Erik Linask
writer
CloudTC and N-Able Acquired
"Australian-owned IP PBX systems company, Vixtel, has completed the acquisition of Silicon Valley based glass phone developer, CloudTC, for an undisclosed figure,"...
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ProfitBricks: Where InfiniBand Meets Cloud 2.0
In a recent meeting with William Toll and Pete Johnson of ProfitBricks, the pair were ecstatic to explain how their company has...
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Proactive Care Puts Operators One Step Ahead
By Thomas Fuerst, Senior Director, Multimedia Solutions MarketingAlcatel-Lucent
Monitoring and analyzing network data proactively saves operators time, money, and customers.
When a network service fails, it makes headlines, ticks off customers, and costs that network operator money. When a failure is headed off in advance, on the other hand, there might not be praise-laden headlines, but it's newsworthy nonetheless.
The traditional approach to customer care has typically been: a disgruntled customer calls customer service and complains of a service interruption or problem; the rep, learning of it for the first time, sends out a technician the next day, and eventually finds a resolution. Often, customers are left feeling put out, and the operator has spent significant time and money resolving the problem. Even worse is the customer who doesn’t call and just feels this is ‘typical’ of their network experience. That is a customer at risk of leaving.
Proactive care flips this dynamic on its head by using predictive analytics to identify potential outages or errors in the network and stop them before they occur. It consists of three main parts: one, constantly monitoring and measuring data on the network; two, real-time analysis of the data; and three, the most important, acting on that analysis to fix the problem.
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10 Lessons from Volleyball
I've played volleyball for over 25 years. I have traveled around the US to watch the pros live - both indoor...
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Emerging Threats Combats a Million Plus Pieces of New Malware a Week
There are 250,000 plus new pieces of malware being produced each day equating to one piece per person in the US in...
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NFV-Based Software Telcos Need OSS/BSS Interoperability
One of the goals of ETSI NFV is to allow new entrants to provide solutions to carriers based on software instead of...
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SysAid's Lifshitz: The Cloud Will Dominate ITSM Market
Cloud computing has really become a household word with mainstream media outlets running stories on television about the growth in the space...
Full Story »What Service Providers Need to Know About SIP Trunking
February 2, 2011Ingate kicked off its SIP Trunk-Unified Communications Summit, again collocated with ITEXPO, with a new feature – a service provider focused day. The motivation comes from a real need to educate the service provider community on how to effectively deploy SIP trunks, in order to maximize on interest.
Steve Johnson tells me there is a real “swell of interest” from international markets (@Hillary there’s another instance of the phrase).
ITEXPO Conference Sessions Kick Off
February 2, 2011ITEXPO conference sessions have officially kicked off, with fantastic presentations on whatever communications technology touches your business.
So much focus has been placed on the latest generation of devices and wireless technologies and their impact on businesses. The reason these technologies are already have a widespread impact on business networks and IT professionals is the volume of users – the millennial generation, which demands not only the latest technologies and capabilities, but they are insisting on having access to similar solutions wherever they are.
Interactive Intelligence's Enterprise Cloud Comms Panel at ITEXPO
February 1, 2011
I’m here at ITEXPO East 2011, at one of the many successful pre-conference events, this one at the Gansevoort Hotel in Miami Beach, where Rich Tehrani has just kicked off the panel discussion on the impact and the value of Cloud Communications on the enterprise market. His panelists include David Yedwab, Gary Kim, Jon Arnold, Mark Ricca, and Alan Percy.
Rich began by asking if there is a difference between Centrex and Cloud – the responses were entertaining and enlightening.
Broadvox and Ingate: SIP is Here to Stay
February 1, 2011We’re in the opening hours of ITEXPO, with several pre-conference events already underway, including a special service provider edition of Ingate’s SIP Trunking-UC Summit.
Chad Krantz was just at the podium, addressing nearly three dozen attendees looking to understand the benefits of SIP Trunking in the enterprise from the service provider perspective. The end game, of course is revenue, but, as Krantz noted, “SIP is a true revolution within the industry and has so many advantages over traditional VoIP – it is here to stay.”
Among the benefits of SIP trunking in the enterprise: Remote survivability, scalability, cloud based, hard and soft cost savings, simple upgrades.
But, a few of the obstacles that must be overcome by service providers include: High capex, complex deployment, and user training.
To find out more, including how to overcome these obstacles, and also how to effectively deploy SIP Trunks, visit Broadvox (booth 606) on the ITEXPO show floor this week, and stop by Ingate’s SIP Trunk-Unified Communications Summit, going on all week at the Miami Beach Convention Center.
