February 2005 Archives

I recently met with NEC’s Jay Krauser and Bruce Grant to discuss their IP telephony strategy. NEC’s telecom division has always been a strong engineering company as opposed to other companies in the industry who focus more on marketing. Lately they have done a better job of promoting themselves than at any time in the last decade I can recall.

With this in mind I was curious to see if they are still focusing on engineering and developing leading edge products. It seems they are and more interesting they have some market-share numbers that are unexpectedly high. For example they have 7,000 call centers using their products and a huge number of agents per-center according to Jay and Bruce.

Soft clients are seeing tremendous growth and lots of customers are buying both phones and soft clients for their employees. They see the future as soft clients as the presence and directory apps are compelling reasons to switch to a softphone. We can expect to see some new USB handsets from the company in the near future.

The company also just released the UNIVERGE SV7000 Multi-Purpose Server (MPS) Linux-based IP voice communications platform. Developed for the SMB market, the product is a cost-effective solution with redundancy built-in as well as the ability to mix and match cards such as server and ISDN cards.

It supports up to 750 IP stations and is SIP enabled. In my discussion, NEC executives proudly proclaimed this system would save 40% on telecom costs and I asked 40% compared to what? They told me compared to traditional systems as system management such as moves/adds and changes will be less expensive. Here’s an NEC whitepaper on VoIP assessment which you may enjoy:

NEC White Paper on IP Telephony Assessments

LONDON - (February 14, 2005) - U4EA Technologies, the leading embedded quality of service (QoS) software provider for multi-service networks, announced today that it has successfully completed another funding round

Developed to support carrier and enterprise customers, U4EA’s next-generation network devices include two technologically advanced hardware products that will launched later in the first quarter of 2005.

These products have been developed to enhance network access across converged, fixed and internet-based (IP) networks and enable simple migration to reliable triple-play communications.

U4EA's Ethernet IP Telephony Adapter below:

"In this Series D funding round, I am very reassured that those investors who backed us in each of the previous funding rounds continue to have confidence in our people and in the future prospects for our technologies and products," said Columb Harrington, chief executive officer at U4EA Technologies. "The drive for new, feature-rich applications across converged communications networks is unrelenting.

Now tested and carrier-proven, we believe our core technology is pivotal to next-generation networking becoming a reality"

About U4EA Technologies

U4EA Technologies provides carrier-class, embeddable software components and hardware designs for multi-service network equipment. By integrating U4EA's software, manufacturers of edge and access devices can deliver products equipped for converged networks with a shorter time-to-market.

U4EA's hardened, carrier-tested solutions enable reliable delivery of real-time, multimedia and mission-critical services, and have been brought to market in partnership with leading organizations such as Analog Devices Inc. and Ericsson AB. Headquartered in Bristol, UK, U4EA has a test facility in Sophia Antipolis, France and development facilities in Fremont, Calif.

Big news in the UNE-P world. The company formerly known as Z-Tel (now Trinsic) purchased equipment from Integral Access last December to allow them to transition to a facility based provider via UNE-L Lines, and Integral Access’ PurePacket Multiservice platform and softswitch based architecture. Now PCS1 is doing the same.

What is different with PCS1 is that all UNE-P lines are serving small businesses and that PCS1 will be leveraging not only PurePacket's POTS/ADSL2+ BLC capabilities but also Integral Access’ OUTburst IAD's (over G.SHDSL and DS1) to serve the larger SME's.

Integral Access is aggressively pursuing UNE-P providers which are now forced to look at different business models to survive. We believe that migrating to UNE-L with a complete voice and data service bundle is a viable and attractive approach to many UNE-P providers.

Remember to learn more, you will want to come to TMC's UNE-P to VoIP Summit at ITEXPO in Miami the week after next.

Probably the most exciting part of my job is being able to help leading companies in the world break important news. At the last Internet Telephony Expo in LA, Skype’s Niklas Zennstrom announced a slew of new products and initiatives. Zennstrom will be presenting again at ITEXPO in Miami in just over a week and I can’t wait to hear what he says.



In addition, Time Warner Telecom will choose Internet Telephony Expo to make a huge announcement about their entry into VoIP. They say they will have something compelling and different to announce. I can’t wait to hear what it is.

Hear is the teaser text from the company:

Time Warner Telecom (Nasdaq:  TWTC), the leading provider of voice and data networking solutions for businesses, invites you to a briefing as the Company launches its business-class VoIP strategy, products and services.  

Capitalizing on its leadership position in Data and IP, Time Warner Telecom is launching new business VoIP applications over its metro Ethernet platform.  Analysts have proclaimed Time Warner Telecom’s metro Ethernet suite as the most comprehensive in the industry with leadership position in breadth of services and network reach.

