January 2005 Archives

Very interesting Triple Play solution case study from Intel. Some notable names in the PDF file - Netcentrex and Envivio.

Excerpt:
IPlay3 delivers a single fully integrated solution to provide value-added voice and video services on top of a high-speed Internet offering.

IP Telephony
Our IP Telephony delivers a standards-based (SIP/MGCP/H.323) carrier-grade, scalable platform with complete Class 5 and innovative voice-video interactive features.

IP Video
Our IP Video delivers both live IP-TV and video-on-demand (IPVoD) in a complete, high-performance video platform based on the leading-edge Main Profile H.264 standard.

Billing Services
Our billing services provides a flexible, triple play enabled, multitier platform including pricing, rating, billing, settlement and profit simulation and analysis.

Subscriber Services
Our Subscriber services provides a portal framework through which the end user accesses the various services.

Internet Access/Data
Our triple play solution adapts to any existing or planned high speed internet offering by integration through our common GUI to the voice, video and billing components

Check out the full PDF here:
http://www.intel.com/netcomms/events/downloads/iplay3_solution_web.pdf

TMC's main website - www.tmcnet.com has been experiencing phenomenal growth. In fact, the growth has been so phenomenal, our main web server could no longer handle the load.

Fortunately, the blog server is still up, which may be why you reached this webpage.

We're in the process of upgrading the webserver and it should be back online in about 30 minutes.

In the meantime, feel free to browse my blog as well as Rich Tehrani's VoIP Blog, and Greg Galitzine's blog.

The vultures are circling...

Another Level 3 competitor, Nuvio going after Level 3's customers.

Nuvio Corporation, a provider of Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), today announced an offering specifically for Level 3 partners that were selling the company's (3)Tone Business product, its wholesale hosted-PBX service, which will be phased out in June. Nuvio is providing a package that allows Level 3's partners to switch to its NuvioCentrex service, the company's full-featured hosted IP-PBX solution, offering the same terms and conditions granted by Level 3, along with one month's free service

Full story:
Nuvio Announces Special Hosted IP-PBX Offering for Level 3 Partners

Nuvio Announces Special Hosted IP-PBX Offering for Level 3 Partners

Rich Tehrani proposes a broadband tax and then explains why:

Broadband Tax: Why I Am For It

Rich's idea is intriguing - have a flat tax on broadband that takes care of everything else. That is to say, this "all in one tax" means no extra tax on VoIP calls or any other Internet-related taxes now or in the future.

However, anytime I hear someone propose a new tax, as nobel as the idea may seem, I still have to squirm in my chair. Most people are loathe to think of any new tax, but especially when it comes to something so ubiquitous as the Internet.

The Internet has indeed become like a "utility" - similar to electricity, cable TV, or phone service. As such, anytime these "regulated" utilities propose a rate hike, (especially electrical rate hikes) inevitably there is an immediate consumer backlash.

I cannot imagine the backlash that would occur should a broadband Net tax be imposed.

There are other factors to consider as well. What about ISPs, large companies, or other facilities with high-speed T1/T3 data lines? Do they have to pay a Net tax as well? or do they get a free pass? And what about dial-up? Sure, VoIP over dial-up isn't the greatest, but that too bypasses the traditional PSTN with no tax revenue collected by Uncle Sam.

And what about other PSTN bypasses? Satellite phones, cell phones, etc. What about CB radios or high-powered walkie-talkies? Should we tax these too because they have impacted the tax revenue collected by the government?

As much as I would like to believe that VoIP has impacted the U.S. government's tax coffers, I believe it has more to do with flat-rate cell phone service with a bucket of minutes than it does VoIP. Over the past several years people have been paying less in their monthly phone bills (and hence less taxes) because they get a big bucket of cell phone minutes for a low monthly fee.

Anytime the government sticks its hand out looking for a new tax source, I am always a bit wary. Besides, didn't President George Bush campaign on "simplifying" the tax code this year?

