Packet8 Virtual Trunking

Last month I discussed a rumor regarding 8x8/Packet8 providing SIP trunking services. It turns out this rumor was true as today the company released the news they will not only provide SIP trunking but a more comprehensive product they call... continue reading...

Hyperconnectivity, Live and in Person

You can't escape the reality that interconnectivity between humans will increase at a more rapid pace as time goes on. The myriad ways in which we connect with one another, e-mail, social networks, blogging, IM, SMS, telephone, voicemail and others... continue reading...

Sipera Looks To The Channel

Expect Sipera, the Texas-based company focusing on VoIP/UC security to look for resellers to sell their products worldwide. Brenadan Ziolo, the company's VP of Marketing Operations visited TMC this week to brief us on where the company is going with... continue reading...

iPhone Adoption and Women

Women love iPhones but not as many as I thought. The iPhone seems the natural phone for women as it is stylish, powerful and easy to use. I would have guessed that more than 50% of iPhone users are women... continue reading...

Build Communities With Google's Help

Let's say your company plays in a few different spaces such as information technology, security and storage. And let's say your company has decided to build a community of interest which is dedicated to a specific subject area as you... continue reading...

Podcast: AudioCodes Mediant 1000 MSBG

Recently, AudioCodes released the Mediant 1000 MSBG (Multi-Service Business Gateway) a device which combines the following: media gateway, enterprise class session border controller, data router, firewall, LAN Switch, WAN access, Stand Alone Survivability and an on-board general purpose server. This... continue reading...

T-Mobile Lawsuit Repercussions

Rob Adler has an interesting take on the T-Mobile/Starbucks WiFi lawsuit at his Vantage blog. His point? That the PR hit of winning a lawsuit which takes away WiFi from millions of users will be extreme. I can't help but... continue reading...

Talkswitch Interview: Jan Scheeren

Right now the small business market is the shining star in communications -- plenty of growth is predicted in this space and small businesses for the most part are behind the tech curve -- meaning they need to catch up.... continue reading...

Amazon Down Again

Amazon having more problems. Second time in a few days. I am in the middle of an order and the site is hanging and then crashing. Very frustrating. Yes, they have complicated systems but this can't be good for business.... continue reading...

Switchvox AA300

Greg Galitzine  broke the news regarding the new Digium Switchvox AA300, a new appliance dedicated to companies with about 150 users. The box also supports 45 simultaneous calls, 10 recorded and 15 simultaneous conference calls. Tom Keating speculates about... continue reading...

Conflicting iPhone Rumors

There is just so much information being spewed out on the internet regarding the unveiling of the iPhone. The latest bit of news has to do with production problems. Check out this article for insights on conflicting rumors and photos... continue reading...

Amazon Fights for First Amendment

The scary part about so much information about people being in a single place is that the government knows where to look. This is a good thing when they are investigating a suspect but when they start to investigate the... continue reading...

T-Mobile Suing Starbucks

T-Mobile is already not thrilled AT&T will replace them as the service provider of choice in Starbucks stores, now the GSM-based service provider who was early to embrace WiFi is losing revenue due to the new AT&T/Starbucks promotion of free... continue reading...

Will Steve Jobs Wow Us?

It seems that if you do not blog about the iPhone this weekend you will be out touch with the blogging and news gathering communities. It is just that important. On Monday we will have a new Apple mobile device... continue reading...

CBX 2008 News and Analyis

Telx CBX has kicked off and I am going to be doing all the video reporting in about 20 minutes. Here is my quick take on the news breaking from the show so far: WBS Connect will provide telepresence service... continue reading...

HTC Touch Pro

The HTC Touch Pro may be the ultimate Blackberry killer. I know the term "killer" is used very often but let's look at this situation carefully... People who type a lot benefit from a keyboard. Sure, an on-screen keyboard works... continue reading...

Plantronics Calisto Pro Series Review

I have had a few months to use the Plantronics Calisto Pro Series wireless telephone and bluetooth headset and I remain tremendously impressed by this solution which I say is perfect for the small business who wants maximum flexibility... continue reading...

Mobile Virtual Worlds Emerge

There are so many communications companies pushing products and services revolving around virtual worlds, one wonders if we are about to see a new subset of communications break out and achieve mass appeal like VoIP, the iPhone or Blackberry. Do... continue reading...

Will LTE Fuel IMS?

Will LTE fuel IMS? Bob Emmerson seems to think so and he has a great point. With similar elements defined in WiMAX, LTE and IMS, the chances that carriers will have to install more and more IMS components are good.... continue reading...

Flat Rate Voice/Data Plans for SMBs

If you are an SMB and you feel you would like to pay less for voice and data service, perhaps now is the time for you to rejoice... Well at least smile. The reason is there is a new flat... continue reading...

Telephony Hardware Community

Be sure to visit TMC's newest Global Online Community (GOC), Telephony Hardware sponsored by Pika Technologies. Why would you visit? Simply because regularly visiting a TMC community is an ideal way to learn about a specific topic such as in this... continue reading...

Headed to Telx CBX 2008

Later this week I will be a video reporter at the Telx CBX (customer business exchange) event in New York. I always like the CBX events and am looking forward to meeting with the companies in the carrier hotel space... continue reading...

Nortel User Group 2008

I am off to Dallas for this event. Maybe I will see you there. Back online soon. -- Rich... continue reading...

One More Reason To Vacation in the Bahamas

Recently the Bahamas Telecom Company (BTC) decided to migrate its existing countrywide wireline network to IP using Sonus and Calix gear. The move to IP will reduce the amount of equipment that needs managing and in addition, the Bahamian phone... continue reading...

Of IP Communications and Broadband Reliability

I came across an interesting article in the New York Times by Randall Stross which discusses consumer VoIP services, the differences in quality between them and the general trend towards multiple services of lower reliability replacing a single service (PSTN)... continue reading...

Speaking at IP Sizzles 2008

I am really looking forward to IP Sizzles 2008 -- formerly VoIP Sizzles 2008. What is it you ask? Well I am glad you did. IP Sizzles is an event put on by ABP which focuses on educating resellers on... continue reading...

Eyeball Networks Signs 5-Year Micro-Community Agreement with TMC

You may recall past writings about how TMCnet has been building communities of interest for customers worldwide in an effort to educate purchasing decision makers about the products and services in different subsets of the communications and technology markets. Our... continue reading...

Vocaltec Sells Patents to Karo Millennium

In a way, I must thank VocalTec because it was companies like them that helped me realize how IP would revolutionize communications and further help me decide to launch a magazine dedicated to the market in 1997. VocalTec was one... continue reading...

New Asterisk Community

In an effort to further educate purchasing decision-makers and influencers in the world of communications and technology, TMC has partnered with Digium to build an Asterisk Global Online Community. The goal of TMCnet's communities (and channels which are micro-communities) is... continue reading...

Google Gears Powers MySpace

There is a fascinating transformation always taking place in computing. Mainframe computing relied on dumb terminals and then as clients became smarter, we started to migrate to client/server environments. Over time, news ways of working appeared and disappeared and more... continue reading...

SIP Forum Growth

The SIP Forum seems to be making some nice progress in attracting a broad swath of companies to its organization. In case you aren't aware, The SIP Forum is a non-profit IP communications industry association that engages in numerous activities... continue reading...

Flash to SIP Video and Back

I just read about a company which allows Flash to SIP and SIP to Flash video calls. This could be useful for situations where SIP is not an option for whatever reason. According to ISC the company behind Flashphone.ru, video... continue reading...

Being Part of Squawk Box

I spent part of my morning on Alex Saunders' Squawk Box -- a gathering place for industry analysts and thought leaders to discuss important technology issues of the day. Topics today included Ariel Waldman's harassment allegations against Twitter. This conversation... continue reading...

Podcast: Objectworld's David Levy

Objectworld's CEO, David Levy Objectworld is a Canadian-based software-only company providing unified communications solutions for small to medium businesses. Their solution includes UM, fax server, IVR, TTS, Exchange & Lotus Notes integration, etc. Objectworld's solutions work with about 90% of... continue reading...

Podcast: Zed-3's Iain Milnes Discusses The GS8

Zed-3 is the company most people have never heard of but it is backed by telecom veteran Iain Milnes who launched Zarak -- the successful testing company later sold to Spirent and Zultys -- the company which made a... continue reading...

Podcast: Starent Networks Thierry Maupilé

As the wireless industry evolves, the level of complexity has evolved with it allowing companies such as Starent Networks to thrive by delivering technology which enables carriers to deliver rich content multimedia services. We all have cell phones and it... continue reading...