Time Warner Telecom’s VoIP strategy is different than most other service providers today with a focus on business-class service and convergence that delivers lower total cost of ownership (TCO) and improved ROI.

One last point... Expect a pragmatic approach, not a splashy, glitzy roll-out. The company is leading with substance, not hype.

Apple declared a 2-for-1 stock split today and I can’t believe the irony here. When they sold computers in the last five years, their prospects were dismal but now that they are a consumer electronics leader, they are growing, splitting stock and basically partying like its 1999 all over again.

                    The Elegant Mac Mini

My hats off to the company for turning things around when almost no body believed it could be done. When the iPOD was releases, no one knew it would do this well and I am sure the company is more surprised than the rest of us.

Leveraging this incredible success is the next goal and already they are launching products that play off the iPOD theme such as the MAC mini.

What is the future of Apple? They can become the next Sony if they want. The have the marketing an branding down and are now a consumer electronics force. They will likely have some sort of iVideo service (the URL is taken though) next to take on NetFlix. Their future is brighter than ever.

I received this e-mail just now:

AT&T CORRECTS THE RECORD CONCERNING VONAGE SUIT

 (Background: Some incorrect news stories have been circulating claiming that Vonage, an AT&T VoIP competitor, prevailed in its lawsuit against AT&T for use of the AT&T CallVantage® Service name. This statement will set the record straight.)

The following statement may be attributed to AT&T:

 BEDMINSTER, N.J. - The Vonage lawsuit against AT&T for use of AT&T's registered mark, "AT&T CallVantage®" Service, was withdrawn by Vonage several months ago prior to any court hearing pursuant to a settlement. The lawsuit settled on the basis that AT&T would use the mark as registered and Vonage, the plaintiff in the case, would transfer to AT&T certain improperly registered domain names.

Vonage disclosed to the media a partial version of the terms of the settlement in breach of the confidentiality provision in the settlement. AT&T is simply correcting the record.

I spoke with Ari Rabban at VocalTec and he was telling me about his new BAX Broadband VoIP Access Platform that encompasses a softswitch and a service platform that allows service providers to deploy new services rapidly. They can do much of what a Broadsoft or Sylantro solution can do but their feature server is coupled with a softswitch that can scale due to its distributed architecture.

This is a new product for VocalTec and while they are competing with some larger companies in this space, it is interesting to point out to those of you new to VoIP that VocalTec is the company that started the VoIP market. They invented the software and gateway. There is immense history and experience in this company.

I asked Raban what differentiates his product and told me they have a signaling gateway and call control and routing server. Ari tells me the integrated solution is being received well in the market as aside from the above, it is completely open and standards based.

 The product has a low entry point so if you are interested in learning more, visit http://www.vocaltec.com.

I had a chance to play with Mitel’s latest creation the Navigator… It is a sleek, silver device that is designed to fit neatly under a flat screen (or other monitor). It is much nicer than other traditional corporate telecom devices… Not as nice as something from Bang & Olufsen but better design than 90% of IT equipment you will see in an office.

Photo 1: Mitel Navigator

So what is the device? A telephone replacement. You see if you take the functions of a telephone… The primary ones anyway – you know the keypad, speakers, microphone, etc and were to integrate them with your computer monitor, voila, you would have the Mitel Navigator.

What is interesting about the device is the 9 programmable keys that can be used for a variety of applications and functions from telephony to computer. You can access the buttons via the Navigator keypad or a mouse. Perhaps most intriguing is the ability to use the device to play music from the computer and have the music stop when a call is initiated or received.

Photo 2: Mitel Navigator With Screen

The device works with Mitel phone systems and another SIP Navigator will work with other phone manufacturers. It will be competitively priced and according to Mitel will really eliminate the need to spend a fortune on a color screen phone from other PBX companies.

The downside to the product is screen clutter. I have been using two 19” monitors for the last nine months or so and it is my way of dealing with the problem of having so many apps open simultaneously (coupled with eyes that aren’t quite as good as they once were).
Pricing will be competitive according to Mitel’s Simon Gwatkin.

WiFi Desk Phone

Anther interesting device thy have designed is a WiFi desk phone. What I mean by this is a phone that is like a standard desk phone you would see anywhere but with an antenna coming out of it. It has a dual function meaning when it is deployed in a company, it uses VoIP over WiFi otherwise known as WiFi telephony to communicate. You just need to power it. If you plug a computer into it, it acts as a NIC card meaning it is an access point as well. It is the perfect phone for retail applications for example. Mitel is looking for feedback on the device.

