EMBARQ has launched EMBARQ Managed IP Telephony service, an always-on managed IP solution with monitoring and alerting, management and support services. The service oversees a business’s voice communications systems including call servers and voicemail servers.
“Unmanaged growth could result in problems with speed, throughput, response time and other issues causing jitter and latency,” said Susan McQueeny-Scholes, Director of Marketing Communications for EMBARQ Business. “Allowing EMBARQ to take care of these issues can help businesses focus on their core competencies while lowering their costs and needs for internal support.”
Here’s the detes of what EMBARQ offers:
EMBARQ(R) MIPT service provides life-cycle support for day-to-day management and monitoring and offers two levels of protection to match the evolving needs of a customer’s enterprise.
Monitoring and Alerting Service
– 24×7×365 device monitoring
– Remote diagnostics and minor remote repairs
– Help desk support with 24×7 live response
– Notification of events through phone, e-mail or both
– Up/down and ticket status
– Monthly traffic and alarm activity reporting
Comprehensive Services
Includes all Monitoring and Alerting Services plus:
– Design and engineering assistance
– Project implementation
– Assigned technical engineer
– Proactive management of alarm monitoring, notification and escalation
– Software management services, including annual major software updates
– On-demand business management reporting through a secure Web portal.
Fixing quality issues in IP telephony networks will be helped by service-level reporting (SLR), according to a new report from Light Reading’s VoIP Services Insider. The report offers comparative analysis’s of solutions as well as a look at the vertical market strengths and stategies for various vendors.
“Many IPT managers are turning to SLR to learn as much as possible about the quality issues on their networks,” says Denise Culver, research analyst with Light Reading’s VoIP Services Insider and author of the report. “One of the overriding goals of SLR is to change the break/fix mentality that many IPT managers have to a mentality of true quality of service (QoS) analytics.”
Light Reading says that there will be challenges including a lack of awareness facing the SLR market in the next 12-18 months. Decreased staffing will also impact it.
“Worries about the economy continue to top the list of concerns for vendors of SLR solutions,” says Culver. “Confusion in the SLR marketplace could become an issue because of the prolific nature of some solutions.”
What else does the report find?
Key findings of Diagnosis Quality: Service-Level Reporting Delivers include the following:
– A top goal of service-level reporting (SLR) is to move away from the
break/fix mentality of QoS and delve into deeper QoS analytics
– SLR enables companies to save money and sharpen focus by shedding
functions that are not their core competency
– Proactive SLR can reduce customer churn, protecting and increasing
revenue through new services
– Government is expected to have more funds for SLR over the next 12 to
18 months, largely due to the economic stimulus plan
– Economic concerns top the list of challenges for SLR vendors over the
next 12 to 18 months
– M&A of service providers and enterprises will create a need for more
intelligent SLR systems over the next 12 to 18 months
Diagnosis Quality: Service-Level Reporting Delivers is available as part of an annual subscription (six issues) to Light Reading’s VoIP Services Insider, priced at $1,295. Individual reports are available for $900.
Are you going to the Internet Telephony Conference and Expo East 2009, planned for Feb. 2-4, 2009, at the Miami Beach Conference Center in Miami?
The IP Communications trade show is put on by TMC and drew more than 7,000 buyers and sellers last year.
Among those showing at this event will be MERA Systems, which plans to unveil the latest version of its updated VoIP softswitch portfolio.
“MERA Systems participation at INTERNET TELEPHONY ® Conference & EXPO exemplifies why this show is widely recognized as the #1 venue where service providers, enterprises, government agencies, developers and resellers gather to learn about the benefits inherent in IP Communications products and services,” said Rich Tehrani, TMC President. “The evolution in this industry has been monumental and it still continues to grow. We are proud to have MERA Systems and its product portfolio as a key part of this year’s program.”
According to the company:
MERA Systems has designed a suite of Class 4 softswitches that dramatically simplify VoIP traffic wholesaling and Class 5 solutions that allow rendering quality communication services to end-users:
MERA VoIP Transit Softswitch II (MVTS II) is a comprehensive product with enhanced billing capabilities. The softswitch is designed for small and medium-sized wholesale carriers and does not require any add-ons after deployment. The latest release of MVTS II is focused on increasing the system’s performance and dependability and allows new billing capabilities.
“We are proud to showcase our softswitches at the 19 th INTERNET TELEPHONY Conference & EXPO EAST 2009, which is one of the most important trade shows in the region. Being fully equipped to meet any need that today’s service providers might have, MERA Systems is constantly working on improving the customer care service turning the clientele’s investment into a worthy experience with MERA Systems.”, – said Konstantin Nikashov, CEO of MERA Systems.
Telstra has deployed the largest hosted IP telephone roll-out in Australia ever. The company now has more than10,000 new Telstra IP Telephony services as part of its CustomNet voice solution upgrade.
“Telstra continues to lead by example,” said Telstra Enterprise & Government Executive Director Paul Geason. “One of the cornerstones of unified communications solutions is Telstra IP Telephony, which enables Australian customers to maximize their resources and operate more cost-effectively, which is particularly critical in a tough economic environment.”