Roku: The Apple of TV?

Without a doubt, the new Netflix Player by Roku set top box will become a serious contender for the title "iPod of the world of television." I haven't seen this device yet but based on what I have read... continue reading...

Skype Adding Video Clips

Om Malik discusses how Skype is evolving to show video clips. I have detailed at length many of the ideas Skype should embrace to make money and showing videos makes good sense as it leverages the success of other video... continue reading...

Plaxo Sends a Message

As I mentioned recently, Comcast picked up Plaxo. Just today I received this e-mail to Plaxo users, explaining the company has been acquired and will remain an independent entity, evolving and growing. It is a pretty good letter as it... continue reading...

Cisco EMC Merger Rumor

With a majority stake in VMware and a commanding lead of the storage space, what's not to like about EMC. If you are Cisco, it makes sense to pick up EMC now because the stock is down a bit and... continue reading...

CBS Picks up CNET

Congratulations to CNET for being acquired by CBS for a 40% premium. I have always admired the company and I am curious to see how it changes as it becomes part of a larger media company which has so many... continue reading...

Packet8 SIP Trunking Rumor

I have heard a rumor regarding 8x8/Packet8 getting into the SIP trunking business. No confirmation yet but this makes great sense as this area of the market is doing well. All trunks will eventually be SIP trunks it seems... Unless... continue reading...

New WiMAX News Site

TMCnet grows daily with thousands of new news items and stories. As the site grows, we are always looking for ways to improve. One of these ways is to develop community pages which focus on a particular subject matter... continue reading...

ITEXPO West 2008 Conference Announced

One of the areas we have been feverishly working on at TMC is our conference program for ITEXPO,September 16-18, 2008 at the Los Angeles Convention Center. We have truly strengthened this offering with the addition of new TMC University certifications.... continue reading...

My Canada Trip and Nortel Wrap Up

I am back from Canada and the first thing I did when turning on my phone was praise the engineers who came up with the awkward-sounding acronym called EVDO. By the way in my discussions in Canada it seems the... continue reading...

Virtual Worlds, The Future of Communications

I am here at Nortel R&D headquarters in Ottawa, Canada where the Nortel incubation team is showing us a bunch of the latest technologies they are working on in the labs. This is the first day the media has... continue reading...

Digium Picks Integrics to Power Carrier Solutions

Perhaps one of the biggest misperceptions among those who dabble in communications is that Asterisk is only used in small business environments. The reality is that Asterisk is being used in service provider environments as well. Of course this doesn't... continue reading...

UMAThought Leader Steve Shaw on TMCnet

Few people know more about UMA than Steve Shaw... He really lives and breathes this market. This is why I am thrilled Steve will be writing for TMCnet with a special focus on unwired mobile access or UMA. Here is... continue reading...

Cablevision's WiFi Network in New York City

WiFi is not new and providing WiFi to a city is not new. What is new and worth noodling on is the fact Cablevision will soon have a WiFi network in New York City -- well over the next... continue reading...

PAETEC: Success Under the Radar

Recently I traveled to San Francisco to PAETEC World, the largest of annual meetings that PAETEC has with its customers. During this cold San Francisco week, over 350 customers and well over 100 PAETEC employees spent a few days in... continue reading...

Vonage Record Quarter: Jeff Citron Interview

Vonage has done a great job this last quarter --  posting growth numbers in a slower economy. I just had a podcast interview with Jeffrey Citron where he talked about the company's growth rate and the number of new initiatives... continue reading...

SkyFire: The Cure for iPhone Envy

Do you have iPhone envy? I do. In fact, just this past Sunday I walked into the AT&T store and I browsed TMCnet on the iPhone and was blown away at how easy it was to surf on this phone... continue reading...

Skype as David, Telcos as Goliath

OK, now I have heard it all. Large, incumbent telephone companies are going to launch a competitor to Skype. But before I proceed with my thoughts, as often the case with such amazing speculation, it is good to air out... continue reading...

Avtech Software Protects Data Centers

Companies spend incredible sums of money on their communications and technology infrastructure but all too often they do not focus enough attention on protecting the investment in such equipment. As telepresence, unified communications, handheld devices, mobility and IP communications turbocharge... continue reading...

Sangoma's David Mandelstam Shares Thoughts

Sangoma's David Mandelstam always has something interesting to say so I invited him to have a podcast with me. What can you learn from listening is how well Sangoma and other communications companies are doing -- even in a slow... continue reading...

Nortel's Joel Hackney Discusses Earnings

Nortel announced earnings today and to get more detail on the news I had a chance to speak with Joel Hackney, President of the Enterprise Solutions Group at Nortel. Some details worth sharing... The company's net loss widened but revenue... continue reading...

Shoretel Implosion?

I have never heard the kind of rumors about a vendor that I am hearing about Shoretel. Reports of unhappiness in the ranks of the workers and management problems persist in the industry. Some comments I have been hearing is... continue reading...

Communications and the Economy

Yesterday at Interop I asked exhibitors and analysts what they were hearing about the economy. Most said they think the recovery would be U shaped, not a V but some thought that Q3 would be the start of a recovery.... continue reading...

Interactive Intelligence has Record Quarter

In a challenging economic environment, what can one say about the financial performance of Interactive Intelligence? Consider this: quartlerly revenue of $29.5 million; up 21 percent over revenues of $24.3 million in the same quarter last year. I must admit... continue reading...

Interop Bound and Thanks

Another year, another Interop. I am off once again across the country to Vegas where I will likely spend more time standing in line than I will sleeping. How amazing is the fact that you can build a city in... continue reading...

Half a Million Hacked Websites

I don't mean to sound alarmist but half a million hacked websites? is that how many there are? In other words if users hit any of 500,000 sites using IE they will likely be infected? Talk about an electronic pandemic.... continue reading...

PhoneTag, The New Simulscribe

Jamie Siminoff beams with enthusiasm as he explains to me in this podcast about his excitement regarding his company's name change from SimulScribe to PhoneTag. According to Siminoff, sales have increased dramatically since the announcement of the new name and... continue reading...

Headed Back From Paetec World 2008

I really had some great meetings today with Fortune class companies who are in various stages of deploying VoIP. It is always great to get to spend time with these companies and learn about their challenges and success stories. I... continue reading...

Of Universities and Technology

I head back from Paetec World today and I have had a number of very good meetings so far. I have a busy morning planned but before I head off to the day's festivities it is worth pointing out that... continue reading...

Blackberry Voice Search

TellMe just launched a new application which allows people to use their Blackberry for voice search. utilizing the TellMe speech recognition engine and Microsoft Live Search, you can have search results automatically localized if you happen to have a GPS-enabled... continue reading...

Off To PAETEC World

I am heading out to the 2008 PINNACLE Users Conference at PAETEC World today. I had heard good things about Virgin Atlantic and am even taking one of their flights today. Yesterday I met with a company int he communications... continue reading...

A Slacker Weekend

I just started using the Slacker website to stream music and I remain very impressed at how good the service is. You are able to listen to a number of predefined stations or make your own. You can also customized... continue reading...

Adobe Scene7 Awakens the Web

If you are interested to see how the world of ecommerce will merge with virtual worlds, you should check out the Hunter Douglas website as it uses Adobe Scene7 technology to allow some serious visualization. You may be expecting a... continue reading...

Podcast: Broadlook Technologies - Co-Founder Broadlook Technologies

Are CRM and SFA tools only as good as the data they contain? You bet they are. This is exactly why I invited Dan Hughes the co-founder of Broadlook Technologies on a TMCnet podcast so I could learn more about... continue reading...

Danny Windham Podcast

Yesterday's podcast with Digium's CEO Danny Windham is getting a good deal of exposure and a number of people have been commenting on it to me. There is also a related article written by TMCnet's Susan Cambpell worth reading. For... continue reading...

SMS Saves Lives

The only thing better than seeing the world interconnecting with technologies such as SMS, is seeing health care providers taking advantage of the latest gadgets and technology to help curb disease outbreaks and improve prescription compliance. Case in point is... continue reading...

EsnaTech Grows the Google Ecosystem

One of the latest trends I have noticed is integrating disparate solutions into Google's suite of applications. Just this month in fact, two companies in the communications and CRM spaces have decided working with Google more closely makes a great... continue reading...

Podcast: Danny Windham, CEO Digium

How does a company go from being a leader in the open-source communications space while simultaneously looking to generate revenue? Even open-source purists realize that companies supporting this movement need a way to generate earnings. Digium, the sponsor and maintainer... continue reading...

