Microsoft's Small Biz VoIP Play Hits the Street

Microsoft this week began its march into the small business VoIP market in earnest with the general release of its Response Point platform.
The new VoIP system, built on software from Microsoft and hardware from OEM partners D-Link Systems and Quanta Computer, is aimed at businesses with up to 50 users. Aastra Technologies, another recently-signed OEM partner, is expected to release systems in 2008.

It follows closely on the heels of the long-awaited launch of Microsoft's enterprise VoIP portfolio, including its Office Communications Server 2007 and Office Communicator 2007, last month at an event hosted by Chairman Bill Gates.

With its entrance into the space, Microsoft will face off against Cisco Systems, which is also stepping up its efforts in small business VoIP. San Jose, Calif.-based Cisco last week rolled out a new version of its Unified Communications 500 Series IP telephony platform that scales up to 48 users.

Microsoft is touting its new Response Point product line for its ease-of-use, voice-activated user interface and strong channel play.

"VARs and channel partners will have a lot of opportunities," said Xuedong Huang, general manager of Response Point for Microsoft, Redmond, Wash.

Huang said the new phone system will enable a whole new set of partners to get into the VoIP game.

"Traditionally they face a challenge to branch out into telephony. Telephony has a [reputation] for being very hard to learn. It takes a long time to be certified because it's complex and requires specialized expertise," Huang said. "Response Point is going to change that."

To date, Microsoft has trained approximately 1,000 solution providers nationwide on the new technology. Most are networking VARs that have not yet gotten into the VoIP space he said.

Response Point phone systems will serve as a lead-in for other Microsoft small business products such as its Dynamics CRM package, said Tom Strickland, network service manager at Congruent Software, a Microsoft Gold partner in Bellevue, Wash., that has received the training.

Strickland said customers have already shown interest in the product line.

"We did a Response Point demo at an event we hold for customers, and the response to the system was fantastic," Strickland said.

Aaron Booker, president of Hardlines, a solution provider in Bellingham, Wash., said his initial skepticism about the system and its capabilities was overcome after participating in Response Point training.

"It's a 1.0 product and voice is critical. You can't be rebooting your phone. It can't be a traditional Microsoft 'wait for Service Pack 2'," Booker said of his doubts. "But I think they get it with Response Point [because of] their attention to detail."

To keep costs and complexity down, Microsoft has focused on a small number of core capabilities, leaving out functionality such as automatic call distribution, contact center queuing features and native SIP trunking, he said.
Of more significance, according to solution providers, is the lack of T1 support.

Congruent Software's Strickland said the lack of T1 support was "the only downside" to the system, noting that it limits sales to only the smallest of customers.

"As soon as you hit 8 to 12 phone lines, you're looking for a T1 to bring the cost down," Strickland said. "For most customers of 10 lines or less, it's easy, no problem. But as soon as you hit a customer that already has a T1 or some kind of T1 integration, then Response Point doesn't play well."

Congruent Software currently is targeting the system at those smaller customers, but the addition of T1 support would enable the solution provider to chase a broader range of sales opportunities, he said.

Huang said the decision to support T1 in the phone system actually lies with Microsoft's OEM partners and that they can add it if they choose.

"T1 support is really not our responsibility. We ship software to the OEM partners, so the OEMs can decide. The OEMs decided not to because T1 is a small niche," Huang said. "There's a transition from T1 to SIP trunking. We will be supporting SIP trunking. The T1 support will be the hardware gateway 's responsibility. The software actually can support that without any problems," he said.

Hardlines' Booker said the lack of T1 support could be a problem, depending on the size of the business.

"Many customers don't have T1s, but there are more than Microsoft thinks there are," Booker said, noting that he expects to see it added in future versions.

The release of Response Point marks the culmination of a two-and-a-half year effort to build the product in-house, with a group that acted like a start-up company within Microsoft and began with a three-person team, Huang said.

"Initially we had only two people, me plus two developers. Now we have a large team and a business plan," noting that his team has grown to 40 people.

Microsoft last month disclosed pricing for the new system. Quanta's Syspine package includes four phones and a base unit with a built-in analog telephone adapter (ATA) and secure gateway for approximately $2,500. Additional phones are priced at $159 each. D-Link's VoiceCenter system includes a base unit, an ATA and five phones for approximately $2,500. Additional phones cost approximately $139.

Both vendors are offering a 20-phone system for less than $5,500.
Source: crn.com

Obama, at Google, calls for national CTO

Obama, at Google, calls for national CTO
Illinois senator is the seventh presidential candidate to speak at the Google campus

November 15, 2007 (Computerworld) -- Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said he would appoint a national chief technology officer to ensure that every government agency is meeting 21st century standards.

Speaking at a Town Hall meeting at Google Inc.'s Mountain View, Calif., headquarters, Obama talked about his plan to connect Americans through technology. Google invited the candidates to hear their views on some of the issues that affect their company as well as the technology industry in general. Obama was the seventh presidential hopeful to participate.

Other presidential candidates who have talked to Googlers are Republicans Ron Paul and John McCain and Democrats Hillary Rodham Clinton, Bill Richardson, John Edwards and Mike Gravel.

Dell Inc. also has invited the candidates to its campus.

"Together, we could open up government and invite citizens in, while connecting all of America to 21st century broadband. We could use technology to help achieve universal health care, to reach for a clean energy future, and to ensure that young Americans can compete -- and win -- in the global economy," Obama said at the Google meeting.

Obama said he would use technology to open up democracy by putting government data online in universally accessible formats, enabling people to track federal grants, contracts and lobbyist contacts, among other things. In addition, he said he would allow citizens to participate in government forums, ask questions in real time, offer suggestions and comment on legislation before he signs it.

Andrew McLaughlin, Google's director of Public Policy and Government Affairs, noted in the blog that Obama also supports Net neutrality because the candidate wants to make sure the Internet remained an open network. Obama also described his technology policies to strengthen online privacy, to make sure all Americans had access to high-speed broadband, and to free up wireless spectrum for new connectivity and public safety.

During his visit to Google, Edwards urged the FCC to set aside spectrum in its upcoming auction to foster new broadband options.

Source: computerworld.com

Allworx, Voxitas, Team to Deliver Turn-Key VoIP Solution to Small Businesses

VoIP phone system maker Allworx and VoIP service provider Voxitas (formerly NetLogic) have combined their solutions and made them available to resellers as a package.

As a result, businesses now have access to Allworx’ affordable yet full featured VoIP phone systems preconfigured to work with Voxitas’ dedicated, SIP-based business VoIP service.

By combining Voxitas’ SIP trunking capabilities with Allworx’s hardware, SMBs can maximize their voice and data services and toss their legacy phone systems in the dumpster behind the building (oh wait … whoops! I was supposed to say recycle …). Voxitas claims it offers superior quality of service over its dedicated network. It claims it has all but eliminated the jitter and garble commonly associated with VoIP services that traverse the public Internet.

“Our combined offerings provide the type of full-featured telephony solution that enhances the way a small business operates, while also bolstering their bottom line in the process,” said Michael Morey, president and CEO of Voxitas, in a press release. “We’re excited to partner with Allworx because their systems provide the right mix of features for the SMB marketplace, and they’re easy to use and maintain - which results in successful, and long-lasting engagements with our customers.”

The Allworx 6x, 10x, and 24x phone systems are designed for businesses ranging from 2 to 100 employees per site. These phone systems offer many of the same features available is corporate IP PBX systems costing tens of thousands of dollars. They are easy to deploy and can be readily expanded to meet the needs of a fast-growing small business.

In addition to IP trunking, Voxitas’ services include long distance, Internet, toll-free and emergency 911 services to single and multi-site IPBX systems. It offers services tailored for in-bound and out-bound call centers, small to medium-sized enterprises, and wholesale carriers. Its wholesale service is also available on a private, or white label, basis.

Ofcom plans wholesale broadband deregulation

Telecoms regulator Ofcom has announced it plans to remove restrictions on the majority of the wholesale broadband market.Regulations forcing BT and KCom to open up their networks to rival broadband providers to ensure fair competition are due to be withdrawn as the market is now "performing well".More than 80 per cent of households in the UK have the choice of two or more wholesale broadband providers, the industry regulator said.However, Ofcom is still planning on keeping restrictions in areas where there remains little competition, such as the 19 per cent of UK homes where BT is the only operator or areas where there are fewer than three competitors.In addition, KCom's position as the only provider in Hull was found to give it "a dominant market position", according to an Ofcom statement.The regulator added that it had "reached a similar conclusion in relation to BT, accordingly Ofcom will continue to protect consumers by keeping existing rules that are designed to promote retail competition in these markets".
Source: telappliant.com

Wireless network operators 'looking to mobile VoIP'

Network service providers are taking notice of moves towards mobile voice over internet protocol (VoIP) services, it has been claimed.According to Challenger Mobile, growth in the sector has forced operators to pay attention to the new technologies."Demand for mobile Internet calls is a reality that no serious operator can ignore any longer," the firm said.A sharp increase in the profile of mobile VoIP was sparked by last month's announcement of a partnership for 3G VoIP mobile services between Hutchinson 3 and Skype, according to Challenger Mobile.The firm's chief executive Christina Sundman said: "Virtually every operator recognises that mobile VoIP is a key offering they must embrace to remain competitive in the mobile marketplace at large, and the 3-Skype partnership has just heightened that awareness."Migrating VoIP to mobile handsets could potentially further the expansion of the technology, but it has met strong opposition from network operators concerned that they could miss out on call revenues. Source: telappliant.com

NexTone and Springboard Announce VoIP Billing Services Now ServiceReady

NexTone, a provider of session border controllers and scalable session management solutions, and Springboard-ASA Limited, a billing and analysis solutions firm, announced that Springboard’s VoIP billing services are now ServiceReady certified for use with NexTone’s IntelliConnect System.

