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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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I am off to Dallas for this event. Maybe I will see you there. Back online soon. -- Rich... continue reading...
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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...
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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...
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Is the world ready to buy their IP PBXs from Costco? We are about to find out as the warehouse club with 537 worldwide stores and over 51 million card holders will be carrying Syspine/Microsft's Response Point, the entry level... continue reading...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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If you have any doubts about the growth of CRM and the growth of SaaS models, I advise you to consider the fact that Salesforce.com just announced earnings up 52% for the quarter -- year-over-year. Here are some financial stats... continue reading...
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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...
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MindWireless is focused on the wireless expense management space which as you might imagine is an area of growing importance inside telecom expense management. Just think about how complicated it is to manage wireless gadgets as employees have become obsessed... continue reading...
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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...
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In a slowing economy where many industries are shedding jobs, it is great to see a company in the call center market adding. California-based Alorica will be adding 500-600 new jobs in Indiana in the next year and a half... continue reading...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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When you look around the tech market you see factors which suck the profit out of every nook and cranny. In hardware there is a trend towards standards-based hardware which is not slowing down. As this trend continues, prices shrink... continue reading...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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Today I had a chance to interview Dror Pockard who is the CEO of eGlue, the only tech company I know that was developed on a kibbutz. If you aren't aware, a kibbutz is an Israeli agricultural community and to... continue reading...
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Hosted applications continue to get more press as time goes on. Similar to the e-commerce space, this market saw a slew of new entrants during the bubble times and many of these companies subsequently crashed and burned. Obviously having ASPs... continue reading...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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Good news in the communications space from from NET who announced their highest level of profitability in 10 years. According to the company, total revenue in the fourth quarter was $33.4 million, a 15 percent increase from $29 million in... continue reading...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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You've definitely heard me go on about voicemail transcription and just how amazing it is to have your voicemails transcribed and e-mailed to you so you never have to dial into your mailbox again. One of the companies leading the... continue reading...
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Phishing and other methods of theft are getting more sophisticated all the time. While many companies are affected by this practice, it is really up to the major sites in the industry to do something to minimize the threat. Thankfully,... continue reading...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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In the race to provide the best Unified Communications solution, there are just so many approaches. The various ways to achieve UC are staggering in fact. Companies like Microsoft have partnered with many companies to achieve seamless UC - with... continue reading...
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Many people think India when they discuss outsourcing but it is interesting to note that the market for BPO/teleservices is much larger than a single country. Case in point is a company called e-SGI. I read about them in an... continue reading...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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At the recent CTIA show in Las Vegas, much of the talk centered around how service providers need to focus on generating revenue from advertising as companies like Google will be giving away many of the services they hope to... continue reading...
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It was over a year and a half ago when I had a chance to listen to Marc Benioff talk about how his company's software would be integrating with Google to provide a mashup allowing companies to better track their... continue reading...
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You have heard me discuss how contact centers could connect with virtual worlds and moreover how virtual worlds could connect with e-commerce. One of my most recent posts is titled Virtual Customer Interactions and in this post I give an... continue reading...
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It looks like Digium's Java based client will be getting commercialized as a result of a five year deal with PhoneFromHere.com. Apparently this agreement will improve the voice quality of PhoneFromHere's products and for Digium this signals another potential revenue... continue reading...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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I was just reading an article from TMCnet's David Sims where he talks about SalesForce.com satisfaction ratings and I was blown away. Why? the company recently surveyed over 4,000 of their users and 94% said they definitely or probably will... continue reading...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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I recently came across a software-based IP-PBX company from Germany that I have never written about before. Vertico Software GmBH makes a product called Starface which comes in a variety of flavors, from software to an appliance or hosted solution.... continue reading...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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One of the more interesting unified communications companies is Litescape. They are doing new things in the UC space and more importantly, I can't think of another company who does what they do. The company's Oncast solution enables phones... continue reading...
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The trend towards unification is something you can see everywhere from cellular phones which now include music players, GPS and cameras to desktop software allowing communications with once disparate applications. One company in the call center space which is surfing... continue reading...
