News Archive - October 2007
Alcatel-Lucent cuts more jobs, trims outlook
October 31, 2007
Alcatel-Lucent said it would cut another 4,000 jobs by 2009 and trimmed full-year revenue growth expectations yet again after seeing fresh signs of a slowdown particularly in North America.
Skype, Logitech Upgrade Videoconferencing
October 30, 2007
At the beginning of November, Skype will debut a "high quality video" upgrade that, according to the company, actually makes free videoconferencing a reality.
NexTone-Reef Point Merger in Works
October 29, 2007
According to Light Reading sources, NexTone and Reef Point will announce a merger this week. Such a merger would combine the No. 2 player in the session border controller market with a Johnny-come-lately security gateway vendor specializing in fixed/mobile convergence.
Silver Lake and TPG Capital Complete Acquisition of Avaya
October 26, 2007
Avaya, Silver Lake and TPG Capital announced that Silver Lake and TPG Capital have completed the acquisition of Avaya in a transaction valued at approximately $8.3 billion.
October 26, 2007
Shares of Vonage soared nearly 50 percent after the company wrapped up its second patent dispute in less than a month. It has agreed to pay Verizon up to $120M to settle its long-standing patent infringement suit.
October 25, 2007
The open source community working on H.323 projects has launched a new web site for continued enhancements to the open source H.323 protocol stack called "H323plus", with the intent of adding a number of new features.
Sipera Reveals Vonage Users Vulnerable to VoIP Identity Theft, Eavesdropping and Other Exploits
October 23, 2007
Sipera disclosed multiple threat advisories for users of VoIP services and equipment from Vonage, Globe7 and Grandstream. Among other threats, unwitting VoIP users face eavesdropping, spam, spoofing and denial-of-service (DoS) attacks.
DyLogic changes company name to Mirial
October 22, 2007
DyLogic announced that it will change its company name to Mirial: recalling the Spanish word "mirar" ("to look at"), the new name is tightly linked to the concept of vision and goes together with a re-branding planned for 2008 aiming to give stronger impact and incisiveness to the corporate identity.
AT&T Accuses Vonage of Violating VoIP Patents
October 20, 2007
As if Vonage did not have enough trouble trying to keep its VoIP business afloat, AT&T filed an intellectual property lawsuit against Vonage, seeking damages for alleged patent infringement.
October 19, 2007
WiMax has been approved as an official International Telecommunication Union (ITU) mobile wireless standard.
Microsoft OCS won't change UC game ... yet
October 17, 2007
Microsoft Office Communication Server (OCS) 2007 and Office Communicator (OC) 2007 went live today, promising once again to be the ultimate deathblow to the IP PBX as we know it. But unified communications (UC) experts questioned whether enterprises will trust their telephony to Microsoft and let gear from other vendors fall into obsolescence.
Microsoft dials up phone ambitions
October 16, 2007
At an event in San Francisco, Chairman Bill Gates and Business Division President Jeff Raikes formally launched several products that are key to Microsoft's strategy of offering "unified communications" for businesses—that is, software for bringing together e-mail, instant messaging, voice mail and telephony.
Nortel Accelerates Enterprise Strategy with Dell
October 16, 2007
Further accelerating its go-to-market strategy, Nortel is expanding its relationship with Dell through an agreement that will allow Dell to offer its customers in the U.S. and Canada all of Nortel's Enterprise products - including those developed under the Nortel and Microsoft Innovative Communications Alliance - as well as a suite of Nortel services related to unified communications.
October 16, 2007
A vulnerability found in the Linksys SPA-941 (version 5.1.8) by security researcher Radu State allows a malicious hacker to conduct a cross-site scripting (XSS) attack using the SIP, one of the major VoIP standards.
Bill Gates keynote launching new Microsoft communication platform
October 16, 2007
In San Francisco, Microsoft has launched Office Communications Server 2007 and a fleet of other products that the company says will revolutionize the way businesses communicate.
Success with VoIP Depends on Many Factors
October 16, 2007
Users have faced lots of challenges with VoIP, and success has a lot to do with the whole system. It's not merely a matter of the right soft client or hardware device, but also the network and network elements, too!
Polycom Expands Telepresence Portfolio
October 15, 2007
Polycom announced Polycom Telepresence Experience High Definition (TPX HD 306M), a new telepresence solution that provides an extraordinarily life-like, high definition collaboration experience for people in different locations, enabling them to increase productivity, improve knowledge transfer and accelerate decision-making by working together as effectively as if they were in the same room.
VoIP on Windows is like POTS on crack
October 15, 2007
Relying on a soft client running on Windows as my sole resource for making important calls has been a recipe for disaster. Plain old telephone service may be old fashioned, but you know what? With POTS, 99% of the time the phone just works. The same can't be said for my current VoIP setup, which I am relying on in my new office.
October 15, 2007
Acme Packet, the leading SBC vendor in the service provider space, says it has begun tailoring its gear for Fortune 2000 companies and contact centers that want to enable VoIP services.
Vonage settles patent litigation with Klausner
October 15, 2007
Vonage settled a patent lawsuit filed by Klausner Technologies, a privately held company specializing in voice-messaging technology.
