TMCnet

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.

Posted in SIP, TMCnet, Unified Communications, VoIP

Blind Research Study Says Skype Users Prefer ooVoo

July 18, 2010

ooVoo told me they had recently commissioned a study with some interesting results, which will be released on Monday. A blind study conducted by a third party research firm revealed that ooVoo was preferred by 8 our of 10 Skype users.I couldn't help but reminded of the famous Trident slogan/study which said 4 out of 5 dentists preferred sugarless gum. In fact, it's exactly double!

So is this study legit or manufactured?

Posted in Skype, TMCnet

Sign into Multiple Google Accounts Feature Coming!

July 15, 2010

Google is testing a new feature that allows you to sign in to multiple Google accounts in the same browser. Sweet! I hate signing out of one account and switching to another. Or worse, leaving Firefox and having to use Internet Explorer to sign onto another account.

Posted in Google, TMCnet

SkypeKit SDK Comes to Windows & Mac

July 14, 2010

Posted in Skype, TMCnet, Unified Communications, VoIP

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.

Posted in Apple, SIP, Skype, TMCnet, VoIP, Wireless

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.

Posted in Internet, Reviews, SIP, TMCnet, Unified Communications, Video Conferencing, Video Hardware & Software, VoIP

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.

Posted in Apple, Mobile Phones, SIP, Skype, TMCnet, Unified Communications, Video Conferencing, VoIP, Wireless

Skype Reverse Engineered?

July 8, 2010

According to TechCrunch, someone named Sean O'Neill is claiming he reverse-engineered Skype, laying bare one of the most closely guarded secrets in VoIP Land. Has Skype's Great Wall of VoIP been cracked? Skype takes protection of their proprietary protocol very seriously. Need I remind you of the various JoltID lawsuits by Skype co-founders Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis which owns the Skype's P2P "secret sauce"?

If indeed Skype has been cracked, this could have major implications, including not just security, but also some beneficial effects, such as 3rd parties embedding Skype more easily into their products and bypassing Skype's relatively new Skype API called SkypeKit SDK.

Sean writes on his blog:

For over 10 years, Skype enjoyed selling the world security by obscurity. We must admit, really good obscurity.

Posted in Skype, TMCnet, VoIP

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...

Posted in SIP, TMCnet, Unified Communications, Video Conferencing, VoIP

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.

Posted in Avaya, Cisco, Gadgets, Headsets, Reviews, SIP, Skype, TMCnet, VoIP, Wireless

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