Time to Trade in Plastic Campaign Signage for Social Media
November 2, 2010
As I drove from TMC's office to my local polling facility, I was once again amazed by the sheer number of signs promoting the various candidates hoping to secure gubernatorial, senatorial, and other offices in today's elections. I had driven past these same signs every day for the past month or more, and often wondered, "Why?"
Why what? Why is it necessary to waste resources printing and assembling these signs, and then placing them across towns and cities? Why is it then necessary to expend resources taking them down and disposing of them?
The whole concept resembles a children's game, where each competes to see who has more trading cards - or bigger trading cards, if you happened to see any of the oversized Linda McMahon campaign signs in Connecticut, which dwarfed all others.
The point - independent of any political views, as these unsightly displays of fiscal and environmental indifference are hardly limited to any single party - is that in today's age of electronic engagement and social media, this old fashioned strategy should have already become a historical phenomenon.
If the last presidential election showed one thing, it proved the power of technology and social media and interaction is as strong a force as any other. Politics is a business, and anyone following the technology space knows how quickly social media has become part of the business world. Companies are integrating social media into their customer relationship management activities, enterprise social media platforms are growing by the day, Facebook pages and LinkedIn groups supporting business activities have become the norm.
So, with the technology that is available today, from social media to digital signage to mobile advertising, is it really still necessary to pollute our yards and streets with costly cardboard and plastic signs? I have to wonder what impact it would have if one candidate would take all the money his or her campaign would have spent on physical signage and put it toward funding new technology or textbooks at local schools. I would be willing to bet more than a few voters would quickly be swayed to change their votes on that evidence alone, as opposed to often empty campaign promises. That's if you're lucky enough to even get that. When asked about his plans for addressing certain inefficiencies in educational facilities, one local candidate responded to me, "Come talk to me if I win." The point, simply, is that at a time when we businesses and consumers alike must practice fiscal responsibility and environmental awareness, is it too much to ask that political candidates do the same? "Practice what you preach" is an old adage, but it carries as much weight today as ever.
So, with the technology that is available today, from social media to digital signage to mobile advertising, is it really still necessary to pollute our yards and streets with costly cardboard and plastic signs? I have to wonder what impact it would have if one candidate would take all the money his or her campaign would have spent on physical signage and put it toward funding new technology or textbooks at local schools. I would be willing to bet more than a few voters would quickly be swayed to change their votes on that evidence alone, as opposed to often empty campaign promises. That's if you're lucky enough to even get that. When asked about his plans for addressing certain inefficiencies in educational facilities, one local candidate responded to me, "Come talk to me if I win." The point, simply, is that at a time when we businesses and consumers alike must practice fiscal responsibility and environmental awareness, is it too much to ask that political candidates do the same? "Practice what you preach" is an old adage, but it carries as much weight today as ever.
Asterisk Popularity Rises in Latin America
October 26, 2010
As Jared Smith and Derek Palouquin continued to get into the basics of setting up an Asterisk-based phone system this morning at AstriCon 2010, across the hall, Michael Skopek from 2N Telecommunications discussed the impact of Asterisk in Latin America, claiming that most Latin American businesses are very interested in open source in general, and Asterisk, in particular.
Why shouldn't they be? It provides a low-cost alternative to more expensive proprietary solutions without sacrificing functionality. In fact, with a few skilled programmers, it increases flexibility of the communications system.
More specifically, he suggests that Asterisks' flexibility - and all the things that Asterisk can "be" allow telecom providers like 2N to introduce new services to their existing customers.
"They buy a PBX system, and then come back for something more," he says. "The idea is to offer your existing clients a new solution every time."
Currently, one of the popular product 2N offers is its GSM gateway, which reduces costs for calling from fixed lines to GSM networks s well as sending and receiving SMS messages and fax transmissions. Eventually, it will also introduce an LTE gateway, which will allow businesses to use VoIP as a communications standard across wireless and wireline networks.
"This is a great solution for Asterisk because the basic solution will not be going over a GSM network," says Skopek.
This is just one example of his theory that successful providers always be prepared to introduce new solutions that push the limits of existing capabilities and force developers to continually reinvent their solutions and allow providers to deliver full, integrated service packages.
One particular capability I found particularly interesting involves an entry door communications system, which 2N does have in its portfolio. It's a SIP-based system that can easily be integrated into an Asterisk environment. And, if you forget your key, you can unlock your door via SMS.
AstriCon 2010 Kicks Off with SRO Crowd
October 26, 2010
The last time I was here at the Gaylord National, Rich Tehrani was in the middle of a video interview with Parature's Gary McNeil when the U.S. scored in injury time to defeat Algeria. You can't miss the roar of the crown about half way through.
