Speaking of Skype, here is a pretty good article about them and an interview with Niklas Zennstrm in BusinessWeek Online.
October 2004 Archives
MSNBC had an article on its site recently showing that most top firms will be adopting VoIP in the next few years. Over 80% of the companies cited cost savings as the primary reason for the switch. The article stemmed from a survey of 131 multinational companies by Deloitte Touche. At our recent Internet Telephony show in LA someone came up to me after Niklas Zennstrom of Skype via videoconference told the audience that VoIP is not just about cost savings. This person who prefers not to be quoted told me that obviously people are downloading Skype because it allows free calls to be made. While I agree with Mr. Zennstrom it appears more and more frequently that cost is the initial driving reason to adopt VoIP followed by productivity boosting applications. I get asked all the time what killer apps there are for VoIP. Perhaps Marc Robins, the author of the monthly Mindshare column in Internet Telephony Magazine said it best. They are all killer apps. Being able to take your phone anywhere there is an Internet connection and receive your calls is a killer app. I tend to agree.I recently started to use the do not disturb feature of my VoIP service and have found it infinitely useful. This is a killer app for my household and so is the ability to have voicemail e-mailed to me. So if cost savings is what gets people hooked on VoIP to start, that is great... Once hooked, the applications will make them more productive and better able to communicate with one another.
I received this e-mail today. I get a good deal of e-mail on the Vonage vs. AT&T battle. People want to know which is better, and they also want me to solve their technical problems. If anything this shows me that we have a way to go before consumer VoIP becomes an easy alternative to the PSTN. The PSTN has a 100 year head-start over todays consumer VoIP providers and when you consider this, it is amazing to see how well it works. Still, there are a number of kinks that need to be worked out including finding tech support reps that are up to the task of dealing with data issues as well as voice.
For the record, I am still very happy with CallVantage. One issue --if I upload a large number of photos the quality does degrade noticably. I have been told that I can call customer service and have them do something that will minimize this problem. I havent had a chance to do this as of yet.
Tomorrow, Spirent Communications (www.spirentcom.com; NYSE: SPM; LSE: SPT) will announce support for Cisco's SCCP (Skinny) protocol on its industry-leading Abacus 5000 product.
With the addition of Skinny protocols, Spirent's Abacus 5000 now offers the most comprehensive analog, digital and VoIP protocol support in the testing industry. The Abacus 5000 is a fully integrated VoIP and PSTN test system in a single platform. It allows Enterprises to test VoIP calls within the Enterprise, and calls both from and to the PSTN, to reduce the risk of VoIP migration. Cost-effective, flexible and scalable, Abacus 5000 has integrated analog, TDM and Ethernet interfaces for comprehensive testing of converged network elements.
I had a chance to meet with Voiceglo and learned some interesting things. I wrote about their new product called Net PBX a while back and it turns out that product was delayed a bit. They promise to have it out by the end of November. I have received a number of calls and e-mails about this product as well as people seem to be very intereted in it.
It is basically a WiFi PBX that you lease as a service. Although my article quoted pricing which I thought was low at the time, the price is now undecided. The good news is that I am told that the service will have some great new features that werent covered in the original interview I had with the company in June.
A reminder, you will be able to have 256 users on the system. They are currently still testing it and use it with 45 extensions on a floor in their office. They interoperate with SNOM phones and others will follow soon including a WiFi device they will announce in the near future.
Their Voiceglo Glophone client has had a number of upgrades lately and DTMF (touch) tones now work with IVR systems allowing you to dial extensions. In addition to a telephone number with an extension, you will be able to soon pay a bit more for your own phone number. The advantage over peer to peer solutions the company tells me is that they are able to give you a phone number so you may receive calls as well.
I am doing my best to keep you updated with what is happening here. It is a literal zoo. Our first day of conference attendance far exceeded our expectations and I cant wait for the exhibits to open as well as the keynote from Niklas Zennstrom, CEO and founder of Skype, Wednesday at 7:30 AM. Yes it is early but what is more energizing than hearing the words of perhaps the most important figurehead in the P2P software movement. And yes, this is his first US appearance. I am not aware of any other event he is participating in at the moment. See you there!
