February 2005 Archives

I just received this interesting email about an interesting electric scooter.

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.
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In my 2005 VoIP Predictions, I wrote:

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

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

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!

I'm still catching up on email and voicemail from being away from the office for a week attending Internet Telephony Expo - which by the way was a resounding success. I'll link to some photos in my next blog entry. I don't want to hijack the point of this blog post though, so here's the news I received last night, but was too busy spending time with my wife to blog it. Hey, even geeks have lives too! (no time to comment on this news, though it speaks for itself)

'Skype to SMS' Public Beta Service Launched

London, UK (PRWEB) February 26, 2005 -- Connectotel today announced the launch of the public Beta test of its new 'Skype to SMS' service.

This new service allows Skype users to send SMS text messages from within Skype Chat to any GSM mobile phone user. Marcus Williamson of Connectotel comments:
"We launched our 'SMS to Skype' service just three weeks ago and have been very pleased with the positive feedback from Skype users. Now we are adding the next logical progression: 'Skype to SMS'.

The current private Beta testers have already shown enormous enthusiasm for being able to send SMS text messages from Skype Chat using this new service. Now we are opening up the service to a wider public."

How does it work?
Skype users start a Chat with the Skype user called smsgateway, then type the following from within the Skype Chat window to send a message:

+number message
The message is transmitted to Connectotel's 'Skype to SMS' gateway system and is passed from there to the GSM network.

Availability and Pricing:
'Skype to SMS' is available as a Beta test service for all users of Skype who have been authorized by Connectotel. For information about authorization please see the FAQ here:
http://www.connectotel.com/sms/skypetosmsfaq.html

There is no charge for the SMS messages sent, for the duration of the Beta test. The 'SMS to Skype' Beta test service is available free of charge to all users of Skype.

Connectotel is examining the possibility of providing other gateway services, including, for example, links to and from e-mail, fax and outside data feeds, based on similar technology.

Frequently Asked Questions:
Detailed FAQs for 'Skype to SMS' and 'SMS to Skype' can be found here:
http://www.connectotel.com/sms/skypetosmsfaq.html
and
http://www.connectotel.com/sms/skypefaq.html

About Connectotel:
Connectotel was established in London, UK, in 1996 and is privately held. The company specializes in providing software development and consulting for networks, including LAN, WAN and GSM SMS. Connectotel's M-Mail service, which provides the foundation for 'Skype to SMS' and 'SMS to Skype', has been providing free 'SMS to e-mail' since 1999. More information about Connectotel can be found on the Connectotel website at http://www.connectotel.com/

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. Presently, most broadband phone service providers either do not support emergency calls or they utilize a solution that routes a call to the PSAPs 10-digit emergency number. With this method, the dispatcher does not automatically receive the call-back number and address. In the interest of public safety and commitment to its partners, Nuvio proactively initiated its E911 service and is currently one of the only VoIP providers capable of offering this comprehensive solution.

"As a leader in the industry, we are dedicated to offering the latest features technologically available, coupled with reliable and high-quality service," commented Jason Talley, president and CEO of Nuvio Corporation. "By being one of the first providers to offer this advanced feature, we have confirmed our strong presence in the market and set the standard for others."

Thursday, at 4:00 p.m. EST, Jason Talley addresses this issue in the panel session, "What's the Deal With E-911?," at the Internet Telephony Conference in Miami, FL.

Interesting release to share, especially since I believe ENUM will continue to play a more and more important role in VoIP...

According to an email they sent me, they state, "today marks the world's first massive deployment of a carrier ENUM tree. e164.info is pleased to announce the immediate availibility of more than 100 million subscriber numbers spread over more then 160.000 prefixes in 8 countries already fed into the tree by its members."

