March 2005 Archives

A TMC team member recently received a complaint from someone claiming we dialed his number which is on the national Do-Not-Call (DNC) List. TMC has very strict guidelines regarding following DNC laws. Heck, our Customer Interaction Solutions Magazine has covered DNC laws and regulations more than any other magazine. So how ironic would it be if TMC was indeed at fault for violating the DNC laws?

I wasn't worried. I knew we weren't in violation since I was the one that helped implement our DNC policies and procedures. Heck, we even pay the FCC's "extortion" fee to rent the DNC list.

Anyway, when the TMC employee asked with whom he spoke with at TMC, he was very vague and replied, "I don't know who called me from your organization, but they called about something to do with 'WiFi'. I don't know what exactly it was about since I was sleepy at 9:30am."

He did give his number, but when asked for more information about the call he basically got irate and said, "I don't know who it was, but you're on my CallerID and I am reporting you for calling me and each time you call me I will have you fined the $10,000 fine imposed by the FCC's DNC law."

Ok, so now he's making threats with little to no information to go on. That's nice. I checked our CRM database and I saw no number listed that might be called by our sales team. Next, I had TMC's MIS guru (Benzy Fernando) check out the outbound call accounting logs and there was no such phone number listed as being dialed - ever. If it's not in our call accounting system, we didn't dial it. Therefore it was impossible for TMC's main number to show up in his CallerID display.

Or is it?

"Caller ID spoofing" has emerged over the past six months as a useful tool for identity thieves and other scam artists, according to fraud experts. Caller ID spoofing enables them to pose as banks or other trusted authorities and drain accounts. Caller ID spoofing is not prohibited by law, but that if this type of Caller-ID spoofing fraud increases then the FCC may be forced to tighten the rules.

From a Yahoo/Reuters Article where a guy designed his own "caller-ID spoofing device":

I received a press release from Viseon titled "New VisiFone with Multimedia Capabilities and New Revenue Sources for VoIP Carrier Partners" which discusses a VoIP phone with a large 10.4" color TFT/LCD screen including full motion video, and the ability for "content partners" to push personalized content and information such as news, weather, sports and stock quotes to these VoIP phones.

I couldn't help but flash back to Communications Solutions Expo or maybe it was CTI Expo where Pingtel was singing that same mantra with their Java-based xpressa phones. The media was enamored with the xpressa phone saying it could spark many revenue opportunities for service providers. Now if I recall, several years ago at this tradeshow, Pingtel demoed their phones with a Pizza Hut coupon "pushed out" to the phone's display showing the possibilities for selling ad space. So having content delivered to a phone is nothing new, but as many of us know, Pingtel's xpressa phone did not spark new revenue models for phones. In fact, Pingtel sold its hardware phone business to focus exclusively on software solutions (i.e. open-source SIP PBX). Part of the problem was these phones were just too damn expensive.

So the question is, was Pingtel just ahead of its time? Is the time now ripe for interesting revenue opportunities leveraging VoIP phones' LCD displays? I can't say I know for sure the answer to that but I do have my opinion on it. We have seen how strong competition in the broadband residential VoIP marketplace has brought prices way down. It has also forced the traditional carriers to offer unlimited plans and lower their rates. Soon, prices will reach a point where it just doesn't make sense to cut them any further or companies will put themselves out of business. So certainly any kind of other revenue opportunities besides cheap "dumb voice" that can add to the bottom line will give VoIP service providers a key advantage. So in my opinion, the answer to my hypothetical question if the time is right is "Yes, now is the time to offer content to VoIP phones" Now is the time to grab market share.

Of course, the service providers will need to offset part or all of the costs of the IP phone if anyone is going to use it. That's a risky proposition since no one wants to be stuck with thousands of fancy VoIP phones with large LCD displays and spend millions of dollars if the revenue generating possibilities don't pan out. Since the telecom bust, telecom companies play it much more "safe". In my opinion, the winners in this game will continue to be those that take high risk chances. The telecom market has changed drastically and those that try and stay with the "tried and true" methods of the past will be surpassed - plain and simple. Now is the time to get a jump before someone else does.

Here's the release to help put what I wrote in context:

Viseon, Inc. (OTCBB: VSNI), a global developer of broadband personal communications solutions for VoIP, today announced the multimedia version (MM) of its VisiFone Digital Home Telephone for VoIP. The VisiFone MM enables users to view personalized content and information automatically at any time they choose, on the large 10.4 inch color
TFT/LCD screen in full motion video.