Why Skype Should be Sold to Google

There are now rumors circulating that Google will buy Skype. These rumors are not new -- I wrote about this as recently as November 20 of 2007. But they did die down for a while and have been renewed. I... continue reading...

Ortiva Wireless Enables Mobile Streaming

Do you remember the past CEO of Cantata, Mark Zionts? He keynoted a past ITEXPO and was head of the company just before it sold to Dialogic. Since then he joined another company which he helped sell and now he... continue reading...

Novarra's Better Mobile Browsing Experience

A shift has taken place in internet usage and now more than ever it seems people want web access on the go. A single device in fact - the iPhone shows that if we make it easy to surf on... continue reading...

Will Social Networks Make Money?

I came across this well-researched article on the Brooding Savage discussing the fact that social networks may not ever make significant money. Why? Well, part of the reason may have to do with the success of these networks... There is... continue reading...

New TMCnet Record and New Writer

Thanks to our readers -- once again, TMCnet has hit a new record. In this case, we built a Global Online Community in conjunction with Interactive Intelligence and this community generated just under 600,000 page views in one month according... continue reading...

Dialogic Analyst/Media Day

Today I head to New York City for a Dialogic Press and Analyst day. We will be having a function this evening in Yankee Stadium which should be lots of fun. Many people have asked me to bring them some... continue reading...

iPhone Denial of Service Vulnerability

Radware today discovered the iPhone Safari browser is vulnerable to denial of service attack. The specific model being tested was the Apple iPhone1.1.4. In order to experience this problem a user must browse to a website containing malicious Javascript... continue reading...

Fonality Trixbox 2.0 Launches

According to Chris Lyman, the Founder and CEO of Fonality, the brand new Trixbox 2.0 is the "look mom, no hands, reseller version." In fact, the company is doing its best to make sure resellers have to touch these phone... continue reading...

Openwave Turns Service Providers into Internet Companies

For years, service providers could see their competitors coming head on. For example CLECs and VoIP providers are pretty easy to spot and entrenched telecom providers worldwide have adopted different strategies to battle these new entrants. But that was the... continue reading...

Ceragon Boosts Wireless Backhaul Throughput

As wireless service providers seem to be battling to see who can provide the lowest cost unlimited voice and data plans, a problem is emerging that needs to be dealt with quickly. The issue is simply, how to cost-effectively upgrade... continue reading...

GrandCentral Outage

Today was apparently a bad one for GrandCentral customers as many report the service was out for hours. As mentioned by TechCrunch, if you want to be phone company you can't go dead.... continue reading...

TiVo On the Offensive

It seems TiVo is on a roll as Dish Network has failed to to convince an appeals court to overturn a previous patent win. Dish Network could end up paying from about $100 to $200 million as a result... continue reading...

Next iPhone to Have Bluetooth Stereo, GPS, Nike Integration

What's on your wish list for the iPhone? The obvious addition is a keyboard and faster connection (well that is my personal wish list anyway.) But certainly stereo bluetooth and GPS are on my short list as well. According... continue reading...

Qwest Outage

Qwest is investigating an internet outage which took place yesterday. Apparently internet and VoIP service was interrupted for a number of customers yesterday afternoon. Perhaps not coincidentally, some ISPs were also knocked offline which in turn took TMCnet down for... continue reading...

IPTV Growth

TMCnet's Eve Sullivan writes about the massive adoption rates of IPTV worldwide. Apparently IPTV services grew from 4.7 million households in 2006 to 14 million in 2007. The growth rate in Europe actually hit 250%. Here is more information... continue reading...

Unlimited Plans = Unlimited Trouble?

Are unlimited voice and data plans causing unlimited headaches for carriers? More than one person told me at CTIA they think Sprint is going to be in real trouble as a result of the unlimited plan they are selling to... continue reading...

Google Android Running

Here is the good news. You can get Google's Android running on current hardware. In fact the AT&T Tilt is the Guinea Pig of choice for this particular endeavor in the following example. It is a bit early to jump... continue reading...

Plantronics HW251N-USB Wideband Headset

Correction... Despite my best efforts to be perfect this device is called the HW251N-USB not the HW351N-USB. Sorry if this caused you any problems. If you are like me you look for ways to ensure your entire team is as... continue reading...

Podcast: Ken Lamneck - President The Americas, Tech Data

Ken Lamneck President The Americas Tech Data Distribution companies are in a great position to tell us what trends to look for in the market. What is hot? What is not and more. It is for this reason I was... continue reading...

Podcast: Dieter Thompson, TAG

Dieter Thompson CEO TAG I had a chance to have a podcast interview with Dieter Thompson the CEO of TAG, an Alcatel-Lucent company specializing in telecom procurement, contract negotiation and vendor management solutions. Thompson shares many things in this interview... continue reading...

Mobile Unified Communications from Verizon

You may recall I have written about the RIM division Ascendant Systems and how the company enables mobile unified communications. Now the company which allows your Blackberry to function as a wireless extension of your communications system has inked a... continue reading...

FTTH is Needed Soon

I agree with Gary Kim that FTTH is needed, if not today, at least very soon. Unless a service provider is looking to sell out this year or next, they should be considering doing what rural Smithville Telephone did... continue reading...

Communications Developer Call for Papers

Be sure to submit your call for papers entries for the Communications Developer show which will be collocated with ITEXPO later this year in the Los Angeles, California Convention Center. The specific dates of the event will be September 16-18,... continue reading...

Bob Emmerson: TMC's European Editor

Bob Emmerson joins TMC as out European Editor. We are truly proud to have Bob join the team as he is a communications and technology veteran. Previously, Emmerson was a designer of digital control systems, a journalist, and a copywriter.... continue reading...

Messy Skype Presence Solution

Its funny, I spend so much time writing about solutions for service providers and enterprise customers that when I come across a do it yourself (DIY) solution allowing you to keep tabs on your Skype friends without the use of... continue reading...

TMCnet Podcast Library

Sure you have an iPhone or iPod or even a PC where you like to listen to your music. But have you had a chance to listen to TMCnet's high quality podcasts as of yet? ;-) I know many... continue reading...

TMCnet Gets a Redesign

I am very happy to be the first to tell you TMCnet is in the midst of one of its largest graphical overhauls. We are very proud of our new look which emphasizes softer blue colors and shades. There are... continue reading...

Recycle That Cell Phone

Verizon really wants you to recycle that old cell phone. The have partnered with HopeLine, who has helped keep 200 tons of electronic waste out of landfills to date. In order to take advantage of this program you can return... continue reading...

ScanSource Wants its MTV

ScanSource, a company distributing specialty technology products in communications, POS and other spaces, has acquired MTV Telecom Distribution, a UK-based distributor of voice and data solutions. Many US distribution companies are looking to expand internationally. This is especially true as... continue reading...

Live Communications Webinars

How do you stay up to date on the latest in communications and technology without leaving your desk? One of the best ways is with a webinar which allows you to sit comfortably in your office while you learn from... continue reading...

Sprint Pays Klausner

Sprint recently signed a deal with Klausner Technologies to enable them to use visual voicemail without the fear of being sued. This news is interesting as Sprint is one of the companies coming after VoIP providers who the company claims... continue reading...

EU Authorizes Fist Fights on Planes

OK I may be a bit over the top with this headline but allowing a plane full of passengers the ability to talk on the phone -- all in different languages... What is the EU thinking? According to TMCnet's Mae... continue reading...

Mind CTI Interview: Monica Eisinger

In the past few years there has been tremendous interest paid to VoIP and the underlying internet protocol which allows IP communications to take place. For those people who started to pay attention to the communications space in the last... continue reading...

TMCnet Hits 100 Sponsored Community Milestone

All I can say is thank you to our loyal readers who visit TMCnet frequently and our sponsors who have launched communities and channels in partnership with TMC on TMCnet. Furthermore, thanks for your loyalty and the nice testimonials many... continue reading...

Mossberg: 3G iPhone in 60 Days

Who am I to doubt Walt Mossberg the Wall Street Journal tech reviewer who gets his hands on gadgets before most others. According to Mossberg, we will have an iPhone capable of 3G speeds in less than 2 months.... continue reading...

Westport VoIP

Although this may not be earth-shattering news, I find it personally satisfying to see that after about ten years of publishing Internet Telephony Magazine and holding Internet Telephony Conference & Expo, that the town of Westport, CT has decided they... continue reading...

HD Voice goes Hosted

I have long mentioned there is an opportunity to start using stereophonic, surround sound quality in IP communications as the quality of phones today is just atrocious.Thankfully, Polycom, Skype, Microsoft and others have embraced this concept with their wideband codecs.... continue reading...

