Tom Keating : VoIP & Gadgets Blog
Tom Keating
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VoIP

VoIP news, trends, and opinions, VoIP reviews. Covering Asterisk, Cisco, Grandstream, Polycom, Microsoft, Vonage, Packet8, etc.

Interesting Tidbits from ITEXPO

January 30, 2014

Cisco quietly let go 50 engineers and other people responsible for their low-cost SPA line of desktop IP phones (SPA300, SPA500, etc.) - I believe back in November. The IP phones targeted the SMB and I'm told it's a $600 million business for Cisco that Cisco just decided to let go to focus on the "enterprise". Must be nice to say no to $600 million! They're still selling the SPA line of products (and may even still be manufacturing them), but there is no more development on the SPA line of IP phones.

HiperPBX Bridges M2M and PBX Creating "Industrial Unified Communications"

January 29, 2014

HiperPBX's Gustavo Scheveloff, Sales Director gave me an introduction of HiperPBX at ITEXPO Miami 2014. Their solution is unique in that it's a VoIP PBX that not only features Unified Communications (UC), but it also sports some interesting M2M features. They have developed a software industrial module and defined a new concept - "Industrial Unified Communications", which leverages M2M.

It leverages mobile TCP & SNMP for monitoring devices, routers, switches and can send SMS, make a phone call or send an email if a machine has an error. In industrial environments it can be useful to monitor high temperature, humidity, switch not responding, machine under heavy load.

Logitech ConferenceCam CC3000e Video Conferencing Targets SMB

January 27, 2014

According to Frost and Sullivan in 2013 that said, "We believe that globally there are 60-70 million physical conference rooms. We estimate that about 5% of these are penetrated with video conferencing capabilities." A big part of the reason for such low penetration is the cost of room-based video conferencing systems, which can be hundeds of thousands of dollars for high-end telepresence systems. Many businesses simply get by with traditional audioconferencing "UFO-shaped" phones in board rooms due to the high cost of videoconferencing systems. Logitech, a leader in USB-based computer peripherals aims to change that with the new Logitech ConferenceCam CC3000e, which is launching today.

Schmooze Com Showcasing FreePBX HA Appliances at ITEXPO

January 15, 2014


With ITEXPO just around the corner (January 28-31st) in Miami, companies are already announcing their wares that they'll showcase at this premiere communications tradeshow. One of my favorite VoIP solutions is FreePBX, so I'm excited to check out the new FreePBX High Availability (HA) Appliances that Schmooze Com, Inc. will be showcasing.

Check out the news below & make sure you attend ITEXPO...

Schmooze Com, Inc. and maintainers of FreePBX, the world’s leading Open Source PBX platform, announced today that it has added two new FreePBX High Availability Appliance solutions to it’s line of FreePBX Appliances. FreePBX Appliances are certified hardware solutions specifically designed to support and run FreePBX.  The SMB HA Appliance is designed to target businesses with up to 75 users/extensions, and the Xtreme HA Appliance Bundle will support installations with up to 350 extensions.





AT&T Syn248 Review

January 15, 2014


The AT&T Syn248 is a new Do It Yourself (DIY) IP-based phone system that supports up to 8 analog lines and 24 phones (hence the Syn248 naming), which truly hits the SMB sweet spot. I was intrigued that AT&T was offering a corporate PBX, considering most carriers in the past didn’t sell CPE-based PBXs and instead sold Centrex (hosted) and now currently sell cloud-based VoIP into the SMB space, that certainly piqued my interest. I requested an evaluation kit to review the AT&T Syn248. I was sent one of their 4-port 1U SB35010 gateways/PBXs, which can be expanded to 8-ports simply by adding a second 4-port gateway to reach the 8 port maximum.  

TringMe Launches WebRTC Chrome Extension

January 10, 2014


I've been covering TringMe since 2007, when they launched an Adobe Flash-based VoIP app. Later they added support for ChromeOS, VoiceXML, and even Silverlight. Today, TringMe's Founder and CEO Yusaf Motiwala informed me they've launched a WebRTC solution. WebRTC apps are a dime-a-dozen you say?

Skype's Social Media Accounts Hacked

January 2, 2014


Skype social media accounts including their Twitter account, Facebook page, and blog were hacked by a group claiming to be the Syrian Electronic Army (SEA). Athough Skype gained control of their accounts and deleted the SEA's posts, the SEA tweeted in their own account this message:
Don't use Microsoft emails(hotmail,outlook),They are monitoring your accounts and selling the data to the governments.http://blogs.skype.com/2014/01/01/dont-use-microsoft-emails-hotmailoutlook-they-are-monitoring-your-accounts-and-selling-the-data-to-the-governments/ …
Apparently, Edward Snowden and his release of NSA secrets, which impacted 2013 like no other story (except maybe ObamaCare) will continue to impact 2014. What I find amazing is that the SEA hacked two different social media accounts plus Skype's blog web server. I'm curious...

Ooma Office Review

December 17, 2013


Many small businesses dread buying a new phone system - and for good reason. Besides the dizzying array of hardware-based phone systems, there are cloud VoIP phone systems, VoIP phone systems, digital phone systems, and more. A feature-rich phone system with an auto-attendant, multiple phone lines, conference bridge, voicemail, ring groups, extensions, and other features can certainly give a small company the appearance of a larger organization. However, these features require equipment and professional installation.

Bing Maps Adds 3D imagery and Skype Integration

December 6, 2013


Microsoft has redesigned its Bing Maps experience for Windows 8.1 and just posted Bing Maps Preview to the Windows Store, which includes hi-res 3D imagery, from satellite to street view, of our planet. It also includes nifty details like admission prices, payment methods accepted (Amex, Visa, Mastercard), and hours of operation. Think of it as Bing's version of Google Earth, though it currently has only 70 cities available for view in the preview. It also sports Skype integration (enabled via Snapview) so you can click the phone icon and make a Skype call.

With Skype integrated into Xbox One and now Bing Maps, the Skype acquisition is perhaps making a bit more sense.


webrtc2sip Enables Cross-browser WebRTC & SIP Interoperability

November 25, 2013


webrtc2sip is an open source gateway using WebRTC and SIP to turn your browser into a phone with audio and video calling capabilities. The "WebRTC-to-SIP" gateway allows your web browser to make and receive calls from/to any SIP-legacy network or PSTN. Thus, using your preferred WebRTC-capable web browser you can make calls to a SIP IP phone, SIP softphone, and even a mobile/landline phone. webrtc2sip was created by Doubango Telecom and available for free.
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