Quick news to share. If you're attending CeBIT, you should check out CIRPACK - they're yet another solutions provider offering a Triple Play solution, which is a technology that I am very very high on.
_________________________________________________

CIRPACK will be exhibiting at CeBIT in Hannover,
Germany and announcing an integrated Triple Play solution for massive
deployments of VoIP and VOD for residential users.

At CeBIT, CIRPACK second largest softswitch vendor
in Europe will present:
- MultiNode-B, the BladeCenterT switch
for massive VoIP deployments
- Triple Play solutions for integrated
deployments of VoIP & VOD
- IP Centrex solutions for carrier-grade
business VoIP
 - TISPAN migration strategies for
wireline IMS
 
Feel free to contact me
for more details and to set up an interview with Fabien MAISL,
CIRPACK's Director of Marketing on the show floor (Hall 12, Stand
D29).
Sincerely,

Andy gave me some high praise on my "A Close Look at P2P VoIP" panel at Internet Telephony Expo.

"A
Close Look at P2P VoIP Session by Tom Keating is not self praise by him, as he did a super job at getting five different viewpoints into one room and really had them say what they felt."

Surprisingly, this was the first time I got to meet Andy in person at a tradeshow. We've spoken quite a few times on the phone though. I told Andy he needs to update his blog's photo - I couldn't tell it was him from his photo.

In any event, I just wanted to clarify one point that Andy made about Skype.

Some photos from the show below... Massive, massive crowds! My wife would never survive this show since she is claustrophic. In fact, I should point out that since I recently added 15lbs, I had trouble navigating through the crowds without my belly bumping into attendees. Very strange how I am not used to my new "personal space". Not used to my belly sticking out that far.

When I got home, I got on the scale, saw 188lbs (was down to 173lbs) and decided come hell or high water I'm going back to the gym for at least 5 nights a week!

p.s. I hit the gym for 2 hours on Sunday and lost 2 pounds, so I'm on my way!

ok, one more bit of Internet Telephony Expo news before I hit the sack and get up in 5 hours for my flight back to CT.

Nuvio Corporation, a leading provider of Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), today announced it has launched Enhanced 911 (E911) services for its NuvioCentrex product, the company's full-featured hosted IP Voice solution, available to broadband providers, cable operators, CLECs and VARs through Nuvio's private-label partner program. The company currently offers E911 in over 1,500 rate centers servicing over 2,700 cities nationwide and will deploy this feature in additional markets as demand warrants.

Nuvio's E911 calls are routed as emergency traffic and provide computer-based caller information to emergency personnel at local Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs). Through its service, 911 calls are automatically transferred to the PSAP and the operators are presented with the person's telephone number and location, ensuring that callers receive the same response they are accustomed to from traditional 911 services.

As VoIP gains acceptance and regulation issues are debated, the requirement for VoIP providers to offer E911 services remains unresolved.

Just a quick news release to share that was announced at Internet Telephony Expo...

For Immediate Press Release: 23 February 2005

Become a Global Telephone Company, in an hour with Didx.org



On the day of Internet Telephony Conference in Miami
Florida by TMC http://www.tmcnet.com/voip/conference/m05/
, Super Technologies Inc DBA Super Phone, a Pensacola, Florida based Next
Generation Telephone Service Provider has announce the alpha release of
Didx.org , which is a global DID/DDI Numbering Market Place.



DidX.org will allow any and all internet based or conventional telephone
service providers to offer Nationwide and Global telephone services, no matter
where in the world they are.



DidX.org will take all the extra inventory from all the global telephone
service providers, and will provide them a marketplace to sell or exchange
there did numbers.



DidX will also give them the web
interface and a software to allow them to offer all the millions of didx stock
phone numbers in hand. What this will do is make any small local telecom look
like a huge international phone company like AT&T or SBC.



Currently DidX.org is a Here to serve the new nextgen telephone companies as
well as old giants.

