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Beautiful October Sunset
October 1, 2007
Enjoy it while it lasts.
Blogged via Wireless Handheld
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Hyperconnected
October 1, 2007
About a decade or so ago I ran across Tony Rybczynski (Tony Ryb to those who know him and/or cannot pronounce his last name) at the COMNET trade show in DC and was so blown away by him that I thought he would be a great writer for TMC publications. Over the past decade, Tony has written many columns that always captivated the TMC community and made me think. Tony spends much of his day trying to figure out what’s next. In my opinion, Tony really gets it and while I don’t agree 100% with everything he writes, I always stop and think when his point of view is different than mine.More recently, Tony has been invited and has accepted to blog on TMCnet. We could not be happier. Now, Tony doesn’t have to wait for monthly deadlines to write his thoughts and readers don’t have to wait a month to get an idea of what Tony thinks is next.
For those of you who are not aware, Tony works for Nortel and he will occasionally mention his company and/or case studies Nortel has implemented. Is this bad? No. Now that you know where Tony works (the blog doesn’t have this info up yet – or his name – but will soon) you can take this in to consideration when reading his blog entries.
We continue to strive to bring you the ultimate industry thought leaders and their unique perspectives. The TMCnet community deserves the best and that is exactly what you get from us. Personally, TMC and TMCnet don’t play favorites and we welcome bloggers from across the industry. As long as you have something valuable to say, we will consider setting up a blog for you. Just email Greg Galitzine if you would like to be a TMCnet blogger.
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Trixbox Training
October 1, 2007
If you are looking for open source communications training, Fonality Trixbox training is going worldwide and is likely coming to a city near you. If you are looking for a discount on this training, be sure to click on the links below to save $50 per person. This can add up to quite a substantial savings and shows TMC’s commitment to open source. It also shows Fonality’s generosity to help the TMC community get less expensive access to the vital training needed to become a reseller of these very popular solutions. In addition, TMC is a sponsor of this worldwide training.
As with any technology, expertise pays dividends. Fonality offers various training programs for resellers and system integrators under the umbrella of Fonality Trixbox Open Communication Certification (FtOCC, pronounced "F-talk"). You may attend FtOCC to learn the ins and outs of Trixbox administration, configuration, and troubleshooting.
The locations and types of training are below.
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2007
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October 9-11
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Admin
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October 23-25
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Tech
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November 6-8
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Tech
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November 27-29
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Tech
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December 4-6
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Engineer
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December 11-13
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Tech
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2008
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January 15-17, 2008
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Tech
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February 12-14, 2008
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Tech
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April 14-16, 2008
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Admin
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May 20-22, 2008
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Tech
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These are sample curriculums below and you should click the specific link above for your city to ensure you show up on time etc.
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The FtOCC Administrator Certification (trixbox CE & Pro)
FtOCC Administrator is a three-day course designed to teach the basics of trixbox® CE and Pro installation and administration. FtOCC is a great opportunity to roll up your sleeves and learn the ins and outs of trixbox Pro and CE. This course is designed for those who wish to install trixbox systems for their company or their clients, people who will have to maintain a trixbox installation, or users who are relatively new to trixbox and who want a better understanding of its capabilities. FtOCC focuses on the core operations that an administrator must handle on a regular basis.
During the course, we will cover:
- trixbox CE and Pro installation and administration
- Common troubleshooting issues
- Asterisk® configuration files
- Management tools including FreePBX, HUDlite and more
- Dial plans, call routing
- IP Telephones / Softphones
- The ins and outs of VoIP
- E1/PRI/BRI and basic analog configuration
- Building your VoIP integration business
Who Should Attend?
- IT Engineers who will support or implement an IP-PBX
- System integrators and VARs who want to sell IP-PBX systems
- Phone system resellers looking to move into the IP-PBX market
Note: The course does not presume that the students are full-time sysadmins, however are presumed to have some general computer experience.
Course Objectives: At the end of the class you should:
- Become comfortable working within the Linux shell, at least to the degree that they can navigate to the appropriate directories and edit files with the nano editor.
- Understand the various components of Asterisk which are involved in each call (i.e. the channel, the channel configuration, the dial plan, the applications, etc.)
- Be able to add new users to the system (channel entry, extension, voice mailbox, etc.) delete users from the system, and alter user configurations.
- Be able to configure several common models of SIP phones.
- Be able to create IAX2 or SIP links to service providers.
- Be able to alter basic parameters for Zaptel devices (both FXS and FXO).
- Be able to add DIDs and direct them to users.
- Be able to implement new features (i.e. add MeetMe rooms, a DID for DISA, access to voicemail, etc.)
