Source: snapvoip.blogspot.com

Today I came across snap numbers. It seems that Snap is a dialer and call pop up application for Asterisk. It works by sending the phone number you wish to dial to your Asterisk IP PBX and initiating a call back to your phone, be it VoIP or a PSTN phone. Once your phone rings you pick it up and complete the call. One notable feature is the Microsoft Outlook integration. Outlook users, the call pop-ups are integrated with outlook contacts and the information about the contact will be shown including pictures if they are in the outlook.
In fact it integrates with other applications like Excel, word and powerpoint from Microsoft office. There is a TAPI extension that allows to integrate with application like goldmine, and ACT.
One thing to remember is that this is not a softphone. I would say it is a plugin for your phone, be it a softphone or a regular phone. It extends the capabilities of either phone.
Also the plugin for Firefox and Thunderbird can detect phone numbers on web pages and make them dialable by simply clicking. Something that Google tried with Click-to-call. If they are to populate this concept, they only need a good marketing and PR campaign. Kingmaker at voip watch, comes to my mind.
snapnumber is here. How to configure snap for Asterisk/Trixbox tomorrow.
All in all I am still loyal to my Asteridex fro nerd Vilttles.

Source: snapvoip.blogspot.com

Jeff has been following Google’s VoIP Buzz since 2004, and this year he has done it again. So I did search for snapvoip!

Source: snapvoip.blogspot.com

Snapvoip will debut soon after a long (very Long) hiatus after a hacker attack. I would like to know what people think it should contain. It will be an informational site for now. All in one Snapped in VoIP information Site.

Source: snapvoip.blogspot.com

VoIP IP Telephony @ http://snapvoip.blogspot.com
Just a test for voipniche splog, who steals other people’s posts. He just steal my headings

Source: snapvoip.blogspot.com

Snapvoip.blogspot.com
A few days ago I asked to help out FreePBX group because they were having trouble with their server. They have got a new server and the system is fast according to Rob.
But they are about 1/3rd short of cost of a years worth of hosting. Please visit FreePBX and donate if you are a user of FreePBX. If you are an Asterisk user, I am sure FreePBX will help you out a lot. Have a Look, Follow the links.

FreePBX is, to quote FreePBX’s About page, a Standardized Implementation of Asterisk that gives you a GUI to manage your system. If you’ve looked into Asterisk, you’d know that it doesn’t come with any ‘built in’ programming. You can’t plug a phone into it and make it work without editing configuration files, writing dialplans, and various messing about. FreePBX simplifies this by giving you a pre-written set of dialplans that allow you to have a fully functional PBX pretty much straight away."

Links;
New server anouncement
FreePBX Donations page
FreePBX Bounties Page
Blog article

Source: snapvoip.blogspot.com

The Asterisk Appliance is a standalone embedded PBX. Targeted for small to medium businesses (2-50 users), and remote branch offices of larger organizations (2-50 users per site), the Digium Asterisk Appliance will feature the commercially licensed Asterisk Business Edition software and the first Digium-developed Asterisk GUI framework.
The Asterisk Appliance appears to take advantage of the Blackfin DSP’s microcode programmability by implementing echo cancellation, and possibly other telephony functions, in hardware.
The Appliance’s I/O includes eight analog ports (FXS, FXO), a WAN port, four LAN ports, hardware echo cancellation, and a "craft port" for debugging. Expansion is available through a CompactFlash slot suitable for voicemail storage cards or wireless radio peripherals.

The Asterisk Appliance Developer Kit was designed to allow developers to begin working on solutions based on the Asterisk Appliance before its general release. By developing new business applications using the AADK, kit adopters will have an opportunity to become authorized Asterisk Appliance Partners, qualifying for special programs, pricing and priority availability on production products built on this platform.

Purchase of the AADK includes:

* (1) Asterisk Appliance
o Complete Asterisk server with Asterisk GUI framework
o Up to eight analog telephony ports, configurable via modules
o One 4- port FXS module & two 4-port FXO modules
o Slots for Compact Flash and MMC add-on cards
o 8 MB onboard flash
o 64 MB onboard RAM
o 5 Ethernet ports (4 LAN, WAN)
* Cables for all port types
* IP-430 Polycom phone
* CD with all software
* Documentation and specifications
* How-to manuals
* Digium support details
* Asterisk memorabilia
It is priced at around $4K
Get more info and purchase this at Digium, follow the links.

Links;
Asterisk Appliance Developer Kit

Source: snapvoip.blogspot.com

The Internet Telephony Magazines Internet Telephony Conference and Expo will be held in Fort Laurdale, Florida, Broward County Convention Center.
The dates are;
INTERNET TELEPHONY Conference & EXPO East
Conference Dates: January 23-26, 2007
Exhibit Dates: January 24-26, 2007

Rich Tehrani has an exclusive Show Blog that keep you updated as things happen. See links for the Show Blog.
Also Rich tells us that already people from 68 countries have registered for the show. From the past experiences, I have been very happy with Internet Telephony conferences and always try to be at every show due to the rich resources that are in the communication field gathered in one place. A visit to the Show’s web site (Links will take you there) will show you the list of sponsors and exibitors. So mark your Calendar, and be there. There is still time to register and find a hotel!
The Conference and Expo will be co hosted with Call Center 2.0, The Premier Technology Event for Call Center Decision Makers and IMS EXPO, The Premier Global Event on IP Multimedia Subsystem.
Links
Rich’s article about 68 countries
Rich Tehrani’s show Blog
Internet Telephony Conference and Expo

Source: snapvoip.blogspot.com

The 1974 breakup of AT&T is becoming a joke now for those who remember. I had to dig up Wikipedia to get the information after reading a post by Russel Show. I was too small at the time to pay attention to AT&T. But if you check carefully, it looks like they are rebuilding "Ma Bell". What is next? World Domination?. I like what Russel had to say!
"My thinking? Maybe AT&T is ready to make nice, but here is a company with more than 100 years of fine print sophistry. They need to be watched like a hawk, and I’m not sure this FCC is quite up to the task."
Ha not much different from the ideas of people who know AT&T, that I spoke to!. Read more at Russel’s Blog. You get to vote on how you feel about the deal and has links for the information on the deal.