Telstra’s TIPT has a toolbar that integrates Microsoft Outlook and Internet Explorer to increase productivity with services like click-to-call.
“Telstra staff are now reaping the benefits of a network-based system that leverages the Telstra Next IP(TM) network to deliver high definition voice and mobility with rich features like simultaneous ringing, remote office and a desktop toolbar with the power of click-to-call,” said Telstra Product Management Executive Director Philip Jones. “This unified communication solution will soon be enhanced with new functionality including seamless integration with Microsoft Office Communicator and video calling.”
Last month’s deployment of AT&T’s U-verse Voice in my home represented a fundamental shift in the way I look at my residential telephony service. And now, with today’s introduction of its HomeManager™ product offering, the phone company as we no longer know it, is extending the value chain in helping me integrate and manage all of my IP services in the home.
Overview The AT&T HomeManager consists of three devices: the HomeManager Frame, HomeManager Handset, and HomeManager Base.
The HomeManager Frame is a cordless touch screen device with a vivid 7 inch color display that provides easy access to your address book, as well as your call logs, voice mail, Yellow Pages and White pages, weather, news, email calendar digital photos and videos – and it’s a speaker phone. It has the look and feel of a scaled down tablet PC and could be a hint of form factors to come, especially in light of Intel’s recent announcement of its Urban Max prototype displayed last month.
The HomeManager Handset is what it is- a handset but with the feel of something more like a Cisco, Nortel or Avaya office IP phone you see in the enterprise.
The HomeManager Base which hooks into the Residential Gate way serves as a means to connect to the Frame and Handset.
First Impressions: It looks really cool. Especially the HomeManager Frame.
It was easy to install.
I was up and going in about 10 minutes. The directions are easy to read and follow.
The HomeManager Frame got me thinking about how I consume and apply information. In the case of Yellow Pages, the HomeManager Frame is a great application – and a better application than having Yellow Pages on U-verse TV. Frankly, Yellow Pages on U-verse TV is slow and cumbersome. But on the HomeManager Frame it’s fast and easy to use. Oh- by the way, I still use the paper version of the Yellow Pages which sits on a shelf in the kitchen.
While you can get your email on the HomeManager Frame, it’s sort of clunky and not as elegant as checking or composing email or texts on my iPhone. The HomeManager Frame also comes with a pen stylus for tapping text instead of using your fingers.
The address book is a good idea, but you are out of luck in trying to sync it if you have an iPhone. If you are a subscriber to the AT&T Mobile Backup Service, you can set your address book to automatically sync with your AT&T mobile phone address book on select phones. (If you have an iPhone, I highly recommend the MobileMe service which syncs your PC/iPhone/and your .Me account in the cloud).
One thing that the HomeManager Frame does display – and can be your screen saver, is the weather. This is a case where this type of device lends itself best for a certain type of information that I want to have at my disposal.
The lesson here is that there is no one device or communications platform that can be all things to all consumers. The other lesson is that slowly but surely, AT&T is helping me build out a small-scale enterprise network in my home with service options that can be deployed on a variety of hardware platforms. At the end of the day, it can be my TV, my PC, my wireless device, or now my Frame.
Pricing: The basic HomeManager offering is on sale starting today for $299. Additional handsets are available for $69 each. I wonder why AT&T doesn’t offer a $100 rebate if you sign up for U-verse, or at the very least, let you put 10 non-interest payments of $29 per month on your phone bill.
Availability:
You may purchase your HomeManager today in the following major AT&T markets: Chicago, Atlanta, Austin, San Antonio, Houston, Dallas, San Francisco, San Diego and Los Angeles. I assume others will follow as they roll the product out.
Non-profit Elwyn is getting a voice, data and network services makeover from Carousel Industries. Carousel will also be modernizing the company’s physical infrastructure including cooling and power.
According to the companies:
The new system will be designed, installed, serviced and maintained by Carousel. This project represents a multi-million dollar investment in improvements for Elwyn and its branch locations. The project will integrate Elwyn’s communications environment to increase interoperability, features, applications, scalability, and reliability for all users. These enhancements will allow teachers and case workers to spend more time with the mentally challenged adults and children they support.
Avaya products will be used for the IP Telephony system including Avaya S8300 media servers and 1000 IP, digital and analog handsets. The network will be connected via a meshed AT&T MPLS network.
With an ever-increasingly independent workplace, softphones are becoming a key component to work place productivity, says Frost & Sullivan. The analysts believe that further communications convergence is on the way.
According to Trading Markets:
The increased implementation of integrated UC clients is likely to contribute toward the demand for click-to-call graphical interfaces as softphones seem to be the natural transition to more sophisticated, UC solutions, said Frost & Sullivan Research Analyst Alaa Saayed. Since the majority of the IP telephony solution vendors are building strong cases around UC, soft clients may also receive a boost along the way.
However, misconceptions regarding the security and call quality of IP-based telephony are still a major challenge for softphone providers. Downward pricing pressure due to increased competition is also a major challenge, as are interoperability issues related to endpoints and systems.
A new solution from Teltronics, offers an integrated combination of advanced functionality, extensive infrastructure coverage and speedy deployment. Intelligent Service Level Management Solution is a next-gen service level management solution.
