VoIP Blog - Tehrani.com

August 11, 2007

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The United States is not listed in the top 100 nations for growth rate, according to the 2007 CIA World Fact Back. The top ten are Azerbaijan, Mauritania, Guinea, Maldives, Angola, Cambodia, Armenia, Turkmenistan, Trinidad and Tobago, and Liechtenstein. Even so, a report from the U.S. Commerce Department shows the country’s GDP increased at a 2.5 percent annual rate during the last quarter 2006, up from 2 percent in the third quarter. In our country, where pay raises accompany higher prices, everyone is looking for ways to improve their ROI.

August 11, 2007

 

 

Touchstone is currently focusing development on testing solutions that are aimed at technology deployers (e.g. integrators, installers) and SLA monitoring and diagnostics. While traditionally, the "nuts and bolts" were de rigueur for lab environments, there is a definite trend towards more simplistic solutions that can be plugged into a network, discover other test components, and begin a prescribed testing and analysis function. While this methodology is not necessarily "new", the assessments which we can make with our suite of tools provides a complete, clear and concise picture using real voice and video traffic over real Voice over Internet Protocols running through the actual VoIP-aware network components.

 

As mentioned above, the deployment of IP communications has refocused our efforts on providing highly portable and reliable testing solutions that are geared more towards the field than the lab, although the majority of our sales are still to R&D groups.

 

 

Touchstone's products are 100 percent software which allows our customers to take advantage of Moore's Law and to use the same tools in their labs as they do anywhere else their active and/or passive testing needs takes them. In addition, our products are highly malleable allowing us to quickly and easily customize them for any specific requirements they have. We are also building an opt-in community for our XML engine for SIP whereby our customers can contribute and download scripts that emulate their own or other parties' devices, effectively providing an online community of interoperability tests.

 

SIP has significantly changed communications by proving a standards-based, easily debuggable protocol. The major difference between SIP and other protocols (such as H.323) is that there is a lot less room to compromise or bastardize the standard if you want to ensure interoperability with other manufacturers of SIP-based devices. In addition, SIP has proved to be very flexible and resilient and in fact, our "VoIP test peering fabric" which drives the inter-process communications of our testing applications is based on SIP. This allows our customers to easily become part of the fabric without having to learn some proprietary scheme.

 

With the advent of IMS, IP communications is poised to become a lot more than the successor to the PSTN!

 

While the U.S. was at the forefront in the mid-to-late nineties in IP communication development, the bubble burst significantly slowed development here. With the resurgence that occurred in late 2004 and 2005, I think we can safely say that from an adoption and development point of view the U.S. is catching up if not beginning to become the dominant force that one would believe it should be.

 

Not much...

 

They certainly have the footprint to cause some disruptions and will probably be acquiring a number of companies to help complete their infrastructure vision. As a software developer, I agree with their software-based approach. I would say their biggest obstacle is their own operating systems.

 

Open Source will continue to fuel early adoption and pilot programs, but anyone who is seriously considering building a mission-critical infrastructure on open source solutions should have a very good grasp of what the repercussions will be when that system fails (and let's face it, nothing is truly "bullet-proof"!).

 

Hosted solutions can significantly reduce the cost of switching to IP communications and make a lot of sense for smaller companies.

 

IMS will blur the lines between home, cell, and office phones and user location through presence and “find-me, follow-me” type functionality. And of course, video, video, video.

 

We feel that without a doubt (just ask our customers!), we provide a better, more affordable way of testing IP communications whether you are working in a lab environment, at a customer premise, or both in the same day.

 

 

 

We won the January 2007 IT Expo East "Best in Show" award for test and measurement solutions and we intend to repeat that at the September 2007 IT Expo West show. Need I say more?

 

When we first started this company we were at a trade show when a gentleman came up to me and asked what does Touchstone do? I explained that we were in the test and measurement business for IP communications and he remarked "oh, you're a used car salesman". Ever since that day my mission has been to provide a level of service that exudes a friendly, no pressure atmosphere for our customers, prospective customers, and people who are just curious about IP communications. We go to great lengths to provide hands-on support to everyone that contacts us and most e-mails are answered in less than 15 minutes from the time of receipt. We pride ourselves on our "mom and pop" relationships and the fact that once a company becomes a customer, no matter how big or small, they remain loyal. Most importantly are the personal relationships we develop with the users of our solutions; if they leave the company that they are at, we usually end up as a provider to them at their new place of employment!