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Plantronics is planning something big. I have discussed this before and they are staying pretty quiet about what they are working on. Moreover whatever they are doing has been in development for over a year and they aren't close enough... continue reading...
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Have you ever compared an e-mail conversation to one by phone? I can search e-mail conversations and forward them as needed. These conversations via e-mail become part of a company's knowledge base and can be used for analytics and other... continue reading...
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Perhaps one of my most interesting vendor meeting as of late was with Nortel where David Murashige VP & GM Multimedia Applications and Debora Glennon in Multimedia Applications Marketing really got me thinking about the way customers are serviced today.... continue reading...
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One of the fastest areas of growth in the communications market has got to be telecom expense management as TEM solutions are needed to better manage corporate telecom spend levels. The sheer variety of communications services like PSTN, SIP trunking... continue reading...
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There is a level of excitement in the call center space I haven't witnessed since VoIP began transforming the call center into the contact center. Over the years, we have seen technology after technology change the way contact centers work... continue reading...
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David Sims has a great article for people who take their CRM too seriously and need to lighten up.... continue reading...
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Infonetics pegged PBX growth at 7% last year and they further mentioned that companies are beginning to slowly see the benefits of IP-PBX systems beyond the typical costs savings associated with lower phone bills. With unified communications software now available... continue reading...
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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...
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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...
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Dialogic has announced that the company's Diva media processing boards will support Asterisk. These boards will help Asterisk systems scale and moreover increase reliability while reducing strain on the CPU. The functions handled by the Diva board include DTMF recognition/generation,... continue reading...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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Aculab's Prosody X had a big win recently as Interactive Intelligence just signed on to use this PCI-based media processing card featuring on-board IP infrastructure, 600 media resource channels per card, redundancy and more. One of the reasons for this... continue reading...
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I just get the feeling that the FCC Chairman in the united States has a job description that entails taking endless abuse from the rest of the government. Now Kevin Martin is getting slammed because the FCC is a massive... continue reading...
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A new product was just announced today and I cannot be more excited as it shows innovation is very alive and well in communications. WYDE Voice is a new start-up venture backed by Free Conferencing Corp. founder and CEO... continue reading...
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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...
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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...
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In 1997 TMC decided to launch a magazine titled Internet Telephony to cover what we hoped would become a huge IP communications industry. A few years later, contact centers saw the technology as a great way to take advantage of... continue reading...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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I really don't get too many e-mails from communications companies that I would put in the funny basket so when I opened my e-mail inbox today and received the SpinVox 10-Point guide to Polite Cell Phone Practices, I felt it... continue reading...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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The above graphic is a bank mashup showing all banks in Norwalk, CT -- where TMC headquarters are located. (credit: Webmashup.com) A logical place for mashups to show up are in customer relationship management applications where they can allow... continue reading...
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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...
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How many colds and viruses are picked up because of shared keyboards and phones? Now there is a solution for the problem of spreading germs through shared keyboards at least. If you think this is a small problem consider... continue reading...
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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...
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Will Salesforce.com be sold soon? I keep hearing rumor after rumor and some say Marc Benioff is getting bored. i haven't had time to reach out to Marc but I thought it worth sharing the news. Likely purchasers would be... continue reading...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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T-Mobile is at it again. They are now starting trials of a new service called HotSpot @Home Talk Forever Home Phone in Dallas and Seattle. Interestingly this service is actually backwards looking allowing customers to plug their landlines into... continue reading...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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It should come as no surprise that airline travel costs are increasing. The bad news is that it is virtually impossible to figure out what airlines charge for their various new fees while you are buying tickets without spending... continue reading...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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Packet8 has done a good thing today by allowing charter subscribers to their MobileTalk service free access. In other words, there are no longer fees associated with signing up to use this service which allows you to seamlessly connect your... continue reading...
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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...
