April 2006

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Intel Reorg

April 29, 2006

Here is a candid video interview with an Intel CFO Andy Bryant who discusses a reorganization that is taking place and how Intel is going to go about taking back share from AMD. They think they will take share back in Q3, Q4 and beyond. Intel believes their chip products are superior and they hope that the latter half of the year will be a bright spot in their future.

Posted in Technology

Tagged: amd, intel : Related Tags: intel

TV Community

April 29, 2006

Microsoft has recently had a patent approved in an area that allows communities to be built around TV content. The idea is to be able to click on a link in a program and go to a chatroom.

The same idea can obviously work with voice as well. This is a great application for voice communities. Even better – video communities where you send a video clip of what you think about the show, etc.

Perhaps the patent is more complicated than this article lets on but it seems very trivial and I can't imagine anyone getting a patent for something that seems so obvious.

Posted in IMS, IPTV, Technology, Video, VoIP

Tagged: tv community, voice community : Related Tags: patent, communities

More on Voice Communities

April 28, 2006

A well-known VoIP company I cannot identify will have a huge voice community announcement next week. Keep your eyes peeled on this blog for details.

Posted in VoIP

Comments

Cable Telephony

April 28, 2006

Look no further than this article to see just how hot cable telephony is getting. Recently, Comcast showed a threefold increase in profits, largely lifted by the increases in high-speed Internet and digital phone subscriptions.

In the US, phone companies are launching IPTV services as fast as they humanly can to keep up with cable companies. Consumers seem to enjoy bundled pricing and convenience. This means if phone companies can’t get a triple-play strategy working they may have to rely on business customers for future earnings growth.

Posted in Broadband, IMS, IPTV, Technology, Video, VoIP

Tagged: cable telephony, comcast, iptv, triple play, voip : Related Tags: cable telephony, phone companies, cable, companies, phone

Vonage IPO News

April 28, 2006

The Vonage IPO values the company at $2.65 billion according to TMCnet’s Bob Liu.

For the full year, marketing expenses totaled $243.4 million in 2005, nearly as much as the $258.2 million garnered in telephony services revenue.

Just over 30 million shares will be sold by the company which is the equivalent of 20% of the company. With only one-fifth of the outstanding stock floated to the public, it would be impossible for any prospective M&A buyer to take over the company without privately negotiating with investors and management. After the IPO, the company will have 155.7 million shares outstanding, valuing the company at $2.65 billion at the mid-point of the proposed IPO pricing range.

The company chose to list its shares on the New York Stock Exchange with a proposed ticker symbol of “VG.” I wonder why they didn’t choose the NASDAQ.

This could be great news for the VoIP industry and I wish them well.

Posted in VoIP

Tagged: ipo, voip, vonage : Related Tags: company billion, million shares, company, million, shares

Comments

TMCnet Upgrade

April 28, 2006

The massive amount of traffic we are receiving daily at TMCnet has caused us to continually upgrade our web infrastructure. This weekend or next we will be upgrading vital components with the goal being to provide you faster access to the latest communications technology and news. You may see a slight hiccup this Sunday or next as we transition to a server that sounds more like a jet engine than a computer. I am also convinced I can sear some tuna by touching it to the back of this computational bad boy.

Moreover, much of our software is being tweaked to ensure optimal performance.

Posted in Technology

Tagged: alexa, skype, tmcnet, vonage : Related Tags: communications technology, tmcnet, alexa

FLEXengine from Carrier Access

April 28, 2006

I am intrigued by the new software defined circuit and packet processing technology from Carrier Access... FLEXengine is used for cell site access, switching center and transport hub locations. FLEXengine integrates data interworking functions to optimize the transport of 2G and 3G broadband data over both existing and new packet-based broadband wireless access networks. Carrier Access says the technology will allow wireless carriers to save money when upgrading cell sites to mobile switching centers deploying new web and video data services. The question we all want to know is will this technology actually lower cell phone bills? :-)

Posted in Wireless

Tagged: 3g, carrier access, flexengine, video, wireless : Related Tags: carrier access, access, technology, carrier, flexengine

Worldâs Fastest Growing Phone Company

April 28, 2006

It is a commendable accomplishment and one that has ramifications that may not be immediately obvious. Skype has reached the 100 million user mark. I went to the company’s website to see how many downloads there have been but couldn’t find this info. Instead I found a banner announcing the 100 million user mark. Congratulations Skype! Here is one of the graphics the company uses in an e-card you can send to a friend.

Posted in VoIP

Tagged: skype, voip : Related Tags: skype, company

Comments

940,000 Unique Visitors

April 27, 2006

940,000 unique visitors with four days left to go! I got this message today from my web team just now. As you may recall we are hoping TMCnet will break one million unique visitors in a month as measured by WebTrends. Thanks again for being a visitor to TMCnet, our blogs, news sites, etc. We are very excited about hitting this new goal. If you think our site is useful, please tell you friends and colleagues about us.

Posted in CRM, Call Center, Technology

Risky (VoIP) Business

April 27, 2006

We all remember the infamous scene in Risky Business where Tom Cruise stalls the Porsche in his parent’s driveway as he backs it out of the garage. True car buffs recall this was a Porsche 928 – a car that didn’t make it because Porsche aficionados think Porsche engines need to be in the rear.

But what on earth does Tom Cruse have to do with the VoIP industry? After all, we haven’t seen any VoIP industry insiders screaming on Oprah's couch. Then again Oprah would likely never invite a VoIP insider on her show!

The similarity is all about risk and there could be lots of it.

Posted in VoIP

Tagged: fraud, risk.sox, sarbanes oxley, voip : Related Tags: valued customers, offenders valued, risky business, business, porsche, analysis

TMCnet Writer Receives Prestigious Summit Award

April 26, 2006

Karen Greenwald the head of the Burbank Group wrote an article for TMCnet a while back and was subsequently given an award by the prestigious Summits Awards website. She is quite talented and we are proud to have her as a contributor to TMCnet. Here is the link to the release.

Posted in Technology

Tagged: burbank group, karen greenwald, summit award : Related Tags: tmcnet

VoIP in Education

April 26, 2006

Interesting info on what VoIP adoption looks like in the education market:

Of the surveyed institutions, 43 percent reported that they are using VoIP. However, almost all of the users noted that the VoIP network currently covers less than 25 percent of their campus. Among those who assigned their VoIP network a grade, the responses averaged out to a solid B – a 3.13 grade point average. However, 25 percent gave the network an “incomplete.”

The most frequently mentioned benefits of the VoIP network were improved end-user features (cited by 46 percent of the users), cost savings (cited by 31 percent), and overall network efficiency (cited by 23 percent).

These VoIP users do have concerns and ongoing challenges when it comes to their use of the technology.