 

If I knew that definitively, I'd be on a beach in Tahiti right now instead of answering this e-mail!

August 11, 2007

I recently had the opportunity to ask HBF Group, Inc. / 911 Services Executive Vice President of Business Development Jim Shepard about his business and the direction he is taking the company.

 

HBF/911 Services focuses on the design, development, implementation and support of Enhanced 9-1-1 (E9-1-1) emergency telecommunications systems.

 

HBF is focused on true Next Generation 9-1-1 products which will allow real-time routing of 9-1-1 calls based off of both consumer and network provided location information. Our new solutions will provide life saving capabilities for all VoIP technologies as well as FMC technologies.

 

HBF has a long history of providing 9-1-1 technology to the traditional TDM carriers. For several years, HBF has been providing high quality 9-1-1 services to IP communication vendors as well. We have shifted our R&D efforts to look at where the IP community is going rather than solely focusing on the traditional carrier market.

 

For the 9-1-1 industry, it has broken the relationship between telephone number and location. This requires a new way of thinking about how to provide 9-1-1 for services where a call can originate from a multitude of devices that may or may not have a telephone number and may or may not have geographic relevance.

 

FCC compliance and nationwide coverage for E9-1-1.

 

HBF is leading the industry with the deployment of sophisticated 9-1-1 services and high quality, nationwide deployment. We do not believe in cutting corners when it comes to 9-1-1.

 

HBF is waiting to see how aggressive the ILECs will be with VoIP deployment. Additionally content providers (e.g., Yahoo, Google) and other market segments (e.g., MSOs) could have a huge impact on our existing service provider customer base. In general, the market will demand real-time 9-1-1 services that can be purchased ala cart. HBF has such offerings.

 

I think this is an endorsement of IP telephony. It also signals “industrial strength” convergence of technologies and content. The days of differentiating between “voice” and “data” are gone.

 

Microsoft may not be first to market but based on their track record (e.g., the internet browser), they will quickly become a dominant force in telephony. The huge installed base that they possess with enterprise customers gives them a natural market for combining applications and telephony into a single platform. This serves as a huge endorsement for the future of IP telephony.

 

 

With continuous advancements in FMC, the degree to which a consumer knows or cares what the transport layer is will diminish to near zero. If the device works, who cares whether it is utilizing WiFi, WiMax, CDMA, etc. Nobody cares what color the Ethernet cable in the wall is…nor will they care about wireless transport – as long as it works.

 

The average consumer will become increasingly unaware of the technologies that they utilize. They will expect the same services – including 9-1-1 – to be available from every device/service that they utilize. If my Xbox can communicate with others, it better be able to call 9-1-1; if I can make phone calls with my PC without having a traditional telephone number, I better be able to dial for emergency services.

 

We will be talking about what you need “right now” for 9-1-1 (specifically FCC compliance) and where the technology is going.

 

New IP services will need new 9-1-1 services. New products should not be planned without thinking of emergency services. We will help attendees understand what is possible today and what will be required in the future.

 

HBF is the technology and quality leader in 9-1-1. We have products/services that address your emergency services needs today and will support your future products as well.

Telephone numbers, currently the data key for almost all of 9-1-1, will disappear and the 9-1-1 industry will have to accommodate.

August 11, 2007

I recently had the opportunity to ask IVR Technologies Vice President of Business Development Barry Sher about his business and the direction he is taking the company.

 

IVR Technologies is a software development company providing integrated application, media and billing server to next generation networks. The company is the first vendor to develop a commercially available SIP compliant IVR and billing server.

 

 

IVR Technologies is focused on providing innovative enhanced services and real-time billing solutions to next generation service providers that serve to help build profit margin and revenue while attracting and retaining the subscriber base. Through innovation it is our primary goal to develop applications that greatly differentiate the new SIP-based communication networks from that of the legacy PSTN

 

 

With the overwhelming adoption rates of VoIP for both businesses and consumers our solution reaches closer to the consumer than ever before. While wholesale VoIP and SIP trunking remain a large part of our business, it is the end-user driven applications coupled with the ubiquity, empowerment and reach of the Internet where we see long term growth and opportunity.

