March 2009

You are browsing the archive for March 2009.

Shots From Tony Ryb Farewell Party

March 31, 2009

Today we said goodbye to Tony Rybczynski THE Nortel evangelist who has decided to spend more time with his grandkids as he retires. Over dinner we reminisced about the 37 years of service Tony devoted to the company. It was obviously a difficult time for Nortel employees who consider "Mr. Nortel" to be like family and a role model.At the table were many friends, analysts and coworkers.

Posted in IP Communications

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Goodbye Tony Ryb - Mr. Nortel

March 31, 2009

Tony Ryb is retiring from Nortel on Good Friday and I feel honored
that a person with his knowledge, dedication and experience chose TMC
publications and TMCnet as an outlet for his valuable thoughts.

I first met him at COMNET a show in DC around 1996 and asked him to
write for CTI Magazine when I realized what a valuable resource he
was. I always admired how he distilled complexity into simplicity to
the benefit of readers.

I am first here at his surprise farewell party and trust he won't read
this before he gets here. Tony will continue to blog on TMCnet on his
Hyperconnected Enterprise blog and I wish him all the best.

These cards were at all the table settings. Classy, very classy.

Posted in IP Communications

Where On Earth is Rich Tehrani?

March 31, 2009

I have been in 30 minute meetings throughout the two days I have been at VoiceCon and will be doing the same at CTIA which I travel to tomorrow. In between meetings I scrambled to find nourishment and potentially a restroom. Why did I do this? Well dear readers, I do it for you... I am trying to stay on top of the entire market - meet with all the important companies and report back.

I have met with Alcatel-Lucent, Motorola, Tandberg, NEC, Digium, Calabrio, AVST, EasyRun and many others.

Posted in Avaya, Broadband, Call Center, Cisco, Conference, IP Communications, Microsoft, Speech Technologies, Technology, Unified Communications, Verizon, Wireless, Yahoo

Tagged: Alcatel-Lucent, AVST, Calabrio, Digium, EasyRun, ip communications, Motorola, NEC, Tandberg, uc, unified communications, Voicecon : Related Tags:

Heading to the Airport

March 30, 2009

I am on my way to Orlando for VoiceCon followed by CTIA. Have a great day.

Posted in 4G, AT&T, Conference, Wireless

Tagged: ctia, voicecon : Related Tags:

Jailbreaking iPhones More Legal?

March 28, 2009

Recently, Apple applied for a patent which allows iPhones to integrate with biometrics allowing more precise authentication of the users of the fine touch-screen device. An eagle eyed reader of the patent noticed however that the iPhone used in the patent application had been jailbroken. What's that? Apple jailbroke an iPhone and used it to help with their patent filing?

So the obvious question is how can Apple tell its customers to do something they obviously can't help doing themselves? Moreover, will this new information help the Electronic Frontier Foundation in its ongoing struggle to make iPhone jailbreaking an exception to the Digital Millennium Copyright act?

More at engadget.

Posted in 4G, AT&T, Apple, Consumer Electronics, Gadget, IP Communications, Technology, Wireless

Tagged: apple, biometrics, Digital Millennium Copyright act, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Engadget, iphone, jailbreak, lawsuit, patent : Related Tags: patent, iphone, apple

Twitter to Save GM

March 27, 2009

It was bound to happen -- you can't keep a company down forever. The answer to GM's ailing sales and image problem can be solved with one simple new service which links Twitter to its safety enhancing OnStar system. Using speech recognition you can now keep in touch with your Twitter friends and leave your Blackberry in the house. All this is great to hear because even the cops are crashing because they are typing and driving.

This news has special importance to me as I am looking forward to reading the updates from my friends that relate to their traffic status and how they hate red lights.

Posted in 4G, Apple, Blackberry, Cisco, Communications Developer, Consumer Electronics, FCC, IP Communications, Social Networking, Speech Technologies, Technology, Unified Communications, Verizon, Wireless

Tagged: blackberry, gm, onstar, twitter : Related Tags: twitter

I Love NY - Ice Skating

March 27, 2009

One final shot of New York from Rockefeller Center. Next stop for me
is Voicecon, CTIA and a Metaswitch customer event.

Posted in IP Communications

I Love NY - Concerts

March 27, 2009

I love NY because concerts seem to spontaneously erupt.

Yes indeed, at the base of the lamp post was an honest to goodness concert taking place during the day. Good stuff.

Posted in IP Communications

Tagged: concert, new york : Related Tags:

Bryant Park in the Afternoon

March 27, 2009

A shot between my NYC meetings.

Posted in IP Communications

Nice Crisp New York Morning

March 27, 2009

A nice day for meetings in the city.

Posted in IP Communications

Skype coming to iPhone

March 27, 2009

The big news yesterday was that Skype is coming soon to an iPhone near you and while it seemed to take forever to make it happen I would be willing to wager that Skype will become one of the most popular iPhone apps overnight. I will be at the CTIA show next week and that is when the rumor is to become reality according to Om Malik. This event would be a good place for the launch and we can expect media frenzy when it happens. After all, the iPhone and Skype are both media darlings - put them together and you have even more reason to write that glowing article.

Posted in AT&T, Apple, Broadband, Consumer Electronics, FCC, Gadget, IP Communications, SIP, Skype, Social Networking, Technology, Unified Communications, VoIP, Wireless

Tagged: apple, gigaom, im, internet telephony, ip communications, Iphone, om malik, Skype, voip : Related Tags: skype coming, iphone, skype

TMC Builds You Online Communities

March 26, 2009

Many people in the communications space have asked me recently what TMC's secret is. After all, we are in the toughest media environment of our lifetimes and we produced our best show ever and have more paying customers online than at virtually any other time in our history.

The answer may lie in a bit of luck and some skill. The lucky part is we built our first online community for a customer about a decade ago. And since this time we have invested a small fortune in building our own proprietary technology which allows us to build highly-ranked, viral, news-driven communities for customers.

Posted in 4G, AT&T, Apple, Avaya, Blackberry, Broadband, CRM, Call Center, Cisco, Communications Developer, Conference, Conferencing, Consumer Electronics, E-Commerce, FCC, Fax, Financial, Gadget, Google, Green, IMS, IP Communications, IPTV, ITEXPO, JITC, Merger/Acquisition, Microsoft, Nortel, Open Source, Optical, Patent, Personal, Podcast, Rates Technology, SIP, SaaS, Search, Security, Skype, Social Networking, Speech Technologies, TMC Team, TMC Video, TMCnet, Technology, Unified Communications, Verizon, Video, Virtual Worlds, VoIP, Vonage, WiMAX, Wireless, Yahoo

Tagged: advertising, channel, community, global online community, goc, marketing, rss, tmc, xml : Related Tags: organic search, online community, search engines, search, online, communities

How Google Handles Outages

March 26, 2009

One of the most challenging issues for companies which provide service over the net is keeping systems up and running 100% of the time. No company has been able to keep their services running constantly but certainly Google is one of the leaders in this area. Their virtualized architechture was actually developed with the idea that many of the servers in the company's data centers will fail. Still, outages happen and when they do, the company like all others has to react.

Posted in Google, Microsoft

Tagged: data center, failure, gmail, Google, noc, outage, redundancy, rich miller, Urs Holzle : Related Tags: google, outages, problems, systems, different, monitoring

Twitter Killing Economy ;-)

March 25, 2009

OK this article which discusses Twitter killing the economy is satirical but it does seem coincidental that the more people get on the service the worse the stock market does. Maybe if Twitter were to merely speed up its service, the world would gain a massive productivity boost which would increase our GDP? Are you a fan of Twitter like Jeff Pulver who wants to launch an event in the space or do you lean more towards the Jennifer Aniston side of the argument where Twitter was partly responsible for your breakup?

Posted in 4G, Apple, Blackberry, Consumer Electronics, Google, IP Communications, Microsoft, SIP, Social Networking, Technology, Verizon, Wireless

Tagged: economist, economy, Harvard, jeff pulver, jennifer aniston, Martin Schmeldon, recession, Twitter : Related Tags: killing economy, twitter killing, twitter

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Stories Rich Tehrani Finds Interesting

March 25, 2009

If you are interested in the stories and headlines I find useful, I invite you to bookmark my Google Reader feed which I update fairly regularly. I occasionally will add comments as well. In fact, since I started using this page, I have found myself blogging less. I hope you find this resource useful.

Posted in 4G, AT&T, Apple, Avaya, Blackberry, Broadband, CRM, Call Center, Cisco, Communications Developer, Conference, Conferencing, Consumer Electronics, E-Commerce, FCC, Fax, Financial, Gadget, Google, Green, IMS, IP Communications, IPTV, ITEXPO, JITC, Merger/Acquisition, Microsoft, Musings, Nortel, Open Source, Optical, Patent, Personal, Podcast, Rates Technology, SIP, SaaS, Science, Search, Security, Skype, Social Networking, Speech Technologies, TMC Team, TMC Video, TMCnet, Technology, Unified Communications, Verizon, Video, Virtual Worlds, VoIP, Vonage, WiMAX, Wireless, Yahoo

Tagged: Google, reader, rss, xm : Related Tags: useful

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Will Your Company Survive this Slow Down?