Today, I'm back at the venue as AstriCon 2010 kicks off, with a standing room only crowd at the opening session, Asterisk 1-2-3, where Jared Smith, Fedora project leader at Red Hat, began with a discussion of all the things Asterisk is, including a product for carriers and service providers.
"Carriers won't often admit it, but they love it," says Smith. "Some of the ways they use Asterisk include as a feature server, least cost routing solution, VoIP gateway, peering server, unified messaging server, calling card & international callback server, and much more." But, perhaps more interesting was his short commentary on what Asterisk is not, including refuting several common misconceptions:
Smith did admit that, when he first began using Asterisk, he was overwhelmed because he didn't have a great understanding of the system. But, as he learned, he realized it is actually quite easy to work with. His goal for the session is to have attendees leave with a foundation for easily working with Asterisk. The name Asterisk was chosen, in fact, because of its wild card nature. It can mean so many things, perhaps the most commonly recognized is within search functions. Read more about Smith's discussion of what Asterisk is here.
"Carriers won't often admit it, but they love it," says Smith. "Some of the ways they use Asterisk include as a feature server, least cost routing solution, VoIP gateway, peering server, unified messaging server, calling card & international callback server, and much more." But, perhaps more interesting was his short commentary on what Asterisk is not, including refuting several common misconceptions:
- Asterisk is not a consumer product
- Asterisk is not a VoIP provider in a box
- Asterisk is not a SIP proxy
- Asterisk is not as hard as it looks
Smith did admit that, when he first began using Asterisk, he was overwhelmed because he didn't have a great understanding of the system. But, as he learned, he realized it is actually quite easy to work with. His goal for the session is to have attendees leave with a foundation for easily working with Asterisk. The name Asterisk was chosen, in fact, because of its wild card nature. It can mean so many things, perhaps the most commonly recognized is within search functions. Read more about Smith's discussion of what Asterisk is here.
Taqua Sets Game Plan for v6.2 of T7000
October 11, 2010
As much as Eric Pratt and Rob Riordan led off this year's Taqua User Group Conference in Dallas by emphasizing the importance of collaboration, Taqua's continued success will ultimately grounded in its ability to enhance its own product, the T7000 switching system.
As the third presenter at Taqua's annual user conference, Paul Borel, Director of product management and sales engineering at Taqua, was on hand to provide an in-depth look at the future of the platform behind the success of the Dallas-based company.
Well, if you heard Pratt speak, you know he gives much of the credit to the user community. And he should - they have allowed Taqua to grow to more than 250 users today. According to Borel, release 6.2, scheduled for sometime in December, will include a number of enhancements, many of which have been implemented based on feedback from previous user group conferences. They include:
Well, if you heard Pratt speak, you know he gives much of the credit to the user community. And he should - they have allowed Taqua to grow to more than 250 users today. According to Borel, release 6.2, scheduled for sometime in December, will include a number of enhancements, many of which have been implemented based on feedback from previous user group conferences. They include:
· An enhanced admin portal
· Routing groups (for increased flexibility in providing differing class of service)
· Support for T.38 fax (if you've talked to any of the fax vendors that were at ITEXPO last week, you'll know how critical they feel fax is to a complete communications solution)
· Screen pop enhancements (including IPTV caller ID)
· Calling name and LNP caching (cost reduction from not having to dip into data stores with each call)
· Automatic aging for changing number announcements
· Billing enhancements (including bringing development of CDR to AMA/EMI conversion in-house to overcome integration issues)
· Performance enhancements (including a faster boot process reducing reboot time to less than a 10th of current time, and increased calls per second on the chassis)
· Various SIP protocol enhancements
· PIC2 additional codec support (ILBC, G.726, G.729, G.728) and Gig-E interface support
· Clock Card (component upgrades and support for international applications)
· Wireless media gateway and lawful intercept delivery functionality
· H.248 Media Gateway (enables selected ports on T7000 to be controlled by text-based H.248)
The Future Requires Teamwork
October 11, 2010
After Taqua CEO Eric Pratt introduced him as a prime example of a user who has embraced the ideal of user collaboration to enhance the value of the T7000 for everyone, Nsight EVP Rob Riordan had little choice but to take the stage and present a compelling case for following in his company's footsteps.
Having been at the house that Jerry built - new Dallas Stadium - a day earlier to watch the Dallas Cowboys battle the Tennessee Titans, Riordan, looked to the Cowboys' owner as a model for Taqua users.
"Jones is not in the football business," he said. "He is in the entertainment business."