The new VisiFone is the first fully digital home telephone for VoIP services. It provides new features unique to VoIP, including digital wideband audio in the handset and speakerphone as well as TV-quality two-way video calling and on-screen VoIP feature management control. The VisiFone MM also empowers consumers to view new personalized content and information such as news, weather, sports and stock quotes. Consumers will be able to instantly view a variety of content from partners, including broadcast and cable TV networks and prominent web portals.

With the VisiFone MM, consumers will be able to view "what they want, when they want it" and even instantly interact with the content provider or sponsor on their VisiFone by audio or video call. Consumers can customize the content to be displayed on the VisiFone at chosen intervals throughout the day. For example, have the VisiFone display the local traffic report and live traffic cam feeds on demand every morning prior to their morning commute.

To aggregate content and sponsors for the VisiFone, Viseon previously announced the formation of ViseonMedia (VMN, LLC), a wholly owned subsidiary of Viseon, Inc. ViseonMedia has entered into agreements with various sponsors and marketing partners to deliver selected programming to VisiFone users throughout the globe. ViseonMedia will work directly with the VoIP carriers to develop content and information services for access by their VisiFone MM equipped subscribers.

"The VisiFone MM and ViseonMedia's exclusive programming provides VoIP carriers with a compelling tool to attract new subscribers to the rich world of digital telephony," said John Harris, Viseon CEO and president.
"The VisiFone provides the best "telephony" ever experienced. Its multimedia features and two-way videophone capabilities will show consumers that VoIP is clearly better than plain old circuit switched telephone service."

The new VisiFone MM complements the initial 5.6 inch screen version of the VisiFone announced in January, which begins shipping to carriers in June. The VisiFone MM will be available to carriers later in 2005.

For further information, please see the company websites at www.viseon.com and www.viseonmedia.com, or visit Viseon's booth # 5287 at The 2005 National Show, April 3-5 in San Francisco, Moscone Center.

About Viseon, Inc.
Founded in 1993 with headquarters in Dallas, TX Viseon, Inc. (OTCBB:
VSNI) is a leading developer and manufacturer of patented personal broadband communications solutions. Viseon products have been sold under various brand names around the world including Philips, VTEL, and Gentner. Viseon's mission is to work with carriers to enhance the consumer telephone experience by positioning VoIP as a premium service versus Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS), and ultimately replacing the analog telephone by bringing digital telephony quality to the broader public. The target market for Viseon's VisiFone is the 150 million global consumers which are projected to switch to VoIP in the next five years. Other markets for the VisiFone include corporations, universities, and government agencies. Viseon holds broadband communication related patents in the U.S. and 18 European and Asian countries and has additional patents pending. For more information on the Company, including investor presentation, please visit the Company's Website, http://www.viseon.com.

MPEG NATION emailed me about their new service that allows anyone to stream video via the web instantly. Ironically, I just talked about streaming video yesterday in my Microsoft Launches MSN Video Downloads blog and I mentioned a pseudo-competitor of theirs - Orb Networks. Anyway, MPEG NATION enables individuals and companies to inexpensively begin streaming video across a high-performance, reliable content delivery network without having to spend hours encoding and transcoding formats, negotiating rates, or worrying about ongoing storage and bandwidth costs. MPEG NATION claims to be the first-ever "one-price-fits-all solution" for placing video in blogs, auctions, personal and corporate websites.

Here's the release:
MPEG NATION Launches Powerful Broadband Streaming Video Service for the Masses

Stream your video world-wide to millions of people for less than $1 per month!

CHICAGO, March 30 -- MPEG NATION, a division of Digital Silo, Inc., a global provider of integrated content delivery and streaming media services, today announced a new, first ever, low-cost service to encode and stream consumer and commercial video content via its worldwide content delivery network, within minutes, via a simple upload.

MPEG NATION enables individuals and companies to inexpensively begin streaming video across a high-performance, reliable content delivery network without having to spend hours encoding and transcoding formats, negotiating rates, or worrying about ongoing storage and bandwidth costs. MPEG NATION is the first-ever "one-price-fits-all solution" for placing video in blogs, auctions, personal and corporate websites.

"We are working towards a world where television and video distribution are much more democratized and where a creative spark, a camera, and a computer are all it takes to put video content before the eyes of thousands of people. MPEG NATION is excited to announce the first affordable streaming video service for delivering streaming solutions to meet market demand for Microsoft(R) Windows Media(R), RealNetwork's RealPlayer and Apple's QuickTime video formats," said Scott Wolf, president and chief technology officer of Digital Silo's MPEG NATION division. "There are thousands of people who want to stream video from their websites, blogs, auctions, etc., but can't because of the complexity of encoding the video and the cost of having it hosted and streamed using current media solution providers."