March 25, 2009

In this slow economy, different companies have various strategies to help them get through. One I have noticed is to cut all the experienced, senior people in favor of replacing them with people who make and know less. This strategy could work if the next generation of hires is really good but in general this is a terrible move.

Another strategy is to cut outreach to customers - otherwise known as PR and marketing.

But if we are in an economy where customers are spending less, doesn't it also follow we all need more customers to match the earnings level of previous years? So if last year 100 customers spent $20,000 each and they now spend $15,000 you would need 133 customers this year to make as much profit. And if the $15,000 the customers are now spending results in lower margins, you need even more than 133 customers.

The good news is, in a recession, the companies who focus on gaining market share by at least keeping consistent levels of PR and marketing tend to take share from the rest of companies.

Posted in Financial, Technology

Tagged: Arunis chesonis, cold stone creamery, marketing, new york times.advertising, nytimes, paetec, pr, public relations : Related Tags: customers spending, customers, company, companies, spending, times

New Edge Networks Providing MPLS Service over DSL, T1 and EVDO

March 23, 2009

I recently had a chance to sit down with Greg Griffiths the VP of Sales at New Edge Networks to learn more about how the company is helping customers by providing the latest MPLS technology over DSL, T1 and 3G wireless. One of the focus areas for the company is retail where this division of EarthLink has helped these companies transition from dial-up to broadband. One of the impressive parts of our discussion what the company does when it senses a problem with a company's connection. What they do is create a trouble ticket, update the web portal and send an email alerting the customer to the problem...

Posted in 4G, AT&T, Avaya, Blackberry, Broadband, Call Center, Cisco, Communications Developer, FCC, Fax, IP Communications, Merger/Acquisition, Microsoft, Nortel, SIP, Skype, Technology, Unified Communications, Verizon, VoIP, Vonage, Wireless

Tagged: 3g, 4g, carrier, collaboration, Covad, dennis uniform, DSL, duane reade, EVDO, fiber, greg griffiths, ip communications, ip pbx, MPLS, new edge networks, Northpoint, portal, remote access, service provider, sip, sip trunking, T1, voip, vpn, wireless : Related Tags: management portal, network build, central offices, myedge management, frost sullivan, network

Skype Does SIP Trunking

March 23, 2009

Skype announced today that it is getting into the SIP trunking business by allowing native SIP calls to be connected directly to its network allowing enterprise communications systems to communicate seamlessly with Skype's network of users. During the Beta period, calls are carried at current Skype rates.

What this news does is take out the middleman. There really is nothing new in this release as this exact functionality has been available from companies like VoSKY, Skip2PBX, Pika and even Digium/Asterisk. The only differentiator seems to be the absence of a requirement for a SIP-Skype gateway to connect to Skype.

Posted in AT&T, Avaya, Broadband, Call Center, Cisco, Communications Developer, Conference, Consumer Electronics, E-Commerce, FCC, Fax, Gadget, Google, IP Communications, ITEXPO, Microsoft, Open Source, SIP, Skype, Technology, Unified Communications, Verizon, Video, VoIP, Vonage, Wireless, Yahoo

Tagged: actiontec, asterisk, Avaya, Cisco, dan york, Dialogic, Digium, disruptive telephony, ebay, ip communications, pika, Quintum, sip, sip trunking, Skype, spik2pbx, voice over IP, voip, vosky : Related Tags: skype trunking, trunking skype, industry standard, address based, skype, trunking

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MegaPath Focuses on MPLS and Security

March 22, 2009

As companies continue to embrace MPLS networks, companies like MegaPath Inc, look to become a trusted partner in deploying networks which are secure, reasonably priced and great at packet prioritization. The company recently released its Duet service with MPLS and managed security allowing customers to benefit from a single network and bill.

In a recent live conversation with Dan Foster the company's SVP of Sales, he told me the company's solution can be provided over an integrated access product and includes QoS, intrusion detection, VPN and more over SDSL or T1. The company further offers PRIs as well as SIP trunking solutions.

All Duet services include 50 email accounts, spam filtering, domain name management, inbound caller ID name and number, directory listing, 411 directory assistance and E911 emergency service. The company also have an EVDO failover-based solution if your needs require it.

As a testament to how converged IP communications solutions are saving company money, he tells me that December was a record quarter and year over year sales were up just under 20%.

An area of focus for the company is open-source where they want to become a preferred Asterisk trunking provider.

Posted in 4G, AT&T, Avaya, Broadband, Call Center, Cisco, FCC, Fax, IP Communications, Nortel, Open Source, SIP, Technology, Unified Communications, Verizon, Video, VoIP, Wireless

Tagged: agents, asterisk, broadband, dan foster, data, Digium, dsl, duet, email, evdo, intrusion detection, ip communications, megapath, resellers, sdsl, security, t1, vars, Voice, wireless : Related Tags: company, megapath

Managing Telecom Expenses Becomes More Important

March 22, 2009

At a time when the world is tightening its belt but still using broadband and wireless services like they are going out of style, you might imagine an increasing portion of companies would be interested in managing telecom expenses. And if you think about it - with companies cutting travel budgets and utilizing technology to substitute for air and other forms of travel, it makes sense that broadband and telecom costs could increase while headcounts shrink.

During the recession of the early nineties telecom costs decreased

more or less in lockstep with business activity and headcount. Nowadays this is far from the case as companies further look to reduce costs with hosted solutions which they used to run locally. In addition, there is an increased focus on accessing information everywhere - via phones, netbooks and smartphones.

Posted in 4G, AT&T, Avaya, Blackberry, Broadband, CRM, Call Center, Cisco, Conferencing, Consumer Electronics, E-Commerce, FCC, Fax, Gadget, IP Communications, Microsoft, SIP, Speech Technologies, Technology, Unified Communications, Verizon, VoIP, Wireless

Tagged: AOTMP, asset management, broadband, financial reporting, help desk, ocr, procurement, sourcing, spectrum, sql, telecom expense management, TEM, Trent McCracken, Troy McCracken, wireless expense management : Related Tags: expense management, telecom expense, telecom expenses, telecom costs, recession pitch, telecom

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Hotel Broadband Issues

March 22, 2009

One of the most maddening parts of traveling for me has to be finding hotels which have adequate bandwidth. Generally you have to learn the good properties from bad via trial and error. For those of us used to continuous and fast broadband access, having to wait for a computer to respond due to poor hotel connectivity is frustrating beyond belief. In this economy, many of us need to be more productive than ever and often work efficiency is directly related to speed of information access.

But when you think you have nailed it and found the hotel which offers the absolute best connectivity, you are often disappointed when a technical trade show comes to town and that fat pipe seems to clog pretty quickly.

Posted in 4G, AT&T, Blackberry, Broadband, Cisco, Conferencing, Consumer Electronics, E-Commerce, FCC, IP Communications, Microsoft, Nortel, Optical, SIP, Technology, Unified Communications, Verizon, Video, VoIP, Vonage, Wireless, Yahoo

Tagged: andy abramson, bandwidth, broadband, Hotel, ip communications, road warrior, travel : Related Tags: hotels, hotel, broadband, bandwidth

Snowing in Spring

March 20, 2009

A nice surprise but can this be the last snow of the year please?

Posted in IP Communications

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Nortel Asks for Executive Bonuses

March 20, 2009

A shot of the Ottawa River in Canada. Click to enlarge.

It is certainly a tough time for Nortel to be trying to get a court to approve senior level management bonuses as just south of Canada here in the US, the government is focusing on taxing bonuses to employees of TARP recipients to death. The good news here is these bonuses - unlike many on Wall Street seem to be tied to cost-reduction and reducing the company's focus - or selling off parts of the business.

The question worth asking is, anyone can cut expenses at a company, how do you measure the effectiveness of what was cut? In other words, how do you ensure the things which are eliminated are smart for the long-term health of the company? Obviously there is no simple answer but this sort of incentive seems to be something which can have unintended consequences.

Posted in Avaya, Broadband, Call Center, Cisco, Financial, IP Communications, IPTV, Microsoft, Nortel, Open Source, SIP, Security, Social Networking, Speech Technologies, Technology, Unified Communications, Verizon, Video, VoIP, WiMAX, Wireless

Tagged: aig, bonus, Nortel, tarp, tax, wall street : Related Tags: bonuses, company

House Passes 90% Bonus Tax

March 19, 2009

You may have heard the House of Representatives recently passed a punitive bonus tax bill for those working in companies which received TARP money. Specifically, The bill defines a new class of income, "TARP Bonus," that consists of any compensation payments in excess of a periodic wage and any income for such employees in excess of $250,000, or $125,000 for married individuals filing separate returns. Under the legislation, any "TARP Bonus" would be taxed at a 90 percent rate.

The bill now needs to be passed by the Senate and President.

I am in pain - two conflicting Rich Tehranis are killing each other in my brain. On the one hand there is the Rich Tehrani who is horrified that anyone who was partially responsible for the current financial mess get any bonus at all.

Posted in Financial

Tagged: bonus, financial, house of representitives, president, senate, Tarp, tarp, tax, tmcnet : Related Tags: companies received, tehrani horrified, bonus, money, people, companies

Sangoma's S519 ADSL2+ Card Great for Inexpensive VoIP/Video

March 19, 2009

I had a chance to speak with David Mandelstam the CEO of Sangoma about his company's new ADSL 2+ networking card the S519 which provides an internal solution for people looking for DSL access sans modems. Asked why the card is needed, Mandelstam explained that one of the primary reasons for this product is its use in inverse multiplexing connections or being able to take disparate DSL lines and combining them together to become a single virtual broadband connection.

