VoIP Blog - VoIP News, Gadgets
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VoIP News, VoIP Opinions, my blog analyzes the VoIP industry and general technology. Gadgets are one of my favorite topics.- About Me and Picture Gallery - Got a News Tip? |
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VoIP News, VoIP Opinions, my blog analyzes the VoIP industry and general technology. Gadgets are one of my favorite topics.- About Me and Picture Gallery - Got a News Tip? |
Interesting... Vonage is planning to add 600 new employees to their payroll. Perhaps they've finally heard all the complaints in the VoIP Forums and other online forums about their poor customer service and have decided to do something about it. Let's see how true this press release turns out to be. 600 employees is not chump change by any means. Unless they plan on having a large direct sales force in those 600 jobs, I would expect a drop in Vonage's revenue numbers due to the extra payroll.
Here's the release:
Vonage Holdings Corp. Plans to Add 600 Jobs to New Jersey by Q1 2005
400% Growth in Vonage's Customer Base Has Contributed Significantly to New Jersey's Economic Health
Edison, N.J., October 29, 2004 - Vonage, the leading broadband telephony company today announced that it plans to hire more than 600 plus people to fill a variety of positions within the next 6 months. New hires will be used to fill positions in all areas, including but not limited to: customer care, product development, call processing, network engineering, sales and operations. "Vonage is continuing to meet the challenges of growing its workforce to constantly improve the quality of our service," stated Jeffrey A. Citron, chairman and CEO of Vonage Holdings Corp. "Further, Vonage is bringing telecom growth back to the state of New Jersey after a long absence."
I just got an interesting email offering me an eval copy of a new piece of software called ppcTunes that which they claim is the first tool of its kind to allow Windows iTunes users to auto-copy selected playlists to their Pocket PCs, Windows Mobile Pocket PCs, Pocket PC Phones & Smartphones. ppcTunes will even map your music files to your storage card so as not to fill up the main memory of your device. As an iPod user and a PocketPC user myself, until this product was created, I knew that Pocket PC users had no way to sync their iTunes playlists to their Windows-based handhelds.
Now I should state that this product copies the .mp3 files for the playlists you select and not the playlists themselves, i.e. "Rock Favorites", "80's Music", etc. I would like to see that feature added. It certainly is quite a frustrating experience to have to maintain separate playlists for Microsoft's Media Player and for my Apple iPod. So if this software added that feature and allowed me to maintain a single playlist library and convert it on-the-fly I'd be one happy camper!
Anyway, here's the release:
ppcTunes Syncs iTunes to Pocket PCs For The First Time
La Jolla, CA--October 2004--Information Appliance Associates, creators of industry-leading connectivity solutions, announces the new release of ppcTunes, the first ever tool to automatically copy & convert music from Apple iTunes to Windows Mobile Pocket PCs, Pocket PC Phones & Smartphones.
"We're incredibly excited," said Terence Goggin, CTO of Information Appliance Associates. "Now, Windows users of iTunes can get their MP3s & WMAs to their Windows Mobile devices."
What's more, ppcTunes has built-in technology to conserve space on users' PDAs. The application has the option to convert users' MP3s into 1/2-size WMA files and then copy these files to the PDA.
"One of the features we kept hearing over and over again from our customers was they didn't want their devices bursting at the seams with music," Goggin continued. "That's why we have the option of further compressing MP3s into WMA files, cutting the space requirement of these files in half. We also give users the option to sync their music to a Storage Card, opening up additional storage besides the built-in option for their handheld."
Additional features of ppcTunes include "Sync on Connect", allowing users to make sure every time they connect their PDA to their PC, ppcTunes will run and copy their music automatically and "Playlist Select", where users can choose exactly which playlists get synched every time. Goggin concluded, "This is a really exciting merging of two worlds.Now iTunes users can sync their non-copyrighted music to their Windows Mobile handhelds."
ppcTunes retails for $9.95.
Just the other day, I blogged about ENUM and I specifically mentioned VeriSign's entry into the VoIP space by offering ENUM. I also mentioned GoDaddy, but more as a side comment that they (GoDaddy) and VeriSign are two of the most popular DNS registrars. While I did expect other DNS registrars to follow VeriSign's example and jump on the ENUM bandwagon, I had no inkling that GoDaddy was going to do it so soon!
Well two days after I wrote "ENUM ENUM ENUM!" GoDaddy has announced a partnership with with several leading telecommunications companies in forming Country Code 1 ENUM LLC. When I wrote that blog entry 2 days ago I predicted ENUM would take off in 2005. Maybe I should revise that statement to taking off in 2004 - after all, we still have two full months to go in 2004! Keep your eye out for several other ENUM announcements soon to follow. Like I said two days ago, ENUM is going to be huge.
Check out the news release:
The Go Daddy Group, Inc., parent company of GoDaddy.com, the No. 1 registrar of new domain names, announced a partnership with several leading telecommunications companies in forming Country Code 1 ENUM LLC ("ENUM LLC"). The main objective of ENUM LLC is to build a public infrastructure that promotes the development of ENUM technology in a single, carrier-class manner within the countries of the North American Numbering Plan ("NANP"), including the United States, Canada and the Caribbean nations.
Using the relevant open standards of the Internet Engineering Task Force and the International Telecommunication Union, ENUM LLC hopes to build a commercial implementation that will provide a single, public system for nations within the NANP that choose to participate. This public infrastructure will translate traditional phone numbers into domain names, thereby allowing the reach of the Internet to combine with the Public Switched Telephone Network ("PSTN") to create new communications capabilities.
With the increasing popularity of applications such as Voice over IP ("VoIP"), a common system is essential. By bridging the technology gap between the Internet and the PSTN, ENUM will enable individuals using different VoIP providers to communicate more efficiently with each other.
"We are excited about this opportunity to advance the convergence of information technologies," said Bob Parsons, president and founder of The Go Daddy Group, recently ranked No. 8 on the Inc. 500 List of America's Fastest Growing Private Companies. "Because ENUM technology translates telephone numbers into domain names, it will make a wide range of Internet and information services like VoIP, email, and fax services, available to anyone with a telephone or any number of hand-held devices."
The founding members of ENUM LLC include AT&T, MCI, SBC Laboratories, Sprint, Verizon and GoDaddy.com.
About The Go Daddy Group, Inc.
The Go Daddy Group, the industry leader in new domain name registration, enables individuals and businesses to acquire, create and safeguard their unique identities and brands on the Internet by offering a complete line of web development tools including domain name registration, hosting, email systems, SSL certificates and complementary products and services. Together, The Go Daddy Group companies include three ICANN-accredited domain name registrars: flagship domain name registrar GoDaddy.com (www.GoDaddy.com); membership-based domain name registrar Blue Razor Domains, Inc., (www.bluerazor.com) and reseller registrar Wild West Domains, Inc., (www.wildwestdomains.com). The Go Daddy Group also offers private domain name registration services through Domains By Proxy, Inc., (www.domainsbyproxy.com); as well as SSL Certificates through its SSL Certificate Authority, Starfield Technologies, Inc., (www.starfieldtech.com).
Ever sit next to one of "those people" that have a Nextel phone and use its "push to talk" feature to hold a seemlingly endless conversation for all to hear? I'm fine with "push to talk" for quick messages, but its quite irritating when they use push-to-talk to have a 20 minute conversation. And that Nextel "beep" when the person has finished speaking is just as irritating. Well, it was only a matter of time before someone invented "push to talk" for a VoIP application. Voiceglo's GloMessenger, as it is called, will be free to every GloPhone user and allows them to send and receive voice messages (P2P) to their friends and family also on the GloPhone network, and any other GloPhone user that may be on their buddy list. I commend Voiceglo for their marketing efforts in promoting VoIP and adding new features, but I pray if VoIP push-to-talk technology is successful there will be more etiquette in its usage than I have currently seen by Nextel users.
Here's VoiceGlo's news release...