With the launch of MPEG NATION, it is now possible to begin streaming video from a website, blog, or auction within minutes instead of days. MPEG NATION's simple 3-step online form allows for the selection of a number of customer options including password protection and logging. As soon as a video file is uploaded to MPEG NATION it is transcoded into the various Internet media formats for instant streaming Internet delivery. Once a file upload is complete an http link is provided to the customer which they can paste into an email, blog, auction or website. Clicking on the link instantly brings up their video.
"MPEG NATION is truly a disruptive technology in the streaming media space. Not only is the service easy to use, it removes an enormous cost and complexity barrier for anyone who wants to stream video on the web. In all cases MPEG NATION is hundreds and sometimes even thousands of times less expensive than existing video streaming providers," added Wolf.
"MPEG NATION was faster to market with a better product than anything I could find at the time. The compression and sample rates, the download formats, the conversion across Apple, PC and Linux -- make MPEG NATION perhaps the best choice for web-based video hosting," said Jon Baribeau, an early MPEG NATION customer who produced his own music video and began streaming it from his website just minutes after uploading it to MPEG NATION.

MPEG NATION video streaming services are available now at http://www.mpegnation.com . As an example, a one to sixty minute video uploaded to MPEG NATION, encoded into Microsoft(R) Window's Media(R) Format (150k, 300k & 700k), costs just $4.95 including unlimited streaming (viewing) bandwidth and storage for six months.

About MPEG NATION
MPEG NATION, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Digital Silo, Inc., a global provider of integrated content delivery services that enable consumers and businesses to broadcast their digital media and communications to worldwide audiences via the Internet. The Company provides complete solutions, including videotape-to-Internet video streaming, media asset management, integrated web hosting and consulting services, that seamlessly integrate with today's leading streaming media technologies. To ensure a worldwide reach, Digital Silo engineered its content delivery network for quality delivery in the United States, Europe and Asia. For more information, call 800-609-9193, or visit http://www.mpegnation.com or http://www.digitalsilo.com

Today Telstra launched a global, MPLS-based VoIP solution that is available in 52 countries. No specific PBX or handset equipment is required to access this service.

Here's the release:

New York, NY - March 31, 2005 - Telstra Incorporated, a leading global provider of advanced communications services to multinational corporations, announced today the availability of T-VoIP, its global VoIP offering. T-VoIP provides multinational corporations with a quality solution to control, manage and reduce global telecommunications costs.

"T-VoIP is based on Telstra's global IP VPN platform that is backed by our service level agreements (SLAs), delivering highly reliable, integrated IP packetized voice service," said Dan Kerth, President and COO, Telstra Incorporated. "Companies can combine voice and data traffic to maximize their return on investment and through lower off-net rates, reduce the cost once associated with sending on-net and off-net voice traffic over a public switched network."

Through the use of T-VOIP, companies are able to interconnect geographically dispersed PBXs over a "virtual private network", thus avoiding the high price of international toll calls between office locations. Companies with small branch offices up to very large sites can be supported with access speeds ranging from 128 Kbps through 155 Mbps. In a converged scenario, voice and data traffic share the same local access loop, reducing the number of access loops required to obtain services.

"T-VoIP has the ability to simplify a company's network and streamline costs associated with voice and data," said Ilissa Miller, Product Marketing Manager."A monthly rate for the on-net calling plan provides customers with virtually unlimited intra-company calls. In addition, off-net is provided at a flat rate per termination country, independent of the country of origin."

To help companies realize the benefits of converged voice and data provided by T-VoIP Telstra is offering companies a free analysis of their networking needs to determine if a global IP voice VPN is right for them and if they are among the majority of companies who can save up to 40% by combining global voice and data service using T-VoIP.

About Telstra Incorporated
Telstra Incorporated is the US subsidiary of the Australian-based telecommunications company, Telstra Corporation Limited. Telstra Corporation Limited (NYSE: TLS) is Australia's leading domestic and global full service telecommunications provider and the operator of one of the most diversely routed IP backbone networks in the Asia Pacific region. Telstra owns one of the most technologically advanced global networks, offering an extensive portfolio of state-of-the-art solutions to global customers including voice, mobile, broadband, IP, MPLS and managed services. Telstra provides innovative solutions to 200 of the world's top 500 companies in the Asia Pacific region and around the world. For further information visit: http://www.telstra-usa.com

A friend of mine, Evan, forwarded me a story link titled "1 Killed in Blast at S.C. Duct-Tape Plant" that by itself isn't all that interesting. However, Evan pondered an interesting point about this explosion in a duct-tape plant. That is, he pondered, "Hmmm. Mystery of the ages: if duct tape fixes everything, how do they fix duct tape?"