Whoah! now here's a cool product! Check out the release & feature-set. With SkipJam's controllers, parents can pause their kids' video and tell them to come to dinner through the TV speaker … without ever leaving the kitchen. They can automatically mute or lower the volume of all stereos when a phone call comes in, and see who's calling right on their remote or on their TV or PC screen. SKIPJAM ANNOUNCES iMEDIA CONTROLLERS FOR PHONE & VOICE COMMUNICATIONS IN THE HOME Touch-Panel and Handheld Remotes Integrate Phone and Voice Communications with Universal Remote Control January 31, 2004, Port Chester NY – SkipJam Corp., a leading provider of home media networking solutions, announced today SkipJam iMedia wired and wireless touch panels and RF remote Controls which allow complete control of all SkipJam iMedia home multimedia and appliances through an integrated simple to use menu. The SkipJam iMedia controllers also let users send voice pages and messages to any room or device in the home. The SkipJam Handheld RF Remote Control and SkipJam In-Wall Touch Panel models iWTP57, iWTP104, iWTP150 integrate with the SkipJam iMedia system, letting users control all devices in their home from any convenient location. The SkipJam RF Remote Control also integrates telephony and paging into the system, providing on-screen caller ID, voice recording, paging and voice messaging. With SkipJam's controllers, parents can pause their kids' video and tell them to come to dinner through the TV speaker … without ever leaving the kitchen. They can automatically mute or lower the volume of all stereos when a phone call comes in, and see who's calling right on their remote or on their TV or PC screen. "We're very excited about the possibilities opened by our remote control system," said Michael Spilo, CEO of SkipJam. "Having your telephone, media list and remote control in one place is a tremendous leap in convenience and functionality." Technical Highlights The SkipJam RF Remote Control integrates all the SkipJam iMedia control functions into a 2.4Ghz cordless phone with a range of up to 1000 feet. The RF Remote Control includes a 128 x 128 LCD screen which provides complete access to and control of the entire home through a simple on-screen menu system. Using the SkipJam iMedia Controllers, users can pick which music to listen to and control any of their home devices without having to be near a TV or computer screen.

The SkipJam iMedia RF Remote Control lets users:
• Control any device in the home
• Make and receive phone calls on the remote
• Page to any TV or stereo in the home
• Use any TV or stereo as a speakerphone
• Integrate with an existing phone system
• Get Caller ID on the remote and on any PC or TV
• Function as a memo/voice recorder
• Select music or videos from the remote
• Create and record voice memos

The SkipJam In-Wall Touch Panel displays are available in 3 sizes: 5.7-inch, 10.4-inch and 15-inch. The touch panels provide control of any room or "zone" in the home and connect to the SkipJam iMedia Systems through wired Cat 5 or wirelessly through 802.11a/b/g (optional). The 10.5-inch displays can also show video from any SkipJam iMedia Center and play recorded video from any PC or Network Attached Storage device. The SkipJam iMedia Center can also be controlled from any PC or PDA connected to the home network.

Pricing and Availability
One SkipJam iMedia RF Remote Control is included with each SkipJam iMedia Center, and additional remotes are available for $99 each. The SkipJam iMedia Touch Panels are priced at: $899 for the iWTP57, $1399 for the iWTP104, $1999 iWTP150 (estimated street prices). SkipJam expects to begin shipments in February 2005. For more information, contact SkipJam, 168 Irving Ave., Port Chester, NY 10513 (914) 933-0590 www.skipjam.com.

About SkipJam iMedia
SkipJam iMedia is the first ever Network Attached Media solution and first and only high fidelity, all-digital integrated home entertainment system which combines whole house audio and video distribution with digital recording and home control. SkipJam's iMedia system integrates: PVR, DVR, Live Streaming, Universal Remote Control, On-TV PC Access, Analog Device Switching and much more over standard wired or wireless home networks.

About SkipJam
SkipJam is an industry-leading supplier of home media networking hardware and software. SkipJam products power Network Attached Media applications such as Personal Video Recording, whole house audio and video distribution, and TV-PC interconnectivity. With offices in Port Chester, New York and Greenwich, Connecticut, SkipJam powers the networked digital home with digital media and connectivity solutions for consumers, CE Installers, and OEMs.

VoIP Inc. is growing so fast they had to move their fulfillment center to a larger facility...

Read the release:

Company prepares for continued growth and expansion.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)—Feb. 4, 2005 -VoIP Inc. (OTCBB: VOII) announced today that it had tripled the size of its Fulfillment Center to support growth and the Company’s recent move to centralized product distribution for all VoIP Inc. subsidiaries.

