Packet8 Virtual Trunking

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

Hyperconnectivity, Live and in Person

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

Sipera Looks To The Channel

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

Keep In Touch

If you haven't noticed, there will be more and more touch-enabled devices in your future. The craze seemed to get the biggest boost from the popularity of the iPhone interface which spawned a number of similar interfaces from competing phone... continue reading...

Build Communities With Google's Help

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

Podcast: AudioCodes Mediant 1000 MSBG

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

Conflicting iPhone Rumors

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

T-Mobile Suing Starbucks

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

Will Steve Jobs Wow Us?

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

CBX 2008 News and Analyis

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

Will LTE Fuel IMS?

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

Flat Rate Voice/Data Plans for SMBs

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

Headed to Telx CBX 2008

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

One More Reason To Vacation in the Bahamas

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

Of IP Communications and Broadband Reliability

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

Speaking at IP Sizzles 2008

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

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

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

Vocaltec Sells Patents to Karo Millennium

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

Too Fat For That Camera Phone?

In the category of "Oh no you didn't," comes the comment from a Nokia spokesperson saying people don't use videoconferencing as often as they might because the current angle of camera phones makes them look fat. Pretty funny. See more... continue reading...

SIP Forum Growth

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

Flash to SIP Video and Back

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

Being Part of Squawk Box

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

Podcast: Objectworld's David Levy

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

Roku: The Apple of TV?

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

Skype Adding Video Clips

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

Cisco EMC Merger Rumor

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

CBS Picks up CNET

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

Packet8 SIP Trunking Rumor

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

New WiMAX News Site

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

ITEXPO West 2008 Conference Announced

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

My Canada Trip and Nortel Wrap Up

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

Virtual Worlds, The Future of Communications

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

Digium Picks Integrics to Power Carrier Solutions

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

UMAThought Leader Steve Shaw on TMCnet

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

Cablevision's WiFi Network in New York City

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

PAETEC: Success Under the Radar

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

Vonage Record Quarter: Jeff Citron Interview

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

Skype as David, Telcos as Goliath

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

Google Pushes Verizon on 700 MHz Open Access

Many of us thought the open access provisions of the 700 MHz auction were taken care of and this was the reason Google got involved in the auction in the first place. It seems now that Verizon is saying that... continue reading...

Nortel's Joel Hackney Discusses Earnings

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

Interop Bound and Thanks

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

Of Universities and Technology

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

SMS Saves Lives

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

Ortiva Wireless Enables Mobile Streaming

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

Callwave Fuze, Unified Communications Plus

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...

Novarra's Better Mobile Browsing Experience

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

New TMCnet Record and New Writer

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

Dialogic Analyst/Media Day

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

Openwave Turns Service Providers into Internet Companies

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

Ceragon Boosts Wireless Backhaul Throughput

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

Target Service Provider Marketing by Pontis

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...

TiVo On the Offensive

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

IPTV Growth

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

Unlimited Plans = Unlimited Trouble?

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

Plantronics HW251N-USB Wideband Headset

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

Podcast: Ken Lamneck - President The Americas, Tech Data

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

Podcast: Dieter Thompson, TAG

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

FTTH is Needed Soon

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

Communications Developer Call for Papers

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

Bob Emmerson: TMC's European Editor

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

TMCnet Podcast Library

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

TMCnet Gets a Redesign

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

ScanSource Wants its MTV

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

Live Communications Webinars

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

Sprint Pays Klausner

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

Mind CTI Interview: Monica Eisinger

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

TMCnet Hits 100 Sponsored Community Milestone

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

Mossberg: 3G iPhone in 60 Days

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

HD Voice goes Hosted

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

The Coming Mobile WiMAX Revolution

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

Save Money in a Slow Economy

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

Polycom's Software Play and More

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

Polycom's Durable 8002 VoIP Phone

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

NEC's New Vision

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

VPF Winter 2007 Video Interviews

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

Tax VoIP Illegally, Get a Raise

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

Nortel's Recent Wins and More

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

TMC Growth Update

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

AT&T Mobile TV

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

Grandstream's Grand GXE502X

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

DirecTV Outage

What is it about late March that seems to make companies supplying us with movies have outages. there jest seems to be a steady stream of outages in fact. Yesterday it was a Netflix outage and today it is a... continue reading...

Netflix Outage

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

Microsoft's Call Center Push

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...

700 MHz Auction Concludes

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

Communications To Fuel Global Economy Growth

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...

