Source: solokay.blogspot.com

Source: www.voip-news.com

Vulnerabilities? What vulnerabilities?

That would have been the easy response for Avaya and Cisco when they were faced with a report exposing problems with their VoIP systems. But they didn’t. Instead, the company is facing them head-on, or seems to be.

According to Network World:

Avaya says it knows about the problems and is issuing advisories to customers and providing service-pack updates that address some of them. “Ongoing updates and service packs addressing this will continue to be made accessible on our support site,” an Avaya spokesman says.

Cisco is releasing software updates that address the vulnerabilities at no extra charge for customers with service contracts Nortel did not respond to questions about their response to the VoIPshield warnings.

Brava.

Source: andyabramson.blogs.com

Have you looked at the price of Cisco’s Personal Telepresence that was announced today?

$33,900 USD per seat

That’s 22 years worth of SightSpeed For Business for a ten (10) seat pack.

Granted SightSpeed is my agency’s client, but let’s get real and think about value and the budget. For every $33,900 a company can have hundreds of people inside the company using SightSpeed in the work place versus one glamour puss (CEO). Of course the IT director won’t get fired for buying Cisco, but if they tried SightSpeed to see how much use the video conferencing solution really receives they can quickly do some back of the napkin math to determine need and value to the company.

Oh. And here’s one more point. SightSpeed keeps getting better and improving what they do. All I’m seeing is that Cisco is carving up their Telepresence technology, as it drops down in price.

One has to really wonder if there’s that much difference in IP communications that’s worth an almost 300x investment when prices of technology always drop with each next generation of release. For me, the cost of Telepresence just don’t make sense (and I’m a Cisco shareholder and fan) given the ease of use, and low cost of a high quality service like SightSpeed already being on the market, plus having an award winning and proven track record clearly makes it a more than worthy option to consider.

Candidly, if I was the CFO of a company thinking of making the Telepresence investment, I’d at least want to SEE the comparison between the two with my own eyes before forking over $33,900 dollars for ONE SEAT versus $19.99 a month per seat.

Source: andyabramson.blogs.com

The other day Jonathan Greene posted about the lousy performance when it came to Broadband that he had at the Hotel Monaco in Seattle. The Monaco, like the Palomar here in San Francisco where I am for the week are both Kimpton Hotels and have a long tradition of catering to technology types on the road.

In the past I’ve always had a better than average experience at the Kimpton Hotel properties when it comes to broadband, but today, on the eve of Java One, my experience is nothing less than disappointing.

First I couldn’t log on, as the auto sign on said I wasn’t the guest in the room I was listing (wrong) and then it went on to say there wasn’t a credit card on file (wrong again as I already had checked in.) That required a call to support from ElevenWireless, the company which handles the connectivity.

After I was on, I realized the support person didn’t give me the service I was trying to activate, the more expensive ($4.95 vs. Free) service that promises higher speeds and better throughput vs. the free service.

Here’s what I found out:

Free service gave me 300 k down, and 150 k up. That’s not really broadband.

The paid service is giving me between 330k and 500k down and between 150 and 500 k up over a series of tests.

As JG says, "sorry. This isn’t broadband."

Source: andyabramson.blogs.com

Let’s face it. This is nothing new. For years one of Cisco’s channel partners has been SBC, Bell South and other now AT&T owned companies, working on the front lines as integrators as far back as at least 2001. AT&T has also been one of Cisco’s best customers, buying lots of routers. The big honking types that make it possible for all the traffic that is IP to work very smoothly.

So the latest "marketing" hook up, to sell Telepresence to the corporate market, by the two giants working together.

It’s a triple win all around if the customers buy. I predict they will. Here’s why:

1) Bandwidth will go to more places now via AT&T and their carrier partners who will insure enough pipe to make an endpoint work

2) Video conferencing technology is at a point where its no longer the fuzzy picture. It works. Look at the in room like quality of SightSpeed (client), the portable video on the Nokia N810 and yes even Skype has achieved to see just how good laptop video is. Now add in the kind of processors that Cisco’s Telepresence delivers, some fat pipe from AT&T that’s being managed from end to end and you get an experience, not simply a picture.

