News Archive - September 2006
Vonage Give Discount to HP Customers
September 29, 2006
Vonage announced a special Vonage phone service offer for HP and Compaq consumer PC customers in the U.S. and Canada. With the purchase of an HP or Compaq consumer desktop or notebook, customers can get a special offer on Vonage's residential premium unlimited plan.
Jajah Takes VoIP Plan To Mobile Phones
September 28, 2006
VoIP provider Jajah has taken its technology into the mobile space, by offering mobile users the ability to place calls for free or via a low-cost option.
September 28, 2006
Vendors who claim to be able to deliver end-to-end multi-service LAN solutions supporting every communications requirement are misleading enterprise customers, according to industry insiders.
Cable VoIP Gains at Telco Expense
September 28, 2006
With the larger cable operators all rolling out VoIP to their markets, a new study predicts that North American MSOs will sign up nearly 28 million residential phone customers by the end of 2009, increasingly at the expense of the telcos.
Google: Resistance Is Futile...
September 28, 2006
IM/VoIP services offered by Skype, Yahoo, and MSN Messenger have millions of users, but can't talk to one another. Google, however, says its Google Talk product is built on the sort of open standard that will eventually "federate" all the instant messenger and VoIP clients out there. — And they are entirely correct. XMPP works, is widely deployed, and can be easily deployed (with little or no cost) by any enterprise today.
BellSouth, ISS Back VoIP Security Effort
September 27, 2006
BellSouth and Internet Security Systems are forming a research partnership with a Georgia academic institution to develop and evaluate solutions for VoIP security challenges, with the two companies contributing a total of $300,000 to the effort.
Lingo Broadband Phone Service Adds Four More Countries to Global Calling Plan
September 27, 2006
Lingo announced that subscribers to their global calling plan can now get free calls to four new countries in the Asia-Pacific region. Customers can now call Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and South Korea as much as they want without any per minute charges.
Vodafone brand handsets on the way
September 27, 2006
British mobile phone company Vodafone is set to announce it will sell its own brand of low-cost 3G handsets beginning in October.
Skype Preps Enterprise-Friendly VoIP Software
September 25, 2006
Skype is working to make its Internet telephony service more enterprise friendly, and expects to introduce a beta version of its software with support for enterprise management functions within weeks.
Orange offers Unique phone service for VoIP and mobile calling from one handset
September 25, 2006
Orange has launched its first converged service, called the Unique phone, which is a single handset that operates both on WLAN in the home, and the regular mobile network outside of the home.
September 25, 2006
Cisco, Nokia, and Siemens are working together to bid for a monster IMS engagement at France Telecom, report industry sources.
More universities banning Skype
September 24, 2006
Not wishing to serve as Skype's regional data centers for free, California universities are banning Skype on campus networks. Skype has demonstrated that it is a bandwidth hog and any machine sitting on a public network is at risk of becoming a communication hub.
September 24, 2006
Open-source telephony technologies have recently blown open the VoIP market, creating a fertile breeding ground for new solutions built from the ground up for small businesses.
September 21, 2006
Secure Your Network and You Secure VoIP
September 21, 2006
There is a lot of talk these days about VoIP security. Everybody is in agreement that VoIP security is lacking in a number of key areas. While some solutions for VoIP security exist, those solutions have not been adopted universally, leading some to go so far as to suggest that using VoIP can be dangerous.
Pros And Cons Of Getting VoIP Right Now
September 20, 2006
Experts: VoIP Represents Serious Security Risk
September 20, 2006
Banks and other companies switching their phone systems to VoIP are making themselves vulnerable to phishing attacks for which there are currently no effective detection or prevention tools.
ChanSkype: Skype And Asterisk Talk To Each Other
September 20, 2006
A Brazilian company has forged a software bridge between Asterisk and Skype.
Acme Profits as Newport Shrinks
September 20, 2006
The latest financial reports from rival session border controller vendors Acme Packet and Newport Networks show how two companies competing head to head for carrier business can have radically different fortunes.
When will VoIP start batting 1,000?
September 19, 2006
Theres just no limit to the rosy picture promoted by VoIP boosters. But what seems to get overlooked in the VoIP conversation is what people really want to do with it. I mean, other people, people who aren't industry boosters. They just wanna make calls. — I could not agree more, which is precisely why most of the things that have been hyped really never see the light of day. One must wear tall boots around certain trade shows.
