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ITEXPO Named Top 50 Fastest Growing Tradeshow

January 19, 2011

TMC's ITEXPO was named one of the fastest growing trade shows by Trade Show Executive in their Fastest 50 Awards. I've been with TMC since 1994 - right out of college and I've seen this company grow from 15 employees to over 65 employees. It's been an amazing ride. TMC's ITEXPO has had some stellar companies participate over the years, including Asterisk, Avaya, Cisco, Microsoft, Packet8, ShoreTel, and Skype.

TMC CEO Rich Tehrani said, "Much thanks goes to all of TMC's readers as well as our sponsors, attendees, partners, vendors who supply us decorating services, audio/visual, etc and of course the tireless TMC team who works around the clock to over-deliver for customers.

Posted in Asterisk, Avaya, Cisco, ITEXPO, Microsoft, Packet8, SIP, ShoreTel, Skype, TMCnet, Triple Play, Unified Communications, Video Conferencing, VoIP, Wireless

UM Labs Brings 256-bit AES Secure VoIP to Mobile Phones

October 5, 2010

I met with Mike Wilson, VP of Sales & Marketing for UM Labs at ITEXPO today to learn more about their secure VoIP offering. At ITEXPO they announced their 1.5 release, which steps up interoperability amongst various IP-PBXS and now it works with Skype (Skype Connect).
Mike explained that a lot of independent dealers across the world who also use Skype, can now connect their PBXs to these Skype users and save a lot of money on conference calls. Their solution acts as the "glue" allowing Avaya to connect to Cisco, or Shoretel to Avaya, etc. They have a built-in scripting engine and can adjust paths between switch and trunking provider or two switches to ensure interoperability.

As part of this release they are stepping up encryption, which he claimed already had incredibly low latency.

Posted in Avaya, Cisco, ITEXPO, Internet, Nortel, SIP, ShoreTel, ShoreTel, Skype, TMCnet, Unified Communications, VoIP

Important ITEXPO Happenings

October 4, 2010

I wanted to share some important highlights for Internet Telephony Conference & Expo happening this week. I should point out that we have over 200 exhibitors participating including Asterisk / Digium, Cisco, Packet8, ShoreTel, Skype, and more. Seems like ITEXPO is the week for important telecom / VoIP news to break, including Skype looking to hire a new CEO. I'm excited for Startup Camp.

Posted in Android, Asterisk, Avaya, Cisco, ITEXPO, Packet8, SIP, ShoreTel, ShoreTel, Skype, TMCnet, Unified Communications, VoIP, Wireless

ITEXPO Lands Some Spectacular Companies

September 24, 2010

I'm pretty excited about TMC's upcoming Internet Telephony Conference & Expo (ITEXPO) happening in Los Angeles, California. Check out some of the participants at ITEXPO, including some big names like Alcatel-Lucent, Cisco, Microsoft, and Symantec. I believe we're around 200 exhibitors, maybe more. I'll be there covering the latest 4G, VoIP, unified communications (UC), CRM, and other telecom & communications news.

Check out some of the participants.

Also, check out the special sub-shows and events going on at ITEXPO. I'm pretty excited to check out the 4G wireless evolution (4GWE) conference:

ChannelVision Expo
SIP Trunk-UC Workshop
For the SMB Workshop
Smart Wireless Workshop

Lastly, here are the platinum sponsors:

Hope to see you there!

Posted in ITEXPO, SIP, ShoreTel, TMCnet, VoIP, Wireless

Skype for SIP is Now Skype Connect

August 30, 2010

Today, Skype announced that Skype for SIP is changing its name to Skype Connect. Guess the techie name "SIP" isn't exactly business-friendly, hence the name change. Today, they are also announcing that hat Skype Connect (formerly Skype for SIP) is officially out of beta.

By using Skype Connect with an existing PBX, your business can do the following:
Make outbound calls from desktop phones to landlines and mobiles worldwide billed at Skype's standard per-minute calling rates; Receive inbound calls from Skype connected users worldwide by placing Skype's Click & Call buttons on their Web sites; Receive calls from landlines or mobile phones in the corporate PBX using Skype's online numbers that have been purchased separately; and Manage Skype calls using your existing PBX or UC systems' features such as call routing, automatic call distribution, conferencing, auto-attendant, voicemail, call recording and logging. Since the beta launch of Skype Connect in March 2009, here are some of Skype's milestones:
Skype Connect already has over 2,400 active global customers; Skype Connect is now certified to work with PBX and UC products from Avaya, Cisco, SIPfoundry, ShoreTel and other OEMs (see supported models here). Skype Connect also works with older TDM PBXs or Key Systems which can now add Skype calling capabilities through third-party IP gateways from AudioCodes, Grandstream and VoSKY (see supported models here). Launched Skype Manager, a simple web-based tool to centrally manage and control Skype usage in a company, and which enables a business to set-up Skype Connect; New dedicated customer support, including real-time chat, is now available for Skype Connect customers and Skype Manager administrators directly through Skype Manager; In addition, we've been enrolling VARs and system integrators in our new Skype Channel Partner Program and training them to support our business customers. We will share more details on this program soon. Perhaps the biggest milestone is "dedicated customer support".