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Not since April of 2007 have we seen a Blackberry outage this major. Over ten million Blackberry customers are out in the Americas at the moment and this is regardless of service provider. RIM is having consistent problems with this... continue reading...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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SugarCRM has been on quite a tear lately with the news that it has secured $20 million in funding and that they have a new mobile application. The latest news out of the company is that they are profitable... continue reading...
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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...
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Russell Shaw explains that VoIP Inc. will be shutting its network operations and call termination businesses. This was to be expected after Shawn Lewis left the company IMHO. According to Shaw: The company will recast itself as a pay-to-click services... continue reading...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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It is good to see that the call center space has been helping to give jobs to many while the jobless rate has crept up. I have noticed there are call center closures as well but I was pretty pleased... continue reading...
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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...
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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...
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Thanks Mitel for agreeing with me that Talkument is a really interesting and different product, worthy of distinction.... continue reading...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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According to the IC3 or Internet Crime Complaint Center, Vishing is simply voice phishing, a scheme whereby unsuspecting callers are directed to rogue IVR systems which are disguised as real systems from banks, credit card companies, etc. These systems masquerade... continue reading...
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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...
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Good morning attendees, speakers, exhibitors and conferees... Just a reminder that we are thrilled to have you here in Miami this week for ITEXPO. Be sure to come to Hall B in the Miami Convention Center. If you enter from... continue reading...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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Normally I don't like to judge people but in this case -- I was asked by Interactive Intelligence if I would do just that --- judge people. You see, I will be a judge on a panel with Interactive Intelligence... continue reading...
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Kahn Gauthier Swick, LLC (KGS) has announced an initial filing of securities for a class action suit against Shoretel. According to a press release: If you purchased shares of ShoreTel in connection with the IPO or if you purchased shares... continue reading...
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By now, you may have heard that Sun has agreed to purchase open-source database company MySQL for one billion dollars. Many companies are betting on open source as the future and open source companies operating in niche markets such as... continue reading...
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If you are looking for the top 10 telephone tricks you need to be aware of, look no further than this post over at Life Hacker. You want to know how to "gracefully" bow out of a long-winded conversation? How... continue reading...
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Jeff Dworkin is no stranger to TMC University as he has taught numerous TMC courses at ITEXPOs over the past years. Even though Jeff is well-known to many of you what you probably are not aware of is the... continue reading...
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As Tom Keating mentioned earlier today we are proud to announce that Internet Telephony Conference & Expo which will take place in just under a week in Miami Florida has registrations from 74 countries, a 15.6% increase over last year.... continue reading...
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Recently I was fortunate enough to be able to interview a number of thought leaders and others who have given me their perspectives on the communications market, the future, the entry of Google, Apple and Microsoft into the space and... continue reading...
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It has been a pretty big news day so far this early morning. Intel perhaps is responsible for the biggest portion of today's market movement as last night they announced earnings which were not all that bad but the stock... continue reading...
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On November 6, 2007 I had a post (see bottom of post for chart) where I showed how TMC compares with other IP Communications sites. I did this by pulling numbers from Quantcast, a web service which tracks web traffic... continue reading...
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A concept you rarely hear about but which is important is ergonomics in telephones. I came across an ergonomic phone white paper from Shoretel and while it is Shoretel-centered it is still pretty useful and worth checking out before you... continue reading...
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Sipera Systems is on the leading edge of IP communications/VoIP security and it is worth pointing out the company was just interviewed by me and in the interview there is good information about the growth areas of IP communications as... continue reading...
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Tom Cross has an interesting post about Microsoft OCS and in it he has a good communications history lesson detailing some of Redmond's past activities in the telecom space. Here is an excerpt: What all this means is that the... continue reading...
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Samsung has its hands in just so many things and subsequently it is worth sitting back and taking notice when the company is accused of setting up a slush fund and engaging in bribery. Samsung Group is easily South Korea’s... continue reading...
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Good bye Jeff Raikes. Raikes did a great job at Microsoft and in the unified communications space he should be commended for rolling out a slew of strong products and doing a fantastic PR and marketing job promoting them. He... continue reading...