Four Reasons Why VoIP is a Good Call
September 19, 2006
This is presents a new view of why VoIP makes sense for business. — We don't fully subscribe to the notion that IM will save a lot of wasted time calling. How many times do you send an IM saying, "Are you there?" Otherwise, this was a good article.
DyLogic at "Convergence and Real Time Communications" conference
September 18, 2006
DyLogic, together with Microsoft, Fastweb, Codian, Lifesize and Kelyan Lab, will participate in a conference to be held 21 September 2006 in Milan with a focus on videoconferencing, high definition and enterprise communications.
Mobile VoIP Set To Surpass Fixed Net Telephony
September 18, 2006
Cable Racks Up 1M+ VoIP Subscribers in Q2
September 18, 2006
Shattering their old quarterly record for VoIP subscriber gains, North American cable operators signed up more than 1 million IP phone customers for the first time during the spring, according to the latest figures compiled by Cable Digital News.
Telecom Italia to buy AOL Germany
September 18, 2006
Telecom Italia announced plans to buy Time Warner's AOL Germany Internet access business for $870 million in cash.
September 18, 2006
LifeSize, which makes high-definition videoconferencing systems, announced that it has raised $25 million in Series D financing led by Lehman Brothers Venture Partners.
US VoIP firm sees $50-M prospect in RP
September 17, 2006
Verizon Wireless takes the road less traveled
September 15, 2006
This article suggests that while most wireless operators use GSM and Java, Verizon uses CDMA and BREW and has been very successful taking a different path. They appear to be doing the same for streaming video. — Our take on this: users do not care about the technology used. They just want something that works. The question is why Verizon wants to take the less trodden path and, quite likely, more expensive route?
Accused VoIP Fraudster Sought As Fugitive
September 15, 2006
Federal authorities say a Miami man facing computer and wire fraud charges for stealing VoIP services and selling them through his own company has fled, and a warrant has been issued for his arrest.
Intel, Siemens Partner In VoIP Unified Communications
September 14, 2006
Intel and Siemens said they have agreed to work together on products for unified communications based on VoIP.
September 14, 2006
Xelor tools improve VoIP quality
September 14, 2006
Skype releases video-calling beta for Macs
September 14, 2006
Skype released a beta version of its video call feature for Macintosh users, a move designed to bring more people into a Skype community dominated by Windows PCs.
Advertising seeps into the cell phone
September 14, 2006
Mobile Operators Push Into Mobile VoIP
September 13, 2006
Mobile VoIP is becoming a hot topic as more companies pop to offer VoIP clients that run on any Internet-enabled cell phone, such as Nokia's E-series handsets. Judging from the buzz at CTIA Wireless I.T. & Entertainment this week in Los Angeles, mobile carriers are trying to change mobile VoIP from a threat to an opportunity, before it gains critical mass.
VoIP Conference Calling Comes to Yahoo! Messenger
September 13, 2006
Users of the Yahoo! Messenger IM and VoIP platform will now be able to participate in conference calls of up to 500 people, using a free plug-in called ConFreeCall.
Ranch Networks Unveils Unique Clustering Technology for Asterisk
September 12, 2006
SentitO Networks and Stealth Communications Expand Partnership
September 12, 2006
sentitO Networks and Stealth Communications announced the successful interoperability of sentito's Open Network Exchange (ONX) IVG1200 Intelligent Voice and Proxy7 Signaling Gateways with Stealth's Voice Peering Fabric (VPF) ENUM Registry.
September 12, 2006
XConnect announced that it has acquired IPeerX in an effort to bolster its global VoIP peering presence and significantly increase the size of its ENUM registry of VoIP numbers.
University dumps Cisco VoIP for open-source Asterisk
September 12, 2006
Some organizations consider taking the plunge off of big iron PBX platforms into IP telephony as being pretty daring, but that's nothing compared to what Sam Houston State University (SHSU) is doing. The south Texas school is boldly moving thousands of users off a Cisco VoIP platform to an open-source VoIP network based on Asterisk.
Global Crossing, SunRocket Implement Industry-Changing VoIP Peering Solution
September 12, 2006
Global Crossing and SunRocket have implemented an industry-changing VoIP peering solution that will give customers high-performing, end-to-end IP connectivity for IP services, while bypassing the usage fees associated with completing calls via the PSTN.