THE CARRIER ENUM EXCHANGE

e164.info interconnects 100 million phone numbers through VoIP

Starting today, e164.info offers public access to its voice over ip (VoIP) interconnection service. Traditional local exchange carriers and VoIP service providers connected to e164.info, benefit from cost savings by shifting their long distance calls to the internet. e164.info‘s huge database enables providers to deliver calls to more than 100 million phone numbers at no cost, finally delivering on the VoIP promise of significant savings. Most of today‘s domestic and international phone calls are still delivered over costly dedicated circuits. With VoIP technology maturing, the telecom industry gears up to take advantage of low-cost phone calls delivered over the Internet. In order to maximize savings, phone service providers are facing the challenge to shift as many calls as possible to the Internet. Until now, most players lacked a central piece of technology to do so; an international database from which they could organise which phone service would deliver calls to a certain destination number. After more than six months of extensive field testing with a closed group of market leaders in the VoIP arena, e164.info today announced the immediate availability of its interconnection service. At launch time a total of 14 connected service providers have submitted more than 100 million phone numbers to e164.info‘s database. These phone numbers are spread over more than 160,000 different dialling prefixes covering 8 countries. e164.info has managed to secure broad support among relevant players in most western markets. Its prominent members include Callme. se (Sweden), e-fon.ch (Switzerland), Magrathea Telecommunications Limited (Great Britain), Musimi.dk (Denmark), MS Networks S.A. (Luxembourg), sipgate (Austria, Germany, Great Britain) and SIPphone Inc. (USA). The launch of e164.info marks the world‘s first massive deployment of a technology dubbed "Carrier-ENUM" by experts. Open Internet standards ensure interoperability among service providers and ease deployment as almost all of today‘s software already supports „Carrier-ENUM". SIPphone, Inc.‘s (www.sipphone.com) CEO and Founder, Michael Robertson, praises the new system: "e164.info greatly simplifies interconnection between VoIP providers around the globe, like SIPphone. We were excited to see so many companies and organizations working together to hasten the inevitable result of VoIP: free calls."  THE CARRIER ENUM EXCHANGE www.e164.info Founding father of e164.info, Thilo Salmon, a German VoIP expert, is pleased with its take-up in the industry. "I am thrilled to see e164.info gaining acceptance so rapidly. Free and low-cost phone calls are arguably the driving force behind the VoIP revolution. e164.info is pleased to cater to the booming VoIP industry to the benefit of both the service providers and customers", says Salmon. More Information: http://www.e164.info

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.

There was lots of moaning and groaning last night at Internet Telephony Expo at precisely 8:05pm. Let me explain. The exhibit hall officially closed at 8:00pm and Michael Genaro, TMC's VP of Marketing gave the exhibit hall 5 extra minute before dimming the exhibit hall lights to clear everyone out.

The immediate response when he dimmed the lights in a jam packed exhibit hall? A CHORUS of "awwww" and other sighs of disappointment filled the air. Nobody wanted to leave the exhibit hall! It was amazing that at 8:05pm people were still interested in learning more about VoIP, buying VoIP products as well as performing the essential task of networking with other people - which is.so critically important at these shows. Or it could have been the free beer in the exhibit hall. You decide. : )

Actually, in all seriousness it wasn't due to the alchohol. 99% of attendees were still in booths checking out the VoIP products, asking questions, etc. Even the ones with beers in hand were still working - networking with other people.

I live and breathe VoIP every day, so it made me proud to see this industry doing so well. This has been a great show so far. It's 3:05pm and I've barely been able to speak with the exhibitors since many of the booths are 5 people deep just to speak to the exhibitor.

At 8:10pm Wednesday, I was tempted to go upstairs and watch the "Verizon Sweepstakes">Get Lex Verizon Sweepstakes" episode of Smallville. However, I knew I had set my MCE 2005 PC to record it at home, so I could just stream it over WiFi once my workday was done using a company called Orb Networks - but that is a blog for another day - and unfortunately, my wife turned off the cable box so it recorded a black screen. Doh!

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. P2P VoIP certainly has a lot of buzz and interest.

During the session, I "primed the pump" by asking the initial questions, letting the audience warm-up, and then the audience asked some great questions. For example, the third largest Alaskan carrier (name escapes me at the moment) asked a great question asking "If everything is P2P voice, how do we make any money? Or do we just become a dumb bandwidth pipe?"

I asked a very long-winded question, "As you know, the traditional PSTN consists of 'islands' of carriers that then terminate and exchange traffic with other carriers charging a termination or access fee. Today, Skype is an 'island', Nimcat Networks is an 'island', Popular Telephony is an 'island'. Do you envision an open P2P telephony standard with the ability for separate P2P networks to communicate?"

Dmitry from Popular Telephony had the most insightful answer of all the panelists. After my long-winded question, he answered with a short two word answer - "No. Impossible".

<audience laughter>

Some other panelists addressed the question and talked about how through SIP it is technically possible. And to be fair to Dmitry he clarified his answer by explaining that from a mathematical perspective it is impossible, that P2P engines by their very nature are mathematical models that are unique to each P2P network, but that indeed you can communicate with other P2P networks.