Posted in Broadband, VoIP

Tagged: acuta, education, voip : Related Tags: cited percent, being banned, percent users, percent, cited, network

Comments

AT&T Not Affected By VoIP Yet

April 26, 2006

Bear Stearns analyst says VoIP offerings are not of the same quality level compared to the LECs. In addition, AT&T earnings were above expectations and headcount reduction is ahead of schedule.

See video for details.

Posted in TMC Video, VoIP

Tagged: at&t, bellsouth, sbc, video, voip : Related Tags:

AOL Vs. Klausner Technologies

April 26, 2006

I wasn’t aware of yet another VoIP patent, 5,572,576. I haven’t heard about VoIP patents since the RTI Vs. Google case. It seems this patent was at the center of a lawsuit between AOL and Klausner Technologies. Klausner was seeking $200 million. The lawsuit is settled. The terms do not seem disclosed.

Posted in Rates Technology, VoIP

Marketing and Salespeople Needed

April 25, 2006

Here is an open letter to the industry. TMC is growing very rapidly in print, online and at our events. Many of you know our track record. If you don’t, here are some of the details.

TMC launched the first magazine in the world in the call center space, the VoIP space, the SIP space and the IMS space.

Posted in Technology, Technology

China Censors Skype

April 25, 2006

If you’re a Chinese web surfer using Skype you may notice that when you chat about certain things the person responding may not respond correctly. The reason? Not surprisingly China is filtering Skype user’s messages.

The Financial Times reported that Skype chief executive Niklas Zennstrom, confirmed that Tom Online censored messages containing references to the Dalai Lama, the banned Falun Gong spiritual group and other sensitive topics.

As more instant message programs are developed and used around the world, how will China keep up with them all? It must be a staggering amount of work keeping users from uttering phrases you don’t want them to say and keeping them from reading things you don’t want them to read.

Posted in VoIP

Tagged: censor, china, skype : Related Tags: chinese government, companies looking, outlawed china, average chinese, access internet, chinese

Comments

Tom Keating's Baby

April 24, 2006

Leave it to Tom to have a baby girl and find away to weave her into an interesting story on hacking, photography and technology!

Posted in Technology

Tagged: keating : Related Tags:

Plug your tongue into USB

April 24, 2006

No seriously this article talks about how computers are linking directly to the human brain via the tongue. I have to watch Leno tonight. He will have a ball with this.

Posted in Technology

Tagged: computer, tongue : Related Tags:

Apple and Intel

April 24, 2006

The concept of Apple using Intel chips seems to be gaining traction and I have seen so many glowing reports and virtually no drawbacks to these new systems. This latest article titled Testing Apples Intel-transition: iMac and MacBook Pro is no exception. The article is good and chronicles the pros and cons of these new “hybrid” systems.

Posted in Technology

Tagged: apple, intel : Related Tags: intel

Meg Whitman on Skype (Video)

April 24, 2006

Meg Whitman recently was on Bloomberg talking about the synergy of Skype and eBay. She also mentioned PayPal synergy with Skype. Furthermore she discussed new marketplaces and ways to extend e-commerce using VoIP. Take a look for the details. This seems to echo the sentiments of my voice communities articles of months past.

Posted in TMC Video, VoIP

Tagged: ebay, paypal, skype, voip, whitman : Related Tags: synergy skype, skype

Comments

Microsoft Reaches for Search Success

April 23, 2006

Microsoft lost 3 percentage points in the search market year over year. This is even after annual announcements that they will spend billions in R&D on various initiatives including search. They hope the new addition of Steven Berkowitz, the chief executive of Ask Jeeves will help them compete with Google more effectively.

There has been so much talk about how easy it is to steal market-share away from Google and we used to see survey after survey saying the majority of users would switch search engines if they found something better.

I suppose the question worth asking is why is it so difficult to make a search engine better than Google. Is it the interface?

Posted in Google

Tagged: ebay, google, microsoft, search engine, yahoo : Related Tags: search engine, microsoft yahoo, market share, portal strategy, steven berkowitz, google

Channels

April 22, 2006

Be sure to check out the TMCnet channels when you get a moment… Think of them as micro-publications on various topics. There are a number of new ones here and there are XML feeds on the channels if you would prefer to use an RSS reader. Broadband Telephony Broadband Voice Conference Call-Audio-Web Customer Interaction Management E911 Enterprise VoIP Gateways Headsets Hosted IP Hosted PBX

Posted in Broadband, CRM, Call Center, Conferencing, Consumer Electronics, IMS, IPTV, JITC, Open Source, SIP, Speech Technologies, Technology, VoIP, Wireless

Tagged: call center, crm, voip : Related Tags: contact center, interaction management, wireless headsets, solutions customer, customer interaction, center

Channels

April 22, 2006

Posted in Broadband, CRM, Call Center, Conferencing, Consumer Electronics, IMS, IPTV, JITC, Open Source, SIP, Speech Technologies, Technology, VoIP, Wireless

Tagged: call center, crm, voip : Related Tags: contact center, interaction management, wireless headsets, solutions customer, customer interaction, center

7 Trendy New Jobs

April 21, 2006

CNNMoney.com is reporting that 7 new trendy jobs have popped up. Here is my take.

Director of mobile computing:

It would be even better if Apple designed mobile computing solutions so we wouldn’t need so much support!

Director of internal controls: This is the new Sarbanes-Oxley manager. If it keeps companies ethical I am all for it. The cost of this department is making many public companies go private.

Business continuity director: Post 9/11 this is much needed.

Chief people officer: They manage that warm cushy team atmosphere.

Posted in Technology

Tagged: blog, cnn, cnnmoney, money, new jobs : Related Tags: residence concierge, mobile computing, director

Video Live in TMCnet

April 21, 2006

We have the video live on the site. Check it out. Fellow bloggers, feel free to blog! Thanks :-)

TMCnet Video: part 2

April 21, 2006

Here is the release on TMC video – I have had many questions on this today. We are very excited to get this rolling.

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Critical Mention Launches ClipSyndicate, a 'One Stop Shop' For Web Site Publishers to Syndicate Video News Segments From Respected Broadcasters
Clear Channel, MultiVu, a PR Newswire company, and Other Leading Broadcast News Providers, Ink Deals with ClipSyndicate to Drive Syndication Revenue and Brand Extension to Vertical Web Sites

NEW YORK, April 20 /PRNewswire/ -- Critical Mention, Inc., the leading Web-based television news search and broadcast monitoring service, today announced the formation of a new technology platform and business venture, ClipSyndicate, providing an exceptional value proposition for broadcasters, advertisers and Web site publishers in the "long tail" of the Internet. Broadcasters can extend the reach and value of their news clips, advertisers are able to get their video and banner ads in front of targeted "eyeballs" and Web site publishers are provided with the simplest way to syndicate and profit from timely and respected broadcast news segments that are relevant to their users/visitors.