As mentioned in my previous blog entry, I just got out of the "A Close Look at P2P VoIP", which I moderated and included Skype, Popular Telephony, Teleo, and Nimcat Networks as panelists. It was one of the best most dynamic sessions I've ever attended and I don't say that just because I was moderating the session. No one wanted to leave the room even when the Q&A was finished. Many of the audience members came to the front of the room to personally speak with the P2P VoIP panelists or myself.

Cnet reported that Time Warner Telecom on Wednesday announced new Internet telephony services targeted at businesses. What they neglected to mention is the news was announced at Internet Telephony Expo - no big deal. I'm just a tad annoyed that I knew this news was coming out, and in fact have a meeting scheduled with Time Warner Telecom tomorrow. I specifically asked Time Warner Telecom last week to make sure I got the scoop on the news I knew was coming.

I reviewed Epygi Technologies Quadro 4X product when it literally just came out - it may have even been a beta version, I don't recall. Epygi is offering a "discounted show special" at Internet Telephony Expo. Yet another reason why you should attend this show - the discounted VoIP products you can get. Of course, I get these VoIP products for free - it's called the "Tom Keating VoIP Blogger Special".

I just received the following pitch... (followed by my comments below)

Human resources departments spend an inordinate amount of money each year trying to streamline labor management processes.  Due to human error from manual processes, many employees are getting away with working very few hours. Companies are looking for a variety of technology solutions to decrease labor management, thereby, increasing productivity.

Thanks to the advances in technology and phones, specifically IP phones, they can now be used to help with labor management processes and help companies save money and time overall. Using IP phones for labor management saves money by eliminating hardware needs, such as time clocks or biometric devices, while providing broader functionality.

Interesting news from a Latin America-based VoIP company which is launching a new service at the Miami-based VoIP show I am covering. I find it fascinating how many Latin American companies come to the Miami-based Internet Telephony Expo to launch new products and services. I've been to all the past Miami Internet Telephony Expos and it seems like year after year this show draws a stronger Latin American presence.

Sure, the Los Angeles-based Internet Telephony Expo draws several Latin American companies and I've seen a few Latin American companies at VON, but neither of these shows have the massive number of Latin American companies and even Latin American attendees. I've looked at the attendee demographics for the Miami show and the number of attendees from Latin America is staggering! The Miami show is it if you are looking for Latin American-based VoIP solutions period.

In any event, GlobalNet is launching a turn-key VoIP solution targetting service providers, ISPs, etc.

$1.7B1 billion VoIP minutes served by Veraz Networks per month? Nice! Not to rehash the recent past, but I can't help but be reminded of Dvorak's claim that VoIP isn't ready for primetime. (see http://blog.tmcnet.com/blog/tom-keating/voip/voip-blog/galitzine-vs-dvorak-on-voip.asp)

Here's an excerpt of the release:

Veraz Networks Records Strong Worldwide VoIP Sales Growth in 2004

February 23, 2005-Veraz Networks announced that its VoIP solutions have been deployed in 30 countries, representing both complex network environments and newly deregulated markets. Veraz VoIP solutions are carrying over 1 billion minutes of traffic per month. Service Providers in newly deregulated markets such as India, Turkey, Bulgaria, and Russia require a stable solution that works with their IP environment, including the demands of handling satellite, wireless and international traffic. Even with mobile originated traffic carried over satellite links, Veraz’s voice quality and stability stand out under the most rigorous conditions, due to best-in-class handling of latency, jitter and packet loss.

I'm here safe and sound in sunny Miami. I'm currently sitting in on the "SIP's Role in Open Source" speaking session which is moderated by Rich Tehrani. I missed a few of the speakers since I arrived in the middle of the session.Right now SIPfoundary is speaking about GNU and GPL.Well, I'm a good multitasker, but I should listen to the rest of the speeches. But I'll post one bit of news before I sign off...

ISN Telcom, the Miami based CLEC, has deployed Kagoor's VoiceFlow session border controllers for its ipFONE VoIP service (see release below).