This new device compliments the current S518 ADSL card the company supplies but as you can imagine the new card allows greater broadband speeds. As Mandelstam emphasized to me the A in ADSL stands for asymmetrical and subsequently means that the upload and download speed of such service varies. Of course in a situation where you are looking to transmit many VoIP connections at once, you may need more bandwidth than what a single ADSL2+ line can provide.

So if one ADSL2+ line can give you a theoretical 24 megabits per second down and 3 megabits per second up, three combined together give you 72 Mbps download speed and 9 Mbps on the upload side.

David explains the low cost of ADSL let's say $50/month allows you to get a good amount of bandwidth for a combined $150/month.

Posted in Broadband, Call Center, FCC, IP Communications, ITEXPO, Open Source, SIP, Technology, Unified Communications, Video, VoIP

Tagged: adsl, adsl2+, bandwidth, broadband, buffer, david mandelstam, dsl, open source, ram, s518, s519, sangoma, tmc, tmcnet, video, voip : Related Tags: download speed, internal, mandelstam, power, speed, upload

Blackberry Troubleshooting Webinar

March 19, 2009

Please excuse the self-promotional plug but I thought it worth mentioning that on March 31, 2009 there will be a TMCnet webinar focusing on the top 10 BlackBerry troubleshooting tips for enterprise activations. The growth of the RIM platform continues at an incredible pace and as companies look to become more efficient it makes sense to be as educated as possible on the various errors and problems you might encounter.

This particular webinar will focus on a slew of important topics from device issues to the server to integration with Exchange/Outlook and carrier issues. Here are the details and registration information:

Top 10 BlackBerry Troubleshooting Tips for Enterprise Activations

Tuesday, March 31, 2009 2:00pm ET / 11:00am PT

Are you spending a lot of time troubleshooting failed enterprise activations (EA)? If so, attend this webinar for tips on ways to quickly and proactively identify and resolve 10 common EA issues. This technical webinar will identify critical log file errors, tests, and configurations to pay close attention to when troubleshooting enterprise activation issues.

Posted in 4G, AT&T, Blackberry, Broadband, CRM, Call Center, Consumer Electronics, FCC, Gadget, IP Communications, Microsoft, SIP, Technology, Unified Communications, Verizon, VoIP, Wireless

Tagged: 1xrtt, 3g, 4g, Accenture, ahmed datoo, blackberry, blade, bold, consumer electronics, data server, eds, email, erik Linask, evdo, exchange, gadget, gsm, loudcloud, maintenance, Microsoft, outlook, pda, pearl, Rim, smartphone, storm, tech support, tmc, web seminar, webinar, wifi, zenprise : Related Tags: enterprise activations, product management, blackberry troubleshooting, please contact, enprise ahmed, blackberry

RightNow Technologies Optimistic About Future

March 19, 2009

Last month I reached out to Greg Gianforte the CEO of RightNow

Technologies regarding how his company is doing. Why? Well the hosted communications/call center/CRM market seems to be doing better than others as a result of reduced CAPEX budgets and I know some others in the space are growing quickly. This was his response:

RightNow had record sales in Q4. For the year, our revenue was up 25% Y/Y and we generated nearly $15M in cash from operations while returning to GAAP profitability. We gave guidance for 2009 to grow recurring revenue an additional 10% - 15% in 2009 while expanding profit margins.

I believe this growth is due to the continued adoption of SaaS and the need of companies to keep the customers they have while reducing costs. One new customer last fall, a multi-billion dollar retailer, was able to eliminate 50% of inbound customer email and 18% of phone call volume in three weeks using our eService capabilities.

I believe we will see a continued increase in the adoption of SaaS and a continued focus on Customer Experience initiatives in the current environment.

This is great news for others who provide SaaS and moreover it is gratifying to see companies taking the time in a slower economy to focus more on customer acquisition and retention. During the last slowdown in 2001 many companies took the opportunity to offshore their sales and customer service which didn't always meet with increased customer satisfaction.

Posted in CRM, Call Center, IP Communications, SaaS, Technology, Unified Communications

Tagged: bpo, call center, cloud computing, contact center, crm, customer service, greg gianforte, hosted, on demand, Rightnow, saas, salesforce.com : Related Tags: focus customer, customer, continued, rightnow, while, others

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Cisco's Plans for Flip video

March 19, 2009

For a good look into what Cisco is trying to do with the new Flip line of video recording devices it announced it will acquire today, check out this great article written by TMC's Michael Dinan who recently interviewed Charles Carmel, Cisco's vice president of corporate business development. The company's Linksys division will be "headquarters" for this product line and there is already talk about how the best of current Linksys products can be combined with the best of Flip. Like I surmised earlier today, adding telephony to these popular devices may give the iPhone and other mobile devices a real run for their money.

One other quick thought - so many companies are trying to eke out a living in social networking but massive traffic levels have equated to paltry ad revenues so far.

Who would have expected the hardware company supporting all these video addicts to be the actual money-maker? Although counter-intuitive, Apple more or less gave away songs to increase the sales of profitable music players. Funny how history repeats itself.

Personally I am looking forward to seeing if the integration of this new consumer electronics company changes Cisco's marketing for the better -- meaning more use of celebrities in the company's telepresence and other ads.

Posted in 4G, AT&T, Apple, Blackberry, Broadband, Cisco, Communications Developer, Consumer Electronics, E-Commerce, FCC, Financial, Google, IP Communications, Microsoft, Open Source, SIP, Skype, Social Networking, Technology, Unified Communications, Verizon, Video, VoIP, Wireless

Tagged: acquisition, apple, Charles Carmel, Cisco, connected home, consumer electronics, Facebook, flip video, flipshare, gadgets, iphone, itunes, Jonathan Kaplan, Linksys, m&a, Michael dinan, MySpace, Ned Hooper, oracle, Pure Digital Technologies, streaming audio, video, wifi, YouTube : Related Tags: money maker, hardware company, actual money, cisco, company, video

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Dell Adamo, a Smart Move Upmarket

March 19, 2009

For decades Dell took advantage of the commoditization of the PC market by being the low-cost leader but they need to do more if they want to increase their earnings. The PC and Laptop markets are under pressure from netbooks and PCs in general are getting real competition from Apple. And if you're Michael Dell, you have to kick yourself on a daily basis when you realize Apple, the company you once suggested should be shut down is not only taking marketshare from your company, it is doing it with products which do the same thing as yours but cost twice as much.

You see Dell has done such a great job becoming the low-cost leader that in the mind of many, their brand equates to cheap, cheap, cheap. And in a market growing rapidly this is not a bad reputation to have.

Posted in Apple, Broadband, Consumer Electronics, E-Commerce, Financial, Gadget, IP Communications, Microsoft, Technology, Unified Communications, Wireless

Tagged: Alienware, apple, chris dawson, dell, economy, Honda, infiniti, lexus, low-cost, macbook, Michael Dell, michael dinan, Microsoft, recession, sony, sony style, Toyota, upmarket, vaio, vista, zdnet : Related Tags: cheap cheap, boost margins, equates cheap, leader brand, growing rapidly, laptop

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Cisco Moves in Opposite Directions

March 19, 2009

With all the opportunity to sell more products in the data center and the consumer electronics space, a company like Cisco can afford to simultaneously attack both markets. To that end, Cisco recently announced its entry into the blade server market and today purchased Pure Digital Technologies for $590 million, the company behind the Flip Video brand of pocket-sized video recorders.

Cisco's efforts in the consumer electronics space have not been nearly as successful as its accomplishments in the enterprise but the company seems to believe if it sells enough products in the connected home, sooner or later it will become a preferred provider in the consumer setting. They could be right but the problem for the industry today is the threat from Apple who will continue to own more and more of the home network and consumer electronics market.

Which leads one to wonder, what if Cisco started adding really cutting edge phone and computing technology into a next-gen Flip Video device...? Would it have enough consumer appeal to boost Cisco as a consumer brand? Maybe.

And moreover, can it pull off a strategy which successfully attacks the high-end and low-end of computing simultaneously? If they do it will be a shocker to many as few if any companies have ever done so. But then again, Cisco has shown in many ways - especially when it comes to integrating new companies that it is able to pull off what few other companies can.

Posted in Apple, Avaya, Broadband, CRM, Call Center, Cisco, Consumer Electronics, E-Commerce, FCC, Fax, Financial, Gadget, IP Communications, Merger/Acquisition, Microsoft, Open Source, Optical, SIP, Technology, Unified Communications, Verizon, VoIP, WiMAX, Wireless

Tagged: acquisition, apple, Cisco, connected home, consumer electronics, flip video, flipshare, gadgets, iphone, Jonathan Kaplan, Linksys, m&a, Ned Hooper, oracle, Pure Digital Technologies, streaming audio, video, wifi : Related Tags: consumer electronics, electronics space, cisco, consumer, video, companies

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How Apple Can Wreck Your Business

March 18, 2009

After $500,000 in development costs, FreedomVOICE has abandoned the Beta test of Newber, an application which blended the best of VoIP and location awareness to allow users to direct calls to various phones. The app even allows you to swap calls from phone to phone mid-conversation.