Carriers Need Advertising

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

IBM's Unified Communications Predictions

I have had over two dozen meetings with companies in the communications space these past two weeks and it is my sincere goal to be able to share the most important parts of each meeting with you. In the mean... continue reading...

Dan Miller New TMCnet Columnist

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

Tech Data Carries Cbeyond

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

Dialogic to Support Asterisk

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...

Tandberg Integrates Unified Communications and Telepresence

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

Where is the TMC Team?

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

Avaya's Huge Unified Communications Push

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

IBM's Big Unified Communications News

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

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

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

Russell Shaw and Frank Macari will be Missed

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

SIP Security Webinar

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

Adding Value to Wireless VARs

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

Paul Reynolds Joins XConnect Board

Sarah Hofstetter is a VoIP veteran as she was the head of PR for Net2Phone since the 1990s and has been in the IP communications space longer than just about anyone else out there. The reason I point this out... continue reading...

Newest Tech, Oldest Profession

I must admit, I was not 100% sure I wanted to cover this topic in my blog but in the end the human interest angle coupled with the popularity of the news regarding the Eliot Spitzer prostitution arrest made... continue reading...

Outsourcers Abusing Work Visas?

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

Aspect Brings Unified Communications to the Contact Center

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...

Ken Camp is Available

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

Yes, Telecom is Broken

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

Service Providers Get Into Home Security

How do you get the triple-play to expand into the quintuple-play, etc? Easy... You add a brand new service -- home security to the mix. Quest is the first carrier to publicly promote the idea of service providers getting... continue reading...

Peter Radizeski Joins TMCnet

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

Rumor: Deutsche Telecom to Acquire Sprint

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

Communications News March 7, 2008

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

Jaduka's New Products

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

Google TV Ads for Adwords

The latest industry where Google hopes to compete and subsequently keep executives at other corporations up at night is TV advertising. I came a cross a great article discussing Google's latest services in this space. In addition there is some... continue reading...

NEC, Microsoft, HP Labs and Comcast News

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

Hunter Newby Leaves Telx

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

Fred Goldstein on Net Neutrality

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

AT&T's Bullish Investment

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

TMCnet's New Vertical Communities

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

Podcast: Joel Hackney, Nortel

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

IMS News from Ericsson, Radvision and Quanta

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

Siemens Business Communications to be Sold

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

A Coke, Collaboration and a Smile

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

TMCnet Services

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

AT&T U-verse Improves

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

Building IMS Applications

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

Refurbished iPhones

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

Vonage Spent $1.4 million on Lobbying

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

RIM Patents the HTC XV6800

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

Bain and Huawei Resubmit Bid

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

David Yedwab Live on TMCnet

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

Telecommuting Slowdown

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

Did Comcast Hire People to Attend the FCC Forum?

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

Nuvio sues Garmin

Nuvio is suing Garmin over its Nuvifone product. As you probably know, Nuvio sells a hosted communications service so now that Garmin has launched this telephony product there is a serious chance for confusion. More... continue reading...

Senate Passes new 911 Bill

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

What Nortel Should do Now

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

Siemens has Large Cuts

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

Pakistan Blocks YouTube Worldwide

It is quite scary to hear that when Pakistan ordered YouTube to be blocked, they accidentally blocked the site around the world. Can you imagine what would happen if other countries start  accidentally blocking unfriendly sites worldwide? More... continue reading...

Some Webinars to Witness

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

NEC Targets Mid-Tier for IMS

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

Thank You Kevin Martin

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

The US Entrenched in the Communications Third World

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

FCC Forum Starts This Week

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

Pakistan Blocks YouTube

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

Judge Gives Google a Viacom Copyright Lawsuit Extension

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

Skype Serves up 100 Billion Minutes

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

More Cable Details Emerge

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

The Problem with Triple-Play Providers

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

TMCnet Continues to Grow

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

Web 2.0 Coming to a Business near You

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

The ISPS Strike Back

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

Sony's VoIP Headsets

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

Intel's Skulltrail Motherboard

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

BT Has New Wireless VoIP Plan

Of course this is not the first time a wireless carrier has allowed customers access to VoWiFi but BT's new WiFi telephony service costs only of £5/month when you subtract out the bundled Office Anywhere service which costs £5 as... continue reading...

RIM Sues Motorola over Patents

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

Aastra Acquires Ericsson's Enterprise Business

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

Quickorder for Starbucks

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

SMBs Embrace FMC

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

Rembrandt IP Management

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

How Will Cable do in a Slower Economy?

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

Comparing Airline Fees

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...

