Security

Polaris IP

August 29, 2007

Polaris IP is a company you probably never heard of but they have a patent on an e-mail routing system and are using it to sue the Internet’s largest companies. In particular, Google, Yahoo!, Amazon, A9, Borders, AOL and IAC/Interactive Corp among others are named in a suit claiming infringement on patent 6,411,947. With ITEXPO just around the corner I haven’t had the time to delve deeply into this patent. Here is the abstract:

A method for automatically interpreting an electronic message, including the steps of (a) receiving the electronic message from a source; (b) interpreting the electronic message using a rule base and case base knowledge engine; and (c) classifying the electronic message as at least one of (i) being able to be responded to automatically; and (ii) requiring assistance from a human operator. The method for automatically interpreting an electronic message may also include the step of retrieving one or more predetermined responses corresponding to the interpretation of the electronic message from a repository for automatic delivery to the source.

This patent seems to apply to a number of advertising related companies as they all use a machine to determine which ad will be served based on web page content. The original patent claim was applied for by a company called Brightware.

Posted in Broadband, CRM, Call Center, Google, IP Communications, Microsoft, Patent, SIP, Security, Technology, Unified Communications, VoIP

Inter-Tel

August 28, 2007

Inter-Tel executives Aron Aicard (Director of Product Marketing), Jon Young (Director, Softswitch Technology) and Rick Ringel (Strategic Solutions Engineer), gave me this exclusive interview. They talked to me about Inter-Tel’s new corporate initiatives, the impact of SIP technology, and the future of the market in general. Recently merged with Mitel Networks Corporation, Inter-Tel is a high-profile provider of business telephone systems and related software products. It will be interesting to see how Inter-Tel/Mitel does under the leadership of the capable Mitel and Inter-Tel management. This includes of course Sir Terry Matthews who seems to turn everything into gold. Please outline your new corporate initiatives. Now that its merger with Mitel has been concluded, Inter-Tel is working closely with its colleagues at Mitel to broaden its collective suite of solutions to deliver seamless, advanced IP platforms, applications and services to businesses ranging from large enterprises to SOHO environments. How has SIP changed communications? We are only in the early stages of SIP acceptance, but Inter-Tel sees SIP—and other industry standards—as integral to the evolution of business communications.

Posted in Apple, Broadband, CRM, Call Center, Cisco, Conferencing, FCC, Google, IP Communications, ITEXPO, Microsoft, SIP, Security, Speech Technologies, Technology, Unified Communications, Video, VoIP, Wireless

Unlock iPhone get Sued

August 28, 2007

There has been tremendous coverage of the New Jersey teen who unlocked the iPhone. Now it seems it is possible that unlocking the iPhone and sharing the secret online can make you a target of a lawsuit. Here is the story.

Posted in Apple, Consumer Electronics, FCC, IP Communications, Security, Technology

VoEX

August 24, 2007

VoEX, Inc., is a VoIP managed-service provider offering global peering infrastructure, network interoperability, industry-leading quality of service, and advanced applications capabilities for top tier carriers, mobile operators, cable operators, voice service providers, academic institutions and enterprises. VoEX maps the world’s phone numbers to resolvable IP addresses by combining an advanced carrier-grade VoIP peering infrastructure with the world’s largest carrier ENUM registry — now totaling over 250 million phone numbers — to interconnect IP, TDM and hybrid-network service providers. I recently had the opportunity to discuss industry trends with Cyril N. Matthews, Director of Registry and Network Services at VOEX. For more on the company be sure to check out a March 30th, 2007 discussion between Cyril and Russell Shaw. RT: Please outline your new corporate initiatives. CM: Our company has built our network on IP at the core and we are working with our customers and vendors to push IP to the edge of the network (using ENUM and other technologies) to provide a base for the development of applications that can take advantage of the IP-based environment to drive convergence. RT: How has SIP changed communications? CM: SIP has opened up communications to the level of flexibility and innovation previously seen in personal computing… creating the ability for personal communications such as Instant Messaging (text, voice & video), as well as other presence- and location-based applications. RT: What is the biggest request coming from your customer base? CM: Give me something to help me differentiate what I do from my competitors. RT: How are you answering their demands? CM: We are working with our customers to develop solutions RT: What do you think the future of the market is? CM: Applications that seamlessly blend voice, video and data with real-time (inter)personal communications. RT: How does the U.S.