Ahhh yes, these two Ingate releases below are but the first of many VoIP-related announcements to be made at Internet Telephony Expo... Let the massive amount of VoIP news announcments begin!

I leave my house at 4:45am (fun fun) - for a 7:29am flight, so this will be may last blog entry until I get to Miami. Hmm, "this will be my last blog entry" sounds 'dire' doesn't it?

Ingate SIParator Wins Product Leadership Award From Frost & Sullivan

Company's Innovation in SIP Recognized by 2005 Science & Technology Awards

INTERNET TELEPHONY CONFERENCE & EXPO, MIAMI, February 22, 2005 - Ingate Systems (www.ingate.com), whose award-winning security products enable enterprises to solve the problem of letting Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) traverse their firewalls, has been named the recipient of the Frost & Sullivan 2005 Science & Technology Award, Product Leadership for IP Protocols (specifically, SIP) category. 

The Award is in recognition of the Ingate SIParator, a unique device that connects to an existing network firewall to seamlessly enable the traversal of SIP communications, including Network Address Translator (NAT) traversal. The Award also acknowledges the company's leadership in developing technologies based on the SIP protocol.

Winners are chosen based on the level at which their product contributes to the industry in terms of market acceptance. Products are evaluated based on the degree of innovation, the estimated market penetration rate, and acceptance by intended end-users. Ingate's successful product development strategies and the degree with which the SIParator has met customer needs and requirements was a significant factor.

The selection process included primary participant interviews and interviews with end users, distributors, suppliers as well as extensive primary and secondary research. 

"The Ingate SIParator is a one-of-a-kind product that brings SIP - and access to applications such as VoIP - to any enterprise, while solving critical issues such as NAT traversal," said Olle Westerberg, Chief Executive Officer, Ingate Systems. "It is an honor to have our leadership in developing SIP-enabling technologies recognized with such a prestigious award." 

"Ingate's SIParator has garnered an enthusiastic response from industry end-users," said V.R. Yoges, Research Analyst, Technical Insights, Frost & Sullivan. "The SIParator provides users with a range of options while bringing down the cost of providing SIP-capability to the enterprise network: it is compatible with legacy firewalls, and its modular nature allows a user to add more functionalities later, if need be - as in a growing organization. The Frost & Sullivan Award for Product Leadership acknowledges Ingate Systems' development of this truly industry-leading product technology."

In addition to the SIParator, Ingate produces and sells the world's only fully SIP-capable enterprise firewalls. Ingate's products also include optional software modules for VoIP survival in hosted SIP-based hosted PBX environments, far-end NAT traversal solutions for remote VoIP and Quality of Service.

For more information, please visit Ingate at Booth 604 at Internet Telephony.

Ingate VoIP Survival - Full Redundancy CPE for Hosted VoIP

Validated by BroadSoft as a Customer Premises Backup Enhancement to BroadWorks

 
INTERNET TELEPHONY CONFERENCE & EXPO, MIAMI, February 22, 2005 - Ingate Systems (www.ingate.com), whose award-winning security products enable enterprises to solve the problem of letting Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) traverse their firewalls, showcases Ingate VoIP Survival at Internet Telephony Conference & Expo 2005. Ingate VoIP Survival is an application module for hosted VoIP communications services that secures full redundancy in a SIP-based Hosted PBX or IP Centrex environment all the way out to the customer premise. 

Ingate VoIP Survival, which can be used with any hosted VoIP service, has been validated by BroadSoft, Inc., the leading provider of VoIP application software, to serve as a customer premise backup to enhance the reliability and availability of the BroadWorks VoIP application platform.

In the hosted environment, Ingate VoIP Survival ensures continued communications service even if the hosted server goes offline due to connection failure or malfunction.

