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AudioCodes Adds Mobile VoIP Solutions for Blackberry and Android

August 5, 2010

Audiocodes today launched a mobile VoIP app for Blackberry and Android. They already supported the Apple iPhone.

Here's the full release:

AudioCodes VMAS Solution now covers all leading Smartphone OS, offering a comprehensive solution set for mobile, PC or Web

Lod, Israel - August 5, 2010 - AudioCodes (NasdaqGS: AUDC), a leading provider of Voice over IP (VoIP) technologies and Voice Network products, today announced an expansion of its VMAS family of Mobile VoIP Solutions with the addition of its new Blackberry and Android clients. AudioCodes Mobile VoIP Solutions enable Service Providers to offer new value added services thereby increasing revenues while allowing end users to make low cost calls at significantly improved voice quality. With today's announcement, VMAS now offers carriers a complete solution covering all leading mobile operating systems such as Symbian, Windows Mobile, Apple iOS, Blackberry OS and Android, as well as its existing solutions for the PC and Web.

The growing availability of high-speed mobile broadband, continual adoption of smartphones and emergence of flat rate mobile data pricing have bolstered the growth of mobile VoIP and made it an integral part of the future.  Frost & Sullivan has even recently claimed that "Mobile VoIP has become a credible threat to the traditional voice revenues." (Impact Of Mobile VoIP On Next Generation Cellular Networks, July 2010)  Going forward, Service Providers will need to differentiate themselves from mobile VoIP start-ups with innovative services and capabilities.







Vonage Mobile app for Facebook Launches

August 4, 2010


Today, Vonage launched Vonage Mobile application for Facebook: A new service which allows users to make free mobile calls to all of their Facebook friends who have the app as well. That's a bit of a stumbling block since your friends need the app installed to make VoIP calls. Although, you can IM them from within the free app regardless of whether they have the Vonage app installed. But once installed by both parties, it can be convenient to make free calls to any of your Facebook friends, especially since you can see when they are "online" (presence).

Microsoft Releases some Updates for Office Communications Server 2007 R2

July 23, 2010


Microsoft just released some patches/updates to Office Communications Server 2007 R2.

First up is KB 968802, which includes the following updates:
  • Update for Application Host 967832  (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/967832/ ) Description of the update package for Communications Server 2007 R2 Application Host: April 2009
  • Update for Application Sharing Server 977347  (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/977347/ ) Description of the update package for Office Communications Server 2007 R2, Application Sharing Server: April 2010
  • Update for Administration Tools 977344  (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/977344/ ) Description of the update package for Office Communications Server 2007 R2, Administration Tools: January 2010
  • Update for Audio/Video Conferencing 2028578   (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2028578/ ) Description of the cumulative update package for Office Communications Server 2007 R2, Audio/Video Conferencing Server: July 2010
  • Update for Core Components 983471  (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/983471/ ) Description of Cumulative update for Office Communications Server 2007 R2, Core Components: July 2010
  • Update for Communicator Web Access 983469  (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/983469/ ) Description of the cumulative update package for Office Communications Server 2007 R2, Communicator Web Access: July 2010
  • Update for Conferencing Attendant 2028574  (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2028574/ ) Description of the cumulative update for Office Communications Server 2007 R2, Conferencing Attendant: July 2010
  • Update for Conferencing Announcement Service 969823  (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/969823/ ) Description of the update package for Office Communications Server 2007 R2, Conferencing Announcement Service: July 2009
  • Update for Monitoring Server 971298  (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/971298/ ) Description of the update package for Office Communications Server 2007 R2, Monitoring Server: July 2009
  • Update for Mediation Server 977937   (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/977937/ ) Description of the cumulative update for Office Communications Server 2007 R2, Mediation Server: April 2010
  • Update for Outside Voice Control 980372  (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/980372/ ) Description of the cumulative update for Office Communications Server 2007 R2, Outside Voice Control: April 2010
  • Update for Response Group Service 2284304  (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2284304/ ) Description of Cumulative update for Office Communications Server 2007 R2, Response Group Service: July 2010
  • Update for Standard/Enterprise edition Server 983472  (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/983472/ ) Description of cumulative update for Office Communications Server 2007 R2: July, 2010
  • Update for Standard/Enterprise edition Server Back End 2032834  (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2032834/ ) Description of the cumulative update package for Office Communications Server 2007 R2 database: July, 2010
  • Update for Unified Communications Managed API 2.0 Core Redist 64-bit 982170  (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/982170/ ) Description of the cumulative update for Office Communications Server 2007 R2, Unified Communications Managed API 2.0 Core Redist 64-bit: July 2010
  • Update for Web Conferencing Server 2028582  (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2028582/ ) Description of the cumulative update for Office Communications Server 2007 R2, Web Conferencing Server: July 2010
  • Update for Web Components Server 967830  (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/967830/ ) Description of the update package for Communications Server 2007 R2, Web Components: April 2009

The second update released is part of KB 2032881:

