Unified Communications

Unified Communications and VoIP Research Report for 2009/2010

April 1, 2010

New reports from Infonetics that I thought I'd share. They discuss how hosted VoIP services and unified communications will increase and they talk about capital expenditures on enterprise VoIP equipment. One point I'd like to highlight is they stated "Service provider revenue from residential/SOHO and business VoIP services increased 20% between 2008 and 2009, to $41.6 billion". Even in this prolonged recession, VoIP is still growing strong with no signs of slowing down!

Posted in Asterisk, Avaya, Cisco, SIP, ShoreTel, TMCnet, Unified Communications, VoIP

FaceTime Vantage - The Ultimate Unified Communications Compliance Tool

March 29, 2010

As I have mentioned in the past, controlling and monitoring Skype usage in the enterprise is very difficult. It is Skype's ability to work on any network, regardless of the types of NAT, proxy, firewall, or intrusion prevention systems that have helped make Skype such a popular application. It is this same set of characteristics that has made Skype the bane of many corporate network managers that wish to control what applications run on their network.

FaceTime Communications (www.facetime.com) today announced the release of Vantage, a software solution for the security, management and compliance of real time and unified communications, including Skype. Vantage is the successor to FaceTime's IMAuditor, (note the name change) and it expands the support for UC platforms such as Microsoft Office Communications Server (OCS) and IBM Lotus Sametime and for the first time provides stringent security and compliance controls for Skype in the enterprise.

Most notable among the features integral to Vantage are extensive support for OCS Group Chat, compliance archiving and ethical wall creation for Microsoft Live Meeting and support for Call Admission Control (CAC) to manage resource allocation. Support is also provided for logging IBM Lotus Sametime announcements, file transfer capture, scanning and controls and a host of compliance features including ethical walls, inline disclaimers and data leak prevention.

In addition to controlling who can use Skype, the software also records the Skype instant messages, controls whether file transfers are allowed, and can control when VoIP or video can be used.

Posted in Microsoft, SIP, Skype, Social Networking, TMCnet, Unified Communications, Video Conferencing, VoIP

AudioCodes SPS Brings Microsoft OCS Features to Legacy SIP Phones

March 16, 2010

Some very interesting news from AudioCodes with the launch of AudioCodes' SIP Phone Support (SPS) for Microsoft Microsoft Office Communications Server (OCS). AudioCodes is well known for their VoIP gateway products - well think of SPS as a gateway between SIP IP phones and Microsoft OCS. Essentially, AudioCodes' SPS enables connectivity to Microsoft Office Communications Server using standard SIP IP phones, which then adds OCS's powerful UC functionality, including presence into your existing IP phone infrastructure.

You get even more powerful features if you use AudioCodes phones, including support for Microsoft's wideband RTA codec. SPS enables the connection of the AudioCodes 300HD IP Phone Series with Microsoft Office Communications Server, while providing Office Communications Server features, such as enhanced presence, active directory, and support for Real Time Audio (RTA) - Microsoft's high-definition, wideband coder.

Posted in Android, Avaya, Microsoft, Polycom, SIP, TMCnet, Unified Communications, VoIP

IceWarp Unified Communications Server 10 Review

March 16, 2010

I tested and reviewed IceWarp Unified Communications Server for TMC's Unified Communications Magazine, which will be published very soon. I was very impressed with the product and thought I'd share my test results here. Check it out...

IceWarp Unified Communications Server 10
www.icewarp.com

Pricing: 10 users=$549.54; 50 users=$2041.25; 100 users = $3821.04
30-day fully-functional trial available

Ratings Score Installation Documentation Features Usability Performance Value Overall
The buzzword "unified communications" gets thrown around pretty easily these days. Companies with solutions that cover just two or three model methods of communications often consider their products as part of the "unified communications" spectrum.

Posted in Microsoft, Reviews, SIP, TMCnet, Unified Communications, VoIP

Skype for Symbian

March 3, 2010

Skype for Symbian is now a downloadable application for Nokia phones and works over both WiFi and 3G. Over 200 million Symbian users around the world can now use this Skype app to make FREE calls to other Symbian mobile users without chewing up cellular minutes. That's a huge market!

You can download it from Skype or from the Ovi store.

Features include:

make free Skype-to-Skype calls to other Skype users anywhere in the world
save money on calls and texts with Skype's low rates
send and receive instant messages to and from individuals or groups
share pictures, videos and other files
receive calls to your online number
see when Skype contacts are online and available to call or IM
easily import names and numbers from the phone's address book

Of course, Fring already runs on Symbian, which includes Skype calling and IM.