Looks like Actiontec's long-awaited Skype Internet Phone Wizard">Skype-enabled Internet Phone Wizard is available. I literally just received this email:
Actiontec Electronics introduces the Internet Phone Wizard, a small hardware device that enables consumers to make and receive free or low-cost Internet phone calls from a regular phone using Skype Technologies’ Internet calling service. It is the first solution that allows the same phone to be used for both regular and Internet calls, avoiding the complications of needing separate handsets for each. Please let me know if you would like more information or would like a unit for review.

The email says "Actiontec Electronics introduces the Internet Phone Wizard", but I believe this product was announced last month.

Eagle Broadband (AMEX: EAG) and GlobeCast, a subsidiary of France Telecom (NYSE: FTE) and the world's leading satellite services provider, joined forces and today launched IPTV Complete, which they claim is "the industry's first, turnkey IPTV services solution that enables both incumbent and new broadband providers to rapidly deliver 200+ channels of the highest quality IP video anywhere in America." I guess they didn't read my Triple Play cover story in Internet Telephony Magazine, which I also blogged in my Triple Play article preview, which talks about a Triple Play company called Pannaway, which offers a turn-key IPTV Triple Play solution. I have a scheduled conference call with Eagle Broadband to clarify some questions I have about their Triple Play solution, so I'll update this blog entry when I find out the answers. In the meantime, here is the news about IPTV Complete...

Additional facts about IPTV Complete:

• Saves $1 to 2 million or more in up-front capital expenditures required to design, purchase and install an IP head-end and video network infrastructure • Reduces the time to market for a new IPTV service from the industry average 12 to 18 months to 30 to 60 days • A profitable, lower risk service deployment model that greatly reduces time, effort and costs • Leverages an advanced, satellite delivery transport infrastructure which allows incumbent and new broadband providers to add high quality video to their existing voice and data offerings to complete a "triple-play" services bundle • Enables telephone companies, municipalities, utilities, universities, real estate developers, multiple dwelling unit owners, and other providers, to deliver the highest quality IPTV video over their broadband networks including Fiber-to-the-Home, Premise of Node, DSL, etc.
• Multimedia Research Group is projecting the global IPTV market will grow from 2 million subscribers in 2004 to 26 million in 2008

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Eagle Broadband and GlobeCast Join Forces and Launch IPTVCompleteTM, the First, Turnkey IPTV Solution That Enables Broadband Providers to Rapidly Deliver More Than 200 Channels of IP Video Anywhere in America

HOUSTON and MIAMI -- February 15, 2005 -- Eagle Broadband, Inc.

Another Instat VoIP report to share...

Businesses Likely to Embrace IP Telephony in 2005 - But, Are Needs Being Met?

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., February 14, 2005 - A significant number of businesses, large and small, are expected to fully embrace IP Telephony, which harnesses the power of the Internet in business communications, over the course of this year. According to new research from In-Stat (http://www.in-stat.com), more than 30% of firms, even those with less than 100 employees, are interested in and, more importantly, planning to adopt IP telephony solutions in 2005. However, the research shows that businesses needs for IP voice networks vary greatly and that there is a growing need for "small office" solutions, which are hard to come by. This suggests that one size won't fit all for IP telephony and that meeting customers' diverse requirements with a rich portfolio of product may be what distinguishes "leading" vendors from those that fail.

Borderware has announced a product to help protect VoIP from hackers... If I am reading this release correctly, they claim to be the first "SIP-aware" firewall. There are many H.323 -aware firewalls out there for sure, but I could have sworn there already existed at least a few SIP-aware firewalls, i.e. have the ability to inspect the packets coming into the firewall and distinguish SIP voice traffic from regular data.

Let's recap the mega-mergers, shall we? SBC & AT&T, Nextel & Sprint, and now according to MSNBC its Verizon and MCI? According to MSNBC, which quotes the Wall Street Journal, "Merger talks between Verizon Communications and MCI Inc. have advanced, and the two companies could announce a deal in the next few days, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday."

