Shared Technologies and Sipera partners on Sipera VoIP Security Line

Shared Technoligies and Richardson based Sipera Systems has entered into a strategic partnership that will enable Shared technologies to resell Sipera IPCS product line as part of its own product portfolio. The Sipera IPCS line is a highly sorphisticated VoIP-specific security package that includes such highly effective techniques such as anomaly detection, filtering, behavior learning, and verification. These techniques effectively protects against VoIP specific attacks from brute-force, distributed flood attacks to the more sophisticated reconnaissance, stealth and spam attacks. Sipera products are deployed within enterprise networks to protect both the infrastructure and end-users from a wide range of malicious, application-specific attacks and service abuse. With the same device, Sipera also can enable enterprises to securely deploy VoIP remote users and SIP trunks, and meet IM compliance requirements. Also, Shared technologies has lots of experience in enterprise VoIP deployments with security as a top priority making this partnership a very strategic one.

VoIP without your PC with RTX DUALphone 3088

A PC-less VoIP is now the standard for most users of the technology. Very few people if any still want to sit in front of their computer before they can make that voip call. Therefore almost on a daily basis voip equipment manufacturers are coming up with one device or the other that enables voip users to make voip calls without their PC. RTX DUALphone 3088 from RTX is one of such products. It is designed specifically for Skype but can also be configured for other SIP based services. It plugs straight into your router or modem and Skype is allready pre-installed so that you can start making free unlimited to other skype users or call regular phones using SkypeOut without the need to switch on your computer. Its a dual phone which means you can also use it as a regular phone for your PSTN calls. The RTX DUALphone 3088 cost just £99.

Samsung Z560 , the first mobile phone with broadband internet speed released in the UK by T-Mobile

T-Mobile has released the new samsung z560 mobile phone in the UK. This mobile phone is the first non PDA/business device available in the UK with broadband internet speeds. The smasung z560 can connect the T-mobile`s 3G network using HSDPA technology enabling users to connect to the internet at 4 times faster connection speed that traditional 3G networks. This mobile phone can also be connected to your computer and be used as a modem giving broadband internet access. This is good news for those who like to take the cost savings advantage of VoIP while on the move because the broadband internet connection provided enable users to take full advantage of instant messaging and VoIP.
The Samsung Z560 is light weight and beautifully designed mobile phone. It weighs just 98g and includes MP3 player, video recorder, 2 mega pixel camera and 30MB internal memory. It is available from free up to £139.99 and is available on a range of Web n Walk plans which allow unlimited web browsing for a set fee per month. There is also Web n Walk Plus which also gives you unlimited internet on your laptop with instant messenger, and Web n Walk Max which gives you unlimited internet on your laptop with VoIP.

South Africa`s Mobile Operators wants to block VoIP

The two major mobile phone operators in South Africa, MTN and Vodacom are both threatening to terminate the contract of any subscriber who is using his/her data service for VoIP. They also threatening that they may in addition retrospectively charge such customer very high per megabyte rate as penalty for using VoIP. This much is stated in the fine prints included in the usage terms and conditions for some of the mobile phone operators. For example subscribers on MTN who use voip would have to pay R25 per Meg for data service while on Vodacom network they would have to pay R10 per Meg. This is extremely exorbitant considering the fact that the present data charges is R2 per Meg or even cheaper.
A clause at the very bottom of MTN's terms and conditions for data offerings reads:
"In terms of the current regulatory regime in South Africa, please note that these tariffs and the MTN GPRS, GPRS+, EDGE or 3G technologies may not be used to transfer or generate Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) traffic. Should it be found that VoIP traffic was carried over the MTN network using these tariffs or technologies, MTN reserves the right to cancel the agreement that you have with MTN, with immediate effect. You will also be charged retrospectively at R21.93 per Megabyte (VAT excluded) for any VoIP traffic transferred by such means."
This operators are afraid that VoIP will greatly affect their revenue which is largely dependent on charging voice customers by the minute and are desperately trying to prevent their customers from taking advantage of VoIP. How long this would work is yet to be seen but i personally believe it would not work for so long if at all. VoIP is here to stay and its given consumers cost effective alternatives. Water always find its level and so consumer of telecom services will always move to a technology that will enable them to pay less and get more, this technology is VoIP. The earlier this operators accept and adopt voip technology the better it would be for them. They should look for ways to earnests the business potential of VoIP and there are quite a lot of them. Those telecom companies that will survive in the long run are those that adopt voip and form a profitable business model around it and needless to say quite a lot of telcos are already doing that. For VoIP its either you join the band wagon or be left behind, there is no two ways about it.

Clipcomm BS-T100V : Make Your VoIP Calls On Any Bluetooth Enabled Mobile Phone.

The Clipcomm BS-T100V debuted at the VoIP / IPTV World 2006 expo in Korea. Clipcomm BS-T100V is an innovative product that lets you use your VoIP service on any bluetooth enabled cell phone removing the need to have a seperate wifi phone for your voip service. It works by converting your home voip service and sent it over bluetooth to your cell phone which allows you to talk as long as you want without using up those precisous minutes. At the moment its still not sure how much clipcomm bs-t100v would cost.

Still lots of Free Calls with Voipbuster.