Good one, Evan! It's not often I get a chuckle out of Evan's jokes (actually almost never), so congratulations Evan, finally one of your jokes made it to one of my blog entries!

Speaking of duct tape and its many uses, check out these photos...


A Really bad Boy Scout trying to win the Pine Derby Model Car Racing contest?


Duct Tape Purse. No more expensive tears in leather to worry about. Just patch it up!


Tired of your kids burying you in the sand? Try this instead...

While MSN Video Downloads - both paid and free content - is a cool idea, I still prefer to record shows I like on my Windows Media Center 2005 PC and then stream it using Orb Networks or just copy the media file to one of these portable media devices, such as the Creative Labs Zen Portable Media Center depicted below. But for those that don't have a MCE 2005 PC, downloading TV programs and paying for it (ala iTunes) might be a good solution for you.

If MSN Video Downloads starts offering "streaming" live TV programming, then that might be a killer app - especially if you're in a WiFi hotspot with no TV in sight and you want to watch the Duke Blue Devils and Mike Krzyzewski lose yet another NCAA game and not living up to the Cameron Crazies high expectations.Well, at least I would enjoy watching Duke lose over a streaming WiFi connection! Especially if it's another loss to UCONN in the NCAA tournament with the Blue Devils considered the heavy favorite!

It looks like the news about MSN Video Downloads being launched today has brought down the MSN Video Downloads website. I couldn't get to it. Yeah, Microsoft planned for the bandwidth utilization all right!.

Related From Engadget:

Microsoft launched MSN Video Downloads today, their new, um, video download service for Portable Media Centers and Windows Mobile-powered Smartphones and Pocket PCs that support Windows Media Player 10. The initial line up of programming isn’t exactly on the compelling tip-it's mostly clips from MSNBC, CNBC, Fox Sports, HGTV, the Food Network, iFilm, and few other channels...Read more from this post.

Time for some important CRM news. Talisma, a provider of multi-channel CRM solutions, today announced the acquisition of KnowledgeBase.net, a market-leading provider of hosted and on-site Knowledge Management (KM) software for Customer Support and Self-service. Talisma will incorporate KnowledgeBase.net's technology, intellectual property, and customer base into its operations, fueling its strategy of organic and acquisition-based growth. The acquisition is the culmination of over eighteen months of technology, product, and business collaboration between the two companies and has already resulted in several product and service offerings. The acquisition of KnowledgeBase.net will further enhance Talisma's award-winning suite of CRM solutions and strengthen Talisma's position in the fast growing Customer Interaction Management (CIM) segment of the CRM market.

Talisma's acquisition of KnowledgeBase.net advances its strategic growth path by leveraging Knowledge Management tools market opportunities, estimated to reach over $5 billion by 2008*, as well as the expected growth in multi-channel call centers in North America, which are projected to climb from 6,600 in 2003 to approximately 13,800 by 2008**. Both growth figures highlight the opportunity for the combined offerings of Talisma and KnowledgeBase.net.

"Since last year, Talisma's powerful Multi-channel CRM business expertise and KnowledgeBase.net's leadership in Knowledge Management have already produced a strong combined solution for customers around the world. We believe, as a result of this acquisition, Talisma will expand its market presence to become a significant solution provider for both Enterprise and SMB Customer Interaction Management solutions," said Robin Goad, Senior CRM Analyst at Datamonitor. "As the number of customer interactions continue to rise, companies worldwide are recognizing the value of optimized Multi-channel CRM solutions. As a result, they are turning to providers like Talisma for robust solutions that are easy to implement and result in a rapid return on their invesent."

"Talisma is committed to providing our customers with the best Multi-channel CRM solutions available," said Dan Vetras, President & CEO of Talisma. "KnowledgeBase.net, a market leader in Knowledge Management products and services, delivers the most comprehensive, out-of-the-box knowledgebase solution available. Our tremendous success in selling KnowledgeBase.net on an OEM basis has led us to our decision to acquire the company. Moving forward, this complete and seamless integration will continue to deliver the most comprehensive suite of Knowledge and Customer Interaction Management solutions available - now under one umbrella."