So who's next in this telecom mega-merger mania? It's certainly entertaining to watch, so break out the popcorn! And is this consolidation good for the VoIP industry? Is it good for consumers? It certainly can't be good for consumers if there is less competition. And the less choice VoIP vendors have when selecting a carrier backbone, the more expensive VoIP will be.

One could argue that in a free capitalist society, there's nothing wrong with these types of mega-mergers, but I have my doubts.

Remember my BlackBerry 7270 blog entry? In that, I wrote:

The BlackBerry 7270 supports VoIP telephony that essentially extends desktop phone functionality to a BlackBerry wireless handheld allowing the user to place and receive calls on the go. It utilizes SIP-based call control to deliver standards-based interoperability with IP-PBX and traditional corporate telephony equipment.

Hmmm, I wonder if it will work with SIP-based ITSPs or SIP-based softclients like XTEN’s? It would be very interesting if you can simultaneously receive email and make a free VoIP call over the WiFi connection.

Well, no word on the XTEN support, but Greg Galitzine point out to me that RIM has signed deals with Verizon and Nortel.  In this deal,  RIM adds mobility to 3Com and Nortel IP-PBXs which extend those vendors’ IP PBX features to RIM’s Blackberry 7270 devices. These Blackberries operate on 802.11b networks and incorporate both voice and data capabilities. So basically you can make and receive phone calls from your Blackberry device and the calls are routed through the Nortel or 3Com IP-PBX.  This is great because if someone dials your office extension, and you are on the road, you don't have to remember to forward your calls to your cell phone.  Instead the call is routed over IP to the Blackberry 7270 device.

Check out Greg's blog article here: http://blog.tmcnet.com/blog/greg-galitzine/voip/on-voip-mobility-security.html

According to ResearchAndMarkets, the global service provider voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) gateway market at $165.3 million in 2003 is expected to reach 985.7 million dollars in the year 2009. The market is anticipated to grow at a steady positive rate over the years. The growth is brought by replacement of digital proprietary voice switching systems with systems that do manage to put voice over the Internet reliably and clearly.

Check out the report here:
Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) Market Opportunities, Strategies, and Forecasts, 2004 to 2009 - Research and Markets - Market Research Reports

Empirix builds some of my favorite testing tools that I use in the labs, so it's worth sharing their latest release...

Press Releases: VoIP, Network
Testing & Monitoring

Empirix Reduces Risk, Speeds Enterprise VoIP Deployments With First
Comprehensive Solution for Testing VoIP Infrastructure and Applications
Market share leader in test solutions for VoIP equipment developers and
service providers now enables integrated pre-deployment testing for enterprise
IP and TDM networks

ORLANDO, Fla. – Feb. 7, 2005 – Empirix Inc., a leading provider of integrated test and management solutions for VoIP, contact center and Web environments, today announced the industry’s first comprehensive solution for ensuring successful deployment of enterprise Voice over IP (VoIP) infrastructure and applications. The Hammer® VoIP Test Solution for Enterprises allows enterprises to reduce risk and speed the rollout of VoIP services and IP telephony applications (such as messaging, speech self-service, conferencing and CTI) by accurately assessing how their infrastructure and applications will perform as a live, enhanced IP service.

Empirix has more than a decade of experience testing VoIP network infrastructures, operational carrier networks and enhanced IP services, and has been the market share leader in those areas for the past three years[1].

Someone forwarded me a tip about a company called damaka.

Here's a quote from their site:
"damaka launches world's first freely downloadable SIP-based innovative Peer-to-Peer Personal SoftSwitch (February 7, 2005)"

Hmmm, first SIP-based P2P client?  I'll have to look into this further, but the VoIP softphone client space just got more crowded!