I have been using and writing about voipbuster since it´s launch about two years ago, my very first post about voipbuster was titled "Burst the phone with Voipbuster". In this post i introduced the voip application to my readers and pointed out all its good features most especially its free unlimited calls and perfect audio quality. Not a few questioned the ability of the then owner Finarea S.A of Switzerland ´s ability to continue to provide lots of free unlimited calls to several destinations and charge such low rates to other destinations but two years after the party is still on. Even though the owner of voipbuster changed hand from Finarea to Betamax GmbH of germany, the basic idea has not changed. There are still about 30 destinations that can be called free and rates to paid destination are still one of the lowest in the market. Though free destinations are not as free as they used to be at the begining when you can make free unlimited calls once you buy a 10 dollars credit on your account but now its only free for a period of about 120 days from the day you buy call credit and must not exceed 300 minutes per week. If this limits are exceeded you have to pay 1 cent per minute for the free destinations but despite these limitations voipbuster still remain one of the best deal in market.
A lot of improvement were made to voipbuster within the course of its two years of existence, those improvement includes but not limited to, ability to import contacts to and from skype and outlook, text messaging, hardware support and direct callback etc. Of all these changes the most significant one is direct callback, which enables users to initiate a call between their regular phone and a destination phone. Direct callback made it possible for us to use voipbuster without the need to sit in from of our pc and also for the first time those without broadband can now use voipbuster as they only need to use the application to initiate the call. Several variations of voipbuster such as voipcheap, voipstunt, voipdiscount etc were launched by the same company at different times all having basically the same features and only including free destinations that were previously removed from voipbuster. Lot of users were angered by this practice as they see it as a way by Finarea to force them to pay another minimum credit in order to enjoy free calls. As controversial as it was this practice still goes on till today as several other variations of voipbuster is still being launched almost on a bi-monthly basis. One thing that did not change in voipbuster is its superb audio quality.
In conclusion i would say that voipbuster has been a success and Finarea S.A has proved to everybody that with the right business concept its possible to provide free calls not only for pc-to-pc but also for pc-to-phone and still be profitable. Fortunately, not a few companies have copied the Finarea`s model to the betterment of the end users

Reasons to Switch to Asterisk PBX

There so many proprietary PBX out there and there lots of good reasons why you might want to try out Asterisk PBX . I have been doing a lot of telephony stuffs lately with Asterisk and i really like the five reasons to John Edwards gave as reasons to switch to Asterik so i decided to place it here too for my readers. According to John Edwards the five reasons to switch to Asterisk PBX are:

1. Lower Costs. Asterisk users report up to 90 percent savings over proprietary IP-PBX technologies, including the elimination of per-phone license fees. Costs are also cut by the software's ability to run on standard, off-the-shelf hardware rather than high-end, proprietary systems,

2.Flexible Features and Power Functions. New functions can be created by writing scripts in Asterisk's language, by writing modules in C, and by writing scripts in Perl or other languages. As a result, adopters can easily create powerful, programmable PBXes, incorporating features that otherwise would cost many tens of thousands of dollars.

3. Compatibility With a Wide Range of Platforms. Users aren't locked into vendor-mandated systems. Asterisk users can choose between Windows, Linux, Mac OS X, OpenBSD, FreeBSD and Sun Solaris.

4. Free and Abundant Support: The vibrant Asterisk user community provides no-cost support via the Internet.

5. Continuity. While telecom vendors vanish, merge, change focus and terminate product lines in a flash, the Asterisk community and support infrastructure will endure as long as a substantial user base exists.

For more information, download the VoIP News PBX Essentials, that includes a Buyer's Guide and compares leading PBX vendors. 

For more information on how to get started with Asterisk visit Getting Started with Asterisk

Telecom Operators to Invest about $450 Million on Infrastructures for Fixed-Mobile-Convergence

Feeling the heat from VoIP providers the Telecom operators have made fixed mobile convergence the order of the day and are prepared to invest an estimated $450 million in capital infrasture within the next five years to provide FMC to their customers. This much was revealed in the latest study conducted by the world aclaimed research firm ABI Research. This the telecom operators believe will help to reduce traffic migration to VoIP service providers and also prepare the ground for the introduction of more SIP-based services.
Most of the operators plan to provide services over broadband fixed network using a mobile device. Dual-use and single-use devices will be able to do that over WiFi and micro cellular access points in the home and office. The research study also predict that operators will generate close to $97 billion in revenue from FMC applications by 2011. Majority of that revenue will come from lower fixed-line call charges to mobile users.
It is widely know that operators core voice revenue has come under pressure from VoIP in last few years and the earlier they also adopt this technology the better its is for them. FMC will definitely enable the operators to adopt VoIP as fast as possible and offer lower rates and more functionality to their customers.

Freshtel to focus on VoIP over 3G

According to Michael Carew the CEO of Freshtel, the company has decided to focus primarily on providing voip calls over 3 G networks. They announced in September that they have completed internal trial of their new technology that will enable users of 3G handsets to make and receive voip calls over their voicedot network. Voicedot is the VoIP network behind freshtel´s own retail service. Anyone using a internet capable 3G handset that have Freshtel software installed would be able call other users on voicedot network free of charge wherever they might be around the world. This is free global mobile calling at its best and it has an ernomous market potential if Freshtel is able to pull it off.
Early this month Micheal Carew told reporters for the company`s AM today that. "We are currently working with our partners to further progress this breakthrough in the converged mobile market, and we are assessing the most appropriate ways to commercialise this product."With these goals in mind, I have informed the board of my desire to restructure my role within Freshtel to allow me to take advantage of our position in the market and the strong relationships we have forged over the last 12 months. I will be focusing on strategy and working with our partners who are keen to contribute to our success by working closely with us to engage other prospective white label partners to join them on the Voicedot network.He added: "To facilitate this, we will be seeking to appoint an additional senior executive who will assume responsibility for many of the day-to-day operations. This will further strengthen the senior management team and highlights the increasing maturity of our business moving forward."
Considering the high cost of mobile communication all over the globe, its a welcome relief that voip is making great inroads into the mobile communication wourld and thereby cutting cost and bringing new functionalities. Freshtel is one of the latest companies to enter this realm and here at solomon's voip world i will continue to bring you any latest development in this regards so as to make your mobile communication a lot cheaper and better.

