Source: www.voip-news.com

DevMar Associates are now a distributor for AAR’s Contingency Response Communications System. The communications system is intended to provide local, state and federal agencies with an interoperable communications solution that is simple and yet bridges the gap between agencies, command and control.

“AAR is looking forward to working with Dennis DuVal and his team at DevMar Associates,” said Lee Krantz, Vice President and General Manager of AAR Mobility Systems. “Dennis’ extensive background working with government agencies at many different levels, combined with his knowledge of the communications requirements during a disaster and experience as Chief of Police of Syracuse, NY gives him solid credibility and makes him a natural fit to represent the CRCS in the marketplace.”

According to the company:

The CRCS is an IP-based, agency-neutral solution that allows first responders to communicate and exchange information with radio interoperability, live streaming video, wireless Internet and VoIP services. Potential operators include military, firefighters, law enforcement, National Guard, Department of Homeland Security and other organizations involved in disaster recovery activity.

Source: www.voip-news.com

When there are natural or human-caused disasters, you need communication to be restored quickly and kept up so that critical communications can reach their destination. Verizon Business’s new Emergency Response Mobile Communications Service does just that. And they can do it from anywhere in North America.

“Obviously, the faster a company can overcome an unplanned communication disruption, the faster it can get back to business,” said Diane McCarthy, senior vice president, network field operations. “But to be most effective, ERMCS needs to be incorporated into a larger business continuity plan. We can help on that score as well by providing professional consulting services that can include developing, assessing and testing response plans.”

According to Verizon:

ERMCS vehicles use satellite links to restore vital business communications. Each self-sufficient vehicle is equipped with wired VoIP telephones and wired and wireless Ethernet access for laptops. Several vehicle configurations are available, including 40-foot and 53-foot vehicles that offer up to 24 individual work stations, each with its own telephone jack, Ethernet port and electrical outlet. These vehicles provide local, long-distance and international calling, along with Internet access and fax service.

“While the details can vary by company, a complete business continuity plan will include a way to reestablish communications,” said McCarthy. “The ERMCS can successfully fulfill that role by offering a complete package of communication offerings combined with reliability and flexibility.”

Source: www.voip-news.com

BT inmo is now licensed to sell mobile VoIP solutions from Qnective around the globe. BT inmo is developing secure, cost-effective mobile solutions for parent company BT Telecommunications. Qnective’s Qtalk products are a jumping off point for that.

“Qnective is pleased to be working with an industry leader to license Qnective’s first-of-its kind technology,” said Oswald Ortiz, Chairman of the Board and CEO of Qnective.

Qnective develops VoIP solutions for mobile communications, which are designed for operators and businesses.

“Qtalk from Qnective is the first truly mobile VoIP product which actually earns the ‘carrier grade’ rating. No other provider currently has a comparable, high-quality product and service range in a combined GSM and mobile data network environment such as HSDPA, UMTS, EDGE und GPRS,” said Harry van Streun, CEO, BT inmo.

Source: www.voip-news.com

Sonus Networks has received SIPconnect 1.0 complaint status from the SIP Forum for its Sonus Network Border Switch. The carrier  class border control solution allows for centralized routing, media transcoding and enhanced security.

“The dramatic growth in communication choices provides enterprises with new options to enhance their workforce’s productivity,” said Marc Robins, managing director of the SIP Forum. “Interoperability is the single biggest hurdle to widespread adoption of new IP communications products and services. The SIP Forum established the SIPconnect framework to make it easier for enterprises to bridge IP from the service providers’ core to the end users desktop, enhancing quality and enabling new service creation.”

According to Sonus:

With Sonus IP Business Trunks, service providers can create a single broadband connection for voice and data, providing a more cost effective and efficient connection. This connection can help to drive new revenue through innovative services. Because the Sonus IP Business Trunk is a direct IP-to-IP pipeline between the core network and enterprise-based IP-PBX, service providers can quickly deliver hosted, secure services to enterprise customers without the need for additional Class 5 infrastructure.

The SIPconnect Technical Recommendation, an initiative of the SIP Forum, is a standards-based approach that provides detailed guidelines for direct IP peering and interoperability between IP PBXs and VoIP service provider networks. The associated SIPconnect Compliant Certification Program, through which eligible companies can gain SIPconnect validation and the right to license the use of the SIP Forum’s ‘SIPconnect Compliant’ certification mark, helps to validate interoperability among equipment manufacturers, software providers and service providers, as well as to promote further adoption of SIP as the standard for IP communications.