Voiceglo Introduces VoIP Industry to Voice Messaging
Users of Unique Internet Phone Service Can Now Talk to Friends and Family Instantly with the Touch of a Button
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - OCTOBER 28, 2004 – Voiceglo (OTCBB: TGLO), a global, full-service Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) communications company, today announced that it has added a peer-to-peer voice messaging feature to its proprietary Web- and PC-based service, the GloPhone. Very similar to the push-to-talk functionality of cell phones, GloMessenger now allows the more than 1.8 million GloPhone users to send and receive instant voice messages to other GloPhone users on their buddy list. Voiceglo is one of the first service providers in the VoIP industry to offer a voice messaging application of this caliber to its users.
GloMessenger, which is now available in beta on the GloPhone Web site (www.glophone.com), allows GloPhone users to send voice messages to one another using MP3 formatted files - without ever having to initiate a phone call. Offering the same connectivity and dynamics of text-based instant messaging services, GloMessenger will allow users to select a contact from the display window, click on the “Send Message” button and record a sound byte that will immediately be transmitted to that contact. The recipient will then see their GloPhone display window flash – indicating that they have a GloMessage waiting – and can then listen to the audio message and reply. With the ability to receive multiple messages simultaneously, GloPhone users can now engage in real-time conversations with their friends and family online without worrying about missing a call.
“Voiceglo is very excited to be one of the first, if not the first, VoIP providers to offer voice messaging to consumers throughout the world,” said Michael Egan, CEO, Voiceglo. “This application not only advances our own VoIP service, it also encourages continued innovation in the overall VoIP industry. With GloMessenger, we are expanding the communications options available to consumers and delivering on enhanced features that they are asking for.”
GloMessenger can be accessed from any computer, anywhere in the world – so GloPhone customers will always be able to take advantage of this advanced messaging feature. Using a dial-up or broadband Internet connection, all GloPhone users – no matter which GloPhone package they have – can log into their account and immediately begin sending GloMessages to their other GloPhone buddies that are online. This free P2P messaging feature will not only increase the level and frequency of communication between friends and family separated all over the world, but it will also save both parties extensive amounts of money.
Voiceglo offers an innovative way of combining free and low-cost global peer-to-peer broadband or dial-up VoIP, allowing users access to make and receive calls from conventional and wireless phones anywhere in the world. More than 1.8 million consumers in over 60 countries are currently taking advantage of GloPhone’s advanced calling features and local, long distance and international calling capabilities. With this latest feature addition, both current GloPhone customers and new customers that join the network will be able to update their GloPhone to enjoy the immediate global connectivity that GloMessenger brings to the VoIP service. With the click of a button, GloPhone users will be able to download GloMessenger to their phone’s interface and begin sending and receiving messages.
The addition of this voice messaging application to the GloPhone service will allow Voiceglo to offer consumers a more personalized and interactive calling experience, while continuing to make advancements in the VoIP industry.
Just got this research report news release I thought I would share...
DELOITTE SURVEY: TWO-THIRDS OF GLOBAL BUSINESSES WILL DEPLOY VOICE OVER INTERNET PROTOCOL (VoIP) TO THE DESKTOP BY 2006
Cost Reduction Drives Principal Enterprise Interest in VoIP, Expanded Business Functionality Offers CXOs Advantages and Vulnerabilities to Consider
New York, October 25, 2004 -- In a report launched today, Getting off the Ground: Why the move to VoIP is a decision for all CXOs, Deloitte reveals that by 2006 over two-thirds of all Global 2,000 companies will have started deployment of Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) to the desktop. Desktop VoIP is the most complete form of VoIP, offering the greatest cost savings, flexibility, productivity, process improvements and overall disruption. While 26 percent of survey participants have already deployed desktop VoIP, only one-third of these companies have offered it to all employees.
According to the report, the overwhelming driver for VoIP amongst respondents is cost reduction. Eighty-four percent of companies polled regarded cost reduction as a key driver. Beyond cost, VoIP has the potential to transform enterprises’ call centers, offshoring operations and telecommuting tools. The survey finds 79 percent of early VoIP adopters are either ‘mostly’ or highly ‘satisfied’ with the technology to date.
“The initial performance of desktop VoIP was generally poor, with voice quality significantly inferior to that from existing analogue systems,” said Tony Kern, deputy managing partner of Deloitte & Touche’s Technology, Media & Telecommunications Group. “However, the offering has improved markedly with the falling price of VoIP equipment, rising call quality, improving functionality and the growing experience of service providers.”
“Organizations must balance the implications of VoIP on costs, alongside its impact on organizational efficiency and performance. It is an important new technology, which has the potential to deliver cost and efficiency benefits to companies that deploy it wisely. But it must be applied sensitively, since its disruption potential is still substantial.”
The report recommends at least four top executives’ involvement to ensure that the benefits from VoIP deployment are maximized across the entire enterprise:
The CEO. A successful deployment can improve the organization’s overall competitiveness, lowering the cost base and improving productivity through enhanced VoIP functionality. Conversely, a flawed deployment can paralyze the organization, bringing both voice and data communications to a grinding halt. The CEO must oversee the VoIP deployment such that benefits are maximized across all departments, while risks are minimized.
The CFO. Enterprise-wide VoIP deployment can significantly reduce the cost of voice communication and improve cost control, making voice usage and administration costs more predictable and easier to forecast. A strategic implementation can also improve the top line by making staff more productive. The CFO must ensure the VoIP business case is balanced to reflect the full costs and benefits.
The COO. A well-deployed VoIP system can streamline processes in every department from sales to customer support. It can also improve efficiency across the enterprise by enabling greater integration between information systems and voice-based applications. However, most organizations cannot afford to have their voice systems fail. The COO must guarantee continuity.
The CIO. VoIP is a major issue that can make or break a CIO’s career. VoIP enables centralized deployment and management of voice services and data on a single network, dramatically improving control and efficiency, and allowing closer integration with business applications. Yet, it also increases an organization’s reliance on its data network – driving up usage and complexity, and creating more work for the IT department. The CIO must deliver a VoIP deployment that delivers a strong net benefit to the enterprise.
“VoIP may eventually become a standard communication technology that does not require a moment’s thought,” added Kern. “But today, it still requires careful consideration. Decision-makers need to bear in mind the telephone’s standing as one of the most critical business tools. Both clients and employees are far less tolerant of a malfunctioning phone system than they are of IT breakdowns. VoIP requires new systems, new equipment and new skills – all of which require investment, deployment and training.”
Note to Editors
The primary research undertaken for this report includes a global study of current adoption of VoIP to the desktop among 131 businesses from the Global 2000. Respondents were drawn from all sectors and from all regions. The interviewee was the CIO or other person with responsibility for desktop VoIP deployment or evaluation. A third of enterprises interviewed turn over in excess of $3 billion per annum.
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| Red Sox World Champions of Baseball |
Well, today, the Red Sox fans are standing straighter, their pessimistic October lips are finally curled upward, and now they can finally feel good about themselves, their team, and the city of Boston. For better or worse, the Red Sox 86-year World Series losing stream did have some positive effects. For one, it drew the Boston fans closer - in times of trouble Americans or indeed any group of people tend to bond together in solidarity. The Red Sox are the prime example of that. As a lifetime Yankee fan, I cannot pretend to understand that seemingly masochistic bond that they share, the grief that they suffered at the hands of Buckner, Bucky, Boone, and of course the Babe --- but as an outside observer looking in, I can say I admire the Red Sox fans for not giving up on their beloved Red Sox.
Who would have thought down 0-3 to the Yankees and just 2 outs from being swept by the Yankees with the best reliever in the history of baseball, Mariano Rivera, on the mound? It was 2003 and Aaron Boone all over again - the grief, the same ole' Red Sox misery. No, scratch that, Game 4 of the ALCS must have felt to the Red Sox fan as though the weight of every bad thing that has happened to the Red Sox in the past 86 years was once again crushing their hopes. The Red Sox fans don't just feel that moment in time - they feel the entire history of their team when something bad is happening - especially when it's against the Yankees. Well, we know what happened in Game 4 -the Red Sox came back to win. And then they did it to the Yankees again in Game 5 with the Yankees leading again in the late innings.