I've had a number of requests from people that want to get into the show dailies that we have been sending out. Please send information directly to Johanne Torres, jtorres@tmcnet.com. if you are a vendor, you know what to send. if you are an attendee and want to give feedback on the show, please also send it to Johanne who will put your comments in the directory as possible. Thanks
On the flight out to LA, the person next to me insisted that it's fog, not smog that covers the skies of LA in the AM. Whatever it is, I am looking forward to the sun burning it away so we can get some of that famous LA sunshine. I was up early this AM. I couldn't sleep last night. It was partly because I was so excited about the ITEXPO show today and partly because the pillows in the hotel are so tall. But who needs sleep anyway when there is so much blogging to do? Who am I kidding anyway? It's the start of another event and there is no way I'll get to go outside until it is over as this Internet Telephony Conference & Expo has record attendance. We are busy getting attendee bags ready, double-checking all of the meal functions and the like. For example the ECA has a board meeting this afternoon and the room looks great. Very elegant. They also have a host of educational sessions including on with industry guru Alan Sulkin. The show hotel, the Millennium Biltmore is quite regal. It is similar to the Fairmont in San Francisco. For those of you that remember the Computer Telephony show years ago, Ingram Micro used to have a huge reception during that show at this hotel. An interesting event dilemma is that we have outgrown virtually every hotel exhibit facility. This one barely fits us and that is why we are forced to go into the LA convention center next year. Since we have so many booths, our exhibits are divided into two halls, directly above each other. We had a similar configuration at the hotel Del Coronado a few years back and I worked well. Still, it makes managing the event easier when it is all located in the same place. They say growing pains are good.There is a good deal of news being announced in conjunction with the show. For example, TMC (Our parent company) signed a MOU or memorandum of understanding with the IPCC today. This organization is devoted to furthering VoIP technology via education as well as other means and has a strong service provider focus. Read the TMC/IPCC details here. We are launching electronic show dailies at this show. I have never seen electronic show dailies at any other event. They may exist, I just haven't laid eyes on one. It will be interesting to see if other communications events decide to copy the idea which I attribute to one of my brighter team members her at TMC (I cant think of everything, can I)? They will be posted on the site and sent to all attendees. I am looking forward to greeting you all this week.
Tomorrow I head out to Our Fall Internet Telephony Conference & Expo which means I am at work on Saturday getting everything prepared for the trip. I am expecting a delivery today of a bunch of equipment. I didnt think it would come today but I was told to expect it. So here I am working and anxiously awaiting new technology to play with Ahem, make me more productive.
Before I tell you what Im expecting, please give me a moment to set the story up.
Mobile Phone Service
Except for a trade show in the basement of some Washington DC hotel 5 years ago, every place I have needed cellular services, Verizon Wireless service was far superior to all others. To be fair, I havent tested the Cingular, Nextel or AT&T network recently; my comparisons are solely based against Sprint and T-Mobile. Living in Fairfield County CT, using Verizon Wireless service is many times better than Sprint or T-Mobile.
The only reason I stay on the T-Mobile network for voice calls is because they use a GSM network, allowing me to talk in most places outside of the US. Perhaps even more important is the bluetooth support of the SonyEricsson T610 phone which allows me use a bluetooth headset instead of a corded one. It also allows me to synch my contacts and calendar with Outlook. Verizon didnt have phones with bluetooth support until recently.
Wireless E-mail on the go
Aside from my T-Mobile phone I also have a Blackberry 7750 on the Verizon network which allows me an alternative network to make calls on if the T-Mobile phone doesnt have a signal. I really dont carry the Blackberry except for business trips and I dont have a voice calling plan so I havent a clue what they charge me for the calls but I am sure the invoices arent pretty.
Wireless Broadband
For those times on the road where there is no WiFi available and I need to download attachments or use applications that require a PC, I have a Sierra Wireless 555 card that works on Verizons Express network. I was one of the first on this network and used to see speeds around 100kbps. More recently I see about half that but the card has really helped me in my job so I have few complaints.
Now that Verizon has a faster network using EVDO technology instead of 1XRTT, you can achieve speeds of around 300 kbps and even bursts of around 2 Mbps if you can believe such claims. Still, even if I average around 100-200 kbps I will be a happy camper. I also have a subscription to T-Mobile hotspot or WiFi service in case I happen to have free time near a Starbucks.
Blackberry Time
Two new salespeople were added to my team recently so we needed two new blackberries so while we ordered the two 7750s I decided it was time to drop my SonyEricsson in favor of the Motorola v710. Instead of a phone with the form factor of a small bar of soap I will be getting a thicker flip phone which I am not 100% happy with. I like to not have to flip open the phone to talk. Still, as my wife keeps asking me, why is bluetooth so important if you cant use the phone so often? She is right as usual (boy, I hope she reads this). I understand the V710 is intentionally crippled by Verizon; at least that is what a number of sites say. You cant download photos or address books. I hope this isnt true, but I will get to see for myself when the phone comes. On the flipside some of the same sites say that the radio in the phone is excellent and I will have great reception. That will be a welcome change as currently no cell phones work in my house except Verizon in the corner of one room if you stand up on your tip toes, leaning out the window (I am not kidding). My friends Nextel phones seem to work on occasion as well At least the walkie talkie function.