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A few months back, industry veteran Wes Hayden made the jump from President & CEO of Genesys to the President of the Enterprise Division of Nuance Communications. I took the opportunity to ask Hayden some questions about his move to... continue reading...
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One of the most incredible software packages I have come across in quite some time is WMWifiRouter which enables Windows Mobile devices to become WiFi access points, sharing the EVDO connection with a number of others. Although the software allows... continue reading...
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Service providers are being extremely creative in using technology and ingenuity to launch new and enhanced services and products to keep customers and attract new ones. Some of the better ideas I have seen lately are the consumer electronics DECT... continue reading...
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If you are concerned about the challenges with fax over G.711, you may be interested in a webinar which focuses on such topics and also focuses on how SIP and T.38 can improve the reliability of fax over IP. This... continue reading...
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While perusing the international calling channel on TMCnet I came across an article which details the checklist of items you need to be aware of when choosing an international calling service. While many people are likely to think about the... continue reading...
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Check out my interview with David Tang the vice president of Global Marketing at VoSKY the company who introduced me to the term Skype trunking a number of years back. VoSKY makes a number of products geared at integrating Skype... continue reading...
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Nice Systems recently reported multi-million dollar contracts with a number of banks. The banks are using NICE Perform, part of NICE SmartCenter, as well as an enterprise fraud solution from Actimize, which NICE acquired in August. With NICE SmartCenter these... continue reading...
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If you just can't get enough IP communications news then you are a lot like me and I do feel a bit sorry for you. Either way, there is lots of great news happening in this first short week of... continue reading...
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If you just can't get enough IP communications news then you are a lot like me and I do feel a bit sorry for you. Either way, there is lots of great news happening in this first short week of... continue reading...
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Where would the world be without outsourcing to other countries? Call center jobs, back office work… Even architecture, legal and medical jobs have found their way to India. Now, the latest market to get outsourced is surrogate motherhood. As with... continue reading...
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It has been a slow news week as you might imagine and there have been a number of stories which have caught my eye. Stories wrapping up 2007 are rampant and one worth reading is from Mae Kowalke and is... continue reading...
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If you are interested in the latest on Mitel and Sir Terry Matthews, be sure to check out this article from Zippy Grigonis titled Mitel Gathers Steam with Netherlands Deal. In the article you will learn how lawn mowers... continue reading...
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When you think of enterprise communications Avaya is certainly one of the first names that comes to mind. A huge player in the space, the company has a tremendous amount of influence in the future shape of things to come... continue reading...
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Vonage just can’t catch a break these days and seems to be the target of more lawsuits related to patent infringements than just about any other company out there. The latest patent fight is with Nortel, a company who says... continue reading...
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If you meet David Walsh a partner with One Equity Partners, you immediately think banker. For those of you who may not frequent the tiny (and blisteringly cold when I was there) island of Manhattan, banker generally means investment banker.... continue reading...
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Genesys– once called Genesys Labs is one of the companies at the head of the CTI (computer-telephony-integration) revolution of the nineties. Often referred to as a middleware company, Genesys always seemed to fight the designation. In reality, Genesys was just... continue reading...
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The Internet Protocol is one of the largest enablers of the last decade. It allows communications to take place wherever there is broadband connectivity. Voice over IP, video over IP, fax over IP… Just about everything runs over IP it... continue reading...
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This past week at the VPF Winter event in Manhattan on a panel dedicated to the intersection of the internet, media and telecom I made the prediction that the company with the biggest advertising network will win the media and... continue reading...
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It’s a good time to be in telecom. With all the housing gloom and doom it is nice to see that at least the telecom market is doing exceedingly well. Of course you have to pick your battles… Consumer VoIP... continue reading...
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Recently I picked up a titanium watch. In fact I now am the proud owner of two titanium watches. I just love the stuff… More durable than steel and much lighter. What if everything in the world was made out... continue reading...