We all know how the story goes from there. The Red Sox completed one of the greatest comebacks in sports history against their bitter rival - the New York Yankees. It couldn't have been scripted any better if you tried! If you believe in a supreme being, if you're a Yankees fan, you're praying "Why oh why did we have to lose to the Red Sox like this? 2 outs away from the World Series, up 3 games to zero and then lose in 7? God, seriously, that wasn't funny." If you're a Red Sox fan, you're saying, "Thank you God for answering our prayers to defeat our nemesis in such a historic fashion. But seriously God, where were you the past 86 years? Were you not listening to our prayers or are the rumors true - you really a Yankees fan and you just thew us a 'bone' this year?"
Everything seemed to align for the Red Sox this year. They got Curt Schilling to complement Pedro. They got Foulke as their closer. Even the moon aligned and conspired with the Red Sox as it turned red from the refraction caused by the sun's rays curving around the earth in the World Series clinching game. The first lunar eclipse ever in a World Series game, that must mean something. Maybe the "big man" upstairs is saying "Ok, ok, Red Sox fans. I get it. I have 200,000 people on my list that refuse to die until the Red Sox win one. I've broken the curse, I've sent you a sign from the moon, I had you beat my beloved Yankees in a miraculous way, now stop your whining and leave me alone."
Congratulations Red Sox fans. You deserved this championship.
I was getting tired of the 1918 chant anyway. Chanting "1918" to Red Sox fans was like stomping on a guy that tripped, fell down the stairs, rolled onto the street, got ran over by a car, and got his wallet pick-pocketed - I was honestly starting to feel sorry for the Red Sox fans. This is great news for George Steinbrenner by the way. Think of all the new merchandise the Yankees have to create now since they have to remove 1918 from all the T-shirts and other Yankee paraphrenalia. George Steinbrenner will be able to sell millions of newly designed T-Shirts, refill his coffers, and then restock and reload the Yankees to take back the World Championship. So I guess we have the Red Sox to thank for that.
Also, the rivalry as heated as it was, was pretty one-sided - the Yankees always won. So the Red Sox winning is great for baseball and great for the rivalry. The cocky bandwagon Yankee fans that just assumed the Yankees would win every year will be gone, and the true blue Yankee fans will be left next year to cheer them on.
The true Yankee fans will want revenge next year, as will the Yankee players, so 2005 should be an interesting year in baseball. Also, unlike the Red Sox's Pedro Martinez who throws a 95mph head-shot from time-to-time, the Yankees haven't had an intimidating thrower like that since the Rocket, Roger Clemens. I expect a few dugout clearing brawls next year as the Yankees will be much hungrier than they have been and perhaps even some head-shots thrown by both sides - not that I condone that.
The Yankee fans and Boston fans will no doubt be creative in their mocking chants next year. I can see the Red Sox chanting "Chokers" or "two thousand fooour...two thousand fooour" (in the same rhythm as the "1918" chant). And now with the Red Sox with 1 World Championship since 1918 and I believe 2 overall, (Yankees have 26 total championships) the Yankee fans will probably chant "two to twenty-six...two to twenty-six..."
Rumor has it Pedro may come to the NYY, but I certainly hope not. I'd rather see him stay in Boston where we can continue to chant "Who's your daddy?". After all, we no longer have 1918 to chant anymore.
Andy brought to my attention a company called Jyve. Their company name seems to be a play on the words "Jive Talking" since it works in conjunction with Skype - a VoIP "talking" software solution. I could be wrong though. Certainly, listening to the Bee Gees Jive Talking song on the radio this morning could have something to do with it. Did I just admit that?
Come on, sing it with me!
It's just your jive talkin'
You're telling me lies, yeah
Jive talkin'
You wear a disguise
Jive talkin'
So misunderstood, yeah
Jive talkin'
You really no good
Anyway, Jyve has a product that lets you view your Skype presence on a web page. So for example, you can visit a web page, see a Skype icon that changes depending on their status, and then if they are "Available" you can initiate a call simply by clicking on the icon/buton.
According to LinuxWorld and ITWorld: The story isn't meant to be public because the deal with Qzoxy is still under NDA, and the Canadian company won't discuss it. But the deal is that if you want "presence" on your web page, you can get it, with a public beta test through Qzoxy partner Jyve. The test was announced in a Skype forum and in full (in case they discover the security breach!) says: "Qzoxy Software and Jyve have teamed up to bring advanced Web-based functions and enhancements to the Skype experience through the new Skype API. We would be most appreciative if a few hundred dedicated Skypers could help us test our new server products. You don't need to download or install anything, just register on a forum like this one; and make a couple of test posts, the difference is this forum has a little bit of 'Skype Magic' inside... which we hope to bring to all of you here shortly."
Andy thinks the "leak" was an intentional to give Skype some marketing hype. He's probably right.
Slowly but surely, the VoIP industry is beginning to embrace ENUM, a standard protocol for resolving phone numbers into IP addresses. ENUM was originally developed to link consumers' phone numbers to various IP services, as well as allow for multiple VoIP devices to be called using a single number. However, the ENUM standard is proving even more important in interconnecting carriers' VoIP networks.
ENUM lets carriers interconnect VoIP networks directly and avoid access fees for transmitting calls over the public switched telephone network (PSTN). Let me give you an example. Suppose a user of Vonage tried to call an AT&T CallVantage customer. Unfortunately, the call must hop off the IP network onto the PSTN and dial the PSTN number of the AT&T CallVantage customer - IP-to-PSTN instead of IP-to-IP, real efficient right? Also, Vonage pays more money any time it has to use the PSTN to complete the call as well as use one of their Vonage's valuable port resources.
So anytime Vonage or any broadband VoIP service provider can stay on the IP world and not touch the PSTN, that's a very good thing. Now suppose AT&T puts its CallVantage customers' phone numbers in an ENUM registry. Tthe call from Vonage can query the ENUM registry, find the target phone number listed, and connect directly to AT&T's VoIP network (and the customer) without ever crossing the PSTN! So it's an IP-to-IP call... ahhhhh. much more efficient...
Even cable companies realize the benefit of keeping calls on IP networks even if that means terminating a call on a competing cable companies IP network. Also, consider that carriers are probably the #1 enemy to the cable companies (well, satellite is up there too). So if cable companies are the enemy of other cable companies and surely the carriers are the enemy of cable companies, does that mean "the enemy (carriers) of my enemy (cable companies) is my friend?" Indeed it is. While cable companies do compete somewhat with each other, cable companies are very much bound be geographics. In my neighborhood, I had one choice for cable - Charter Communications. So the cable companies fight each other much less over customers than the carriers fight each other over acquiring and retaining customers. So in my opinion, cable companies are much more amicable towards each other. There is also a spirit of unity of "Let's work together to beat the carriers" mentality going on in the cable company sector.
ENUM would help cable companies avoid paying reciprocal compensation to local exchange carriers. Under Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rules, service providers must pay reciprocal compensation when calls pass through a carrier's network and then terminate at an Internet service provider. For example, AT&T pays $8 billion a year in reciprocal compensation to local exchange carriers for terminating calls.
No wonder AT&T abandoned the residential long-distance market! (that was tongue in cheek.) Actually AT&T has NOT abandoned the residential market, but they sure fooled a lot of industry analysts and journalists who took AT&T's "bait and switch tactic" and posted news articles claiming AT&T had surrendered the residential long-distance market. I blogged AT&T's true intentions - that they were going around the "back door" and using VoIP to target the residential market, thus bypassing the FCC rules about reciprocal compensation and saving $8 billion per year and more due to the cost efficiencies of VoIP. (You can read those three blog entries related to AT&T's residential focus here and here and here - it was important enough to blog it THREE times.)
One such company trying to offer ENUM services to the cable companies is NeuStar. "There's a huge business driver here," says Richard Shockey, senior manager for strategic tech initiatives at NeuStar. "The MSOs have a strong economic interest in maintaining VoIP calls end-to-end on IP. ENUM is the most efficient signaling technology available to achieve that goal."