The new address for VoIP, Inc.’s Fulfillment Center and the Company’s wholly owned subsidiary, DTNet Technologies, is - 13101 56th Court N. Suite 813 Clearwater, Florida 33760. While the toll-free number for DTNet Technologies remained the same, 800-371-7818, the company has a new local number of 727-572-1166 and a new fax number of 727-572-6857. The Web address remains the same www.DTNetTech.com and for sales or other information the company may be emailed at sales@dtnettech.com.

“The new location gives us the necessary room for companywide fulfillment as well as better access to major arteries,” said Terry Kuykendall, VP and General Manager of DTNet Technologies. “This new facility, coupled with increased inventory levels, and the new product lines that we have recently added will enable the company to strengthen its position and support the additional growth we anticipate this year.”

Quick release to share... Global IP Sound makes an excellent codec that is embedded in many VoIP products - from VoIP softphones to hardware devices.

Global IP Sound Announces Major Upgrade of VoiceEngine to Provide Superior Voice Quality and QoS Monitoring in Enterprise VoIP Products
Version 2.0 Extends Usability and Quality with Noise Suppression, GIPS NetEQ 3.0, Push-to-Talk and Telchemy VQMon Support

San Francisco, CA - January 31, 2005 - Global IP Sound (GIPS), a leading provider of embedded voice-processing solutions, has announced the release of version 2.0 of VoiceEngine, a comprehensive, packaged solution that handles all the necessary voice components for VoIP to provide superior voice quality even under the most adverse network conditions. Enabling rapid integration and deployment of complex voice processing technology in PC and PDA environments, version 2.0 provides better-than-PTSN voice quality and a variety of new features optimized for enterprise-class VoIP, such as noise suppression, GIPS NetEQ 3.0, push-to-talk capabilities and Telchemy VQMon support.

“Voice over IP technology has reached a level of maturity, reliability and sophistication that makes it compelling to Enterprise users,” said Gary P. Hermansen, President and CEO of Global IP Sound. “Our initial version of VoiceEngine set the bar for voice-over IP and proved that better-than PSTN call quality is actually achievable. Continuing our history of product innovation, VoiceEngine 2.0 will bring enterprise VOIP to groundbreaking levels.”

The newest version of the solution continues to tackle some of the biggest challenges to sound quality encountered by those creating VoIP solutions. For example, VoiceEngine 2.0 integrates GIPS Noise Suppression, which eliminates stationary noise, such as computer fan noise, as well as non-stationary noise in PC applications. Also included is GIPS NetEQ 3.0, the upgraded version of GIPS patented jitter buffer and packet loss concealment module that dramatically improves sound quality and minimizes latency in IP telephony systems. NetEQ reduces jitter buffer delay by 30 to more than 100 ms over the most effective alternative solutions. NetEQ also automatically eradicates the clock drift problem inherent in difficult PC environments.

In addition, the solution provides a range of new features that allow manufacturers to readily provide advanced product features without increasing the complexity of the product for the manufacturer. The new version includes Push-to-Talk support to allow for the easy integration of group talk capabilities into products.

Finally, VoiceEngine 2.0 has added Telchemy's VQmon/EP (End Point) support, to provide a comprehensive range of reporting and measurement tools. With VQMon, manufactures of Enterprise-level VoIP soft client solutions can non-intrusively analyze and measure voice quality based on the effects of time-varying IP impairments in real time. VQMon/EP detects packet loss and jitter buffer discard events; measures the distribution of lost and discarded packets; and integrates key information into MOS and R factor call quality cores.

In order to meet the different needs of developers, the GIPS VoiceEngine comes in three configurations: VoiceEngine PC Advanced; VoiceEngine PC Standard; and VoiceEngine PPC. All three versions support narrowband and wideband audio.