UK-based Springboard develops and deploys highly scaleable, customized billing and analysis solutions for VoIP providers of all sizes and offers them on a highly competitive usage-based model. ServiceReady certification validates that Springboard’s services are interoperable end-to-end with NexTone’s IntelliConnect System."Certifying Springboard as ServiceReady benefits NexTone customers by providing them with a reliable and robust billing and analysis tool that improves their profitability, revenue assurance, and maximizes their LCR," said Andrew Whitelaw, managing director for Springboard, in a Thursday statement.
Whitelaw continued: "The simplicity of implementing the Springboard system allows customers to take full advantage of uninterrupted service, enabling them to maintain a competitive advantage and reach peak efficiency and performance."
This collaboration is designed to support NexTone’s commitment to help its customers profitably grow their VoIP and multimedia revenues through the combination of NexTone’s best-in-class technology and a range of ServiceReady partners. NexTone customers currently use the Springboard suite of solutions. These customers include iCard Telecom, Liquid Telecommunications Ltd, Europtel Ltd, and Livewire Ltd due to the suite’s ability to significantly improve functionality and flexibility with easy and economical implementation.
"Service providers are continually challenged to introduce new services. With Springboard participation in NexTone's ecosystem service providers have additional options to introduce new service capabilities based on Springboard billing and analysis tools," said John Longo, vice president of marketing for NexTone, in Thursday’s statement.
Longo continued: "ServiceReady certification with Springboard provides both NexTone and Springboard customers with new tools to quickly offer high-quality, secure VoIP services with easy access to critical session information."
Springboard provides such carrier billing and analysis services as: carrier bill verification; invoicing; un-billed traffic; gross profit; minutes reporting; and graphics. Multimedia support includes session management and intelligent interconnects; IntelliConnect System; product presentation; industry benchmarking; and recent NexTone news.Service providers must be able to provide new and innovative services, solutions and packages in order to remain competitive. As the industry continues to tighten and competition intensifies, those who can not effectively compete will find themselves without a market.
This new integration between NexTone and Springboard will help to ensure that these service providers are better able to deliver the services that customers need and effectively bill and analyze the market for future offerings. Such capabilities will better position these providers for longevity in the market.
Source: tmcnet.com

Advanced Battery Technologies Develops New PLI Battery Technology

Exceeds National Standards in 7 Tests for Safety & Performance and 8 Tests of Its Electrical Properties

Advanced Battery Technologies, Inc. (AMEX: GBT) today announced that it has successfully developed a polymer lithium-ion (PLI) battery cell using lithium iron phosphate. Advanced Battery Technologies, Inc. develops, manufactures, and distributes rechargeable polymer lithium-ion (PLI) battery cells.

The new PLI battery technology provides significant advantages over existing battery cell technologies, including greater resistance to overcharge, increased safety and a longer life cycle. This new technology is particularly well-suited for use in electric vehicles including motorcycles, automobiles, and specialty vehicles such as street cleaners.

The new battery cell reached or exceeded national standards in seven tests for safety and performance, and eight tests of its electrical properties. It has garnered the attention of China's most authoritative institutions, including recognition by the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games Committee.

"We are extremely pleased with the superior performance of our new PLI battery cell technology," stated Mr. Zhiguo Fu, Advanced Battery's Chairman and CEO. "Development of this new technology demonstrates our commitment to creating a diversified product line that will enable Advanced Battery Technologies to meet and exceed market demand, and remain the leading provider of advanced PLI battery cells," Mr. Fu concluded.
Source: money.cnn.com

DivX buys rival for its technology

November 15, 2007
DivX Inc., a San Diego maker of video-compression technology, will pay $22 million MainConcept AG of Germany, which has a competing compression system that is gaining traction.
DivX makes a video-compression system that allows large video files to move between devices, such as from computers to televisions. It hopes to get its technology heavily adopted by consumers, making it the standard for compressing and decompressing digital video – just like MP3 technology became a popular format for coding digital music.
DivX makes most of its money licensing its technology, based on MPEG-4, to makers of DVD players. But it hopes to expand into other products, such as mobile phones and digital cameras.
MainConcept is a leader in a different compression technology, called H.264, that has been gaining ground in some gadgets, such as digital cameras that produce short video clips.
Cell phone makers, HDTV makers and set-top-box producers also are looking at the H.264 technology. Adobe has licensed MainConcept's compression system for its latest version of Adobe Flash player software.
DivX Chief Executive Officer Kevin Hell called MainConcept's system highly complementary to DivX. “MainConcept's H.264 technology is expected to increase our market penetration in key emerging-product categories,” he said.
On top of the $22 million, DivX could pay an additional $6 million for MainConcept if certain product-development and financial milestones are hit.
DivX expects that costs associated with the deal will push down its fourth-quarter earnings by 2 cents to 3 cents a share. But MainConcept is expected to contribute to the company's bottom line in the second half of next year, the company said.
Source: signonsandiego.com

Innovision offers NFC technology as IP as expected

LONDON — Innovision Research & Technology plc, supplier of radio frequency identification (RFID) and near field communication (NFC) chips has started an intellectual property evaluation and licensing program for its NFC technology called Gem.
Innovision (Cirecester, England) said the program would enable semiconductor companies to develop NFC capability, either for stand-alone solutions or as part of System-on-Chip (SoC) integrated NFC solutions.
It has been known for some time that Innovision intended to do this. Indeed Innovision may have been supplying semiconductor companies with NFC IP for some time. The IP is compliant with NFC standards, Innovision said.
Innovisions Gem IP will be offered to interested parties under an evaluation licence, with forthcoming test silicon. This will not only enable detailed evaluation of the NFC IP, but also enable the creation of demonstration systems to show to end-customers.
A claimed benefit of the Gem IP is its relative ease of transfer from one silicon foundry process or geometry to another, due primarily to the use of DSP
Source: eetimes.com

RFMD(R) Introduces MEMS Technology

RFMD(R) Introduces MEMS Technology to Enable Breakthrough Performance and Unprecedented Levels of Functional Integration in RF and Other applications

NEW YORK, Nov. 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ RF Micro Devices, , a global leader in the design and manufacture of high- performance radio frequency systems and solutions, announced at its analyst day today the introduction of its proprietary micro-electro-mechanical systems, or MEMS, technology for RF and other applications. RFMD is a pioneer in the development of MEMS technology for low-cost, integrated RF applications ("RF MEMS") and has been actively engaged in the commercialization of MEMS technology since 2004. RFMD expects its proprietary MEMS technology will enable breakthrough performance and unprecedented levels of functional integration in RF and other applications.

The first RF MEMS devices to be introduced by RFMD will be an RF MEMS transmit/receive switch and an RF MEMS mode-switch for 3G multimode handsets. RFMD's MEMS switch technology will help accelerate 3G deployment by significantly reducing the product footprint and improving efficiency, thereby extending handset talk time. When combined with RFMD's industry-leading process technologies for front-end solutions (GaAs, SOI and silicon), RFMD's RF MEMS switch technology will set new standards for low-cost, small size, and very high performance front ends.

RFMD's MEMS switches will also be used in the output circuit of power amplifiers (PAs) to create a tunable PA, which the Company anticipates will enable a truly adaptive transmitter solution.

Victor Steel, vice president of research and development for RFMD, said, "The commercialization of RFMD's proprietary MEMS technology and the construction of our 200mm MEMS R&D fab underscore RFMD's continued commitment to product leadership through cutting-edge innovation. RFMD is the only company capable of combining mixed signal CMOS, power management, power amplifiers, RF switches and RF MEMS in cost-effective, wafer-level packaged, single-chip solutions. With the commercialization of our industry-leading MEMS capabilities, we will extend our ability to deliver highly-integrated RF solutions that anticipate and exceed our customers' evolving RF requirements."