Of course, one problem is how do we get a single universal ENUM registry database so we don't have fragmentation with tiny little ENUM islands all over the world. The owner of that registry certainly stands to make money. Just look at VeriSign or GoDaddy, both of which have made millions of dollars from their Domain Name System (DNS) registration business.
Essentially, there will be a Public ENUM and a Private ENUM. According to Verisign's ENUM FAQ, the key differentiator is the DNS root, which for Public ENUM will be e164.arpa. Public ENUM will be openly accessible, thus there are some concerns about privacy, authentication and security. Private ENUM will not use the the e164.arpa root, and the data will not be publicly accessible. Private implementations will be designed for specific service provider solutions. Public ENUM plans to date have been for a Global Public Directory Service, managed by Country Code and NPA. Both the circuit switched telephony and DNS infrastructures will be utilized. Anyone who wishes to have their contact information available through this Directory will need to "opt-in" for the service. Industry infrastructure for the U.S. and other sovereign nations under Country Code 1 is pending definition. This definition is being driven by a group that is attempting to create an ENUM LLC, with some input from the NTIA, FCC and State Dept.
VeriSign in fact has been moving towards offering a similar service in the VoIP realm with a series of announcements this year. I discussed one such important announcement on October 11th, 2004, which was titled Verisign and VoIP using SS7 and SIP. Verisign also introduced MSO-IP Connect, a service that uses the ENUM and Call Management Server Signaling (CMSS) protocols to route VoIP calls between cable operators and other VoIP carriers through a secure system. According to their website, "VeriSign's MSO IP Connect service bridges disparate cable VoIP networks and legacy systems to centralize voice and data management, reduce costs, and allow MSOs (Multiple Systems Operators) to offer an expanded selection of value-added services. With MSO IP Connect, cable providers can service their customers by establishing a single connection point to the VeriSign network, rather than maintaining multiple interconnection points. With access to more end points via the VeriSign network, MSOs can extend their VoIP reach, and begin to eliminate PSTN interconnection costs."
Take a minute to soak that up... In fact, go back and re-read it - it's that important. If you don't see the handwriting on the wall that the traditional PSTN is dead, well I can't spell it out for you any more clearly.
"There are islands of VoIP," says Tom Kershaw, VP of next-generation networks at VeriSign. "And those islands need a trusted third party to connect with each other. When you default back to the PSTN, a lot of the features of VoIP don't work, like you can't do video or collaborative workflow. So, having an end-to-end VoIP connection is critical to enabling the service suite."
Verisign isn't the only one jumping on the ENUM bandwagon. Stealth Communications Inc., a New York-based ISP, added an ENUM registry to its Voice Peering Fabric (VPF), an exchange that lets VoIP carriers buy and sell minutes. VoIP carriers can not only route calls over each other's networks, but also look up numbers on each other's networks to interconnect calls and negotiate access rights. "There are about 1.2 million numbers in our ENUM registry," says Shrihari Pandit, CEO of Stealth Communications, which charges a monthly fee for use of the VPF.
"ENUM changes everything" said Shrihari Pandit, CEO and Founder of Stealth, "ENUM is a network protocol that takes a telephone number and resolves it to a URL, like the way a traditional Domain Name Server (DNS) takes a URL (like www.google.com) and converts it into a numeric IP address. With ENUM, the telephone number is sent to the DNS server, which then replies back with a list of URLs. This opens up a whole new world of applications and services driven solely by a phone number," says Pandit. Stealth's VPF ENUM Registry presently holds over 1.2 million phone numbers. While this represents only a small number of the total phone numbers in the US, Pandit is quick to point out that "ENUM represents truly disruptive technology, in that it has the potential to obsolete the public phone network." Pandit envisions a day when Stealth's VPF ENUM Registry will house most, if not all of the phone numbers on the planet.
Unfortunately, some carriers are opting to run their own private ENUM registries and getting users to register on a "public ENUM" registry has been a hard sell - what's their incentive to do so? Hopefully, ENUM will not become fragmented. But perhaps like DNS, no one will truly "own" the ENUM registry, and just like DNS, which replicates new DNS entries to DNS servers across the world, hopefully as more private ENUM registries spring up, they too will "replicate" to other ENUM registries and not keep the registations "private" and unshared. For now, I do foresee private carrier-based ENUM registries outpacing any sort of open, public ENUM registry, but I also foresee these registries "communicating" and sharing registration information with each other in the near future. The cost saving and benefits are just too great to ignore. ENUM will reach a critical mass in 2005, with VoIP providers exchanging minutes and VoIP customers able to reach other VoIP customers in other VoIP networks without touching the PSTN -- you can bank on it. That's my one prediction for 2005.
Since I've been covering Popular Telephony's P2P-based technology called Peerio, I would be remiss if I neglected to mention Nimcat Networks news announcement. Nimcat Networks has a very similar P2P premise to Popular Telephony, though there are some differences. Iit's too late in the day to list them though and provide my analysis.
So enjoy the news...
Nimcat Networks, a leading provider of Peer-to-Peer embedded call processing software, today announced a joint partnership with Aastra Technologies Limited (TSX: AAH), a provider of products and systems for accessing communication networks and Broadcom Corporation, a leading provider of highly integrated semiconductor solutions enabling broadband communications.
This partnership will enable Aastra to develop an integrated Peer-to-Peer (P2P) business IP-telephony system that targets the small and medium enterprise (SME) market. Utilizing the Broadcom(R) BCM1101 enterprise IP phone chip, BCM1112 VoIP gateway chip and BCM3341 VoIP coprocessor, the system will embed nimX, Nimcat's unique P2P call processing software into the recently introduced Aastra 480i IP telephone.
"Aastra sees a significant market opportunity in expanding our product portfolio to offer an innovative solution to the small and medium enterprise," says Steve Copeland, Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Aastra Telecom Limited. "This market segment has been under-served, and we intend to offer a very compelling and cost effective solution, that caters to this segment's specific needs."
Using the attributes of nimX and the Broadcom chips, the product offering eliminates the need for costly central equipment and offers a complete enterprise call processing solution to the small and medium enterprise that is simple to use, easy to deploy, easy to expand, and easy to maintain.
"Nimcat and Aastra's innovative products are taking advantage of the power and flexibility associated with Broadcom's VoIP chips to enable revolutionary new solutions for the SMB telephony market, which are centered around IP phones," said Paul Shore, Director of Marketing for Broadcom's VoIP Client Products. "We anticipate this new class of peer-to-peer enterprise voice products to thrive in the coming years, and that both Nimcat and Aastra are leading the way with visionary new products."
"Nimcat Networks is proud to be associated with two leading companies," said Mahshad Koohgoli, CEO, Nimcat Networks. "Nimcat is excited that our nimX technology will be introduced to the market by established players such as Aastra and Broadcom. Aastra's ability to leverage its existing distribution network and develop new channels to market is an ideal match with our value proposition."
About Nimcat Networks
Nimcat Networks is the leading provider of Peer Telephone eXchange (PTX) call processing and Communications Efficiency Management (CEM) embedded software products. Nimcat Networks enables equipment vendors to deliver a complete communications solution into small and medium businesses that is simple to use, easy to deploy, easy to maintain and highly scalable. Nimcat's core nimX product, backed by more than a dozen worldwide patents, leverages its unique Peer Telephony Exchange (PTX) architecture to deliver over 140 PBX features directly from standard VoIP terminals, eliminating the need for costly central equipment. Nimcat's embedded-software product portfolio includes voice mail, auto-attendant, teleworker, branch office, unified messaging, personal assistant, hoteling, security, and wireless. Working closely with leading silicon suppliers, PBX equipment vendors and service providers, Nimcat has ported nimX into many commercial VoIP terminals. For more information please visit http://www.nimcatnetworks.com/ .
From a news release... Vonage announced today the availability of virtual numbers with London city codes.
Vonage’s current and future customers can select London-based virtual numbers for $4.99 USD/$7.99 CAD per month. Virtual Phone Numbers are inexpensive secondary numbers that ring to the primary Vonage line. London-based virtual numbers make it less expensive for friends, relatives and business professionals residing and working in the United Kingdom’s leading cultural and business sector to make calls to the U.S. and Canada. The people they are calling now have numbers local to their calling area.