You *Really* Get What You Pay For

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

Regulators Reshape the Internet

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

Mobile Browsing Gets Better

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

HD Voice Community

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

Unprotected SIP

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

Increase Marketing Spend in a Recession

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

Corporate Phone Bills: $133 Billion in 2008

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

Telco 2.0 - the Microsoft way

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

Verizon's Network Upgrades

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

Yahoo's Choices

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

ITEXPO East 2008 Video

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

8x8 Patent Reissued

8x8 the parent of Packet8 has been reissued a patent 6,483,532 entitled, "Video-Assisted Audio Signal Processing System and Method." The patent relates to an arrangement for controlling audio signal transmissions for a communications system that includes a microphone and a... continue reading...

Covad has Wider Loss

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

Garmin Nuvifone Review

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

Packet8 MobileTalk Goes Free

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...

Android Happenings

There are lots of great things happening in the world of Android over at Mobile World Congress. PC World has a good article on the topic and in it they discuss which processors are Android-compatible and why some exhibitors at... continue reading...

Tandberg Video works with Microsoft OCS

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

Mobile World Congress Key Terms

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

Alcatel-Lucent Cuts Dividend

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

Google Buying Plaxo?

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

IPTV Community

Be sure to check out the new IPTV Global Online Community on TMCNet which consists of articles on IPTV Technology, Programming News, and IPTV Deployments. A few articles of note are RealNetworks offering Envivio 4Caster Hardware, an article on... continue reading...

Bebo To Be Bought?

It is enough to make the average person sick. How does a company with a name like Yahoo! get a valuation in tens of billions of dollars. Sure, we all use Yahoo! so this is not such a stretch. But... continue reading...

Is AT&T a Runaway Winner?

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

LG Viewty Crosses Threshold

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

ooVoo Gives Free Calls

Recently I discussed Packet8 and their MobileTalk service allowing inexpensive calls from cell phones to international numbers. Now I want to share that you can make free phone calls from a computer to a  cell phone (or land line if... continue reading...

Blodget on Yahoo/Microsoft!

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

Apple Doubles Capacity

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

Podcast Interview: 8x8 VP Marketing Huw Rees

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

Aretta's Hosted Asterisk Tastes Great

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

Worldgate Problems

I read on Tom Keating's blog that Worldgate, the maker of the Ojo Videophone was in trouble. Apparently Worldgate has been short or out of money for about six months and industry insiders tell me that they have high expenses... continue reading...

ECI Telecom Podcast Interview with CMO Laura Howard

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

ITEXPO East 2008 Videos

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

Charlotte Wolter Joins TMCnet

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

Motorola Explores Spinning off Handset Business

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

700 MHz Auction Update

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

Sprint Sues VoIP Firms

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

ITEXPO: Article in Sun-Sentinel

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

Big Sprint Changes

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

My Schedule Tonight

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

ITEXPO -- See You in Hall B

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...

ITEXPO West 2008 Day One - Andy

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

Dell Chooses Fonality

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

Internet Buffet Closed

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

ITEXPO East 2008 Schedule

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

Have a Safe Trip to ITEXPO

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

ITEXPO Giveaways

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

White Space Internet Closer

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

Vonage to Follow SunRocket?

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

Fax, T.38 and SIP

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

Skype on Apple TV

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

California Broadband Task Force Recommendations

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

Shoretel Class Action Suit

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...

Macs for Business?

Like just so many technologies, Macs are invading corporations from the bottom up. Since this week saw MacWorld and MacIT take place... Wall Street Journal reporters had a chance to scope out the latter event and write a blog entry... continue reading...

Open Source Momentum

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...

Go Directly to Jail, Do Not Pass Go

A disproportionate amount of fraud seems to have taken place in the telecom and technology fields over the last decade. Adelphia, Worldcom, Enron (remember they also had a bandwidth trading division) and many others have been caught and convicted over... continue reading...

Mobile Device Management

Mobile device management is a somewhat new addition to the telecom expense management (TEM) field, but it has exploded in the past couple years as mobile telephony adoption among enterprises has continued at a rapid clip. Moreover, many workers are... continue reading...

Open Source PBX Redesign

For you open source communications aficionados -- you know who you are --   ... I have some great news for you. TMCnet has recently worked with Sangoma to redesign the open source PBX Global Online Community. I hope you like... continue reading...

SIP and Enhanced Services

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...