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If there is one thing Avaya is doing exceedingly well it is courting developers. Out of all the PBX vendors, Avaya has decided they will be the leader in this space. Cisco and Inter-Tel (now Mitel U.S.) have also done... continue reading...
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Sprint Turns Down $5 Billion Offer CNBC is reporting Sprint Nextel turned down a 5 billion dollar offer (according to RTTNews.com). It is not clear who made this offer as of yet. As you may recall I wrote a blog... continue reading...
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I came across some webinars of potential interest coming soon from TMC. There are a bunch and they are quite varied so it would seem there is certainly something for everyone. I am certainly interested in the 10 myths of... continue reading...
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If you are going to go to one voice peering conference in 2007 it needs to be VPF or Voice Peering Forum Winter 2007, New York City at the Ritz Carlton Hotel. Here are some of the speakers you can... continue reading...
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More discussions regarding Google getting into the wireless game were sparked today by a Wall Street Journal article focusing on Google’s wireless ambitions. In summary: Google will likely bid on the 700 MHz spectrum or lose good will... continue reading...
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I saw an article in CRN titled Cisco VoIP VARs Feeling Microsoft Pressure and I found it interesting that Cisco VARs are having to deal with customer doubt regarding selling unified communications solutions. Imagine this news is coming... continue reading...
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I know my loyal readers have been waiting with baited breath to get a hold of the latest ITEXPO brochure. For those of you who have, consider this your very own early holiday season. Here it is… Please enjoy this... continue reading...
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In the many IP communications demos I hear each year I am consistently amazed at just how good the quality of VoIP can be. With today’s wideband codecs the sound is remarkably better than the PSTN. This is especially true... continue reading...
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Sometimes I think I have the best job on earth as I get to meet with the real thought leaders in the communications market and see the latest products and services in the industry. Then I get the distinct pleasure... continue reading...
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Recently it is has been a mixed ride for communications companies as those relying on tier-one service providers for the majority of their growth have been battered. Case in point is Ericsson and Alcatel-Lucent who each have lost over $15... continue reading...
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What are some of the interesting things happening in the wide world of communications today? For one, Excel telecommunications and Allworx have partnered to provide SMBs with SIP trunking and a PBX solution respectively (check out the SIP Trunking channel... continue reading...
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You are likely familiar with Alexa, a division of Amazon that measures website traffic. I have written about the site a number of times before. A while back I discovered a site called Quantcast which is becoming a well respected... continue reading...
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Fonality has made quite a splash in the open source communications market and the most recent news coming out of the California company is an acquisition of Insightful Solutions Pty Ltd, one of the world’s largest SugarCRM development houses. ... continue reading...
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Another week and other massive avalanche of news in the communications space. The first item worth sharing is regarding Google shaking up the foundation of the mobile phone market. The funny thing is, editors and bloggers have been looking to... continue reading...
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In the world of advertising the expression commonly used is “perception is reality.” Moreover companies are often branded by customers. If I say IBM, you will say mainframes. Oracle? Databases. Sometimes I feel it is my job to help... continue reading...
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I can’t help but be super-impressed by the progress Polycom is making in the market. The company’s devices work with virtually all companies and they have just expanded their VIP interoperability program. Amazingly, the company announced six new partners, Cedar... continue reading...
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What do Superman, Switchvox, open source and Digium have to do with one another? Well somehow Tom Keating has worked these topics into yet another blog entry. To be honest, I am concerned at this rate we will have to... continue reading...
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Yesterday I wrote a blog entry titled Alcatel-Lucent May Cut More based on an article from the Financial Times. Today, unfortunately there is a story from the Wall Street Journal saying the recently formed company will cut 4,000 extra jobs... continue reading...
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Toshiba has great potential in the world of IP communications as it makes phone systems and a variety of computing devices. The company recently released Toshiba SoftIPT 2.1 which further connects the company’s line of Strata CIX IP business communications... continue reading...
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It is a shame to hear that Alcatel-Lucent may be cutting more people than expected. I was really impressed with the wireless security device the company recently rolled out with Sprint and I’m saddened to see great new products accompanying... continue reading...