“For several months, Vonage’s customers have been requesting the ability to have London telephone numbers to communicate with family members, friends and business associates,” said Jeffrey A. Citron, chairman & CEO of Vonage. “Vonage has responded quickly to our customers’ demands that we make keeping in contact with friends and loved ones abroad easier and more convenient by offering a local number as a point of contact, no matter where you are in the world.”
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| Spammer or Innocent Victim? |
Here's the source code for the one I got today... (Note the "cid:image12.jpeg" part.)
Hi<!--Tkeating-->,<br>
<br>
<img src="cid:image12.jpeg"><br>
I just want to talk with someone...<br><br>
For more information see the attached file.<br>
<br>
Have a good day, Lizie<br>
Apparently, even though I block images in my Microsoft Outlook client, by using the "cid" tag with an image copy/pasted into an email spammers can bypass the "image blocking" feature of Outlook. I'm surprised Microsoft hasn't caught that "bug" yet. Then again I'm not surprised. Well, at least the image doesn't report back to spammers that you opened the email - the image is embedded within the email itself and is not hosted on a web server somewhere - a technique often used to track if you read a spam message.
Well, I hope I've done some good by showing her photo on my blog. Hopefully visitors of my blog will recognize her photo and realize not to open the attachment. I just hope she's not an innocent victim of the spammers using her photo without her permission for personal gain. That would indeed be a new low.
Let me know if you've seen her photo in any of your spam by posting in the Comments. I'd be curious how widespread her photo has gotten.
The next version of Microsoft's enterprise instant messaging and presence server called Microsoft Office Live Communications Server 2005 will be available on Dec. 1, Microsoft stated late on Monday. LCS 2005 was released to manufacturing on Friday to meet this availability.
It will come in both an enterprise edition as well as a standard version. While the basic functionality the same in both editions, the enterprise option supports more users, provides load balancing and server clustering, and includes more management features, said Dennis Karlinsky, the lead product manager for LCS. While the standard edition supports as many as 15,000 active users per server, the enterprise edition can support as many as 20,000 per server. The enterprise version can be extended to 100,000 users by clustering five servers. The enterprise edition requires a full SQL Server database, while the standard version includes a lightweight, embedded version of SQL Server.
Some of the new features in LCS 2005 include federation, which allows an enterprise to connect its IM and presence with other organizations running LCS 2005, as well as the ability for remote user to connect without a VPN. Additional enhancements in LCS 2005 include improvements to the server's tiered architecture that are designed to provide customers with better reliability, availability and scalability. Microsoft has also included additional management options and administrative tools.
Microsoft is busily working on extending the future feature-set to LCS as well. It is working to connect LCS 2005 with the leading IM networks, specifically AOL Instant Messenger, Yahoo Messenger and MSN Messenger. Microsoft expects to begin testing the integration by the end of the year and to make it available as an additional license early next year, Karlinsky said.
Currently, LCS runs with the Windows Messenger 5.1 client., however Microsoft announced last week a new client, code-named Istanbul, that will incorporate VoIP (voice over IP) capabilities. Istanbul is slated for availability in the first half of 2005.
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| Anoop Gupta - Corporate VP, Real-Time Collaboration Bus. Unit, Microsoft |
LCS 2005 will be made available through retail and volume licensing channels, and evaluation versions will be available in late November 2004. Volume pricing for LCS 2005 starts at $750 per server for the standard edition and $3,000 per server for the enterprise edition.
Cisco has boosted the security on its VoIP phones and new security features for its IP Communications system (CallManager) that enhances voice privacy using encryption. The new Cisco CallManager 4.1 IP telephony system extends voice media and signaling encryption support for new 7940G and 7960G Cisco IP phones and over 2.5 million installed Cisco 7940G and 7960G IP phones. Media encryption helps to ensure the security and privacy of telephone conversations and signaling encryption protects against tampering with telephone signaling packets. Cisco CallManager 4.1 now also interoperates with a wide range of Cisco Media Gateways, including the Integrated Services Router line, to provide voice media and signaling encryption support.
"The addition of media encryption support for the Cisco 7960G and 7940G Cisco IP phones and media gateways will provide us with a high level of privacy assurance for our voice traffic and additional investment protection for the 3,000 plus Cisco IP phones we have deployed around the world," said Kevin Wetzel, director of Global Operation Services for H.B. Fuller Company, a global manufacturer and marketer of adhesives, sealants, coatings, paints and other specialty chemical products. H.B. Fuller, which switched from private branch exchange (PBX) equipment in 2002 to a Cisco IP Communications system, is currently planning to upgrade their offices in 20 countries to Cisco CallManager 4.1. The company will also be deploying CallManager 4.1 in an additional eight countries in 2005.
Media encryption support for Cisco Media Gateways complements the strong Voice over Virtual Private Network (V3PN) and threat defense security capabilities these platforms already offer. Media encryption on media gateways enhances voice privacy on Cisco IP phones in remote offices and provides more secure connectivity to legacy devices, including digital telephones and fax machines. In addition, Cisco is also announcing secure private messaging for Cisco Unity(TM) , an industry-first encrypted messaging feature that protects the contents of voice messages.
"These security enhancements to CallManager 4.1 embody Cisco's overall Self-Defending Network strategy, which calls for an integrated, systems approach to security," said Zeus Kerravala, vice president of enterprise infrastructure at The Yankee Group. "By adding media encryption to its 7960 and 7940 IP phones and media gateway products, Cisco demonstrates an insightful conclusion -- that the phone endpoint should mirror any highly secure web application. At the same time, Cisco customers gain increased security at more layers of an IP Communications system than those from any other vendor."
With new Q.SIG enhancements in CallManager 4.1, the Cisco IP Communications system offers an optimal migration path for customers that require interoperability with private branch exchange (PBX) systems. Q.SIG is the world wide signaling standard for PBX systems. Cisco CallManager 4.1 also features new, powerful call routing functionality and additional features that provide customers with significant cost control and call tracking benefits.
Cisco CallManager 4.1 software with a Cisco Media Convergence Server starts at $5,995 (USD). Cisco CallManager 4.1 software is now available as a no-cost upgrade for Cisco CallManager 4.0 customers. Media encryption software on Cisco Media Gateways is a standard option in the recently introduced Cisco Integrated Services Router. The new secure voice messaging feature in Cisco Unity 4.04 is a no-cost enhancement for Unity customers.
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| Treo 650 |
It also features integrated Bluetooth technology for communicating with wireless headsets, car kits, and other Bluetooth devices, but alas unlike the HP iPAQ h6315 (the HP iPAQ h6315 is the Swiss Army Knife "everything but the kitchen sink" of smartphones) , it does not support WiFi. It does however support a removable battery and non-volatile memory - so while you're swapping batteries, you won't lose any data. It also has an improved digital camera that can also captures video. They also added quad-band support and a new spiffier 312Mhz processor. Unlike the rumors, the Treo 650 runs Palm OS 5.4, not the upcoming Cobalt OS.
Other features include:
- An improved backlit slightly larger QWERTY keyboard for even easier typing
- Support for corporate email access to Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 using VersaMail™ email software
- A built-in MP3 player
- RealPlayer included – requires SD memory card, sold separately
- 16-bit color (displays over 65,000 colors)
- A single Inbox for text and picture messaging, so you can manage all your messages from one convenient place
- EDGE support, which doubles the data speed of the previous GPRS version
- 23MB user-available stored non-volatile memory (22MB multi-lingual)
- GSM/GPRS model: Up to 6 hours talk time and up to 300 hours standby time
- CDMA model: Up to 5 hours talk time and up to 2 weeks standby time
and finally...