ClipSyndicate enables broadcasters and other video content producers to easily monetize their content and extend their brands through an Internet distribution channel that syndicates video clips to thousands of vertical Web sites in need of content for their end-users, while providing advertisers new reach to an extremely targeted audience.

Posted in Broadband, CRM, Call Center, Conferencing, Consumer Electronics, Google, IMS, IPTV, ITEXPO, JITC, Open Source, Rates Technology, SIP, Speech Technologies, Technology, VoIP, WiMAX, Wireless

Tagged: clipsyndicate, iptv, tmc, tmcnet, tv, video : Related Tags: critical mention, video content, broadcast content, video clips, newswire company, clipsyndicate

Service Provider VoIP Quality

April 21, 2006

There is tremendous competition among service providers and while many providers may think cost is the most crucial component of keeping customers, it isnt.

Quality is just as important or if not more. TMCnet has once again teamed with Keynote to ensure service providers have information they need to ensure customers have the best quality VoIP service ever.

The webinar takes place April 25, 2006 at 2:00pm EST.

Hope to see you there.

Posted in Broadband, VoIP

Tagged: keynote, qos, quality, voip : Related Tags: service providers, service, providers, quality

Opie and Anthony return

April 21, 2006

Sure they’re degusting but so what!

Shock jocks Opie and Anthony who were fired from CBS for broadcasting a couple having sex in a church may be rehired by CBS who will potentially syndicate the show from XM Satellite Radio. What can be more ironic than shock jock Howard Stern leaving CBS (perhaps he was pushed out), then the shock jock gets sued along with the satellite company he goes to work for.

Then the same network goes out and gets two DJs who are arguably more offensive than Stern (wait, is that possible???).

It gets better, CBS would be syndicating a satellite program. This would be the first time this has happened.

This could be a historic deal if it is pulled off.

It is also good news for Kevin Martin who probably has excessive free time now that Howard Stern has left the airwaves. Just analyzing the every moment of Opie and Anthony’s broadcast could occupy about 2 dozen FCC staff members full time.

See this LA Times article for more.

Posted in Personal

Tagged: anthony, howard stern, opie, satellite, sirius, syndicate, xm : Related Tags: howard stern, shock, satellite, stern, anthony

Save The Internet

April 21, 2006

I received an e-mail below from freepress.net pushing me to savetheinternet.com. The e-mail and site are intended to save net neutrality. With all the talk on this topic I expected the savetheinternet domain to have huge traffic. I checked to see when it was registered and the records indicate it was picked up back in January 1999.

Posted in Broadband, Google, IMS, IPTV, SIP, Technology, VoIP, WiMAX, Wireless

Tagged: net neutrality, save the internet, voip : Related Tags: vonage forum, cable companies, phone cable, search engine, reviews discussion, internet

Comments

Quoted in RCR Wireless

April 21, 2006

I was recently quoted in RCR Wireless a magazine from Crain Communications. If you don’t subscribe, you should check it out at http://www.rcrnews.com/. I am a subscriber by the way. Here is the article.

Posted in Broadband, SIP, Technology, VoIP, Wireless

Tagged: airline, atg, faa, fcc, rcr wireless, spectrum, voip : Related Tags: flight attendants, auction winners, while flying, crain communications, ground spectrum, flight

TMCnet Video

April 21, 2006

Very soon you will be able to access video content on TMCnet. We have partnered with a company called ClipSyndicate and this partnership gives TMCnet access to hundreds of thousands if not millions of video clips from a variety of content partners such as Bloomberg, CNBC and others.

The goal of TMCnet has always been to the be the best source for all content in the communications and technology space. It is for this reason that we are on track to exceed a million unique visitors this month to TMCnet. In addition TMCnet is now ranked in the top 1,400 sites in the world by Alexa.com.

In much the same way we have become the web’s leading communications and technology information portal in the world of text, we will do the same in video.

We will be scanning archives of video content daily and ferreting out the most relevant clips available in the world and we will bring it to you on a continuous basis.

For example if the President of Texas Instruments explains how important VoIP is to his bottom line on Bloomberg TV, you will see that clip. If Jim Cramer from CNBC’s Mad Money says he is bullish on VoIP, you will see that clip.

So in addition to being a one stop destination for articles, news and analysis, you can also see all pertinent video clips.

If you are interested in learning more please check out this excellent InformationWeek article from Laurie Sullivan.

The article gives a great overview of how this works. Keep checking TMCnet for video clips and please let us know how we can improve to serve your needs better.

Posted in VoIP

Tagged: tehrani, tmcnet, video, voip : Related Tags: video clips, tmcnet video, communications technology, video content, video, tmcnet

Alltel My Circle

April 21, 2006

The “Friends and Family" plan popularized by MCI more than a decade ago has come to wireless callers. Alltel will now allow anyone spending $59.95 or more on their calling plans to have a feature called “My Circle,” allowing the caller to make unlimited free calls to 10 phone numbers.

These calls will not be part of the allotment of minutes calculated in a calling plan.

Even though other carriers have plans that offer free calling at select times or within their respective networks this new initiative from the Nation’s number 5 wireless provider will allow callers to take advantage of calling at any time and to callers on any network.

I believe this plan will likely be successful as there are many callers that cannot control the phone networks of their friends and family members.

In addition this sort of plan makes sense to offer because customers perceive they are getting something for free – even though they are paying $59.95/month.

It is too soon to know if this sort of plan will have any impact on fixed line telephony as many VoIP providers already provide unlimited calling for a flat rate. Perhaps if VoIP rates continue to fall, a plan like this will be rolled out by popular VoIP providers as well.

In the end the phone businesses is becoming more and more commoditized and new service offerings and marketing ideas such as this are healthy. Customers will always spend more on service if service providers are able to find the right customer hot-buttons to push.

Posted in Conferencing, VoIP, Wireless

Tagged: alltel, friends and family, mci, my circle : Related Tags: circle friends, circle numbers, change numbers, please email, alltel store, circle

Comments

Differences between men and women

April 21, 2006

Reinforcing the fact that men and women are from different planets, it would seem that men and women are wired quite differently. Scientists surmise evolutionary pressures such as childbirth have contributed to some of these differences.

Posted in Personal

Tagged: mars, venus : Related Tags: difference between, different planets, women, between

Comments

Yahoo and China

April 20, 2006

It is unclear if Yahoo! really did help convict this Chinese activist but what can Yahoo! do – It has to obey laws in China like it does in every other country. I hope President Bush speaks to China’s president Hu Juntao about this today.

But realistically, China is China and unless there is a revolt from the people what are we really going to change?