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Light Reading is confirming the news Greg Galitzine first broke last week regarding NexTone and ReefPoint merging. FYI.... continue reading...
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Covad was recently sold to private equity and this could be a good thing. The company made a big splash in the business VoIP segment years back but more recently Covad seemed to stop focusing on offering converged services and... continue reading...
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On the face of it you might not see a merger between NET and Quintum as something predictable. NET is on the west coast, while Quintum is on the east. Quintum has had a consistent branding message over the past... continue reading...
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Did you know in the future if you make a call without a subject (similar to what happens to some e-mails I get these days) it will be considered rude? In addition, were you aware UC could have an ROI... continue reading...
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If you are a fan of unified communications, Linux and “Blackberrys on crack” you should read this interview by the VoIP Authority Greg Galitzine with Fonality’s CEO Chris Lyman. No organization has a 100% monopoly and certainly a company’s thirst... continue reading...
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This morning I went to Wikipedia to look up the formal definition for the term ballistic. Most of us know there is a term “going ballistic” which basically means freaking out in a potentially violent manner. Wikipedia doesn’t have an... continue reading...
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Some of the interesting news of the week shows SMBs will not only be going down the road to purchasing IP communications solutions – they will also be purchasing and installing security solutions. In my research this morning I also... continue reading...
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One of the best portable devices I have ever used is the Nokia N800. It was launched earlier than Apple’s iPhone and has many of the features the iPhone has but is better in many ways. It is not as... continue reading...
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The following is a sidebar to the Publisher’s Outlook Column Microsoft’s Big Unified Communications Launch in the November, 2007 issue of Unified Communications Magazine. --- There are many PBX companies – well over 25. I am surprised how... continue reading...
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Please enjoy the Publisher’s Outlook from the November, 2007 Unified Communications Magazine. --- In the history of communications space there has never been a new product roll-out supported by over 50 other companies. Until October 16, 2007, that... continue reading...
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One of the main messages Microsoft is promoting to the communications marketplace is there is no need to replace your hardware – Microsoft Unified Communications will blend with your current communications infrastructure through gateways allowing you to keep the thousands... continue reading...
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Microsoft UC News Update Here is the news you should be aware of regarding Microsoft’s Unified Communications push so far: Tom Keating Drag-and-drop Conference Calls = OCS 2007 Success? SAP Duet to leverage Microsoft OCS 2007 Rich Liveblogging... continue reading...
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There are 50 companies making announcements in conjunction with Microsoft’s Unified Communications launch. As I mentioned – this could be the biggest week for communications ever. Time will tell of course but 50 companies is nothing to sneeze at. ... continue reading...
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Having Bill Gates initiate any new product launch is obviously good for your product. The energy so far in the room is amazing and the excitement about communications is absolutely incredible. It is quite amazing that communications has become a... continue reading...
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Tomorrow kicks off the biggest week in the history of communications. I have to be honest. After I wrote this statement I had to get up and take a walk and get some tea. I wanted a sanity check and... continue reading...
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Please enjoy the unedited November 2007 Publisher’s Outlook column from Internet Telephony Magazine. --- OK, I was wrong. Really wrong. Over a billion dollars wrong in fact. Why? I believed eBay and Skype had a solid strategy to... continue reading...
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If you have been in the telecommunications market for any period of time you are no doubt aware of Jon Shapiro the founder of Alliance Systems the company responsible for building bullet-proof communications servers. Alliance Systems has great industry partnerships... continue reading...
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I thought I had heard it all when it came to telecom. I have been doing this job long enough that I have seen probably ten thousand companies come and some go. VooDooVox however has a new twist on... continue reading...
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The folks at RingCentral have had a great virtual PBX service for ages and it was almost a surprise to hear the company still didn’t have a VoIP module. Even if you weren't aware... Fear not as I've got your... continue reading...
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I recently had the opportunity to speak with Mark Straton the Senior Vice President of Product Marketing at Siemens about his thoughts on unified communications and where the telecom market is headed. Straton spent the early part of the conversation... continue reading...