Very interesting article posted here: Tech Beat: Technology Blog on BusinessWeek Online

This article which is titled "No Wonder AT&T is About to Fold Em'" really hit the nail on the head with so many points, especially pointing out that we shouldn't wait for a mass migration to VoIP before considering VoIP a success or making a dent in plain old telephone service. The article critiques VoIP critics and naysayers by pointing to successes in VoIP, which reminded me of my recent Galitzine vs. Dvorak blog entry where both I and Greg Galitzine critiqued John Dvorak's "poor" analysis of the VoIP industry. Some people still just don't get it. Even with the Vonage commercials playing non-stop on mainstream TV channels and with the ingenious (annoying?) Vonage theme song "doot doot doot doot doo..." playing relentlessly in my head -- even this marketing genius still hasn't opened the eyes of many VoIP naysayers.

Some interesting quotes from the BusinessWeek article:
"I've just started using Skype, the free Internet telephony software. All I can say to telecom execs is: Be afraid. Be very, very afraid. ... "

"You're not going to get a mass migration to VOIP until such time as the service becomes the equivalent of what you have today," one analyst said in this story. "You have to offer people more than they can do today."

"Not really. The big mistake many people make with new technologies, from personal computers to the World Wide Web and, most likely, VOIP, is to compare them with existing ways of doing things, and then--big surprise!--they don't measure up."

and most interesting of all..
"Let the so-called experts argue over how many years away the tipping point is. I and 22 million other people already know it's here."

I parsed a good portion of the article, but it's still a great read, so go check it out: http://www.businessweek.com/the_thread/techbeat/archives/00000027.htm

According to Light Reading, Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ - message board) has selected Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT - message board) as the software provider that will power its fiber-based television and video service offering, FiOS TV, both companies are expected to announce later today.

I bet the set top box will eventually embed a Windows thin-client terminal and then Microsoft will let you "rent" software (i.e. Microsoft Office) that you can view on your TV. Think WebTV reincarnate!

Of course, unless you have a large-screen TV or an LCD TV, the fonts might be a bit blurry. Trust me, I know. My 65" TV is connected to a Windows MCE PC and even at that screen-size it's a bit hard to surf the web, read email, etc.

Of course, I'm sure the fonts would be crisper if I had an LCD display as opposed to rear projection light technology.

Still, i can foresee other nifty integration features like instant message popups on your TV or CallerID popups (all available with MCE 2005 by the way).

Check out the full story here:
Light Reading - Networking the Telecom Industry

I joked just the other day in my blog entry titled: McDonalds VoIP, Fries with your VoIP? that GM should offer VoIP in their cars in conjunction with their OnStar system so you could make VoIP calls (car-to-Skype, car-to-SIP URL)

I guess they'd have to add "Driving" as a new "presence status" to the "Away", "Out to Lunch", "Offline" list. If you integrate it with the speed, you could see "Driving 135mph" - a perfect time to make an inbound call to this car if you want someone to crash... I digress...

Well, ironically just two days after my GM Onstar/VoIP idea, Nissan announced a major VoIP deployment.

Actually not in their cars though - just their facilities. Newsworthy stuff nonetheless. Check out the VOIP Passes Nissan Road Test eWeek article

I'm hearing from a source that several Packet8 users have been experiencing dropped calls, no dial tone, garbled calls, and distorted echoes over the past few days.

Did Packet8 change something on their network?

So far, the one thing in common is that all of these Packet8 users use Comcast. Maybe it's some sort of routing issue between Comcast and Packet8.

Either that, or the news release about Packet8's financial statement caused a surge in traffic to Packet8 resulting in limited bandwidth available.

I'll see what I can find out...

Now I'm up to 3 new IP-PBXs I never heard of that I discovered in just one day! I hope this is the last IP-PBX I hadn't heard of this week. Feels like my IP-PBX knowledge and "VoIP IQ" is going down by the second!

I just got this email an hour ago from Joshua Stephens, the CEO of Switchvox where he mentions that he has a pre-installed, easy-to-use "plug and play" IP-PBX based on Asterisk.

Ok, before the day is out, anyone else want to try and test my IP-PBX trivia? Go ahead and send me a link to an IP-PBX I never heard of. C'mon, I dare ya!!

Anyway, here's the email from Switchvox with some useful info...

I thought I'd let you know about our new product.

