Source: alanweinkrantz.typepad.com

I still have until June 11 to make a decision on what to do about my AT&T U-verse service.  

Source: alanweinkrantz.typepad.com

Back in late December, I managed to negotiate a pretty dramatic reduction in my triple play AT&T services from $169 to $99 per month.  

This lead to some pretty amazing media coverage with my story being told inThe Wall Street Journal, NPRand even an appearance on Good Morning America.  

In telling my story my goal was to help save the American consumer millions of dollars, especially during this economic downturn.

Source: www.voip-news.com

Ambient Media is now an authorized distributor and importer for ViewCast Corporation products in Spain and Portugal. The products include Osprey video capture cards and Niagara encoding systems.

“We’ve been promoting ViewCast solutions for more than seven years, and believe that working with them even more closely will give our customers an advantage over those who are using less robust technologies,” said Richard Spellman, Ambient’s CEO. “The Iberian marketplace has always responded strongly to the reliability, ease-of-use and value that ViewCast offers, and as new market segments open up, that demand is increasing. ViewCast’s ability to anticipate and respond to market requirements is quickly closing the price/performance gap between consumer and professional products.”

According to the companies:

Recent developments in the European Union’s regulatory framework have contributed to unprecedented growth in voice-over-internet (VOIP) technology and television services through broadband lines. The telecom markets in Spain and Portugal, in particular, have emerged as principal growth areas in Europe. Continued growth is expected particularly in broadcast, telecom, education and corporate communications – all sectors in which ViewCast’s plug-and-play solutions stand out among its competitors’ products.

“The video-over-IP market is booming in Spain and Portugal, and ViewCast intends to play a key role in driving these emerging media opportunities,” said Gary J. Klembara, ViewCast Senior Vice President of Sales. “Having a dedicated distribution channel will increase our visibility in this region and enable us to provide local industry with the technology infrastructure it needs to deliver cost-effective, professional-quality video over IP and mobile networks.”

Source: www.voip-news.com

The Education Commission of Chaoyang District in Beijing now has been outfitted with a virtualization solution by Beijing PowerUnique Technology Co., Ltd., a division of China VoIP & Digital Telecom Inc.

“The Commission’s project demonstrated our ability to provide quality virtualization solutions in the education industry. BPUT’s cooperation with Zhengqun, a system integrator (SI), created a new marketing approach through helping the SIs without the VMware sales qualification, VMware Certified Professional engineers, VMware Authorized Training Center and VMware Authorized Consultant (all are strictly required before implementing the virtualization projects) to implement turn-key virtualization solutions,” said Li Kunwu, CEO of CVDT.

According to the company:

During the virtualization solution implementation process, BPUT worked with Beijing Zhengqun Xinshi Information Technology Co., Ltd. (”Zhengqun”) by providing Zhengqun comprehensive technical support service including pre-sale training, test evaluation, solution design, and software delivery, as well as implementation and on-site training. Zhengqun applied BPUT’s turn-key solution to the Commission’s virtualization project, which is aimed at improving the IT management efficiency by reducing the number of servers being used and expanding the server capacity to meet high browsing demand from its website, which is used by its internal staff as well as teachers and students in the Chaoyang district in Beijing.

Source: www.voip-news.com

Is Skype going to take a bite out of Apple? VoIP Watch ponders the question …

Zahir’s Blog talks about advantages to online fax services.

VoIP & Gadgets Blog reports that trixbox 2.8 is out in beta.

Source: www.voip-news.com

OrecX LLC’s OrecX TR is now supported in QueueMetrics 1.5.1, the call center monitoring application from Loway that is used for large scale Asterick PBX operations. That can reduce operating costs of recording voice calls by moving them from the Asterisk server to a dedicated server.

“OrecX TR is a very popular solution used in thousands of call center networks around the world. Bringing support for OrecX into the QueueMetrics environment will lower costs, simplify call recording, and extend functionality for many QueueMetrics users,” said Lorenzo Emilitri, managing director of Loway.

According to the company:

QueueMetrics turns any Asterisk PBX into a full-featured contact center. Able to support up to 500 live agents, the suite allows operations managers, call team leaders and call agents to complete their daily tasks through a real-time computer interface. Operations managers can view activity reports, listen to recorded calls, measure agent activity and business targets, while team leaders can see current agent status and listen to live calls as they are handled. QueueMetrics also allows agents to see calls they’re handling, integrate with external Customer Relationship Management (CRM) applications and more.

By providing support for OrecX TR, Loway gives QueueMetrics users a way to record calls with minimal changes to the Asterisk dialplan. As the user’s audio storage medium, OrecX TR will cut the disk I/O and transcoding costs necessary for the main Asterisk server(s). It accomplishes necessary recording and storage tasks while retaining a high level of control, even in distributed or clustered Asterisk deployments.

Source: www.voip-news.com

JTS Corporation is now the Master Distributor in Japan for Patton, the network access, connectivity, VoIP and triple-play equipment company.

