Source: www.voip-news.com

Broadband service provider Danawa Resources has deployed the Stratus ENTICE E-Rev telecommuications platform in order to increase their operations in the residential, enterprise and wholesale VoIP market. The company operates in Malaysia, Cambodia and Indonesia.

“The countries where we offer broadband service have an underdeveloped telecom infrastructure with very expensive international calling, so it was logical for us to diversify into phone service by piggybacking VoIP on top of our existing broadband backbone,” said Peter Chew, Danawa’s Chief Technical Officer. “Stratus was the only solution that fulfilled our key requirements: a cost-effective one-platform architecture, rapid deployment, and a central point of control for all three countries.”

ENTICE E-REV was selected due to the session control, customer billing and value-added applications like unified messaging that it can provide.

“This implementation is a direct result of our integrated approach to VoIP deployment. Our ability to deliver an application server, session border controller, billing system, unified messaging system and endpoint provisioning system in one integrated package simplifies VoIP installations immeasurably,” said Nathan Franzmeier, Stratus senior vice president of the Emerging Network Solutions Group. “This was Danawa’s #1 criterion for selecting a VoIP platform, and it is a key reason for our growth.”

Source: www.voip-news.com

Telanetix, Inc. has launched a new product intended for training facilities and large group telepresence sessions. Immersive Collaboration Environment, or ICE,  allows an unlimited number of conference participants per site.

ICE is a cost-effective way to start virtual training. It assembles in four days or so and costs less than half the price of competitors.

“With more than 35 airlines out of business so far in 2008 and another 30 in danger according to the head of a major European airline association, Telanetix seems well positioned as organizations look for cost-effective alternatives in managing their global operations,” said Howard S. Lichtman, President of the telepresence consultancy Human Productivity Lab and Publisher of Telepresence Options.

Source: www.voip-news.com

Optenet has a new content security solution that includes a new bandwidth optimization function. The Optenet Bandwidth Management enables highly granular, real-time network traffic control.

According to the company:

With Optenet’s bandwidth management capability, the ISP or customer administrator can monitor and control the bandwidth resources consumed by a URL connection, an IP address, or a traffic group, in efforts to reduce network congestion caused by increasingly popular practices such as streaming video, frequenting social network sites, and the downloading of large multi-media files.

“It’s critical for companies to optimize bandwidth capacity for the most significant traffic, whether that’s mission-critical data or the CEO’s email,” said Joel Silberman, vice president, North America, Optenet. “Prioritizing traffic is particularly important as businesses expand or add new, bandwidth-intensive applications, like VoIP and Web conferencing which require high-quality connectivity.”

Source: www.voip-news.com

Vopium, a mobile VoIP provider, is now available on the BlackBerry, VoIP News of the UK reports.

VoIP and Gadgets Blog has a very thorough and lengthy review of Aastra 57i and 57i CT VoIP phones.

The Model Info Center asks: “Are ISPs right to block bandwidth hungry VoIP?”

Source: alanweinkrantz.typepad.com

My friend, (and noted Emmy award winning journalist) Patricio Espinosa, just introduced me to a new webseries for Latinos by Latinos.  Even though AT&T does offer Hispanic programming, there are alternatives directly on the web. Here’s a great example of innovation and creativity you won’t find elsewhere.

"Ylse" Unapologetically Latina! from Patricio Espinoza on Vimeo.

Created by Ruth Livier, Showtime Resurrection Blvd., "Ylse" (ee-l-say) for those Spanish impaired is the story of a Latina journalist looking to break in, and the challenges she must face… from political correctness to bra "pads". Part irreverent comedy, part drama and part activist "Ylse" is someone everyone should meet, and a Latina, Latinos would most certainly identify with.

The web-only series is bilingual but mostly in English "Ylse" it’s pretty much a work of love at this point. E.P. and director Joe Camareno and Ruth Livier, E.P., Creator, Writer talk to espiBlog.org Emmy award winning Journalist Patricio Espinoza.

Web TV - Worth Watching!

Source: www.voip-news.com

Andy at VoIP Watch has discovered an anomoly between Skype and SkypePhone. Read about it here.

TMCnet reviewed the Adtran IP 706. Find out the verdict here.

SoliCali has an echo problem in calls, but they are working to remove it. Read about it at VoIP News of the UK.

Source: www.voip-news.com

Network Products Guide has selected the Toshiba Strata CIX family of IP business communications as a winner of the 2008 Best Products and Services Award in the VoIP category.

