange thing is happening... The need to integrate disparate solutions has grown. In fact it is growing faster and faster and many companies in tech rely on integration to drive the majority of their profits.

Avaya, IBM, Aspect and others are adding more resources to their integration teams and in doing so they will make more and more money. Companies need the integration and there is no threat of open source or commoditized hardware to worry about.

If you are a computer company, you realize why you need to become an integration company. IBM realized it years ago and others are discovering the need to integrate as well.

Where will all of this lead? Into larger and larger integration/hardware/software companies making money from a variety of sources. The challenge of course will be how do integration firms stay independent when owned by hardware or software companies. In the overall scheme of things, this is likely not so important as when you are making tons of money on integration, you may not worry so much about purchasing a few servers from the competition.

See Also:

• Hewlett-Packard to buy EDS for $12.6 billion in bid to challenge IBM in tech services
• HP Issues Q2 Results, Guidance Above Street Expectations - Down 2% in Pre-Bell on EDS Acquisition

Tags: aspect, avaya, consulting, crm, eds, firewall, hp, ibm, integration, open source, router, web server

Search Technorati: aspect, avaya, consulting, crm, eds, firewall, hp, ibm, integration, open source, router, web server
Related Tags: integration, software, hardware, source, companies, money

Perhaps one of the biggest misperceptions among those who dabble in communications is that Asterisk is only used in small business environments. The reality is that Asterisk is being used in service provider environments as well.

Of course this doesn't mean that a product which happens to work great in a small to medium business is also able to simply flip a switch to become the heart of a service provider install.

In other words Asterisk + "a variety of additions" is what Mrs. or Mr. service provider needs to use this popular open source product to power services to their customers.

In an effort to simplify the process of adding Asterisk to the service provider environment, Digium -- the company behind the world's most popular open source communications software has partnered with Integrics, the maker of Enswitch.

According to an article on the subject by TMCnet's Susan Campbell, Enswitch allows service providers to use Asterisk in order to provide, full-featured, telephone management and billing solutions, calling card integration, toll free and number translation services, voice mail, call queuing, ACD, fax to e-mail, and multi-level IVR.

I am pretty impressed with the feature-set of Enswitch. For example, they provide XML and PDF invoices for customers, wizard-based activation, simple sales tax management, web-based administration, sophisticated authentication mechanisms, shared speed dials, .csv integration, dial by name, unlimited classes of service, etc.

In fact you may be hard pressed as a carrier to find a feature that Integrics hasn't thought of.

So what does such an announcement mean to the market? Well first off, service providers are likely to feel more comfortable working with products from Integrics as they now have the Digium brand, muscle and market power behind them.

In addition, we can expect the service provider market to embrace open source at an even more rapid pace than they are already doing.

Certainly I will report more as I hear it but my $.02 on the matter say this is a good move for all involved and for the broader telecom market.
Tags: asterisk, billing, digium, email, enswitch, fax, integrics, ivr, mark spencer, open source, pdf, postpaid, prepaid, service provider, sip

Search Technorati: asterisk, billing, digium, email, enswitch, fax, integrics, ivr, mark spencer, open source, pdf, postpaid, prepaid, service provider, sip
Related Tags: service provider, service, provider, asterisk, Asterisk, integrics

I had an amazingly smooth trip up to Canada considering the weather in New York was stormy when I left. It felt like 40 degree weather with 40+ MPH gusts. Somehow we took off and had a flight that wasn't too turbulent.

We landed without a hitch and I had a chance to see a few companies today. Amazingly and thankfully it was sunny and warm in Canada. How about that?

What shocked me most however is the speed of the 1xRTT network up here. Not only is it expensive -- it is lousy. I had to download voicemail at 6 kbps. Working at this speed by the way should be outlawed by the Geneva Convention.

One person I met with today told me that Rogers will soon roll out EVDO. I didn't get a chance to verify this BTW -- just passing it along.