WiFi Hotspots Still Not Secure

In August of last year I wrote about how WiFi hotspots are not secure. A few days later I clarified the post with comments from Microsoft's Francois Doremieux, Senior Program Manager, Product Group: Customer Experience. The clarification basically explains that... continue reading...

Jon Arnold

TMC's newest contributor is Jon Arnold. Jon is is one of the most methodical and knowledgeable people I know in the IP communications space and I have always admired him a great deal. TMC has worked with Jon for many... continue reading...

Important Interviews

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...

Tech News 01/16/07

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...

MacWorld Update

Although I am not blown away by the Apple announcements out of MacWorld today the news could still be a massive financial win for the California-based company. In short, the cult of Steve Jobs announced a new thin laptop Macbook... continue reading...

Quantcast Update 01/08

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...

Free Softbank Calls

Softbank is said to be considering allowing free phone calls between its VoIP and wireless service. The goal will be to increase the stickiness of each service while simultaneously enticing more subscribers. Obviously there is potential for an ARPU hit... continue reading...

Sipera Interview

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...

Sangoma Interview

When you listen to David Mandelstam the President and CEO of Sangoma, you get the feeling you are speaking with a hybrid scientist/entrepreneur. Mandelstam's company is a pioneer in both open source and unified communications and he is a good... continue reading...

Google iPhone Upgrade

The latest news out of Google is not surprising as the company decided to choose the week of Macworld to announce that they have improved their iPhone experience. As I wrote about earlier today, iPhone search activity is much greater... continue reading...

iPhone Google Traffic Surge

Back in the late nineties the CEO of Nokia made an interesting prediction at an industry show in his keynote address. The prognostication was that soon more people would surf the internet on their mobile devices than on PCs. Unfortunately... continue reading...

Multicore Processors in 3G

As 3G applications and services become more complex, it becomes essential that service providers address the challenge by ensuring they user the proper processors to take advantage of increased device load. One way to tackle the problems of power and... continue reading...

T-Mobile's Massive Spend

I thought it worth mentioning the absolutely staggering amount of money T-Mobile will be spending to upgrade their 2G and 3G networks. A total of $10.3 billion will be spent between now and 2009 in fact. This could be an... continue reading...

Service Provider Opportunities

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...

Death of the Road Warrior

One of the more respected names in the video/telepresence space is Casey King, CTO of LifeSize. I recently had a chance to interview King and you may be interested in reading his views on how telepresence is changing the world... continue reading...

IP Fax Reliability

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...

Comcast 2.0

In December of 2004 I wrote an article titled VoIP 2.0 in Internet Telephony Magazine which focused in part on next generation devices VoIP service providers need to differentiate themselves. Here is an excerpt from that article: The Device Sells... continue reading...

Webot Review

It is almost embarrassing to call it a review as getting Webot up and running was almost too simple for words. Once you sign up to the music streaming and photo sharing service you are offered a download of software... continue reading...

IP Communications News January 4, 2007

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...

IP Communications News January 4, 2007

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...

Blackberry Goes Slingbox

What is the ultimate nightmare for corporate tech departments?? How about streaming video on corporate Blackberrys? Well, thanks to Slingbox, we will soon be able to all enjoy the latest episode of Lost on our handheld devices. Let's just hope... continue reading...

Packet8: Slow and Steady Wins the Race

What is not to like about a company that keeps growing its customer base yet stays just under the radar so it isn't sued into oblivion? 8x8's Packet8 service continues to grow nicely and has just reached the 10,000 user... continue reading...

Technology News Wrap Dec 27, 2007

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...

VoIP Banned on Some Flights

Perhaps the best holiday gift for people who enjoy peace and quiet on their flights is an all out ban on VoIP in the sky. The AP is reporting on the sorts of things we may be allowed to do... continue reading...

The Latest on Mitel

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...

Avaya’s Unified Communications Future

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...

Nortel Sues Vonage

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...

OCS Training

It goes without saying that unified communications was one of the most exciting growth areas in the communications market this past quarter. Microsoft continues to be a major driver of this technology with its Office Communications Server (OCS) product. In... continue reading...

Google, Blackberry and Skype News

Two things worth noting this morning have to do with mobility and video. First off, Google Calendar now syncs with Blackberrys. This is big news, allowing corporations to slowly wean themselves off of Microsoft software if they so choose. As... continue reading...

Apple in 2008

It looks as if Apple will release a new iPhone with more memory next year as well as an iPhone which works on 3G networks. I have covered the 3G network news before as you may recall. In general, laptops... continue reading...