3) The Green Movement-nothing will propel more adoption of video conferencing than the environmental issues other than one more tied to it factor. Gas and travel. These are lynch pins to driving the acceptance.

Source: snapvoip.blogspot.com

HONOLULU, (Cisco Partner Summit 2008), April 7, 2008 - Highlighting the value of improved communication and collaboration, Cisco today announced that Cisco channel partners enVision Networked Solutions and Hawaiian Telcom, have worked with the city of Honolulu to help deploy a gigabit fiber network and 3,500 Cisco Unified IP phones. This citywide network overhaul, part of a multi-year project to transform Honolulu’s communication and collaboration capabilities, includes the delivery of Cisco Unified Communications capabilities to Mayor Mufi Hanneman’s office.

The city of Honolulu’s revitalization efforts were plagued with a severely outdated public branch exchange (PBX) system that featured 14 separate PBX and key systems, including the main PBX system that was 30 years old and costing the City $250,000 per year to maintain. The city of Honolulu’s network quickly became an important issue. The result was the creation of a network upgrade that began two years ago.

"In my first State of the City address we identified our phone systems as a major barrier to achieving our goals for the city. For example, it had multiple prefixes, it was unreliable and yet it was the main communication vehicle to the public, creating a number of issues including public safety that needed to be addressed," said Hanneman. "Three years later we have made significant advancements. Our first responders are now on one reliable network system, improving public safety through enhanced communication and collaboration. And, by no longer investing in old technology we have been able to build this new network infrastructure without increasing our budget."

Drive Akamai Website & Pothole Hotline

A side effect of Honolulu’s network revitalization is a better way to manage traffic congestion. To help inform citizens of the work being done and to minimize its impact, the city has created a website, driveakamai.org and a traffic information advisory hotline that is updated daily using Cisco Unified Communications technology. These systems give motorist advisories to help them avoid areas where road construction is taking place throughout Honolulu.

In addition, the Pothole Hotline utilizes Cisco Unified Messaging technology, allowing citizens to call and have a voicemail sent to the road crew in the form of an email, which expedites the work order. This accelerated process has enabled the city to commit to its citizens that it will fix a pothole within five days of notification. Since 2005, the city of Honolulu has patched 176,000 potholes, which is the equivalent of resurfacing 111 lane miles using 51,000 tons of asphalt.

Honolulu’s Trusted Advisers

enVision, a Cisco Premier Certified and Advanced Unified Communications Specialized Partner, and Hawaiian Telcom, a Cisco Silver Certified and Advanced Unified Communications Specialized Partner, both based in Honolulu, worked closely with the city to recommend and deploy a networking solution that would address current as well as future needs.

"Both enVision and Hawaiian Telcom are instrumental in ensuring a smooth deployment," said Gordon Bruce, city of Honolulu’s chief information officer. "Our goal is to complete the transition from the disparate, outdated systems to the Cisco Unified Communications system within the next 18 months. This is an aggressive goal requiring trusted advisors and suppliers, like enVision and Hawaiian Telcom, who provide local as well as Cisco Unified Communications expertise. We are over half way there already."

Source: andyabramson.blogs.com

This is an example of a channel program. Tandberg has a telepresence suite to compete with Cisco.

Tandberg though doesn’t have the sales channel strength of a Cisco, so they go to a company that has the field depth to compete. In their case, they went to a solid network equipment provider in Nortel.

Will this sell more for Tandberg? Likely, but I don’t see Nortel having the strength that Cisco has in the channel.

Source: snapvoip.blogspot.com

Apple has announced that Cisco VPN client will be included in the the iPhone 2.0 software to be released in June 2008, giving corporate edge to the highly successful handheld.
Read More and watch the video at The Platform, Cisco.

Source: snapvoip.blogspot.com

BRISBANE, Australia, March 6, 2008 - Cisco® today announced the results of a study on energy-saving initiatives at its annual Australia and New Zealand Networkers conference. The study highlighted how several Australian-first programs introduced by Cisco at Networkers 2007 produced significant reductions in the impact of the conference on the environment.

The research was coordinated by the corporate social responsibility advisory firm Positive Outcomes, under commission from Cisco and supported by the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre (BCEC), where Networkers was held in September 2007. The systematic study was an Australian first for the information technology industry.