- Digital camera:
• VGA with 640x480 (0.3 megapixels) resolution and automatic light balancing
• 2x zoom
• Self-portrait mirror
• Captures video
Importantly, the Treo 650 FINALLY supports full Microsoft Exchange integration (Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 required) which allows you full-featured email functionality - including the ability to delete messages from the Treo which will then delete it from the Exchange Server using Microsoft's ActiveSync protocol. "The combination of the Exchange Server ActiveSync protocol and mobile solutions from palmOne provides customers with a direct means of extending wireless access to corporate email from their palmOne devices in the field," said Dave Thompson, vice president of Exchange Server at Microsoft. "We believe that the combination of Treo smartphones and Exchange Server 2003 can significantly enhance end-user productivity by providing a secure, direct, easily implemented wireless email while simultaneously lowering IT costs by eliminating the need for middleware." I should point out that it also supports the IMAP mail functions as well.
The Treo 650 is hands down one of the best most feature-rich smartphones you can buy. I can't wait to get one myself to play around with! Stay tuned...
Mobilis, apparently has a new mobile wireless solution for commuter trains using WiMAX. I've always read that WiMAX has problems with any sort of high velocity or movement. Though since velocity (or speed) is all relative (read Albert Einstein's theory of relativity), I suppose if the transmitters are installed on the train, then even though you are travelling at high-speed, the WiMAX transmission signals will be travelling "relative" to the passengers speed.
Of course, then the question becomes, how do they get high-speed wireless signals from off the train? After all, if you are surfing www.msnbc.com, you need to hop off the train's LAN and reach the Internet. I'm not sure if they are using satellite, WiMAX, or some other wireless technology to do that.
Maybe they did solve the "mobility" issue with the WiMAX specification? Hard to say from this press release below. I do know a competing wireless technology from Flarion works when in high-speed motion. (I blogged it here: Flarion vs. WiMAX)
It does seem to indicate it can handle "high speed handoffs" which seems to me they have indeed solved the mobility issue with WiMAX. If so, BRAVO!
The specifications definitely seem very interesting in the news release.
As the train races down the tracks, Mobilis can stream a broadband connection (32 Mbps) to and from the individual cars. Applications include streaming video security cameras located in each car, hot spot access for commuters, telematics, interactive information and advertising to the riders that enables them to purchase tickets, gifts, etc.
Wi-LAN LAUNCHES MOBILIS™ THE FIRST MOBILE COMMUNICATION PRODUCT TO DELIVER BROADBAND THROUGHPUT WITH SEAMLESS HANDOFF IN A HIGH-SPEED ENVIRONMENT
Product Addresses the Security and Communication Needs of Public Transit and Vehicular Public Safety Systems
CALGARY, Canada - Wi-LAN Inc. (TSX:WIN), the global provider of market-leading broadband wireless communications products and technologies and the original charter member of the WiMAX Forum(1), today launched Mobilis, the first commercially available two-way broadband wireless product designed for a high-speed mobile environment, at the ITS World Congress 2004 in Nagoya, Japan.
Wi-LAN is initially targeting Mobilis at the Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) market. ITS wireless applications include real-time video surveillance, streaming advertising, and hotspot Internet access for passengers.
"We have seen very positive results with Mobilis in field trials with key transportation customers in Korea," said Dr. Hyun Chul Nam, Chief Executive Officer of Wellink, a leading integrator of high-speed telecommunications systems. "As a Wi-LAN business and development partner, we are very excited about the new business opportunities Mobilis represents and we expect to be in the position to announce customer deployments of Mobilis in the near future."
Available in mid-November 2004, Mobilis is the first product of its kind to deliver on the mobile broadband wireless promise of IEEE Standard 802.16e(1), the standard that the WiMAX Forum expects to certify in 2006. Using its patented and market-leading W-OFDM technology, Wi-LAN has been testing and demonstrating broadband wireless in a high-speed mobile environment for several years; with Mobilis, Wi-LAN is the first vendor to bring this technology to market.
"Mobilis is an extremely significant breakthrough for Wi-LAN and the broadband wireless industry in general. It is the first product to address the real world need for onboard video security on transit vehicles with the capability to also offer value-added passenger services such as mobile hotspots" said Dr. Sayed-Amr (Sisso) El-Hamamsy, President and CEO, Wi-LAN Inc. "We are the only vendor to release a commercial product with the demonstrated ability to deliver such high data throughput with seamless handoff for use in a high-speed environment.”
Mobilis delivers broadband wireless access at speeds that can exceed 110 km/hour. Mobilis features Sequential Soft Fast Handoff, which translates to uninterrupted service for mobile mission-critical security applications, and seamless access for transit passengers who wish to catch up on email or browse online news during their commute.
Mobilis offers compelling competitive advantages over other technologies:
1 Compared to traditional Fixed Wireless Access, Mobilis operates in high-speed mobile environments, applying a robust handoff scheme to ensure no communication interruption.
2 In contrast to 3G, Mobilis delivers data throughput of more than 100 times faster (32 mbps vs. 284 kbps).
3 Mobilis is superior to WLAN technology solutions because it is designed for the outdoors, reaches longer distances, operates in a high-speed mobile environment, and provides robust handoff to ensure constant communication.
4 Compared to satellite solutions, Mobilis offers better performance at a lower cost and can operate in underground subways and tunnels.
Mobilis delivers a dynamic link with bandwidth of up to 32 Mbps, making it ideal for bandwidth-intensive applications such as streaming video and internet browsing, while delivering low latency, making it suitable for a VoIP solution. As well, Mobilis’ relatively small antenna makes it a more practical and attractive solution for transit vehicles than larger satellite dishes.
“Wi-LAN’s Mobilis addresses the convergence of mobile data acquisitions and centralized incident reporting requirements. Connected Mobility will be the cornerstone of future applications ranging from intelligent highway and toll collections to emergency response,” said Rich Thoma, technology and transportation analyst and principal of Thoma Consulting. “I expect the Mobilis product will become a future platform for critical communication systems required by Public Safety, Homeland Security and ITS."
About Wi-LAN Inc.
Wi-LAN is a global provider of broadband wireless communications products and technologies, offering businesses, including telecom service providers, and government enterprises effective, economic and secure wireless high-speed communications solutions. Wi-LAN specializes in high-speed Internet access, data network extension, and wireless data and telephony backhaul, utilizing its high quality products and industry-leading technologies.
Wi-LAN believes its portfolio of patents, including its core W-OFDM patents and 17 patents and patent applications acquired from Ensemble Communications in May 2004, are necessary for the implementation of devices using the IEEE 802.16 WirelessMAN Standard (1) and the ETSI BRAN HiperMAN(1) standard (the WiMAX Forum(1) standards). As well, Wi-LAN’s W-OFDM patents are believed to be required for the implementation of devices using the IEEE standards 802.11a and 802.11g (the 2nd generation Wi-Fi Alliance(1) standards), and the ETSI BRAN HiperLAN/2(1) standard. Wi-LAN licenses its patented technology and has executed non-exclusive W-OFDM license agreements with semiconductor and broadband wireless equipment companies.
Wi-LAN is the chair company of the OFDM Forum (www.ofdm-forum.com) and a charter member of the WiMAX Forum (www.wimaxforum.org). Wi-LAN's common shares trade on The Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol "WIN." Detailed information on Wi-LAN can be found at www.wi-lan.com.
I've seen and played around with lots of ATAs (or some prefer TA for short), which are used by broadband VoIP providers, such as Vonage, AT&T CallVantage, Lingo, Broadvoice, Packet8, etc.
With so many ATAs on the market, it got me thinking, "What would I like to see in the feature-set of the 'ultimate ATA'?"
Well, here's my feature-set for "My Ultimate ATA":
1) Support for the G.729a codec simultaneously on BOTH ports.
Many ATAs only support this compression codec on one port
2) Not locked down or password protected.
Many ITSPs, such as Vonage, lock/password-protect their devices. So if you want to switch VoIP service providers, you are left hanging owning a worthless brick!
3) PSTN Failover in the event of power failure or Internet outage
This is only important if you have a secondary PSTN port to plug into the ATA. Useful in DSL deployments which often keep the analog PSTN line.
4) Dial over the PSTN (if available) intead of VoIP if you dial 911
This negates the need for E911, but again, it assumes you haven't killed your land-line.