 

 

SIP brings broad interoperability across many different types of communications devices and vendors into cohesive and comprehensive solutions. As an industry standard, SIP has driven new types of communication channels promoting innovative applications that have the potential to greatly improve and enhance the user’s experience through personalization, call control and presence.

 

 

Our customers continue to seek new sources of revenue, competitive differentiation and cost controls in order to grow their subscriber base, improve profitability and business efficiencies. End-user applications and subscriber self management tools are major requests that are being fulfilled by application/media servers and web 2.0 tools.

 

Our service provider customers also seek robust, flexible and creative billing solutions that operate in real-time so that costs are contained and profits maximized. 

 

 

Through the turnkey design of end-user enhanced services applications and a creative and fully integrated real-time billing server. We are meeting the customer demands by designing applications that empower the end-user to control with whom and when they communicate and over what mediums based on time of day, day of week or a date range basis. With 24x7x365 web access end-customers are now empowered to be able to update their settings at a moment’s notice through a rich and direct interface from any web browser.

 

Our tightly integrated real-time billing server provides the service provider with granular control that allows innovative billing plans to be created to help them compete, become more profitable and control costs in real-time. By having one of the industry’s most robust and innovative billing engines as an integrated component of our solution it really helps differentiate our solution from other providers.

 

 

With market research firms such as In-stat Research forecasting VoIP origination and termination revenues having a CAGR of 30 percent through 2010 and iLocus reporting that last year over a trillion minutes of VoIP traffic was carried by service providers worldwide people are no longer wondering if Voice over IP will take off -- it already has. As the consumer becomes more educated on VoIP and technology providers do a better job of developing applications that take into consideration the advances that SIP provides, then and only then will the consumer start to see the benefits of a next-generation network which will come in the form of presence-based and fully converged applications.

 

Based on cost savings incentives and more pervasive broadband connectivity we see the global market, especially in Asia, far eclipsing the U.S. market in opportunity, scale and scope. 

 

We see this as further affirmation of the opportunity that revolves around both SIP and VoIP. These major market players see the great potential of converged devices that bring together all types of media such as video, voice, presence, etc. With Google incorporating click-to-call functionality in its search results and Apple producing converged media devices such as the iPhone it all serves to further highlight the dollar potential for service providers entering and adapting their existing businesses to VoIP. 

 

 

Microsoft fits in a similar fashion as Google and Apple and has the potential to fully integrate VoIP on the desktop as well as the back office at the device and application level. Fully integrated VoIP through presence based applications such as Messenger and business applications such as Office that allow the end-user to place calls from their Outlook contact list and schedule conference calls in a drag-and-drop manner through the calendar has great potential to achieve significant benefit, validation and uptake of VoIP.

 

 

With FMC fully blended communications offers fantastic promise where we can seamlessly move from one network to another. By having a single device that moves from home to office to any other place and that is fully converged it offers us promise from a single message store, presence based applications and full-control conferencing.

 

How will communications evolve over the next five years?

 

As UK based Informa Telecoms and Media forecasts, within the next five years VoIP will drain $100 billion from carriers PSTN revenues indicates a huge shift away from legacy PSTN to VoIP and next-generation networks. This shift coupled with the new applications that are making their way to market will further drive these numbers in favor of VoIP.

 

 

The presentation we have prepared focuses on consumer needs and how we can do a better job of reaching the consumer and satisfying their needs resulting in new revenue opportunities and greater market share.

 

Why is your presentation a "Can't Miss?"

 

If you are interested in learning about ways to drive high-margin revenue, attract and retain subscribers, and manage the network then you are surely not going to want to miss this presentation.

 

 

IVR Technologies, Inc. is the leading provider of enhanced services and fully-integrated real-time billing that drives revenue to the network, reduces customer churn through robust, feature-rich and online managed applications, and has one of the fastest turn-up times and lowest administration overheads in the industry. We believe in innovation that exploits the benefits of SIP and the ubiquity of the Internet in order to make communications more efficient and productive.

 

Please make one surprising prediction we will see in 5 years:

 

It will be about convergence, control and presence where the subscriber has the ability to use a single device across disparate networks, they will have empowered control about when and how they communicate as well as the ability to broadcast their availability and monitor others’ availability to determine how best to communicate.