Gabriel M. Rebeiz, University of California at San Diego professor and early pioneer in MEMS development, added, "Existing RF MEMS switch technology is based on small fabrication lots and wafer-to-wafer packaging techniques, which result in high device cost. The RFMD approach, with its high level of integration on silicon addresses this problem head-on and will result in improved yield, higher performance and much lower cost."

RFMD's RF MEMS switches are high-power, ohmic contact MEMS switches that are post-processed above-IC on RF CMOS SOI wafers and are encapsulated in hermetically sealed wafer level packaged (WLP) dielectric domes. All necessary circuitry required for the operation of the RF MEMS switches is integrated into the underlying CMOS, including the generation of the large voltages and control signals required for reliable actuation of power MEMS switches. The RF MEMS switches fully support RFMD's rigorous cellular RF power module requirements, including low insertion loss and high isolation (typ. 0.2dB / 35dB @ 1.9GHz) and high harmonic rejection (typ. >90dBc), while also meeting stringent requirements for reliability and cost of design and production.

In addition to RF MEMS switches, RFMD is also actively pursuing the commercialization of other MEMS devices, such as RF MEMS filters, RF MEMS resonators (crystal replacement) and MEMS sensors. The Company expects its MEMS technology, coupled with its existing core competencies in high- performance radio frequency systems, will ultimately enable single-chip front ends and software defined radios capable of accommodating any wireless protocol - cellular or non-cellular.

RFMD will construct a 200mm R&D wafer fab to support its continued MEMS development. The MEMS R&D fab will be located with RFMD's GaN R&D organization in a new facility in Mooresville, North Carolina.

About RFMD: RF Micro Devices is a global leader in the design and manufacture of high-performance radio frequency systems and solutions for applications that drive wireless and broadband communications. RFMD's cellular front ends, cellular transceivers, RF components and system- on-chip (SoC) solutions enable worldwide mobility, provide enhanced connectivity and support advanced functionality in the cellular handset, cellular base station, wireless local area network (WLAN), CATV networking, aerospace, defense, and global positioning systems (GPS) markets. Recognized for its diverse portfolio of state-of-the-art semiconductor technologies and vast RF systems expertise, RFMD is a preferred supplier to the world's leading mobile device and RF equipment manufacturers.

Headquartered in Greensboro, N.C., RFMD is an ISO 9001- and ISO 14001- certified manufacturer with worldwide engineering, design, sales and service facilities. RFMD is traded on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol RFMD. For more information, please visit RFMD's web site at www.rfmd.com.

This press release includes "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements about our plans, objectives, representations and contentions and are not historical facts and typically are identified by use of terms such as "may," "will," "should," "could," "expect," "plan," "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "predict," "potential," "continue" and similar words, although some forward-looking statements are expressed differently. You should be aware that the forward-looking statements included herein represent management's current judgment and expectations, but our actual results, events and performance could differ materially from those expressed or implied by forward-looking statements. We do not intend to update any of these forward-looking statements or publicly announce the results of any revisions to these forward-looking statements, other than as is required under the federal securities laws. RF Micro Devices' business is subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, including variability in quarterly operating results, the rate of growth and development of wireless markets, risks associated with the operation of our wafer fabrication facilities, molecular beam epitaxy facility, assembly facility and test and tape and reel facilities, our ability to attract and retain skilled personnel and develop leaders, variability in production yields, our ability to reduce costs and improve gross margins by implementing innovative technologies, our ability to bring new products to market, our ability to adjust production capacity in a timely fashion in response to changes in demand for our products, dependence on a limited number of customers, and dependence on third parties. These and other risks and uncertainties, which are described in more detail in RF Micro Devices' most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and other reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, could cause actual results and developments to be materially different from those expressed or implied by any of these forward-looking statements.

RF MICRO DEVICES(R) and RFMD(R) are trademarks of RFMD, LLC. All other trade names, trademarks and registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

IBM unveils new data center technology

IBM plans to help corporate data centers operate more like the Internet in a new series of offerings called "Blue Cloud," which will allow computers to work across large pools of systems rather than on local machines or remote server farms.
The technology is called cloud computing, and IBM said it is working with corporations, government agencies universities and Internet-based businesses on projects based on it.
IBM, also known as "Big Blue," said Blue Cloud will be based on open standards and open-source software supported by IBM software, technology and services.
The company expects its first Blue Cloud offerings to be available in the spring.
Shares of Armonk, N.Y.-based International Business Machines Corp. slid 4 cents to $103.40 in premarket electronic trading.
IBM shares rose 70 cents to $104.14 in morning trading.
Source: businessweek.com

Telstra heading for clash with ACCC

TELSTRA is on a collision course with the competition regulator after the third largest internet service provider launched a broadband ADSL service that sidesteps part of the carrier's copper network charging regime.
Perth-based iiNet yesterday launched a national broadband and internet telephony service that allows consumers to bypass fees for voice services currently built into rentals for Telstra and Optus copper phone lines.
However, about 500,000 consumers who now receive ADSL service under line-sharing arrangements with Optus and Telstra could be struggling to make the switch.
The service has been made possible by a series of interim pricing decisions for unbundled local loop (ULL) services published by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission in mid-2006.
The iiNet service is the first of its kind to take advantage of new rules that require Telstra and Optus to make their copper lines available without standard voice services attached.
Iinet managing director Michael Malone said, however, that Telstra was yet to put procedures in place for migrating customers to unbundled lines. "The only way now for one of our customers to get that is to disconnect the current line and connect a new one. That's expensive and it also involves a couple of weeks of downtime.
"In the draft determination they've included pricing for migration but as yet Telstra hasn't implemented the process," Mr Malone said.
Optus declined to comment on the new service.
ACCC commissioner Ed Willett said the issue had already been raised with the regulator. He said, however, it was yet to be declared a formal dispute.
"If the service providers want us to actively do something about it, they will need to bring it to us as a dispute," Mr Willett said.
It is understood that around 5 per cent of 500,000 broadband services now in operation are delivered under line-sharing arrangements.
Mr Malone said its service would enable consumers to slice about $15 from their telephone bills.
The ACCC has set interim pricing for ULL services in metro areas outside the CBD (about 70 per cent of the market) at $17.70 monthly compared with fees hovering at $30 monthly for conventional line rental service.
The ULL service will allow smaller internet service providers to offer lower cost VoIP services as an alternative to conventional telephony services.
The iiNet offering replaces the standard voice service with an internet telephony service that will connect to the Public Switched Telephone Network.
IiNet said it would charge around $50 per month for the service, which would be available to about 3.5 million households.
A Telstra spokesman said the carrier had no plans to introduce an unbundled ADSL service.
"The vast majority of Australians want the security, reliability and quality of a fixed-line phone service," the spokesman said.
Source: theaustralian.news.com.au

ICASA says it ‘never flinched’

Many consumers remain bitterly disappointed with ICASA but its chairman says the authority never flinched from implementing its mandate.
In the recently published ICASA Annual Report its Chairman Paris Mashile says that, “Apart from the regulatory and operational vicissitudes outlined above, the Authority never flinched from implementing its mandate.”
Mashile further said that the Authority’s deliverables were guided by the quest to “promote affordability of services for consumers.”
Consumers not convinced
Consumers are however not convinced that ICASA is serving its purpose of ‘protecting consumers from unfair business practices, poor quality services and harmful or inferior products’ regarding ADSL.
A poor set of ADSL Regulations were published in August 2006, and despite commitments from Mashile himself that the regulations would be revisited, ICASA did not improve these regulations.
It further frustrated many ADSL subscribers that a year after the ADSL Regulations were released Telkom is still not in compliance. This is despite a massive 168 complaints to the Authority regarding Telkom’s alleged non-compliance with the regulations before April 2007.
To many consumers ICASA appears to be a toothless regulator running scared whenever larger operators like Telkom or the mobile players threaten legal action or challenge the regulator’s authority.
Consumers speak out
Consumers vented their frustrations on the MyADSL Forums after the recent ICASA Complaints and Compliance Committee hearings into Telkom’s alleged non-compliance with the ADSL Regulations.
“If ICASA was unbiased, we the consumer would not be abused for last 7 years,” said one commentator.
“It only confirms what everyone knows already: Icasa is in Telkom's pocket,” said another.
Many consumers also criticized Mashile’s recent comments that “We have decided to take the route that will present us with less litigation. The incumbents are loaded with legal weapons of mass destruction.”
This may send out the wrong message that ICASA may not seek to make decisions on the merits of submissions or the case before them, but rather to avoid legal action against them.
If Mashile’s statement is to be interpreted literally any legal threat from one of the larger players may be an effective weapon to swing the authority’s mind.
Source: mybroadband.co.za

Nokia Siemens becomes DSLAM supplier for Hunan Telecom

STOCKHOLM (MarketWatch) -- Nokia Siemens Networks Thursday said it has become the major DSLAM supplier for Hunan Telecom, which is a subsidiary of China Telecom, in China.
Through the expansion contract, Nokia Siemens Networks will support Hunan Telecom in boosting network capacity and preparing for future VDSL2 development.
Under the contract, Nokia Siemens Networks will provide its DSL access solutions to an additional two cities in Hunan province, in central China. This will increase the reach of Nokia Siemens Networks-supplied DSL access to over one million end users in nine cities throughout Hunan.
Source: marketwatch.com

The Definitive Guide to Successful Deployment of VoIP and IP Telephony

Following on from the design and pre-deployment testing phase discussed in chapter four, this fifth chapter of The Definitive Guide to Successful Deployment of VoIP and IP Telephony describes the Implementation and Migration phase.
This chapterrevisits the global enterprise case study mentioned in chapter three and takes a detailed look at implementing IP Telephony, highlighting the potential pitfalls. These examples offer you a blueprint for your own successful implementation.
Published in installments, this eBook also provides checklists and electronic "Report Cards" to help you select and deploy the right IP telephony solutions, applications, services, and testing and monitoring tools.
Future chapters focus on how to keep things running smoothly after implementation. When you register for this eBook you will automatically receive notification of subsequent chapters and podcasts as they become available.

