Source: www.voip-news.com
VoIP News of the UK says that Ofcom wants reverse VoIP tracing for emergency calls in the UK.
Smith on VoIP says that niche applications are driving the adoption of video calling.
Network World says that Google has grabbed 1 million phone numbers for Google Voice. Whoa.
Source: www.voip-news.com
VoIP Watch says that Google Voice is going to support local number portability. YAY! That’s a good move on their part.
Smith on VoIP wonders which you’d prefer: good service or good pricing for VoIP … since you just can’t have both. Or can you?
A new smartphone that supports Skype video conferencing? Yep. Elektrobit MID Reference Device does that. Read about it on VoIP & Gadgets Blog.
Source: www.voip-news.com
Add newspapers to the ever-growing list of companies that have transitioned to a managed voice, Internet and data networking solutions package. The Kansas City Star in Kansas City, Missouri, is now using a solution from tw telecom.
“We’d outgrown our old network and needed a provider with the ability to support us in creating a robust 10-location wide area network (WAN) to sustain The Star’s continually increasing network needs,” said John McPhail, Systems Manager for The Kansas City Star. “Important to us was that tw telecom was able to provide The Star with a cleaner, self-healing solution that gives us a better network with improved bandwidth at every site, and a layer of redundancy we didn’t have before. The Star’s headquarters, production facilities and seven distribution centers throughout the metro area are now connected over a much more secure and cleaner network than we had before.”
The company’s new network is a multi-solution, 10-location Ethernet-based network that provides 40 Mbps of metro Ethernet connectivity and voice services.
“Critical to our decision to select tw telecom was its network fiber footprint,” said McPhail. “When we reviewed all the proposals, many of which were priced similarly, none could match tw telecom’s network capabilities or technical sophistication. The Star is now directly connected to a fully protected network, and we immediately reduced our costs by more than 10 percent. We gained more than just an improvement in cost, we were able to upgrade nine of our sites from a consumer-type DSL connection to a production quality T1. In addition, this transition to tw telecom had the added benefit of reducing to one the number of providers we now have to manage.”
Source: www.voip-news.com
What’s the future of high-def voice? Global IP Solutions recently polled participants in a webinar about how they think it will be applied.
Of those polled, 57 percent said that conference calling would benefit most, followed by about 33 percent who thought it would increase productivity. Another 16 percent said the greatest impact would be on call centers.
“The results validate our belief that there are many opportunities in corporate America that can greatly benefit from high definition voice,” said Joyce Kim, chief marketing officer at GIPS. “As a leader in providing the core technology for HD voice, a growing importance for call center operations, conferencing and overall employee productivity; these results demonstrate the value GIPS continues to deliver to its customers worldwide.”
According to GIPS:
As voice technology continues to migrate from circuit-switched services to modern IP-based network foundations, call quality has yet to receive straight “A”s in business and consumer use. Enter HD voice technology, and its leading driver: GIPS. Its advanced wideband CODECs and VoiceEngines, which solve the issues related to IP networks such as delay, jitter and echo, is capable of delivering high quality IP voice regardless of network conditions.
GIPS is building on the momentum of market interest in high-definition voice by sponsoring the HD Communications Summit on Thursday, May 21. Produced by VoIP pioneer Jeff Pulver, the conference is being held at New World Stages in New York City and will explore the issues and benefits associated with the widespread deployment of HD VoIP.
Source: www.voip-news.com
Solectek is going to be providing infrastructure for VoiceNetworkx’s 3.65 GHz WiMAX deployment in Southern California.
“We have researched the space for almost a year and are very satisfied with the technical analysis and real world deployment capabilities of our partner. But as far as the wireless portion of the deployment, it is settled,” said Malcolm Leal, Ph.D. President and CEO of VoiceNetworkx, Inc. “The proximity and availability of the engineering team at Solectek, the experience and reputation in the market of this company provide a level of business confidence that is unmatched, in our opinion.”
According to VoiceNetworkx:
Installation of the base stations and related infrastructure will begin at selected Points of Presence promptly in accordance with VoiceNetworkx’s deployment schedule. VoiceNetworkx plans to develop 12 Points of Presence along their 100 mile long fiber optic circuit that extends from Hemet, CA to 1 Wilshire, in the heart of downtown Los Angeles.
Source: www.voip-news.com
There is a new white paper available on HD voice. Read about it on The VoIP Weblog.
Vopium has launched an iPhone app. Read about it on VoIP News of the UK.
With AT&T CallVantage being shut down, faithful users like Andy Abramson at VoIP Watch have a lot to say about it.
Source: www.voip-news.com
Need to get CCIE certification? The Cisco Certified Internetworking Expert Voice certification is an industry-recognized accreditation for senior engineers in IP-enabled Voice technology disciplines.
One training company, IPexpert, is now training for the new 3.0 version of the test.
