Tom Keating : VoIP & Gadgets Blog
Tom Keating
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VoIP news, trends, and opinions, VoIP reviews. Covering Asterisk, Cisco, Grandstream, Polycom, Microsoft, Vonage, Packet8, etc.

Grandstream GXP2110 HD Phone

September 21, 2010

Grandstream Networks today announced a new GXP series enterprise SIP telephone called the GXP2110. The GXP2110 SIP telephone offers HD audio quality and integrated Web applications, support for highly flexible XML customization and strong security protection.

The new GXP2110 SIP phone comes standard with HD handset and high performance full duplex speakerphone, a broad range of voice codecs, dual network ports with integrated PoE, 4 line keys, 3 soft keys, 18 programmable BLF keys, 5-way conferencing, large 240x120 backlit graphical LCD with 8-level grayscale, multiple languages, large phone book and call log (2,000 records), automated provisioning using TR-069 and encrypted XML file, extension module expandability, and a number of integrated Web applications such as real-time local weather, stock, currency, RSS news, etc. In the near future, more advanced Web applications will continue to be integrated via FREE firmware upgrade and an open Web service API will also be provided for advanced custom enterprise/Web application development. Grandstream plans to continue to expand the GXP phone series with new models during the rest of this year.
 
“The proliferation of Web applications from PC to mobile phones and now to desk phones is clearly gaining momentum,” said David Li, CEO of Grandstream Networks.



Facebook Phone? Who cares!

September 20, 2010

TechCrunch started a firestorm when they said Facebook was working on a "Facebook phone", resulting in denials by Facebook, and finally TechCrunch called Facebook and their PR outright liars. Everyone was in a tizzy that Facebook was purportedly building a phone based on Google's Android operating system. Even my boss, Rich Tehrani is excited about the potential.

I say "so what?" and "who cares?" Look, I like Facebook and I use it all the time, but there already exists Facebook apps for the iPhone, Android devices, and other mobile platforms. So why the need for Facebook to build their own Android-based mobile phone?

Dan Frommer over at Business Insider disagrees.



Skype + Webcam Catches Shocking Abuse of 91-Year-Old

September 16, 2010

Skype isn't just a communications tool - it's a crime solver too. Enough in fact to put Batman out of a job? No wonder he's ticked off and hanging out with the Joker.

ooVoo and Wave2Wave Announce One-Stop-Shopping Hosted Web, Email, & Video Conferencing

September 14, 2010

ooVoo announced a partnership with Wave2Wave Communications this morning. The goal of this collaboration of two communication services is to give Wave2Wave customers a one-stop-shop capability for data, voice, web hosting, E-mail and video conferencing.

Here's the news:
 
WAVE2WAVE AND ooVoo ANNOUNCE PARTNERSHIP TO BRING NEXT GENERATION VIDEO COMMUNICATIONS TO SMALL BUSINESSES AND ENTERPRISE CUSTOMERS
 
New York, NY (September 14, 2010) --Wave2Wave Communications today announced a business partnership with ooVoo, a leading web-based video conferencing service, to provide its customers with value-added services in video and audio communication.   This collaboration of communication services will give Wave2Wave customers a one-stop-shop capability for data, voice, web hosting, E-mail and video conferencing.       
 
With ooVoo, users can meet from home, the office or the airport without being tied to a conference room.  The easy-to-use service is portable and flexible as ooVoo brings affordable enterprise functionality to employees' desktops and laptops.   
 
"This unique partnership in communication services is designed to benefit our customers large and small," said Lisa LaBonville, Vice President of Marketing & Product Development at Wave2Wave.  "This next generation service by ooVoo will help our customers connect with their key audiences and reduce travel expenses at a time when every business is looking for meaningful cost savings without sacrificing effective communications."    
 
This is an important bridge from traditional technology to next generation telepresence.  New and existing Wave2Wave customers will get enhanced services and capabilities to take their internal and external communications to the next level through innovation in audio and video communications.  With Wave2Wave joining forces with ooVoo, businesses will get a high quality, affordable video communications service that increases productivity and impacts the bottom line through reduced travel costs. 
 