Posted in Apple, Broadband, CRM, Call Center, Cisco, Conferencing, Consumer Electronics, Google, IP Communications, ITEXPO, Microsoft, SIP, Science, Security, Skype, Technology, Video, VoIP, Wireless

SIP to Skype

August 23, 2007

If you aren’t aware, Skip2PBX is a company which enables you to take advantage of Skype trunking. The company is based in Italy and I have met Caristopher Arkin who handles the company’s marketing. Caristopher recently sent over an e-mail telling me the company has gotten their gateway to work between SIP and Skype. I thought this was pretty big news and worth sharing.

Posted in Broadband, Call Center, IP Communications, SIP, Security, Skype, Technology, Video, VoIP

Ixia on Skype Outage

August 22, 2007

You may have seen my recent blog post about what we learned from the Skype outage. I have had much feedback about this article and I found it important enough to publish in an upcoming TMC magazine. I won’t tell you which as I would like you to read them all of course. One of the letters I received regarding the post was actually something the author allowed me to publish. The quantity of mail I receive where the author wants me not to publish the comments is astounding actually. The e-mail below agrees with my thoughts regarding the Skype outage and since it comes from Ixia, a testing company no one should be surprised.

Posted in Broadband, Consumer Electronics, IP Communications, ITEXPO, Microsoft, Security, Skype, Technology, VoIP

Alcatel-Lucent Changes

August 22, 2007

There are some management changes at Alcatel-Lucent consisting of COO Frank D'Amelio and President Mike Quigley leaving. Patricia Russo will remain as CEO and Etienne Fouques, who had reported to

Quigley, will now lead the company's tech and strategy unit and oversee the services group.
Also, Michel Rahier was given charge of the company's telecom business, including wireless and converged network gear. More.

Posted in Broadband, Cisco, FCC, IMS, IP Communications, IPTV, ITEXPO, Microsoft, Open Source, Security, Speech Technologies, Technology, Unified Communications, Video, VoIP, WiMAX, Wireless

Cell Phone Contract Cancellation

August 21, 2007

Are you looking to sue your wireless carrier? If you are you should know a full six paragraphs are dedicated to dispute resolution over at Verizon Wireless and ten “fat” paragraphs are dedicated to this topic in an AT&T Wireless bill. Interesting wording in the AT&T bill reads as follows: "You agree that, by entering into this Agreement, you and AT&T are each waiving the right to a trial by jury or to participate in a class action." I came across a good article on this topic at Newsfactor.com. This article is where I got the figures from the first paragraph by the way. The article is a good read if this topic is of interest.

Posted in Apple, Call Center, Cisco, Conferencing, Consumer Electronics, FCC, Google, IMS, IP Communications, Microsoft, Patent, Science, Security, Technology, VoIP, Wireless

Skype Outage Article

August 21, 2007

Jon Arnold and I were both quoted recently in a San Francisco Chronicle article titled Skype reveals outage source, tells customers it won't happen again. The article is extremely well-written, gets perspective from a number of people and weaves each viewpoint into a cohesive whole. My quote follows below:

The technology relies on user computers to route phone calls and handle some of the call authentication. There are thousands of computers and servers that are tapped to act as these supernodes in the Skype network. That reliance has allowed Skype, owned by San Jose's eBay, to keep phone calls free between members and extremely cheap for calls to nonsubscribers. But an outage like last week's reveals the inherent vulnerability in the system when a large number of computers are affected within a short span of time, said Rich Tehrani, chairman of the Internet Telephony Conference and Expo and president of TMC, a communications and technology media company. "The fate of the users is not in the control of one company, and that's the problem," Tehrani said.

Posted in Broadband, Call Center, Conferencing, Consumer Electronics, Google, IP Communications, ITEXPO, Microsoft, Security, Skype, Technology, Unified Communications, VoIP, Wireless

Parlano

August 21, 2007

Bob Serr, Parlano CTO, took some time to give me this exclusive interview. In it, he gave some fascinating insight on the impact of industry giants like Google and Microsoft on the telecom world, and also let me know why Parlano’s presentation at ITEXPO is something worth looking forward to. One of the leaders in the burgeoning space of persistent group chat, Parlano gives some of the world's most dynamic organizations competitive advantage through more effective cross-functional group communication. You can read more about them in this recent TMCnet article.

How is IP communications changing your company’s strategy? We see our customers moving in this direction and they are demanding integrated voice and text communications, which we are delivering to them via our SIP/SIMPLE based product. How has SIP changed communications? It’s made possible integration at the application level for text and voice communications—as opposed to gateways that connect systems but do not offer an integrated experience for the user that matches the way they do their jobs. What is the biggest request coming from your customer base? Seemless integration of persistent group chat with Microsoft’s unified communications platform. How are you answering their demands?

Posted in Apple, Cisco, Conferencing, Consumer Electronics, IP Communications, Microsoft, SIP, Science, Security, Skype, Technology, Unified Communications, VoIP

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