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I thought it would be interesting to see what people search on when they come to TMCnet. It should be noted these searches are on TMCnet proper which unfortunately at the moment does not include blogs. These numbers should... continue reading...
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Dialogic has been gaining a great deal of momentum this past year and now this momentum has increased substantially as the company has just announced they will be acquiring Cantata. This deal gives Dialogic access to huge fax market share... continue reading...
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Over a decade ago I came across Interactive Intelligence, a company who looked at the call center space as an area ripe with opportunity. They decided to market products which did exactly the opposite of what others were doing at... continue reading...
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In less than two weeks the communications market will be bolstered by the announcement of Microsoft officially entering the unified communications space in a major way. As a show of their support for the market, Microsoft chairman Bill Gates will... continue reading...
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With all the hoopla surrounding the iPhone it is not surprising that Verizon Wireless is touting a suite of new phones and one – the LG Electronics Voyager is being touted as an iPhone killer. The device runs on the... continue reading...
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Welcome Phil Hill to TMCnet as a columnist. Phil’s column is titled Hosted Hearsay and his first article is titled Small Business VoIP: Is it an Elephant or Gorilla? Where he discusses the reason why all SMBs are lumped together.... continue reading...
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For at least a decade PBX manufacturers would speak to me off the record about their trepidation regarding Microsoft entering the phone business. For those companies who hoped the day would never come, they should probably avoid reading this article... continue reading...
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If you haven’t been watching lately there has been lots of activity in the IP PBX and networking space from 3Com and Digium. Here is a recap. 3Com was recently purchased and a minority investor was China’s Huawei.... continue reading...
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Loyal TMC readers and visitors are likely aware of Atul Bhatnagar who was a keynote speaker about two years back at ITEXPO in Los Angeles, CA. The year Atul spoke was the first time Internet Telephony Conference & Expo was... continue reading...
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About a decade or so ago I ran across Tony Rybczynski (Tony Ryb to those who know him and/or cannot pronounce his last name) at the COMNET trade show in DC and was so blown away by him that I... continue reading...
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If you are looking for open source communications training, Fonality Trixbox training is going worldwide and is likely coming to a city near you. If you are looking for a discount on this training, be sure to click on... continue reading...
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Let’s congratulate Wes Hayden who was just appointed to the role of President, Nuance Enterprise Division. Hayden will report to Paul Ricci, Nuance's chairman and CEO. As Nuance focuses more on selling integrated solutions I expect Hayden’s skill sets... continue reading...
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This was a big week for me personally as I switched service providers. I should mention I have free VoIP accounts coming out of my ears. I often test them but I haven’t switched to any of them because to... continue reading...
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Patricia Russo the CEO of Alcatel-Lucent reportedly has one month to turn the company around. They need to restructure desperately it seems and the board will no longer tolerate bad quarters. Russo my soon be pushed out of the company.... continue reading...
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The Wall Street Journal reported that 3COM will be acquired by Bain Capital and Huawei Technologies. TMC’s Greg Galitzine has a call into 3COM for comments but what we know so far is the transaction is at $5+/share meaning more... continue reading...
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Here is my Publisher’s Outlook from the October 2007 Internet Telephony Magazine. It is rough and needs some editing but should give you a good idea of why you should be subscribing and reading every issue of the magazine. :)... continue reading...
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Thanks all for the nice comments on ITEXPO two weeks ago in Los Angeles. These are a few we have posted so far. Here is the testimonial page which will be updated over time. Video cyLogistics, Inc. Packet8 Quintum... continue reading...
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I have to admit, the press release (see bottom of page) I received this morning from Packet8/8x8 may be among the most unique I have ever received as it details how Packet8 is the service provider of choice for a... continue reading...
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These are mighty difficult times for Vonage as the incumbent providers have ganged up against them and have decided to compete on patents as opposed to technology. A federal jury has ruled that Vonage has to pay $69.5 million in... continue reading...