“The Sonus Network Border Switch has already proved its value in the market, supporting thousands of IP business trunks,” commented Shailin Sehgal, vice president marketing and product management at Sonus Networks. “The recognition of compliance with SIPconnect further demonstrates that Sonus is delivering an enhanced, standards-based solution for access border security. Sonus can offer service providers a path to transform their networks to all IP, from the core to the edge.”

Source: www.voip-news.com

The saga between Telekenex and SkyWi continues …

If you remember, last week SkyWi announced that it was selling it’s VoIP operations to Telekenex. Telekenex released a firm statement a few days later to say that wasn’t happening. Now? Telekenex has put out a new release saying that they are offering customers of One Connect IP, which is a division of SkyWi, a “migration path” to Telekenex.

Do you ever feel like someone is trying to pull one over on you?

So, Telekenex has no such announcement on their website (heck, they haven’t had a press release on there since last year). One Connect IP’s last press release on their site is from September when they merged with SkyWi. Take this with a hearty dose of salt.

For what it’s worth, here is the release from Telekenex on PR Newswire:

SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 10 /PRNewswire/ — Telekenex today announced it
has reached agreement with One Connect IP to offer One Connect IP
existing VoIP customers a migration path to Telekenex Hosted VoIP
service. Telekenex Hosted VoIP is a fully hosted and managed
business-grade telephony solution with no up-front capital expenditure.

The goal is to provide a seamless transition and maintain service
uptime for One Connect IP customers without losing any of their current
features. As a result, One Connect IP customers can keep all of their
existing onsite equipments and can maintain all their existing PBX
features. Additionally, customers migrated over to the Telekenex Hosted
VoIP service will take advantage of the larger range of services that
Telekenex offers, over a larger private national footprint.

Under the agreement, Telekenex will start contacting customers
immediately to ensure a timely and seamless transition for One Connect
IP VoIP customers in New Mexico, Utah and Idaho. Telekenex has
assembled a migration team to ensure a timely and successful transition
with 24×7×365 support going forward. The Telekenex migration team toll
free number is 866-963-7540.

Telekenex is a registered CLEC in California. Telekenex is a
business-grade IP service provider with a robust private international
network and innovative service offerings, including Hosted VoIP, MPLS,
SIP Trunking, Managed Ethernet and Data Center.

Source: Telekenex

Source: www.voip-news.com

NEC Philips Unified Solutions is joining the elite ranks of companies who’ve fulfilled the qualifications needed to earn Voice specialization in the Microsoft Unified Communications competency program. To earn the specialization, NEC Philips had to complete competency testing and a technical readiness program.

“NEC Philips Unified Solutions specialises in the deployment of cutting edge unified communications, combining the very best in voice, data, mobile, video and IT communications to help businesses to reduce costs, improve their organisational efficiency and empower their people,” said Chris de Silva, Managing Director, NEC Philips Unified Solutions. “As a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner, who has achieved the Unified Communications competency Voice specialisation, our customers are assured they are hiring a qualified vendor to deploy Microsoft’s latest unified communications voice technologies. This confirms our longstanding reputation in the industry as a trusted and competent provider of unified communications and of the services that are required to support the deployment of an effective and profitable communications platform.”

Now NEC Philips can deploy unified communications technologies including VoIP, audio, video and web conferencing on Microsoft Exchange Unified Messaging and Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007.

“Companies such as NEC Philips that have achieved Voice specialisation are trained to understand the potential that exists in Microsoft’s software powered voice technologies,” said Eric Swift, Senior Director of product management for the Unified Communications Group at Microsoft Corp. “In this way, they can offer solutions in and outside the realm of traditional telephony, including working with their customers to create more productive business processes through unified communications.”

Source: www.voip-news.com

TS2 Satellite Technologies is connecting troops in Iraq and Afghanistan with their families back home without wires or cables. The company uses WLAN network technology and a special VSAT modem.

“We were among the first telecommunications operators in satellite technology in the territory of Iraq and Afghanistan, and as such we have enjoyed successful cooperation with the US Department of Defence, DoD contractors and individual soldiers for several years now.” – says Marcin Frackiewicz, CEO of the TS2 Satellite Technologies.

According to the company:

To the soldiers stationed in the war-torn countries, one VSAT access point provides broadband access to the internet; telephone connections including voice over internet protocol (VoIP), IP phone and video-conference connections. In addition, soldiers can also transfer data to many other users simultaneously and share connections with others stationed in the same base. TS2 additionally equips its customers with Thuraya, Iridium and Inmarsat satellite telephones, which are often the only means of communication in this region of the world.