Newber was submitted to Apple on October 2, 2008 and after 165 days, Apple has not approved the application and worse it won't tell FreedomVoice anything. Interestingly Apple did approve the company's other application IQ Voicemail in about a month according to the company so there is something about the Newber app that Apple doesn't like.

Eric Thomas the CEO of the company writes about the situation and pins the blame on a middle manager at Apple. While I can't verify who is responsible for putting the approval process in limbo I surmise that there is fear in the company that this application will take revenue away from AT&T and thus reduce the amount of money it can make selling service on the phone which in turn reduces the subsidy Apple might receive on each device.

I feel for FreedomVoice and I think what Apple is doing is terrible to developers who end up in the no man's land between approval and denial.

Posted in 4G, AT&T, Apple, Blackberry, Broadband, Communications Developer, Consumer Electronics, E-Commerce, Gadget, IP Communications, SIP, Skype, Technology, Unified Communications, Verizon, VoIP, Vonage, Wireless, Yahoo

Tagged: app store, at&t;apple, class action, court, doj, eric Thomas, eu, Freedomvoice, iphone, itunes, lawsuit, newber : Related Tags: endgame anyway, amount money, makes iphone, apple doesn, think apple, apple

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Another Day in NY

March 18, 2009

Had an early breakfast meeting in CT and now heading into the city.

Posted in IP Communications

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SuperComm 2009 to Possibly Change Dates

March 17, 2009

SuperComm had been the nation's largest carrier event for decades and over the last seven years or so the show split into two and even three events. Some of the other names the show went by (or partially went by) were TelecomNxt, Globalcomm and NxtComm. Recently the two warring association factions the TIA and USTA made up and the show became SuperComm again which took place last June in Las Vegas.

< p>The event was very strong up until 2000 and since it split into two it has steadily decreased its attendance to the point where it is a shadow of its former self. The association wars took their toll on this event and some think the damage that was done cannot be repaired.

Posted in 4G, AT&T, Apple, Blackberry, Broadband, Cisco, IMS, IP Communications, ITEXPO, SIP, Skype, Technology, Verizon, VoIP, WiMAX, Wireless

Tagged: 3g, 4gwe, carol wilson, carrier, crossfire media, doug mohney, ip communications, itexpo, next generation networks, ngn, richard martin, service provider, Supercomm, tmc, voip, von, white spaces, wimax, wireless, xchange : Related Tags: channel partners, carrier event, partner attendance, event, supercomm, events

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Speaking With The Conference Group

March 17, 2009

As companies reduce their travel budgets - they still have the challenge of conducting business without being face-to-face. Of course by now my readers have heard me discuss countless solutions to how you can conference using technology. One of my more recent encounters with companies in this space took place earlier this month in a meeting with Greg Plum of The Conference Group, a conferencing company specializing in audio and video and selling through wholesale and retail channels. Both agents and resellers are targets of the company's wholesale approach and they are currently servicing the US, Canada and have some partners in the UK.

Plum tells me to differentiate themselves, by allowing recordable conferences which are turned into podcasts.

Posted in AT&T, Broadband, Conferencing, FCC, Fax, Google, IP Communications, Microsoft, Nortel, SIP, Skype, Technology, Unified Communications, VoIP, Wireless

Tagged: Conferencing, dimdim, greg plum, ip communications, skype, the conference group, video, voip : Related Tags: kevin dimdim, dimdim facebook, conference group, dimdim, company, conference

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Tango Networks Improves FMC and Corporate Texting

March 17, 2009

I scan over 1,000 news headlines a day when I am not traveling and without a doubt the most popular tech topic in the mainstream media these days is Twitter. David Pogue from the New York Times has even devoted TV airtime to the topic on CNBC and it seems everyone is experimenting with using the service. Then there is the talk of leading social network Facebook modifying its homepage to take on Twitter and Google purchasing Twitter to show ads on all those tweets people send regarding their hunger status and other innocent facts which you wouldn't imagine anyone would take the time to share or read about.

It makes you think long and hard about how companies are integrating consumer technologies like Twitter into their marketing. Dell for example credits Twitter for millions of dollars in sales.

Posted in 4G, AT&T, Apple, Avaya, Blackberry, Broadband, CRM, Call Center, Cisco, Conference, Consumer Electronics, FCC, Financial, Google, IP Communications, Microsoft, SIP, Security, Technology, Unified Communications, Verizon, VoIP, Vonage, Wireless

Tagged: 3g, 4g, 4gwe, Al Leo, Alastair Westgarth, Bill Young, cellular, cisco, cnbc, david pogue, dell, femtocell, fmc, funding, im, Microsoft, mms, new york times, ny times, ocs, picocell, sms, social networking, tango networks, twitter, uc, unified communications, web 2.0, wireless : Related Tags: allen stanford, ahkoy family, another company, honest profitable, technology dribble, company

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Apple iPhone OS 3.0 Wows

March 17, 2009

While there likely isn't a smartphone on the planet that does not support cut and paste, Apple's iPhone users have been waiting patiently for years for something most consider entry level. The latest news out of Apple is that you will have to wait a little longer for this feature... This summer in fact when the iPhone 3.0 OS debuts with a host of great additions.

At that time you will not only get the addition of text copy/paste but also the ability to use the keyboard in landscape mode in all applications. In order to get to this other much-anticipated feature you double tap and slide your finger and pull it across the selection you want to highlight.

Oh yeah and a cool feature is the shake to deselect option if you decide you really don't need to copy what you just selected.

On the photo front there is the ability to send more than one photo at a time and MMS messaging.

Posted in 4G, AT&T, Apple, Blackberry, Broadband, Consumer Electronics, E-Commerce, FCC, Gadget, IP Communications, Microsoft, SIP, Social Networking, Technology, Unified Communications, VoIP, Vonage, Wireless

Tagged: Apple, flash<, gps, im, iphone, mms, os 3.0, push nitifications, push notification, sdobe, sms, stereo Bluetooth : Related Tags: adobe flash, flash support, support, apple, better, iphone

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Transera, OneChip Photonics, Apture and JahJah Funding a Trend?

March 17, 2009

Today, I came across a number of funding announcements and it has been some time since I have seen four in the same day. The first big news is from Transera where they raised $17 million to grow their hosted contact center business. As I have mentioned before, the on-demand/hosted/cloud/SaaS market is gaining momentum because of reduced CAPEX budgets and the preference for pay-as-you-go solutions. This is a logical move for the investors, Accel Partners, Apax Partners, Lighthouse Capital Partners, and Storm Ventures.

Then there is the $19.5 million funding news for optical semiconductor company OneChip Photonics, a Canadian company getting an infusion from BDC Venture Capital, DCM, GrowthWorks Canadian Fund, Morgenthaler Ventures and others.

Posted in 4G, AT&T, Apple, Broadband, Communications Developer, Consumer Electronics, FCC, Financial, Gadget, Google, IP Communications, SIP, SaaS, Social Networking, Technology, Unified Communications, Verizon, Video, VoIP, Wireless

Tagged: Accel Partners, advertising, Apax Partners, apture, BDC Venture Capital, call center, cloud, contact center, contextual advertising, DCM, Deutsche Telekom, financial, ftth, funding, Globespan Capital Partners, GrowthWorks Canadian Fund, hosted, Indium Phosphide, inp, Intel Capital, investor, ip communications, jahjah, Lighthouse Capital Partners, Morgenthaler Ventures, on-demand, OneChip Photonics, optical, PICs, SaaS, Sequoia Capital, Storm Ventures, transera, vc, venture capital, voip : Related Tags: capital partners, onechip photonics, received million, funding, capital, million

SpinVox Comments on Google Voice

March 17, 2009

There has been a lot of speculation regarding the impact of Google's entry into the voicemail transcription market with their new Google Voice initiative which is based on the Grand Central acquisition of almost two years. The major player in voicemail transcription is SpinVox and theirs is the first service I have ever tested. I have continually been impressed with the company because they have taken speech-to-text in many directions with services which can integrate into blogs, blasts, IM and social networks.

I asked the company for official comments on the news regrading the world's search leader entering their space and this was the response:

Google is entering a marketplace that continues to be led by SpinVox, the world's largest privately-held speech technology company. We're excited by the launch of Google Voice because it will demonstrate the benefits of speech-to-text conversion and validate its deployment as a network service to an increased audience.

Posted in 4G, AT&T, Apple, Blackberry, Broadband, Call Center, Cisco, FCC, Google, IP Communications, Microsoft, SIP, Skype, Speech Technologies, Technology, Unified Communications, Verizon, VoIP, Vonage, Wireless

Tagged: callwave, Christina Domecq, google voice, grand central, ivr, phonetag, simulscribe, skype, speech recognition, speech-to-text, spinvox, visual voicemail, voicemail transcription : Related Tags: google voice, voicemail transcription, threat reputation, google, voice, spinvox

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Nokia Cuts, HTC Gains New Androids

March 17, 2009

HTC Magic, Android-Based Phone

While Nokia layoffs mount with the news of 1,700 more being let go as well as other requested concessions, HTC acts bullish saying they will release three new Android phones. This on the heels of the fact that the Asian company exceeded its G1 target of one million devices sold so far. Here are some interesting excerpts from a Wall Street Journal article:

In the fourth quarter, world-wide smartphone sales grew 3.7% from a year earlier to 38.1 million units, research firm Gartner said earlier this month. HTC's market share rose to 4.3% in the three months ending Dec.