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We have had amazing comments regarding the success of the last Internet Telephony Conference & Expo from many attendees and exhibitors. We just recently posted some more photos of the event so you can get a feel for it yourself.... continue reading...
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With all the fanfare surrounding Microsoft’s reentry into telecom, I thought it worth mentioning Sun is doing the same thing. Microsoft has integrated their applications into communications (or vice versa) and even designed new devices such as phones and even... continue reading...
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Congratulations to the best of show winners at Internet Telephony Conference & Expo last week in Los Angeles, CA. A list follows below and here is the detailed press release. Best Service Provider Solution Comverse (www.comverse.com) CTI Labs (www.ctigroup.com)... continue reading...
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recently had a conversation with executives at TeleDirect International about how measuring call center quality is an important part of managing a successful call center operation. This is an important issue as IP communications has allowed contact centers to become... continue reading...
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ITEXPO West 2007 News The staggering amount of news and analysis generated from last week’s Internet Telephony Conference & Expo is mind-boggling. Thanks to all the analysts, bloggers, members of the press and everyone else who covered ITEXPO. Here... continue reading...
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Wow. It has been quite a week. I am sitting here in Norwalk, CT – TMC’s headquarters and feel a bit under the weather. This is not a surprise as I haven’t slept since last Friday due the super-busy schedule... continue reading...
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This morning marks the second day on Internet Telephony Conference & Expo and as I eat breakfast I can’t help but wonder if today will be an even better day than yesterday (photos and videos). What blew me away at... continue reading...
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The VAR is Dead and Partner is Born In a session titled how to make Money selling VoIP Robert Messer spoke today about how resellers need to evolve to become successful. Robert who works for ABP Technology a... continue reading...
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For many companies with thousands of call center agents the concept of optimizing contact center performance is akin to optimizing the US government. In either case you must ask yourself how you know when you are truly optimized and the... continue reading...
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I just ran a speed test on the broadband in the Wilshire Grand hotel – show hotel of Internet Telephony Conference & Expo and I found the download speed is 315 kbps and the upload is 821 kbps. I expect... continue reading...
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Hats off to VoIP News for some great writing regarding Internet Telephony Conference & Expo. Here is an accurate description of what the show is all about. Ken Camp also weighs in on the conference in his Realtime Community blog... continue reading...
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I am sitting in the airport this morning on my way to LA and reading Russell Shaw’s coverage of new research which discusses how websites of telecom companies are no good. Russell says this is information we already know. Interestingly... continue reading...
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I have noticed this year more ITEXPO speakers have blogs than at any time in the past. We all know there are more and bloggers each day and I am excited to see how many of them are referencing their... continue reading...
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I recently had the opportunity to ask Ilan Weizman of Surf Communications Solutions about the evolution of the IP communications space and the direction his company is taking. Surf develops a suite of hardware and software products that drives... continue reading...
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The number of new announcements being released at ITEXPO next week will likely be a show record if the early buzz is any indication. For example, today I learned Quintum; the Microsoft Certified VoIP gateway company will be making news... continue reading...
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Brian Spraetz, Senior Product Marketing Manager NICE Systems Inc., recently sat down with me (virtually over e-mail :) )to discuss IP communications and NICE’s upcoming presentation at ITEXPO. NICE Systems is the leading provider of Insight from Interactions, offering... continue reading...
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I recently had the opportunity to ask NeoPhonetics executives about open source/open standards-based on IP communications, cost effective PBX platforms, and more. NeoPhonetics designs, implements and supports custom VoIP telephone systems for enterprises with a specialty in open source... continue reading...
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I recently had the opportunity to ask Jay McCall, VoIP and Wireless Editor with Business Solutions magazine, about the evolution of SIP-based communications, the future of the market and more. Business Solutions magazine is a publication geared toward executives... continue reading...
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I am looking forward to listening to Alan Percy’s panel on SIP trunking which takes place next week at ITEXPO. Alan has been a fixture at many TMC events over the years and I am waiting semi-patiently to hear what... continue reading...
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