Thankfully on a positive note -- I ate dinner at the Perspectives Restaurant at the Brookstreet Hotel. Thank you Terry Matthews for building such a nice hotel. I am sure if he didn't build this multi-star shrine, there would be some crappy hotel option. To protect the innocent I won't give examples of chains I prefer not to stay at.

Not that I am really in need of such luxury -- I really care most about fast Internet access and a comfortable bed.

Having said that, I can't describe how good the food is and the menu choices were excellent as well.

Well -- another big day is ahead of me tomorrow so some much needed rest will be taking place. Have a good night and see you tomorrow. If you see fewer blog entries than usual it is because I am instructing the growing TMC editorial team to cover the news as there is only so much 6 kbps blogging torture anyone should endure.

But having said that, here are some of today's articles you should read from other TMCnet writers:

• SpinVox Sets Price for Voicemail-to-Text Service
• CableLabs Announces DOCSIS 3.0 Certification
• Verizon Business, and Skyport Connect Troops and Families" class="news-text">Cisco Telepresence, Verizon Business, and Skyport Connect Troops and Families
• Google Sky Response" class="news-text">Microsoft to Lunch Google Sky Response
• Sweden Awards 4G Licenses to Five Telecom Operators
• CRM Hits the City of Covington, Virginia
• A New, Cost-Effective, AMTELCO XDS VoIP Board
• T-Mobile Launches the World's Most Modern GSM/EDGE Network

Here is a complete article list.
Tags: brookstreet, ip communications, kanata, mitel, ontario, perspectives restaurant, terry matthews, voip, wireless

Search Technorati: brookstreet, ip communications, kanata, mitel, ontario, perspectives restaurant, terry matthews, voip, wireless
Related Tags: hotel, should, canada, today, Canada

I am headed northward today to Canada, one of my favorite places to go when it isn't winter.

I expect to meet with a number of communications and technology companies and report back on the details very soon.

Have a great day and feel free to peruse TMCnet to stay up to date.

Blogged via wireless handheld

Related Tags:

Wishing you a very Happy Mother's Day.

Related Tags:

If you thought your memory was photographic, consider the fact this woman can remember every moment of every day going back to the age of eight years old. If anything, this condition called hyperthymestic syndrome from the Greek thymesis, for remembering, and hyper, meaning well above normal show us that perhaps many of us do only use 10% of our brains.

Once anonymous and referred to in scientific texts by initials, Jill Price has recently come out in the open about her condition and calls it a curse as she is able to focus on every bad decision she has ever made.

Speaking of bad decisions, I realize I am off my main news area of focus but hey -- it's Saturday -- don't my readers need a break from communications and tech from time to time? 

But getting back to Ms. Price, she is a school administrator and this begs the question as to why she hasn't decided to put this incredible memory to use in politics, counting cards the military, etc.

Finally, I would imagine such a gift would be a blessing if applied in business. BTW, we are always looking for top talent here at TMC.

More
Tags: hyperthymestic, jill price, memory, photographic memory, science, thymesis

Search Technorati: hyperthymestic, jill price, memory, photographic memory, science, thymesis
Related Tags: every

Few people know more about UMA than Steve Shaw... He really lives and breathes this market. This is why I am thrilled Steve will be writing for TMCnet with a special focus on unwired mobile access or UMA.

Here is his first column -- which presents a good overview of the market and really plants the seed for future articles.

As always, we at TMCnet do our best to present our audience with the best writers in the market and we are thrilled to continue to be the primary global resource for communications and technology purchasing decision-makers.
Tags: broadband, fmc, hotspot @home, hz2.0, im, ims, instant message, ip communications, kineto wireless, media center, myspace, sip, social networking, steve shaw, texting, t-mobile, tv, uma, uma today, unwired mobile access, voip, vonage, youtube

Search Technorati: broadband, fmc, hotspot @home, hz2.0, im, ims, instant message, ip communications, kineto wireless, media center, myspace, sip, social networking, steve shaw, texting, t-mobile, tv, uma, uma today, unwired mobile access, voip, vonage, youtube
Related Tags: market, tmcnet, TMCnet, steve, Steve