5) Web-browser administrative interface for accessing advanced ATA functions and features
6) Supports fax machines
Many ATAs have difficulty with fax machines
7) Handles touch-tone digits
Some ATAs have difficulty handing touch-tones due to compression
8) ATA works well with TiVo using VoIP call
Often times if you connect a TiVo to an ATA's analog port for updating the TV guide listings, it fails. There are many frustrated TiVo users out there that killed their landline and have tried to use a VoIP call to perform the updates. This has to do with the fax modem built into the TiVo and the compression that goes on inside the ATA which affects the fax signals.
9) Supports STUN and other NAT traversal methods.
10) Can setup call forwarding from the web interface to forward calls to a specified number (i.e. cell phone)
11) Can setup advanced call routing and call forwarding rules
For example, the ability to define schedules for when calls are forwarded to which number. Another example: You can specify that it calls multiple pre-specified numbers "round-robin style" until someone answers and enters in a PIN to accept the forwarded call.
12) SIP Support (obviously)
13) Supports registering onto multiple SIP registrars.
This way you can for example, register on Vonage's server (for PSTN outbound calling) and also register on FWD (SIP-to-SIP user calls). Then you can initiate calls to either the PSTN or SIP users in a SIP database.
14) QoS support - prioritize VoIP packets
15) Let the ATA sit in front of or behind the firewall. (Most, but not all support both)
16) Plug and Play configuration to any VoIP service provider using the Web inteface
I should be able to type 192.168.1.x, logon to the ATA, select an ITSP (Vonage, Packet8, CallVantage), enter a credit card, and it will confgure the settings for me, transmit my MAC address and credit info to the ITSP. Of course, this won't happen anytime soon. No ITSP is that "open" --- yet!
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| What Happens if You Connect Too Many Phones to an ATA |
Well, I know I missed a few features I've wanted over the past couple of years, so feel free to post some comments with your suggested ATA features.
I recently wrote that someone asked me if I knew what the AT&T CallVantage (VoIP) customer numbers were.
He said that the number of AT&T's CallVantage customers "SUCK so badly compared to VONAGE who is kicking AT&T around the block on voip numbers."
I also wrote, "AT&T is a public company, so I would assume their SEC filings would contain the information about how many CallVantage customers they have. Anyone want to volunteer to read their SEC filing report and report back here?"
Well someone indeed volunteered to check out their SEC filing and emailed me with:
"why did AT&T NOT break out VoIP numbers in the quarterly report??"
Answer: "cause they suck????"
I'm with him. A public company hiding its VoIP numbers from it's shareholders? What gives?
Another win for Popular Telephony with an Asian company called Atonics, Inc., a leading designer of combined Wi-Fi VoIP solutions based out of Taiwan...
As you know from reading my blog, Popular Telephony is a P2P serverless VoIP solution that supports SIP, H.323, can reach the PSTN or even call Skype users. If your not familiar, I suggest you go read Popular Telephony's Peerio a Skype Killer?
Here is today's announcement of the win for Popular Telephony...
POPULAR TELEPHONY AND ATONICS PARTNER TO PROVIDE FIXED AND WIRELESS SERVERLESS TELEPHONY SOLUTIONS
October 20, 2004 Popular Telephony Inc., the telecommunications middleware company behind the Peerio serverless communications invention, today announced their first ever product licensing agreement in Asia with Taiwan based Atonics Inc., one of the industry’s leading designers of combined Wi-Fi VoIP solutions.
The agreement will enable Atonics to manufacture and market a full range of “C’est Peerio™” terminals, including the first ever Wi-Fi IP phone to be powered by a serverless peer-to-peer technology. For Popular Telephony this partnership represents the company’s first efforts in entering the Asian enterprise and consumer marketplaces. Both companies will also cooperate jointly in marketing of Atonics’ “C’est Peerio” phones, bringing a combined Wi-Fi and fixed line serverless telephony system to businesses and consumers worldwide.
Peerio™ is Popular Telephony’s innovative solution that implements a serverless VoIP telephony system via a highly portable platform. Peerio eliminates the need for any centralized server and allows any IP phone, endpoint or other terminal to interconnect and materialize into a complete telephony system that is self-servicing and self-healing, redundant, secure and protocol-agnostic, as it is capable of operating on top of SIP or H.323 platforms. Peerio offers autonomous telephony that is free of central server control, as any Peerio-intelligent device or system is capable of supporting the widest possible range of telephony features and services, delivering up to 450 features, and can seamlessly scale to over 4 billion lines simultaneously.
Atonics as a strategic partner of Atmel Corp. USA, combines Atmel’s world leading System-on-Chip technology with Atonics’ system expertise enabling them to become the best VoIP solution provider in cost, performance and user-friendliness.
“Peerio™ is the first IP telephony system to provide a genuine alternative to the classic IP PBX system,” said Joseph Chiang, the CEO of Atonics, Inc. “Their serverless operability when combined with the level of functionality of hundreds of telephony features, hardware-free voicemail, industry standards support makes for a breakthrough product offering for Atonics,”.
Scalability will also make the difference. Peerio’s unique scaling from two to more than four billion users without additional costs, hardware or complexity places Peerio™ in an enviable position compared to all other telephony solutions. “It clearly makes economic sense for small to medium enterprises to deploy the Peerio powered Atonics phones, and is equally applicable to next generation carriers and Internet providers looking to create large-scale residential deployments” added Chiang.
Users of the “C’est Peerio” Atonics phones will be able to make free Peerio to Peerio (?) calls over any IP network and will even be able to assign themselves their own PSTN numbers in order to make and receive calls from the PSTN using Popular Telephony’s GNUP application (www.gnup.org).
“We are very excited and pleased to announce this collaboration with Atonicsas we regard the Asian market as a strategic early proving ground for Peerio serverless technology adoption, Being able to partner with a renowned market leader in Atonics is a wonderful first step,” – said Gavin McFadyen, the Marketing Director at Popular Telephony. “The addition of Atmel-based fixed line IP phones and wireless WiFi phones into Popular Telephony’s portfolio is equally of great value to both enterprise and residential customers worldwide, who will be able to use existing IP networks and WiFi hotspots easily make free and toll calls at any time.”
Thought I would share an email I literally just received, which has some VoIP numbers that contradict the Yankee Group's overall industry VoIP numbers. Yankee Group claims 1 million TOTAL VoIP subscribers by years end. This release itself states 1.8 million VoiceGlo VoIP users which already supercedes that without even including other VoIP players.
The email also contained a news release worth checking out.
(Note: my guess is that the Yankee Group's VoIP numbers are only the broadband VoIP provider subscribers to Vonage, AT&T CallVantage, Packet8, Lingo, etc. and not other forms of VoIP)
___________________________________________________________________
Email I received:
Consumers are starting to realize that VoIP is becoming a viable phone alternative to the rising cost of traditional phone services. In fact, Jupiter Research estimates that 12.1 million households in the United States will be using VoIP services by 2009. To that end, Voiceglo, a global, full-service Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) communications company and a leader in the VoIP industry, today announced that it has more than 1.8 million users of its proprietary, patent-pending Internet phone technology, GloPhone, with an average monthly growth rate of 122%.
The GloPhone was first offered to consumers in February 2004 as an affordable and convenient way to call friends and family throughout the world using a dial-up or broadband Internet connection on their computers. Since then, customers in more than 60 countries have acquired the GloPhone, a number that is quickly increasing as the network continues to expand domestically and internationally.
Over the past five months, Voiceglo has entered into several high profile marketing partnership opportunities with companies like Office Depot, Friendster, eDonkey and NeoPets to boost consumer awareness of the GloPhone, its innovative features, affordable pricing structure and, most importantly, global portability. GloPhone has received several honors for its achievements, including Frost & Sullivan’s Product Differentiation Innovation Award, SuperComm’s 2004 SuperQuest Award and the 2004 VoIP Service Provider Award by Internet Telephony magazine for its ability to rapidly accelerate market adoption of its patented, proprietary VoIP technology both domestically and internationally, and for its continued contributions to the overall growth of the VoIP industry.