Posted in 4G, AT&T, Apple, Blackberry, Broadband, Consumer Electronics, FCC, Financial, Gadget, Google, IP Communications, Microsoft, Open Source, SIP, Skype, Social Networking, Technology, Unified Communications, Verizon, VoIP, Wireless

Tagged: 3g, 4g, android, apple, blackberry, earnings, financial, gartner, google, htc, iphone, layoffs, Microsoft, nokia, palm, peter chou, pre, rim, smartphone, touchscreen, wall street journal, windows mobile, wireless, wsj : Related Tags: company, nokia, market, earlier, android, phone

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Acredo Technologies Update

March 16, 2009

You may have read that Acredo Technologies has closed down. This information is not exactly true. There are Twitter and blog reports regarding layoffs which I can confirm. Over the past six months we have seen many startups under pressure.

Posted in Avaya, Broadband, E-Commerce, FCC, Fax, IP Communications, Merger/Acquisition, Microsoft, SaaS, Technology, Unified Communications, VoIP

Tagged: acredo, avaya, hosted, ip communications, saas, voip : Related Tags: acredo technologies, acredo, company, technologies, business, market

SimulScribe/PhoneTag Founder Sounds off on Google Voice

March 16, 2009

After a long 20 months, Google took its purchase of Grand Central and launched it at Google Voice and added a nifty feature, voicemail transcription. When I heard the news I was curious as to what Jamie Siminoff of SimulScribe/PhoneTag thought about the news.

Jamie did not disappoint and came out swinging, explaining that Google can't sustain the business of providing this free service which costs the company $60/year/customer. He argues that ads cannot pay for this service - no way, no how - it is just too much money.

He goes on to say that the Grand Central/Google Voice business model is flawed or at least will only appeal to a niche. He explains that in order to use the service you have to give everyone your new Google Voice number.

Posted in 4G, AT&T, Apple, Avaya, Blackberry, Call Center, Cisco, Consumer Electronics, FCC, Financial, Gadget, Google, IP Communications, Microsoft, SIP, Skype, Speech Technologies, Technology, Unified Communications, Verizon, VoIP, Vonage, Wireless, Yahoo

Tagged: craig walker, Google, google voice, grand central, jaiku, jamie siminoff, phonetag, simulscribe, skype, spinvox, twitter, voicemail to text, voicemail transcription : Related Tags: google voice, simulscribe phonetag, voicemail transcription, voice number, grand central, google

NTT America Channel Neutral Partner Program

March 15, 2009

NTT America, a subsidiary of NTT Communications Corp is being more aggressive in getting referral partners, agents and VARs to sell its entire suite of domestic and international IP and data solutions including Fast Ethernet, Gigabit Ethernet and 10 GigE in an effort to further bolster the company's Global IP Network (GIN) Solution Partners Program

The company is pushing the channel neutral nature of their offering meaning their own sales force is not supposed to compete with the partners/resellers. Instead the goal as the company explains it is to collaborate with solution partners. One partner, Mike Nguyen of Silent Partner explains, "Their method of collaboration is almost unheard of in the industry. It makes becoming an agent a much easier venture to swallow because you come out of the gates with the NTT America GIN direct sales team behind you, and they stay with you through the entire customer relationship management lifecycle."

I met with the company's Director of Product Marketing, Chris Davis to talk about his company and in the discussion he mentioned the way they are able to stay neutral is to pay both sides - meaning the channel and the internal sales force.

Posted in 4G, AT&T, Broadband, Consumer Electronics, FCC, Gadget, IP Communications, Optical, SIP, Technology, Unified Communications, Verizon, Video, VoIP, WiMAX, Wireless

Tagged: 10 GigE, broadband, channel, channel neutrality, Chris Davis, docomo, dsl, Fast Ethernet, fiber, Gigabit Ethernet, hd video, ip communications, Mike Nguyen, mobile internet, mso, ntt, ntt America, nvidia, Pandora, partner, Rod Krzywicki, Silent Partner, var, voip : Related Tags: solution partners, sales force, channel neutral, company, america, partners

Selling SaaS is Hard to do

March 14, 2009

You hear me go on and on about how hosted providers are having a field day selling in this economy. Apparently it is not as easy as I thought... Peter Radizeski in fact tells us firsthand how difficult it can be to get techies to make decisions which make them lose control of box. He calls it "humping the box" and while I am not going to comment on the terminology, I agree techies love control. So if you are looking to sell SaaS solutions you definitely want to check his post out... Especially since he further discusses the ISP "fear of Google."

Posted in AT&T, Broadband, Gadget, IP Communications, Microsoft, SaaS, Technology, Wireless

Tagged: asp, cloud computing, email, google, hosted, isp, on-demand, Peter Radizeski, postini, saas : Related Tags:

Vocal IP Networx a Big Apple Carrier

March 14, 2009

Recently I had a chance to sit down with Eugene Laykhtman the founder and president of Advanced Technology Group, Inc. (ATG), a company he founded in 1995 in the IT consulting space. Over the years, ATG got involved in IP communications and a new company Vocal IP Networx was spun off as a separate service provider of voice and data.

The company provides a variety of products such as T1s, fiber, DSL, wireless, security services and applications such as VoIP recording, web hosting, hosted MS Exchange, Sharepoint and backup services. Vocal IP Networx is powered by solutions from Broadvox, Allworx, Adtran and others and in a conversation with Eugene, I had a chance to ask what he feels is different about his company.

One of the key differences is the spinoff from a technology company where they gained tremendous experience rolling out hundreds of sites for carriers.

Posted in 4G, AT&T, Broadband, Call Center, FCC, IP Communications, Microsoft, SIP, Security, Technology, Unified Communications, Verizon, VoIP, Wireless

Tagged: Advanced Technology Group, ATG, broadband, carrier, cloud computing, continuity planning, disaster recovery, DSL, Eugene Laykhtman, fiber, hosted Exchange, ip communications, IT consulting Vocal IP Networx, Microsoft, Plan B, saas, security, Sharepoint, T1, VoIP recording, web hosting, wireless : Related Tags: company, services, vocal, networx, wireless

Arunas Chesonis the Secret Weapon at PAETEC

March 14, 2009

PAETEC like a slew of other voice and data providers is looking to differentiate itself but perhaps its biggest asset is CEO Arunas Chesonis (pictured) whose unique style allows him to impress you about the company's direction without coming off as boasting. In fact in a recent conversation with Arunas, he told me the company is still growing and hiring. He mentioned a large non-cash charge this last quarter which made the quarter look worse than it was. I researched a bit and in the company's recent conference call there is a discussion of a goodwill impairment charge which is related to the company's acquisition of McLeodUSA.

Posted in 4G, AT&T, Avaya, Broadband, CRM, Call Center, Cisco, Conference, Conferencing, E-Commerce, FCC, Fax, Financial, IP Communications, ITEXPO, Merger/Acquisition, Microsoft, Nortel, SIP, Security, Technology, Unified Communications, VoIP, WiMAX, Wireless

Tagged: allwork, Arunas Chesonis, Avaya, cisco, clec, data, data center, dmarc, energy, financial, ip pbx, McLeodUSA, Paetec, security, sip, sip trunking, t1, telecom expense management, tem, voice, wireless : Related Tags: going company, energy business, arunas chesonis, company still, company, paetec

Cbeyond Rides the Hosted Wave

March 14, 2009

The most obvious trend in the tech space is that of outsourced services since companies need to boost productivity by deploying the latest in technology but in general don't have the budgets they used to for large capital expenditures.

Recently I spoke with hosted communications company Cbeyond's VP/GM of channel sales, Brad Linden and VP Marketing Steve Zimba in separate meetings to discuss how the company is doing. They reported solid revenue growth of just under 25% which is impressive for Q4 of 2008 when most companies saw sales decrease. The good news keeps coming as their channel sales closed on target for January and over target in February.

Linden and Zimba were optimistic in my meetings, seeing opportunities increasing in this economy. To take advantage of their momentum they are adding applications in ways traditional carriers are not.

Posted in 4G, AT&T, Broadband, CRM, Call Center, FCC, Financial, IP Communications, ITEXPO, Microsoft, SIP, SaaS, Technology, Unified Communications, Verizon, VoIP, Wireless

Tagged: Brad Linden, broadband, cbeyond, cebp, cio, clec, data, earnings, exchange, financial, Forbes, forbes, ilec, ip communications, Microsoft, mvno, outlook, outsourced cio, response point, sip, sip trunking, Steve Zimba, voice, voip, wireless, zora : Related Tags: channel sales, company, services, companies, cbeyond, sales

Interview With Spanlink's Scott Christian

March 13, 2009

Are companies really cutting their investments in customer acquisition and retention in this economic climate?

I have known the management of Spanlink Communications for years but haven't covered them in a while. Today I got a chance to speak with the company's relatively new President and CEO, Scott Christian (pictured) and he walked me through what the company is up to and also engaged in a great dialogue regarding how the organization has really focused on adding value to Cisco solutions.