"The KnowledgeBase.net team is extremely pleased to join Talisma and contribute our expertise and proprietary technology to develop a comprehensive and compelling Multi-channel CRM offering," said Alex Kazerani, CEO of KnowledgeBase.net, who will join the Talisma management team. "The consolidation of our companies extends our commient to offer relevant and functional customer support tools based on Knowledge Management. Our customers will now have the opportunity to broaden their scope by taking advantage of powerful Multi-channel CRM solutions."

*This figure is based on a combined estimation of the Knowledge Management and Collaborative Software market projections found in “Gartner’s Market Trends, Collaborative Software and KM Tools, Worldwide, 2003-08,” (September 2004).

** "Vertical Guides to Contact Centers in North America," Datamonitor (July 2004)

Today, Alpha Telecom launched "plug and play" VoIP gateways that let enterprises migrate to IP Telephony using their existing Centrex/Digital PBXs and speaker phones.

Enterprises wanting to take advantage of the communications cost savings of IP telephony without changing out their Centrex systems or Nortel or Lucent digital PBXs and expensive digital desktop phones now have a solution - a cost-effective, high-performance, plug-and-play VoIP gateway from Alpha Telecom, Inc. USA that saves most of the capital equipment cost and all of the ancillary retraining expense and time associated with a new network infrastructure. Already chosen by leading North American service providers, Alpha Telecom's broad range of next-generation, carrier-class managed customer-premises equipment (CPE) supports most PBX and managed IP-Centrex platforms.

Alpha Telecom's Arion series VoIP gateways migrate an enterprise's legacy telephones into the service provider's system, enabling the carrier to offer Centrex features over its IP backbone and to seamlessly provision, configure and manage VoIP service without user intervention; the service provider merely ships the Arion units to the customer for plug-and-play attachment to individual phones by the enterprise's IT department or by the users themselves.The IT department can also deploy an Alpha Telecom element management system (EMS) for provisioning, mass configuration, troubleshooting and mass upgrades.This EMS does not require individual user involvement, nor does it require them to load software on a PC.

"With our VoIP gateways, an enterprise can protect their capital investment by extending the life of their legacy system on a per-user or per-workgroup basis," said Alpha Telecom President Sid Sung."Of course, they could do a 'forklift' change to a brand new state-of-the-art PBX that's already VoIP capable, but that entails changing all their handsets - which can cost up to $600 each - reprogramming everything, and then training everyone on the new system because all the features are different."

An added benefit of the Arion series gateways is that organizations can enjoy the advantages of IP telephony with their existing digital speaker phones, where the quality is far superior to that of a dedicated VoIP speaker phone. Moreover, because the plug-and-play VoIP gateways reside at the customer site, they support portability.This allows an enterprise's IT department to avoid carrier service-order changes and gives it control to balance user requirements for high functionally with the benefits of streamlined management and reduced facilities costs.

Hotsip AB (www.hotsip.com), a leading SIP Application Server provider with off-the-shelf applications for large scale SIP enabled broadband and 3G/IMS networks, announced today that it has supplied its M2CE product to Tussa, a Norwegian Internet Service Provider, as a part of a residential IP Telephony solution.

"Hotsip has further strengthened its position in the Nordic market and we are excited to have our first commercial launch in Norway. I am convinced that we will see many smaller ISPs launching IP Telephony services during this year. We are very excited about the Tussa's commercial launch and the next projects to follow" says Kenneth Gustafsson, CEO of Hotsip.

With Hotsip's SIP-based platform, Tussa's subscribers gets a standard telephone number which they can use to make and receive calls to and from any fixed or mobile phone using an analogue telephone with analogue telephone adapter. The subscribers will not only benefit from complementary telephony services like call forward, call screening, call line identification, caller privacy etc, but also from some value added telephony services such as forking and intelligent routing of calls. Forking makes it possible for the user to route his calls to all his terminals at the same time. By using intelligent routing it is possible to route his calls differently depending on who he is calling and when. These value added services provides more advantages over traditional telephony and offer the user the possibility to control and personalise his communication.

"We are very satisfied with the performance and functionality of Hotsip's platform and impressed by the short time to market. We and Hotsip have succeeded to deploy a commercial IP Telephony service within 4 months from delivery" says Ivar Driveklepp, CEO of Tussa Telit.

Some news to share involving a test bed that included WiFi, VoIP, VoIP over WiFi, and "triple play"- all important technologies in the VoIP space. Azimuth W-Series was a key component in running performance tests on Wi-Fi handsets and Wi-Fi infrastructure during a what they termed a "first of a kind" interoperability demonstration performed last week at the UNH-IOL. This test is significant because the "triple play" technologies of voice, video and data have rarely, if ever, been combined in an open test and demonstration network simulating how they would actually be deployed in a large corporate LAN serving several offices on a distributed campus.

