Recently in News Category

I just arrived in sunny San Diego after a very turbulent JetBlue flight from JFK airport. Although it was a bumpy ride, the 37 channels of DirecTV certainly helped pass the 5hrs and 40 minutes away. After arriving at my hotel, I learned my room wasn't ready, so decided to head on over to the convention center to check out what was happening on the first day of Internet Telephony Conference & Expo. Since I couldn't check in and change into business attire (a suit), I headed over wearing a casual short-sleeve polo shirt, jeans, and sneakers. There should be a rule that VoIP bloggers don't have to wear suits anyway. Not to mention, I'm supposed to be a techie geek that heads up TMC Labs and tests this VoIP stuff!  Maybe I'll ask my boss about that. Then again, he may suggest I wear a white lab coat like he once suggested many moons ago. Not sure which is worse - wearing a suit & tie or wearing a bright white lab coat.

In any event, I arrived at the convention center, headed over to registration, opened my laptop to check email and not 30 seconds later someone recognizes me. Someone behind me says "Tom Keating?". I turn around and not recognizing him say "Yes?" I quickly scan his name badge and see it's Dan York, whose blog I often check out, but whom I have never met. "I take it you recognize me from my blog photo eh?" I ask Dan. Sure enough, that's how he recognized me and which I must admit I was humbly flattered. This isn't the first time either. I've had many people recognize me simply from my blog photo or my photo gallery photos, which always makes it an awkward moment for me as I scan my brain to figure out if I know them or not or if they're regular readers of my blog and have commited my picture to memory.

Dan and I talked some VoIP shop, including Asterisk, trixbox, Fonality, open source, Digium, Pingtel, and a few other items. I meant to ask him if he's going to the bloggers/analysts/press dinner tonight at the Flemings Steak House, being organized by Andy Abramson. Should be fun to finally meet many of the other VoIP bloggers that I often read on a daily basis.

On a related Asterisk note, I wanted to share some news that Switchvox, a provider of IP-PBX phone systems for small- to medium-sized businesses (SMBs), today launched Switchvox v2.6 at Internet Telephony Conference & Expo. Based on the open source Asterisk IP-PBX software, Switchvox has added a lot of feature/functionality to the popular Asterisk solution.

With this release, Switchvox SMB has extended its call monitoring feature and now has even more options, including the ability to jump in on calls or allow colleagues to listen in on conversations. This is a useful feature for call center environments where agents may need coaching, or where a receptionist might need to notify users of a call holding.

The latest version of Switchvox SMB also includes updates to the Switchboard. Switchboard now has more granular control over user and supervisor permissions. Companies can now see who each person is on the phone with and monitor, record or pick up calls with the click of a button. Real-time call queue visibility allows users to see the status of other agents in the queue and statistics, such as how long someone has been on hold.

Other advanced features in Switchvox SMB v2.6 include:

•  Call Recording Backups - Administrators can backup recorded calls and XML details with the same easy FTP procedure that's used to back up Switchvox
•  More Reports - New 3D graphs show even more reports and statistics, allowing managers to better visualize how calls are affecting business
•  Dial by First Name Directory - In addition to Switchvox's dial by last name directory, Switchvox SMB now has the option to dial by first name
•  One Touch Agent Login - Now call queue agents can log in and out with a single key press to start receiving calls
•  Improved Updater - The new updater allows for one-click updates that use significantly smaller update files, so its even faster and easier to get the latest features
•  Complex Network Support - Working with businesses that have remote users connecting over multiple VPNs can pose challenges for IP PBXs. Switchvox SMB's complex network support allows the system to smoothly traverse even the most unusual network scenarios
•  VoIP Provider Compatibility - Switchvox SMB is now even more configurable to work seamlessly with virtually any VoIP provider

Switchvox products are sold as turnkey solutions that include the server hardware and pre-installed Switchvox software. Switchvox SMB is available immediately, starting at $2,495.

The big day is tomorrow and Thursday, but just wanted to get this bit of interesting news to ya. Stay tuned for more...

The largest consumer technology, gaming & entertainment event of the year -- DigitalLife 2006 -- will be taking place in less than a month (October 12–15) at the Javits Center in New York.

And we know how to get you in for free ...

Instead of shelling out $15 for a ticket, you can get free tickets by using the source code “INSIDER” on this page, where you can print out your own tickets, too.