Tesco Selling WiFi Phones

VoIP is moving to the mainstream market and to confirm the popularity of VoIP, one of UK`s biggest retailers is now selling SIP based WiFi Phones. I saw a post about this on VoIPwatch and also read the news item out ot the UK .

More Skypers Leave

What is going on in Skype?. How is ebay managing this voip giant?. Is e-bay-ni-zation going to bring the downfall of Skype?. There are just many questions begging for answer as to skype-ebay merger. Since eBay bought Skype a lot of skype staff have left the company to perceived greener pasture. In my previous post on this topic i mentioned about four high level staffs of skype that has left in last couple of months. Now report has it that Saul Klein, Skype`s VP of marketing and two others have also hit the ESC button. Klein is rumored to be an "entreprenuer in residence" at Index Ventures but i have not been able to confirm this.
Safa Rashtchy, an Internet industry analyst in San Francisco at Piper Jaffray said : “Ebay’s management of Skype so far has been disappointing, They have made only incremental changes to Skype, and I just haven’t seen any of the synergies they promised to justify the purchase price.”
Not a few believed that Skype is in the danger of becoming the Netscape of VoIP companies but the folks in Skype will just not agree, they for example would point to some of their achievements including the recent release of Skype 3.0 beta. I am presently working on a comprehensive review of Skype 3.0, i want to bring out all the useful new features for users and developers alike. Watch out for my post on Skype 3.0 and other skype coverage soon.

Lowratevoip debuts with free calls to 50 countries.

Betamax GmbH the german company behind voipbuster, voipcheap etc has launched another voip application nicknamed lowratevoip. Users of lowratevoip can call about 50 destinations free. Betamax is maintaining the tradition of launching new voip applications based on essentially the same system, a tradition they inherited from Finarea S.A the former owners of these voip applications. Lowratevoip is very similar to internetcalls in appearance. It comes with all the features that we are allready used to in all other betamax products such as direct callback, caller ID, instant messaging, import and export of contacts from skype and outlook and most of all very low international rates. Lowratevoip is very easy to setup and use, all you need to do is to download the program, install it and start to enjoy free calls. Free unlimited calls is only for a trial period and to continue enjoying unlimited free calls to all 50 destinations you have to buy at least 10 euro credit. I have tested lowratevoip and the audio quality is really good both for pc-to-phone or direct callback. The rates for paid destinations are very low compared to other voip applications and still about the cheapest in the market
One thing that distinguishes lowratevoip from other betamax products is its low rates to mobile lines. For example calls to germany mobile costs 10 cents, Austria mobile cost 12 cent, Poland mobile costs 6 cents while Switzerland mobile costs 18 cents. Those who know how expensive calling mobile lines in Europe is will really appreciated those rates. Lowratevoip can be downloaded from www.lowratevoip.com and more information about rates to other destinations are available on that website too. After using lowratevoip don’t forget to leave a comment here about your experience.

Free International Calls from Ophone

Ophone is giving free unlimited international calls from U.S to the following countries, China, Canada, Germany, U.S, South Korea, Taiwan and more than thirty five other destinations. No sign up is required to use the ophone service, all you have to do to use the service is to call a U.S number to access the automated dialing prompt and then call up the destination you are trying to reach. The number to call is 712-945-0360 and users will only pay the interstate long distance cost of the call. More and more companies are coming up with this type of model of voip service, they believe its more atractive to the users as they can use their existing phoneline and dont need to register or make any commitment what so ever. I have written about similar service before on this blog, though very good for the end user, its still yet to be seen if this bussiness model will work for the companies in the long run.
More information about the ophone service is available on their website www.ophone.com and dont hesitate to leave a comment here about your experience after using this service.

Free Calls for U.S Troops in Iraq and elsewhere

This is a cheering news for US troops in Iraq and also other parts of the world. They will all be able to call families and friends back home for free. Verizon has made all arrangement to allow all U.S defence forces serving in Iraq to call home during this christmas season for free. This free calls will be available from November 22 to November 28 and also from December 22 to January 2, 2007. This is Verizon's way of appriciating the service of the the troops.
This good news is not limited to Iraq as AT&T is also offering around ten thousand prepaid phone cards for U.S soldiers serving in Europe, Asia and Middle East. Despite the fact that the support for the Iraqi war is at its all time low, its still very important to appreciate the work of our service men and women and this gesture from verizon and at&t is a comendable one. Thanks to the power of VoIP technology the world is is more than ever a global village.