Packet8 Links With SalesForce.com

In the race to differentiate IP communications services, a natural area  for service providers in the business market to look is the CRM space. Integration with customer relationship management systems is common in large enterprises and even medium companies have... continue reading...

The Coming Mobile WiMAX Revolution

Over the past fifteen years the world has become smaller as a result of the internet and more recently broadband connectivity allowing IP communications consisting of voice and video to flourish. As connectivity has improved, entire industries were transformed. For... continue reading...

Motorola's Helpful Help Desk Solution

As carriers look to add more and more services to their portfolio of products, it is apparent that support costs will continue to increase in direct proportion to the concurrent services offered. Sure, there are some services which have fewer... continue reading...

Save Money in a Slow Economy

What is one of the best ways to cut costs without cutting heads or disrupting you key business operations? One simple solution is to explore the adoption of a telecom expense management or TEM solutions. Recently I had a chance... continue reading...

Allworx Does Analog

Is it that Sandra Gault at Allworx loves her job or is it that Allworx is a great place to work? I say this because whenever I meet with her, she seems to be so excited about how her company... continue reading...

Sprint Success

No one could more critical of Sprint than I have been these past months. I must say that the company's new TV ads are compelling and I am impressed with the new business model of pushing the $99 all you... continue reading...

Polycom's Software Play and More

Depending on the era, if I asked people what the name Polycom makes them think of they would give me different answers. In the nineties it was video conferencing and audio conferencing devices. Around 2000 you could add IP phones... continue reading...

Polycom's Durable 8002 VoIP Phone

I have to be frank… I have never been in a meeting where I saw a product launch accompanied by a phone being slammed on a table. So I was a bit surprised when Polycom's Ben Guiderian did just that... continue reading...

NEC's New Vision

Recently I had a chance to sit down with NEC Unified Solution's new president Jeffrey Kane and talk shop. Kane has an extensive background in systems integration having worked at firms like Perot Systems and EDS. Most importantly, he has... continue reading...

OnRelay's Mobile PBX Solution

Years ago I realized that mobile phones would get cheaper and cheaper and eventually cause a threat to the PBX vendors of the world. Of course… trends are generally easy to spot but timing technology adoption is generally very difficult.... continue reading...

Here at CTIA in Vegas

So here I am in Vegas. I had a 45 minute wait for a cab followed by a 15 minute wait to check in to find out that the hotel I thought I was staying at is not the right... continue reading...

VPF Winter 2007 Video Interviews

Although the temperature near TMC's Norwalk, CT headquarters is below freezing, I am told we are actually in spring. And I am admittedly late in sharing this information with you, frequent readers of these pages know I believe it is... continue reading...

Tax VoIP Illegally, Get a Raise

It is a sad day when a city government decides it needs to come after a specific technology -- one that has truly helped and empowered its constituents, in order to generate more revenue. The city of Los Angeles just... continue reading...

Nortel's Recent Wins and More

Nortel's Wes Durow credit SMEI.org One of the largest if not the largest deployment of VoIP I am aware of has to be Nortel's 10-year, $300 million dollar win with the US Social Security Administration which will support fifty-five thousand... continue reading...

TMC Growth Update

Congratulations to TMC's Kevin Kiley who was just promoted to VP of Finance. Great job Kevin. In addition I would like to thank TMC readers and our partners who have allowed us to continue our wave of growth. In the... continue reading...

Colorodo Data Center Available

A relative of mine has a data center for lease/purchase and I figured my readers may be interested. It is located in Thornton, Colorado about eleven miles north of Denver. The building includes a cafeteria, hundreds of parking spaces... continue reading...

AT&T Mobile TV

In May, millions of AT&T subscribers will have access to television via AT&T Wireless. Credit Qualcomm's MediFlow whose technology will be responsible for this service and expect it to compete with with a similar service from Verizon Wireless. What sorts... continue reading...

Comcast and BitTorrent Collaborate

In a dramatic turn of events, two companies that seemed to be at each other's throats just a few months back, Comcast and BitTorrent have decided to join forces and work together to advance ways in which rich media can... continue reading...

Motorola Splits in Two

Motorola will split into a handheld device business and another one focusing on broadband and mobility. This decision was made under tremendous pressure from Carl Icaan. Is this a good move for the company? I think it is because Motorola... continue reading...

Grandstream's Grand GXE502X

Many of us know Grandstream for their IP Phones which offer great value as well as an assortment of analog gateways, ATAs, videophones, etc. I have spoken with resellers in fact who sell truckloads of Grandstream equipment on the show... continue reading...

Netflix Outage

One of the scariest things that can happen to a site that relies on the internet for its success is a website outage. Nothing is worse for a company which relies on the internet for sales. Ouch. Netflix had an... continue reading...

Phybridge Has a new Angle on IP Communications

Sometimes the most simple concepts make for the most incredible opportunities. In a recent meeting with Oliver Emmanual President and John Croce CEO of Phybridge I came away wondering why I didn't think of the idea these guys have just... continue reading...

700 MHz Auction Concludes

The FCC 700 MHz auction concluded recently and the major winners were Verizon and AT&T. While this may seem like bad news to those who would have preferred more competition as a result of this auction, FCC Chairman Martin explains... continue reading...

Carriers Need Advertising

I have been saying for over a decade that carriers need to explore ways to deliver enhanced services. To be fair, some companies are doing this. AT&T has done an amazing job partnering with Apple (the way I hear it,... continue reading...

Dan Miller New TMCnet Columnist

As I mentioned a while back, TMC is experiencing record growth and I promised we would maintain our high levels of quality as we grow. TMCnet currently has just under 50 worldwide columnists and most of them write daily or... continue reading...

HTC Shift Vista UMPC does EV-DO

What is amazing to me is just how small full featured devices are getting. The HTC Shift ultra mobile PC or UMPC packs the Microsoft Vista OS, WiFi and now EVDO. Sure it has a weak processor, battery and... continue reading...

Tech Data Carries Cbeyond

My equipment vendor contacts tell me Cbeyond has great quality of service on their SIP trunks when compared to others and this is not a surprise as they also supply the broadband pipe. So in order to get their excellent... continue reading...

Spectrum Auction Concludes

In case you missed it, the bidding is now over for the 700 MHz spectrum. The US governemnt racked up just under a cool 20 billion dollars as a result. I guess we can thank the telecommunications industry for those... continue reading...

3COM Deal Off the Table

Bain and Huawei were hoping to purchase 3COM but national security reasons kept our government from allowing the deal to go through. In the past few months, Bain and Huawei have been trying to restructure the deal in a manner... continue reading...

Tandberg Integrates Unified Communications and Telepresence

As more and more customers deploy Microsoft's OCS, they are asking videoconferencing companies to help interconnect their products with their shiny new unified communications systems. But it isn't just video integration these companies want… These clients also want interconnection with... continue reading...

Where is the TMC Team?

This week, we have a total of nine TMC team members traveling to industry events. Dave Rodriguez, Erik Linask and I are headed to VoiceCon while Greg Galitzine will be at VON. I am looking forward to an information packed... continue reading...

Avaya's Huge Unified Communications Push

Avaya has certainly made unified communications history today with a suite of announcements that will certainly rattle the competitive landscape. UC will never be the same in my opinion. The New Jersey-based company's biggest news had to do with affordable... continue reading...

IBM's Big Unified Communications News

Recently I spent a good number of hours at the sprawling Somers, NY campus of IBM where the company announced to the media their intention to spend a billion dollars in unified communications development over the next three years. IBM... continue reading...

Hot News: Ixia, VPI, Wyde Voice, Google, Spirent, Sangoma, LifeSize, Aculab and more

I try not to play favorites with the news and instead of giving you my picks of the week, I defer to TMC editors who picked the following stories as some of the week's best. This week, we have a... continue reading...

Russell Shaw and Frank Macari will be Missed

This morning I woke to horrible news as I just learned Russell Shaw has passed away. Apparently he died in his hotel room on a business trip. I cannot be sadder. Russell was a fantastic guy… And he seemed to... continue reading...

Addicted to Optical Speed

Isn't there a saying, you can never be too rich or too thin? Well in my case I obviously have given up on the "thin" part and replaced it with broadband connectivity. So I say, you can never be too... continue reading...

SIP Security Webinar

While SIP is an excellent protocol which has made the IP communications market a much better place, there are security challenges with this protocol as it is very open and not inherently secure. It is ironic that the openness of... continue reading...

Podcast: Peter Vicars, Newstep Networks

There is a race taking place in communications. Everyone is looking to converge as fast as they possibly can. Service providers want to provide enterprise service. Wireless carriers want to own the SMB and consumer markets. Oh... And I forgot... continue reading...