Skype, U.K.'s 3 working on mobile Internet phone
October 12, 2007
Skype is working with British cell phone service operator 3 to produce a handset that will allow users in Britain to make free calls on the Internet.
Japan: Softbank-led group plans $2.1 billion WiMax investment
October 11, 2007
A consortium led by Softbank said it plans capital investment of about $2.1 billion by 2015 to develop next-generation wireless Internet access, if it gets a license to supply the service.
The Third Stage of the VoIP Rocket Never Fired
October 11, 2007
Tom Evslin, founder of ITXC, talks about how he predicted VoIP to be like a three stage rocket, but has concluded that he was wrong about the third stage, which called for development of innovative new phone services. It never took off, he says. — He's right, too! We are putting our bets of a significant change in communication via H.325.
House bill would give VoIP companies direct access to 911 system
October 11, 2007
Anyone making a 911 call in the U.S. today using a VoIP telephone isn't directly calling the local 911 center. Instead, the call has to go through a third party, such as a competitive local exchange carrier, who then connects that emergency call to the local 911 operator. A new bill introduced recently in the U.S. House of Representatives aims to change that to allow VoIP companies to offer 911 services to customers.
October 10, 2007
If Wall Street pundits get their way, Sprint Nextel's next CEO will put the brakes on plans for a new, high-speed wireless network. But such a move, while no doubt cutting costs, could condemn the struggling company to also-ran status.
Surf and Tekview Partner to Offer High-Capacity DSP Resource Boards for China
October 9, 2007
Surf that it has partnered with Tekview Technologies Co., Ltd. a high-tech corporation which delivers telecom solutions such as telecom network management, data network management, network testing and planning, communication protocols, communication hardware platform and blades to the Chinese market.
Skype co-founder says eBay overpaid for it
October 9, 2007
Niklas Zennström, co-founder of Internet telecommunications group Skype, said that he agreed that the original valuation put on the company by purchaser eBay was too high.
Vonage Soars on Sprint Settlement
October 8, 2007
Vonage has agreed to pay Sprint Communications $80 million to end its patent dispute with the mobile operator. The decision sent Vonage's stock up more than 123%!
For Google, advertising and phones go together
October 8, 2007
Google wants to extend its dominance of online advertising to the mobile Internet, a small market today, but one that is expected to grow rapidly. It hopes to persuade wireless carriers and mobile phone makers to offer phones based on its software.
VoIP will make money, not save it
October 8, 2007
There are two problems with the hype around IP telephony. First, the hardware costs to make it work erode most of the potential savings. Second, people are stuck on "voice" and not taking advantage of what IP could enable. If all that has changed is the way the voice signal is carried, then VoIP changes nothing.
Siemens Fined, Unhappy With NSN
October 5, 2007
German conglomerate Siemens AG has been fined €201 million (US$284 million) by the Munich District Court over the bribery scandal at its former Communications group.
Microsoft Preps Unified Communications Launch
October 3, 2007
Microsoft plans to roll out finished versions of several communications products and discuss future plans at an Oct. 16 event in San Francisco headlined by founder and chairman Bill Gates.
Microsoft Unveils Pricing for Small Biz VoIP System
October 2, 2007
Microsoft said it has released its Response Point phone system to manufacturing, meaning that OEM partners D-Link and Quanta Computer will soon have general availability for products based on the software. Microsoft also said both partners will be pricing their products below $3,000.
iPhone owner sues Apple for $1 million
October 2, 2007
A New York woman is so angry at Apple for lopping $200 off the price of the iPhone that she's filed a lawsuit seeking $1 million in damages. She claimed the company violated price discrimination laws when it slashed the price of the 8-gigabyte iPhone by a third.
Democrats quiz telecom companies about spy program role
October 2, 2007
More than a year has passed since reports surfaced that certain major U.S. telephone companies had granted government spies access to customer records as part of a Bush administration warrantless wiretapping program. Now a congressional committee has decided to investigate those claims.
October 1, 2007
Don't call it a bust just yet, but it's fair to say eBay executives aren't thrilled with what they're getting out of Skype, which the auction king bought for $2.6 billion two years ago.
AT&T Set To Include Internet Telephony In Product Bundles
October 1, 2007
AT&T plans by year-end to package its fledgling Internet TV service with an Internet phone service. The company currently has 100,000 IPTV subscribers, to which it is only offering traditional PSTN service. Providing VoIP has advantages for users, but the $99 introductory price for all three services — voice, data and TV — will stay the same.
October 1, 2007
The $2.6 billion price tag that eBay paid for Skype back in 2005 was a bit excessive after all. eBay announced that it would be taking a $1.4 billion charge related to its acquisition of the Internet phone service provider.
AT&T to buy Web conferencing provider
October 1, 2007
AT&T said it plans to acquire privately held Web-conferencing provider Interwise for about $121 million in cash.
The Death of VoIP and the Re-Birth of Multimedia Communications
October 1, 2007
While VoIP is still considered to be a very young technology in the eyes of many, it has made a huge impact on the telecommunications business. But, VoIP was just a first step. What is about to come with H.325 is another revolution in communication that will enable far more capability and functionality than the SIP-based VoIP systems of today.