Peopleline Opens VoIP Phone Store

VoIP is moving out of the realm of the internet-only to the physical store. Poeple are becoming more and more interested in meeting with real people and have a feel of the products both the hardware and software before they signup. VoIP users are also becoming more inclined to meet technical personel to get solutions in case of technical problems. These are the motivating factors for Peopleline which recently opened the company´s first VoIP store in Vancouver. This shop is the first of its kind in North America.
Russ McDermott, Founder and COO of Peopleline, said, ``That this is an exciting new step for the Company, and it is believed this is the first outlet of its type in North America. The new store is located in a high traffic area on the Main St. corridor among major outlets such as Starbucks and it will be used as a model for other openings in the New Year. We are a rapidly growing Internet Phone Company providing residential and business VoIP services to the local community and have a growing list of satisfied customers. We have found over the past 2 years that that not all users want to sign up online but rather prefer to meet with our people to ask questions and touch and feel the products before making a commitment. This is natural even though the demand for VoIP services maybe growing rapidly within the technically savvy sector it is still a relatively unknown entity to many of the general public. The new store is the first of its kind devoted to addressing the needs and concerns of both residential and small business users. In general, small business maybe missing out on the savings offered by VoIP simply because they have no understanding of the technology and this what we are trying to address. The store is staffed by knowledgeable support staff selling both single line and PBX solutions at great savings over traditional phone companies and is one more link in our commitment to customer service.''
This is a great move by Peapleline as it will enhance their customer support and remove about the only advantage the telcos can claim to have over VoIP Service Providers. I expect other voip phone providers to follow this example from peopleline.

LinkSys CIT 310 – The New Cordless Phone for Yahoo Messenger with Voice

Users of Yahoo messenger with voice has always have limited choice when it comes to the cordless phones they could use with the application. Most are still tied to their computer in order to make a voip call, a trend that is fast becoming outdated. Other applications like skype, voipbuster, gizmo etc have hundreds of wifi or usb phones that supports them from which users can choose. This is why the arrival of phones with support for yahoo messenger is a welcome relief for yahoo subscribers.
The latest of such phones is the Linksys CIT 310. Its basically a dual mode cordless phone with features similar to Linksys CIT 200. The linksys CIT 310 fully supports yahoo messenger with voice. Users can make voip calls using yahoo messenger with voice directly from this phone and can also access Yahoo! Messenger Contact list, Yahoo! Local Search, Yahoo Address Book and weather search.
It has a USB base station that plugs into a usb port of your computer and a handset that can be moved up to 50 meters away when indoors and 300 meters outdoors. With linksys cit 310 you can enjoy ten hours talk time and about 100 hours standby time. It’s based on the wireless DECT standard therefore it can support multiple handsets. It’s very easy to configure the phone to use yahoo messenger with voice but at the moment only users of windows are supported, users of other operating systems will have to wait a little more. This phone has a price tag of about $100.

NetLogic® Announces Additional PBX-Preferred Certifications

NetLogic, a leading provider of Business-Class VoIP (voice over Internet protocol) and Internet services, today announced additions to its “PBX-Preferred” Certification program. IPBX systems from Epygi, Vertical Communications and Interactive Intelligence join several Asterisk-based solutions that NetLogic named last month at AstriCon, the Asterisk Conference.
The following IPBX systems have earned PBX-Preferred Certifications: QuadroCS™ (conference server), Quadro™ Gateway and Quadro IP PBX systems from Epygi; and Vertical Communication’s TeleVantage™ IP PBX business phone system. In addition, The Contact Center PBX, ACD, IVR, and CTI solutions from Interactive Intelligence have also earned the PBX-Preferred Certification.
The NetLogic PBX-Preferred Certification program is based on rigorous testing of applicable IPBX solutions, which includes:
Bench testing to ensure proper SIP trunk connectivity and quality.
Beta testing in the field with actual business users over NetLogic SIP trunks.
Implementing in a “general availability” environment with NetLogic SIP trunks.
NetLogic through its VoIP Choice™ product utilizes Quality of Service-based SIP trunks to provide business-class voice service. SIP trunks avoid the conversion between IP and traditional phone protocols. In many IP phone system implementations, calls are converted from the phone service provider’s network to the local IP network. This conversion point is often a source for echo and static. SIP trunks eliminate that conversion, thereby controlling the call end to end. This ability to control the entire connection creates a higher quality and more reliable VoIP service.

TWO NEW ALARM NOTIFICATION SERVICES FROM NEXTALARM.COM

NextAlarm.com announced two new alarm notification services that are unparalleled in the alarm monitoring industry—the NetAlarm Plan and the Free NextAlarm Notify Plan. For the first time, consumers and business owners have access to value priced, enhanced alarm notification services at no cost or for a low monthly rate.
NextAlarm takes existing security systems and makes them Internet compatible without changing or upgrading equipment and puts the customer in complete control of their security for their home or business. Unlike NextAlarm’s existing state of the art Internet ready alarm monitoring services, the new plans are notification-only, based upon an automated system. When the alarm is engaged, the customer is contacted by e-mail, SMS, or text-pager, receiving a message announcing that the alarm was triggered along with information that tells the customer which alarm zone (i.e. zone 1: front door) was triggered. The customer can then decide whether he or she needs to contact the police based on that information.
“Our goal at NextAlarm is to put the customer in control of their security system and give them more options to pick from, “ said Alex Elliot, NextAlarm.com’s founder and CEO. “These new plans provide a whole new level of service that are very affordable and just as reliable as the leading alarm services.”
The NetAlarm Plan and Free NextAlarm Notify Plan offer the following:
Operate on alarm systems via the Internet or over standard phone lines. Does not require an alarm permit. Some cities require owners of alarm systems to obtain a permit, which usually involves a nominal cost and can be difficult to obtain. These new notification plans do not require permits since the police are not notified through an alarm monitoring central station.
The NetAlarm Plan is priced at $5 per month. This plan includes unlimited alarm notifications that are received via e-mail or over a text-pager and unlimited e-mail addresses for alarm notification. In addition, the NetAlarm Plan provides customers all of NextAlarm.com’s website features including:
Patent-pending E-Notify™ technology: This feature allows the customer to manage their system over NextAlarm’s secure web server. Customers can set up alarm notifications via e-mail or pager. E-Notify also sends maintenance and test alerts and notifies the customer when certain events don’t occur, such as a child not disarming the system after arriving home or when the system misses its daily test signal. E-Notify also alerts customers via SMS, e-mail, or pager when an interruption in power and Internet service occurs.
Customers can manage all aspects of their NextAlarm.com account from the NextAlarm.com secure Web site. Account information including billing information to a list of security zones can be safely and conveniently updated. Changing contact phone numbers and adding security system equipment can also be administered here. There's no waiting, no hassle, and customers are sent an e-mail as instant confirmation when any changes are made.
The Free NextAlarm Notify Plan includes the website features listed above. Customers on this plan will receive up to three instant alarm notifications per day, using one e-mail address.

