September 2008 Archives

How do you celebrate one of the worst days for the US stock market in years? Simple -- you go out and buy a yacht with 26,000 square feet of sales. Oil money at work you think? Nope. Credit goes to VC, businessman and early HP employee Tom Perkins a founder of Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers.

Worried about your job? No need. With this many square feet of sails and a yacht of this size, Perkins alone could be responsible for thousands of new US jobs.

Talk about an embarrassing situation. London's Secret Intelligence Services or MI6 lost a camera full of Al Qaeda names, fingerprints, academic records and a bunch of pictures of rocket launchers and missiles.

MI6 is the sister agency to MI5 made famous by James Bond movies.

Nikon Coolpix S51 8.1MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Vibration Reduction and Zoom

The camera showed up on eBay and was purchased for about $31. A casual Amazon search shows the camera if purchased new, wouldn't be worth more than about $400.

The question worth asking is which is more embarrassing? Having your agencie's camera full of top secret info lost or disappointing millions of people who would have hoped British Intelligence agencies would use a camera which is embedded in the agents fingernail with a viewfinder disguised as a contact lens?

Please note this post was written approximately one week ago -- before the news of the bailout bill failing began to spread fear in the financial markets. Stay tuned to learn how the financial markets will affect communications and technology.

Many people asked me recently at ITEXPO West 2008 Los Angeles, what I see happening in the communications market from an economic perspective. Let's just say that on the way to the show, I was watching TV as the stock market plunged and there was talk of another Great Depression. When I got to the show I must say I was unclear how the financial markets would affect the communications space.

After speaking with many people in our markets, the end result is most people believe the space is very strong and in fact some companies are seeing increased sales of their solutions as a result of travel cutbacks and high fuel costs. It seems if you sell products which increase productivity when corporations are belt-tightening, you are in good shape.

In fact the attendance at the show was very strong. I feel we would have had even more traffic if there wasn't as much fear in the financial markets. What really made it an interesting week was when I turned on CNN; I thought I was on CNBC. The coverage was 100% financial, all the time. In such an environment, people probably have trouble leaving the TV. Even the news anchors on CNBC who typically leave in the late morning were at their desks until after midnight.
Certainly TV stations feed on this viewership and seem to ensure they position the news in such a way to ensure it is self-perpetuating - but this is a topic for another day.

The tremendous focus on negative financial news from the general media led to the stories I heard of hedge fund redemptions leading to lower industry stock prices. In addition, a general theme in our markets and beyond is companies pausing more before signing contracts. There is more indecision than at any time I remember. Companies want to reinvest in their businesses but they seem to just be waiting more than they used to.

In my opinion, in order to counter this delay in contract signing, we have to work harder and/or smarter, making more sales calls and doing more marketing. Sales after all is a numbers game when all else is equal. Now is when companies who are good marketers will take share from those who are good engineers. It happens every time the economy slows and this time will be no exception.

In fact, companies who used to rely heavily on existing companies to fuel their growth by supplying solutions to a growing workforce are going to have to shift to customer acquisition. Companies are not adding as many employees as they used to which means growth has to come through competing for new customers.

If you work internally, you need to spend time selling the productivity benefits of the solutions you propose purchasing. In some cases, vendors will work with you on financing (assuming there are banks left when you read this) who can ensure a positive ROI from day one of the investment.

So my final response to financial question in our markets is that if I had a choice of industries, I would want to work in one where our products help companies save money. Moreover, I would want to work in an industry which has little excess and has already seen its bubble burst years back. I do believe communications is a great place to be and new technologies like UC, mobility and telepresence make companies stronger and more productive and in a slower market, these are the things companies desperately need.

If you aren't aware, traditional US broadcasters have done their best to kill internet radio. The reason is simple... Internet radio can be better than traditional radio and using the power of listeners, internet radio stations like Pandora allow a crowd to determine the best songs to play for others.

If you haven't tried Pandora, you should. It allows you to enter a song or artist to seed a station and then plays similar songs which you might like. It is not perfect but it gets better with time and allows you to have near infinite control over what you hear.