Sounds too good to be true? Don't be a skeptic, check it out ...

www.digitallife.com

ADTRAN today announced the introduction of the NetVanta 3400 Series of Multiservice Access Routers. The series delivers up to two T1s of wire-speed performance, even with advanced services like Firewall, Access Control Lists (ACLs) and IPSec Virtual Private Networking (VPN) enabled. I've always been a fan of ADTRAN's "all in one" networking solutions, which often give you not just a router, but PoE, firewall, VPN, built-in SIP server, CompactFlash for backup, and more. Back in May, I wrote about ADTRAN's 7100 IP-PBX, which I thought was one of the most comprehensive, plug-in-play, all-in-one IP-PBXs in the market. Similarly, I was impressed with ADTRAN's Total Access 900, which is also a comprehensive solution.

Well, the new NetVanta 3400 series includes the NetVanta 3448 and 3430, each a modular, 1U-high, rackmountable metal chassis that also follow Adtran's "all in one" model. These products are targeted at the Small and Medium Business (SMB) or enterprise applications requiring high-performance throughput for bandwidth-intensive applications. Each offers a single-slot to house any of the NetVanta Network Interface Modules (NIMs) for WAN access and Dial Backup Interface Modules (DIMs) for disaster recovery applications, two 10/100Base-T Ethernet Local Area Network (LAN) interfaces that allow for broadband backup or DMZ, CompactFlash for configuration backup and storage of multiple firmware revisions, and support for up to 500 simultaneous VPN tunnels. Each is RoHS compliant making it ideal for both domestic and international applications.

The NetVanta 3448 includes the addition of a fully managed, non-blocking, eight-port 802.3af-compliant Power over Ethernet (PoE) Switch delivering a full 15.4 watts of power per port. This allows you to power any PoE device, including security cameras, SIP phones, or wireless access points.

These products also offer a five-year warranty and free firmware upgrades for the life of the unit.

“As the demand for bandwidth-intensive applications continues to grow so does the need for greater throughput and processing speed,” said Rick Schansman, senior vice president and general manager, ADTRAN Enterprise Networks Division. “The NetVanta 3400 Series clearly addresses these needs by allowing businesses to fully utilize a complete arsenal of security and performance features without degrading throughput performance.”

The NetVanta 3430 has a list price of $895, while the NetVanta 3448 has a list price of $1,045. Both models are currently shipping. The Power over Ethernet option for the NetVanta 3448 has a list price of $345 and will be available in Q4. Enhanced VPN capabilities can be activated through a software upgrade for $395.

According to a CNet article, a U.S. District Court in Illinois has ordered Spamhaus to pay $11,715,000 in damages to e360insight and its chief, David Linhardt, who had sued Spamhuas over illegal blacklisting. e360insight by all accounts a known spammer and therefore Spamhaus refused to remove them from their blacklist - used by thousands of organizations. In fact, TMC uses Spamhaus on our email server to filter spam. It's one of my favorite email blacklists since it is very accurate with very few false positives.

Spamhaus didn't mount a defense in the case so the ruling was a default judgment in absence of any counterarguments. Now get this - the court barred Spamhaus, a U.K.-based organization from causing any e-mail sent by e360insight or Linhardt to be "blocked, delayed, altered, or interrupted in anyway" and ordered Spamhaus to publish an apology for that states that Linhardt and his company are not spammers, according to a copy of the order.

What a joke! A U.S. court ordering an independent company from maintaining a list of IP addresses and domains? I should point out that blacklists in themselves DO NOT BLOCK email. Companies voluntarily SUBSCRIBE to these free blacklists in order to filter out the massive spam that is becoming an ever increasing problem. If you ask me, Spamhaus could have easily won this court case had they decided to mount a defense. For one, the 1st Amendment would trump just about anything the plaintiff claims. Secondly, they are spammers, so what judge would want a legitimate blacklist company from protecting their subscribers from these vile spammers?

I love this quote from the spammer sent to CNet. "This ruling confirms e360insight's position that Spamhaus.org is a fanatical, vigilante organization that operates in the United States with blatant disregard for U.S. law," Linhardt wrote in an e-mail to CNET News.com on Thursday.

I have had the same corporate email address for 12 years, longer than most people and therefore my email address is known to just about every spammer in the book. I get over about 200 spam emails a day which does affect my productivity. Even though I have filters and I tag blacklisted emails, it still takes time to sift through them all to make sure there are no false positives. This is why I passionately despise spammers.

Fortunately, Spamhaus isn't taking this ridiculous U.S ruling lying down. In fact, they're ignoring it. According to CNet,"Default judgments obtained in US county, state or federal courts have no validity in the UK and can not be enforced under the British legal system," Spamhaus said on its Web site. "As spamming is illegal in the UK, an Illinois court ordering a British organization to stop blocking incoming Illinois spam in Britain goes contrary to UK law which orders all spammers to cease sending spam in the first place."

You go Spamhaus!

Five years is a long time.

