ITEXPO Blog
| The ITEXPO blog is where you can view the latest news and happenings at TMC's leading VoIP conference.

Longview IoT Boosts Energy and Wireless Efficiency

Some of the biggest challenges slowing down the adoption of IoT are security, efficient battery usage and optimized wireless communications.One company has...

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Hallmark's Simple, Inexpensive Way to Boost Customer Satisfaction

In an effort to boost margins, companies often push more users to automated solutions such as FAQs, chatbots, voice bots and anything...

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Huawei Places the World's First 5G VoNR Video Call

Huawei recently completed the world's first voice over NR (VoNR) call. The voice and video call service was made using two Huawei...

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IGEL Advances Future of Work

IGEL is a provider of a next-gen edge OS for cloud workspaces. The company’s software products include IGEL OS, IGEL UD Pocket (UDP) and Universal...

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Tata Communications and Cisco Collaborate on SD-WAN

Tata Communications and Cisco have extended their partnership to enable enterprises to transform their legacy network to a customized and secure multi-cloud...

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How to Win the 50-Year-Old China Trade War

Today and this week in-fact is historic - the left and right in the U.S. agree that we have a major trade...

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Extreme Elements Enables The Autonomous Enterprise

Extreme Networks just announced Extreme Elements which in-turn enables the autonomous network and subsequently the autonomous enterprise. In a dynamic webinar, Dan...

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ITEXPO in Austin, Texas - Business & Pleasure

September 9, 2011

Rich Tehrani snapped some more photos in Austin, Texas (including some night life shots) and he writes:
The night life here in Austin is legendary with the huge emphasis on live bands. I had a chance to check some of the bands and crowds out last night. It reminded me a bit of Greenwich Village in New York actually. These bars will be a great place for networking next week at ITEXPO for sure.

Meet TMC Editors Monday at ITEXPO in Austin

September 9, 2011

The PSTN Will Die. Time to Learn SIP

September 9, 2011

It should come as no surprise to avid followers of this blog that the PSTN is potentially going to be mothballed in the next seven years. If you are wondering what will replace it, the answer is in-part SIP and protocols TBD. You may know that there will be a can't-miss keynote panel on the death of the PSTN at ITEXPO next week but what you may not know is the SIP Forum - the global organization devoted to SIP interoperability and promotion is making a big splash at the show and if you either purchase, sell, or manufacture/develop SIP products and solutions you may want to lean more.

Here are the details:

SIP Forum to Have Strong Presence at ITEXPO in Austin, TX

Association Sponsor of  ITEXPO and co-located events including 4G Wireless Evolution, and the SIP Tutorial; Leadership to participate in multiple sessions, panels and tutorials, Chairman Richard Shockey to Moderate Keynote Luncheon Panel on “End of POTS” 

NORTH ANDOVER, MA, and AUSTIN, TX September 9, 2011 – The SIP Forum (www.sipforum.org) has announced a full schedule of activities at the upcoming ITEXPO West in Austin Texas, showcasing the association’s active role in helping to drive the broad adoption of SIP communications in today’s global telecom industry.

Austin Night Life

September 9, 2011

71% of Austin Companies Complain of Tech Worker Shortage

July 15, 2011

New Austin job fair to help match tech workers with growing tech companies

I have said before the employment market is really a tale of two worlds. In the realm where you have tech skills and experience you are much more likely to not only have a job but see your value increase. In the last few months I have seen the number of tech companies getting funding skyrocket and the trend does not seem to be slowing down as the IPO market is alive and well for tech and many even say we are in a valuation bubble in certain sectors.

Texas is one of the best states in the nation in terms of job creation - the Lone Star State is luring away business from the rest of the country and moreover, its strong tech and telecom corridors already have an entrenched group of companies and many are growing.

All this growth has led us to a point where there aren't enough tech workers, causing 71% of executives in the area to complain that there aren't enough tech workers and 59% of these companies say the shortage has caused their companies to be held back.

Isn't this amazing? the mainstream news tells us constantly about how bad the employment situation is with "real" unemployment estimated at around 20% and still, there aren't nearly enough tech workers to go around.

As you may know, TMC's west coast ITEXPO event takes place in about two months and has moved from Los Angeles to Austin, TX this year.









President Obama Needs to be at ITEXPO

April 15, 2011

I recently learned that President Obama isn't happy with the old White House telephone. According to Fox News he said:

The Oval Office, I always thought I was going to have really cool phones and stuff," he said during a small fundraising event at a Chicago restaurant. "I'm like, c'mon guys, I'm the president of the United States. Where's the fancy buttons and stuff and the big screen comes up?



Important HD Voice Research Report Available

April 7, 2011

You probably know I have been a huge proponent of HD voice as to me it’s an inevitable outcome of transitioning away from the PSTN to IP-based networks which allow us to upgrade CODECs without having to downshift our conversations to technology which was invented many decades ago. When I was a kid, television was an 11 inch black-and-white screen which seemed to always have Walter Cronkite on it and changing the channels was a manual and rotary process.

Yet, the incredible tech advancements we have seen in the television space haven’t yet fully materialized in the world of telephony. Sure, I can have high-quality conversations if a call stays on IP networks and there is no need for transcoding or jumping onto the public switched telephone network.

WorldGate Communications Closes Shop

April 5, 2011

Word has it that funding was pulled at WorldGate Communications two weeks ago with everyone being laid off. Requests for information to the company did not get an immediate response. The Pennsylvania-based organization which made high-end designer-looking videophones no-doubt faced an uphill battle competing with Cisco and Polycom - as well as low-cost players like Grandstream.

When the company launched - years back I remember a massive crowd around its products at ITEXPO and other events - but getting tremendous attention at a show does not obviously always translate into success in business. Those of you who recall Wildfire's booth at the Computer Telephony Expo know what I mean.

The company seemed to be in a perpetual state of financial trouble and the best news I heard from them a while back was when they either received or were about to receive an order for an organization who was to supply videophones to the hearing-impaired so they could communicate via sign language.

TMC's Tom Keating reported troubles brewing at the company in February, 2008 and then reported when things got better in the next month saying Ojo Phone Lives!





What AT&T Purchase of T-Mobile Means

March 20, 2011

Today, AT&T announced it was purchasing T-Mobile from Deutsche Telecom generating a combined entity with 130 million wireless subscribers producing $72.2B per year in revenue. While AT&T had an exclusive contract with Apple to sell iPads and iPhones it could rely on organic growth but now that Cupertino decided polygamy was more lucrative and Google’s Android is unleashing a torrent of cool devices on all networks, the challenge for carriers is to figure out how to compete effectively in a world where differentiating based on device is more difficult.

iPhone and AT&T’s Network Quality Perception

AT&T took a beating while being the exclusive home of the iPhone and was ridiculed on programs from The Daily Show to Saturday Night Live for selling device which couldn’t effectively make phone calls.

Skype Pre-IPO Report Card

March 7, 2011

It was back in 2007 when my fellow bloggers and journalists told me that Skype was a dog, had no future, couldn’t make money and wasn’t going anywhere. I begged to differ – the way I saw it the company simply didn’t execute on its potential. I quickly jotted down 11 ideas the company should pursue and in my post I even offered myself to Meg Whitman as a consultant to help implement my ideas.

Fast forward a few years and Meg is gone, and the company was sold and is now implementing the ideas – slowly but surely but many have been implanted in the last week which is why this analysis makes sense to present today.