According to IPexpert:
To become CCIE certified, engineers spend years preparing for an exhaustive 8-hour hands-on “lab” exam conducted by Cisco, the global leader in computer networking solutions. IPexpert (http://www.ipexpert.com/) is a training organization focused on preparing seasoned computer network engineers for the coveted CCIE exams, through various learning solutions including self-study materials and instructor-led training courses.
As enterprise networking technologies continue to evolve, Cisco implements changes in the CCIE exam topics to ensure that the individuals being certified as experts are adept with the current technologies. Due to technology enhancements, modifications to the various CCIE exams tend to be made every two to three years, with the most recent affecting the Voice specialization.
Source: www.voip-news.com
VoIP News of the UK report that college tutors are using VoIP to get parental contact with their students.
The VoIP Weblog reports that the founders of Skype want their company back.
VoIP Watch reports that there are Google Voice apps coming for the iPhone.
Source: www.voip-news.com
GotVoice and MetaSwitch are partnering to offer MetaSwitch customers voicemail to text service. The high-quality transitions are available now to customers.
“The ability to read voicemail quickly has proven invaluable to customers, saving them time and improving their productivity,” said Curt Blake, CEO of GotVoice. “Our collaboration with MetaSwitch and their service provider customers is a natural extension of the MetaSphere applications suite and will help GotVoice bring its technology to new audiences.”
According to the companies:
GotVoice’s patented and scalable technology platform processes MetaSphere voicemails and transforms the messages into text with unparalleled accuracy and speed. Having already converted millions of MetaSphere generated voicemails, the service enables users to quickly scan messages in email and immediately understand them at a glance – a compelling value-add service for consumers of MetaSphere voicemails.
“Our partners have come to expect technology innovation and leadership from MetaSwitch,” said Andrew Randall, Vice President of Marketing at MetaSwitch. “Our partnership with GotVoice solidifies this stance and continues our commitment to next-generation solutions for our customers.”
Source: www.voip-news.com
So, I haven’t had the pleasure of giving Google Voice a test run yet (hello, Google! I am waaaaaaaitttttttting!). The new service allows you to synchronize multiple phone numbers into one convenient Google Number that will ring you on multiple lines, take messages, deliver transcripts and voice files to your email and even make free domestic and cheap international calls. It’s VoIP, voicemail, call forwarding and call transcription all rolled into one.
Sounds awesome, right?
Well, a Wall Street Journal reporter took it for a test run recently and her impression seems to be par for the course from the service, which is in beta. While it does have a number of really useful features, ultimately Google Voice leaves a lot to be desired with its less than stellar transcripts and hiccups.
(Read her review here. You can’t help but laugh at the transcripts.)
Ultimately, at this point, people are seeking ways to cut back on the changes (hello, phone number porting between cell phones!) and make things easier. Unfortunately, Google Voice is a mixed bag of desireable features that still need bumps worked out and hassles (like having to use a new new number and dial extra digits for the number to show up on caller IDs).
Is it all that? Not yet. But if Google works out the kinks, it could be.
Source: www.voip-news.com
CellSpin Soft is now available from the BlackBerry App World for the BlackBerry Storm and BlackBerry Bold, as well as the Curve and Pearl phones.
The live mobile blogging application allows users to capture images, audio, video and text and publish them to blogging, social networking, photo sharing and auction sites easily and quickly. It also allows you to send voice emails and record digital voice notes.
According to the company:
CellSpin 2.0 feature set also includes seamless email and contacts integration. Main features of CellSpin are
– Video blogging
– Voice blogging
– Photo blogging
– Text blogging
– Send Free Voice Emails
– Use select media button to post pre-existing media from your device
– Record audio notes and conversations
– Securely post audio, photos, and text to live eBay auctions
– Podcast with a click of a button and
– Share media on CellSpin’s community blogs
“We are very excited to launch CellSpin on Blackberry App World and support the latest BlackBerry smartphones to help users stay connected, via blog and micro-blog on leading social networks with just one click,” said Bobby Gurvinder Singh, CEO and co-founder of CellSpin.
Source: www.voip-news.com
VoiceCon Orlando is coming next week. Scheduled for March 30-April 2, the event will be held at Gaylord Palms in Orlando. The event will feature products and services in the IP Telephony, Converged Networks and Unified Communications markets.
“We are proud that VoiceCon Orlando continues to be the choice venue for leading industry providers introducing their latest products and services to the enterprise communications market,” said Fred Knight, VoiceCon General Manager. “It’s a critical time for our attendees to get a full understanding of all available technologies for migrating their networks and for learning the best ways to efficiently leverage their communications platform.”
Exhibitors include 911 Enable, which will be introducing Desk Alert, an application for security desks to let them know if 911 is dialed. 911 ETC will introduce RedConnect as well, which is a cost-effective way of delivering emergency location information from VoIP-based PBX phones.