Evolution PBX Upgraded

The Tucson, AZ based Intuitive Voice Technology ( IVT) , a developer of IP telephony products has added more than 100 new features to their highly rated Evolution PBX. These new features include accessing voice mail via the internet, Web-based graphical administration, Full dial map control, Telecommuters etc.
Evolution PBX is a software based PBX that integrated VoIP and standard phone lines. Its based on the popular open source pbx system Asterisk and IVT offers a free, 30-day trial on the software on its web site. Standard Evolution features include auto attendant, integrated VoIP providers, Outlook integration, voice mail to e-mail, music-on-hold, parking, call forwarding and group routing. More information about evolution PBX is available at www.intuitivevoice.com.

Hotel chain Crowne Plaza deploy IP Telephony at its new Hunter Valley facility.

Hotel chain Crowne Plaza has just completed the deployment of a converged data and voice network at its hunter valley facility in Australia. The project which lasted several months was executed by Integ, a subsidiary of UXC. The installation consist of at least 500 IP based WiFi handsets, Alcatel network switches, PABX equipments and wireless access points.
This deployment has enable the hotel to offer services such a wireless point of sale, digital video on demand, IP telephony and WiFi services. This not only have the potential to reduce the telephony cost of the hotel chain but also enable its provide value added services at very little cost. The facility general manager Neil Houghton believes that the network would give the hotel's 60 percent target market of business travelers a true mobile office. He flagged the potential for future similar rollouts at other facilities.
Part of an Integ statement about the project reads: "Crowne Plaza is a model site for not only hotels in the InterContinental Hotels Group chain but also for other four to five star hotels throughout Australia who want to implement a converged network to improve customer service and drive growth plans,"
Its not surprising at all to see more and more public organizations, businesses and schools adopting voip technology and this trend will surely continue. The enormous potential of this amazing technology is too much to ignore.

NetComm Intros SmartVoice for SME

Australia based NetComm, a communication and hardware vendor has launched a new range of VoIP product targeted at the SME market. This service nicknamed SmartVoice Enables SME to easily migrate to IP Telephony from their existing phone system. SmartVoice Integrates with existing analogue phone systems, acting as a IP Telephony gateway behind existing PBX. In this way there is no need for expensive IP Phones on the desktop and the change over is completely transparent to staffs.
"Awareness of VoIP is growing rapidly among small business owners but uptake has been inhibited by their reluctance to take a risk on untested technology," said David Stewart, Managing Director of NetComm.
"NetComm has removed this risk factor by delivering a suite of products that demystify VoIP technology and offer business owners a solution that is flexible, cost-effective and easy-to-use - using technology that meets local requirements and conditions."
The SmartVoice devices includes features such as automatic restoration of standard telephony service should anything go wrong with the VoIP service so that the enterprise can still continue to do business uninterrupted until VoIP service is restored. This enables enterprises to take advantage of cost savings of VoIP without the associated risk factor.
SmartVoice really makes transition to VoIP transparent. You make use of your existing analogue phone handsets and PBX while at the same time enjoying the cost savings of VoIP. The only down side of this devices is that some of the IP Telephony features such as unified messaging, call management and presence would not be possible with such a system.
NetComm SmartVoice product is available in two series, the SmartVoice 400 and 800 series costing approximately $500 and $1,500 respectively. More information about NetComm’s products are available at www.netcomm.com.

Fusion Surpass 750,000 Subscribers to Efonica and more than 10,000 paid Subscribers to its premium service.

Fusion has announced that it has surpass 750,000 subscribers to its Efonica VoIP service and more that 10,000 paying subscribers to its premium service offers. This amount to about 90% growth in its subscriber base in the last three months.
"As we continue that growth worldwide, we remain focused on enhancing our product and service offerings and increasing the value of our Internet community.Since our launch in June, the majority of our efforts centered around enhancing our free Efonica service offerings," said Roger Karam, President of Fusion's VoIP Division. "We are now focused on introducing additional premium services in the near term and driving revenue growth through upselling existing customers and marketing our services through our growing number of retail distribution partners worldwide.”

Chicago Public Schools to switch to VoIP Telephony.

Public schools in Chicago will be switching their existing telephone systems to Internet based phone system. The project is expected to cost about $28 million and will be the largest such conversion of any U.S. school system. The changeover has already been started by Canadian Mitel Networks Corp.
With nearly 700 sites, 17,000 Centrex lines and 24,000 phones, the Chicago schools are a huge enterprise, and this will be the biggest conversion to VoIP of any school system in the United States, said Don Smith, Mitel chief executive.
It is believed that this new system will not only improve communication within the schools and between parents and teachers but will also greatly enhance the security at those schools. The new technology will provide teachers with voice mail, caller ID and other enhancements that will facilitate communication with parents and others outside the school system. Also, it will provide public safety authorities with the ability to locate the precise room where each phone call originates, providing compliance with state requirements for finding the source of callers to 911 emergency numbers.
This is another big thumbs up for VoIP Technology which has and is still witnessing exploding popularity both in the private and public sectors.