- Be able to build IVR menus with proper loop-prevention, error handling, etc.
- Be able to record prompts for IVR menus, audio text messages, etc.
- Understand the Asterisk ACD (queue/agent) system and be able to implement queues
- Understand the issues with NAT and how that can impact remote users. Understand the strategies which can eliminate these issues.
- Be able to check on system health and well being from the shell/CLI.
- Understand the general security threats which can impact a trixbox system and how best to prevent/avoid them.
- Understand how call routing works in Asterisk and be able to implement a basic Least Cost Routing structure in the Dial Plan.
- Recognize the potential issues related to emergency handling (911/E-911) and how best to configure a system to securely handle such calls.
FtOCC Administrator Schedule:
Day 1 :: trixbox PBX Basics
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8:00 AM – 9:00 AM
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Registration and Continental Breakfast
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9:00 AM
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Welcome. Introductions
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Core trixbox components
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Extension & Phone Setup
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Lines, Trunks, and Channels
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Ring Groups, Queues, Time Conditions
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Call Routing (Outgoing Calls, Incoming Calls)
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Networking Fundamentals
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5:00 PM
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Day 1 Class Ends
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6:30 PM – 8:30 PM
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Dinner
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Day 2 :: trixbox CE
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9:00 AM
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Class resumes
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Other Common PBX Functions
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Wiring Fundamentals
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Bulk Phone Provisioning
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Basic Linux Troubleshooting
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Additional FreePBX Functions
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Echo Troubleshooting
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5:00 PM
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Day 2 Ends
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Day 3 :: trixbox Pro
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9:00 AM
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Class resumes
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trixbox Pro Features
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trixbox Pro Configuration
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trixbox Pro Extensions/Devices/Trunks
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trixbox Pro IVR
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Advanced Call Flow
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Class Summary/Wrap-up, Presentation of Certificates
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XML Services for SIP Phones
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3:30 PM
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FtOCC Ends
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Course Requirements:
- Each student will be required to bring their own laptop for use in the lab sessions. The laptop will need to fit the following specifications:
• 1.0 ghz Pentium M/D or better
• 2.4 ghz Pentium 4 or better
• 512mb of RAM (1gb preferred)
• 5gb of free hard disk space
• CD or DVD drive
• 10/100 Ethernet Port
• Windows XP (Or other OS if user has VMWare loaded) - Each student will be provided the trixbox VMWare image and the VMWare Player at registration so they can install trixbox on his/her laptop for course lab work.
Hand-Outs / Materials:
Each attendee will receive:
- Aastra SIP Telephone
- FtOCC Workbook
- Jump drive with trixbox VMWare and FtOCC presentations
- "FtOCC Certified" polo shirt
- trixbox T-Shirt and cap
*No refunds will be given on cancellations.
FtOCC Technician Certification (trixbox CE, Pro, and PBXtra)
FtOCC Technician is a three-day technical certification course designed to train resellers and consultants to support their clients running trixbox CE, trixbox Pro, and PBXtra systems. Taught by Fonality technical support instructors, FtOCC Technician dives deep into platform and application installation, carrier setup and integration, network configuration, echo causes and remedies, and other common issues. A requirement for Authorized and Premium Resellers, this course should be taken by Linux technicians and engineers who regularly support client installations.
During the course, we will cover:
- Tier 1 and Tier 2 level troubleshooting
- LAN & WAN environments
- Proper system hardware configuration
- trixbox and PBXtra installation guidelines
- IP phone and SIP provisioning
- Proper router and firewall configuration
Who Should Attend?
- Resellers and consultants growing their trixbox and PBXtra businesses
- Linux technicians and engineers
- Fonality Authorized and Premium resellers
NOTE: A practitioner’s knowledge of Linux is required. Without it, you will likely not gain much value from the class, as we start day one from the Linux command line interface and build from there. In particular, the hands-on laboratory exercises will require a comfort with basic CLI commands, simple scripting, and the ability to quickly scan and analyze system and application logs.
Course Objectives:
- Install and configure trixbox CE, trixbox Pro, and PBXtra with confidence
- Resolve installation, administration, and usage problems more quickly
- Provision your own phones, thereby decreasing the turnaround time required for add-on phones and devices!
- Be able to provision your own phones, thereby decreasing the turnaround time required for add-on phones!
- Experience fewer problems by avoiding the usual "beginner" mistakes!
