Tom Keating : VoIP & Gadgets Blog
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Grandstream Launches new ATAs at ITEXPO Miami 2012

Recently at ITEXPO East 2012 in Miami, Grandstream announced a new family of ATAs – an addition which shows the company...

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Will Nimble 2.0 take Social CRM Mainstream?

Recently consumer products manufacturer P&G – one of the largest advertising spenders at over $9B announced it will cut its marketing headcount...

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Journey Releases New Video Featuring Michaele Salahi

I was scrolling through my Facebook Newsfeed when I came across a post by Journey saying they had a new music...

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KEMP Load Balancer Certified for Microsoft Lync Server 2010

KEMP Technologies today announced that its LoadMaster hardware-based and virtual appliance load balancers are now approved for Microsoft Lync Server 2010.  If...

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Watch out for Metallic Objects in IP Phones! You Could Get Hurt!

I've tested, used, and reviewed many Polycom phones over the years, but apparently I never noticed or received this warning letter with...

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So Can You Re-Use Those Cisco Phones?

From a VAR:"At the risk of sounding like sour grapes, in my experience no one who has tried to use old Cisco...

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Apple Planned the iPad BEFORE the iPhone. Who knew?

Everyone assumes that Apple was working on the iPhone before the iPad. However, the recent lawsuit by Proview Electronics suing Apple over...

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What Twitter Told Me This Week

I get a lot of articles off twitter. Too many to write about all of them so I am just going to...

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Dell Voice Launches in Canada - Will it Fail As Badly As Dell Video Chat?

Dell has partnered with Ontario-based Fongo to offer Dell Voice, a VoIP app exclusively available exclusively in Canada that offers a Canadian...

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5 Tips for Speakers

I'm not the best speaker. I'm still nervous and anxious before every talk, even when moderating. But I prepare for every talk...

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Vonage Attacks Skype with 30% Price Cut and Free App-to-App Calling & Texts

Vonage today launched new versions of their mobile app for both iOS and Android phones that feature free app-to-app calling and international...

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ITEXPO IP Communications Trade Show Continues Solid Growth

ITEXPO East 2012 in Miami was TMC's best show ever with over 200 booths and over 8,200 attendees. Conferee attendance for ITEXPO...

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Social Media Channel Integration

An ITEXPO panel on Wed. discussed social media integration in the contact center. Sanjay Popli of LiveOps, Manuel Ramirez of Avaya, and...

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FCC is Busy!

.The FCC is really busy!The FCC is still working on Inter-Carrier Compensation. It ordered Rural Call Completion.It approved TWC's $3B bid for...

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Mobile Video Conferencing and IT Expo

IT Expo East was held last week in Miami. One thing I like to do at shows is to figure out...

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Journey Releases New Video Featuring Michaele Salahi

February 14, 2012

I was scrolling through my Facebook Newsfeed when I came across a post by Journey saying they had a new music video. It read:

Sweet vibrations! Our new video for "Resonate" from our latest album Eclipse, is here as a special Valentine's Day gift to you. Filmed in San Francisco and Los Angeles, the video captures some of our favorite live moments during the Eclipse Tour. Enjoy:

Screenshot:

This was followed by an embedded YouTube video.

KEMP Load Balancer Certified for Microsoft Lync Server 2010

February 14, 2012

KEMP Technologies today announced that its LoadMaster hardware-based and virtual appliance load balancers are now approved for Microsoft Lync Server 2010.  If you recall, I spoke with Kemp last year about their Exchange 2010 load balancer, so adding Lync load balancing certainly rounds out their Microsoft portfolio. KEMP’s LoadMaster products offer server load balancing, optimized application delivery and built-in SSL acceleration. These features enable the LoadMasters to seamlessly integrate with Microsoft's Lync server pools.

By adding load balancing, traffic can be scaled wide across Lync 2010 Front End, Director, and Edge server pools.  With Layer 7 health checking, the LoadMaster ensures that should a server become inaccessible, the load balancer will take that server off-line and automatically re-route and reconnect users to other functioning servers keeping application uptime guaranteed.

“Having our entire product portfolio approved for Microsoft Lync Server further strengthens the LoadMaster’s ability to deliver highly available, reliable and secure solutions to our business customers utilizing Microsoft applications,” said Peter Melerud, executive  vice president of product management at KEMP Technologies.  “The Microsoft -approved LoadMaster solutions for Lync Server 2010 continue to reduce the price barrier for any-sized business while ensuring high availability across all applications.”

The entire portfolio of LoadMaster products -- hardware-based, Virtual LoadMaster (VLM) for Hyper-V and Virtual LoadMaster (VLM) for VMware is approved for Lync Server 2010. Pricing starts at only $1,490.

Watch out for Metallic Objects in IP Phones! You Could Get Hurt!

February 13, 2012

I've tested, used, and reviewed many Polycom phones over the years, but apparently I never noticed or received this warning letter with these phones. Check out this ridiculousness:

WARNING ALL SOUNDPOINT IP PHONES
With respect to section 5.4.3.10 of the Australian Communications Authority as Telecommunications Technical Standard AS/ACIF S004 2004 under the s376 of the Telecommunications Act 1997:

You should be aware that, under certain operating conditions, the handset earpiece may retain small metallic objects. If this occurs, these objects should be removed before using the handset.

