telecommunications

Just a Reminder

May 18, 2010

The masses. You know, the ratepayers, the taxpayers, the consumers. These are the people who have paid for the PSTN. These same consumers have also paid for the future broadband networks that the ILECs have refused to build despite taking rate hikes (for years) to pay for the promised land.

So when there is talk about No Investment in Telecom, I have to laugh.

Posted in FCC, broadband, politics, telco, telecommunications, wireline

The FCC is Rolling

May 10, 2010

Except for Commissioner McDowell who is out after emergency gall bladder surgery, the FCC has been pumping out the info. The Broadband.gov site is pumping out info. Broadband maps, consumer speed tests, spectrum database, and the Commish's blog. (The website also highlights the 6 Goals of the National Broadband Plan.)

The Commish launched a video message on YouTube about the Third Option on the subject of Net Neutrality.

Posted in FCC, Internet, bandwidth, broadband, cellular, spectrum, telecommunications, wireless, wireline

Big Changes at the Big Bell

April 20, 2010

The agent that dragged me into Telecom back in 1999 sold his telecom agency on New Year's Eve. He was a Gold Partner for many years but met with me in November because he saw the writing on the wall. Things were constantly changing behind the wall of the Big Bell, but this time it was going to be disasterous.

2009 marked huge changes with 50 hours of training; separate divisions walled in; and a major push into mobility. And a major shift in commissions to a one-time upfront payment. In 2010, it got worse.

One of the biggest problems with the Bell program has always the numerous promotions and how they are applied.

Posted in agents, bellsouth agent, channel, telecommunications

What Does UC Mean?

April 14, 2010

Posted in communications, telecommunications, unified communications, xo

Is Hosted PBX Like BPM?

March 29, 2010

Business Process Management was a big concept about 5 years ago. The concept revolved around integrating business processes into systems for consistent execution of routines. (Heh! I can talk marketing speak!)

Today, we have Hosted PBX coming into small and medium businesses mainly as a cost savings factor, but there are business changes that occur due to the nature of the service.

As companies move to Software-as-a-Service, Cloud services or other hosted offerings, business will change as a result.

Posted in Internet, PBX, cloud computing, data center, saas, telecommunications, training

VoIP Access Ruling

March 29, 2010

"On February 18, 2010, a federal district court stepped in to fill the gap left by the FCC's silence on the issue of whether transmission of Voice over Internet Protocol ("VoIP")-originated calls is an information service exempt from access charges or a telecommunications service subject to access charges." [from Kelley-Drye]

I spoke with Kris Twomey last week about this judgment. In summary, the judgment of Civil Action No. 08-0397 is as follows: "If the call leaves the customer premise as VoIP and remains VoIP until it hits the tandem, then there are not any LD or toll access charges. VoIP is an Information Service according to the FCC."

Posted in CLEC, Internet, politics, telecommunications, voip, wireline

Hosted versus Premise

March 8, 2010

Point-CounterPoint: Hosted Voice vs. CPE is an open debate between two bloggers: Mike Graves and Dave Michels (of PinDropSoup).

Personally, I think Dave missed the boat. Two key points: CAPEX and OPEX.

For CAPEX (capital expenditure), there are ITSP's that are offering a leasing package which includes the phones, a router, a POE switch, Internet Access, phone service and monitoring. It is financed and rolled into one monthly charge, eliminating the CAPEX scare.

There are a number of businesses that just need the IP desk phones that they opt to purchase themselves.

Posted in PBX, cloud computing, technology, telecommunications, voip

Channel Partners Need a Net-Head

March 1, 2010

Arrived in Vegas for the Channel Partners Expo (in conjunction with VoIP Nation). Seems everyone I speak with is looking for sales. We have at least as many channel agents as we have always had, so why the growing need for sales?

I think one reason is that most of the channel partners are TDM. Plug and play.

Posted in Internet, PBX, VAR, agents, bandwidth, cellular, channel, conferencing, fiber, saas, telecommunications, wi-fi, wireless

Is Google a Thief?

February 18, 2010

Google CEO Eric Schmidt made enough of an impression at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this week that Yankee Group blogged about it. Google at the MWC.

Much criticism against Google is that they steal from book publishers, TV and movie producers, and newspapers. TechDirt regularly provides case studies of how much malarchy this is.

Posted in cellular, telecommunications, voip, wireless

VoIP Via Affiliate

February 2, 2010

RingCentral has been selling their services via the affiliate marketing route for some time. LD.net built a big book of business through affiliate marketing. Now FreedomVoice has launched their affiliate network.

"The program offers affiliates the opportunity to sell three popular FreedomVOICE products: FreedomVOICE Toll Free Number Service (virtual phone system solution), FaxFreedom (an intuitive Internet faxing service), and AdTrakker (a real estate call capture system)."

Commission Junction is one of the portals for affiliate marketing.

Posted in agents, commissions, telecommunications, voip

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