Posted in Technology

Tagged: bush, china, hu, president : Related Tags: china, president, yahoo, really, country

Inter-Tel 7000

April 20, 2006

Industry analyst and telecom veteran Mark Ricca says “Inter-Tel has done a masterful job in developing a platform that is being designed to successfully leverage advanced IP technology to provide a rich, intuitive feature set that can be an asset to any business” What is that has Mark so excited ?? The Inter-Tel 7000 of course.

Scaling up to 2,500 users per site, the Inter-Tel 7000 is designed to be a pure, standards-based communications platform utilizing SIP technology at its core. The platform also is designed to be redundant and secure, and to provide easy-to-use interfaces for remote management and configuration.

I can safely say I have never ever seen a release with so much analyst representation. It seems the analysts love Inter-Tel and especially the 7000.

Posted in CRM, Conferencing, ITEXPO, JITC, SIP, Science, Speech Technologies, Technology, VoIP, Wireless

Tagged: inter-tel, voip : Related Tags: inter, designed, platform

New Way To Die

April 20, 2006

Great news for those considering ending it all using electricity but who think the blow dryer in the bath tub and swimming in the rain are just -- well -- too played out. Release follows below:

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IXEurope Sponsors Britain’s Fastest Electric Vehicle in Speed Record Attempt
IXEurope, one of Europe's largest and fastest growing independent datacentre outsourcers, is pleased to announce its continued sponsorship of Primetime Land Speed Engineering as it embarks on its latest Electric Vehicle Land Speed Record Attempt.
(PRWEB) April 20, 2006 -- IXEurope, one of Europe's largest and fastest growing independent datacentre outsourcers, is pleased to announce its continued sponsorship of Primetime Land Speed Engineering as it embarks on its latest Electric Vehicle Land Speed Record Attempt.

On 7 July this year an event unique in British Land Speed history takes place on the runway at RAF Fairford, Gloucestershire when current UK Land Speed Record Holders Primetime Land Speed Engineering will be making an attempt on the British Land Speed Record for Electric Cars using their battery powered streamliner ‘e=motion’.

Primetime’s 700hp electric car is already the fastest vehicle of its kind ever designed and built in the UK, having posted an FIA Accredited 189.9mph during half-power testing in Nevada, USA, last year, although a full attempt for the World Record had to be abandoned due to technical problems.

Guy Willner, the CEO of IXEurope commented: “We are delighted to see this renewed enthusiasm after encountering technical problems at the World Record Attempt in Nevada, USA, last year. The team has been working hard in preparation to ensure nothing can stop them this time. This is a fantastic effort by a world class team dedicated to pushing the boundaries of battery powered technology.

Posted in Technology

Tagged: electric, hybrid, speed : Related Tags: speed record, electric vehicle, fastest growing, record attempt, speed engineering, record

VoIP Growth Accelerates

April 20, 2006

There are more and more stories pegging growth rates at varying levels between 30-100+% depending on the sector. Here is an article showing the growth rate of consumer VoIP to be near triple-digits.

Posted in VoIP

Tagged: growth, voip, voip growth : Related Tags: growth

Million Customer VoIP Club

April 20, 2006

A few weeks back I had a chance to meet with Arris in Georgia. The company specializes in cable telephony and triple-play/broadband solutions. Arris and Nortel are both supplying equipment to UPC Broadband in Western Europe. This is important because this service provider just passed the million customer VoIP milestone. Nice going!

Posted in Broadband, IMS, IPTV, SIP, Technology, VoIP, Wireless

Google Adds Features

April 19, 2006

John Battelle alerted me to the fact that Google and other search engines are coming out with new features. For example Google will soon allow you to drill down into a site to learn more about the site or see other search results from the site. You do this by clicking on an arrow and if you have ever used Yahoo News you understand how you can click a link and see more information in a small window.

Google in effect seems to be stealing (borrowing perhaps) page view from websites. Or perhaps Google by providing such a service will actually increase site traffic.

Posted in Google

Tagged: battelle, google : Related Tags: google

Louisville Downtown Marriott

April 19, 2006

It s my first time in Louisville, Kentucky and that surprises me. I have been all over the country and criss-crossed it so many times it is surprising that I never stopped here. I suppose the trade show cities are where I keep going. LA, San Jose, Orlando, San Diego, Vegas etc.

One of my coworkers loves horses and is so into the sport of horse racing that he knows the lineage of horses going back generations.

Posted in Personal

Tagged: lousiville, marriott : Related Tags: laptop, going, rarely, actually, luggage, asked

Comments

Speaking at the ATA next week

April 18, 2006

Yes I am on my way to Louisville, Kentucky to speak on VoIP to a group of hundreds of resellers and next week I get the privilege of addressing a different group altogether – contact center executives. What I like about seeing and meeting with such disparate groups is that I see the different perspectives of the market. I also thoroughly enjoy talking with service providers like I did recently at the Voice Peering Forum in Miami recently. If anything, addressing different groups keeps me on my toes and the content as fresh as can be. I am always tweaking and trying to find the absolutely most relevant yopics for my presentations. Here is a release that will hit the wires soon: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE For More Information, Contact: Kristyn Emenecker Co-President, ATA NY Metro Chapter Mercom Systems, Inc. (201) 507-8800 x.

Posted in CRM, Call Center, SIP, Science, Speech Technologies, Technology, VoIP

Tagged: ata, call center, contact center, sip, voip : Related Tags: contact center, metro chapter, technology forum, teleservices association, center professionals, technology

IMS Party at GlobalComm

April 18, 2006

We are about to announce details of our annual Supercomm – whoops – GlobalComm party that we put on with the IPCC. This is now the third year of this party. Last year it was at Sears Tower, the year before on a cruise ship and now it is bigger and better - at Chicago Landmark Soldier Field.

There is a new theme this year and you cannot miss this event.

It will now be an IMS party co-sponsored by the IMS Forum –formerly the IPCC. It will also be sponsored by TMC's new IMS Magazine and IMS Expo.

Posted in Broadband, IMS, IPTV, ITEXPO, SIP, Science, Technology, VoIP, WiMAX, Wireless

Tagged: globalcomm, ims, party : Related Tags: soldier field, party

Buying a car

April 18, 2006

If you are going to buy a car ever in your life or are interested in how the sales process works in some companies, you must read this article titled Showroom Turncoat Comes Clean which was in the May 2006 issues of Car and Driver Magazine.

The last page is something called How to Avoid Getting Screwed which is also a must-read.

You will learn many of the tricks the salespeople in the auto industry use. If half of this article is true, it does not bode well for the ethics of the industry as a whole.

But I am not here to pass judgment but if you read this and learn how not to get taken by any salespeople ever then I will be happy.

Thank you Michael Feyen for writing this article. It is well-done and kind of scary.