Switchvox is our All-in-one PBX based on Asterisk. As you noted in your review of OnDO, Asterisk is not known for being easy to set up. That's where we come in. Switchvox comes pre-installed and any hardware you might choose is pre-configured, as are any phones you purchase. It's not just Asterisk installed and configured though, there's an extensive Web interface for controlling and configuring all aspects of the system. Some of the features that you might find interesting are:

Interactive Voice Response - A point and click interface exists for recording new sounds, uploading sounds, and tieing those sounds together with numeric options (press 1 for sales) to build any interactive menu you might need. The actions the IVR is capable of performing are so numerous it's hard to get into it here.

Queues - Set up Queues to make sure callers get answered, and answered in the right order. Users can log into or out of the queue, when they're logged in they get calls.

Advanced call routing - We can, depending on your connection to the PSTN, route your calls to particular extensions based on the phone number dialed, the line it came in on, or in the case of providers that support it, based on the distinctive ring pattern provided.

Programmable interface - For people a bit more technical, we allow users to write web apps on their own servers for serving up data to people through the IVR. For example this might be used to allow an IVR menu in Switchvox to pull up people's accounts and read their balance back to them.

Flash Switchboard - We have written a flash interface that talks back to the server, allowing users to see who's calling them, place calls on hold, park calls, send calls to voicemail, and create conference rooms. This can help make a simple one line phone seem like a multi-line office phone.
Additionally, if one is provided by an external server, we can send a URL to the person answering the phone. For example, this URL could be a page displaying the caller's account.

We have a more detailed list of features on our web site www.switchvox.com as well as a few screenshots. Check it out. If you have any questions, be sure to let me know. We have a demo server set up, if you're interested in trying the software.

We'll be at the Linux Desktop Summit in February, if you're in town, stop by.

Thanks,

--Josh

SBC Communications yesterday announced it cut the price of its fastest SBC Yahoo! DSL plan - but with a caveat - you have to sign up for SBC's All Distance local and long-distance calling plan, which costs $48.95. So that's $78.94 for unlimited voice and data. They're not using VoIP by the way in this "All Distance" package as far as I know, so you do get the QoS advantage of PSTN calls, but I'm not sure it's worth the price premium, which I will analyze in a moment.

SBC Yahoo DSL Pro will cost $29.99 a month for customers who subscribe to it for one year along with SBC's All Distance local and long-distance calling plan, which costs $48.95, the company said.

Previously the DSL connection (with download speeds of up to 3mbps) was priced at $36.99 when ordered online or as part of a bundle under a one-year agreement.

According to ZDNet, SBC also said customers can access FreedomLink Wi-Fi hot spots for free from April 15 through May 31. After that, SBC DSL customers will be charged $1.99 a month. Service for users who aren't also SBC DSL subscribers costs $19.95 a month or $7.95 for 24 hours, it said.

"We're urging consumers to do the math," said Scott Helbing, senior vice president of SBC consumer marketing, citing both the hot-spot deal and the usually higher cost of cable broadband services. "We believe there's no better value in the market for Internet users who crave greater online speeds and want to stay connected with friends and family."

SBC's price cut follows a recent rise in DSL prices announced by rival Verizon, citing tax costs.

Let's compare, shall we? It's just $59.90 for Cablevision's Optimum Online and Optimum Voice DoublePlay package ($29.95 each).

Time Warner is $44.95 for broadband + $39.95 ($5 discount) for voice which is $84.90 Ok, Time Warner is more expensive than SBC, but it's based in New York, isn't it? So it's expected to be more expensive.

Charter is $39.99 for both broadband and voice, so they are $79.98. They may discount is you also have TV service, but I can't seem to find any package deals involving voice/video or voice/video/data on their website.

But overall, SBC's DSL voice/data combo is more expensive than most cable broadband offerings.

Ok, now this is the 2nd new IP-PBX company I found in just 1 day! How did I not hear of this sooner? What gives? (See: New IP-PBX Company?) Someone emailed me asking if I knew about Brekeke's OnDO PBX, which I did not. To quote William Shatner from Airplane2, after being informed there is 'no tower' -- "Why the hell aren't I informed about these things?" (wish I could find a .WAV file for that - no luck on Google)

UPDATED - someone passed along the WAV file, so adding it to this entry - too good to pass it up.

I was familiar with Brekeke, but didn't know they had a SIP-based IP-PBX. They have two models - OnDO PBX SmallOffice and OnDo PBX Standard Edition.