Here's the news:

Azimuth Systems Inc., innovators in scalable, automated wireless network test systems, today announced that in a "first of a kind" interoperability demonstration performed last week at the renowned UNH-IOL, the Azimuth W-Series was front and center in running performance tests on Wi-Fi handsets and Wi-Fi infrastructure. VoWi-Fi was featured as a highlight of the event, as some of the participating vendors demonstrated that the technology is not just a gimmick, but ready for prime time.

Until now, the "triple play" technologies of voice, video and data have rarely, if ever, been combined in an open test and demonstration network simulating how they would actually be deployed in a large corporate LAN serving several offices on a distributed campus.

"Enterprises are already deploying wireless VoIP, but testing the network readiness has been limited. There is a very strong need to analyze handset behavior, infrastructure capacity and the performance of the system as a whole," said Gerard Goubert, manager of the UNH-IOL wireless and VOX (Voice over Anything) consortiums."For those reasons, the Azimuth VoWi-Fi test suite significantly added to the value of the event."

The test marks the first time that three distinct UNH-IOL testing groups, the laboratory's bridging, wireless and VoX consortiums, were involved in a single event. In addition to running test events such as the triple play enterprise security and services group test, these groups perform industry testing year-round, saving companies money and time to market by providing one-on-one product testing, debugging and troubleshooting in a leading-edge test bed resulting in detailed, confidential reports. Azimuth is a test partner of the lab and has been working with UNH-IOL on joint development and automation of
test suites.

The Azimuth W-Series is the industry's first standardized test platform for system level testing of 802.11 wireless access points, clients and other devices. Designed from the ground up as an off-the-shelf, wireless LAN test platform, W-Series systems provide the ability to configure an entire WLAN network in a bench top chassis designed for complete Radio Frequency (RF) isolation and control. The flexibility and programmability of the W-Series allows for the thorough evaluation of wireless LAN equipment under varying mobility conditions and traffic patterns, as well as precise analysis of the results. The system offers an ideal environment to perform software design validation and to test advanced wireless functionality and performance including the latest IEEE standards.

About the University of New HampshireInterOperability Laboratory:
Established in 1988, the University of New Hampshire InterOperability Laboratory (UNH-IOL) is a non-profit organization housed in 32,000 + square feet of laboratory space offering comprehensive interoperability and conformance-based testing in 19 data communication technologies. Test solutions created at the UNH-IOL offer a set of methods to increase interoperability through protocol operations, signaling, point-to-point and multi-system scenarios. For more information, visit the UNH-IOL website at: http://www.iol.unh.edu.

About Azimuth:
Azimuth Systems, Inc. (www.azimuthsystems.com) is an innovator in wireless data communications test solutions. Azimuth's W-Series, the industry's first IEEE 802.11 test platform, sets the standard for wireless data test solutions by allowing system and semiconductor vendors to provide their customers with higher quality products in a shorter time-to-market.Based in Acton, Massachusetts, Azimuth is a leader in defining widely accepted wireless data communications performance metrics and test environments.Founded in 2002, Azimuth is backed by prestigious investors, including Kodiak Venture Partners and North Bridge Venture Partners.

Yesterday I posted my review of the ActionTec Internet Phone Wizard with Skype. Ironically, four days earlier I received an email tip about a very similar device called rapidBox from RapidVoIP, which retails for $49.99 and is ~$20 cheaper than the ActionTec device.

I have not tested the rapidBox, but like the ActionTec device, it supports Skype and can ring analog phones. In addition, according to its specs, unlike the ActionTec, it has an 3 RJ11 ports (ActionTec has 2 RJ11 ports), so you can actually have 2 persons on the same line talking to the caller. Of course you could just use a phone splitter.

My main complaint with the ActionTec device (see my review) was that the simulated dialtone interfered with my ability to use it with other third-party softphones other than Skype. Supposedly, the rapidBox DOES work with other VoIP softclients other than just Skype.

There is one other notable difference between the ActionTec Internet Phone Wizard and rapidBox - the rapidBox does not have a ring voltage generator whereas the ActionTec device does. So although your analog phone connected to rapidBox will ring on an incoming PSTN call (simply passes the tip and ring voltage from the Central Office (CO) through), on an incoming Skype call, the rapidBox device rings instead - your phone does NOT ring. While this is fine if you are near the rapidBox device, if you are out in the yard with your analog cordless phone, you will have no idea that there is an incoming Skype call since the ringing rapidBox is too far away. My guess is that a ring voltage generator added too much to the cost of the unit. One final note, RapidVoIP has an affiliate program if your interested in reselling these units for commission.