Posted in Personal

Tagged: buying a car, car and driver, salesman : Related Tags: sales control, michael feyen, writing article, asymmetry information, quality organization, article

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Veoh

April 18, 2006

The WSJ is reporting that Michael Eisner is joining the board of Veoh Networks a company that is going to stream TV over the Internet. Mr. Eisner said Veoh is one of five or six media investments he has made since setting up a limited liability company, or LLC, called Tornante Co. He said Veoh is the only investment he has disclosed to the public

Posted in Broadband, IPTV, Technology

Tagged: disney, eisner, iptv, tv, veoh : Related Tags:

Speaking to resellers this week for TechData

April 18, 2006

Tomorrow I am going to be in Louisville, Kentucky speaking to a group of primarily resellers about the benefits of VoIP and IP communications. I was reminiscing on all my speaking over the past decade or so and I believe I have educated over 10,000 resellers if you add up the aggregate crowds over the years.

From 1995-2000 the communications reseller market really peaked as the interconnects of years past learned to become converged resellers. Not all of them made it and those that didn’t were replaced by traditional computer/networking VARs embracing communications as a way to improve their shrinking hardware margins.

I am speaking for Tech Data and more specifically their TechSelect division which does a great deal of training around the country.

A vibrant and growing reseller market is essential for the growth of the IP communications space. There are so many new and interesting companies coming into the industry and without resellers there is no industry.

Posted in VoIP

Tagged: ip communications, reseller, tech data, voip : Related Tags: reseller market, resellers, speaking, communications, market

JetBlue

April 18, 2006

I was recently on a jetBlue flight and guess who was on the flight with me? David Neeleman the founder of the company. He acted as part of the flight crew and handed out drinks and snacks.

Perhaps nothing impresses me more about company than the humility of its top management. Arrogant managers are the worst thing for a company's image.

David Neeleman should be commended and nominated as CEO of the year for this act alone. Thanks Dave!

Posted in Technology

Tagged: jetblue : Related Tags: david neeleman, jetblue, flight, company

Comments

Yahoo! Enhanced Services

April 18, 2006

Yahoo! Enhanced Services
We often talk about enhanced services as a way to get service providers to make more money. Perhaps this is why it is ironic to see the following statement at the bottom of Yahoo! E-mails:

Talk is cheap. Use Yahoo! Messenger to make PC-to-Phone calls. Great rates starting at 1¢/min.

Yahoo! uses voice as a way to generate enhanced service revenue from e-mail.

Posted in VoIP

Tagged: yahoo : Related Tags: enhanced services, yahoo enhanced, yahoo, enhanced

Oracle and Asterisk

April 18, 2006

Oracle is buying software companies at a rapid clip and has also embraced open source and SIP. So if you combine acquisition with open source and VoIP you get Digium as a takeover candidate. Right? A the open source PBX leader Digium would be a perfect company to put in the portfolio of Oracle companies. What do you think?

Posted in Conferencing, JITC, Open Source, SIP, Speech Technologies, Technology, VoIP, Wireless

Tagged: asterisk, digium, hotsip, oracle : Related Tags: oracle, pingtel, asterisk, source, digium

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Made it

April 18, 2006

Yesterday I woke up and felt like I was going to change the world. Unfortunately I decided to close my eyes for a few seconds and fell asleep. In case you were wondering – I did not change the world yesterday but at least I got the taxes out. Also, if you wake up feeling like you are going to change the world, I have learned you should start right away as it is a big world and I get way too much e-mail.

This morning too I woke up and knew I was going to change the world.

Posted in Personal

Sorry about that

April 17, 2006

Sorry about the whole not blogging thing today. I had meant to see the accountant and sign the tax documents a few weeks back but as luck would have it today was the day I saw him. In addition -- despite my best intentions to get in early -- I woke up before 6 am but somehow decided to close my eyes for a second. Thankfully the kids woke me up a few hours later. I was straight into meetings for a whole day just trying to catch up with e-mail between the words being spoken in the meeting.

Posted in CRM, Call Center, Conferencing, IMS, IPTV, SIP, Speech Technologies, Technology, VoIP, WiMAX, Wireless

Tagged: motorola, siemens : Related Tags: siemens

VoipReview

April 15, 2006

In case you aren’t aware VoipReview.org is a VoIP comparison shopping site for consumers and soon, businesses Eric Laughlin the CEO had a chance to answer some recent questions I had about the site and how he feels about the VoIP industry in general. There are just so many new VoIP sites on the market it is tough to keep track. This is good news for consumers and businesses as there is more and more good information on the market to help everyone make intelligent purchasing decisions. Here is the interview with Eric Laughlin ---- Why did you start this site? VoipReview.org was born out of personal frustration with the lack of information about VoIP providers. I wanted to subscribe to VoIP service, but couldn’t find any searchable database to find and compare all providers.

Posted in VoIP

Tagged: voip, voipreview.org : Related Tags: providers offer, calling plans, internet connection, search engines, searchable database, providers

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Vodafone Could Buy Vonage

April 14, 2006

Recent reports point to the fact that Vodafone may be targeting fixed line telephony as a way to allow it to offer bundled services. The wireless leader is a global powerhouse and needs to find a way to compete with other companies that are increasingly using bundling to attract and keep customers. The natural expansion play for the company is to purchase cable companies in the US or to focus on WiMAX. Another option is to pick up Vonage or Packet8 so that it can become an overnight VoIP (and thus a fixed line phone) company.

Posted in Broadband, Conferencing, Consumer Electronics, IMS, IPTV, SIP, Technology, VoIP, WiMAX, Wireless

Tagged: packet8, vodafone, voip, vonage, wireless : Related Tags: company

GlobalComm Vs. TelecomNext

April 14, 2006

There have been more complaints about the TelecomNext show than any event in telecom for 5 years. The conferences apparently are first-rate but there seems to be very low exhibit hall traffic. I did not attend TelecomNext by the way. In a blog entry last year I pretty much outlined this show was doomed when I published similar comments from Calysto Communications about earlier USTA events.

Posted in VoIP

Tagged: cmp, globalcomm, light reading, netcentrx, telecomnext, tmc : Related Tags: light reading, light, globalcomm, reading, telecomnext, survey

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Scary Movie 4

April 14, 2006

You may be able to tell this from my writing but I am a HUGE Scary Movie fan and have seen the movies dozens of times. It is actually pretty scary how much time I have spent laughing at these movies which I am sure many think are childish but hey – I think movies should be entertaining and I obviously don’t need prodigious quantities of plot in my entertainment to be happy.

My favorite scenes in the movies are “What’s Up,” where the killer calls Shorty, when the camera assistant steps on Gail’s shoes, and the scene where the white rapper gets thrown out of the rap club after he puts up his hood and it looks like he is from the KKK.