Posted in Avaya, SIP, ShoreTel, Skype, TMCnet, Unified Communications, VoIP

Pre-Registration for ITEXPO Trending 70 Percent Ahead of 2009

August 18, 2010

Some great news from TMC that I thought I'd share. Internet Telephony Conference and Expo (ITEXPO) pre-registration is trending ahead of last year by 70%! I'm obviously going to be there to check out and write about the latest happenings in VoIP, 4G, smart grid, cloud communications, and more. I get some of my best news scoops there and obviously get to do some social networking with some leading industry insiders. Check out TMC's news:

TMC Announces Pre-Registration for ITEXPO Trending 70 Percent Ahead of 2009

Expanded Content, New Collocated Events, and Increased Sponsor and Exhibitor Participation Set to Make the 22nd Edition of ITEXPO the Best Ever

Norwalk, CT, August 18, 2010-- TMC today announced that pre-registration for their upcoming ITEXPO West 2010, taking place October 4-6 in the Los Angeles Convention Center, has increased by 70 percent over last year's show.

Through organic growth, substantial vendor support, and the addition of several collocated conferences, the 22nd edition of ITEXPO is on track to be the largest in terms of attendance and participating vendors since the show's inception in 1999.

"We've invested significant resources to make ITEXPO the world's leading communications and technology event, and we're thrilled with the response we're seeing for the upcoming October show," commented Rich Tehrani, CEO and group editor-in-chief of TMC."Anyone and everyone involved in the communications and technology industries can find interesting and valuable content at ITEXPO, and we're looking forward to hosting a record number of attendees, speakers, media, and exhibitors at our upcoming show."

ITEXPO delivers unrivaled educational programs that teach service providers, resellers, enterprises, SMBs, and government agencies how to select IP-based voice, video, fax, and unified communications solutions to purchase or resell.

Posted in ITEXPO, SIP, ShoreTel, TMCnet, Unified Communications, VoIP, Wireless

Enterprise Unified Communication, VoIP & TDM Equipment 2010 (1Q10) forecast report

June 28, 2010

Infonetics Research released the 1Q10 results from its first quarter 2010 (1Q10) Enterprise Unified Communication, VoIP, and TDM Equipment forecast report. In it they point to how Cisco and Avaya battle for supremacy in enterprise telephony market with Avaya closing the gap with Cisco due to their Nortel acquisition. Could Avaya finally knock Cisco off their #1 IP-PBX perch?

Here's the news:

ANALYST NOTE
"We expected the acquisition of Nortel's enterprise assets to put Avaya in the clear lead for overall PBX equipment market share leadership, and while Avaya did receive a nice bump this quarter, softness in the acquired Nortel business combined with strong results by Cisco meant that Cisco and Avaya essentially tied for revenue market share, although Avaya is ahead in terms line shipments. This unfolding battle will be interesting to watch over the coming quarter, as both companies bring certain strengths and weaknesses to the table," notes Matthias Machowinski, directing analyst for enterprise voice and data at Infonetics Research.

1Q10 MARKET HIGHLIGHTS
- Cisco maintains its lead in the overall enterprise telephony market in 1Q10, but only by a hair over Avaya, which saw a 25% quarterly jump in PBX revenue after absorbing Nortel's enterprise solutions business
> Both vendors posted their strongest PBX revenue standings since the end of 2008
- Manufacturer revenue from PBX and KTS system equipment hit $2.0 billion in 1Q10, a 4% sequential dip
- Despite the quarterly decline, the enterprise telephony market continues to grow from the lows set in the first half of 2009, and is up 7% year-over-year from the first quarter of 2009
- The North American PBX equipment market posted the highest year-over-year (1Q09 to 1Q10) growth among all regions
- IP phones continue to recover from their 1Q09 low point, up 32% year-over-year to 3.9 million phones shipped in 1Q10
- Sales of unified communication (UC) applications are temporarily down due to expired promotions
> The UC market, led by Cisco and Avaya, is expected to resume growth in 2010

REPORT SYNOPSIS
Infonetics' quarterly Enterprise Unified Communication, VoIP, and TDM Equipment report provides worldwide and regional market size, market share, analysis, and forecasts through 2014 for the enterprise telephony market, including TDM PBX and KTS systems, hybrid and pure IP PBX systems, IP PBX by system size, VoIP gateways, unified communication applications (communicator, unified messaging), IP desk phones and IP soft phones.

Posted in Avaya, Cisco, Nortel, ShoreTel, TMCnet, Unified Communications, VoIP

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! Although they also stated that in 4Q09, worldwide sales of enterprise unified communication, VoIP, and TDM equipment together only grew 3% sequentially.

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

Skype for SIP Beta Now Open!

December 2, 2009

Skype today announced that their Skype for SIP beta program is now "open" to everyone. I was invited to their private beta to test it and have been pleased with the results so far. Though if you read my article you will see I do have some price concerns.

Check out the news...

LUXEMBOURG, 2 December 2009 -- Skype is opening up the Skype for SIP beta program to allow businesses of all sizes to utilize Skype for SIP with their existing SIP-based PBX or Unified Communications (UC) systems. By using Skype for SIP, companies can save money on calls around the world, while also changing how customers globally reach them.

A company's IT administrator just creates and registers a Skype Business Control Panel (BCP) for the organization and then follows the instructions to configure Skype for SIP to work with its existing SIP-enabled communications system.

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

Skype for Cisco Interoperable with Cisco Unified Communications 500 Series

September 23, 2009

Skype for SIP keeps adding more SIP-based IP-PBX solutions to their interoperability list. First they had Shoretel, then SIPfoundry's sipXecs and now today they announced that they are interoperable with Cisco Unified Communications 500 Series for Small Business.

"In today's tough economy, executives of smart small and medium-sized companies realize that effective communications with customers, partners and employees are a key to helping them grow their business," said Stefan Oberg, VP and General Manager of Skype for Business. "By certifying Skype for SIP as interoperable with the Cisco Unified Communications 500 Series, we are providing a single offering that will help many SMBs around the globe save money, save time and stay ahead of the competition."

Full Story

Posted in SIP, ShoreTel, Skype, TMCnet, VoIP

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