Palm Treo 700wx Smartphone Released

Building on the Treo 700 family, Palm has announced the availability of the Palm Treo 700wx smartphone running Windows Mobile 5.0 Pocket PC Phone Edition, adding another Palm EvDO product to Sprint’s product offerings.
The announcement marks the availability of Sprint’s first Windows Mobile Treo smartphone on the Sprint Power Vision Network, complementing the Treo 700p smartphone running on the Palm OS platform. The Treo 700wx smartphone supports Good Mobile Defense for security and fleet management, as well as Good Mobile Intranet, giving users access to Web-enabled enterprise systems, including sales force automation (SFA), customer relationship management (CRM) and corporate intranets.
In a pre-release product review, industry observer Lisa Gade noted the 700w offered the same great ergonomics as the OS Treo, enhanced usability over other Windows Mobile Pocket PC Phones and a high speed EV-DO radio for data, but “it fell short in one key area: memory. It had plenty of storage for programs and data but not enough RAM to support several heavy-hitting programs running at once.” Palm and Sprint have since solved the problem by equipping the Treo 700w “with twice the memory, bringing it up to the standard Windows Mobile Pocket PC 64 Megs of RAM,” according to Gade.
The product’s Windows Mobile Messaging and Security Feature Pack, which includes Direct Push Technology, native S/MIME support, certificate-based authentication to all Exchange data, and remote and local device wipe, is available out-of-the-box for automatic wireless updates of e-mail, calendar items, contacts and tasks. Tim Roper, vice president, U.S. region, for Palm, Inc. said the product release is part of a strategy to “extend Palm’s reach into the enterprise market.” Company officials highlight the product’s built-in Dial-up Networking capabilities, allowing the Treo 700wx to have “broadband-like EV-DO download speeds on their laptop computers” by using the new smartphone as a wireless modem via USB technology.

Venturi to do Reliance Infocomm Mobile Broadband Optimization

In a bid to help optimize the performance of its new mobile broadband service, Netconnect with Neobooster, Reliance Infocomm turned to Venturi Wireless’ optimization solution. India’s largest CDMA operator, Reliance Infocomm needed a solution that could ensure maximum performance of data networks for its new service that aims to ensure constant connectivity for demanding professionals. Deployment of the Venturi solution includes the Venturi VServer and the VClient software for mobile devices. Together, these solutions pro- vide improvements in service availability in all radio frequencies and up to seven times higher data access speeds.
The optimization provides mobile users a better wireless IP experience and, with the deployment, Reliance is also given an ability to easily transition to an optimized 3G network in the future, since Venturi delivers maximum bandwidth efficiency on CDMA 1xRTT/EV-DO/EV-DO rev A and GPRS/EDGE/UTMA/HSDPA. Reliance Infocomm chose Venturi’s solution for its ability to provide speedier connectivity that is more reliable. A news release also noted its favor of Venturi’s Adaptive Airlink Optimization technology, which leverages the patented Venturi Transport Protocol (VTP) for wireless data trans- port and delivers customers a better experience with IP services including faster speeds and trusted connectivity.
http://www.venturiwireless.com

New HSDPA Wireless Handset from Samsung and Cingular

Combining Samsung’s SGH-zx20 and Cingular’s 3G HSDPA network provides consumers with access to mobile applications such as video streaming, high-speed Web browsing and fast software downloads. The SGH-zx20 handset comes with a range of connectivity choices, including access to Cingular Video and various other multimedia and messaging capabilities.
Peter Skarzynski, Samsung’s senior vice president, said the new device takes full advantage of Cingular’s HSDPA network. “The SGH-zx20 is a high-quality, sleek, compact device for Cingular customers to access high bandwidth services and downloads that, up until now, have been available only to broadband-enabled computers,” he said.

Pre-Standardized 802.11n to be Pre-Certified by WiFi Alliance

In an effort to unify a new draft specification (and perhaps clear up some confusion) for faster WiFi, the WiFi Alliance announced that it will certify interoperability of products based on IEEE 802.11n, a developing standard that hasn’t yet been fully ratified by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.
The decision by the WiFi Alliance, which represents more than 275 mem- ber companies that promote the growth of wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs), is designed to help stabilize the market. Dozen of member com- panies of the global, non-profit industry association have already announced or plans to ship 802.11n-based hardware. However, the IEEE doesn’t think the 802.11n standard will be fully ratified until the first quarter of 2008.
As such, the WiFi Alliance today unveiled a two-phased approach to certifying the interoperability of Draft N products. After this initial phase in the certification program, a second phase will be introduced at the time of final IEEE 802.11n ratification that will support compatibility between pre-standard products and those certified to the full standard.
“This two-phase approach balances our longstanding commitment to standards-based technology with the current market need for product interoperability certification,” said WiFi Alliance Managing Director Frank Hanzlik. “While we are committed to supporting a full 802.11n standard when it is available, pre-standard products are reaching a level of maturity and there is enough market uptake that a certification program makes sense for the industry.” http://www.wi-fi.org

HP and Cisco Partners for the Development of New Apps, Services for Pervasive Indoor Wireless Solution