You may remember the past CEO and founder of the company was Brett Shockley.

One of the more interesting parts of our audio interview revolved around our discussion of how companies are looking at spending more or less on customer acquisition and retention.

This is a good interview to listen to if you are interested in learning a bit more about the state of the contact center and UC market from at least one company's perspective. In addition there are some tips here focusing on increased productivity and customer retention which should suit every company well in these times.

Posted in Broadband, CRM, Call Center, Cisco, Conference, Financial, IP Communications, Microsoft, Podcast, SIP, Technology, Unified Communications

Tagged: Brett Shockley, call center, cisco, contact center, crm, podcast, Scott Christian, Spanlink Communications, uc, unified communications : Related Tags: scott christian, acquisition retention, customer acquisition, company, interview, retention

Grandstream GXV3140 IP Phone

March 12, 2009

One of the most feature-rich phones around has to be the Grandstream GXV3140 IP Multimedia Phone. Grandstream was initially known as a low-cost provider of communications solutions but over time they have proven that they make low-cost solutions with solid quality.

This leads us to the end of this month when the company releases their new feature-rich videophone which has solid social networking features built-in. You can use the phone to IM over Google, MSN and Yahoo, track RSS feeds, listen to internet radio and also stream from the included SD card slot or USB port. There is also an alarm clock, calendar, music ring tones and 3-way conferencing.

The phone also integrates with Yahoo's Flickr service so you can use it instead of a digital photo frame.

The color screen is 4.3" with 480x272 resolution and the camera supports 1.3 megapixels.

Posted in Broadband, Consumer Electronics, Gadget, IP Communications, Microsoft, SIP, Security, Social Networking, Technology, Unified Communications, Video, VoIP, Yahoo

Tagged: AAC, AES, flickr, google, Grandstream, GXV3140, hd, im, IP, ip communications, MP3, MPLS, msn, Multimedia, NAT, Phone, picture frame, Real, sd, SIPS, social networking, videophone, WMA, yahoo : Related Tags: headset microphone, internet radio, alarm clock, clock calendar, stereo headset, support

Truphone Local Anywhere Makes Mobile Roaming Painless

March 12, 2009

Truphone Local Anywhere is likely one of the more revolutionary products/services you will see this year and consists of a single-SIM, multi-country mobile service that will make any mobile call within the set of supported countries a local call. It combines technology with roaming arbitrage and as company CEO Geraldine Wilson says is, "The ultimate phone service for people who have an international lifestyle."

If you find yourself in a situation where you are carrying around multiple SIM-cards or are getting charged high roaming fees, this service which will be available later this year is worth a look. Wilson tells me this service is about keeping you local and on one Truphone SIM.

Here are some features and cost savings touted by the company and an audio interview with me for more:

Number portability of existing mobile and landline numbers to Truphone; Full service multi-language customer support; Ability to manage their Caller ID (CLI); Competitive rates on domestic calls, SMS, and data in home country; Low cost international calling to the world from any Truphone Local Anywhere-supported country; Up to 80 percent savings on roaming charges when visiting other countries; No roaming surcharges to receive calls in most major destinations; TruFriends - providing even lower calling rates to call to other Truphone Local Anywhere customers; Additional "virtual" country mobile numbers to seem 'local' in another country so friends/colleagues can call at local rates.

Oh and if you are interested, here is Geraldine's bio:

Geraldine Wilson joined Truphone in October 2008 after almost two and a half years at Yahoo!. In her previous role she was responsible for growing the ISP's broadband and mobile business in Europe, her remit including business, marketing strategy and operations.

Posted in 4G, AT&T, Apple, Avaya, Blackberry, Call Center, Cisco, Communications Developer, Conference, Conferencing, Consumer Electronics, FCC, Gadget, IP Communications, Microsoft, SIP, Technology, Unified Communications, Verizon, VoIP, Wireless, Yahoo

Tagged: arbitrage, broadband, caller id, cli, consumer electronics, gadget, Geraldine Wilson, isp, mobile, prepay, roaming, sim, telecom, Truphone, truphone, vizzavu, Vodafone, voip, wireless, yahoo : Related Tags: local anywhere, truphone local, geraldine wilson, country mobile, managing director, truphone

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Interviews With Taqua, Neustar, Genband, Mera, Dash, Covad, Actelis, Stratus Telecom, TW Telecom, Sprint, Profitec and More

March 12, 2009

The TMC Newsroom has been bustling with activity and lately we have had a chance to interview a number of the leaders in the communications space. Check out the TMC Video News Room home page for the latest and some of the recent interviews are below.

One thought - many of you in the communications space should ensure your CFOs listen to how well some companies in our space are doing in the interviews below. Why? Because I am surprised that financial departments in communications are cutting customer acquisition budgets (PR, marketing, sales) when many in the market are doing well.

Interview with Taqua TMCnet's Greg Galitzine speaks with Taqua Chief Marketing Officer Scott Weidenfeller 03/12/2009 Interview with NeuStar TMCnet's Greg Galitzine speaks with NeuStar Vice President Sales Michael Misheff 03/12/2009 Interview with Mera TMCnet's Greg Galitzine speaks with Mera Senior Sales Manager Vitaly Potapov 03/12/2009 Interview with Genband TMCnet's Rich Tehrani speaks with Genband Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer Mehmet Balos 03/12/2009 Interview with Dash Carrier Services TMCnet's Greg Galitzine speaks with Dash Carrier Services VP Sales & Business Development Kevin Breault 03/12/2009 Interview with Covad Communications TMC's Greg Galitzine speaks with Covad Communications SVP and General Manager Wholesale Services William Ferraiuolo 03/12/2009 Interview with Actelis Networks TMCnet's Rich Tehrani speaks with Actelis Networks Director of Sales Rick Allan 03/12/2009 Interview with Accudata Technologies TMCnet's Rich Tehrani speaks with Accudata Technologies President & CEO 03/12/2009 Interview with Accedian Networks TMCnet's Rich Tehrani speaks with Accedian Networks VP of Marketing Scott Summer 03/12/2009 Interview with 360 Networks TMC's Greg Galitzine speaks with 360 Networks Product Director of VoIP Services Nick Reifschneider 03/12/2009 Interview with Stratus TMC's Rich Tehrani speaks with Stratus President Nathan Franzmeier 03/12/2009 Interview with tw telecom TMCnet's Greg Galitzine interviews tw telecom Senior Vice President Michael Rouleau 03/11/2009 Interview with Pac-West TMCnet's Greg Galitzine speaks with Pac-West Chief Executive Robert H. Turner 03/11/2009 Interview with Sprint TMCnet's Greg Galitzine speaks with Sprint Director of Wholesale Services David Falter 03/11/2009 Interview with Qwest TMCnet's Greg Galitzine interviews Qwest General Manager Michael Lipic 03/11/2009 Interview with Profitec Billing Services TMCnet's Greg Galitzine interviews Profitec Billing Vice President of Sales and Marketing Randal Minervino 03/11/2009 Interview with Vixxi Solutions TMCnet's Greg Galitzine speaks with Vixxi Solutions Senior Vice President of Sales Bucky Wallace 03/11/2009 Interview with Soapstone Networks TMCnet's Greg Galitzine speaks with Soapstone Networks Senior Vice President of Marketing Esmeralda Swartz 03/11/2009 Interview with NeuStar TMCnet's Greg Galitzine interviews NeuStar Senior Director of Product Management Timothy Cody 03/11/2009

Posted in 4G, AT&T, Apple, Avaya, Blackberry, Broadband, CRM, Call Center, Cisco, Communications Developer, Conferencing, Consumer Electronics, E-Commerce, Fax, Gadget, Google, IMS, IP Communications, IPTV, Merger/Acquisition, Nortel, Optical, SIP, SaaS, Security, Skype, Social Networking, Speech Technologies, TMC Team, Technology, Unified Communications, Verizon, Video, Virtual Worlds, VoIP, Vonage, Wireless, Yahoo

Tagged: Actelis, Covad, Dash, Genband, Mera, Neustar, Profitec, Sprint, Stratus Telecom, Taqua, TW Telecom : Related Tags: galitzine speaks, tehrani speaks, galitzine interviews, networks tmcnet, president sales, interview

Cable Companies to be Big in SIP Trunking

March 12, 2009

I met with Steve Johnson the President of Ingate today. Steve predicts
the cable companies will be formidable SIP trunking providers soon.
Expect a number of new videos from Steve on the SIP trunking community
on TMCnet.

Posted in IP Communications

Speakeasy Rolls Out SIP Trunks and More

March 12, 2009

According to Bruce Chatterley the President and CEO of Speakeasy, his company is a full service broadband communications company building solution for the SMB space. The company focuses on the smaller end of this group at under 100 employees and in fact 75% of customers have 25 or less employees.

Speakeasy offers T1 and Ethernet broadband as well as hosted VoIP solutions, SIP trunking and more. SIP trunking is a new addition and to date it is certified with solutions from IP PBX companies, Digium, Fonality and Adtran.

To learn how Speakeasy can solve you company's voice and data needs, be sure to check out this audio interview with Bruce which also details how you can leverage the best of Speakeasy service combined with solutions from Best Buy who incidentally is Speakeasy's parent company.