Their OnDO PBX SmallOffice Edition was designed for small offices, or branch offices that are already on an SIP VoIP network. SmallOffice Edition contains all the features of OnDO PBX Standard Edition, just on a smaller scale.

OnDO PBX SmallOffice Edition is limited to the following:
40 users with PBX features (transfer calls, voicemail access, forwarding, etc.)
12 concurrent call sessions (includes internal sessions)
Although fully-enabled users with PBX features are limited to 40 persons under SmallOffice Edition, non-PBX participating users can still share the same number extension system (and make and receive calls) through the OnDO SIP Server.

But what is REALLY cool is that you can utilize OnDO products with VoIP service providers instead of buying/paying for PSTN trunks. They currently support iConnectHere, InPhonex.com, myTCom.it, and SIPphone.com.

And look at this amazing pricing!
OnDO PBX Standard Edition -- US$3,000.00 per installation
OnDO PBX SmallOffice Edition -- US$300.00 per installation

Further, they have a FREE trial so you can just download the software and have an instant IP-PBX! (similar to Asterisk or Pingtel's SIPXchange). But it seems to me Brekeke is making this software virtually "plug and play" - the same cannot be said of Asterisk at least.

Check out the free trial description...

Download OnDO PBX Free Trial
Same IP-PBX features as OnDO PBX Standard Edition*
Up to 40 PBX users
Up to 12 concurrent call sessions
*This trial version of OnDO PBX is limited to 3 consecutive hours of use. You may use the same copy of the software for CONTINUOUS evaluations; however, you will need to restart the computer every 3 hours.
Note for OnDO SIP Server users If you have OnDO SIP Server already installed on your computer, uninstall it before installing OnDO PBX. OnDO PBX is bundled with OnDO SIP Server, thus the ports that were used by a prior installation of OnDO SIP Server will be needed for OnDO PBX to work properly.

here are some of the features:
Call Hold
Attended Transfer
Unattended Transfer
Call Park
No Answer Call Forwarding
Busy Call Forwarding
Unconditional Call Forwarding
Automatic Route Selection (ARS)
Auto Attendant
Direct Inward Dialing
Ring Groups
Call Pickup
Call Hunting
Voicemail
Email Notification
Call Recording *
Conference *
* These functions are supported in the current OnDO PBX version 1.4 beta.

I have got to download the trial and start playing with this! GOOD STUFF!

IPInferno brought an interesting news item to my attention. Sonic.net is claiming that deregulating broadband will kill independent ISPs and result in less competition. Obviously, with less broadband competition this could have quite a bearing on VoIP broadband service.

Check out IPInferno's site and also read this from Sonic.net

Bellsouth seeks DSL Monopoly
Sonic.net on Monday December 20th filed comments (PDF) at the FCC in response to BellSouth's request to exclude independent ISPs from access to DSL. Sonic.net is very concerned that if BellSouth is allowed to re-monopolize the telecommunications market, and if SBC follows this precident, virtually all consumers in California will be left with just two choices for broadband: SBC/Yahoo or Comcast. While we don't anticipate that this would directly affect Sonic.net customers in the next few years, it could signifigantly impact the ongoing viability of independent Internet Service Providers. The California ISP Association also filed comments, as has the Federation of Internet Service Providers.

BellSouth's assertion is that because they already control over 90% of the broadband DSL access in their market area, this change will have little effect on the competetive landscape, and that this change will not harm consumers. If you feel that being forced to purchase broadband DSL only from the telephone company's own ISP would harm you as a consumer and would limit your choices, you can also file comments with the FCC. We will shortly be publishing more information about BellSouth's petition, and what you can do to help fight it.

Related Documents
BellSouth Telecommunications, Inc. Petition for Forbearance (PDF)
FCC invitation for comment regarding FCC Docket no. 04-405 (PDF)
FCC listing of all comments received regarding FCC Docket No. 04-405 (link)
CISPA comment on FCC Docket No. 04-405 (PDF)
Sonic.net comment on FCC Docket No. 04-405 (PDF)
File your comments
You may provide brief comments via a web form, or write a longer comment if you wish as a document which you can upload. Be sure to reference Proceeding 04-405 in the first box. http://gullfoss2.fcc.gov/prod/ecfs/upload_v2.cgi