HP and Cisco Systems have decided to join forces to come up with new applications and services based on Cisco’s Pervasive Indoor Wireless technology. HP says that the new applications and services include security, guest access, WiFi telephony and location-based services.
The services will also facilitate of a variety of new applications, such as IT asset tracking, presence-based applications, dual mode voice, and integrated intrusion detection and prevention. HP will offer systems integration services for Cisco’s Unified Wireless Network Family, including the Cisco Catalyst 3750G Integrated Wireless LAN Controller and the Cisco Unified Wireless Network Software Release 4.0. HP claims the collaboration will enhance operational efficiencies and decrease costs associated with WLAN services.
Brian Brouillette, vice president of technology services for HP Services, said thanks to the applications and services “customers can quickly and cost-effectively benefit from a range of new, scala- ble applications.”
Cisco’s Unified Wireless Network Solution is capable of tackling the WLAN security, deployment, management and control issues facing enterprises. Moreover, HP has plans to produce a compre- hensive enterprise network computing solution based on Cisco’s Pervasive Indoor Wireless technology.
Brett Galloway, vice president and general manager of Cisco’s wireless net- working business unit, said the company is committed to deliver a unified wire- less network architecture that features hardware, software and services. The applications will “guide enterprise businesses to an intelligent network to accelerate applications, business processes and profitability.”

Vonage and D-Link Intros Wireless-B/G Broadband Router

VoIP-based calling services provider Vonage (quote - news - alert) and networking technology manufacturer D-Link (quote - news - alert) launched the VWR, a Wireless-B/G Broadband Router with two phone ports bundled with Vonage’s service. D-Link VWR is four devices in a single box. It includes a Wireless-B/G Access Point; a built-in 4-port switch to connect wired Ethernet devices; a router function so the entire network can securely share a single cable or DSL Internet connection; and two standard telephone jacks, allowing for multiple phone lines.
Bundled with Vonage’s Internet telephony service, it offers customers the hard- ware and all needed to begin talking. The product incorporates Texas Instruments’ TNETV1060 VoIP gateway chipset, which delivers voice processing and data routing functions. “With the rapid demand for wireless networking devices, this partnership enables us to offer D-Link’s consumer-friendly, feature-rich voice terminal and wireless networking technologies, a simple way for consumers to benefit from Vonage’s attractively priced, tiered calling plans,” said Vonage’s senior vice president of engineering Daniel Smires

Cicero Intro VoIP Client for Nokia S 60 Smartphones

Ireland based Cicero Networks has announced the availability of CiceroPhone, a dual-mode VoIP client for Nokia S60 handsets. CiceroPhone is a dual mode solution for users of Nokia S60 smartphones which enables them to seamlessly roam between WiFi and cellular networks. Calls are automatically routed over the best available network , WiFi or cellular creating a unified and highly intuitive user experience. The built in Intelligent routing rules ensures that cost and quality are optimised in all situations.In addition, CiceroPhone enables routing decisions to be optimised on the handset for certain numbers or ranges of numbers for specific networks. With more than 8 million Nokia S60 shipped during the Q2 2006 alone, the mass market of wVoIP ( VoIP over WiFi ) can now become a reality. The Nokia S60 is the world's leading smartphone with over 70 million devices already in the market.
Cicero Networks is one of the leading providers of wVoIP solutions for Fixed Mobile Convergence and it is widely believed that this their latest product CiceroPhone will hit big with smartphone users and its expected that supports for other brands of smartphones will come sooner than later.
According to Ross Brennan, CEO Cicero Networks: “Nokia is the market leader in the smartphone market and it has been a strategic priority for us to support S60 platform to enable operators to drive Fixed Mobile convergence adoption. The addition of CiceroPhone for Nokia S60 smartphones to our portfolio underpins our commitment to bring mobile wVoIP technology and Fixed Mobile Convergence (FMC) solutions to the mainstream market.”

Meebo - Web Based Instant Messaging Service

Meebo is a web based instant messaging service that lets you use your instant messaging application wherever you are and on any computer. It actually lets you use your instant messaging application from within a web browser, no need to download and install anything. Meebo supports yahoo, aim, google talk, icq and msn. All you need to do is to visit meebo.com, enter you username and password for the instant messaging application that you which to use and click login. You are immediatelly signed in to your IM account, your contacts are displayed and you can start sending instant messages. This service is particularly useful when you are on a computer you dont have the right to install programs on and you which to use your preffered instant messaging application. Meebo launched its Alpha version in September 2005 and they recently has quietly gone to a full release, skipping the “beta” phase all together. Visit www.meebo.com for more information and to try out the service.

BridgePort Networks gets Additional Funding

BridgePort Networks, the leader in MobileVoIP network convergence, today announced a new investment of $13 million in Venture Capital financing in the company by its current investors.
Including previous financings of $3 million in seed financing, $10 million announced in January 2004 and $25 million announced in September 2004, the new financing brings the total capital raised by the company to $51 million.
Existing investors TD Capital Ventures, Polaris Venture Partners, General Catalyst Partners and BCE Capital all participated in the financing. Funds will be used for working capital in the support of the many channel partners and integrators currently working with BridgePort Networks on market trials at major telecom service providers of the company’s NomadicONE™ core network convergence software.
Whilst the company remains the leader in the emerging Voice Call Continuity (VCC) market for seamless voice handover between cellular and Wi-Fi technologies, the new funds will also be used to broaden and deepen applications for its MobileSTICK USB-SIM solution which transforms personal computers into voice, multimedia messaging and presence terminals for mobile operator services, leveraging standards-based VoIP technology. “BridgePort Networks has largely completed its product and solution development phases and is mid-way through channel development and enablement, with several major relationships already in place”, said Mike Mulica, President and CEO of BridgePort Networks. “As the FMC market transitions to commercial deployment, this new funding positions the company well for the scale-up phase that will occur during 2007 and 2008. In particular, we are increasing our investment in our MobileSTICK solution, which is experiencing strong demand from Tier One mobile and integrated operators and can quickly scale without dependencies on new converged phones, new standards or IMS deployment.”