___________________________________________________________________
Voiceglo Surpasses More Than 1.8 Million Users on Its Global VoIP Network
Consumers in More Than 60 Countries are Now Using Company’s Unique Web and PC-based Internet Phone Service to Connect with Friends and Family Throughout the World
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - OCTOBER 20, 2004 – Voiceglo (OTCBB: TGLO), a global, full-service Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) communications company, today announced that it has more than 1.8 million users of its proprietary, patent-pending Internet phone technology, GloPhone. The GloPhone was first offered to consumers in February 2004 as an affordable and convenient way to call friends and family throughout the world using a dial-up or broadband Internet connection on their computers. Since then, customers in more than 60 countries have acquired the GloPhone, a number that is quickly increasing as the network continues to expand domestically and internationally.
Over the past five months, Voiceglo entered into several high profile marketing partnership opportunities to boost consumer awareness of the GloPhone, its innovative features, affordable pricing structure and, most importantly, global portability. By teaming up with leading companies such as Office Depot, Friendster, eDonkey and NeoPets, Voiceglo has been able to provide GloPhone service to millions of consumers worldwide and break down the barriers that have restricted international phone communications due to cost constraints.
“Since Voiceglo first launched the GloPhone in February, we now have more than 1.8 million users globally, which is an impressive adoption rate in the VoIP market,” stated Edward Cespedes, president, Voiceglo. “We are confident that we will continue to see extremely strong customer growth within our GloPhone network in the United States and throughout the world. It is Voiceglo’s goal to have a GloPhone on every computer desktop in the world.”
Since launch, Voiceglo now has 1,820,157 users on its GloPhone network, with an average monthly growth rate of 122 percent, an example of how quickly consumers are starting to understand that VoIP is becoming a viable phone alternative to the rising cost of traditional telecommunications services. By integrating voice with its proprietary, patent-pending peer-to-peer technology, Voiceglo has been able to accelerate consumer adoption of VoIP and make significant contributions to the overall development of the global VoIP industry. In fact, according to Jupiter Research, 12.1 million households in the United States will be using VoIP services by 2009.
Although Voiceglo’s GloPhone was just introduced in mid-February 2004, the unique Web and PC-based VoIP service has already made a significant impact on the VoIP industry and has received several honors for its achievements with GloPhone, including Frost & Sullivan’s Product Differentiation Innovation Award, SuperComm’s 2004 SuperQuest Award and the 2004 VoIP Service Provider Award by Internet Telephony magazine for its ability to rapidly accelerate market adoption of its patented, proprietary VoIP technology both domestically and internationally, and for its continued contributions to the overall growth of the VoIP industry.
Voiceglo’s innovative way of combining free and low-cost global peer-to-peer broadband or dial-up VoIP with access to make and receive calls from conventional and wireless phones anywhere in the world, will allow the company to make continued gains in the industry and experience an even greater rate of phone activation within its next-generation VoIP network.
Update to my AOL and Dial-UP VoIP blog entry:
A source told me that AOL's plans are indeed for broadband not dial-up. Here's my take on it... First, AOL isn't a "true" broadband provider. In fact, they used to resell cable modems and DSL access then get people to sign-up for a broadband provider and AOL. It's their BYOA content model - Bring Your Own Access and we'll provide the content (at a price). The value add is AOL's proprietary content. They actually got out of this business model in March of this year. AOL officials stated in March that it will no longer resell cable modem and DSL access, refocusing its broadband efforts entirely on content and services. "We’re phasing out connectivity because what we do best are services and features," the spokeswoman said. "We’re focusing on what broadband users want, and we can offer a lot more of those things if we’re not aggregating these different access services."
So basically, AOL's value add goes back to content. Sure, a few years ago a lot of people JUST HAD to sign up with AOL because everyone was on their IM (Instant Message) client. If you wanted to chat with friends, you had to use AOL (or their AIM program which is free, but most people just signed up with AOL with those AOL CD mailers). AOL's IM and chat room advantages are no longer the case today, with chat programs that interoperate, and better chat room programs such as mIRC, that "value add" is gone. That leaves good web content - I can find just as good content on the Web that is FREE versus AOL's monthly subscription to their proprietary content.
Finally, I'm not sure I am willing to pay $30/month for broadband (Charter, SBC, Comcast, etc.) and then an additional $19.99 per month for AOL's content, which again, let me reiterate, is often found elsewhere on the Internet. But apparently there are millions of AOL broadband idiots who do see the need for AOL's content. Sorry, that was harsh, but I just don't get why they are wasting their money.
I used AOL in the past over dial-up and I hated their interface which was too childish/cartoonish. Today, I really don't see the need for AOL's proprietary interface. Give me a web browser any day. I see AOL's broadband subscriber list slowing and then eventually retreating. If I owned AOL stock, I would be selling it... but that's just my opinion.
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| Pretec 12GB CompactFlash Card |
The CF cards (with supposedly 80X speeds) will be available as 3 GB, 4 GB, 6 GB and 12 GB. The first three cards (3, 4 & 6 GB) are available in Japan as of today, the larger 12 GB card by the end of the year. Check out the full story here: Pretec 12 GB CF - just $14,900
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| FCC Chairman Michael Powell |
Powell told an audience at an industry conference that letting states regulate VoIP would lead to conflicting regulations and stifle competition. In my opinion, the spaghetti of telecom regulation rules helped the traditional carriers hold a tight grip on the telecom industry for decades. So I agree with Powell and I feel that regulating VoIP today would no doubt require a future VoIP Telecom Act equivalent to the Telecommunications Deregulation Act of 1996 if we permit regulations to “infest” the VoIP industry.
Powell told reporters that he will introduce a proposal to the FCC in less than a month for a vote, and even before the new Congress begins its session in January. This could be the most important vote this year --- after the presidential election of course! He also stated, "We cannot avoid this question any longer," he said. "It is very likely that treatment of VOIP will have some of the farthest reaching consequences of anything this commission has done or will do." Wow, depending on what happens, this could be one of the biggest decisions to impact the VoIP industry.
"There's one thing the government has a first and profound responsibility to do - protect its citizens from harm. That's not an economic question," Powell said. "It is very likely that VoIP will have far reaching consequences of anything the commission has done or will do. We must get this right." He referred to VoIP technology stating "[VoIP] has ignited a fire under a stalled and depressed industry.”
Powell cited a study by The Yankee Group, that projects 1 million VoIP subscribers nationwide by year's end, compared with just 131,000 last year. I think his numbers or actually The Yankee Group’s numbers are way off. The numbers are much higher than that in my opinion.
It should be interesting to see what decision is made regarding VoIP at the FCC in the next month or so.
America Online is in process of testing a flat-rate/month VoIP service, utilizing Level3’s network as it seeks to help stem the increasing customer defection. The service will launch in 2005.
As broadband connections in the United States continue to rise, the need for predominantly dial-up ISPs, such as AOL diminishes. I am assuming that AOL will attempt to provide “dial-up VoIP” so they can offer a competitive price-point that will put a tourniquet on the customer blood letting. I’m not holding my breath. While there are still millions of people on dial-up, I just don’t see “dial-up VoIP” succeeding for very long. Dial-up is the past and broadband is the present and the future. Not only that, but do you know who is predominantly using dial-up? The less technically savvy people - like my father who uses his dial-up Internet connection to check email, surf the Web, and trade stocks. He doesn’t download or stream music, play videos, use P2P software, or utilize any other bandwidth heavy Internet applications - and AOL wants to target him as a VoIP dial-up user? I don’t think so.
The only people potentially to use “dial-up VoIP” are teenagers and young adults. But guess what. Teenagers are the BIGGEST users of streaming music and videos, downloading music and using P2P software, so if they are currently on dial-up, no doubt they will push their parents HARD to upgrade their Internet connection to a fast broadband connection, which negates the need for dial-up VoIP.
I should point out that AOL still has 23 million subscribers, 4 million of whom have broadband hookups. So perhaps AOL isn’t going after "dial-up VoIP" after all? Maybe they will only offer a flat-rate VoIP package plan just for their broadband subscribers? That does make more sense to me. Maybe if AOL makes dial-up VoIP so simple it will make sense for a certain “niche”, but again, I’m not holding my breath.