The question I am sure is on your mind is whether these companies will team up to to throw in a flat-screen TV with Speakeasy's quintuple play service. Be sure to listen for the answer.

Posted in Broadband, Call Center, Consumer Electronics, Gadget, IP Communications, Microsoft, Podcast, SIP, Technology, Unified Communications, VoIP

Tagged: Adtran, asterisk, bruce Chatterley, clec, Digium, ilec, ip communications, ip pbx, phone company, podcast, sip trunking, smb, sme, Speakeasy, triple play, voip : Related Tags: speakeasy, company, service, solutions

Google Voice Arrives

March 12, 2009

It took a full 20 months since the Grand Central acquisition but perhaps the wait has been worth it. Google just rolled out Google Voice, a service which expands on the one number for life idea.

I spent a few minutes trying to logon to Google Voice and finally realized the company will let me know when my Grand Central account has been upgraded. If you don't have a Grand Central account you need to wait for the company to allow you to become a free Google Voice subscriber but you can add your email address to a list now to expedite the process.

The new killer feature the company has implemented is voicemail to text or voicemail transcription. Why is a great feature? The answer lies in your ability to read voicemails while on the phone, in meetings, etc.

Posted in 4G, AT&T, Apple, Avaya, Blackberry, CRM, Call Center, FCC, Financial, Gadget, Google, IP Communications, Microsoft, Nortel, SIP, Speech Technologies, Technology, Unified Communications, Verizon, VoIP, Wireless

Tagged: call forwarding, craig walker, find me, follow me, Google voice, grand central, jitc, just in time communications, simulscribe, spinvox, uc, unified communications, voicemail to text, voicemail transcription : Related Tags: google voice, grand central, voicemail transcription, central account, transcription google, google

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Cablevision Optimum WiFi a True Differentiator

March 11, 2009

One of the smartest and underreported moves in the communications space is Cablevision's decision to roll out its Optimum WiFi service for free in metropolitan areas of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. I should mention it is free if you are a current Cablevision customer. The service has come in handy for me in many instances and ensures customer loyalty. Researchers believe this subsidized offering is the reason Cablevision has had more than 70 percent sequential growth in net subscriber additions in the fourth quarter of 2008...

Posted in 4G, AT&T, Blackberry, Broadband, Consumer Electronics, FCC, Financial, IP Communications, Merger/Acquisition, Technology, Verizon, Video, VoIP, WiMAX, Wireless

Tagged: 3g, 4g, acquisition, at&t wireless, Cablevision, m&a, optimum online, optimum voice, Verizon wireless, wayport, wifi, wimax, wireless : Related Tags: cablevision, optimum, wireless, service

In-Flight WiFi: Know Before You Go

March 11, 2009

It's enough to bring tears to my eyes - but in a good way . This of course proves once and for all how misplaced my priorities can be.

You see, Virgin America now includes WiFi availability on flight timetables - and this my friends is how it should be.

The circled area below indicates flights with honest-to-goodness WiFi. BTW, regardless of how much I fly, I have never ever had WiFi on one of my flights.

Posted in 4G, AT&T, Apple, Blackberry, Broadband, Consumer Electronics, FCC, Gadget, IP Communications, Technology, Verizon, VoIP, Wireless

Tagged: airline, Virgin America, wifi : Related Tags:

Plantronics Redefines Unified Communications Endpoints

March 10, 2009

Company looks to differentiate itself from other headset vendors through software and innovation

Historically the headset was not an area of the communications space where people expected tremendous amounts of new technology. Certainly wireless standards like DECT and Bluetooth have brought headsets into the tech space but for Plantronics these were a stepping stone for tighter integration into the world of unified communications.

After 40 years of making industry-leading headsets, the company has now upped the ante by announcing a suite of new products which are designed to add intelligence, flexibility and ease-of-use to communications endpoints. As mobile devices like smartphones and netbooks continue to gain momentum, the company is looking to provide the unified communications glue which connects various devices together while better integrating music/entertainment and business communications/UC markets.

The company just released Savi Office which is designed for office workers and provides a single wireless headset for desk phones and PC audio/softphone calls. Savi Go as the name suggests gives mobile professionals a simple-to-use wireless headset to connect to PC and mobile phone.

Posted in 4G, AT&T, Apple, Avaya, Blackberry, Broadband, CRM, Call Center, Cisco, Conference, Consumer Electronics, FCC, Gadget, Google, IP Communications, Microsoft, Nortel, SIP, Skype, Speech Technologies, Technology, Unified Communications, Verizon, Video, VoIP, Vonage, Wireless, Yahoo

Tagged: Avaya, bose, Cisco, consumer electronics, Google Talk, headset, IBM, ibm, IP communications, Microsoft, noise cancelling, Plantronics, savi, Skype, tmcnet, uc, unified communications : Related Tags: persono suite, unified communications, noise cancelling, wireless headset, communications endpoints, company

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Why We Needed This Economic Reboot

March 9, 2009

It is impossible to watch the news or read the paper these days without feeling a sense of fear. Will I keep my job? My house? My investments? My car?

And I am with you. I feel the pain of everyone who has been laid off, bankrupt or currently fears for their job.

But this crisis which has terrible consequences is the reboot we need to get our systems running properly again.

When you run your computer, some applications can suck up memory and other resources and not release them, causing your computer to function incorrectly. Perhaps it stops responding to every key press or perhaps Excel and Quicken take up all the resources and Microsoft Word and PowerPoint are unresponsive.

Posted in Financial, Google

Tagged: employment, financial, google, government, jobs, reboot, recession, tech, ubble, wall street : Related Tags: fairfield county, economic reboot, bubble burst, telecom bubble, silver lining, reboot

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Boring Flight, Need TV and Internet

March 6, 2009

Hope to get ubiquitous broadband one day.

Posted in IP Communications

Do Not Call AMEX Unless You Want a Call Back

March 6, 2009

American Express is about to change its terms of service agreement allowing them to call or SMS you on ANY number you call them from. What this means is if you borrow a friend's phone, use a pay phone or a hotel phone to call the company, they can call that number back in reference to your account for any reason. This is not to imply AMEX would divulge your confidential information but the problem here is the lack of respect for customers American Express is displaying with this move.

Moreover the utter stupidity of this change from a CRM perspective makes you wonder as an investor or customer whether you want to be associated with the company at all. BTW I am a very satisfied customer of AMEX myself and these rules won't make me cancel (yet) but they will make me wary of where I call them from.

Posted in CRM, Call Center, Financial, Speech Technologies, Technology

Tagged: American express, bank, credit card, crm, mastercard, privacy, terms and conditions, visa : Related Tags: american express, phone

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Stuck at DFW

March 6, 2009

I had an early-morning connecting flight which to be honest I really wasn't thrilled about. Since my first flight was cancelled the airline was nice enough to get me a direct flight later in the day -- with good seats. So I am really not that upset about it. Hope you all have a great weekend. I am now going to spend some time putting all the notes I took this week into intelligible blog entries.

Posted in IP Communications

Sipera Tackles IP Video Security

March 6, 2009

My flight was cancelled here at DFW but while I wait in this ultra-comfortable Samsung-sponsored airport lounge which has comfortable chairs and power outlets galore, I had a chance to read about Greg Galitzine's scoop regarding Sipera's move into the video security market. Greg was on a flight earlier than me and was lucky enough to have his flight not cancelled.

But back to Sipera - the move into video security makes sense as video is becoming so popular and is likely a fertile ground for hackers.

Posted in Broadband, Security, Technology, Video

Tagged: communications, firewall, greg galizine, Sipera, UCSniff2.0, videojack, Voip, voip authority : Related Tags: video security, flight cancelled, video, security, sipera, flight

Just Give it Away (at first)

March 6, 2009

I am sitting here at the DFW airport, looking forward to getting home but not thrilled about the 50 degree temperature drop I will be experiencing. While at the food court furiously checking email and blogging, a McDonald's representative walked around with free samples of ice coffee.

You don't think of McDonalds as a company which would engage in guerilla marketing but they are - and when you consider they are the underdog to Starbucks, it explains the move.

What can we learn from this? Well that sometimes giving things away for free in the beginning of a relationship can be the key to long-term customer acquisition.

Certainly Digium realizes this and so do many other open-source companies. Is it time to explore a way to do this in your business? Maybe.

Posted in CRM, Open Source, Technology

Tagged: crm, mcdonalds, Open source, starbucks : Related Tags:

From Bad GM News to Good Tektronix News

March 5, 2009

I woke this morning to hear GM may face bankruptcy, even though the taxpayers have loaned the company tens of billions of dollars. Later in the day I traveled to Genband where they tell me business is good. I then went to Nortel who is going through a difficult restructuring. I met with the carrier division and the good news is the company is closing deals - post Chapter 11 restructuring announcement.

Posted in 4G, AT&T, Broadband, FCC, IP Communications, Nortel, SIP, Technology, Unified Communications, Verizon, VoIP, WiMAX, Wireless

Tagged: 3g, 4g, backhaul, broadband, channel, enterprise, Genband, ip communications, lte, Nortel, reseller, smb, Tektronix, uc, var, wimax, wireless : Related Tags: cautious optimism, still buying, restructuring, customers, companies

Visiting Nortel While in Dallas

March 5, 2009

Be back online soon.