The Wall Street Journal reports today that Verizon is going after MCI as well with an informal bid of 6.3 billion dollars, similar to Qwest’s offer. According to the journal, Many of MCI's shareholders prefer a deal with Verizon over a tie-up with Qwest, in part because New York-based Verizon ranks as one of the nation's strongest and largest phone companies, with a market capitalization of more than $100 billion. Denver-based Qwest, by contrast, is seen as the weakest of the regional Bell companies and has a market value of roughly $7.8 billion.

Qwest has $17.2 billion dollars in debt already and such an acquisition certainly would put ever more pressure on the company. A Verizon deal obviously is the more logical for MCI if all else remains equal.

The chief witness against ex-WorldCom CEO Bernie Ebbers took the stand recently, touching on drug use and coffee filters at the once high-flying telecom giant. What is interesting about this New York Daily News story is that Ebbers claims not to know anything about the accounting fraud yet the star witness for the government, Scott Sullivan said that Ebbers counted coffee filters and coffee bags and when the latter were in shorter supply than the former, he deduced that the employees must be taking coffee home. The point of course is he seemed pretty involved in accounting at some level.

Interestingly I ran into Ebber’s old boss a few days ago, a fellow by the name of Alan Peyser, who was the Chairman and CEO of Cable & Wireless. Al told me he knew Ebbers well and actually Ebbers worked for him at on point and he worked for Ebbers at another point. His feeling is that Ebbers is a very good person and the press is using him as a scapegoat.

Whether Ebbers is a good person or not probably won’t help him here. At stake is a 25-year prison sentence and so far it isn’t looking to good for Mr. Ebbers as Sullivan is painting him as a micromanager and more importantly has described Worldcom after hours as a cocaine and marijuana party.

I went to McDonald's today and something interesting happened. The location I chose to go to was on I95 which is located in Darien, CT. I am told these two McDonald's, one on either side of the highway are some of the busiest restaurants the company has. While I don’t know if this is true, the restaurant is always busy.

I don’t go to this location too often and when I do I always give them my credit card and they always reject it. I always persisted.  I sort of remember that they don’t take credit cards but I always lead with the card as I hate cash. It is my subtle way of protesting if the company doesn’t take cards. So when I gave them the card today I was sort of surprised when they took it and waited five minutes to get back to me.

When they finally opened the window and gave me my food they apologized and told me they just got credit card machines and I was the first person to charge their meal and they weren’t sure how to charge me. Pays to be persistent I guess.

In a WSJ article today “AT&T's Long-Term Benefits To SBC May Be a Big Stretch,” There is an interesting statement on one of the reasons SBC may be eyeing AT&T…

There are some ancillary benefits to the deal, too. The deal eliminates the most powerful lobbying counterweight to the regional Bells. Washington still has vital telecommunications regulatory issues on its plate.

It is an interesting point worth considering. I have written about telecom lobbying before. Service providers are huge lobbyers and AT&T has tremendous experience in this area. Incumbents will all be helped by this merger.

We got back from Orlando this AM and I was blown away at how Song Airlines has altered the behavior of my entire team. Most of us hate flying and have an allegiance to American Airlines. For whatever reason and I assume it is cost-related our travel person booked us on this airline for the first time.

The flight down was flawless and the flight back was even better. We had leather seats and TV and ample leg room. I would have preferred a bit more shoulder room but that is a blog for another time. One last point… When we landed at JFK we waited less than a minute for the door to open. Incredible.

Dave Rodriguez is TMC’s VP of Conferences and he told me something today that would have been considered sacrilegious just a week ago. He thinks we should switch from American to Song as our carrier of choice.

This is a huge deal for Dave as he is fiercely loyal to American. One of the things he likes about American in fact is the ability to manage so many details of the flight via the Internet. Seat assignments, etc. In a way American used technology to build customer loyalty from Dave.

Song one-upped American. You see they offer games on their onboard television/computer system and one of the games is based on trivia. My team of six people took a 7:00 AM flight and none of them slept. They were all playing the game which I hear is quite addictive. The key word is “hear” as I heard them continuously talking as I tried to sleep between their loud outbursts. Next time I may have to sit somewhere else

Song just used technology to get Dave (and countless others) to switch airlines. Technology is truly a strategic weapon and when used correctly can alter the course of an entire industry. Nice going, Song.

OK, I may be fibbing a little about the breaking news but IBM has been hitting TMCnet with some sort of bot we can only surmise is the beginnings of a search engine. Whether this is a lone person just having fun behind the big blue walls of the company's wintery Armonk headquarters or is a new corporate initiative to join Google, Microsoft and Yahoo! remains to be seen.

The question is... They are taking a great deal of our bandwidth and slowing down our site -- Do we shut them off or let them keep searching? For now they are free to index us but we may have to flip the switch if they don't come up with a more efficient or less bandwidth intensive spidering method.