ViewSonic launches Innovative DCR technology Enhance Contrast Ratio up to 4000:1

ViewSonic Corp., a leading global provider of visual display products, today launched innovative dynamic contrast ration (DCR) technology, which enhances the contrast ratio of an LCD up to 4000:1. DCR technology automatically detects the image signal and intelligently controls the brightness of the backlight to enhance colour quality in a dark and bright environment. DCR technology is able to automatically adjust gray level and enhance gray level performance range. When there is a need to display a dark image, DCR technology will underpower the backlight lamp, but will proportionately amplify the transmission through the LCD panel. This gives the benefit of realising the potential static contrast ratio of the LCD panel in dark scenes. The primary advantage of DCR technology is to intelligently control LCD panel backlight. When the image is watched in a dark room, the drawback is that if a dark scene does contain small areas of superbright light, they may be sacrificed and blown out. By intelligently modulating the backlights, the user is able to experience lower black levels while watching darker movies or video games. This can help provide for a better user experience, and overall front of screen performance. The second advantage of DCR technology is power saving. Owing to DCR being able to automatically detect image source then to adjust LCD panel back light, the back light power consumption will differ from back light usage. Compared to convention LCDs, which backlight is always on, the voltage of LCDs with DCR technology is flexible based on the contrast ratio. The latest DCR technology can enrich image scale level and provide end-users the best color performance when seeing video or gaming. Also, for professional users, DCR technology can provide the real image performance quality for graphic designer and multimedia editing.Contrast Ratio Comparison:
Source: albawaba.com

Microsoft Ships Windows Embedded CE Update

Microsoft is shipping the latest version of its embedded operating system for non-PC devices. The company formally announced the release of Windows Embedded CE 6.0 Release 2 (R2) Wednesday at the Embedded Technology 2007 conference in Yokohama, Japan.
Originally named Windows CE, Microsoft changed the name to the longer moniker when it shipped version 6.0 a year ago. The system is used as the basis for several Microsoft device systems, including Windows Mobile, but development of the core system resides in the Windows Embedded Business, a separate organization, Dan Javnozon, senior product manager with the group, told InternetNews.com.
Microsoft's Windows Embedded Business was formed to provide a platform for devices that are "not computers or phones," Javnozon said. Those include devices such as TV set-top boxes, automated teller machines, medical devices, and gas pumps, as well as automobiles and robot controllers.
And while embedded operating systems may seem arcane, that doesn't mean there is no money to be made in those markets. Quite the contrary.
"With three billion embedded devices forecast to be shipped this year, it's pretty clear that it's a tremendous business opportunity for many [developers] … and it's also a big opportunity for us," Kevin Dallas, general manager of the Windows Embedded Business, said during his keynote address in September at the Embedded Systems Conference East 2007 held in Boston.
Indeed, in the past two years, Microsoft has invested more than $100 million in Windows Embedded product development and associated research and development, Dallas said in a statement this week. "In this year alone, we are increasing that commitment by 33 percent to $75 million, including $5 million in community and academic development," the statement continued. That's not small change.
Release 2 is not out to rock the boat so there are no major changes to the system's kernel. But it is intended to strengthen the OS in a few key areas. For example, R2 adds support for the full Web Services on Devices (WDS) application programming interface (API) that is available on Windows Vista.
That enables scenarios such as digital picture frames on the network. "Vista would say, 'There's a digital picture frame on the network … and, oh, I have a driver for it'," Javnozon said.
"This is really the first step toward our service-oriented devices vision, and you'll see that this is really going to provide the first step in the foundation for us as we deliver on this vision of service-oriented devices," Dallas said in September.
Additionally, R2 adds support for VoIP video telephony capabilities that will let device-makers add scenarios such as VoIP, video and three-way audio to existing CE 6.0 designs, the company said.
Enhancements to CE 6.0's Internet Explorer implementation are designed to speed rendering of Web pages. A new "pluggable" font engine enables developers to use third-party font engines in their applications. And new auto-detection capabilities aim to enable thin clients to connect to Windows Server 2008.
The benefits for at least one hardware partner – quicker time to market. Chip maker STMicroelectronics plans to ship R2 in its "board support package" for its HDTV set-top box decoder chip. "This will let our customers take R2 and get a product up and running quickly," Mike Hess, market development manager at STMicroelectronics, told InternetNews.com. "That's a huge time to market advantage," he added.

USB Optical Mouse turns into VoIP phone

November 14, 2007 - Compatible with Skype (News - Alert), MSN, and Yahoo Messenger, USB Optical Mouse can be used to make calls between PCs or from PC to landline or mobile phone. Featuring speaker phone functionality and headset for hands free use, it is functional even when phone call is taking place. Unit turns into VoIP phone when flipped open, revealing keypad and LCD display. Built-in microphone allows mouse to be picked up in its open position and be used as normal phone.
LINDY Unveils Optical Mouse with Built-In VoIP Phone LINDY Electronics has announced the release of its USB Optical Mouse with Built-in VoIP Phone. Boasting speaker phone functionality and a headset for hands free use, the new mouse is fully functional even when a phone call is taking place.Appearing like any other stylish USB mouse, the new optical mouse turns into a VoIP phone when flipped open, revealing a keypad and LCD display. As the integrated speaker delivers a ringtone, users come to know when a call is received. A built-in microphone allows the mouse also to be picked up in its open position and be used as a normal phone.Stephen Fawcett, senior product manager of LINDY Electronics said that finding space for everything on a work desk can be difficult, which is why combining peripherals is always popular with users."The simplicity of the mouse and its clamshell design makes it perfect for use both as a mouse and a phone, without compromising the functionality of either," said Fawcett in a statement.The LINDY USB Optical Mouse with Built-in VoIP phone is compatible with Skype (News - Alert), MSN, Yahoo Messenger and other VoIP applications. The device can be used to make calls between PCs or from a PC to a landline or mobile phone.For over seventy years LINDY has been providing leading-edge technology products from petrol lamps in the 1930s, to the very latest innovative designs in computer connectivity today.
Source: thomasnet.com