Posted in IP Communications

Genband Femtocell Capacity

March 5, 2009

I spent some time with Mehmet Balos Executive VP and CMO of Genband today and at one point in the conversation he explained the G9 gateway pictured here can handle 1.2 million femtocell subs in a 7 foot rack. This assumes one user per femtocell - if you have four per cell you divide the total users by 4 and get 300,000. Impressive.

Balos tells me things are going well and we can expect big announcements at shows this year. Sign up for a TMCnet Genband news alert to keep up with the latest happenings.

Posted in IP Communications

Despite Economy, Communications Doing Surprisingly Well

March 4, 2009

I have just completed a whirlwind tour of the Channel Partners show in Las Vegas, Comptel in Dallas and I have had many meetings in the Dallas area and what I have found from the 50+ people I have met with this week is the communications space is doing very very well.

Everyone at the companies I have met with are cautiously optimistic. The cautious part is because they aren't sure if we are going into depression 2.0.

But overall the trend is companies are more likely to reevaluate their equipment and service providers and cut costs by going to companies providing the best value.

Things are not rosy for all though. If you have massive debt you may not make it through this storm. Nortel is perhaps the most well-known casualty in our space so far.

Generally, exhibitors at all shows I have gone to this year are very happy and they say the ROI at events has been better than ever.

Posted in Broadband, FCC, Fax, IP Communications, IPTV, Nortel, SIP, Technology, Unified Communications, Video, VoIP, Wireless

Tagged: communications, depression 2.0, economy, obama, recession, Technology : Related Tags: digital economy, communications doing, despite economy, federal government, economy, nurses

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BlackBerry App World - It's Alive

March 4, 2009

Well sort of... It will be soon. Just got this email from RIM PR:

RIM has officially named the storefront - BlackBerry App World.

The site for developers will be updated tonight and should be live again by 10pm (Eastern Time).
At the same time, they will launch a sign up page for users who want to be alerted when BlackBerry App World goes live. They should go register at www.blackberry.com/appworld. Let me know if you have any questions. I can't wait to give the site a whirl.

Posted in 4G, AT&T, Blackberry, Broadband, FCC, Gadget, IP Communications, Technology, Unified Communications, Verizon, VoIP, Wireless

Tagged: app store, Blackberry, rim : Related Tags: blackberry, world

RCR Wireless News Shuts Down

March 4, 2009

Sad news. I like this publication and it had great writers.

Posted in IP Communications

TMC Communications Offers Comprehensive Services for Agents and Customers

March 4, 2009

The telecom agent market is alive and well as evidenced by a number of meetings I have had recently with execs at communications providers who use agents to help them sell service. As you can imagine the challenge for smaller telecom providers is to come up with ways to differentiate themselves from one another as minutes become increasingly commoditized. To stand out, some providers choose price, others focus on service and commissions while others bundle more services to offer a compelling and unique value proposition.

One company doing all three is TMC Communications. In addition to the great name the company picked for itself they have also gone the extra mile to try to entice agents to resell their services and have customers buy from them.

Posted in AT&T, Broadband, Call Center, FCC, IP Communications, SIP, Technology, Unified Communications, Verizon, VoIP

Tagged: agent, AT&T, Global Crossing PAETEC, ip communications, Level3, master agent, Melissa March, network management, packet prioritization, Qwest, reseller, Saas, Sarah Graham, sip trunking, streamcore, tmc communications, var, Verizon, voip : Related Tags: bandwidth, communications, network, company, agents, services

Skype Gives Away HD VoIP Codec

March 4, 2009

There is no question in my mind that HD voice is the future of communications. The PSTN and associated codecs, microphones and speakers are all designed to transmit telephony based on technology a half-century old. Few other industries have such legacy standards. Today's smartphones have the power of a supercomputer from the nineties in them yet they transmit voice of inferior quality based on state of the art voice compression technology our grandparents invented.

Posted in 4G, AT&T, Apple, Blackberry, Broadband, Call Center, Cisco, Communications Developer, Conferencing, Consumer Electronics, FCC, Gadget, IP Communications, Microsoft, SIP, Skype, Technology, Video, VoIP

Tagged: Alan Percy, Alteva, AudioCodes, Bill Bumbernick, Debbie Greenstreet, hd voice, itexpo, James Awad, Jonathan Christensen, Octasic, Polycom, pstn, silk, Skype, Texas Instruments, Tim Yankey, tom keating, voip : Related Tags: voice, panel, debbie

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Dallas Sunset Shots

March 3, 2009

Here are some great Dallas sunset shots. Belated apologies to other Dallas Drivers on the highway as I was taking these.

I am a professional photographer... Please don't try this at home.

Posted in IP Communications

Hanging With Carl Ford

March 3, 2009

Having dinner with Carl Ford and the team and discussing telecom and
the future. Did I mention Carl thinks we need better battery
technology?

Posted in IP Communications

Julius Genachowski Named as FCC Chairman

March 3, 2009

Julius Genachowski had been rumored to get the FCC Chairman role and it is now official.

Posted in 4G, AT&T, FCC, IP Communications, WiMAX, Wireless

Tagged: ap, barack obama, fcc, Julius Genachowski, kevin martin, president, wifi, wimax : Related Tags: julius genachowski

5 Minutes Outside Vegas

March 3, 2009

Just took off on the way to Dallas. Am looking forward to some good
meetings today.

Posted in IP Communications

Headed to Dallas

March 3, 2009

Early morning here in Vegas. Leaving soon.

•

Posted in IP Communications

Harris Stratex Makes Minor WiMAX Purchase

March 2, 2009

Buddy, can you spare a million bucks a month?

Harris Stratex just picked up Telsima Networks for a low $1 million/month for 12 months. The potential reason was the relationship the two companies had where Harris Stratex resold equipment from Telsima. Who is Telsima? A little-known WiMAX products provider who has received at least $81 million in investment in the past. Here is part of the company's funding history:

Telsima Closes Working Capital Debt of $25 Million US - Telsima raises USD 20 million funding Telsima Receives $50 Million Funding Infusion Telsima receives 4th round funding And some other news: Tata Picks Telsima To Deploy WiMax For 110 Cities In India

My take? If you run out of investment money and do PR and marketing poorly, you are toast and get below fire sale pricing.

Posted in 4G, Broadband, FCC, Financial, IMS, IP Communications, Nortel, SIP, Technology, WiMAX, Wireless

Tagged: 3g, 4g, evdo, financial, harald braun, harris stratex, lte, m&a, merger, Telsima, wifi, wimax, wireless : Related Tags: harris stratex, million, telsima, wimax, funding, harris

Panoramic Vegas Shot

March 2, 2009

I downloaded an iPhone app called Pano which makes panoramic photos. I
have no idea if it will post correctly. Fingers crossed. :-)

Posted in IP Communications

Shot of Vegas From The Palms Hotel

March 2, 2009

Early morning shot. Enjoy.

Posted in IP Communications

SimpleSignal Adds Voice to the Cloud

March 1, 2009

"If it doesn't support FMC it isn't truly unified communications," says David Gilbert whose business card reads "The Big Cheese" at Broadsoft-powered hosted communications company SimpleSignal. Gilbert skipped handing me the lengthy press kits which are customary in our profession and instead gave me a single napkin (back of the napkin -- get it?) which elucidates the unique attributes of the company's solution.

David Gilbert, The Big Cheese at SimpleSignal

What pain does SimpleSignal take away for customers? According to Gilbert, "The management of a PBX - the value of a hosted PBX - the ability to unify communications. [We] tie it all together and make it easy to communicate out of any application, software, hardware, home or office. [We] change the game."

He continued, "It's not about picking up the phone to make a phone call, it's about voice as a feature, not as a service."

The company's Broadsoft-powered solutions allow users to initiate calls directly from applications/services such as Outlook, Facebook, Salesforce.com and Google Docs integration should arrive in about three months.

Wow -- a napkin, really -- That's all you are going to give me? Really though I love when companies try to be different and succeed at it doing it well

In addition the company has a voicemail to email service allowing emails to be read (text to speech) with the ability to respond via a WAV file which is emailed.

Posted in 4G, AT&T, Apple, Blackberry, Broadband, CRM, Consumer Electronics, Gadget, Google, IP Communications, Microsoft, SIP, Technology, Unified Communications, Verizon, VoIP, Wireless

Tagged: broadsoft, dave gilbert, facebook, fmc, Jaduka, mashup, mobility, outlook, Saas, salesforce.com, simplesignal, thomas howe, uc, voice, voice 2.0 : Related Tags: broadsoft powered, david gilbert, gilbert, company, simplesignal, voice

On Virgin America to Vegas

March 1, 2009

I am on a Virgin America flight again and sadly there is no WiFi. There is power however the the AC outlet (that is right, no fancy devices needed to get power on a Virgin America flight) didn't work at first and the flight attendant suggested I reinsert the plug with "authority." That did the trick and even though there is no WiFi I have hundreds of emails to go through and a number of interviews which I am hoping to turn into articles. So far it's been a productive flight, read many tech magazines and an issue of Consumer Reports which rated treadmills and phone plans. I even read through a Merrill Lynch magazine which gave lots of investment advice.

Communications and Technology Blog - Tehrani.com

March 2009