Update: A few people pointed out to me that there is another model called the rapidBox-R-Type which does ring your phone line on both Skype and regular phone calls. Seems to me the RapidBox-R-Type is the obvious choice over the rapidBox. The only advantage of the rapidBox is it has 3 ports, two of which let you connect 2 phones to so that two people can speak simulatneously. I'm not sure if that includes both PSTN calls and Skype calls - the website doesn't say, but I would assume it does. In my opinion an RJ-11 splitter can just as easily be used on the rapidBox-R-Type to add an additional port. Maybe I'm missing the need for the rapidBox when the rapidBox-R-Type has the most important feature - the ability to send ring voltage to your analog phones. Comments?

Just the other day I received a Vonage newsletter in the mail. In the newsletter it discusses the new WiFi phone, how our troops are using Vonage to call home, a letter from the CEO, their 2005 advertising campaign, including TV commercials (woo woot woo woot woo) and last but certainly not least, it discusses Vonage's 911 service and how you must activate it. Made me wonder if the Texas lawsuit against Vonage caused Vonage to make a "special" newsletter just so they could mail it to all their customers explaining you must activate the 911 service. I'm sure a lawyer probably had a hand in telling Vonage it was a good idea to proactively notify their customers about 911 to help negate claims in the lawsuit that Vonage is "not doing enough to proactively warn its customers about the limitations in Vonage's 911 service", i.e. you must activate it. Well, I decided to include a photo of that page in the Vonage newsletter here, but since it's a bit blurry (USB camera), I'll past the newsletter text below as well.

Juniper Networks, Inc. (Nasdaq: JNPR) today announced it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Kagoor Networks in a transaction valued at $67.5 million in cash, plus options and certain other incentives and equity compensation. This move is an additional step in Juniper Networks' strategy to bring secure and assured networking to customers worldwide through rich traffic processing. The combination of Juniper Networks' best-in-class secure and assured networking solutions and Kagoor's session border control (SBC) technology, delivers a powerful solution for network operators looking to cost-effectively deploy quality Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and other rich media services. Session border control technology is also one of the key building blocks required for infranets.

Headquartered in San Mateo, California, with a research and development (R&D) center in Herzelia, Israel, Kagoor brings to Juniper Networks a highly skilled engineering team with deep voice expertise. In addition, the company's VoiceFlow SBC products are installed in over 100 carriers worldwide, most of which also use Juniper Networks' platforms. Kagoor also brings powerful synergies through a number of common strategic partnerships including Lucent, Siemens and NEC. Juniper Networks will leverage the acquisition to establish an Israeli R&D center which will tap into the strong engineering talent pool in Israel.

"Network operators worldwide are increasingly looking to deliver enhanced VoIP and other rich services to their enterprise and consumer customers, but they need to do this in a secure and assured fashion. SBC technology is a key element in delivering these attributes. With Kagoor, Juniper gains best-in-class SBC technology and an acknowledged center of excellence in voice," commented Kittu Kolluri, general manager, Security Products Group, Juniper Networks.

"Our joint customers and partners have already recognized the value Juniper Networks and Kagoor bring in delivering best-in-class solutions to help them differentiate their service offerings," commented Jim Dolce executive vice president, Worldwide Field Operations, Juniper Networks. "This acquisition demonstrates Juniper Networks' continued commitment to helping customers enhance their businesses through the creation of IP-based infranets that deliver the quality and assurance of private networks, with the flexibility and positive economics of public networks."

"We welcome this initiative by Juniper Networks. Session Border Control technology is a key element in delivering secure, reliable Next Generation Network solutions to our customers. We are pleased to extend our existing partnership with Juniper into this important area," commented Andreas Mueller-Schubert, president Fixed Networks Solutions, Siemens.

"We're very pleased to be joining the Juniper Networks team and are excited at the opportunity this represents for our combined customers and partners.
Kagoor's voice expertise and comprehensive SBC functionality is a great complement to Juniper's networking and security expertise," commented Opher Kahane, co-founder and CEO, Kagoor Networks.

The acquisition is expected to close in the second quarter of 2005 subject to certain customary closing conditions. Kagoor generated less than $5M of revenue in 2004 and it is expected to be less than $0.01 per share dilutive to Juniper Networks in 2005 and to be accretive in 2006.