Finally There Is a Call Quality Solution

NoiseFree VoIP Now Shipping! Finally There Is a Call Quality Solution for the Mobile Professional
SAN JOSE, Calif., Nov. 14 /PRNewswire/ -- Noise Free, (Noise Free Wireless(TM), Inc.) a leading provider of next generation software to enhance voice communications, announced today that the commercial version of NoiseFree VoIP is now available for download. NoiseFree VoIP is a unique, patent pending software solution that effectively cancels disruptive call background noise regardless of the environment. NoiseFree VoIP enhances voice clarity while simultaneously eliminating background interference, so callers experience an unsurpassed quality of service for VoIP and soft phone-based calls. The Product retails for USD $29.95, but from November 14 through December, it is available for download for only $19.95, (http://www.noise-free-wireless.com/).
"We introduced the Beta version of NoiseFree VoIP at CTIA Wireless in San Francisco and were delighted to see the tremendous interest we received from the media as well as industry analysts and fellow technologists," said Bill Ribble, VP Marketing for Noise Free. "We have had literally thousands of people download our trial offer and to date the feedback is overwhelmingly positive. We have taken user suggestions and our own engineering team's updates and added a few additional performance and user enhancements to our GA version. We are convinced this will be one of the best accessories mobile professionals will be able to add to their communication toolset for some time to come."
NoiseFree VoIP now provides "enhanced speech intelligibility" features for voice clarity assurance, making it easier to understand conversations even with callers present in very noisy environment (where background noise exceeds 80dB).
NoiseFree VoIP utilizes patented technology to deliver unrivaled transmit signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) enhancement in excess of 15dB, ensuring that callers can be heard clearly regardless of background noise environments including airport traffic, street noise and sirens, loud crowds and even espresso machines. For best results, both callers should install NoiseFree VoIP in their computers.
NoiseFree VoIP GA Version Now Available
"VoIP subscribers in both consumer and enterprise markets have long since suffered with poor call throughput and quality issues," said Frank Bernhard, Managing Principal and Advisory Economist at OMNI Research Group. "The Noise Free technology raises the quality standard in significant proportion to lowering the interference that effectively reduces subscriber utility of VoIP services. Clearly, the fabric of noise-cancellation and transparent installation increases the productivity advantage of Noise Free users."
Unlike traditional commercial noise cancellation solutions (including those used in applications such as audio conferencing, stereo and hi-fidelity sound reinforcement and avionics), NoiseFree VoIP requires no additional hardware devices such as microphones, DSP chips, or other costly additions to support laptop or VoIP handset usage.
NoiseFree VoIP Features: -- Patent pending noise cancellation technology that detects and suppresses background noise to enhance user speech clarity -- Speech intelligibility enhancement -- Advanced Voice Activity Detection -- User-friendly installation -- Readily available through download -- Low power consumption -- Very low memory requirement
NoiseFree VoIP supports a wide variety of VoIP Software and Services including: Skype(TM), Yahoo Messenger(TM), Google Talk(TM) and Soft Phones. It has been tested and is compatible with Windows(TM) XP and Vista (32 bit).
Pricing and Availability:
NoiseFree VoIP is being offered at an introductory a one time price of $19.95 through December, 2007 and is available now for download and a 15 day FREE trial from the Noise Free website: http://www.noise-free-wireless.com/. On January 1, 2008, NoiseFree VoIP will return to the list price of USD $29.95.

Two VoIP Products Offer Long Distance For Free

MagicJack and ooma combine VoIP with your existing home phone service to provide you with free long-distance calls.
"Rent vs. buy" is a classic business dilemma. Is it cheaper to rent office space or buy a building? Buy copy machines, or lease them? Now there's a new one to add to the list: rather than pay for telephone service by the month, why not buy a little hardware that delivers free phone service for a year or more at a time?
New products from YMAX Communications Corp. and ooma, Inc., do just that -- they let you continue to use your existing telephones, but pay a one-time fee for some digital hardware that uses (VoIP).
Both deliver free local and long-distance calling in the United States and Canada. The difference is that the YMAX MagicJack is cheap and dead easy to use, but limited in its features. The ooma Hub is more expensive and more complicated, but offers more features.
Removing The Nerd Factor From VoIPBecause VoIP works wherever the Internet works, it is driving the cost of phone service (and especially long-distance calling) toward zero, and sprouting new services like visual voicemail. But its success depends on impersonating everything that's familiar about telephone service -- it has to work the way we're used to using telephones, dialtone, trimline handsets, and all.
The two pioneers of VoIP, Vonage and Skype, took differing approaches. Vonage adopted the existing POTS business model hook, line and sinker: You pay for special equipment, and you pay by the month for service. Skype took a different approach: It left the equipment up to you, and charged for service on a minute-by-minute and feature-by-feature basis. Both have had success, but each points up a weakness of the other's approach: Skype makes Vonage look more expensive than VoIP has to be, while Vonage makes Skype's headset-and-microphone approach look nerdy and off-putting.
Both the MagicJack and the ooma Hub are focused on doing a better POTS imitation -- cutting the price of service while reducing the nerdiness of VoIP.

Distribution Agreement with Seagate Technology

Arrow Electronics' North American Components Business Announces Distribution Agreement with Seagate Technology

MELVILLE, N.Y., Nov. 14 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The North American Components business of Arrow Electronics, Inc. will distribute Seagate Technology's industry-leading disc-drive product portfolio to Arrow's broad customer base in the United States and Canada under an agreement announced today.
Arrow will distribute Seagate's product portfolio including its industry- leading EE25 hard-drive series for extreme environments, the DB35 series for digital video recorders (DVRs) and home media servers, the SV35 family for digital video surveillance systems, Savvio 2.5-inch drives for mission- critical enterprise server and storage applications, and the Momentus family for laptop computers.
"Arrow's proven success in technical demand creation with the embedded marketplace will provide broad customer access to the industry's most diverse product portfolio," said Marc Jourlait, Seagate's vice president of global marketing. "We are pleased to be extending our reach with the addition of Arrow as we continue to deliver advanced digital storage that powers mainstream and cutting-edge applications."
"Seagate's demonstrated leadership in disc-drive technology and its commitment to developing unique solutions that meet, and exceed, the diverse storage requirements of our OEM customer base clearly adds to our value proposition," said Robert Behn, vice president of marketing for Arrow's North American Components business.
The proliferation of embedded multimedia applications requiring audio and video, and increasing regulatory requirements across various markets are two important factors driving the storage needs of embedded OEMs.
"These ever-increasing embedded storage requirements are what led Seagate and Arrow to formalize our strategic alliance," said Behn.
Source: money.cnn.com

Syrinx launches 3G APN services

[ Johannesburg, 14 November 2007 ] - Syrinx Communications International (Syrinx), a division of Saab Grintek, recently launched a 3G Access Point Name (APN) service that will allow a corporate to establish a Virtual Private Network (VPN) over a 3G-based mobile network.With dual links into the largest mobile operator in South Africa, Syrinx offers a service level agreement-based 3G APN service. This service can be implemented at corporate sites located across the country and can also be used to connect mobile users in South Africa or users roaming abroad.
"Typically, networks built on leased and ADSL lines suffer from line outages with extended repair times," said Lukshman Maharaj, Managing Director of Syrinx. "With a 3G service, a branch site can re-establish connectivity seamlessly with its corporate headquarters."The APN allows a secure means of establishing connectivity and provides typical 3G/HSDPA speeds. For mobile users, the APN allows the network administrator to apply corporate policies to the 3G service. Internet access for a mobile user is then via the corporate proxy server and firewall. Ultimately, this leads to the prevention of abuse of the 3G service."On an APN, a SIM can be prevented from making phone calls or sending SMSes," said Maharaj. "The APN service also negates the need for establishing complex tunnelling and associated packet overheads, resulting in slower throughput."The Syrinx APN service provides for both subscriber and corporate-based billing. Individual SIM cards are billed via the traditional means where subscriber billing is applied. Corporate billing, however, allows an organisation to purchase a large capacity, such as 10Gig or 100Gig, with associated cost benefits in terms of per megabyte (MB) pricing."APNs are fast becoming a means of establishing primary or backup connectivity," said Maharaj. "With reduced dependency on leased line installation and repair times, 3G provides an effective alternative for immediate deployment."Syrinx's 3G APN service can be bundled along with Syrinx's Global Connect, Internet, VPN, ADSL and CLI-based mobile services.
Source: itweb.co.za

Tiscali loses IPTV punters

Tiscali's IPTV service has been losing customers, it has emerged.
The Italy-based ISP reported quarterly results yesterday that said the TV over broadband service, formerly known as HomeChoice, has 36,000 subscribers. When Tiscali bought the outfit for about £100m in August last year it had 45,000 customers.
Having previously only been available to the South East, Tiscali launched IPTV "nationally" in September, available in five million homes.
It is still working to migrate the service to its cheaper unbundled network, which covers about 55 per cent of the country. The switch has suffered delays, and in yesterday's announcement Tiscali said only that it would be complete sometime next year.
The news that the group is struggling to coax pay TV customers away from satellite and cable comes soon after BT's results seemed to suggest that its BT Vision rollout had not hit subscriber targets. Orange's UK IPTV service is still yet to surface.
In the general broadband market, Tiscali says following its acquisition of 570,000 Pipex subscribers it has broken two million total lines across retail and wholesale. Without Pipex, Tiscali has added net 210,000 ADSL lines in 2007. Source: theregister.co.uk

