If you were wondering about the basics of VoIP call termination, a recent post on Boosh News might be helpful.

Those of us who use the Web like a Yellow Pages can "integrate our browsing experience with our Internet based phone service," according to the article: "Imagine not having to look up a phone number and dial it manually from a mobile phone or traditional land line - instead, just click to place the call instantly right from your computer screen."

 

Sounds good, we must say. Well, such click to call functionality is available in Mozilla browsers with a Firefox add-on that "turns any phone number on a Web-page into a link, allowing an instant connection." According to the post, all you have to do is configure your VoIP / PBX service "so that when you click on the phone number, a call is automatically placed using your SIP address."

 

When would this be really handy? One situation, the article suggests, is when you start the conversation "and need to bring in another team member for consultation, or a senior executive to approve a pricing agreement with a vendor. Since you are already using your Internet-based phone service, conferencing in a third person is simple." Well, "simpler," no doubt.

 

Read more here.

...

 

 

Industry observer Harshal Kallyanpur recently conducted an interview with Greg Corgan, president Global Field Operations, corporate senior VP, Infor on how his company plans to duke it out with the industry heavyweights, such as SAP and Oracle.

One way is by simply focusing on different competencies. "We don't try to go head-to-head with SAP or Oracle in the ERP space," he said, explaining that Infor wants to "concentrate on mining our own install base. In India, we have over 600 customers with almost 400 customers on Baan LN."

 

From a new business point of view, he told Kallyanpur, "Our strengths lie in our offerings for the mid-market and small businesses. The competition sells solutions to enterprises, banks, telecom service providers etc, while we focus mainly on manufacturing and distribution companies."

 

In fact, Corgan disputed the notion that it's a head-to-head battle at all, that it depends on how you define the terms. "If you compare apples to apples, SAP or Oracle are bigger than us -- but if you only pick the manufacturing and distribution verticals worldwide, we have more customers than SAP and Oracle combined."

 

Read more here.

...

 

24M Technologies has "spun out of lithium-ion battery maker A123 Systems" to become a separate venture.

 

The New York Times reported that 24M, which started off as a development program inside A123, "will focus on "more unorthodox energy storage innovations, including grid-scale flow batteries."

 

More specifically, according to boston.com, the online news presence of The Boston Globe, "Cambridge-based 24M said it is focused on commercializing next-generation energy storage systems based on technology out of A123 Systems, a Watertown-based developer of batteries for next-generation cars, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology."

 

The Times noted that like many of 24M's competitors, the company "was striving to develop grid-scale offerings that could better integrate and distribute intermittent sources of renewable power, like wind turbines and solar arrays."

 

The energy storage system producer, according to industry observer Matylda Czarnecka, a woman who never has to spell her name over the phone, raised a $10 million Series A funding round from Charles River Ventures and North Bridge Venture Partners:

 

"The company raised an additional $6 million in a grant from the Department of Energy's Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy," according to Czarnecka, who added that the funding "will help 24M develop batteries that can store more energy for a lower price."

 

Read more here.

...

 

GamesBeat has reported that Zynga is "expanding its social gaming empire from coast to coast" by acquiring music social game maker Conduit Labs "for an undisclosed price."

 

You know Zynga as the ones who foisted FarmVille and Mafia Wars onto Facebook.

 

Conduit Labs will become Zynga Boston, GamesBeat says, and focus on social game development, adding that "Nabeel Hyatt, chief executive of Conduit Labs, will become head of the new Boston studio. Hyatt founded Conduit Labs in 2007 and the company raised money from Charles River Ventures and Prism VentureWorks."

 

Conduit's based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The Boston Globe wrote that "Conduit's founder and investors aren't yet crowing about their winnings from the acquisition, but instead are hoping that Zynga - rumored to be wildly profitable - will go public in a year or two. Zynga CEO Mark Pincus "doesn't want a double or a triple," said one source close to today's deal. "He's looking for a home run or a grand slam."

 

You might know of the free-to-play social games Conduit's made, such as Loudcrowd, described by GamesBeat as "a social music game site that combined social networking with casual music listening. It was sort of like Guitar Hero meets the Web. Another game was Spin, where you could create your own version of a song."

 

Read more here.