George Carlin’s “Linda” is a bit creepy but still funny.

The movies are able to entertain and be on the edge of what is socially acceptable. They may step over occasionally but hey taking risks is what movie-making is all about.

So now Scary Movie 4 is out and I am dying to see it. Since I’ve had kids I have only seen one or two movies in a theatre.

Posted in Personal, Personal

Tagged: cindy, scary movie, shorty : Related Tags: scary movie, movie, movies, scary

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High level marketing in Dallas

April 14, 2006

I know of a high-level marketing person in Dallas who has years of experience in communications for a very large company. This person is looking for a new opportunity. Let me know if you are interested in connecting with this person.

Posted in VoIP

Tagged: resume, voip, voip resume : Related Tags: level marketing, person

Of Apple, Apple and VoIP

April 14, 2006

The Apple Vs. Apple trademark case is intriguing to me even though it was settled 15 years ago. As you can imagine part of the problem in this case is the name of Apple Computer which as you may have noticed is a bit similar to Apple Corps LTD the record label of the Fab 4.

One of the terms of settlement in 1991 was that Apple the computer company would not use its logo to promote music. Now, Apple, the Beatles' label is suing the computer company because it is using the Apple logo to promote music downloading.

Apple Computer says it is promoting its software, not the music.

So what do I find so interesting here? The fact that when Apple Computer decided to settle by agreeing not to promote music I am sure they never ever thought this would be a problem.

Tagged: apple, voip : Related Tags: apple computer, promote music, provide service, computer company, apple, computer

VoIP Going Mainstream

April 13, 2006

My friends in the North Carolina area have probably already seen that I was quoted in the local newspaper, this morning. The Charlotte News & Observer has an article that is written by John Murawski which discusses the mainstreaming of VoIP services.

The article was prompted by a company Bandwidth.com who recently signed an agreement with CompUSA to deliver VoIP service in their retail stores.

John’s article is certainly balanced with a a good smatteringof examples and lots of research which is evident in excerpts like this:

Southwest Durham Family Medicine switched to VOIP as a cheaper way of getting voice and data services from the same company, said David Brooks, manager of the six-employee medical practice. Brooks described the service quality as excellent.

"Sometimes it's so clear on the phone, there's no static, and people think the call's been dropped," Brooks said.

This particular statement is why some vendors actually put noise on the line intentionally so people don’t think the call has been dropped!

Here is my quote:

"This is another step in the mainstreaming of the VOIP market," said Rich Tehrani, editor and publisher of Internet Telephony magazine.

Posted in Broadband, JITC, SIP, Technology, VoIP

Tagged: asp, bandwidth.com, compusa, hosted, sylantro, voip : Related Tags: article, brooks

CLECs to build metro fiber

April 13, 2006

As I wrote about recently, Shrihari predicted that we should see more fiber being put in the ground as a response to the network neutrality situation with the LECs. This article explains the details although it is more enterprise focused than consumer – for the moment.

Posted in Broadband, IMS, VoIP, WiMAX

Tagged: net, net neutrality, neutrality : Related Tags:

Coexist

April 12, 2006

To all my religious (and other) friends I would like to wish you a happy religious week. In order to not play favorites here I would like to send a religious greeting to all of my friends and will use alphabetical order to ensure no one religion takes precedence.

Atheist/Agnostic

To my atheist/agnostic friends (lets face it there are only agnostics – really no atheists) happy week. I hope your days are enjoyable and you and your families are healthy and happy.

Christianity

To my Christian friends – Happy Good Friday and Happy Easter. Have a great weekend and enjoy!

Islam

To my Muslim friends – Happy Mohammed’s birthday – which was this week on Monday.

Posted in Personal

Tagged: cristianity, islam, judaism, religion : Related Tags: healthy happy, friends happy, happy, friends, religious, great

Cacti

April 12, 2006

When IP based call centers first came of age there was a challenge presented in how to record VoIP calls and further, where to record them. I met a number of call center companies at TMC’s VoIP Developer show who were there to solve this precise problem. There are now a number of companies targeting this situation. Once company that has made this once prickly situation easier to deal with is Cacti.

The company’s Converge VoIP platform supports SIP and H.323 as well as many of the current compression standards.

Posted in Call Center, SIP, Speech Technologies, Technology, VoIP

Tagged: h.323, ip call center, ip contact center, recording, sip, voip : Related Tags: cacti, company

Search Engine Research

April 12, 2006

Wow! Is this a powerful survey. iProspect says that if your search results are not on the first three pages of reach engine results you pretty much need to give it up. Why?

Posted in Google, Technology

Tagged: dogpile, google, iprospect, msn, search engine optimization, seo, yahoo : Related Tags: search engines, search results, search engine, search, results, companies

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Inter-Tel Power Struggle

April 12, 2006

There is a power struggle at Inter-Tel. I find this surprising as from where I stand the company is running better than ever. I haven’t been digging into the financials mind you but they are rolling out new products that are doing well and are doing a great PR job.

Still, it is possible that Inter-Tel will go private as a result of this struggle. It is also possible that it will be acquired. In my opinion going private will be good for the company as it will allow Inter-Tel the flexibility to focus on long-term growth and not short-term earnings.

Posted in Broadband, Conferencing, JITC, SIP, Speech Technologies, Technology, VoIP, Wireless

Tagged: inter-tel, sarbanes-oxley, sarbox, sox : Related Tags: power struggle, inter, struggle, company

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Audrey Audix

April 12, 2006

Lorraine Nelson may be the most famous person you've never heard of. I suppose famous may not be the right word as she is not really well known -- her voice is. Loraine has the distinction of being the voice of Audix the voicemail on Avaya PBX systems and her voice is in over 100 million mailboxes including systems such as Intuity and Definity!

She tells me that the first voicemail systems on the market had a Texas accent and then a faster voice was used. Lorraine says the fast voice seemed to upset men who felt like they were being talked down to.

So Lorraine came up with a nice voice that is about as charming as charming gets. Incidentally the voice used is not really Loraine's real voice so if you think you are going to overhear her in the mall and recognize who she is, you aren't.

Posted in VoIP

Tagged: audix, avaya, definity, lucent, pbx : Related Tags: audrey audix, voicemail system, someone trying, voice, lorraine, voicemail

Blog as Memory

April 12, 2006

Written on my way to CTIA last week

I am on my flight out to Las Vegas and something kind of funny keeps happening to me. I keep getting confused about my flight. It started at the gate where I passed by it because I saw a banner that said US Air. I of course am flying America West. I asked a friendly gate agent where America West ticketing is located and she pointed me back to the area with the US Air banner.

So I got my ticket and didn’t think much of it.

Later I boarded the flight and before takeoff a video was shown mentioning US Air throughout. Weird I thought.