The solution uses the new Nortel CS1000 Monitor Probe to receive, capture, process, track, display and report performance metrics in Nortel IP Telephony environments. It also can use the new VQProbe, which can proactively monitor real-time and completed voice calls over IP telephony to ensure quality.
“For nearly two decades, Nortel and major carriers have relied on the Teltronics Intelligent Systems Management (ISM) product line as a network monitoring and management facilitator,” said Ewen Cameron, President and CEO for Teltronics. “To expand on this long-term relationship, Teltronics is excited about the release of the Nortel CS1000 Monitor Probe and VQProbe as exclusive solutions for Nortel end users and partners to effectively monitor and manage their IP Telephony, IT Infrastructure and other business critical applications.”
The cable industry is showing that it can really play the "takeaway" game when it comes to telephony in the home based on what I’m reading over at IP Democracy this morning.
What does this mean? Here are some thoughts about the landscape that runs over cable and why the cable guys are winning.
1) AT&T still has the best quality platform in VoIP with CallVantage, but they’re no longer really pushing it. Instead they want to see consumers either stay legacy PSTN or switch to UVerse where VoIP is part of the deal.
2) Earthlink, which has a very rock solid VoIP product with TruVoice has pretty much hung that up too. My guess is they will shed that to someone in the next six to nine months.
3) Vonage is the runaway leader of the independents, and now with a Covad deal in place they can actually sell a bundled high speed package. They will also finally be able to offer some QoS to the customers as Vonage with Covad’s help will be able to manage the call path for most of the way.
4) Speakeasy is the BestBuy brand now for VoIP. Reports of internal bickering between retail, online and the Speakeasy crew continue to bubble, and I’m also hearing that BestBuy may be looking to dump it as they have yet to find a way to really integrate it into their overall retail mix, beyond the Geek Squad.
Of the four Vonage has the best base to build from, simply because AT&T has given up on the cable customer market after initially wanting to be the cable guy’s best friend.
5) The remaining players like Broadvoice, Packet8 and VoicePulse all have their very loyal customers and in reality, far lower churn than Vonage. Then again, Vonage outspends them in advertising and gets builds the category.
So, basically, despite all the major efforts from big players like AT&T, Earthlink and even AOL, the cable guys have pretty much wiped them off the map with cable telephony subscribers. Verizon’s VoiceWing isn’t even an afterthought by anyone either so where are the telcos going with VoIP if the cable guys have the consumer market pretty much sewn up? The big telcos are going to the business market.
For the most part cable is not in the business game. It’s also their biggest opportunity. Fatter pipe, better pricing. A need for more converged offerings. If cable can make the jump, and its a two to three year game, then they can win the business VoIP war too. But it’s a big IF. That same IF exists for the telcos because upstarts like Junction Networks, cBeyond, M5, CallTower and a whole host of others are providing better services, at better prices. Plus you’re not tied to the Telco for bandwidth, so options for business abound.
Net Net–Cable may be winning the @HOME battle, but as far as @WORK, it’s a wide open ball game.
Influence and persuasion might be better words for the eComm2008 conference than the popular word in use here, disruption. For example, Thomas Howe of the Thomas Howe Company (one of our top 20 VoIP Influencers) spoke on the topic of commodities and using both paprika and corn as examples explained how voice has become a commodity. People want and expect all voice experiences to be the same. He asked the attendees to ‘make it our mission to accept voice as a commodity,’ and urged people to do new things with voice. “We should be cooks, not farmers.”
RJ Auburn of Voxeo talked about how telephony sucks and how it is complex, arcane and proprietary and instead should be simple, ubiquitous and open. And then talked about the Voxeo model and VoiceXML and CCXML. You can find out more at http://evolution.voxeo.net/.
Irv Shapiro of ifbyphone.com gave one of the best received speeches in introducing their new mashup services including an application that you call up , speak a phone number at or near your current location and a second number at or near where you want to go and in return receive voice driving directions. He talked about how the best practices for voice mashups include a technology agnostic API, dialog support (voice forms, dtmf, text to speech, speech rec), call management (outbound, inbound, scheduling) and support services. And finally he announced that they are giving away a million free minutes of calls a month to developers in North America – you can find out more at www.phonemashup.com.
Beseq’s subsidiary Yes Satellite Broadcasting has passed an important milestone in Israel as the Grunau Commission passed the decision. Yes Satellite Broadcasting will be permitted to market a triple-play telephony package: "Bezeq telephone and Internet", "service and infrastructure", from Bezeq and Bezeq International respectively. This is the main decision made by the Grunau Commission concerning Bezeq, but it will not be implemented immediately. Yes’ mother company Bezeq, on the other hand, will not be allowed to market the same triple package, but Yes will now be able to compete with HOT Telecom, which is already marketing this triple package of services. This easing of restrictions on Bezeq offsets another of the commission’s decisions – that Bezeq must allow other telephony operators to use its infrastructure – a policy called unbundling – which hurt the company’s competitive edge. The commission further decided that HOT will not have to adopt an unbundling policy for its infrastructure now. Haaretz brought me the news and read more there.
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