"We're excited about teaming up with Wave2Wave as we continue to provide affordable, high quality video communications to entrepreneurs, small-to-mid-sized businesses and enterprise customers," said Rodger Wells, Vice President of Business Development at ooVoo.  "We believe the next evolution in business connections is video-driven communication powered by ooVoo delivered anywhere, anytime."        
About Wave2Wave Communications
Founded in 1999, Wave2Wave Communications™ provides managed services to businesses including point-to-point connections, Ethernet VLAN, Internet, VoIP, Wi-Fi build outs, networking services, E-mail, private data networking, and security solutions.  Based in Hackensack, NJ, the company is renowned for using state of the art technology in order to give its business customers the competitive edge they need to succeed in a demanding and ever changing global market.  For more information, call 866-wave2wave or visit www.wave2wave.com.  
About ooVoo
ooVoo is a New York based company that provides a high quality communication service to anyone with a computer, broadband connection and a web camera.  ooVoo's technology enables businesses and consumers to experience real-time video calls with up to six users simultaneously and face-to-face communication with people across the street or around the world.  Product features include high-resolution video, video conversation recording, phone calling from PC or Mac to landlines and cell phones, desktop sharing, video messaging, instant message chat and file sharing.  Download ooVoo at www.ooVoo.com.

















Goodbye Microsoft OCS Hello Microsoft Lync!

September 13, 2010

Last week I wrote an article titled "Microsoft Lync 2010 - New Product? Or New OCS Name?" based off of a couple new downloads on Microsoft's site I found via Twitter. When I saw something called Microsoft Lync on Twitter I was intrigued. After reading the description of the downloads last week, I wrote, "I'll be damned if that doesn't sound exactly like the feature-set of OCS/MCS or whatever the heck the new name will be called." Certainly the name made sense, since I thought it was a combination of "link" with a "c" for communications.

ooVoo vs. Skype in the SMB Space

September 10, 2010



I recently had a video interview with Phillipe Schwartz, CEO of ooVoo, to discuss how they stack up against Skype, ooVoo's technical architecture, their target market, and more. One difference off the bat is that ooVoo started with a SMB-focus, while Skype started with a consumer-focus and then Skype recently started targeting small to medium businesses,i.e. Skype for SIP now called Skype Connect. Phillipe claims ooVoo has an impressive 14 million users and 2-2.5 million downloads per month.

Microsoft Lync 2010 - New Product? Or New OCS Name?

September 9, 2010

Today, Microsoft released some downloads for "Microsoft Lync 2010". Microsoft Lync 2010? What the heck is that? Is that the new name of the yet unreleased Communications Server "14"? I thought it was going to be called MCS (Microsoft Communications Server).

HP Launches "Just Right IT" Portfolio for Small Businesses

September 8, 2010


HP today introduced its "Just Right IT" portfolio, which empowers micro, small and midsize businesses (SMBs) to better serve their customers by simplifying processes, reducing costs and improving productivity. I interviewed Mark Hilton, director of product marketing, HP Networking last week to learn more about this offering and HP's future direction after the acquisition of 3Com, including the NBX IP-PBX product line. 3Com was one of the earliest innovators of voice over IP PBX systems, so I was interested to learn if HP was going to go after Avaya, Cisco, etc. Listen to the podcast for more:



The portfolio includes new management, data protection, communications and connectivity offerings that are designed and priced "just right" to deliver affordability as well as value to SMBs. The expanded portfolio also provides new business opportunities for HP channel partners.

"While SMBs remain cautious about the economy, they continue to look for ways to simplify operations and prepare for growth," said Anil Miglani, senior vice president at AMI Partners, a strategy consulting firm.






XConnect Partners with Polycom, BroadSoft and Dialogic to Increase HD Voice Adoption

September 7, 2010

XConnect is announcing a four-company initiative to promote HD voice adoption among U.K. service providers. This follows on the news they announced at TMC's ITEXPO where XConnect announced the world's first HD voice peering federation, in the U.S., with the goal of incrasing global HD voice uptake.

In summary, XConnect is announcing that it is joining with Polycom, BroadSoft and Dialogic to launch an educational and marketing campaign to reach U.K. operators.

8x8 Virtual Office Pro Review

September 2, 2010


8x8 sent me a trial account of 8x8 Virtual Office Pro to review. What is Virtual Office Pro? Think of it as your web-based communications portal handling phone calls (auto-attendant, VoIP), internet fax, hosted conferencing and hosted application sharing. The only missing piece from the equation is email, however it does support direct integration with Exchange Server by leveraging Outlook Anywhere to pull in your Outlook Contacts.
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