Yes, it's easy to take everything we have for granted, from the large to the small, but five years ago today being in New York City meant being on your own -- there were no means of personal communications; the infrastructure needed to support wireless and wired technologies had been suddenly blown apart.

It was a return to the days of mass communications solely -- there was no such thing as personal communication.  And being unconnected on the street really meant not knowing what was going on -- word of mouth ruled and that lack of knowledge fueled speculation on what was occurring and how to react to it.

Wired News has a good article on how 9/11 gave birth to the blog -- among other things ...

With all of the recent battery problems, I can't seem to stop thinking about all of the batteries that we use (and consume) in our gadgets.

If you figure that most gadgets (and toys) take two or four batteries (AA, AAA or C), that would add up to a lot of batteries.

And what about cell phones with all of their own special types of batteries?

Now what about digital cameras and all of the batteries that those gadgets eat up? (At least they're not as bad as they used to be regarding battery consumption.)

And do I need to think about flashlights, too?

This list could go on and on and on and on ...

(Neat "up close and personal" photo from GreenerChoices.org, isn't it?)

Is it just me? Why can't I stop worrying?

First Dell, then Apple and now Black & Decker!

(The woes of manufacturers continue!)

Just received an email from Amazon (where I bought the thing) that my Black & Decker Cordless Electric Lawn Mower "has an electrical component in it that can overheat, posing a fire hazard" (!!!!!!).

Now maybe you don't consider it a gadget (or even a toy), but it sure is neat to tool around the yard cutting the lawn without the roar and pollution of a gas-powered motor (but that threat of fire does dampen my enthusiasm).

(And no, that isn't me in the photo.)

When is it going to stop?

Not surprising to see Sony taking a stock hit on its 10 days of woe (Dell battery problems, Apple battery problems -- is there more coming?).

(Actually wondered why Dell got raked through the fire -- no pun intended -- when the problem was with Sony-supplied batteries.)

Marketwatch reports today on the financial hit, but what about Sony's brand image, which has been consistently ranked very high and which they have spent millions to nurture? How much of a hit will that take?

Let's hear from the people! Will you think twice about buying a Sony product?

The phone lines are open ...

Orb Networks today announced that consumers have enjoyed a record 66 million minutes -- the equivalent of a whopping 125 years -- of digital media (recorded videos, TV, music, etc.) streamed from their home computer to a mobile phone, PDA or laptop using the free Orb MyCasting service. Orb stated that all this streaming has occurred in just 19 months since Orb's inception.

I've used Orb's software in the past to stream my personal TV recordings as well as stream live TV. Quite useful when I'm travelling and the hotel doesn't offer FOX News or the YES Network.

The nice thing about Orb is that the software is free and integrates quite nicely with Windows Media Center Edition. My only complaint is that Orb buffers the video, so it makes it difficult to "channel surf". Also, if there is congestion, it takes awhile for Windows Media Player (or RealPlayer) to rebuffer.

That's why I like SightSpeed 5.0's channel surfing capabilities, which doesn't require buffering. SightSpeed 5.0 is a VoIP/video-over-IP application by day and a cool streaming TV application by night. I was able to channel surf with amazing speed and amazing video quality using this software. Go check out my review of SightSpeed.

TMC recently celebrated it's 35th anniversary, a technology-focused publishing and events company that was founded in 1972. In June 1982, TMC launched the world's 1st magazine focused exclusively on call center technology and it just recently celebrated its 25th year anniversary. That magazine was Telemarketing Magazine, now Customer Interaction Solutions Magazine, and it was the true pioneering trade publication in the call center and contact relationship mangement (CRM) space.

In 1998, TMC launched the world's 1st magazine focused exclusively on IP communications, Internet Telephony Magazine, which is considered the premiere magazine in the industry focused on IP communications (VoIP, video over IP, IMS, SIP, etc.). I'm proud and humbled to work for TMC -- and to have witnessed TMC grow in the early 90s, survive the dotcom & telecom bubble burst in the last 90s and 2000-2001, and to have seen TMC evolve to cover just about any customer-facing technology, including ACDs, IP-PBXs, workforce management, VoIP, SIP, and much more. TMC has changed a lot in 35 years, and it shocks me to think that I've been witness to a third of them - 12 years.

I think TMC has a great team right now and in fact, we recently just added Richard "Zippy" Grigonis to our line of esteemed editors and journalists. Richard formerly worked for Computer Telephony Magazine, Communications Convergence, and VON Magazine, so he has a wealth of expertise in the telecom industry that will prove invaluable to the TMC team.

Over a quarter century has passed since TMC was founded and a lot has changed in the communications space, exponentially so in the last 5 years. TMC will continue to strive to provide our magazine readers, our TMCnet web visitors, and our blogs' visitors with the most current information on what is happening in this rapidly changing industry.