Adding Value to Wireless VARs

In the communications space there has been accelerating progress these past decades. In the eighties we had IVR, voicemail and unified messaging. In the nineties, we had CTI (TAPI,TSAPI, etc), international callback, the PC-PBX and later the IP-PBX. This decade... continue reading...

A Nightmare for MacBook Air Owners

While you should be happy with your new MacBook Air, you should also be advised to get to airports early. Why? Well it seems that some security agents do not recognize Apple's latest credit card thin laptop as a laptop.... continue reading...

Outsourcers Abusing Work Visas?

The clash between U.S.-based companies and outsourcers continues as outsourcing companies such as Infosys Technologies, Wipro, Cognizant Technology Solutions and UST Global who are either based in or have the majority of their workers in India are bringing thousands of... continue reading...

Gigabyte GSmart MS808

Remember last week when I told you what a disaster it would be if Deutsche Telecom was to purchase Sprint as there are just so many wireless technologies to support? Well, I think I may have just found the... continue reading...

Comcast Gets Kevin Martin's Wrath

Kevin Martin seems to be genuinely upset at Comcast and the fact they weren't forthcoming about their traffic shaping of BitTorrent traffic. "A hallmark of what should be seen as a reasonable business practice is certainly whether or not the... continue reading...

Alcatel-Lucent 9900 Wireless Network Guardian

Thanks to Bell Labs, the people behind the transistor, there is now a thriving a tech industry. Moreover, many innovations in telecom are due to the team at this world famous labs team. Having said that, Bell labs hasn't been... continue reading...

Ken Camp is Available

Regular readers of my blog and attendees of TMC expos no doubt know Ken Camp. Ken is very knowledgeable in the field of information technology with special expertise in communications and security. He has written books, articles, spoken at shows... continue reading...

Yes, Telecom is Broken

Yes Peter, telecom is broken in some areas you mention but in others it seems to be doing just fine. What scares me most about the points you mention is how our politicians and regulators don't seem to care about... continue reading...

Peter Radizeski Joins TMCnet

TMCnet's latest blogger is Peter Radizeski. Peter is knowledgeable and not afraid to say what he thinks. He is direct and has a long history in telecom. He will will write things that ruffle feathers. His views many not always... continue reading...

Rumor: Deutsche Telecom to Acquire Sprint

I don't want to predict a disaster but having Deutsche Telecom acquire Sprint doesn't make sense from the perspective of all the different network types these companies use. Sprint uses CDMA, Deutsche Telecom's T-Mobile uses GSM and Nextel uses iDEN.... continue reading...

Communications News March 7, 2008

My editorial team has selected the following stories as some of the most important ones of the week. Hopefully some or all of these news items will be useful to my readers. Some of my favorite ones are how green... continue reading...

Jaduka's New Products

Jaduka has a suite of new products/services which allow IP communications to enter the realm of web 2.0. The company has a suite of services in fact and they are worth discussing individually... dukaDIAL lets you make phone-to-phone calls to... continue reading...

iPhone Gets ActiveSync

Last summer I wrote about by trip to Redmond to visit Microsoft and more specifically my thoughts on when the iPhone will get ActiveSync if ever. Here is an excerpt: As part of the Redmond software giant’s mobility strategy,... continue reading...

NEC, Microsoft, HP Labs and Comcast News

I was traveling yesterday and I didn't get a chance to communicate with my blog readers in the detail I would normally like to give. This morning I decided to share all the news that caught my eye from last... continue reading...

Hunter Newby Leaves Telx

For those of you who know Hunter Newby, you are aware is one of the more knowledgeable people in our industry. Hunter is especially well-versed in areas like net neutrality, fiber deployment and not surprisingly carrier hotels. I know many... continue reading...

Sun Unified Communications Solutions

Sun is getting into the unified communications game with the aid of Mitel. This is great as IBM is big player in the space and having an alternative vendor like SUN is great for companies who are looking for options.... continue reading...

Packet8 Get's 72nd Patent

Chalk up yet one more patent for Packet8. U.S. Patent No. 7,339,604 is the company’s 72nd patent to date. The official name of the patent is "Videoconferencing Arrangement Having Multi-Purpose Digital Still Camera," and it was given on Tuesday, March... continue reading...

Fred Goldstein on Net Neutrality

Just when you thought you knew everything you need to know about the net neutrality debate and the controversy involving the FCC, Comcast and BitTorrent... There is more. A fantastic article from Fred Goldstein of ionary Consulting sums up what... continue reading...

White House E-mail Controversy

I just came across this summary of the White House missing e-mail fiasco and I am pretty blown away at just how out of touch Washington is with technology. I knew that this administration was tech-phobic when Dick Cheney was... continue reading...

AT&T's Bullish Investment

AT&T is making a major telecom investment in many areas of its business. The telecom giant cites the explosion of high-speed networks, data consuming devices and the move to IP as the reason for this investment. The money is... continue reading...

TMCnet's New Vertical Communities

Over the past decade, TMCnet has become the accepted resource for news, product research and analysis in communications and technology markets - including telecom, VoIP, and contact centers. Moreover, the site has become the defacto location online where companies build... continue reading...

Podcast: Joel Hackney, Nortel

If you want some great perspective on Nortel's recent earnings as well as information on which areas of Nortel are doing best, be sure to check out this podcast interview with Joel Hackney, President of the Enterprise Solutions Group at... continue reading...

Google Gears for Mobile

It is here... Finally here. Google Gears is a middleware program with tremendous potential as it allows web based applications to run, even when there is no web connectivity. Currently, using Google Gears is a bit clunky meaning you have... continue reading...

IMS News from Ericsson, Radvision and Quanta

There is a good amount of news in the IMS space these days and perhaps most exciting is Ericsson working with Beijing Netcom, a branch of China Netcom to provide an IMS platform for the Olympics. It will be... continue reading...

Siemens Business Communications to be Sold

Siemens has put its Enterprise Communications division up for sale and it seems potential acquirers are Alcatel-Lucent, Nortel Networks and hedge fund Cerberus Capital Management. Alcatel-Lucent would be an interesting partner as Lucent spun off its enterprise division into Avaya... continue reading...

A Coke, Collaboration and a Smile

Coke employees will now be collaborating using Microsoft's communications and collaboration suite which integrates software and web services. This must have been a large dollar deal because even Bill Gates had some comments to share about this Coke purchase: "Coca-Cola... continue reading...

TMCnet Services

In an effort to allow TMCnet readers easy access to the breadth of TMCnet services such as the personalized MyTMCnet and TMCnet Mobile, TMCnet has launched a new TMCnet Services page which will allow you to instantly access the... continue reading...

AT&T U-verse Improves

Today I was perusing a press release from AT&T touting the new HD channels they will be offering in Fairfield County, Connecticut as part of their U-verse offering. This release was of special interest since this county is where... continue reading...

Microsoft's SaaS Push

There are rumors suggesting Microsoft will soon unveil its hosted/on demand/Software as a Service strategy where many of its applications will be provided via the Internet. If Google is the strongest competitor in this space -- and they are... The... continue reading...

Building IMS Applications

TMC's Erik Linask If you are interested in learning the latest information regarding how you can build IMS or IP multimedia subsystem applications, I suggest you check out this article by Erik Linask which discusses a webinar regarding this... continue reading...

Refurbished iPhones

What could be better than an iPhone in a slowing economy? how about a less expensive, "previously owned" iPhone which will cost $199 for 4GB and $249 for 8GB. The good news is these phones will be offered by... continue reading...

Vonage Spent $1.4 million on Lobbying

Vonage spent $1.4 million dollars lobbying last year but some think this may not be enough to counterbalance the huge telcos who have been at this lobbying game for far longer. More from the AP and Russell Shaw... continue reading...

RIM Patents the HTC XV6800

OK, this one came as a surprise but not really. I have seen many companies patent technologies invented elsewhere and then use these patents to sue companies without patents. It happens all the time -- especially in IP communications. I... continue reading...

Tellme Just a Small Yahoo?

If you want to get an idea of what Yahoo could possibly look like after a Microsoft acquisition, it may be useful to look at Tellme, a company Microsoft acquired last year. It is worth pointing out that Tellme was... continue reading...

Bain and Huawei Resubmit Bid

Bain and Huawei are changing their bid for 3COM in a manner that does not change the financial elements of the deal but it minimizes Huawei's access to certain Ethernet technologies. Last week, the parties pulled their application with the... continue reading...

David Yedwab Live on TMCnet

You may know David Yedwab as one of the leading analysts in telecom. If you aren't aware of him, then I am glad to let you know that David is now writing for TMCnet and his columns can be found... continue reading...