My last question was "I'm going to ask the panelists to prognasticate what's going to happen 10 years from now. What will the carrier level look like and what will the customer premise look like and what role will P2P VoIP play?". I threw the question to Skype first, and asked "What do you see 10 years from now and is there anything interesting Skype is working on currently? We can all sign an NDA and not tell anyone, honest"

<audience laughter>

I could tell you Skype's response, but you should have been at the session! I can't type the sessions' entire transcript. To borrow a quote from Dr. McCoy - "I'm a blogger not a court stenographer!"

I just got out of my "A Close Look at P2P" session. I'll comment on the session in my next blog entry. First, I want to break the news that Popular Telephony now has the ability to traverse firewalls. The news isn't going to hit the "official" wires until late today or tomorrow. Just another example of breaking VoIP news from Internet Telephony Expo. Boy I love going to these VoIP shows - you get lots of scoops!

Ironic that I just downloaded the latest Popular Telephony client just a few days ago and the software told me something to the effect, "Sorry, Peerio does not work behind NAT firewalls". I was too busy to mess with the corporate firewall, so put it aside to play with for another day.

Now, I guess I have to go and re-download it. Damn it, I hate wasting bytes!

I'm told that the NAT-capable version is available for download right now. So go check it out. http://www.gnup.org/getgnup.html

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 asked Time Warner for a meeting before the news came out. Ah well, I can't win them all. Maybe in the meeting tomorrow they can give more more specific details that might be interesting to blog.

Well, here's a snippet of the news. For the rest, look at the Cnet article.

The TW Telecom One Solution, is for customers with PBX (private branch exchange) phone systems and features trunking, IP FX virtual numbering and conferencing services, the company said.

The offering will be available in 21 markets initially with more areas will be added later this year. In addition, the company is offering a free voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP)-based virtual private network service to its site-to-site business customers in the 44 markets it serves.

"Our strategy is to layer VoIP-based business-class solutions on our robust metro Ethernet platform. This leverages our network strengths and relationships with customers to meet their mission-critical voice needs," Michael Rouleau, a Time Warner Telecom senior vice president, said in a statement. "As more and more businesses converge their voice and data networks, aligning with the right service provider is becoming even more critical."

This is non-show related, but a very fascinating release nonetheless. Hmm, that's twice today I've used the word "fascinating" - one of Spock's favorite one liners. Must be the Star Trek Marathon I watched a few days ago. Anyway, this is a pretty cool release discussing how students build a home powered entirely by the sun.

Below is a copy of the press release NYIT STUDENTS BUILD THE HOME OF THE FUTURE.

NYIT STUDENTS BUILD THE HOME OF THE FUTURE

With 100 Percent Solar Power, This House Will be ‘Run by the Sun'

Old Westbury, NY, Feb. 23, 2005: The countdown has begun! In just nine months, students from New York Institute of Technology (NYIT) will descend on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. to unveil their vision of the home of the future - one that is totally "run by the sun."

NYIT is one of 19 colleges internationally - and the only university in the metropolitan area - selected as a finalist in the global 2005 Solar Decathlon Competition, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy.

"The Solar Decathlon is to architectural, engineering, interior design and communications students what the Olympics are to athletes," said Dr. Alexandra Logue, NYIT vice president of academic affairs and provost. "It is a test of talent, commitment and endurance. It requires the unique ability to tackle 10 exacting requirements while designing, building, and operating an attractive, effective, and energy-efficient solar-powered house."

The trek to the National Mall began for NYIT students more than a year ago. At that time, becoming a finalist in the competition was just a dream. But after intensive research by teams of students on ways to integrate environmental systems with living systems, the dream took shape.

"We brought together a panel of professors to review students' proposals and very quickly realized they had come up with a truly innovative, and somewhat risky option," said Professor Michele Bertomen. "Instead of proposing the traditional use of batteries to convert and store solar power, our students suggested using hydrogen fuel cells, which are non-polluting and absolutely guarantee that our solar house will be self-sufficient."

Electricity from a roof-mounted photovoltaic system is used to separate hydrogen from water through electrolysis; the hydrogen will be stored and later used to power a fuel cell that produces electricity and heat on demand.

Dubbed "Green Machine/Blue Space," the NYIT students' design consists of two main structures joined by an enclosed sunspace. The Green Machine structure contains most of the house's mechanical systems, as well as kitchen, bathroom, and roof garden for growing food and collecting rainwater. The Blue Space structure is designed for sleeping, relaxing, or working.

NYIT's Green Machine/Blue Space also is designed as a "talking house." Visitors to the National Mall, where NYIT's house will be displayed in a Solar Village in fall 2005, will be provided with handheld computers that can be used to obtain more information about specific technologies used in the house. By scanning bar codes placed around the home, visitors also will be able to activate a short video or voice recording describing a particular feature of the house.