Links;
Russel Show’s article on "Ma Bell"

Source: snapvoip.blogspot.com

The OpenPBX.org developers and project participants have released the OpenPBX.org 1.2 release candidate 3, The last developer release before the final OpenPBX 1.2. So if you want to get familiar with this Open Source PBX, which was derived from Asterisk, it is time to get your hands dirty.
This release includes the highly anticipated and robust new conference bridge application called NConference. The NConference application has many exciting features such as conference dial-out and runs without dependency on any hardware timing devices.
This release drops Editline support and introduces GNU Readline as a replacement. app_conference was removed and NConference, a new feature-rich application, replaces it. A new version of generic timers providing better performance is now inthe core to support FreeBSD 6.2, NetBSD, OSX and other OS. CLI Issues on OSX are hopefully fixed now. This release adds initial support to ucLinux. Also included are numerous other small bug fixes through out the entire code.

The new Nconference conference bridge is shaping up to be one of the new crown jewels of OpenPBX.org. The new application has a wealth of features, but most importantly it works accross many different codecs and audio sample sizes.
The new conferencing application will work on all platforms supported by OpenPBX.org and will not rely on any hardware-based timers. Nconference also contains many new and innovative features such as "consultant". Consultant allows a moderator to have a helper that can only be heard by the moderator. A dial-out feature will allow moderators to call out of the conference to join new participants.

Links;
OpenPBX wiki, download and build notes.

Source: snapvoip.blogspot.com

ISP planets Alex Goldman has released a ranked list of VOIP providers based of subscribers for 3rd quarter 2006. From the list, It seems mostly Cable companies are beating the rest of the providers, except Vonage, Skype, and Sunrocket. This is from a list of 12 providers whose data is publicly available. The report also mentions that many providers are left out due to unavailability of data.
Here are the first five from the list; follow the link below to get the rest and read the report.

1 Vonage 2,000 [as of September 30, 2006]
2 Skype 1,800 (paid VoIP only, worldwide, date of this number unknown)
3 Time Warner Digital Phone* 1,649 [November 1, 2006]
4 Comcast Digital Phone* 1,348 [October 26, 2006]
5 CableVision 1,101 [November 8, 2006]

ISP Planet have done this ranking since 2004. The history of ranking is also available.

Links;
VOIP Service providers ranked
VOIP ranking History

Source: snapvoip.blogspot.com

to remove, stop or detect skype, read this article.

Info- Tech Research Group,Technology industry analyst firm is advising Corporations to ban Skype use. I reported about Skype network misuse, VOIP IP Telephony: Skype Seems to be hazardous to your network!.

"Companies that are already banning peer-to-peer applications, such as instant messaging, should add Skype to its list of unsanctioned software programs," says Info-Tech analyst Ross Armstrong.

"Approximately 17 million registered Skype users are using the service for business purposes," says Armstrong. "Unless an organization specifies instances where Skype use is acceptable, and outlines rules for client-side Skype settings, that’s 17 million opportunities for a hacker to invade a corporate network."

In a research note prepared for Info-Tech Research Group members, Armstrong outlines five reasons for an enterprise to ban Skype:

- Skype is not standards-compliant, allowing it and any vulnerability to
pass through corporate firewalls.
- Skype’s encryption is closed source and prone to man-in-the-middle
attacks. There are also some unanswered questions about how well the
keys are managed.
- Enterprises using Skype risk a communication barrier with countries
and institutions that have already banned the service.
- Skype is undetectable, untraceable, and unauditable, putting
organizations that are subject to compliance laws at risk.
- The question of whether VoIP calls constitute a business record is a
legal quagmire. Throwing Skype into the communications mix further
clouds the issue.
Comments Armstrong, "The bottom line is that even a mediocre hacker could take advantage of a Skype vulnerability. If you are going to use Skype within enterprise, manage it as you would any other IT service: with policy and diligence."

Source: snapvoip.blogspot.com

As you know I do crunching for Einstein@home, Einstein@Home is a program that uses your computer’s idle time to search for spinning neutron stars (also called pulsars) using data from the LIGO and GEO gravitational wave detectors. Einstein@Home is a World Year of Physics 2005 project supported by the American Physical Society (APS) and by a number of international organizations. The software is based on BOINC (Berkeley Open Infrastructure for Network Computing).Well I am happy to be a Berkleyan.
I run it on a one slow pc by today’s standards. But see that I am above average!. Join and have fun!


Statistics -> Einstein@home Hold Charts -> snapvoip

The amount of work done by snapvoip, broken down according to various criteria. These pages are updated every four hours.

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snapvoip General Info:
Name(and url) snapvoip (teamid 2754)
Created 2005-05-07 06:36
Total 12122.931409 Cobblestones
#1465 of 3546 teams (more than 58.686%) - Charts
Recent 61.295772 Cobblestones
Country United States - #559 of 1219 teams (more than 54.14%)
Members 1