Source: www.voip-news.com

Motorola has a new all-in-one access point that combines WiMAX, Wi-Fi and VoIP, along with an Ethernet port. THe Motorola wi4 WiMAX CPEi 775 is a WiMAX 802.16e modem with an integrated Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g router, VoIP ATA ports for voice calling, and an Ethernet port.

It’s the second generation for this router, which was introduced at the Consumer Electronics Show.

According to Motorola:

The second generation CPEi 775 follows the award winning CPEi 850, and once again raises the bar on performance for the rest of the industry. By incorporating adaptive switching techniques, the CPEi 775 does not need to be rotated for optimal signal strength, allowing easier installation. With some of the most advanced antenna designs available today, the CPEi 775 sets new standards for device transmit power and receive sensitivity — two factors that have a big impact on a network operator’s bottom line, and the number of cells required to provide coverage.

“As mobile WiMAX networks proliferate globally service providers are looking for ways to leverage the speed and performance of WiMAX for more advanced services,” said Charles Riggle, senior director of strategy and business development, WiMAX devices, Motorola Home & Networks Mobility. “It takes considerable know-how to put two different radio technologies together in a single package with internal antennas and not suffer from interference or degraded throughput. With the CPEi 775, we are able to provide high performance in a very attractive form factor.”

Source: www.voip-news.com

Enfield, Connecticut, is not unlike many other towns in the U.S. With schools and municipal infrastructure that ran independently of one another, the city was spending more than it needed to on communications while the school side ran on an antiquated system.

To bring the company into the 21st Century, the town investigated ways to install a unified communications system that would bring together the town’s communication lines while cutting costs. The solution: VoIP.

According to Enterprise VoIP Planet:

Decision makers also liked Enterasys’ reliance on open standards. “With Cisco, they would have preferred us to buy Cisco VoIP products, whereas with Enterasys we have already looked at Siemens and Nortel as potential VoIP partners,” Russell said. “With open standards, it opens up our ability to use other vendors, which we see as a very nice component.”

Vendor selection wrapped up in May, installation began once school let out, and the system went live in August. Cost of replacement: About half a million dollars.

There is still more wrok to do bringing the system to VoIP, but the positive results are already being felt.

Source: www.voip-news.com

There is a new headset that is lightweight and can pair with up to eight devices–including two at once–including cell phones and PC softphones.

“People have embraced headsets for personal use and now is the time for business professionals to leverage headsets for increased mobility and efficiency within their office environments,” said David Grazio, Director of Channel Marketing, Contact Center and Office for GN Netcom, Inc. “These cutting-edge products have improved voice quality and noise elimination, enabling professionals to be hands-free so they can multitask.”

The headset will even distinguish between calls from two different lines with a special ringtone for each.

Here’s the lowdown:

Jabra M5390 USB

The sleek Jabra M5390 USB connects mobile and PC-based soft-phones. Other variants of the M5390 work with standard desk phones. For more information, visit www.jabra.com.

  --  Up to 200 foot range
  --  Up to 6 hours talk time, 60 hours standby time
  --  Plug-and-play Bluetooth connectivity to PC or VoIP
  --  Comes with Jabra PC Suite with e-hook functionality for Microsoft
      Office Communicator, Skype and Cisco IP Communicator
  --  Wideband audio and noise cancelling microphone
  --  True wideband sound quality
  --  Two wearing styles (earhook and headband)
  --  Retails price - $191
  --  Available January, 2009

Source: www.voip-news.com

File this one under it’s a small world.

I was out of town last week, spending time by the shore (but still working my not-so-little butt off). On the beach, I got to talking to a woman who I’ve known for the last 10 years or so about what she does, what I write, etc. I mentioned VoIP News, expecting to get an “oh, really, nice!” but without any recognition. I was wrong. Her eyes instantly lit up and she launched into a spiel about her consulting business and video conferencing solutions that she sets up for clients.

Who knew? And I was just wondering a few days ago what exactly it is that she does do . . . amazing to find out that we’re running in similar circles.

So, you will probably hear more about this lady soon . . . for now though, Wendy, hope you found the blog. Welcome!

Source: www.voip-news.com

Love to travel around the world AND remain connected? Check out this post about tools for people like you from VoIP Watch.

Dell partnered with SightSpeed. Find out why at The VoIP Weblog.

VoIP regulatory issues of interest to you? Read about them here.