Net Neutrality 2.0

Should service providers be allowed to alter your web pages? The issue came up yet again when Toronto-based Rogers decided to insert messages containing sales messages in web pages they display on their customer’s browsers.   "We are concerned about... continue reading...

What Toshiba is Doing Right

Wow! A while back I commented that Toshiba’s products were not very well known in the telecom space. This is an excerpt from that blog entry:   My point is the company is well-known in computing but virtually unknown in... continue reading...

NextPoint Analysis

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...

Star Wars Everywhere

Should we be alarmed with the amount of Star Wars content on Tom Keating’s blog? I am not sure. As a huge fan of the Star Wars trilogy (quadrilogy?, quintilogy?, sextilogy?) movies I guess I am OK with it... continue reading...

Security: The Best IP Topping of All

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...

CompUSA to Close

In the neighborhood near TMC, three stores have recently been wiped away in the past years. The first to go was the hardware store which could not compete against Home Depot. The next was the photo development store because of... continue reading...

Telecom Growing Nicely

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...

Speaking at VPF Winter 2007 Today

I am speaking today by the way. I forgot to mention it. Here is the session you can see me at later today –4:00 PM in fact.   Keynote Panel   Web, Media and Telecom Market   Panelists include Bhupender... continue reading...

Voice Peering Forum Winter 2007 Kicks Off

At the Voice Peering Forum Winter 2007 conference the attendance is very good which indicates tremendous interest in this burgeoning market. So far it seems clear that Stealth Communications, the company behind this event has yet another successful conference under... continue reading...

Off to the Voice Peering Forum New York

Tomorrow I am off to the Voice Peering Forum Winter 2007 hosted by Stealth Communications. Shrihari Pandit the VPF Founder asked me to help with some video reporting which is always very exciting. If you know Hunter Newby from Telx,... continue reading...

Verizon Voyager Analysis

I had a chance to briefly demo the Verizon Voyager today and it is an amazing combination of technology in a compact package. The question I kept asking myself as I toyed with the device is whether this mobile gadget... continue reading...

NextPoint is Born

TMCnet’s Greg Galitzine announced the rumor on October 19th that NexTone and Reef Point were to merge. Today the news becomes real as the companies are combining to create NextPoint. Here are some quick facts and quotes according to the... continue reading...

Open Communications is the Future

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...

Consumer Gadgets Eclipse Business Phones

The maddening division between consumer and business mobile devices continues to grow and as the trend picks up steam it is apparent consumers are the winners and businesspeople suffer. This is not to say the problem isn’t in some ways... continue reading...

Google to Bid on 700 MHz Spectrum

While it is not really a surprise at this point, Google will be bidding on the 700 MHz spectrum auction and if the company wins, it will likely change the business model of many other service providers. The reason... continue reading...

iPhone Gets Real Network

Many current iPhone users will certainly say it is about time that in 2008, iPhones will run on a proper 3G network allowing true wireless broadband speeds. The reason the device does not currently support 3G is because the... continue reading...

Sprint Turns Down $5 Billion Offer

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...

FCC: Worry about TVoIP not Cable

As the FCC vs. Cable struggle continues, I can’t help but wonder if Chairman Kevin Martin isn’t spending too much time worrying about a problem which will be irrelevant at some point in the future.   Martin is trying to... continue reading...

Android Sans SIP and IMS

I found some interesting analysis over at the Google Phone blog regarding Android’s missing SIP and IMS stacks. Here is the piece if you are interested in learning more.... continue reading...

Skype High Quality Video

Skype has teamed with Logitech to provide what they call a High Quality Video solution. I had a chance to test this new feature via a videoconference with Tom Keating who heads up TMC Labs.   In order to take... continue reading...

Verizon Wireless Opens Up

In the history of United States communications, this day ranks right up there with the day of the Carterfone (Wikipedia) decision allowing any device to work on AT&T’s PSTN network. Today, almost 30 years later, Verizon chose to tell the... continue reading...

Star Wars VoIP Phone

I came across a Star Wars VoIP phone this past weekend while perusing catalogues. I was going to write about it today but apparently either Tom Keating checks his mail more often than I do or he gets access to... continue reading...

Communications Webinars

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...

Latest Skype Problems

I had to share this blog post on Skype from J.A. Watson as it is very interesting and points to potentially big problems at the world’s leading IP communications software company. I think some of the points here are valid... continue reading...

Skype Foiling German Police

VoIP has reduced the cost of phone calls worldwide allowing many the ability to speak with others at a low cost or even for free. Because of IP communications in fact, there has also been a business productivity renaissance. When... continue reading...