Yesterday, I received this comment in my VoIP Blog: under my ActionTec Internet Phone Wizard w/ Skype review

Hey guys... I have just tried this new recording tool that works with all my VoIP softwares! It is really awesome! You are able to record your conversations, archive them, and send for free... You are able to send recorded greetings and messages, too. Try it out by downloading from this website www.hotrecorder.com. There is a free version that works really good. I've been looking for a tool like this for a while now, and this is the only one I've found, and it is amazing! Not sure who this guys are, but they rock!

I did check them out yesterday, but was too busy to blog about them. VoIP call recording is a very hot topic. I've seen many threads in the VoIP Forums about "call recording" in fact from people looking for software to record their VoIP conversations. Now I just read that United Virtualities, the developers of the HotRecorder software mentioned in the comments section of my blog, "officially" launched HotRecorder today. I guess it was "unofficially" launched in the comments section of my blog!

Essentially, the HotRecorder lets people record their phone conversations and then tag the file with a few keywords so that they can retrieve the conversation later by searching on those terms. I should point out that the software does not search on text within the conversation.

HotRecorder works with PC-initiated calls through Skype, AOL Instant Messenger, Net2Phone, Yahoo! Messenger and probably others. The free version of the software is supported by advertisements that are targeted according to the consumer's location, gender or age or you can buy the software ad-free for $14.95.


The ads are shown on the application, which launches each time a person initiates a VoIP phone conversation. The software also supports something called "emotisounds". According to HotRecorder's website, "Emotisounds are sounds that express moods and emotions with humor. As a HotRecorder user, you will be able to use Emotisounds whenever you are having a voice communication over the Internet, RECORDED OR NOT. They include, kisses, claps, laughs, cries and many others."

I've discussed the FCC's ruling on "naked DSL" a couple of times recently. The FCC essentially has removed state restrictions forcing DSL providers to offer "naked" DSL and taken jurisdiction upon itself. Naked DSL basically is unbundling phone service from DSL broadband service. So with the FCC's recent ruling, if you want to get DSL you have to purchase phone service - even if you plan to use Vonage or another VoIP service provider over the DSL connection - no if's and's or but's about it!

On a related note, the cable companies are trying to be classified as an "information service" and not a "telecommunications service" so they are not bound by the telecom rules which require them to lease their cable lines to competitors so they can offer cable broadband. In fact, today the Supreme Court will hear the Federal Communications Commission's appeal of a decision by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals as to whether cable modems are a "telecommunications service" or an "information service."

In 2002, the FCC issued a "declaration" that cable modem service should be considered an information service, which gave the "big boys" of cable (Comcast, CableVision, Time Warner, etc.) carte' blanche power when it came to controlling their cable networks. The appeals court ruled later in 2003 that cable modems are akin to telecommunications providers, which meant that they would have to open their lines to rival Internet service providers. The FCC disagreed and claims they have more "expertise" in this area and have taken the case all the way to the Supreme Court.

Independent ISPs who brought this suit and consumer groups argue that the appeals court's interpretation would allow more choice, more competition, and hence lower prices in the broadband market, as has happened in the traditional dial-up ISP market. But in their appeal to the Supreme Court, the FCC says it is falls under their jurisdiction. Hey, at least the FCC has been consistent - granting monopoly power to the DSL providers by not enforcing the unbundling of DSL from phone service and now letting the cable companies own their networks lock-stock-and-barrell.

The FCC has been reversed by appeals courts on important issues several times. Part of the problem is that the Telecommunications Act and other statutes the FCC presides over are ambiguous and open to interpretation - which the courts say falls under their jurisdiction.

If the cable companies simply offered high-speed Internet access and cable TV, then I would agree with the cable companies that they are merely an "information service". But when the cable companies start offering voice, why should the FCC grant them special "favor" and not be governed by the same rules as other voice providers, in particular the traditional phone companies? After all, the phone companies are "forced" to lease their lines to competing voice providers

From a very basic standpoint, at the physical layer to the home, the cable companies are the same thing as phone companies - it's just a piece of copper. The only difference is one is twisted pair of copper and one is a single coax copper wire. Phone companies currently have to lease that copper to competitors and the cable companies don't. If the FCC wins its appeal, the FCC is essentially taking all the phone providers and tying one hand behind their backs while letting the cable companies use both hands and come out swinging to beat the hell out of the phone companies. Eventually, the cable companies will steal even more of the phone companies' market share and in 5-10 years we will be talking about "splitting up the Ma Cable Companies".