Funding for NYIT's Solar Decathlon entry comes from a variety of sources, including NYIT's students, faculty and staff who raised thousands of dollars, and key sponsors including:

> Long Island Power Authority, which has a long history of supporting student activities at NYIT;

> Nationally recognized architectural firms: Burton, Behrendt & Smith; di Domenico + Partners; Ted Moudis Associates; Milrose Consultants; and Bentel & Bentel Architects/Planners;

> Major construction and contracting supply firms: Turner Construction International; Stalco Construction Inc.; TRS Container Corp. and Continental Lighting;

> Top furniture and hardware suppliers: Hafele, Hybrids+Fusion and Geiger;

> And additional support from National Photovoltaics; Plug Power Inc.; Symbol; Marvin Windows; Super Enterprises; Metropolitan Archives and Media Street, Inc.

Additional fundraising activities are planned to help cover the costs associated with this $500,000 project. In fact, during the spring and summer months, as the model solar house is constructed on NYIT's Old Westbury campus, there will be several opportunities for Long Islanders to show their support by attending open-house events. According to Pam Bottge, NYIT's Director of Development, opportunities are still available for corporate sponsorships or contributions of goods in kind. Interested organizations are asked to contact her at 516-686-7848 or pbottge@nyit.edu.

"Our Solar Decathletes are tomorrow's engineers, architects, researchers, business managers and homeowners," said Bertomen. "As an educator I can't think of anything more valuable than supporting their unique vision for living under the sun. Their project is a great example of nature and technology joined together in ways we've never even imagined."

Primary sponsor of the Solar Decathlon is the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, which has again partnered with its National Renewable Energy Laboratory as well as national sponsors BP, American Institute of Architects, National Association of Home Builders, and The Home Depot.

About NYIT
NYIT is the college of choice for more than 12,000 students currently enrolled in more than 100 courses of study leading to undergraduate, graduate and professional degrees from eight schools, including engineering, architecture, business, communication arts and medicine. A private,

independent college, NYIT embraces an educational philosophy of career-oriented, professional education for all qualified students, and supports applications-oriented research to benefit the greater global community. Students attend classes at NYIT's Manhattan and Long Island campuses, as well as online and in a number of programs throughout the world. To date, more than 64,000 alumni have earned degrees at NYIT.

Facts at a Glance
• NYIT is one of 19 colleges internationally - and the only university in the metropolitan area - selected as a finalist in the global 2005 Solar Decathlon Competition, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy.
• NYIT's interdisciplinary approach brings together talented students from its eight schools - including architecture, engineering and technology, communications arts and business - in a multidisciplinary program to design the home of the future; one that is totally "run by the sun."
• NYIT's winning strategy is based on two unique approaches:

1. Hydrogen Fuel Cell: Break away from the traditional use of batteries for harnessing a house's solar power. Instead, employ a risky but exciting option of fuel cells, which are non-polluting, produce electricity and heat on demand, and absolutely guarantee that the solar house will be self-sufficient.

2. Design: Dubbed "Green Machine/Blue Space," the NYIT students' design consists of two main structures joined by an enclosed sunspace. The Green Machine structure contains most of the house's mechanical systems, as well as kitchen, bathroom, and roof garden for growing food and collecting rainwater. The Blue Space structure is designed for sleeping, relaxing, or working.

• NYIT's solar house also will feature state-of-the-art interactive technology. Visitors to Green Machine/Blue Space will be handed a Symbol Inc. Pocket PC with a bar code scanner. As they walk through the house, they will be able to scan many unique household items to learn more about ways that NYIT employed solar technologies in its design.

• A core group of students is enrolled in classes specifically created for the Solar Decathlon competition, and designed to help them develop ideas, and build and test the solar house.

• Cost of participating in the Solar Decathlon competition is estimated at $500,000. Monies are being raised through a combination of generous sponsor contribution, grants and student fund raisers.

• NYIT's model house will be on display at the Solar Village on the National Mall in Washington D.C. in fall 2005, when an overall winner of the Solar Decathlon 2005 will be selected.

• NYIT is the college of choice for more than 12,000 students currently enrolled in more than 100 courses of study leading to undergraduate, graduate and professional degrees from eight schools, including engineering, architecture and design, business, communication arts and medicine. A private, independent college, NYIT embraces an educational philosophy of career-oriented, professional education for all qualified students and supports applications-oriented research to benefit the greater global community. To date, more than 64,000 alumni have earned degrees at NYIT.