“Toshiba has been awarded Best in VoIP by our readers for its proven ability to deliver solid IP business communication systems that give users flexibility, reliability, durability and migratability across the Strata CIX product family,” said Rake Narang, editor-in-chief, Network Products Guide.

The system can handle anywhere from 40 to more than 1,000 ports. And it can be used at more than 120 sites at once.

“We are very honored to win the Network Products Guide’s 2008 Best Product of the Year for VoIP,” said Brian Metherell, vice president and general manager. “As the readers who voted can attest, the Toshiba Strata CIX IP business communication systems deliver Toshiba’s legendary quality and reliability in an affordable VoIP system ranging from 40 to 1,152 ports. A strong solution for both SMB and multi-location customers, Toshiba Strata CIX systems are the choice of thousands of headquarter and branch office locations at America’s best known companies.”

Source: www.voip-news.com

Imagine if wireless devices could move seamlessly between Wi-Fi connection points without a hiccup? It might seem like a dream, but a new standard just developed and approved by IEEE could make it possible.

Oh, wouldn’t that be great?

The original standard was only intended to be used with a single access point. It’s about four years in the making and is expected to mostly be used in VoIP applications.

According to PC Pro:

Current Wi-Fi equipment can take several seconds to complete the handover from one access point to another, resulting in dropped phone calls.

The new standard will complete the process in just 50ms, by establishing a security and quality of service state with the new access point before handover.

Source: www.voip-news.com

So, the FCC finally issued their official ruling on net neutrality. Have you heard the rundown yet? The gist is that the FCC doesn’t think that any new laws are necessary, which means that laws are highly subjective. Moreover, that means that whoever is influencing policy can influence how laws are interpreted. Course that doesn’t mean good things . . .

Want to know more about the ruling? VoIP News has you covered. Read this article for more information.

Source: www.voip-news.com

This is one that really makes a lot of sense. It’s cutting edge and perfect for the atmosphere of a trading floor . . . The Bank of Beijing is going to convert to VoIP. The trading floor will have a system by IPC Systems.

VoIP and stock trading? Well, except for that pesky security issue. I certainly hope they address the potential vulnerabilities of a VoIP system before using it to trade with other people’s money.

Still, it sounds like a good match to me. What do you think?

Source: www.voip-news.com

The National Security Agency (NSA) has awarded a $2.8 million contract to add a Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) feature to Sectera vIPer Universal Secure Phone. The feature allows users to use the vIPer Phone to connect to the traditional telephone network using a secure network.

“The idea behind PSTN Connect is to provide users with a flexibility they don’t have today. For example, the vIPer Universal Secure Phone will appeal to those whose installations currently use the PSTN network, but who plan to migrate to voice over IP; users who currently have voice over IP networks; and others who plan to stay with traditional PSTN,” said John Cole, vice president of Information Assurance for General Dynamics C4 Systems. “It’s about protecting our customers’ investments by providing a product that will accommodate evolving communications technologies.”

The Sectéra vIPer Phone was released in 2006 and is the only VoIP phone approved by the NSA for top secret information.

Source: alanweinkrantz.typepad.com

Lately, I’ve been digging and catching up on the subject of  Ultra High Definition - or UltraHD.

Don’t get me wrong.  I love my Sony big screen HD, but now that it’s approaching three years in use, I am starting to think about maybe replacing it, putting in another room, and shifting to UltraHD, once these sets do come available to consumers.

But there’s more to UltraHD than just a pretty picture….

While the potential to have an ever better and crisper resolution in my home is compelling, I think there is another issue that service providers need to consider. 

By the time UltraHD gets here, AT&T will have already deployed its Whole Home DVR in my home.  And with the increasing trend towards home networks and the need for increased bandwidth, my take is that  G.hn - is going to be the "next generation" home network technology standard for the Weinkrantz family (and millions of others around the world.) 

Coax, Phone Wire or Powerline.  G.hn good to go.

My house in San Antonio, Texas, USA, may not be like your house in Lisbon, Portugal, where you might use Powerline.  In G.hn, ITU-T members are creating a single standard for home networking over existing wires – coax, phone wires and powerline – with the speed and features needed by tomorrow’s high-performance applications.

G.hn likes all flavors of  existing-wire home networking.  And WiFi is pretty universal.  Good news:  at my house and yours, we’ll get the best of both worlds.

There is some chatter in the blogosphere and on individual sites like here, here and here where I have commented on this issue.

Is UltraHD on your radar?  Drop me a line–  alan at weinkrantz dot com