Telecommuting Slowdown

While I have been espousing telecommuting and moreover discussing frequently how IP communications enables companies to hire remote workers without losing productivity... Even I have been a bit surprised that some companies have such a large number of at home... continue reading...

Did Comcast Hire People to Attend the FCC Forum?

There have been a  number of reports that Comcast filled the recent FCC Forum with its employees and people off the street who were paid. By doing so, many claim the company denied access to people who had legitimate concerns.... continue reading...

Senate Passes new 911 Bill

The Senate just passed the IP-Enabled Voice Communications and Public Safety Act of 2007 which amends the Wireless Communications and Public Safety Act of 1999 to impose on IP communications service providers engaged in interstate or foreign communication a requirement... continue reading...

What Nortel Should do Now

Nortel will be cutting 2,100 jobs and shifting about one thousand more to areas which have lower costs. These actions are in response to a wider loss in the fourth quarter. The company remains optimistic about its long term future... continue reading...

Siemens has Large Cuts

Close to 8,000 positions will be eliminated at Siemens in their communications division as part of a reorganization which allows the company to shift from being a hardware vendor to one that produces software. Over the past five years the... continue reading...

Some Webinars to Witness

If you aren't aware, it seems like my responsibility to at least mention some webinars worth attending. They happen to all be webinars that are hosted by TMC. I am going to try to attend them all. Some of the... continue reading...

NEC Targets Mid-Tier for IMS

Above: NEC's View of IMS NEC is targeting mid-tier providers with its new IMS products. The company's new Service Convergence Integrated Platform or SCI-P is a 'starter' framework for IMS, and bundles carrier-class call processing quality, blade-server architecture, a... continue reading...

Thank You Kevin Martin

It seems as if FCC Chairman Kevin Martin is the champion of the US citizen today at the FCC Forum as he seems genuinely concerned that there is discrimination taking place on the internet. Moreover he seems concerned about the... continue reading...

The US Entrenched in the Communications Third World

A year ago I wrote an entry titled Living in the Third World of Communications and boy, I must have been really pissed off on that day because I usually don't tell politicians they need to be sure they... continue reading...

FCC Forum Starts This Week

This week there will be an FCC Forum in Boston where the FCC will be discussing many issues regarding the future of the internet. While the lobbying system of the US is wonderful in that it allows many to have... continue reading...

Pakistan Blocks YouTube

Remember a while back when I suggested we use YouTube as a political barometer in response to Iran blocking the video sharing site? Well, Pakistan is the latest country to join the list of YouTube blockers. More See also: Blogging... continue reading...

Judge Gives Google a Viacom Copyright Lawsuit Extension

Apparently sometimes even Google needs more time to search through documents. In fact, a judge has granted the search leader two more months to scan through 4.5 billion documents pertaining to a lawsuit with Viacom regarding copyright infringement relating to... continue reading...

Japan's High-Speed Internet Satellite

While some of us in the US may be proud that we are able to surf the web at speeds of 10 Mbps or even a bit more, in Japan they are striving for speeds of 1.2 Gbps or... continue reading...

More SMB Communications Growth

Yesterday I discussed how well the SMB space is doing in the communications market and today there is more evidence of competition in the space as WhaleBack Systems is expanding deeper into the mid-Atlantic region. Three companies, Schultz Technology Solutions,... continue reading...

Cbeyond Sees Massive Growth

What can you say about Cbeyond? Like HP they hit the cover off the ball with their earnings. The company which provides voice, broadband and mobile service to the SMB space had strong fourth quarter growth with revenues of $76.9... continue reading...

Jamie Siminoff on The Big Idea

Before I met Jamie Siminoff the CEO of SimulScribe the visual voicemail company, I would get emails from people in the industry telling me I should meet him as he was a great guy. Jamie does come across as a... continue reading...

Skype Serves up 100 Billion Minutes

What can you say about a company that has generated 100 billion minutes of telephone traffic. Skype has been around for 4.5 years by the way making this milestone an even greater accomplishment. While these minutes were all free, it... continue reading...

More Cable Details Emerge

More details are emerging from the recent cut cables in the middle east. According to the ITU's (International Telecom Union) head of development, Sami al-Murshed, "We do not want to preempt the results of ongoing investigations, but we do... continue reading...

The Problem with Triple-Play Providers

I am a cable quadruple customer. VoIP, broadband, TV and the reason I switched from standalone VoIP to cable had to do with dropped packets on my network. After spending days trying to figure out what the problem was... continue reading...

Jon Arnold on Vonage

Jon Arnold has done a great job of analyzing how Vonage is doing and according to the Arnold, the latest quarter had some ups and downs. Jon spells out why Vonage may not make it into 2009 and I for... continue reading...

Verizon Wireless and AT&T Lowering Rates

I have been intentionally staying away from the news regarding Verizon Wireless introducing new unlimited voice plans but now that AT&T has come out and matched Verizon's plans, it seems I have to at least mention it and point to... continue reading...

TMCnet Continues to Grow

Thanks once again to our loyal TMCnet readers. Because of you, TMCnet has broken more online records. In January of 2008 TMCnet experienced 38,368,961 page views (meaning total number of web pages viewed on TMCnet in January alone. The total... continue reading...

Web 2.0 Coming to a Business near You

I have been waiting, patiently waiting for businesses to take advantage of web 2.0 in a way that affects me. I wanted to see something that took advantage of this new technology and made my life better. There have... continue reading...

The ISPS Strike Back

In the quest for behavioral targeting, companies who control ad networks have been working as hard as possible to allow advertisers to reach web surfers based on their online behavior and not just what page they happen to be on.... continue reading...

Sony's VoIP Headsets

Sony may be a decade or so late to the game but certainly it is better to be late than not in the game at all. So welcome Sony to the world of VoIP headsets. The top of the range... continue reading...

Intel's Skulltrail Motherboard

I just have to wonder if Intel's latest motherboard code named SkullTrail will be useful beyond the gaming market. The device can be outfitted with two quad-core processors and multiple graphics chips from AMD (yes, AMD) and Nvidia. Obviously the... continue reading...

RIM Sues Motorola over Patents

The sheer nastiness of what is about to happen could become something of legend. The first few grenades have been lobbed back and forth between Canada and Illinois. First Motorola jacked up licensing fees for its patents for things like... continue reading...

Aastra Acquires Ericsson's Enterprise Business

Ericsson has divested itself of its Enterprise communications business and this move reminds me a great deal of Lucent spinning off its enterprise division in 2000 or so. For Ericsson the logic behind the move is sound as it wants... continue reading...

Quickorder for Starbucks

Check it out... I was scanning engadget and came across Quickorder software which enables the iPod Touch to let customers order their coffee at Starbucks without human interaction. I think this is a great idea and in many areas of... continue reading...

SMBs Embrace FMC

Huge news comes from Nortel as they recently commissioned a survey which found SMBs are more technically savvy than some might have imagined. SMBs seem to be screaming for FMC solutions and unified communications -- especially as it relates to... continue reading...

Rembrandt IP Management

Some analysts are concerned that patents held by "patent troll" Rembrandt IP Management will be used successfully against cable companies and others. In cases originally spread across federal courts in Delaware, New York and Texas, Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Charter... continue reading...

BitTorrent Strikes back

Recently we discussed how regulators will be looking carefully at Comcast and the fact that they were throttling the bandwidth from the file sharing program BitTorrent. While the regulators mull over what to do with these practices, the programmers at... continue reading...

How Will Cable do in a Slower Economy?

One wonders how well cable companies can do in a slowing economy. Certainly if you an investor, this question is of great importance. According to this article, cable companies have fared well in past recessions but this time there... continue reading...

Amazon S3 Down but not Out

Amazon has been getting lots of positive press lately on its new storage initiative Simple Storage Service or S3. The service has been a tremendous help to startups as well as established companies as it lowers the cost of scaling... continue reading...

You *Really* Get What You Pay For

I have to kick myself because I did it again. Sometimes I think I will never learn. Nobody wants to pay more than they should so when I somehow pulled a muscle in my neck while sleeping, I found myself... continue reading...

Regulators Reshape the Internet

It is pretty amazing to see how many separate issues are surfacing that could affect the future of the internet. The FCC and government have their plates full deciding what to do with telcos and their potentially anti-competitive practices. The... continue reading...

Mobile Browsing Gets Better

Stacy Higginbotham over at GigaOm has some thoughts on mobile browsing and concludes that the mobile web browsing experience is still not great but it is getting better. She discusses a number of new and even existing companies who are... continue reading...