The sad part is the National Association of Broadcasters wants to kill Internet radio and the Senate is due to vote on an important bill tomorrow.

According to Tim Westergren, Pandora founder the best way to ensure we continue to have access to quality internet radio stations like his is to contact your Senator and tell them to support support H.R. 7084, the Webcaster Settlement Act of 2008. The phone number is 202-225-3121 and it only takes a few minutes. be sure to tell the state you are calling from first to expedite the call.

Many people I know working in the financial markets are programmers and I knew as these people lost their jobs this past year, they would be looking for jobs in IT and telecom.

I am now hearing and reading reports that students who once avoided IT are now looking seriously at engineering as a major. This is good news for our markets as it means being able to hire IT talent at more reasonable prices which means less outsourcing to other countries. It also means more programmers dedicated to building new products which has to be good news for buyers.

I bet a bunch of the ex-financial types will even take up blogging - which of course is among the noblest of professions.

If you are in that video mood -- and yes I know some of you are... You will enjoy this new page we have designed to show you the interviews which took place at ITEXPO West 2008 in Los Angeles last week. In addition to the interviews, be sure to check out the keynote from Lawrence Byrd of Avaya which was quite good. I received many complements on his presentation.

Expect this page to be updated frequently as we post more keynotes and interviews in the coming weeks.

There are thousands of iPhone apps on the market but if you use Apple as your main source for learning about these applications you are limited to what Apple lets you know about. In addition, some are not thrilled with the web and iTunes interface and are looking for alternatives.

Moreover, users looking for that specific application in a haystack could search endlessly without success. This is because Apple has the ability to restrict applications from getting into its App Store for a variety of reasons. One application, Podcaster has been restricted because of iTunes overlap -- but by many accounts it was superior in some ways to iTunes.

As an iPhone user you may want to know about all applications you could potentially download for your phone and alse see user reviews and other article links to the these apps.

This is where Apptism comes in. It is a site which allows you to view over four thousand iPhone applications with reviews and more. It is a nice alternative to the App Store and it will be interesting to see if Apple tries to shut the site down somehow.

I am traveling today so blogging activity may be lighter than usual. In the mean time, here are some stories which my be worth reading. I don't know about you, but it seems the news flow in the communications and tech spaces has been greater than ever these past weeks. For someone like me this presents many opportunities to compare and contrast how companies see the future. Expect more analysis from me when I get a chance to sit at a desk.

» Cisco Intros New Unified Communications Solution

» NEC Intros New Unified Communications Offerings for SMBs

» Digium Recognizes Asterisk Innovation

» Konftel Launches SIP-Based Conference Phone

» Digium Switchvox SMB 3.5 Receives 'Best of Show' Award at ITEXPO West 2008

» D2 Technologies Software Platforms Powering IP Communications

» Eyeball Networks Continues to Innovate with NAT Traversal Solutions

» deltathree Focusing on VoIP Hosted Communications Market

» Quintum Honored at INTERNET TELEPHONY Conference & EXPO

» Konftel Launches SIP-Based Conference Phone

» Communicado Aiming to Help Resellers Offering UC Solutions

» OpenPeak Uses Intel Atom for New OpenFrame IP Media Phone

» Adaptive Rolls Out Concourse 3.0

» Cyberhand Releases VoIP and Speech Recognition Mics

» Patton Releases Carrier-Grade BRI VoIP Adapter

» OpenPeak Intros OpenFrame IP Media Phone Platform Using Intel Atom Processor

» AireSpring's Best Practices for Voice Network Utilization

» Voice Mobility Introduces New OCTel Migration Solution

» SecureLogix Intros VoIP Security Assessment Tool Suite

» Chicago Business VoIP Launches New Service

Here are the latest photos from Astricon 2008 -- especially Skype/Asterisk - Digium collaboration. I will be speaking to the company about this news in a moment and will keep you posted on the news.

Huge news out of Astricon 2008 -- Skype and Digium will begin to collaborate. I will have more details soon but for now this likely means easy integration between phone systems based on Asterisk and the Skype network. I have talked about Skype trunking before -- this news will likely mean that there will be native Skype trunking in all Asterisk boxes.

