The Canadian Angle

In this “always-on” age of connected everything it can be a nightmare for enterprise IT departments to manage the exponential proliferation of hardware and employee devices connected to the corporate network. The current trend in mobile technology is seeing corporate users moving away from traditional business mobile devices like Blackberry to consumer friendly (and often less secure) devices like the iPhone with wireless headset, meaning that IT departments need to be increasingly vigilant to ward off potentially devastating security breaches. In addition, the BYOD (Bring your own Device) trend that is becoming more common in the corporate space is making it even more difficult for the IT departments to manage network security.

To better manage this connected everything future, where every workplace device from security cameras, to air conditioning, to computers and phones will soon be networked, unified communications (UC) promises a brave new world of connectivity and integration, where users can use any device they choose to fulfill most any communications need.

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There’s no doubt that the Apple iPad is the “The Tablet for the Enterprise.” A large number of enterprises worldwide view the iPad as the enabler for anytime anywhere access. The iPad is already being projected as the next preferred endpoint for the Unified Communications (UC) industry and it’s no surprise that all major vendors are working actively to broaden the availability of their solutions to tablets and specifically the Apple iPad.

To that effect, Avaya yesterday announced the launch of an iPad app for its Flare Communicator communications and collaboration systems. While the iPad version of Flare Communicator does not support video, I strongly believe it’s a massive first step in deploying Flare Communicator on tablet devices.
 

Even though the Flare desktop device runs on Android operating system, Apple’s “explosive growth” in the enterprise segment meant Avaya preferred to debut the Flare mobile app on the Apple iPad. Interestingly, the Flare desktop device is widely perceived as a competitor to theenterprise-grade Cisco Cuis tablet, but I believe the comparison is unfair as the former is a touchscreen master controller that is used in conjunction with the phone and can’t be used outside office premise.

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Since the launch of its own brand of phones in 2006, Taiwan based HTC Corp has managed to become the 5th biggest smartphone manufacturer in the world by volume. Previously the company contract manufactured mobile phones for other brands. With the aim of increasing its market share and improving its patent profile, over the past year the company has spent over $700 million on acquiring small firms. In spite of the expenditure, the company remains keen on buying.

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That annoying pain, that irritating kink, those tight muscles, your neck is trying to tell you something… it’s time to get a headset.

Over the past year here at Digitcom we have seen an exponential increase in the number of wireless headset and wired Headset inquiries, and being the curious sort that I am, I’ve tried to figure out why. Perhaps it’s some sort of widespread epiphany that using a wireless headset at works frees up both hands; enabling people to type, write, open files, and do other things more easily while on the phone, increasing overall productivity by streamlining the communications process.

Or perhaps the increase in headset sales is health related, as people, especially those who use the phone frequently, have come to realize that holding your head and neck at an angle as you nestle the handset between your shoulder and ear for extended periods of time simply isn’t good for you, resulting in those irritating kinks and tight muscles that continue to plague you long after the work day is over.

Or perhaps it has nothing to do with the office or with your health at all, but with that exorbitantly expensive ticket you’re holding in your hand after being caught talking or texting while driving, bringing you to the realization that it’s not only dangerous and illegal to talk and drive, but more costly than a bluetooth headset as well.

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It’s the week that everyone waits for, when American tech and telecommunications companies post their Q3 results. Who am I kidding? No one waits for this. But as expected, in a fiscal quarter—ending September 24^th—that saw no new iPhone release and no significant other new smartphone options, AT&T’s revenues took a hit, dropping from $12.3 billion in Q3 2010, to $3.6 billion in this quarter (Verizon’s fiscal report will be released today).

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While other companies continue to work hard on producing enterprise specific tablet hardware, unified communications company Polycom has decided to take another route, turning your iPad or Android tablet into an enterprise ready device. Earlier this week the company unveiled its new videoconferencing application, RealPresence Mobile, which will allow users to turn their existing consumer tablet devices into business ready communication platforms.

For Polycom’s closest competitors the answer to the enterprise tablet question has so far exclusively been hardware related, with Cisco developing the Cius business tablet, Avaya creating its entire Flare experience, and more recently Motorola Solutions developing the ET1 enterprise ready tablet.

With Polycom bringing many of those same enterprise-ready features to the very tablet many of us are holding in our hands, could we already be witnessing a shift away from enterprise specific devices towards products that unify both the enterprise and consumer markets?

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The CRTC has given Rogers until September 27^th to devise a plan to “address and resolve” the communication company’s throttling, either purposeful or accidental, of online video games like Call of Duty: Black Ops.

This controversy started late last month when the special interest group Canadian Gamers Organization (CGO) lodged a compliant against Rogers, claiming that the company slowed the network resources dedicated to online gaming, thereby contravening the CRTC’s own rules governing acceptable network management.

For its part, Rogers has admitted that it mistakenly misclassified online games as non-time sensitive applications, an error that may result in slow connectivity if other such classified peer-to-peer (P2P) applications are running. The bottom line though, mistake or not Rogers has to the end of the month to fix the problem.