Broader Broadband
While the phone was being replaced, I decided to upgrade the Verizon Sierra Aircard 555 as well. I should be receiving a Verizon Wireless PC 5220 card any moment. I havent a clue who makes this card for them but it doesnt seem to be Sierra which likely means I need new software to connect to the network. Ahh the joys of upgrading.
Getting back to the show, I am concerned about the distraction from focusing on the event while all this new equipment is being configured, etc. I suppose I could wait till I get back from the show, but that would mean a measure of self-control that I am not sure I possess this particular day.
Where to Find Rich Tehrani at ITEXPO
Ive had a bunch of questions about where Ill be at the show. Here is a recap in case you are trying to track me down.
On Monday October 4th from 4:40-6:00 Ill be moderating the roundtable VoIP Opportunities in the Military Environment. I have been ordained the TMC expert in military VoIP because I wrote some articles on the topic. At 7:30 that evening I will be at Bernards Restaurant, 506 South Grand Ave in LA for the VoIP Service Provider Award Dinner. The restaurant is located in the show hotel the Millennium Biltmore. Thanks once again to Netrake and the IPCC for sponsoring this event.
On Tuesday, October 5th at 8:30 I will be introducing our Grand Opening Session speakers, Bernd Kuhlin of Siemens and Katherine Bagin of AT&T. The same day at 12:00 I will be introducing the keynoters, Dieter Rencken of Polycom and from 4:00-5:00 introducing Steven Mihaylo of Inter-Tel and Susan Bailey of Avaya. Following the keynotes, we go right into The Future of IP Telephony at around 5:15. I am pretty excited about the participating companies in this panel, we have Cisco, NEC, 3COM, Lucent, Nortel, Quintum, Qovia, Snom, Brix Networks and Digium participating. I dont think we can have a better grouping of large, small and diverse VoIP companies representing the entire industry. Immediately following, I will be at the reception in the exhibit hall probably eating some high protein/low carb foods. By the way, if you send me an e-mail this day, I may not respond immediately for obvious reasons :-).
On Wednesday October 6th, at 7:00 AM I have the honor of Introducing Niklas Zennstrom the founder and CEO of Skype as a keynoter of Internet Telephony Conference & Expo. This is an amazing human being and a personal idol of mine. After all, he is also the developer of Kazaa which transformed the way the world dealt with digital music. Well napster did first but he did the industry one better. His ingenious peer to peer technology allows millions of users to transfer files among each other without the need for central servers. Similarly, Skype has taken the world by storm and has millions upon millions of VoIP users. I am very excited about hearing his views on VoIP. The keynote will take place via Videoconference which is provided by Polycom. Thank you Polycom! At10:00 AM I will be moderating the IP PBX Shoot Out. Again, an all star panel of presenters representing Covad, EADS, M5 Networks, Sphere Communications, Sylantro, Artisoft, Viper Networks, NEC, and Vonexus. Immediately afterwards I hope to be helping my staff managing the huge crowds we are expecting. We are still on track to have about 5,000 attendees which will mob the exhibit hall. Interesting, no other communications event has the ratio of attendees to exhibitors that Internet Telephony has. Not even close! We bring in massive quantities of buyers to meet with vendors. This show is the Worlds Largest VoIP Marketplace as our tagline says. Getting back to my schedule. I will be Introducing John Meyer, Lucents President of Worldwide Services at 4:45 and I will follow up with my now famous Tehranis IP Telephony Killer apps session at 5:30. Generally the format is that each company gets 5 minutes to demo their product and no PowerPoints are allowed. This is the only real session you will see at any show, it is real because it is not scripted. You cant compare this to PowerPoint product demos where speakers may be tempting you to doze. This session is exciting because it is totally live. Anything can happen. In the past, companies have tried to demonstrate and couldnt get their network card working or the AV system didnt cooperate completely. When a demo goes smoothly, it is incredible and blows PowerPoints away. Best of all, the crowd cheers. Ive never heard cheers at the end of a canned presentation. The goal as you guessed is to SHOW you how something works, live Not tell you. Hope youll be there. Immediately following, around 6:30, there is a reception in the exhibit hall that I will be attending and Id like to thank our sponsor NEC for participating.
On Thursday, October 7th at 9:00 AM I will be introducing Michael Durance, the VP and General Manager of Toshiba followed by Thomas Burger, the CEO of NEC Unified Solutions. I will likely be in the conference lunch all three days including this one which takes place in the Gold room. The sessions go until 5:05 this day weve saved the best sessions for last so hopefully you will stay to the end so you dont miss any crucial VoIP information.
Once again, I would like to thank all of you for attending and exhibitors and sponsors for making this show such a success. We are blown away by the pre-registration numbers and Internet Telephony Conference & Expo remains the Worlds Largest VoIP Marketplace.
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