This could potentially give these open source platforms a huge advantage over companies like Cisco, Avaya, Nortel, Etc where an external Skype trunking gateway will be needed to communicate with the Skype community.

This can be huge news for telecom markets as the price to make calls will drop substantially from Skype devices and software to Asterisk-based open-source PBXs.

One other point -- the Skype gateway market may now become based on Asterisk appliances/software. This means we could see more interoperability between the Skype network and SIP and other standards.

Update:

My theories were accurate. You will now be able to treat Skype calls like any other protocol on Asterisk systems. What this means is you can forward them, transfer them and make and receive Skype calls on Asterisk phone systems.

With Skype For Asterisk, customers will be able to get access to many of the Skype features coupled with the capabilities of Asterisk. For example, the beta version of Skype For Asterisk will allow customers to make, receive and transfer Skype calls from within Asterisk systems using their existing hardware; enable inbound calling solutions like free click-to-call from company websites or virtual offices; and manage Skype calls using Asterisk applications such as call routing, conferencing, phone menus and voicemail.

What this means to Skype is the company has finally found a way to get into the enterprise in an easy way -- partnering with Digium/Asterisk which has great traction with developers, resellers, carriers, SMBs and more. Expect more enterprise use of Skype and as this happens, Skype should see more revenue from business users.

For Digium, this partnership allows the company to leapfrog the larger telecom players and gives the company major momentum and also makes them a magnet for more leading-edge deals. I wouldn't be surprised if Microsoft approaches the company for a UC partnership soon if they aren't talking already.

For the communications community this collaboration means more flexibility and lower cost calling for consumers and businesses worldwide. Finally, Skype users should be able to call companies over native Skype and for free. This news could become a major game changer if companies integrate Skype click-to-call functionality on their websites.

Further Update:

In a call with Digium CEO Danny Windham and Stefan Öberg, vice president and general manager for Skype Telecom and Skype for Business, Caller-ID will work with a Skype In number and if you choose you can set your mobile number as your Caller-ID number. This is subject to SMS verification over a few day period.

The companies envision a Skype client running on a desktop with a mirrored desk phone utilizing a Skype name. Although configuration options are flexible, this would allow both phones to ring together.

Any call type can be connected to the Skype client. This means you could get a call over the PSTN or a SIP trunking connection and this call will be answerable on your desk phone and Skype client.

Asterisk version 1.4 and 1.6 and beyond should be compatible with the Skype Connector for Asterisk but prior versions will likely not be. Derivatives of these products should work as well. Resellers should have a tremendous retrofit market to go after.

Businesses can assign Skype Names to Asterisk calling queues allowing a company to give customers a service Skype ID, a sales Skype ID, etc. This allows Skype to become a company's global 800 number. Moreover, agents can log in via Skype and be connected from anywhere to a calling queue.

After a limited beta, Skype for Asterisk will be rolled out into a wider beta and finally a public product. The commercial product will support Skype presence but there is no release date for this product as of yet. In addition, it will eventually support video and every other Skype feature.

Skype chose to work with Digium instead of other PBX companies because both companies support affordable communications solutions. Skype's Öberg feels the companies have a great deal in common.

Skype appliances allowing things like Skype trunking are not scalable according to Öberg and this partnership should allow Asterisk to be a good choice for companies looking for large scale Skype trunking/connectivity. This is because the native Linux Skype client which these boxes are based was not designed for scalability.

Carriers may be able to take advantage of this collaboration -- and in fact some carriers have allowed their wireless customers to connect seamlessly with Skype. Still, Öberg reminds us the target of this collaboration is the small business.

Once the Skype for Asterisk module is installed, unlimited calls to Skype names can be made. To call a phone number via Skype you will be able to use Skype credits. There will be business packages allowing premium support which will include chat and voice.

LCR (least cost routing) will now include Skype -- allowing a  system to utilize Skype as a way to connect a phone call if the price is lowest.