Electrocom Intros VoIP based Security Intercom System for K-12 Schools

The high rate of violent incidence in US schools is really unfortunate. Almost everyday there are news of one violent acts or other in our schools. From kids taking arms to school to adults gaining access and going on a shooting spree. These has made school staffs to think of ways to improve security at the schools. This latest VoIP based Intercom System will surely help in the effort to make US schools more secure. The Electrocom intercom system launched recently uses existing data network cabling in the schools which means less investment required to install the system.
The Electrocom VoIP based intercom system enables school staff to monitor and have hands-free two-way communication with any classroom in the facility remotely. The staff can broadcast emergency tones, page specific facility locations, and initiate prerecorded emergency announcements for school lock down from either inside or outside the facility via a cell phone.
According to Loren Timmons, the educational consultant for Electrocom “Intercom systems are not being installed in a number of schools, and that should concern all of us,”“A communication system that is hands-free with two-way communication, integrated with facility wide paging, is now a vital and necessary tool in any emergency situation.”
I believe it is vital to install systems like this in our schools nowadays for the purpose of making the schools saver for the students and staffs alike and parents can have more rest of mind whenever their kids are in the school. It is also great to see how VoIP technology is helping to make our schools more secure.

Fusion Surpasses 750,000 Subscribers to Its Efonica VoIP Service and 10,000 Paid Subscribers to Its Premium Offerings

Fusion Telecommunications International, Inc. , a global communications service provider, today announced that it has registered more than 750,000 subscribers from more than 100 countries since launching its free Efonica VoIP services this past June. In addition, Fusion now has more than 10,000 paid Efonica subscribers who are taking advantage of Fusion's advanced paid services.
"Fusion is very pleased with the 88% growth of our Efonica subscriber community in under three months," said Matthew Rosen, President and CEO of Fusion. "As we continue that growth worldwide, we remain focused on enhancing our product and service offerings and increasing the value of our Internet community."
"Since our launch in June, the majority of our efforts centered around enhancing our free Efonica service offerings," said Roger Karam, President of Fusion's VoIP Division. "We are now focused on introducing additional premium services in the near term and driving revenue growth through upselling existing customers and marketing our services through our growing number of retail distribution partners worldwide."
Efonica offers subscribers its patent-pending worldwide Internet area code(TM), which when dialed allows subscribers to speak with each other for free. Subscribers can simply register their existing landline or mobile telephone number as their Internet telephone number and immediately begin to make calls to and from any combination of PCs, Internet phones, wifi phones, and regular telephones (with a SIP adapter), connected to either a wireless, broadband or dial-up Internet connection. Efonica also offers a full suite of premium features designed to enhance a subscriber's communications experience. Consumers can subscribe to Efonica by visiting http://www.efonica.com/ and completing a free and easy registration process.

UAE to Relax Ban on VoIP

According to report from Guld News, UAE's Telecommunication Regulatory Authority is poised to lift the ban imposed on voip but this will only apply to incumbent licensed telcos like Du and Etisalat. The likes of Skype will still remain banned for the time being. The ban will be lifted by december this year and TRA will publish call rates sometime this month. The ban on services like Skype has really angered expatriates which makes up aboutn 80 percent of the population. They generally rely on such services to reduce the cost of calling friends and family back home.
Even though this lifting of the ban on VoIP for the telco will cause a reduction in call rates but this cannot match the potential for free Skype to skype calls many expats were used to. Another middle eastern country , Jordan also tried to sut down Skype in september by forcing local ISP's to block Skype traffic but the ban was lifted due to a haill of criticism. I really hope that soon governments all over the world will come to realise the economic potentials of voip. VoIP will not kill the telcos as most of them want to believe but its a technology that if properly utilised by the telcos will enhance their growth.

i-Talk Nano : The stylish USB VoIP Phone

This stylish usb voip phone is produced by Hong Kong based AMEX Digital. It has a beautiful design and comes in black or white. It supports Skype and MSN messenger. It includes an LCD display, features speakerphone, Hand free talking function and caller ID. Very small with dimensions of just 105mm X 42mm X 11mm. It connects to your computer through a usb port and enables you to use your Skype or msn account to make voip calls. It cost just $25 which is a fair price considering the fact that its just a usb phone afterall, you still have to be close to your computer to make the calls. WiFi phones which gives more freedom generally cost more. A lot of bloggers has written that this company run the risk of being sued by apple because of the simililarity in name and design to apple ipod. They arque that the product might be a case of an intent to confuse. Personally i dont think apple will sue over a usb phone that might not make so much inpact afterall. The trend in voip now is torwards a pc-less voip calling and a usb phone that still get you stuck to your computer to make a call wont be such a huge success to atract apple's attention.

Call Sweden Mobile for just 10 cents per minute!

This is good news for those who have to call mobiles in Sweden a lot. The company behind voipstunt has reduced the cost of calling sweden mobile to just 10 cents per minute. Users of voipstunt can now call mobiles in sweden for this amount. This is a considerable reduction considering the fact that calling mobiles is still very expensive for most part of europe.