Sunrise Telecom(R) Employs Ikanos VDSL2 Solution

Sunrise Telecom(R) Employs Ikanos VDSL2 Solution in Broadband Access Test Equipment
Ikanos Chipset Enables Comprehensive VDSL2 Test Platform
FREMONT, Calif., Nov. 14 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Ikanos Communications, Inc. , a leading developer and provider of Fiber Fast(TM) broadband solutions, today announced that Sunrise Telecom(R) Incorporated , a leader in test and measurement solutions for today's telecom and cable networks, is using Ikanos' Fx(TM)10050S-5 VDSL2 customer premises equipment (CPE) chipset in its latest VDSL Transceiver Unit-Remote Terminal (VTU-R) test solution for the SunSet MTT(R) modular platform. When used with the SunSet MTT ACM II modular test set, the Sunrise Telecom solution offers service providers the widest range of testing capabilities -- from VDSL2 VTU-R modem emulation to 30 MHz spectrum noise tests -- to support today's triple play network deployments.
The new Sunrise Telecom solution is geared for efficient VDSL2 service installation and verification. An easy-to-use one-button test significantly reduces the up front training and installation time by automatically presenting a summary screen of key metrics, including achieved data rate and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) margin.
"We pioneered DSL installation and maintenance with the world's first handheld test system. This new solution expands our leadership position into the emerging VDSL2 infrastructure needed for triple play deployment," said Bahaa Moukadam, vice president of marketing, Telecom Products Group at Sunrise Telecom. "Our solutions help service providers reduce their operating expenses by allowing them to roll out new high speed services in less time, with lower risk and a higher level of reliability."
Ikanos' fifth generation Fx10050S-5 VDSL2 CPE chipset supports all VDSL2 profiles up to 17.6 MHz and offers up to 100/50 Mbps performance. According to recent reports by market research firm iSuppli, Ikanos' VDSL2 and VDSL chipsets have the highest market share in the industry for both the central office (CO) and the CPE sides.
"The growing demand for bandwidth, combined with the trend to bundle voice, video and data on a single packet-based network, is increasing the complexity of the network," said Dean Westman, vice president and general manager for Ikanos' Gateway Products Group. "By enabling innovative DSL testing and monitoring solutions, Ikanos is easing service providers' deployments of IPTV and triple play services worldwide."
Source: Money.cnn.com

Multi User VoIP and Video Cuts Costs and Takes Web Conferences Face-to-face

Netviewer five sets new standards for online meetings
Guildford, 14th November 2007 – With multi-user full duplex Voice-over-IP, Netviewer five from Netviewer AG is making expensive teleconferences a thing of the past. The new versions of Netviewer’ real-time collaboration solutions one2one and one2meet, launched on the 30th of November, will offer users significantly enhanced speech transmission through VoIP, eliminating telephone charges which add substantial cost to online meetings. Other highlights of Netviewer five are multi-video display, a survey creator, a Skype plug-in, and an individually customisable user interface with floating windows.
In addition to full two way speech, Netviewer has further developed its video conferencing capabilities. The new multi-video function now allows any six simultaneous participants to see each other in real time video windows enabling communication that is much more true-to-life. The ability to have face-to-face exchanges, seeing gestures and expressions increases the effectiveness of communication, making for better online meetings. Additional participants can follow the conference (see and hear) in a Webinar mode like that used for shareholders' meetings.
Interactivity has also been enhanced with the addition of a survey tool. Surveys can be pre-prepared in the survey creator and delivered at any time during a session. As a result, moderators can easily poll the participants' opinions or gauge progress in learning and react to the survey results while the web conference is taking place.
Netviewer has also fully revised the user interface of one2one and one2meet. Additions include "Theatre Mode" where the presenter's screen, the video images, and chat become the focus, and the background is turned black to direct the viewer's full concentration onto the presenter’s transmitted material. The revised control panel also allows users to drag individual functional boxes such as chat or video windows and drop them anywhere on their screen. This enables both the moderator and participants to customise the overall appearance according to their own working style.
Another function new to Netviewer five makes it possible to hand over control of an online meeting to a co-moderator as needed. This gives the organisers greater flexibility and lets them temporarily focus on other urgent tasks without interrupting the session.
For the first time, Netviewer five offers a plug-in for Skype, the popular telephone and messaging program. Now Skype users can invite participants and start Netviewer conferences directly from Skype.
"Netviewer five represents a major leap forward for us. Our solution is getting ever closer to becoming a full-fledged alternative to on-site meetings”, explains Rachel Lane, Managing Director of Netviewer UK. "Even companies that have preferred so-called ‘real’ meetings in the past will find reasons to be excited about Netviewer five. Making use of the full integration of video images and sound is very easy and the cost savings offered by integrated VoIP are compelling." In addition to the currently available seven languages, Netviewer five is now also available in a Swedish version. Netviewer plans to open a subsidiary in Scandinavia during the next year.
Netviewer will be demonstrating Netviewer five on stand 360 at Online Information 2007, Olympia, from the 4th to the 6th of December.
About Netviewer:
Netviewer UK Ltd (www.netviewer.co.uk) is a subsidiary of Netviewer AG founded 2001 in Karlsruhe, Germany. The Netviewer service enables business users to hold effective online meetings, both scheduled and ad hoc, with audio and video and to view each other's PC screens in order to collaborate on any type of document, or software package - regardless of where the participants are located. Real-time collaboration and communication via the internet significantly reduces the time and cost of travel and thus increases productivity.
More than 12,000 corporations and SMEs from 55 countries, including Admiral Insurance, BMW, British Horseracing Board, Capita, Deutsche Post, Ernst & Young, Fidelity Investments, SAP, and Siemens all rely on the ease of use the Netviewer tools offer.
Netviewer is Europe's leading provider of real-time collaboration software with currently over 250 employees worldwide. With headquarters in Germany, Netviewer has subsidiaries in Switzerland, France, The United Kingdom, The United States, The Netherlands, Austria, Spain and Italy.
Source: webitpr.com

Emerging VoIP provider Tpad is entering the mobile phone market

Tpad provides free VoIP Calls for Wi-Fi Mobile Phone Users.
Emerging VoIP provider Tpad is entering the mobile phone market with a service that will allow users to make free calls worldwide using a Wi-Fi Mobile.
Tpad are the latest entrants to the developing Wi-Fi mobile phone market offering a service that enables GSM mobile phone users to make free calls to any SIP enabled user anywhere in the world. The VoIP provider's service uses the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) the major open standard utilized by most major mobile phone service providers.
Because of this aTpad User in America, for example, can initiate a free call using their mobile phone to Europe or Asia using the service. Chris Morris, Tpad General Manger, states: "At Tpad we give you a free personal SIP phone number that you can use to make and receive calls. You just simply dial the SIP number of your friend anywhere in the world and the call is totally free. For instance, I can call my friend in Spain for free from my mobile when I am in a WiFi Hotspot by just dialling his seven digit Tpad number." Tpad's service allows free calls to be made using any SIP Device (WiFi Mobile/ATA/IP Phone) whereas most existing mobile phone VoIP methods are either expensive or difficult to set up. For example, Skype's new 3 Skypephone uses a non-SIP proprietary architecture that can't be used to call to SIP users. Likewise Apple's iPhone, which has a WiFi connection, is not SIP enabled preventing users from making free or low cost international calls. "The main advantage of SIP is that it works easily with other applications," said General Manager Chris Morris. "It's open and very flexible as it allows you to make free calls to any type of SIP Device," he added.The Tpad service is currently available on any Wi-Fi mobile phone that has a built-in SIP client, currently all Nokia N and E-Series phones support this. It is expected that as more dual-mode (standard mobile phone service and Wi-Fi) phones reach consumers by the end of the year the interest in the service will grow. Leading mobile phone producers such as Samsung and Motorola will soon be releasing brand new phones that are compatible with the SIP protocol.Tpad has recently added detailed step-by-step SIP guides to their website to help make the service as accessible as possible for even the most novice user. The guides demonstrate the process of quickly setting up your mobile / SIP device with the Tpad Global VoIP Network."We want to make the whole process as easy as possible in order to reach all types of customers. It is our aim to be the first choice VoIP provider for mobile users who wish to make VoIP calls. Shortly we will be sending an SMS text to our customers that will automatically setup their phone with their personal Tpad settings," Morris continued.

Technology Center Opens New Office

EAST HARTFORD - As leaders of the Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology cut the ribbon Tuesday on its new headquarters, federal and state officials said $20 million in additional funding for programs is on its way to the organization. John Carson, chairman of CCAT's board of directors, said the new funding and larger headquarters on Pitkin Street would help the group establish the National Center for Aerospace Leadership. The nonprofit group was chosen several years ago to establish the aerospace center, whose goal is to address the nation's need to maintain global leadership in engineering and manufacturing of advanced propulsion and power systems.
"This is an exciting day, one of collaboration that we have to build on," Carson said. Gov. M. Jodi Rell announced earlier that the state Department of Economic and Community Development was giving $5 million to CCAT to administer two new programs for expanding technology-based businesses and bio-diesel production."These programs will help us grow good, quality jobs in emerging industries," Rell said. U.S. Rep. John B. Larson, D-1st District, told dozens of dignitaries gathered for the ribbon-cutting that the House last week approved legislation that includes $15 million for CCAT. The Department of Defense Act of 2008, which was agreed to by House and Senate leaders, has been sent to President Bush. Bush signed the measure Tuesday."I am so proud of the work that goes on every day at CCAT," said Larson, vice chairman of the House Democratic caucus. "It is vital to our future workforce and the economic vitality of this region."Lt. Gov. Michael Fedele told the group that CCAT is a great asset to the state's business community and an integral part of efforts to foster small business and start-up companies. "Their mission of industry, government and academic partnerships helps strengthen technology-driven economic growth," he said. CCAT will begin accepting applications Dec. 1 for the Small Business Incubator Program, which will provide grants to eligible technology-based companies. Also on Dec. 1, CCAT will offer grants to producers of bio-diesel. "Providing these financial incentives will make Connecticut more competitive and more attractive in the global marketplace," Rell said. CCAT, which also has offices at Rentschler Field, had been leasing other space at Founders Plaza for its headquarters, but outgrew it and earlier this year signed a 10-year lease for the 30,000-square-foot building at 222 Pitkin St. Officials for CCAT also have set their sights on another building in town that they hope to renovate and use for expanding their business incubator program in the future. CCAT officials have been trying to secure funding from state, federal and other sources for a new building at Rentschler Field. Carson said it could take more than five years for CCAT to accomplish its goal of establishing the Rentschler location.
Source: courant.com

NetCracker Announces New Capabilities for Service Providers

NetCracker Technology today announced capabilities that will allow service providers to provision and fulfill high bandwidth and high definition services over VDSL2/2+, WiMAX and Metro Ethernet infrastructures.