Brix and Texas Instruments Collaborate on Quality
September 12, 2006
Brix Networks and Texas Instruments announced a collaboration and development initiative designed to deliver pervasive IP endpoint service assurance management.
Yahoo! VoIP adds conference calling
September 11, 2006
Yahoo! is adding free conference calling to its Yahoo! Messenger with Voice VoIP service, using a free plug-in from Vapps called ConFreeCall.
Truphone pushes VoIP on the go
September 11, 2006
September 11, 2006
The new VOX for Skype is a Voice-over-Instant-Messaging (VoIM) service which allows you to make Skype calls with your mobile phone.
Linksys forms first VoIP partnership
September 11, 2006
Linksys says a newly-formed partnership with WorldxChange will be the first of many in the VoIP space.
IP Unity Selects Surf Communication Solutions' DSP Resource
September 10, 2006
IP Unity has teamed with SURF Communication to deliver advanced video functionality in applications such as video messaging and video conferencing.
Will Asterisk be a threat to VoIP carriers? It already is!
September 9, 2006
The growth of open-source, do-it-yourself Asterisk open source software technology to build your own custom phone services could have the potential to make VoIP service providers extraneous.
Shareholders approve Alcatel, Lucent merger
September 7, 2006
Alcatel and Lucent shareholders approved Alcatel's $11 billion acquisition of Lucent, ticking off another hurdle in the companies' plans to consolidate their businesses.
Switching from cell to Wi-Fi, seamlessly
September 7, 2006
T-Mobile is preparing to launch a service this month that will allow people talking on their cell phones to seamlessly switch between T-mobile's cellular network and their home Wi-Fi networks.
AOL dials up developers for VoIP service
September 7, 2006
AOL will give developers access to the AIM Phoneline platform via application programming interfaces (API).
Throw away your PBX: Why Asterisk may be the VoIP future of your network
September 7, 2006
Here's your network's dirty little secret: Your PBX is old and outdated, and if you want to bring it into the modern era with IP telephony and VoIP, you're going to have to spend a bundle. Specialized switches and hardware and proprietary systems don't come cheap, and they might not even offer all the telephony features you're looking for.
September 6, 2006
Canadian telecom giant Nortel Networks is using its wireless and VoIP technology to spearhead a push into the European communications market.
Global Crossing Introduces Carrier VoIP Peering Service
September 6, 2006
Global Crossing has introduced to carrier customers its VoIP Community Peering service, which gives carriers the ability to more easily offer their business customers high-quality, end-to-end IP connectivity to support their end-users' IP applications and other advanced converged IP services.
Lucent Faces Corruption Charge
September 6, 2006
On the eve of its merger shareholder vote, Lucent says it's facing action by the SEC over its operations in China.
Silicon Valley to receive free Wi-Fi
September 5, 2006
A consortium of technology companies, including IBM and Cisco Systems, announced plans Tuesday for a vast wireless network that would provide free Internet access to big portions of Silicon Valley and the surrounding region as early as next year.
September 5, 2006
D-Link has reportedly launched its new VoIP USB phone, called "DPH-10U", which plugs to a USB port of a PC. This announcement underscores the growing popularity of USB Phones.
Vonage: Off the hook, or off the mark?
September 5, 2006
Vonage's IPO was a big disappointment, but the founder is still optimistic that the company has a very bright future, even going so far as to purchase 188,000 shares of stock.
Telephone telepathy? Researcher says it rings true
September 5, 2006
Firm offers free VoIP calls on a mobile phone
September 2, 2006
AOL hangs up Internet-phone service
September 1, 2006
AOL said that it will soon discontinue its TotalTalk Internet-phone service, which has failed to gain much of a following since its debut nearly a year ago.
Samsung claims to have cracked 4G
September 1, 2006
Samsung is claiming to have cracked 4G, while most of the mobile industry couldn't tell you what it is yet, promising wireless speeds of 100Mbps. — So, 4G is broadband over wireless, it seems. What else makes sense?
Alcatel to buy part of Nortel wireless unit
September 1, 2006
Alcatel said that it plans to buy some of Nortel Networks' wireless access infrastructure equipment for $320 million in an effort to beef up its 3G wireless business in Europe and Asia.