Posted in Technology

Tagged: america west, blog, memory, merge, us air, verizon, vg6700 : Related Tags: america, flight, comment

Deutsche Telecom Leaving The NAP?

April 11, 2006

There are rumors circulating throughout the peering community that Deutsche Telecom is planning on leaving Terremark’s NAP of the to relocate to another Florida location. Apparently there are some problems with the NAP’s pricing and/or policies.

Posted in VoIP

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SIPthat Podcast

April 11, 2006

When you get a moment, check out my podcast with Erik Lagerway who writes the SIPthat blog. Erik actually interviewed me and did a great job.

Posted in Broadband, IMS, SIP, VoIP

Tagged: lagerway, podcast, sip, sipthat : Related Tags:

VoIP White Paper

April 11, 2006

If you are new to VoIP and want to learn more you must read Ted Wallingford’s mini-white paper titled Overcoming the challenges to the VoIP revolution. This is a well-written article on VoIP and how it will change the world. More importantly it discusses the challenges we as an industry must overcome.

One thing I feel I am always explaining to people is that VoIP quality can be superior to the PSTN given a quality broadband connection. In fact CD quality and surround-sound quality VoIP are easily achieved with today’s broadband connections.

Posted in VoIP

Tagged: cd, pstn, voip : Related Tags: white paper, quality

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CallVantage Provisioning Message

April 11, 2006

Here is a note that AT&T CallVantage sent its customers today. It follows a similar voicemail message:

This is a very important notice for AT&T CallVantage service customers. We are pleased to inform you that we have completed our review of the ordering and provisioning systems, and full service has been restored.

Posted in VoIP

Tagged: at&t, callvantage : Related Tags: telephone adapter, provisioning systems, ordering provisioning, callvantage service, service address, service

Worse than Network Neutrality

April 10, 2006

If the whole concept of network neutrality not being enforced is enough to make your head spin, something like this would likely make you faint.

Posted in VoIP

Call Center 2.0 Sponsor

April 10, 2006

TMC’s new Call Center 2.0 conference is off to a strong start… We are putting together the conference content of this event as I write this and so far there is strong sponsor interest with Spanlink being our first one. The event is going to take place at the same time and place as Internet Telephony Conference & Expo in San Diego October 10-13 2006. I hope to see you there.

Posted in Broadband, CRM, ITEXPO, SIP, Speech Technologies, Technology, VoIP, Wireless

Tagged: call center, internet telephony, spanlink : Related Tags: conference

TMCnet Podcast

April 10, 2006

Check out the latest TMC podcast with Aculab's David Duffet. Here are some of the topics being discussed:

ACE (Aculab User group) 2006 in Budapest/upcoming in San Francisco Jack Handy Asterisk Asterisk Business edition WiFi VoIP CTIA IMS – IP Multimedia Subsystem ACE San Francisco VoIP in England

Duffet is a hilarious person and a natural podcast interviewee. I hope you enjoy this podcast.

Posted in Broadband, IMS, ITEXPO, Open Source, SIP, Technology, VoIP, Wireless

Tagged: aculab, asterisk, ctia, ims, podcast, voip, vowifi : Related Tags: podcast

Milliondollarhomepage decline

April 10, 2006

New Page 1

It seems like the million dollar home page hysteria is dying down a bit. While the page still generates a good amount of traffic with an Alexa ranking of 1,554, you can see how the trend is declining based on the peak in the Alexa reach ranking and subsequent decline in growth.

Posted in Technology

Tagged: milliondollarhomepage, pixel ads : Related Tags:

Comverse Acquires Netcentrex

April 10, 2006

On page 34 of the April 10 issue of BusinessWeek is a table consisting of companies with too much cash -- companies who risk having shareholder activists trying to get them to give some of this money back. The second company on the list is Comverse Technologies and coincidentally they have just acquired Netcentrex for $164 in cash.

If you aren't aware, TMC has partnered with Netcentrex and Lightreading to host the Netcentrex second annual triple-play symposium.

Posted in VoIP

Tagged: comverse, netcentrex, triple-play : Related Tags: netcentrex

Pepes Pizza

April 9, 2006

I just spent some time in Pepe's Pizza (officially Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana) in Fairfield, Connecticut. If you aren't aware, Pepe's is an institution in Connecticut - the original restaurant in New Haven has been host to US presidents and other dignitaries. Yes, my friends Connecticut is pretty boring - a great place to raise a family but our most exciting event is to go to New Haven and eat pizza. So what sort of pizza becomes a state institution and is it really so good? Let's put it this way...

Posted in Personal

Tagged: connecticut, fairfield, libbys, new haven, pepes, pepes pizza, pepperoni, pizza, sausage : Related Tags: absolutely obnoxious, waitress absolutely, pizza eating, cheesy goodness, harassed cheesy, fairfield

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Las Vegas airport

April 7, 2006

Twice this week I heard people refer to Las Vegas as Disney for adults - a concept that was cemented in my mind when I got to the airport and saw the size of the lines.

You could easily spend 90 minutes between ticketing and security so get here early.

There was a giant frog here in the airport (speaking of Disney) promoting the 25th anniversary of Frogger. Konami is the company behind frogger and www.frogger25th.com is the website for downloading the mobile version of this game.

Posted in Consumer Electronics

Comments

Hollywood Does Downloads

April 6, 2006

In what may be the ultimate fine line to walk, Hollywood is entering the age of broadband technology and allowing movies to be downloaded at the same time they are available on DVD. The catch? It takes an hour to download a movie, you can only see the movie on 3 computers and if you burn a DVD you can only see it on a computer, not a DVD player.

One other potential deal killer is the price -- $20-$30 which is higher than the equivalent DVD. Beyond the price there will be less additional footage on the downloaded movies than the DVDs.

The higher price is justified by movie execs who say you are paying for convenience and portability.

Posted in Technology

Tagged: dvd, holywood : Related Tags: movies, movie, price, article

Comments

CTIA News

April 6, 2006

As I am at the show today and haven't had time to write up what I think are the interesting trends, please check out the CTIA News page on TMCnet to stay up to date. Thanks.

Posted in Wireless

Tagged: ctia : Related Tags:

Vegas monorail online

April 5, 2006

We are packed like sardines in here. I saw many attendees hugging for warmth while waiting for over an hour outside. Nothing like bonding at a trade show. What happens in Vegas...

Posted in VoIP

Las Vegas monorail stuck

April 5, 2006

I had a good day at CTIA. I only missed one meeting which is par for the course. I will be late for my dinner meeting as the monorail broke down. Who knew it was so cold in vegas.