These new capabilities actually build on its recently announced solutions that manage content-rich, high definition services from a single platform that spans Network and IT domains.According to the company, these capabilities can combine with the company’s telephone number and IP management products to provide a foundation for delivering Web 2.0 services in a unified, single package.NetCracker now provides out-of-the-box models for multivendor VDSL2, VDSL2+, xPON and Metro Ethernet devices. NetCracker adds WiMAX to its current portfolio of WiFi and EDGE high bandwidth capabilities, for wireless high-definition connectivity.NetCracker’s new solution supports the migration to IPv6 by allowing service providers to manage IPv4 and IPv6 address pools in parallel, in addition to the transition from IPv4 to IPv6 by including assignments among subscribers and network elements. It also allows service providers to anage fixed, mobile, and VoIP telephone number assignments for rapid delivery of complex next generation networks, services, and service bundles.
Source: tmcnet.com

Qualcomm Makes First Call With Chips Using TSMC's 45 nm Technology

- Advanced Semiconductor Process Technology Is Enabling Smaller, Faster, More Power-efficient Wireless Devices - SAN DIEGO, Nov. 13 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Qualcomm Incorporated , a leading developer and innovator of advanced wireless technologies and data solutions, today announced that it has made the first phone call on a 3G chip manufactured with 45 nanometer (nm) process technology. The next generation of CMOS semiconductor manufacturing, 45 nm technology enables chips that feature higher speeds, lower power consumption and enhanced integration, all with reduced die cost by providing more die per wafer. Qualcomm's call was made on the first 45 nm chips received from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company , the world's largest dedicated semiconductor foundry.
"Thanks to our close strategic foundry partner relationship with TSMC, Qualcomm is able to leverage leading-edge semiconductor process technology to advance wireless communications," said Steve Mollenkopf, senior vice president of product management for Qualcomm CDMA Technologies. "This milestone call demonstrates our progress toward bringing to market a new generation of chips that will provide users with unprecedented performance and capabilities."
"The first-time silicon success of Qualcomm's 3G product using TSMC's 45 nm process is a testament to the integrated foundry model that calls for end- to-end collaboration. The concurrent design and technology efforts between the two companies has resulted in faster time to market," said Mark Liu, senior vice president of operations II at TSMC. "The confluence of Qualcomm's excellent designs and TSMC's robust technologies and manufacturing will continue to assure future silicon success."
Qualcomm recently taped out on its low-power-optimized 45 nm process using advanced immersion lithography and extreme low-k inter-metal dielectric material. This process technology provides competitive performance, as well as significant cost efficiency, decreased leakage and increased integration. The Company is also developing 40 nm process technology, which should deliver even greater benefits in semiconductor performance, cost and efficiency.
Qualcomm Incorporated (http://www.qualcomm.com) is a leader in developing and delivering innovative digital wireless communications products and services based on CDMA and other advanced technologies. Headquartered in San Diego, Calif., Qualcomm is included in the S&P 500 Index and is a 2007 FORTUNE 500(R) company traded on The Nasdaq Stock Market(R) under the ticker symbol QCOM.
Except for the historical information contained herein, this news release contains forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties, including the Company's ability to successfully design and have manufactured significant quantities of CDMA components on a timely and profitable basis, the extent and speed to which CDMA is deployed, change in economic conditions of the various markets the Company serves, as well as the other risks detailed from time to time in the Company's SEC reports, including the report on Form 10-K for the year ended September 30, 2007, and most recent Form 10-Q.
Qualcomm is a registered trademark of Qualcomm Incorporated. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
Source: money.cnn.com

Telkom competitors – where will you save the most?

Telkom has many new competitors in the telephony space, including Vox Telecom, MWEB and iBurst. MyBroadband takes a look at who offers the best deal.
There are many new local telephony providers who are emerging as a force to be reckoned with especially since some of them are taking out the big guns and plan to compete directly against Telkom’s voice services.
In the past these ‘soft-phone’ offerings only permitted subscribers to make calls to traditional fixed line numbers and users were unable to receive calls, unlike online VoIP telephony services like Skype.
But this is changing, and players like Vox Telecom and MWEB are supplying subscribers with their own 087 number which enables customers to both make and receive calls.
The VoIP services from these companies generally offer significant savings on national, international and cellular calls.
Basic service offerings
Vox Telecom offers what is likely the most innovative service in the market today. It provides users with a quality ADSL router - that has multiple dect-phone capabilities and wireless connectivity - at virtually no cost.
To sweeten the deal further the company pays their users to receive calls. Subscribers get 20c per minute for all landline calls they receive and 40c per minute for all calls from cellular phones.
The Vox system also has a one-button facility to move between their network and Telkom’s service, something which can come in handy when making local calls where Telkom is cheaper.
MWEB’s offering has the advantage of no monthly subscription fees and provides very competitive local call and national call rates. They also offer free on-net calls for the whole day whereas with Vox the on-net calls are only free during off-peak times.
iBurst’s rates seem quite steep when compared to the MWEB and Vox services, but the company is in the process of revamping its offering which may see price improvements.
The iBurst iCall service also does not yet allow for incoming calls, but according to the company they plan to offer this facility in the near future.
Overview
The following table provides a broad overview of the current rates from Telkom, Vox Telecom, MWEB and iBurst.
It should be noted that customers using their VoIP service on an ADSL connection are still subjected to Telkom’s installation and monthly rental charges despite using an alternative service. Source: mybroadband.co.za

No super fast broadband

BROADBAND activist Roger Hilton is continuing his quest to find out why super-fast ADSL broadband is not coming to Narooma.
The last article in the Narooma News stated Telstra was not going to provide ADSL2+ service to Narooma even though Moruya and Tuross were getting the service, because of a lack of competition.
Telstra and its main competitor the OPEL consortium have however indicated they were going to provide the wireless WIMAX service to Narooma.
This is a high-speed broadband system though not as fast as ADSL2+ and being a radio system, could be prone to dropouts, particularly given the hilly terrain.
Mr Hilton has picked up on a speech by the head of the Australian Consumer and Competition Commission stating Telstra has ADSL technology covering 91 per cent of the population and that all exchanges could be readily upgraded to provide ADSL2+ and yet only 46 per cent of the population is covered.
Mr Hilton said other providers have the ability to install their own “DSLAMS” in exchanges such as Narooma and are doing it in some locations to provide ADSL/ADSL2+.
“So it remains a mystery why the Optus/Elders consortium, OPEL have decided to go the WiMax route in this town.
According to the government, WiMax (supposedly) has a range of 50km although probably more like 20km, depending on the terrain, which would have an advantage over ADSL2+ with its maximum range of between three and seven kilometres from the exchange.
“OPEL probably want to service areas beyond this distance from the township, so maybe this is the reason?
If so, why isn’t it going to be used in the other locations?” he asked.
Source: narooma.yourguide.com.au