Skype devices such as standalone Skype phones cannot transfer calls and thus cannot connect to Asterisk like a typical Skype client.

In addition, the Skype Connector does allow clients to be associated with a company and managed centrally.

You can assign Skype names to numbers allowing easy access to a phone directory of Skype names.

In short, this collaboration is unprecedented and brings the flexibility of the open-source Asterisk platform together with the size of the massive Skype user base. Now things like global 800 numbers are possible for free for companies and consumers.

Going forward, we may see Skype support as a must-have feature in the PBX/communications server wars. I am sure the industry is watching closely to see how much traction there is in the Skype integration market.

Just want to let you know there is some major open source news coming from Astricon 2008 taking place this week. Here are some photos (Greg Galitzine's photos) from the event. Stay tuned for the latest details. Here are some theories from Tom Keating while you wait.

We should know more in 15 minutes or so.

There was tremendous buzz about Microsoft's multiple announcements at ITEXPO West 2008 in Los Angeles last week and I was very happy to hear that ITEXPO was the best show Microsoft's Response Point team has ever been involved with. It is humbling... But we are just doing our job and as always we do our best to keep our customers and the industry happy.

I really think Microsoft's addition to the marketplace will mark a change in our industry and it is worth partnering with them where possible to add value to the company's various solutions.

Read Best Show Ever for Response Point from the Response Point Team Blog for more.

What is perhaps most exciting for me is how many ITEXPO exhibitors did business at the show. There were many deals taking place on the exhibit floor and exhibitors told me they were selling continent by continent as so many people speaking different languages showed up to buy products.

Going forward we are looking to Make ITEXPO in Miami, Feb 2-4 even better than Los Angeles. Miami generally attracts all of Latin America, the Caribbean and much of Europe. I expect this next show to be busier than ever as ITEXPO becomes an even stronger magnet for serious communications purchasers worldwide. Oh -- and don't forget all those US buyers who will be there while escaping the cold for a few days.

So once again, thanks to all of you -- buyers and sellers who came to the show and conducted business. We can't wait to see you again on the east coast.

I just had these links sent to me -- they are part of the latest unified communications newsletter and some of the stories are interesting. I thought it worth passing along. Hope you find it useful.

» Alcatel-Lucent to Deliver Advanced Communication Network in Chile

» InsideView Integrates SalesView to Oracle CRM On Demand

» Stratos Launches Next Generation AmosConnect Vessels at Sea

» TreeHouse's PRM Product Now Integrated with Oracle CRM

» Qwest Inks an Agreement with PS America to Deliver Integrated Voice and Data Solution

» T-Mobile Unveils G1 Powered by Android

» Capgemini Launches Transformation Solution Leveraging Oracle
» Allstate Agency Turns to Zultys and ROI Telephony for Effective Telecommunication System

» Voice Mobility Introduces New OCTel Migration Solution

» Konftel Launches SIP-Based Conference Phone

» NEC Selects SurfExpress/PCIe Multimedia Processing Solution

» T-Mobile Unveils G1 Phone for Mobile Access of Web Sites

Steve Brubaker has a blog which I have linked to in the past but has now moved to a new home on his company's site: Infocision. I thought this valuable resource was worth pointing out to those people who are interested in the regulatory side of call centers as well as people interested in teleservices and BPO. One of the hot topics in the space at the moment has to do with whether our industry needs self regulation. This is discussed in his first entry.

Generally this is a good idea if you want to keep the government out of what you are doing. If you need a reminder of what happens when the government gets involved in business, please check out the debates of the financial crisis airing live all week.

Look -- I know how you feel. So many things to do, so little time. Do you spend your day listening to government officials justify a $750,000,000,000 loan or do you go to Astricon to see what is happening in the world of open communications? Personally I struggled with the same question but thankfully, I had a big team of my best people already going to the show. I asked them for photos so I could at least feel like I was there. This what they sent:


















Check out the Asterisk Global Online Community (GOC) on TMCnet for more. In case this link has the photos removed -- we set up a permanent link. While I am at it, here are links from Greg Galitzine's blog and more from my blog as well.