Here's a bold claim - futurologist Dr. James Canton has predicted that within a decade telecom companies will be offering voice calls for free and making all their money from data services. Sure, stating that telephony will be free certainly get you quoted many times in the telecom press, but is he just stirring the juices or does he really believe it? I'm sure somewhere in some carrier's boardroom meeting there are some middle-aged men and women reading this quote, shaking their heads and saying, "It's over. We're done. Game over in 10 years..." Or I could just be exaggerating, adding more fuel to the fire that telecom companies are dead. You decide... Article: Free telephony 'within a decade'

Dear Tom Keating:

Whether you refer to it as Voice over IP or IP Telephony, the technology, particularly when delivered as a managed service, gets down to communicating, collaborating and competing more effectively, no matter the size of your company.

Cisco Systems and Covad Communications have put together an on-demand video that reviews the VoIP/IP Telephony landscape and gives you the answers you need. "How Your Business Should Look at VoIP" will cover topics such as:

Register today to view this on-demand video and a VoIP/IP Telephony Portal that features white papers, presentations, case studies and an interactive IP Telephony Solutions Designer. Qualified registrants will receive a complimentary VoIP assessment offer. In addition, the first 100 viewers to complete our evaluation form following the on-demand video will receive a $20 BarnesandNoble.com gift certificate.

We hope you find the presentation valuable.

Cisco Systems and Covad Communications

Barnes & Noble is not a sponsor or co-sponsor of this promotion.

Interesting Instat report to share...

Wireless VoIP Gaining Traction in Business Market

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., February 8, 2005 - Wireless VoIP implementation is beginning to occur in the business market, according to In-Stat (http://www.in-stat.com). In a recent survey of more than 300 mid-size businesses and large-enterprises, 23% of decision-maker respondents said that they had already deployed wireless VoIP, in some manner, and another 30% said that they were planning or evaluating the implementation of the technology within the next six to twelve months.

Wireless VoIP presents carriers with a lucrative new opportunity if they market the service smartly. "It is important to remember that VoIP is a technology and not a product," says Becky Diercks, In-Stat analyst. "The product is telephone service, and customers don't generally care what the underlying technology is, as long as it works.

New Siemens SIP-based IP phones launched today.
Siemens optiPoint 420 Family of SIP Phones Has Programmable Self-Labeling Keys and Other Features to Improve Productivity and Reduce Costs of Moves, Adds and Changes BOCA RATON, Fla. — February 7, 2005 —
Siemens Communications, Inc., today announced a new line of IP telephones: the optiPoint™ 420 family. Adding to an extensive portfolio of easy-to-use, cost-effective and flexible telephone models, the Siemens optiPoint 420 phone family has programmable self-labeling key (SLK) technology that gives users rapid, real-time access to frequently needed features and lines.

Another interesting Instat research report you can buy claiming that wireline (a.k.a. landline) services continue to decline.  Heck, I could have told you that for free!  Between cell phones, and broadband VoIP ramping up, who needs landlines anyway? (911 issues not withstanding)

Check it out - they even cite VoIP in the research report...

Wireline Services Decline Continues for Telcos

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., January 31, 2005 - Revenue from traditional wireline services will continue a steady decline over the next few years in the US, and carriers will have to promote other services to make up the difference, according to In-Stat (http://www.in-stat.com). US wireline voice service revenue will drop an average of 3.2% per year from 2003-2008, the high-tech market research firm forecasts.

"Consumer wireline voice services have been especially hard hit due to the growth of wireless voice services and increased competition among wireline service providers," says Daryl Schoolar, In-Stat analyst. "There are several services beyond just wireless that can offset declining service expenditures for traditional wireline services.

VoIP testing tool news release to share...

-----------

Navtel's VoIP Performance & Scalability Test Platform Now Combined with an SIP Expert Analysis Tool!

(PRWEB) February 3, 2005 -- Navtel Communications Inc., a leading developer and provider of test equipment for the laboratories of network equipment manufacturers and operators have announced the immediate availability of "SIP Discovery". This SIP expert analysis tool from Navtel sets new standards of excellence for users who require the most complete, automated, easy to use SIP testing solution available on the market today.