“Japan is the world’s second largest economy,” said Tom Kojima, President and CEO of JTS Corporation. “This market is too big to miss for Patton Electronics. Leveraging the JTS regional sales network and local support facilities, we can compete together against regional manufacturers and win. I believe Patton will make double business development in Japan for 2009.”

JTS will do local sales, marketing and technical support for Patton customers in Japanese. They also will be launching an online storefront at www.patton.jp.

“We are deeply committed to mutual growth and success.
2008 was actually very strong for both Patton and JTS. Yet we have
barely scratched the surface of the Japanese market potential. We
expect 100% revenue growth this year,” said Sean Gerrity, Patton’s Sales
Director for North America and Japan.

Source: www.voip-news.com

The wireless IP interconnection technology from Tata Communications has been successfully trialed as part of the international GSM Association’s program to develop next gen wireless services.

According to the company:

Tata Communications’ trials were part of the GSMA’s IP eXchange (IPX) Pre-Commercial Implementation Project, which is verifying the design and operation of IPX networks through a series of trials designed to validate technical and commercial specifications. Once adopted, IPX will act as a private global IP backbone, open to any telecommunications company adhering to the required standards. IPX will provide fixed and mobile service providers with a technical and commercial platform for the performance-based exchange of IP-based services.

“Tata Communications’ participation and completion of the GSMA’s IPX trial is key to our strategy of delivering innovative voice solutions to our customers worldwide,” said Michel Guyot, President, Global Voice Solutions for Tata Communications. “Our company is committed to working with the IPIA (IP Internetworking Alliance) to promote and support the launch of IPX services and is planning to launch its own IPX rich, integrated offering to service providers – like TELUS and Telekom Austria – delivered over next-generation network architecture. We truly believe the IPX model will have a very significant impact on the industry.”

Source: www.voip-news.com

NETXUSA is now an official distributor of TalkSwitch IP-PBX phone systems.

“We’re very pleased to partner with NETXUSA, providing TalkSwitch resellers the opportunity to work with a recognized leader in the sale and distribution of VoIP products and services,” said Jan Scheeren, president and CEO, TalkSwitch. “Their national coverage, expertise and high-touch provisioning capabilities for single and multi-site deployments are big benefits for many partners, and in turn the end customer.”

NETXUSA will have certified engineers and experienced customer service staff at the ready to help TalkSwitch retailers in the pre and post-sale stages.

“By selecting only proven VoIP products and manufacturers, we can be confident that customer solutions and deployments will be successful,” said Eric Todd, CTO, NETXUSA. “TalkSwitch products are feature-rich, deliver outstanding value, and their vendor relationships and channel programs are very strong. They’re also a certified Polycom partner, which provides even more choice when creating custom VoIP solutions.”

Source: alanweinkrantz.typepad.com

During the month of December, I spent quite a bit of time going line item by line item in my business and household budget trying to reduce costs.

Since then, Telephony Magazine covered the story and today, The Wall Street Journal did this piece.

Source: www.voip-news.com

The Sherman Independent School District in Northern Texas is getting a new advanced communications system with the help of Verizon Business.

Each school is getting new wireless LANS for the campus as well as VoIP platform phone service, both of which will be carried over the district’s high-capacity Ethernet network, which is already in place.

“The district is converting all locations to voice over IP and it has been very successful,” said Mignon Plyer, the Sherman school district’s director of technology. “As part of this new system, we can deliver voice mail to teachers – a feature that parents really like. What began as a vendor relationship has developed into a real partnership. Verizon’s professional consultants helped us find solutions to deliver content to students while fully leveraging our investments.”

The Ethernet network will further be used to track library books, process transactions in the cafeteria and carry distance-learning activities in the classrooms.

“Sherman ISD has been a leader in the use of technology to make sure students have access to the necessary resources, both on and off campus,” said Alex Coleman, group president for Verizon Business government and education markets. “Sherman school district students and teachers will have state-of-the-art IP technology with wireless access — tools to help expand the educational experience for the entire district.”

Source: www.voip-news.com

ICON will begin distributing TalkSwitch owner-friendly phone systems for small businesses in the United Kingdom soon.

“TalkSwitch is an established and proven product in the UK, delivering an exceptional value. We are especially pleased to have been chosen as the strategic partner for the UK market. TalkSwitch offers our channel partners a very cost-competitive and versatile solution for their SME customers,” said David Marshall, Technical Director at ICON.

TalkSwitch prides itself on having lots of features without a huge pricetag. The system includes built-in voicemail, auto-attendant greetings, call forwarding to mobiles and more.

“We are very pleased to partner with ICON to build on the increasing popularity of TalkSwitch in the UK market. ICON is an experienced value-added distributor specializing in VoIP products, with nationwide regional account managers, and a strong focus on channel and technical support,” said Jan Scheeren, president and CEO, TalkSwitch.