HD Voice Community

As I have written about extensively, the advent of VoIP means that we are able to increase the quality of communications quite substantially. To that end, we at TMC are always looking for ways to educate you on concepts like... continue reading...

Unprotected SIP

Somehow the title "The Dangers of Unprotected SIP" caught me off guard  since today is after all Valentine's Day. Seems like something they should teach you about in geek health class in high school. But seriously, I don't think... continue reading...

Increase Marketing Spend in a Recession

I just couldn't help but sharing this article about how companies who increase their marketing spend in a recession come out of it doing better than when they went into it. I am not advocating that there is a recession... continue reading...

Corporate Phone Bills: $133 Billion in 2008

A staggering $133 billion dollars will be spent on communications services by businesses in 2008 according to Insight Research. 39% of this spending will be on cell phone bills. This staggering amount could be reduced if companies explore IP... continue reading...

Telco 2.0 - the Microsoft way

The following are comments from Ovum SVP, Brett Azuma on Microsoft and what they are up to in service provider communications. I thought this was worth passing along. Microsoft provided an update on its Telco 2.0 vision. The analyst telebriefing... continue reading...

Verizon's Network Upgrades

If you haven't been paying attention, you will have missed the fact that Verizon Wireless is investing like mad around the US to improve their mobile network. The quality of the wireless network was amazing to begin with and... continue reading...

Yahoo's Choices

I have mentioned in the past that Yahoo! has no choice and that it needs to seriously consider the Microsoft offer. Since that time, News Corp. has offered an alternative to Yahoo!… The media conglomerate will give some assets... continue reading...

ITEXPO East 2008 Video

If you missed ITEXPO this past month in Miami, you missed a great opportunity to meet with VARS, service providers and many companies looking to purchase IP communications products and services. I am truly humbled by the unsolicited comments... continue reading...

Covad has Wider Loss

Covad reported a fourth quarter net loss of $11.9 million or $0.04 per share, compared to a net loss of $8.4 million or $0.03 per share in the previous year quarter. Net revenues for the quarter increased to $121.6 million... continue reading...

Garmin Nuvifone Review

Tom Keating has an excellent review of the Garmin nuvifone and after reading it I remain very impressed with what the company will be releasing soon. Let's look at the facts. Garmin's nuvi line is fantastic. I like the... continue reading...

Senate Approves Surveillance Measure

Earlier today the U.S. Senate defeated an Amendment to strike the provisions providing immunity from civil liability to electronic communication service providers for certain assistance provided to the Government. The White House-backed surveillance measure, which grants legal immunity to companies... continue reading...

Google Apps Get Unified Communications

It was bound to happen... Google Apps have finally become connected to the world of Unified communications. Thanks to Voice Mobility, you can now integrate Google Apps with your unified communications system in your campus or corporate environment. As... continue reading...

New VoIP Security Problem

Tom Keating alerted to me a new phone hack which is for now targeting SNOM IP phones. The big hack involves the ability of some VoIP phones to make phone calls from the Web interface using a simple web POST... continue reading...

What Caused the Blackberry Outage

It seems a single IP address refusing connections brought down the Blackberry network yesterday. Apparently a secondary IP address was accepting connections and those users who got some of their e-mails through were switching between IP addresses. Thanks to Zenprise... continue reading...

UK Threatens to turn off Web Access

Russell Shaw discusses the talks in the UK which center around three strikes and your out legislation which will turn off broadband connectivity to those people who are repeated infringing downloaders. What upsets Shaw most -- and I rarely see... continue reading...

Forbes on Mobile World Congress

Forbes does a good job of detailing the happenings at Mobile World Congress this week. In summary, the Android phone is not ready for prime time (not much of a surprise here) and there are a plethora of devices from... continue reading...

Samsung MBP-100

If you were hoping for the day that you could fit a video projector in your pocket, perhaps that day is finally here. Of course this depends a bit on how big your pockets are. From this picture it seems... continue reading...

Intellectual Property, The Other Defition of IP

It's funny... I have been writing about the enhanced services made possible via IP communications for over a decade. To some degree, these services are here and while I think there is a great deal of room to go in... continue reading...

Tandberg Video works with Microsoft OCS

Microsoft unified communications gets video interoperability with Tandberg products. Specifically, TANDBERG MXP endpoints can now register and authenticate directly with Office Communications Server 2007 allowing them to appear as contacts in an Office Communicator 2007 user's contact list. By... continue reading...

Communications Being Purchased Incorrectly

In the world of communications a sad fact is that in the past few years, technology has evolved to the point where communications is being more integrated into business processes than ever.  Regardless of industry,  communications has evolved to the... continue reading...

Starbucks Goes AT&T

Great news for caffeineoholics who need internet access and want it for free. Through an agreement between Starbucks, AT&T and T-Mobile the three companies have come up with a way for AT&T to provide internet access at Starbucks locations.... continue reading...

Digium Guarantee Program

Good news for the open source market as Digium now offers a slew of new warranty related announcements meaning that purchasers of Digium software and hardware will get better warranties and and a money-back guarantee if a product does perform... continue reading...

Mobile World Congress Key Terms

As you may know, Mobile World Congress kicks off this week and to get the ball rolling the event has put out some of the key terms you will be hearing more about this week. I have posted them here... continue reading...

Microsoft Better off Hiring than Buying

Phil Greenspun has some great points about the pending Microsoft/Yahoo! merger and why the value Microsoft has ascribed to the company is more than they deserve. Here is an excerpt: The interesting question is why a company that claims to... continue reading...

Bluetooth on WiFi Steroids

Imagine a world where your bluetooth devices could take some instant steroids which bulk up your file transfer speeds allowing you to transfer at 100 Mbps or more. Ultrawideband was supposed to be the "steroids" allowing such functionality but... continue reading...

Alcatel-Lucent Cuts Dividend

Alcatel-Lucent just reported somewhat disappointing numbers for the quarter with a  few bright spots. On the negative side, the company reported its largest ever quarterly loss since it was created in 2006. The loss was 2.58 billion euros ($3.74 billion)... continue reading...

The Real Cable Story

For those of you who just can't get enough information on the middle east cable outages, the Economist sheds some light on the story with a well-written piece containing lots of detail. Sadly they seem to discourage conspiracy theories making... continue reading...

Google Buying Plaxo?

Another day, another Google purchase rumor. This time it is Plaxo, the company that stores online business contact details. This company recently launched something called Pulse which allows you to decide if someone is a business or personal contact. I... continue reading...

Open Source in South America

I was pretty blown away at just how much South American traffic there was at the recent ITEXPO a few weeks back. Much of this traffic was in the booths of companies who focus on the open source space. Digium... continue reading...

One Cable Cut Explained

Great news... An anchor did cut one of the undersea cables in the middle east meaning there is one less chance for the conspiracy theory some are espousing. What happened to the other four cables is still a mystery... continue reading...

Gphone Spotted Soon

In a few days a bunch of reporters will be viewing the first Google Gphone and sharing their thoughts with the public. Unfortunately I will not be at the Mobile World Congress so I won't see this phone in person... continue reading...

Cables Fixed by Weekend

It looks like the undersea cables will be fixed by the weekend. Here are some details from Reuters and the AP. Here is an excerpt from the AP story: The two unusual incidents slowed businesses and hampered personal Internet usage... continue reading...

Aerophone In-Flight Calling

A company called Aerophone has recently announced that they will be using picocell technology connected to transceivers to allow passengers to use their cellphones to talk while in-flight. According tot he company, the system will not have a negative... continue reading...

BT Fusion Gone

GigaOm reports that BT Fusion is going away to be replaced by a new service powered by HTC devices. Fusion is a convergence service that allows subscribers to make cheap or free calls via Wi-Fi into a BT broadband hub... continue reading...

Is AT&T a Runaway Winner?

Is AT&T going to win the IP services wars? I get the feeling they are really doing a fine job in this regard and will only do better over time. Jon Arnold agrees and in a  recent article he talks... continue reading...

LG Viewty Crosses Threshold

We are really at the threshold of a new era of mobile communications as today's cell phones are monsters in terms of capability... Processor speeds are getting faster and memory is getting cheaper. If you want an example of... continue reading...

A Cut Cable a Day

Apparently a cut cable a day makes the Internet go away. We are at five and counting. Any theories on what is going on? Maybe its the bees?... continue reading...

Big Things, Small Packages

Check out my Publisher's Outlook from the next issue of Internet Telephony Magazine. I didn't post it here because some of the content has been discussed here before and some is new. I focus on mobile VoIP, mobile access points,... continue reading...