Nokia 810 Review

Tom Keating has an excellent review of the Nokia N810 and although I haven’t seen this gadget yet, based on the Nokia N800 experience I have, this could be a real killer device.   I must say that the amount... continue reading...

Rumor Mill: Google Buying Skype

I have to be honest with you my loyal and devoted readers. I am disgusted with myself. Why you ask? Because I am an addict – I am addicted to writing about Google. I just can’t seem to help it.... continue reading...

Google TV

If you think Android and the Open Handset Alliance are interesting, check out this article form TechCrunch about how Google may soon be in the set top box market and by doing so will be have the ultimate platform to... continue reading...

COTS to the Service Provider Rescue

There was a time when service providers had to purchase massively expensive proprietary equipment in order to deploy telephone service. Class 4 and 5 switches required enormous investment and could be justified as this equipment would be depreciated over many... continue reading...

Voice Peering Forum Winter 2007

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...

Avaya DevConnect

Over the years, TMC has worked closely with Avaya to host their DevConnect Developer Conference at TMC events such as Communications/VoIP Developer. I have always found these events to be extremely valuable as Avaya does a great job getting the... continue reading...

Don’t Vote Until You read This

I am unhappy to hear that 24 House Republicans are delving into the FCC’s plan to regulate the cable companies more closely. FCC Chairman Martin is acting in the best interest of consumers by fostering competition in the cable industry... continue reading...

Ma Google

What will the communications market look like in ten years I wonder? It may be difficult to forecast incredible change and disruptive technologies but it is relatively easy to predict what will happen based on what we know today.  ... continue reading...

Mobile Advertising Grows to $16.5 Billion

I was perusing some articles on mobile advertising recently and was absolutely stunned at how big some analysts think this market will be. According to this TMCnet article, Strategy Analytics predicts the global market for mobile advertising is slated to... continue reading...

Facebook to Compete with Digg

Some of the more popular sites to go to when voting on technology news are digg and Techmeme. Digg actually allows you to vote on more than just tech news and both are great places to go when you are... continue reading...

How Network Neutrality Solves the Cable Competition Problem

It is obvious to me the cable companies are getting the short end of the FCC stick. In fact I am not sure the FCC will be giving any sort of stick to the cable companies this Christmas. Even the... continue reading...

Rumor Mill: Google Acquiring Sprint

Recent news that Sprint is not going to work with Clearwire to build out a WiMAX network only added to the rumors I have been hearing about Google acquiring Sprint Nextel. On the surface it seems like this would be... continue reading...

PR and Marketing Done Right

Oftentimes companies in the communications space ask me how they are doing compared to their competition in the areas of marketing and PR. They generally do this by asking me to take surveys about their company’s standing in the market.... continue reading...

Cisco VARs Feeling Microsoft Pressure

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...

The Future is UnClearWire

TMCnet’s Russell Shaw reports in his Regulation blog that Clearwire and Sprint Nextel are not going to work together on a nationwide WiMAX network. Citing a story in the Wall Street Journal, Shaw says:   A letter of intent to... continue reading...

ITEXPO East 2008 Brochure Available

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...

Ditech Networks

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...

Symbian CEO Disses Open Handset Alliance

Symbian may be the closest competitor to Google’s Open Handset Alliance and not surprisingly the head of Symbian had nothing flattering to say about this latest open source mobile handset initiative.   Symbian’s CEO Nigel Clifford said, There's 10,... continue reading...

Comcast Gets Beat up

If you haven’t been watching, you may have missed the fact that the telcos are becoming serious competitors to the cable companies. For the last few years it seemed cable companies were invincible but recently the phone companies with products... continue reading...

Picketing Steve Jobs

Apparently the proper place for striking writers to be picketing is in front of Steve Job’s house, office and perhaps anywhere else he happens to be. So says Michael Eisner according to this CNET news report.   In reality, Steve... continue reading...

ITEXPO Discount – Act Fast

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...

Nortel is Back

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...

IP Communications News November 6, 2007

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...

Quantcast

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...

Apple Tablet PC

Think of it as an iPhone but with more of it to love. ;)   Sure you love your iPhone, iPod and other Apple devices but something is missing. You want a single device which gives you the power of... continue reading...

More Google Phone Speculation

Whether or not Google is coming out with a phone in addition to its work in the Open Handset Alliance is unknown. What is known is the speculation may never cease and the rumors will continue to swirl. It seems... continue reading...

FonalityCRM

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...