Cisco’s Australia and New Zealand managing director, Les Williamson, said; "Clearly, there is an imperative for businesses such as Cisco to treat their environmental impact very seriously, and we are always looking for ways to reduce our carbon footprint by implementing green initiatives. We believe networking technologies can play a critical role in reducing the impact of business on the environment."

The study was conducted before, during and following Cisco Networkers 2007. The annual convention is the biggest event of its kind in Australasia, featuring four days of keynote and breakout addresses from Cisco thought leaders, and a large exhibition with 49 vendors. The event itself caters for almost 1,800 people.

At the 2007 conference, Cisco and its partners undertook a range of industry-leading energy-saving initiatives, including:

• Using renewable energy by investing in 100 per cent Australia Green Power for the duration of the event
• Using low-energy lighting in exhibition halls
• Using reusable material for exhibition stands
• Centering all menus on fresh, seasonal, local produce
• Choosing service methods that help ensure portion control and reduce waste
• Distributing unused food to local charities via a food bank
• Arranging bus transportation for delegates to and from the airport and from the convention centre to their hotels
• Making conference information available to delegates electronically

The change to renewable energy for the conference alone was estimated by the study to have saved the equivalent of almost 208 tonnes of carbon emissions. The additional initiatives saved a further 4.3 tonnes of carbon emissions, and almost 70 per cent of waste was recycled.

The availability of electronic conference information was well received, with 52 per cent of conference delegates opting to receive conference papers via memory stick, resulting in a 45 per cent reduction in paper usage for the event. The environmental value of the exercise strengthened by Cisco’s commitment to return to the BCEC for Networkers 2008.

Robert O’Keeffe, BCEC’s general manager, said: "We welcomed the opportunity to work closely with Cisco on developing initiatives and implementing systems to help make Networkers 2007 a greener conference. Striving for sustainability has always been at the very core of our operations, having been a foundation member of Australia’s Greenhouse Challenge, and we see our partnership with Cisco as further expanding our environmental endeavours. We look forward to achieving more positive results and an even greener event from our initiatives with Networkers 2008."

The industry-leading activities Cisco has embarked on with the BCEC are also reflected in Cisco’s wider, global approach to reducing the impact of human activity on carbon emissions. Cisco’s TelePresence Meeting solution is a prime example of green-friendly technology. Using the Internet Protocol network, TelePresence combines video, audio and interactive elements to provide high-definition, life-size communications via video.

About Cisco

Cisco, (NASDAQ: CSCO), is the worldwide leader in networking that transforms how people connect, communicate and collaborate. Information about Cisco can be found at http://www.cisco.com.

Source: gigaom.com

Source: snapvoip.blogspot.com

As we expected iPhone is paving the path for corporate offices by offering features that are attractive to those users. From corporate email servers, secure VPN connection to corporate offices will certainly attract more users. But I would think addition of high speed data connection would make me say "High Speed iPhone is coming soon", instead of Gphone coming soon.
Apple on Thursday unveiled a list of upcoming features, including support for Microsoft Exchange e-mail server, that Apple hopes will convince corporations to adopt the iPhone as the device of choice for mobile workers.
During a news conference at the computer maker’s Cupertino, Calif., headquarters, Apple chief executive Steve Jobs promised that the iPhone in its upcoming software update in June would contain "the long list of important features that enterprise customers have told us they need to really drive iPhone use."

The list included the ability to push e-mail and calendar items from servers to the iPhone, synchronize contact lists, and enforce security policies. In addition, the iPhone would support Cisco’s client for secure connections to an IP-base virtual private network, and would have technology that a company could use to remotely wipe out data on a lost or stolen iPhone.
News Source

Source: snapvoip.blogspot.com

Al Gore, John Chambers, Nobel Laureate and former U.S. Vice President and Chairman and CEO, Cisco, respectively will get together with environmentally conscious people from all over the world to discuss the critical role that innovation can play in mitigating climate change. The virtual discussion will also be streamed live via a webcast session for general viewing.
Solarion has the report, follow the link
Solarion: Al Gore and Cisco on Climate Change and Technology Innovation