Posted in VoIP

Tagged: bluetooth, cardo, ctia : Related Tags: vegas monorail, monorail, vegas

Comments

Call Center 2.0 Applications

April 4, 2006

You have heard me talk about Call Center 2.0 and how it will embody AJAX and other Web 2.0 functions. Today, Jacada announced that Jacada WorkSpace 3.0, which became popular under it former brand, Jacada Fusion Agent Portal will take advantage of leading edge Web 2.0 tools such as AJAX. A note of disclosure â AJAX is not really new but it has been given new life in the last year or so. Applications like Microsoft Outlook Web Access and Google Maps use AJAX to allow a web-based application to seem like software running on a local PC.

Jacadaâs products allow call center managers to unify applications in a single GUI allowing for less training and a more simplified front-end for agents.

The product excels in the teleservices agency/BPO space where the BPO agent can use a single interface regardless of the customer they are serving.

Posted in CRM

Call Center 2.0

April 4, 2006

The following is my High Priority Column in the April 2006 issue of Customer Interaction Solutions Magazine.

---

The modern call center industry is about 25 years old, yet it remains on the forefront of customer interactions.Â Paradoxically, for many years, call centers have not been on the leading edge of technology or in the forefront of attention by corporate management. As markets become more competitive, it is essential that call centers embrace the latest technologies to ensure they not only keep their current customers, but are positioned to attract new ones.

This is not to say that call centers have shunned technology. Much to the contrary, in the past quarter of a century the call center has transformed from an industry that dealt with contacts on index cards to one in which the latest CRM software is used on state of the art servers.

Over the years, call centers embraced technology when automating their inbound calling functions using ACDs, skills based routing and predictive dialers.

In the last decade and a half call centers have used technologies like CTI to enable better integration between phone systems and computer systems.

Posted in CRM

Tagged: ajax, call center, peering, voip : Related Tags: centers embraced, center technology, center market, enabled allowing, customer contact, center

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A Bad Day At The Airport

April 4, 2006

The events described below took place yesterday:

It all started out this morning with a flight that my wife and I were early for. Enter a call from a reporter for a French newspaper who wanted information on the Alcatel/Lucent merger. I love reporter calls, this one included. I loved the call so much in fact I decided to stay on it so I could make the reporter's deadline.

Consequently I missed my flight.

Posted in VoIP

Comments

Quoted on MSNBC Site Today

April 3, 2006

I just saw an article today on MSNBC's site with some quotes from me. Here is the excerpt of the article with clarification:

Telecom industry analyst Rich Tehrani says business rivals may take some advantage of the merger, but it's unclear if any have sufficient financial clout to pose a long-term challenge.

"We need a vibrant CLEC market to provide competition and innovation, but the model has largely failed to this point in our country," he says.

He notes many countries sport faster broadband systems than the United States, which he says is the result of giants such as AT&T, BellSouth and Verizon focusing on mergers instead of innovation.

"Without that CLEC vibrant market, we'll always be behind other countries and we'll continue to lag in innovation," Tehrani says.

Posted in VoIP

Point of no Return

April 3, 2006

Industry Veteran Carol Wilson writes for Telephony Magazine and did such an amazing job with this article I had to pass it on. Nice job Carol!

-----

Point of no return

By Carol Wilson

The two-day Freedom to Connect event going on in Washington D.C. this week is no doubt producing hours of impassioned pleas for government action on Net neutrality. There's nothing wrong with that--most of the speakers are bright, well-informed and highly credentialed individuals.

It's not their politics I have problems with, but their passion.

Posted in VoIP

Thanks Again Readers

April 3, 2006

Thank you once again for reading this blog. Because of people like you TMCnet is closer than ever to its goal of one-million unique visitors in one month.

In March 2006 we had 960,212 unique visitors who viewed 18,027,811 pages in the month.

Our prior records were 898,219 unique visitors who visited 13,837,740 pages in the month of January 2006.

Thank you also to the loyal sponsors and advertisers of TMCnet that allow us to continue to be the world's top site for communications and technology. As of this writing TMCnet is ranked in the top 1,501 site in the world by Alexa.com.

Posted in Technology

Just Bumped into Paris

April 3, 2006

I am here at the Admiral's Club in the Miami airport and my wife just bumped into Paris Hilton. I am of course too busy typing to be bothered to look up. Yeah right. If I donât answer e-mails for the next hour or so, you now know why .

Posted in Personal

Pearl

April 2, 2006

We went to Pearl last night - a once trendy Miami restaurant. My Wife who is looking over my shoulder feels that it is still trendy. She doesn't have her own blog so I figured she should share in mine on occasion.

3 years back or so at ITEXPO we took a group out to Pearl.

Posted in Personal

Tagged: eden roc, joe's stone crab, mansion, pearl, rooftop lounge : Related Tags: pearl, night

Shrihari on Net Neutrality

April 2, 2006

Shrihari Pandit of the VPF was having a discussion with me about how in the future anyone will be able to broadcast TV over IP. I mentioned net neutrality and he came up with an interesting point.

If indeed service providers make it difficult for consumers to get access to services such as IPTV the capital markets will come to the rescue.

What he means is that there is so much venture capital available that other service providers will spring up and supply fiber to homes.

Posted in Broadband

Tagged: broadband, fiber, net neutrality, voip, vpf : Related Tags: service providers, shrihari, neutrality

Enjoying the Beach

April 2, 2006

I had a great day on the beach so far today and the Miami weather stayed good all day. I must say that blogging on the beach is the only way to blog.

One of the fun parts of being on South Beach is to watch the helicopters go by. I even saw a GoodYear blimp.

Posted in Personal

Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau

April 1, 2006

Here is some news from the FCC that is long overdue in my opinion. The FCC voted unanimously to establish a "Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau." The state of PSAPs in our country is not great. There are disparate systems and while communications technology in the enterprise and service provider sector continues to rapidly improve PSAPs aren't being upgraded as quickly.

PSAPs act is fiefdoms and need a more cohesive management structure enabling them to be upgraded to act in unison. As a country we need IP based PSAPs that are able to accept video streams of emergency situations in homes and businesses.

Posted in VoIP

Tagged: fcc, homeland security, public safety : Related Tags: public safety, safety homeland, homeland security, disaster management, fatal crashes, public

Comments

Eden Roc Fun

April 1, 2006

I am spending some time in Miami after the VPF event. The weather is perfect today and I got some good sun, got to walk on the beach and am sipping cappuchino at the Eden Roc hotel.

This is a great hotel if you are into Rat Pack photos as the whole pack used to stay at this hotel. There are photos of Jerry Lewis, Frank Sinatra and others, everywhere.

Yesterday my wife and I saw a Marilyn Monroe impersonator who was also a singer in the lobby by the piano.

Posted in Technology

Tagged: eden roc, marilyn monroe, miami, rat pack : Related Tags: hotel

Communications and Technology Blog - Tehrani.com

April 2006