August 2010 Archives

Clouds over East Anglia IMG_6609_crop_sml.png

You might recall the poem by William Wordsworth that begins, "I wandered lonely as a cloud." His poem may have been about 'a host of golden daffodils', but the second verse is more appropriate if we pretend that it's about the advocates of cloud computing.

"Continuous as the stars that shine and twinkle on the Milky Way,
They stretched in never-ending line along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance, tossing their heads in sprightly dance."


I'm sure there are at least ten thousand advocates of cloud computing, tossing a few heady paragraphs into their latest blog or preaching to us all from their twittering stance. "The more fool you," if you're not listening, seems to be the message.

You could say there are now two types of businesses, "Those with their heads buried in the sand and those with their heads in the clouds." That phrase would neatly sum up the present situation and, although it's not quite complimentary to the advocates, their devoutness probably means they'd miss the subtlety. Yes, indeed, the 'Cloud' is being hyped at the moment - and rightly so.

However, as with everything, there is always more than one approach.
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My previous posts in this Aculab technology blog have been mainly on the subjects of voice or video communications, which correlates well with Aculab's main customer activities where our products support services such as voice conferencing, call centre media processing, and interfacing TDM and IP communications.

An oft forgotten technology, still utilised throughout businesses, though perhaps now less prevalent, is fax. We have all been moving our business communications along with the times - investing in mobile solutions, using voice and video conferencing, getting involved in the VoIP communications space, and finding out how Unified Communications and IM might help with business communication efficiencies. Whilst many have been distracted, chasing the latest and greatest way to communicate with colleagues and customers, the humble fax machine has been there in the corner of the office, performing a key function when the newer approaches of document transfer, such as email, did not work or were not suitable.
 
However, as more and more businesses move to IP-based communications, there comes a time when keeping a single analogue phone line just for the fax machine is no longer economic. To some, it may not matter that a fax is no longer an option for communications.
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Or, an alternative definition of the 'pushmi-pullyu'

I guess many of you will remember Doctor Dolittle, probably from the Rex Harrision film version, perhaps from the books of Hugh Lofting, maybe from the Eddie Murphy remake, surely not from Lotte Reiniger's silent animation. Whatever your vintage, it's the 'pushmi-pullyu' - that cross between a gazelle and a unicorn with two heads, one at each end - that challenges the imagination. A beast in eternal conflict; when it tries to move, both heads attempt to go in opposite directions. How could it make any progress?

Apply that analogy to the telecommunications market or the computer telephony market or unified communications - any label of your choice - and you might end up thinking, yes, we've got PSTN pulling one way and VoIP, let's say, pulling in the other direction.
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I found this poll and would like to get your input. After you vote, you'll be able to see results and analysis of how other voters answered the question:

What programming language do you prefer for writing telephony-based applications?

Take poll:
http://polls.linkedin.com/p/98894/exbwy


Musings on the multitude of programming language choices available to todays application developers

Yes, there's more than one way to skin a cat. You could start with the neck or the tail... meeea...oW!  Ok, Ok, I didn't mean to offend. I have, however, seen some nifty looking sporrans made out of pre-deceased, I hasten to add, wildcats from Scotland. Continue Reading...

Recent Comments

  • Houston CRM: Integrated communication is the new wave and it benefits any read more
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  • Kevin Rodak: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eff7M9EZYPc Leaked military protoype test video ... lots of capability read more
  • Eddie Marietta: Extremely useful and informative article. I wish i can do read more
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  • David: This is good information on FoIP, and you may want read more
  • Jules Turnner: Good job! read more
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  • Aculab: Steve, Interesting scenario you have, and I am sure one read more
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Recent Activity

Today

  • Aculab tweeted, "New Blog: 'The kiss of life for caller authentication' Ian Colville explores the benefits #voicebiometrics bring to caller authentication; how to address common challenges & how to deliver a #secure and efficient CX #VoiSentryhttp://ow.ly/fHAA50v11oB "

Sunday

  • Aculab tweeted, "If you're thinking about adding #voicebiometrics to your contact centre or customer service application, this guide will help with areas such as user enrolment, multi-factor authentication & handling identity claims #CustomerExperience #HearTheDifference http://ow.ly/Fdn150uYuc7 pic.twitter.com/RBOruUpV75"

Today

  • Aculab tweeted, "Welcome #VoiSentry from @aculab to the DevConnect Marketplace! VoiSentry is voice biometrics tech that enables speaker verification, cost-effectively, to virtually any telephony-based application. https://www.devconnectmarketplace.com/marketplace/aculab/voisentry …"

Saturday

Wednesday

Saturday

  • Aculab tweeted, ".@aculab voice #biometrics solution now ‘Avaya Compliant’https://www.biometricupdate.com/201906/aculabs-voice-biometric-solution-now-avaya-compliant …"

Monday

  • Aculab tweeted, "Lab-quality voice recordings can be used to accurately identify people diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. These researchers made these assessments more cost-effective and practical by using telephone-quality recordings: https://doi.org/10.1121/1.5100272 … @SomervilleOx @aculab @EdinUniUsherpic.twitter.com/ZoJ9ktJlnW"
  • Aculab tweeted, "Check out the FindBiometrics Directory where you'll find the leading solution providers for #financial, #enterprise, #government, #healthcare biometrics and more! @Neurotec @AimBrainHQ @innovatrics @aculab @AratekBio @Veratad http://ow.ly/V6eU50uyYeq pic.twitter.com/j9RFOgcvPt"

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