Voce Signals Failed MVNO Experiment

Is it safe to say that if Sprint itself can barely make it as a mobile carrier, then companies that have to pay Sprint and others for their network to resell their services will have an even harder time?... continue reading...

Blodget on Yahoo/Microsoft!

Henry Blodget details why the Microsoft/Yahoo! deal will get more tricky over time. He describes an infinite loop of angry Microsoft shareholders who drive down the price and subsequently require Microsoft to increase share dilution as it adds more shares... continue reading...

Apple Doubles Capacity

Out of guilt -- I really don't think it is important news, I need to share with my readers that today Apple doubled the capacity of the iPhone and iPod Touch. The new 16 GB iPhone will cost $499 and... continue reading...

Undersea Cable Cuts

Undersea cables are a weak spot in internet connectivity worldwide and with all the recent undersea outages taking place around the world, we need to be concerned that in the US and Canada that these cables are unprotected. Not only... continue reading...

Podcast Interview: 8x8 VP Marketing Huw Rees

8x8, the company behind Packet8 service has been doing a terrific job running their company with positive financial results and new services which are innovative and unique. Some are video-based, some are mobile and others are in the call center... continue reading...

Aretta's Hosted Asterisk Tastes Great

In the nineties when communications manufacturers gave the market few choices and there were many proprietary options, companies like Dialogic, NMS Aculab and others came on the scene and gave users choice by allowing them to purchase DSP resource boards... continue reading...

Foundry Powers XM

Good news for Foundry Networks as XM Satellite radio has allowed the company to go public with the fact that the leading satellite radio company has chosen Foundry's BigIron, FastIron SuperX, FastIron SX 800 and FastIron Edge X series Layer... continue reading...

Level3 Cuts

It seems that Level3 will have some more cuts as a result of a steep loss this quarter. Over 1,000 people or 16% of the company's workforce will be getting the axe according to TheStreet.com. I was a bit surprised... continue reading...

ECI Telecom Podcast Interview with CMO Laura Howard

Since my last article about ECI Telecom, the company has gone private. The question I am sure you are wondering about is how has this move changed the outlook for the company if at all and moreover what is ECI... continue reading...

Open Source, Schmopen Source

Tom Keating takes us through an interesting tour through Shmooze and wonders aloud if this product is the Yiddish Asterisk. I'll give you a hint... It is not the Yiddish Asterisk but it is no chopped liver either.... continue reading...

ITEXPO East 2008 Videos

There was in independent reporter at ITEXPO interviewing yours truly and some of the exhibitors from the show. There are two Quicktime files for your enjoyment... One is an interview with me discussing the consumer side of communications opportunities and... continue reading...

Microsoft to buy Yahoo!

One of the longest-running tech rumors around is that of Microsoft buying Yahoo! in an effort to become more competitive with Google. The concept of Microsoft as an underdog in any market would have been tough to swallow just a... continue reading...

Charlotte Wolter Joins TMCnet

I am proud to announce that Charlotte Wolter is joining our roster of TMCnet contributors and she  will be writing about the service provider space. I have been a huge fan of Charlotte -- her insight and writing and... continue reading...

Motorola Explores Spinning off Handset Business

Word is according to CNBC is that Motorola is looking for strategic alternatives for its mobile phone business. I wonder if this move makes sense for the company as this product line is where everyone seems to want to be.... continue reading...

The iTunes PIA

So a while back... I don't even know when, I somehow downloaded Quicktime. It was back in the days when Apple was the company we all felt sorry for. Perhaps a decade or so ago. Once the software was installed,... continue reading...

TMC Welcomes Gary Kim

Please join me in welcoming Gary Kim to the TMC editorial team. As you no doubt have realized by now, TMC is doing its absolute best to provide the industry with the world's best writers and thought leaders. This news... continue reading...

SIP Trunking Interview

Recently TMC and Ingate teamed up to provide the fourth SIP Trunking educational sessions at an Internet Telephony Conference & Expo. I just saw that Greg Galitzine had a chance to interview Olle Westerberg the CEO of Ingate regarding his... continue reading...

700 MHz Auction Update

So far in the 700 MHz auction there have been bids totaling more that 2.4 billion and in about a month we should know who won. There were just under two thousand bids for this precious spectrum which could become... continue reading...

Sprint Sues VoIP Firms

Many in the IP communications industry blame Vonage for going public, knowing full well that the way they run their business, they can never be profitable. They basically spent a fortune on customer acquisition and not enough time finding ways... continue reading...

Dell/Fonality Phone System

Russell Shaw has some analysis of the new Dell Fonality VoIP Phone System launched at ITEXPO this week and talks a bit more about the product and how it compares with the competition. Best of all, he has some screen... continue reading...

ITEXPO: Article in Sun-Sentinel

The Sun Sentinel had a great article on Internet Telephony Conference & Expo today and their spin was local. They mentioned companies in the Florida area who participate in the show. The article was written by Arlene Satchell and she... continue reading...

Big Sprint Changes

Sprint certainly needs to do something to reduce churn and to become relevant to customers once again. In an increasingly commoditized business they have done little to differentiate themselves from others through either unique handsets which customers want, network quality... continue reading...

My Schedule Tonight

I am blown away by the amount of people who have reached out to meet with me at the very last second at this particular event. So many people want to meet... I wish the show was 2 weeks. :)... continue reading...

ITEXPO West 2008 Day One - Andy

We are looking forward to the best three days of IP communications excitement this year here at ITEXPO in Miami. I just saw Andy Abramson's post and it reminded me that he won't be able to make it to the... continue reading...

Dell Chooses Fonality

Fonality has some huge news to share with us here at Internet Telephony Conference & Expo. The company was just picked to be the small business communications offering by Dell. What is perhaps most amazing regarding this news is the... continue reading...

Internet Buffet Closed

Greg Galitzine heads up the editorial team at TMCnet and recently he and I were discussing the all you can eat internet and how it may soon be gone. During our talk, I had trouble seeing why this is different... continue reading...

Whitman Departs: What it Means to Skype

Meg Whitman was the person who put the Skype deal together at eBay and over the past year it has become apparent that Skype is not generating the revenue eBay hoped it would. In addition, in the last 12 months,... continue reading...

Fujitsu F705i -- Slim and Waterproof

As you pack to head down to Miami for ITEXPO, you may want to consider an extra accessory. How about for example a new cell phone... One that is perfect for a city where you may end up in a... continue reading...

ITEXPO East 2008 Schedule

Here are some of the happenings this week at ITEXPO. My team is already down in Miami, making sure the new Mustang convertible is prepped and ready for the raffle Friday. I wish you luck in winning the car and... continue reading...

Have a Safe Trip to ITEXPO

I hope everyone has a safe trip down to Internet Telephony Conference & Expo. The registration numbers are trending nicely above estimates and we expect a stellar event. As always, we have done our absolute best to assemble the most... continue reading...

MacBook Air Missing Features

Sure the MacBook Air is missing a few features. No surprise as it is so thin. A slow hard disk and missing FireWire port shouldn't be a deal breaker for the people that want the bragging rights associated with the... continue reading...

ITEXPO Giveaways

Here are some of he giveaways from next week's ITEXPO in Miami, FL. Will you be one of the winners? Hope you will be there to find out. Remember, you have to be present to win these prizes. Tom Keating... continue reading...

White Space Internet Closer

Although we unfortunately will not be able to take advantage of new and exciting internet devices utilizing "white space" technology next week at Internet Telephony Conference & Expo in Miami... It does seem that at some point in the future,... continue reading...

Vonage to Follow SunRocket?

When asked for a surprising prediction for 2008, Blogger Russell Shaw answered among other things that Vonage could go the way of SunRocket or potentially get picked up by Sprint Nextel. Actually, with all the negative (rumor)coming out of this... continue reading...

Fax, T.38 and SIP

As you may remember from a prior post, AudioCodes was running a five-part webinar series which concluded yesterday with a webinar on SIP and T.38 fax. On the webinar, Percy discussed reliability concerns with the G.711 standard, and more specifically,... continue reading...

Skype on Apple TV

Good news for those of you who want to purchase an Apple TV but are concerned it doesn't do enough -- like say make VoIP calls. Engadget reports this morning that hacker Brandon Holland will soon have have a plugin... continue reading...

California Broadband Task Force Recommendations

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger commissioned the California Broadband Task Force (CBTF) to “remove barriers to broadband access, identify opportunities for increased broadband adoption, and enable the creation and deployment of new advanced communication technologies.” The governor also requested that the... continue reading...

Outrageous Interactions

Normally I don't like to judge people but in this case -- I was