This update package also includes the following previously released updates: 
  • 981415  (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/981415/ ) An Invalid Chat Room URI exception is generated in an Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Group Chat Server SDK-based application
  • 981445  (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/981445/ ) Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Group Chat Server takes a long time to process changes
  • 981446  (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/981446/ ) Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Group Chat Server cannot log some PART or JOIN events if an abnormal drop from Group Chat Server occurs
  • 981448  (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/981448/ ) Active Directory processing changes takes a long time on an Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Group Chat Server
  • 979105  (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/979105/ ) A synchronization operation between the Active Directory directory service and Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Group Chat Server fails
  • 979106  (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/979106/ ) Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Group Chat Server does not apply the correct group membership for some users
  • 972951  (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/972951/ ) A compliance server reports incomplete or inaccurate information about user JOIN and PART events in Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Group Chat Server
  • 972944  (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/972944/ ) You may experience performance issues on a channel server in Communications Server 2007 R2 Group Chat Channel Server
  • 973384  (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/973384/ ) The Group Chat service does not work after you restart a computer that is running Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Group Chat Server
  • 973385  (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/973385/ ) Users in a secured organizational unit (OU) named "Blocking Inheritance" cannot use the Group Chat Admin Tool
  • 973386  (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/973386/ ) A compliance XML output file is not generated by a compliance server in Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Group Chat Server






XO Communications Offers SIP Savings Estimator Tool

July 20, 2010

Today XO Communications launched their XO Enterprise SIP Savings Estimator, an online calculator to show users just how much money they can save by switching to SIP trunks. The online tool demonstrates how XO Enterprise SIP "Simplifies, Streamlines and Reduces Costs of Managing Voice Services Across Distributed Enterprise Networks".

It's a useful tool, though the calculator is a bit strict in its assumptions and doesn't provide the maximum flexibility. For instance, TMC is just a single location, yet the calculator forces you to pick at least 5 separate locations. The vast majority of businesses are single locations yet can still save a lot of money using SIP trunks by eliminating T1/PRI and/or analog lines.

fring vs. Skype War

July 13, 2010

A war between fring and Skype is heating up. fring fired the first salvo when they put out a release claiming Skype was blocking fring. fring wrote:

For 4 years we have led mobile communication innovation, most recently with video calling on any advanced Smartphone and network.

Now that fring expanded capacity to support the huge demand for video calling for all users, Skype has blocked us from doing so.



Tandberg Movi Review

July 12, 2010

Multi-party HD videoconferencing is often thought of as an expensive proposition that is restricted to special boardrooms with expensive video equipment and large monitor displays. One of the major driving forces behind videoconferencing is its ability to enable collaborative meetings across distances with multiple participants, so having multiple high-tech videoconferencing boardrooms can be cost prohibitive. Further, many employees work from home all or part of the week or travel, which would make attendance at a fixed videoconferencing boardroom impossible. Tandberg, now part of Cisco, aims to solve this problem by combining Mobility and Video, hence the name Movi, a new offering that enables high-definition 720p, 30fps video when used in conjunction with  the Cisco's Tandberg PrecisionHD USB camera.

Tandberg sent me the PrecisionHD USB camera to test along with Movi for the best experience, though any HD USB camera would work as well.

fring Video Calling Over 3G on iPhone 4

July 9, 2010

It was just a matter of time before fring updated their iPhone app to take advantage of the iPhone 4's front-facing camera. That day has arrived! With the new fring for iPhone you get 2 way video-calling not just with other iPhone users, but also friends on their Droids or Nokia (Symbian S60) phones.

It supports video calls over 3G as well as Wi-Fi, though obviously performance over 3G isn't as good as Wi-Fi.

Multitasking support is in the new version so you can be always on and available with fring running in the background and alerting you to new video calls, voice calls or chat without proactively opening fring.

It also has a new "Social Stream" feature, which is a chronological stream of all tweets, facebook updates, chats and calls. While the social media stuff is nice to have, the video calling is the killer feature.





CounterPath Updates Bria for Mac and Windows

July 6, 2010


Tomorrow, CounterPath is announcing a new release of its softphone client, Bria, one of my favorite SIP clients for the PC and the iPhone. Bria 3.1 for both Mac and Windows will feature UI enhancements, broadcast IM and SMS and improvements to the videoconferencing tool. Just a few weeks ago I asked CounterPath about multiple account support when I wrote, "I asked CounterPath about future features and they told me presence/IM/XMPP, call recording/playback, and the big one being multiple SIP account support were all on the roadmap." Well indeed, 3.1 brings support for multiple accounts. Interestingly, their Linux client already had multiple account support before the Windows or Mac versions, so Linux fans got the first .

Full release after the jump...




Plantronics Savi W430 Headset Review

July 6, 2010


The Plantronics Savi W430 is an impressive headset sporting DECT wireless technology with excellent range and HD quality sound. With the convergence of the telephone and the network we say the creation of VoIP, including the phenomenal growth of Skype and SIP-based IP-PBXs and phones. Now we're seeing the convergence of the computer and the phone, resulting in 100% software-based phone solutions - also known as the "softphone". The problem with softphones is that it's still a fairly new concept to the enterprise and there just aren't a lot of headsets for the PC designed with telephony in mind.

VoIP Phone for $19.99? What?

July 1, 2010

On Buy.com I came across a VoIP phone listed for $19.99. The product description catches my eye because it says "VoIP/Skype Desktop IP Phone w/Digital Answering System - Use Your Internet Connection to Make Calls! - PH210-PB". So it's a Skype VoIP phone with a digital answering machine.
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