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Originally posted on TheTelecomBlog.com

It will be more than a year from its initial unveiling when the enterprise ready Cisco Cius tablet hits store shelves at the end of July (cost: $750), a lengthy wait that has seen the steady rise of enterprise adoption of Apple’s consumer oriented iPad as well as the release of several enterprise specific devices/platforms.

But that doesn’t seem to matter to Cisco, a company that has seen its profits wane these past few months, as the telecommunications giant plans to offer the enterprise sector things its never seen before, unprecedented customization qualities and unrivalled IT control.

To that end, Cisco unveiled its own unique application ecosystem yesterday, dubbed AppHQ, a platform that will allow companies to build their own apps, mange their own app stores, manage the devices in use, and one that will, of course, usher in the next generation of portable video, telepresence, and teleconferencing technologies that will run on the Cius.

 

Cisco’s AppHQ is similar to Avaya’s Flare Experience, in that both are unique communications platforms designed around full integration with each company’s respective communication solutions.

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Google Inc. has placed a $900 million bid on about 6,000 patents held currently by Nortel Networks Corp. Google was selected to make the first bid on an entire portfolio of patents.

The auction is scheduled to take place in June, so Google’s bid sets the lower limit while other buyers are free to set their offers.

The auction of the patent profile represents the last of Nortel’s assets to be moved, marking the formal end of an era in Canadian technology history. Nortel was the biggest technology company in the country and led the way in terms of telecommunications innovation before its collapse.

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Originally published on Digitcom's blog, TheTelecomBlog.com.  Ontario’s attorney general says that it’s time to have a national debate on the role of social media in the context of Canadian court cases, specifically high profile court cases.

Attorney General Chris Bentley says that responsibility has to start with the judiciary and needs to include dialogue about how much information is made available outside of the courtroom. With Facebook and Twitter, information that would normally be protected can spread quickly.

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Any company is only ever as good as its suppliers and staff and we at Digitcom are always on the hunt for both. I can’t imagine a better place to advertise than our own blog, TheTelecomBlog.com, where we get thousands of readers every day. So, let me explain what we’re looking for and if you think you’ve got the product or the talent, let us know.
 
Digitcom has thousands of customers, from the small corner restaurant or doctors office to the large multi-national with hundreds of offices across North America. We sell phone systems, Voip Phone, BCM phones data networks, cable, WAN services, LAN and network architecture, headsets, and all of the ancillary components, widgets, and devices that go along with running a successful Telecom company; and we’re always looking for new and interesting products and technology that can compliment our current services. Continue Reading...

When the CRTC proposed the “easing” of a ban on false and misleading news, the public firestorm was immense.

The story was perplexing. Here was a little-known committee of Parliament, the Standing Joint Committee for the Scrutiny of Regulations, poking around with the delicate wording of a regulation upheld by the CRTC. According to the Standing Joint Committee, the wording of the regulation that prohibits the broadcasting of “false or misleading news” in Canada “contravenes the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.”

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Francoise Bertrand, former chairwoman of the CRTC, is speaking out after Canada’s Conservatives demanded a reversal of the regulatory agency’s decision regarding usage-based billing.

Betrand told The Canadian Press that she found the reversal “disturbing.” She says she’s an advocate of the “independence” of the CRTC and, as such, felt “compelled to speak out.”

“The CRTC’s great advantage was it was giving the possibility for the government to have an institution at arm’s length,” she said. ”It was not a political decision.

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Traditionally the benefits of a Unified Communications (UC) system have been exclusively enjoyed by larger enterprises; companies that have the requisitely bloated budget needed to enjoy the luxury of such innovative and advanced communications. But the problem for UC distributors has always been that such a system limits their potential customer base, essentially blocking out small and medium enterprises simply because the price points are too high and the systems are too big.

That is why in response to feedback from its sales Associates and its customers, NEC Canada has announced the availability of its best UC value to date–InUCB for the UNIVERGE® SV8100 and Sv8300.

Simply put, with InUCB NEC has managed to bring high quality enterprise-grade Unified Communications features and technologies to small and medium-sized businesses, reducing the overall size and cost of the UC technology by including it as a blade on its popular UNIVERGE SV8100 and SV8300 communications servers, but still offering the same great features and services of larger more expensive UC solutions.

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As 2010 quickly draws to a close it has come time once again to make some predictions about where the telecom and IT market spaces are headed this next year. So with that in mind, as I sit at my desk gazing into my crystal ball, here are my 2011 predictions and picks for next year’s telecom winners and losers…and no, the crystal ball isn’t for sale, but the good news is you can keep reading TheTelecomblog.com or digitcom.ca for free!

But before looking forward into the future, it’s necessary to look back on what has undoubtedly been one of the telecom news intensive years in recent memory. This past year was particularly interesting because of Nortel’s well publicized 2009 demise, as Nortel’s chief competitors spent considerable money and efforts attacking Nortel’s customer base very aggressively, with the likes of Cisco, Microsoft, Mitel, ShoreTel, NEC, and Toshiba all vying for a piece of Nortel’s expansive market share.

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