Providing extensive statistics on the status of a network, or any entity that composes this network, as well as all the necessary troubleshooting information in a very intuitive graphical user interface, SIP Discovery is the only SIP expert analysis tool that significantly reduces fault identification/resolution cycles, ultimately saving costs to both carriers and equipment manufacturers.

Available on both the InterWatch platform and any windows-based PC, SIP Discovery is the unique answer to the requirements of all departments involved with the SIP protocol. Capable of measuring any device's load and message transfer/response latency over long periods of time, SIP Discovery will prove itself extremely useful to network planners and Q&A teams. The call tracing, graphical representation of captured call flows and packet processing, used to determine and display each session's status [Initiating, Incomplete, Failed, Established, or Cleared] provides installation, maintenance and Q&A teams with pre-analyzed data, saving long hours of browsing through thousands of lines of raw traffic.

The capability to export all analysis results to cross-platform file formats [PNG & HTML] also enables the creation of clear and concise reports used to facilitate intra-department and intra-providers communication.

Navtel offers the only true carrier-class scalable and cost-effective test solution for VoIP with the InterWatch chassis capable of emulating 256,000 endpoints and 160 calls per second on each port with a call hold time of 180 seconds.

Further information on SIP Discovery can be found at
http://www.navtelcom.com/products/sipdiscovery/index.htm
About Navtel Communications Inc.

Navtel Communications provides high capacity testing solutions that enable telecom equipment manufacturers and network providers to verify under full load the characteristics and the design of triple play equipment and converged networks using a single, high performance, scalable platform - the InterWatch.

Navtel's InterWatch can substantially reduce both costs and timelines in the new product development process.

According to this link, the Phillipines Congress has formed a VoIP working group to resolve the long standing debate on who may deploy Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services in the Philippines.

Committee Chairman Simeon Kintanar said during Wednesday's public hearing that the working group would consolidate two bills filed in relation to VoIP into one bill.

He said the working group would be composed of legal and technical experts in the field of telecommunications.

It will be interesting to see what comes of this and if any impact this will have on our U.S. Congress.

Full story:
Congress forms VoIP working group - INQ7.net

Wow, according to Infonetics, cable VoIP subscribers jumped 900% from 2003–2004 and double-digit growth in equipment spending is expected through 2007.

Any VoIP naysayers still want to claim VoIP hasn't arrived? Anyone?

Check out the full release:

BOSTON, Massachusetts, February 2, 2005— The number of cable VoIP subscribers in North America jumped 900% between 2003 and 2004, from less than 50,000 to close to half a million, while cable broadband subscribers grew 26%, from 17.7 million to 22.4 million, according to Infonetics Research’s latest report, Cable VoIP Equipment Market Outlook, which includes subscriber and VoIP equipment revenue forecasts through 2007.

North American cable companies increased their investments in VoIP equipment to keep up with surging subscriber growth, nearly doubling their spending between 2003 and 2004, from $63 million to $123 million. Infonetics’ forecasts indicate strong growth will continue.

“MSO investments were up sharply in 2004 as more MSOs either began trials or introduced commercial offerings to a wider market,” said Kevin Mitchell, directing analyst for Infonetics and author of the report. “Although the number of cable VoIP subscribers is still fairly small and two MSOs made up over 90% of that subscriber total in 2004, we expect the penetration of VoIP service delivered directly from MSOs among cable broadband subscribers to increase from 2% in 2004 to 15% in 2007.”

“We forecast ample growth for the cable VoIP equipment market, especially as PacketCable Multimedia matures, because it promises to further unite the communication and entertainment realms and blur the line between PC and TV ,” Mitchell continued.

Since I use testing tools in the labs all the time to test VoIP products, I have a strong affinity for good testing tools. GL Communications has an excellent line of telecom testing tools - everything from T1/E1/T3/OC-3/STM-1 analysis to VoIP Analysis/Simulation and Voice Quality Testing. I've used GL Communications' equipment in the past and in fact reviewed their DCOSS v4.0 product in 2000.

Well, today they announced the release of DCOSS 5.10.