- Have an in-depth understanding of how trixbox and PBXtra work (product, process, policy, protocol)
- Receive full reseller discounts (for signed Authorized and Premium resellers only)
- Receive direct priority Level 2 access to trixbox and PBXtra support services (for signed Authorized and Premium resellers only)
FtOCC Technician Certification Schedule:
Day 1 :: Moves/Adds/Changes (MAC), Installation, and Pre-Sales
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7:30 AM – 9:00 AM
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Registration
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9:00 AM
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Pre Sales
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Installation Best Practices
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Installation Lab
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MAC / HUD Overview
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MAC Lab
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Case Studies
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Advanced Call Menus
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5:00 PM
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Day 1 Ends
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Day 2 :: Carriers, Networking, Echo
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9:00 AM
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PRI, PSTN, and VoIP
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Networking Fundamentals for VoIP, UDP vs. TCP
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Networking Troubleshooting
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Call Traces Lab
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Phone Troubleshooting
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Grepping for Channels Lab
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Hardware Troubleshooting
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5:00 PM
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Day 2 Ends
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Day 3 :: Integration, Case Studies, Troubleshooting
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9:00 AM |
Backup Servers Lab
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Cards Page Lab
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Clic-to-Call Lab
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Fixing Broken Phones Lab
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Recorded Calls Lab
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Perl Teaser!
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3:30 PM
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Class Summary/Wrap-up, Presentation of Certificates
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Executive Roundtable (optional, ends at 5:00pm)
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Course Requirements: Each student will be required to bring their own laptop or use in the lab sessions. The laptop will be used as a terminal and for web browsing.
Hand-Outs / Materials:
- FtOCC Workbook
- Jump drive with trixbox VMWare and FtOCC presentations
- "FtOCC Certified" polo shirt
- trixbox T-Shirt and cap
*No refunds will be given on cancellations.
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Wes Hayden
October 1, 2007
Let’s congratulate Wes Hayden who was just appointed to the role of President, Nuance Enterprise Division. Hayden will report to Paul Ricci, Nuance's chairman and CEO.As Nuance focuses more on selling integrated solutions I expect Hayden’s skill sets to come into play. After all, as President and CEO of Genesys Telecommunications --his former position, he had to deal with integration on a regular basis.
As you may recall, in the nineties, Genesys Labs (That is what they used to be called) was known as the middleware company and was a leader in the CTI space. If you wanted to integrate a Rockwell ACD (remember them – they are now Aspect) with an SER dialer – or were they EIS back then? – You needed Genesys Labs to tie it all together.
I remember visiting Genesys Labs in San Bruno, California back in about 1995 when they had 40 people and the phone directory was on a sheet of paper. But I digress. I wish Wes a great deal of success in helping Nuance become bigger, better and more profitable.
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CommuniGate Pronto Goes Air
October 1, 2007
I have been using the latest version of CommuniGate System’s Pronto which works on Adobe’s Flash and Air technology. I think it is a great product. Adobe’s Air Platform was formerly called Apollo and provides a much richer interface than AJAX. Think of it as AJAX on steroids.
Pronto is a rich internet application tying in a myriad of applications such as email, calendaring, IM, media players, blog editing, IM, voice, music player, photo viewer and groupware.
I like the new version of the software as it allows much better handling of HTML e-mail. I still despise the fact that my phone does not receive HTML e-mail btw. You can now drag and drop documents easily, auto save drafts, merge calendars, take advantage of keyboard shortcuts, etc.
There is more, such as the ability to have multiple tabs and to work offline.
Basically there is a great deal of functionality here and this solution is perfect example of unified communications in action. I really like this user interface and Pronto is a great solution for service providers, end-users and corporations alike.
General availability of Pronto built on AIR will be available in early 2008. To participate in the public beta with a free trial of Pronto built on AIR, visit this site and sign in for an account with your username @talktoip.com.
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Zennstrom no Longer Skype CEO
October 1, 2007
I just noticed Greg Galitzine wrote about Niklas Zennstrom stepping down as Skype’s CEO. will become non-executive chairman of the Skype Board of Directors. Michael van Swaaij, eBay's Chief Strategy Officer, will become acting CEO until a permanent successor is found.In my last conversation with Zennstrom in spring of this year he had a definite sparkle in his eyes when he spoke about Joost. He also seemed excited about the possibilities of Skype and Joost interoperating.
He mentioned at the time that Joost management was handling the company and didn’t need his day to day management.
I wonder if this move was made to allow Zennstrom to spend more time on Joost, with his family or to do something altogether new. Either way, congratulations are definitely in order as eBay paid another $530 million to settle its future earn out obligations. Sure, this is not the $1.7 billion it could have been but half a billion is nothing to sneeze at.
Om Malik has more on this story and some differing points of view.
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