Really? Seriously? You have to warn users that the handset earpiece may contain small metallic objects (metal shavings?) and should be removed before using it?

a) The handset is made of smooth plastic, so any metallic shavings or objects should slide right off.
b) If loose metallic objects are internal to the handset, then won't they likely stay there?
c) Even if loose objects fall out through the ear piece's opening, who the heck grinds the handset into their ear that would cause an injury and merit a warning?
d) If you're idiotic enough to pick up something and stick it on your ear without noticing metal objects on the earpiece... well, perhaps you deserve sharp metal pricks to your ear - a little smack to the head too I might add.

Windows on ARM - New Tablet Operating System With Some Limitations

February 10, 2012


Microsoft Windows President Steven Sinoksky OR is this Bruce Willis?

The next version of Windows will run full-sized desktop applications on low-power ARM-based tablets. However, the only desktop applications approved to appear on ARM devices will be those designed by Microsoft such as Internet Explorer 10, Office, and the Windows file explorer. Affectionately known as WOA (Windows On Arm), it includes desktop versions of Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote.

In an lengthy blog post, Microsoft's Steven Sinofsky, president of the Windows division explained how WOA will work. In a nutshell, you can think of WOA as a specialized version of Windows 8 designed for ARM processors.

Apple Planned the iPad BEFORE the iPhone. Who knew?

February 10, 2012

Everyone assumes that Apple was working on the iPhone before the iPad. However, the recent lawsuit by Proview Electronics suing Apple over the name 'iPad' says others wise. The iPhone was launched in 2007 and the iPad in 2010. However, in 2006 Apple purchased the iPad trademark from display manufacturer Proview Electronics (Taiwan) for $55,000 by way of a front company called IP Application Development.

Dell Voice Launches in Canada - Will it Fail As Badly As Dell Video Chat?

February 9, 2012



Dell has partnered with Ontario-based Fongo to offer Dell Voice, a VoIP app exclusively available exclusively in Canada that offers a Canadian phone number and free calls to most of Canada. Also, incoming calls and Dell Voice-to-Dell Voice calls are free of charge. This reminds me of how Dell partnered with Sightspeed, now a part of Logitech to offer a multi-party video conferencing service called Dell Video Chat. I reviewed the software and it works well, but with free alternatives like Skype, having the ability to do 9-way (3x3) Brady Bunch video is a very niche application.

Vonage Attacks Skype with 30% Price Cut and Free App-to-App Calling & Texts

February 8, 2012



Vonage today launched new versions of their mobile app for both iOS and Android phones that feature free app-to-app calling and international calling rates that on average are 70 percent less than major mobile carriers and 30 percent less than Skype according to their release notes on iTunes. What's nice about their mobile app is it lets you talk and text worldwide for FREE with anyone else who has the app. It's also wideband HD audio for better audio quality.

Another nice feature is that you simply use your existing address book and there is no need to leave the app. It works on both Wi-Fi and 3G/4G.

ITEXPO IP Communications Trade Show Continues Solid Growth

February 8, 2012

ITEXPO East 2012 in Miami was TMC's best show ever with over 200 booths and over 8,200 attendees. Conferee attendance for ITEXPO East increased more than 50% from 2011, resulting in dozens of standing room only sessions at ITEXPO and collocated conferences such as HTML5 Summit, M2M Evolution, Business Video Expo, Super WiFi Summit, and 4GWE. As an example, here's a photo I took at the jam-packed Ingate SIP trunking conference session:


Even with the additional third day of exhibit hall hours, foot traffic was pretty good - on a Friday no less. I heard from several exhibitors saying it was their best ITEXPO ever.

TMC's next show, ITEXPO West 2012, is scheduled to take place on October 1-4, 2012, in Austin, Texas, (the 'new' Telecom Corridor) which will be the second time in Austin after moving from Los Angeles.

Verizon and BT Announce Cross-Network Video Calling & Telepresence

February 8, 2012

Verizon and BT announced a deal enabling each of their respective customers initiate high-quality video conferences and telepresence sessions. I spoke with representatives from BT and Verizon to learn more about their collaboration.

Marc Hambley, Sr. Product Manager at BT explained, "We are connecting our respective telepresence exchanges together - that will allow BT clients to have meetings with Verizon clients, either hosted on BT service or Verizon service. It goes both ways equally.

Why Apple's A5 Processor is Big (Siri) + Why Doesn't Siri Support Dictating Emails?

February 6, 2012

According to CNet, Apple's A5 processor includes noise-reduction circuitry licensed from a start-up called Audience. Audience's technology enhances speech and works well even when you hold the phone are arm's length ('far-field speech'). This explains the mysteriously larger A5 processor on the iPhone 4S and why the previous gen iPhone 4 didn't get the Siri via a simple iOS software upgrade.

The iPhone 4S has just a few advantages over the iPhone 4, including a an amazing 8-megapixel camera that captures HD video, a faster dual-core processor and of course Siri. However, if you don't care about the HD video or better quality photographs, you might be inclined to buy a new or even used iPhone 4 for less money or keep the iPhone 4 you already have.
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