The point is that there is little opportunity for additional individual revenue with the NFL's revenue sharing structure. Jones, however, recognized the value in entertainment and has turned his stadium into the ultimate game experience, including the obscenely large screen - though if you weren't sure who sang the national anthem, the screen left little doubt it was country star Trace Adkins.
"You are in a business too -not just communications, but the service business," added Riordan. "You can be a Jerry Jones too." What he means is that service providers have to provide a service for their customers above and beyond the basic offering. Instead of just a football game, they have to offer a complete experience and, importantly, in order to do that well, they have to listen to the customer. In fact, they have do more: they have to understand what customers are actually telling them. Nsight, for instance, seeks to maximizing on its assets to ensure its customers receive the best overall service, which includes becoming an market resource, whereby it informs customers of the latest technologies even if they aren't yet available. The goal is to build a trusted relationship - a stickier relationship. The reason is simple. By becoming a trusted partner to its customers, Nsight significantly reduces the likelihood of churn and, perhaps more importantly, the residual impact of churn, typically manifested in what Riordan calls feeding the hog, meaning that customers don't simply leave, they tell others why they are leaving, the impact of which is significantly increased by the growth of social media. The key, however, is for operators to understand they don't have to do it all on their own, that this entire user conference is built around the idea that what works for one provider should be shared for the benefit of the whole user group. Riordan discussed a number of future opportunities, from home network monitoring and home automation to network-based IP cameras, QoS, and application mashups. In order to make any of these solutions work, partnership are crucial. "The future requires teamwork," he concluded.
If he can get more teamwork on the field, Jones might be a happy as happy at his weekly "user conferences" as Pratt is today.
"You are in a business too -not just communications, but the service business," added Riordan. "You can be a Jerry Jones too." What he means is that service providers have to provide a service for their customers above and beyond the basic offering. Instead of just a football game, they have to offer a complete experience and, importantly, in order to do that well, they have to listen to the customer. In fact, they have do more: they have to understand what customers are actually telling them. Nsight, for instance, seeks to maximizing on its assets to ensure its customers receive the best overall service, which includes becoming an market resource, whereby it informs customers of the latest technologies even if they aren't yet available. The goal is to build a trusted relationship - a stickier relationship. The reason is simple. By becoming a trusted partner to its customers, Nsight significantly reduces the likelihood of churn and, perhaps more importantly, the residual impact of churn, typically manifested in what Riordan calls feeding the hog, meaning that customers don't simply leave, they tell others why they are leaving, the impact of which is significantly increased by the growth of social media. The key, however, is for operators to understand they don't have to do it all on their own, that this entire user conference is built around the idea that what works for one provider should be shared for the benefit of the whole user group. Riordan discussed a number of future opportunities, from home network monitoring and home automation to network-based IP cameras, QoS, and application mashups. In order to make any of these solutions work, partnership are crucial. "The future requires teamwork," he concluded.
If he can get more teamwork on the field, Jones might be a happy as happy at his weekly "user conferences" as Pratt is today.
Taqua User Conference Kicks off in Dallas
October 11, 2010This morning, as Taqua CEO Eric Pratt kicked off the company's 4th annual user group meeting in Dallas - after treating its participating partners and customers to an exciting football game yesterday (less so for Dallas Cowboys' fans than Tennessee Titans' faithful) - his focus was entirely on ongoing collaboration between Taqua and its users, as well as between users.
As Taqua continues to focus on the next gen voice market, Pratt says the company is more intent than ever on fostering a collaborative environment between its users, including the more than 50 in attendance.
"Rob Riordan is a prime example of someone that has taken a company from where a lot of you are and taken it to new heights," said Pratt of the Nsight EVP, who also keynoted today's user conference. "He has embraced the idea of sharing his ideas with the rest of the community."
Nsight, a Green Bay, Wisconsin-based provider of wireless and wireline communications services, embodies the fundamental preached by Taqua that there will always be rural areas that will never get the attention they need from Tier 1 operators, leaving open the door for local and regional operators with an eye on providing their customers the stability few others can by partnering with a switch vendor that is financially in better shape than it has ever been.
Through its partnerships with companies like Cisco, Vodafone, Broadsoft, and Acme Packet, Taqua is enabling its customers to reach their rural customers with a service reliability larger operators are unable to offer - they are simply too large and are not able to focus on the needs of rural customers. Quite simply, they focus on the masses, which means Taqua and its users have a clear path.
More than three years after heading down that path, a focus on North American Tier 2, 3, and 4 operators, is one which many predicted would end in failure, Pratt boasts of Taqua's growing user base, which is evidenced by the largest conference attendance to date.
"Taqua is not technology - it is the people," he said. "The people in this room have seen it, and the reason you are here is you have seen the commitment."