Posted in Mobile Phones, Skype, TMCnet, Unified Communications, VoIP, Wireless

My How Far Asterisk has Come!

March 1, 2010

I just wrote about Bill Miller leaving Digium and how Bill was one of the important faces at Digium and the VoIP industry as a whole. What I wrote at the end of the article got me thinking about the VoIP industry:

I hope this [important people leaving VoIP industry] isn't the start of a trend. But if it is, this just goes to show you that the VoIP industry is constantly evolving and perhaps new blood will be a good thing. It's easy to get sentimental when people I've worked with for years leave an industry I love.

Asterisk started in late 2001.

Posted in Asterisk, Linux, SIP, TMCnet, Unified Communications, VoIP

Bill Miller Leaves Digium

March 1, 2010

Digium and TMC having dinner
Left-to-right clockwise: Steve Sokol, John Todd, Russell Bryant, Dave Rodriguez (TMC), Greg Galitzine (former TMC), Jane Brooks, Tom Keating (TMC), Bill Miller

Last week I heard Bill Miller, VP Product Management for Digium had left for another opportunity. Bill has been with Digium for as long as I can remember. He's one of the core faces of Digium and Asterisk, and I've worked with him over the years for various Digium news stories, including but not limited to the Skype for Asterisk announcement, which Bill had promised to give me a scoop on, but alas the eBay folks (public company) wouldn't allow me to have the news before everyone else. You win some, you lose some.

Posted in Asterisk, SIP, TMCnet, Unified Communications, VoIP

GoToMeeting Outage

February 17, 2010

Noticed a problem with GoToMeeting yesterday and learned via Twitter they indeed had a service outage. GoToMeeting is used by thousands of businesses and probably millions of users to give sales demos, online training, and more. I live in GoToMeeting and WebEx due to all my press briefings with vendors showing me their latest wares.

I have never encountered any service issue problems with GoToMeeting in the years I have used it. Yesterday was the first time.

Posted in TMCnet, Unified Communications

Rock Out to the Asterisk Song

January 26, 2010

GM Voices, creator of professional voice prompts for companies has just released "The Asterisk Song" with patriotic Asterisk lyrics such as "It ain't no punctuation." For true Asterisk patriots, "asterisk" aka "*" can not be used in a sentence unless it has something to do with the open source Asterisk platform. Sure an "asterisk" is used to reference a footnote at the bottom of the page, but it's just a tiny "asterisk" in superscript form. There is only one "big" Asterisk and it looks like this:

Asterisk, the open source platform (as if I had to clarify) has changed the entire lexicon of how this word is used. It has taken over Shift-8 on the keyboard.

Posted in Asterisk, Linux, TMCnet, Unified Communications, VoIP

FREETALK Connect Alliance Formed at IT EXPO 2010

January 21, 2010

Andy Abramson (aka Mr. Harem of VoIP/Communications clients) told me that the new FREETALK Connect Alliance formed at ITEXPO has received a lot of interest from various companies looking to join in addition to the 14 charter members that have already joined.

Here's the news announcement:

FREETALK Connect Alliance Formed at ITEXPO 2010 with 14 Charter Members;
Open Alliance Members Will Offer Products and Services that Leverage
FREETALK Connect, Voice 2.0 Applications and Cloud-Based Services

Members will offer innovative products and cloud-based services that interoperate with FREETALK Connect via Asterisk, Skype, SIP, Skype for SIP, or PSTN

FREETALK® and 13 other companies today announced the formation of the FREETALK Connect Alliance, an open alliance of companies that will provide innovative applications, products and services to expand the capabilities of the FREETALK Connect communications system. The alliance is open to companies that offer products and services which build on the capabilities of the FREETALK Connect, "Voice 2.0" in concept, and can interoperate with Asterisk, Skype™, SIP, Skype for SIP or the PSTN.

The FREETALK Connect simplifies set up, enabling small business users that are not tech savvy to use it quickly and simply, without formal training. Supported telephones are plugged into the company's network and the FREETALK Connect auto-detects and configures them. An on-screen wizard then guides the customer through a few business-related questions that help configure the company's communication system and enables Skype calling from every supported desktop phone in the office.

Posted in ITEXPO, SIP, Skype, TMCnet, Unified Communications, VoIP

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