ICASA swamped with Telkom complaints

More than half of all complaints received by ICASA were directed at Telkom – many concerning its ADSL service.
According to the latest Independent Communications Authority of SA (ICASA) Annual Report, 52% of all complaints received by the authority were directed at Telkom.
Vodacom received the second highest number of complaints (14%), followed by MTN at 10%, Cell C at 9% and all other telecoms players making up the final 19%. Telkom service provisioning accounted for 18% of all complaints while Telkom’s ADSL service was the reason why 18% of all complainants contacted ICASA.
The total number of complaints received during the last financial year was 924 of which 679 were closed and 245 are pending.
Dubious reporting
During the last financial year ICASA received a staggering 168 complaints about Telkom’s alleged non-compliance with the ADSL regulations. Most of these complaints focused on ADSL Installations, ADSL Fault reporting & clearance rates and ADSL Tariffs.
The Annual Report indicates that there were no complaints regarding ‘ADSL Local bandwidth capping’ which is most likely untrue as ICASA has itself held hearings into this issue which stemmed from complaints about non-compliance with this regulation.
The report also indicates that there were no complaints about ADSL Port prioritization or ADSL Service Level Agreements which once again is highly questionable.
The total number of complaints, namely 168, includes the number 34 which is listed next to the table heading ‘TABLE 1.B’. It is uncertain what the number 34 pertains to and it appears to not refer to a specific complaints category. The same ‘mistake’ or procedure was followed in a few other tables listed in the ICASA Annual Report.
It may be that this number should actually have been allocated to categories like ADSL Local bandwidth capping, ADSL Port prioritization and ADSL Service Level Agreements.
Telkom under fire
Despite the perceived inaccuracies in the ICASA Annual Report it is clear that Telkom, a telecoms provider with a far smaller subscriber base than operators like Vodacom and MTN, dominated complaints.
The recent Compliance and Complaints Committee (CCC) hearing into Telkom’s alleged non-compliance with the ADSL regulations appeared to not take into account the massive number of complaints regarding local bandwidth capping.
Telkom dominated the CCC hearing by questioning the authority of the Committee and the hearing itself and for all appearances their tactic seemed to work as the panel appeared to be caught off guard. Very little mention was made during the hearing of their alleged non-compliance with the ADSL Regulations to the apparent detriment of the consumer.
Source: mybroadband.co.za

Frequent flyer miles offered to VoIP service users

VoIP-PAL.com and Points International have signed a deal that enables VoIP-PAL to provide frequent flyer miles as an incentive to its customers who purchase VoIP products from it. The programme uses Points' AirIncentives application, and the airlines involved include Alaska, Delta, Midwest, Northwest, US Airways and Continental. Customers can choose to redeem their miles at any time by visiting the AirIncentives redemption site. There they simply type in the mileage code awarded to them and AirIncentives deposits their miles into the frequent flyer account of their choice.
Source: thewisemarketer.com

New Report Predicts Mobile VoIP Will Overtake VoWiFi By 2012

A new report from market research firm Disruptive Analysis predicts that mobile VoIP will overtake Voice-over-WiFi and become a mainstream form of mobile communications by 2012.

The analyst firm’s new report, “VoIPo3G Business Models,” finds that the “convergence of mobile and IP is inevitable.”

“Future 3.5G and 4G networks are moving towards all-IP,” the research firm states. “Handsets are being equipped with smarter operating systems and full IP communications capabilities. Mobile applications and core networks are being delivered by IMS, NGNs, Web Services and the Internet. Yet many operators, suppliers and observers are quiet on what this means for full mobile voice and the evolution of person-to-person wireless telephony.”

The report says that while operators have been preoccupied with the convergence of fixed and mobile networks, they will soon be capitalizing on the opportunity to develop all-IP mobile networks that enable true end-to-end connectivity. The report points out that mobile VoIP holds many advantages for carriers, not the least of which is the fact that it enable them to fit more phone calls into their scarce spectrum allocations. Mobile VoIP will also help operators reduce operating expenses by combining fixed and mobile core networks. Plus they will be able to launch new services many times more quickly. Therefore, the operators themselves will play the central role in bringing mobile VoIP to the masses over the next five years.

The report predicts that the number of “VoIPo3G” users could blossom from practically zero in 2007 to more than 250 million by the end of 2012.

Disruptive Analysis says the 210 page report is based on “a massive research effort spanning 100s of briefings, meetings and interviews, among a wide cross-spectrum of operators, network infrastructure suppliers, startup VoIP providers, regulators, industry bodies, handsets vendors and software specialists. It includes detailed discussion of market drivers, technology enablers, business models and the roles of key companies and organizations.”
Source: tmcnet.com

Texas Instruments To License Certicom Technology For E-Passports

TI will use Certicom's Elliptic Curve Cryptography technology to enhance security on new government-issued electronic identification.

Texas Instruments will use Certicom's Elliptic Curve Cryptography technology to enhance security on new government-issued electronic identification.
Certicom announced an agreement with Texas Instruments Tuesday to use ECC embedded technology for E-passports and other ID documents. Texas Instruments will license Certicom's advanced low-power ECC/RSA hardware acceleration IP core and cryptographic software for its RF360 smart integrated circuit platform.
The company said the agreement will help position TI as a leader in secure chip technology for the government and build upon an alliance with TI for standards-based RFID authentication and encryption.
Julie England, VP of Texas Instruments, said that coupling her company's FRAM memory and MSP430 processor core with Certicom's ECC technology will increase speed and security for processing government-issued ID cards.
The move also is expected to help meet the National Institute of Standards and Technology key management requirements for Personal Identity Verification (PIV) cards, as well as international E-passport requirements.
With more than 20 Suite B-related patents, Certicom also is the primary source of algorithms that the NSA's Cryptographic Modernization Program established to protect sensitive and classified data.
"Cryptographic algorithms are changing," Certicom CTO Bill Lattin said. He explained that as the NIST requires companies to stop using RSA-1024 for PIV key management after 2008, Texas Instruments will offer an e-ID platform with 256-bit ECC that it says is as strong as RSA with 3,072 bits.
"As the market for contactless technologies such as E-passports continues on a path of rapid growth, Certicom is completely committed to ensuring that the cryptographic security of these devices can be made robust well into the foreseeable future," he said.
Source: informationweek.com

Vocalocity Demonstrates 12 Minute 24 Second Installation of VoIP Solution

ATLANTA, GA -- 11/13/07 -- With the recent hype surrounding new small business VoIP systems that are dubbed as simple to deploy, Vocalocity actually proves that micro enterprises can obtain a full-featured voice communication solution that is not only affordable but is truly as easy to set up and administer as e-mail.
As the leading provider of hosted VoIP services to businesses with less than 20 employees, Vocalocity offers a trouble-free and straightforward approach to the often complicated process of installing and running a phone system. Beyond the purchase of standard IP phones, there are no boxes or appliances to install, maintain and ultimately upgrade.
The concept of voice communications as a service is becoming very appealing to the small businesses, according to a recent AMI-Partners study. North American SMB hosted VoIP market spending, the study found, was nearly $165 million in 2005 and is predicted to pass $1.5 billion by 2010, at a compound annual growth rate of 56.8 percent.
Vocalocity's solution instantly improves the efficiency of the micro enterprise while allowing businesses to realize a monthly cost savings of up to 80 percent over traditional phone services with flat rate pricing and no hidden fees. Small businesses often discover that some VoIP offerings only include hardware and no actual service or minutes.
Vocalocity continues to demonstrate how quickly a business can implement a hosted solution. A "Mythbusters" style video validates the claim that the right hosted solution can be set up in less than 15 minutes -- 12 minutes and 24 seconds to be exact.
"With the equipment completely managed by a hosted VoIP provider, small businesses and micro enterprises don't need communications or computer knowledge to set up and use such a solution," said Phil Hill, President, Vocalocity. "Our preconfigured phones are usually mailed to a business. All the business owner needs to do is plug them into the network, like a PC, and the phone system is up and running."
A hosted system takes the pain out of installing an on-premise solution. Additionally, such an approach requires no capital expenditure for equipment beyond the cost of the phones allowing a business to be up and running for an average cost of $150 per employee compared to $400 to $500 per employee for an on-premise phone system. However, micro enterprises gain a full set of voice communications tools from Vocalocity including auto-attendant, voicemail to e-mail, follow me roaming, music on hold, simultaneous ring, conference calling and call queuing.
Source: earthtimes.org

Mobile VoIP is here - get used to it

By Dave Bailey
Mobile VoIP is here - get used to it
Now that mobile VoIP is up and running, will operators embrace it with panache ­ or a grimace?

The launch of the Skypephone by mobile operator 3 looks set to change the way the mobile telecoms industry looks at VoIP. So far its attitude has been less than friendly, as evidenced by reports not long ago of mobile operators only allowing a VoIP-enabled device onto their networks after it had been knobbled so that users couldn’t access the service.
The device in question was Nokia’s N95 smartphone. Now some operators looked at this VoIP-friendly handset and took an instant disliking. They decided their business models couldn’t handle voice revenues being nibbled at, so using a firmware scalpel they performed a bypass operation. When people objected the operators made a big noise about the quality of the VoIP service not being up to their exacting standards, but essentially they had concluded: cheap mobile VoIP calls over their network equals bad; revenue-earning mobile calls over their network equals good.
3 has put the boot into that model in an attempt to entice subscribers to its network ­ and 3 says it will be trying for both pre-pay and contract customers. Subscribers need to spend £45 for a single Skypephone, or £89 for a pair, and then spend at least £10 a month topping it up. If we assume that call quality is OK ­ and 3 says that Skype calls are carried over its network as standard 3G voice calls and then carried over the internet to other Skype users ­ then the future looks bright for 3 and maybe not for Orange et al.
Then again, maybe not. I recently had a natter with the chief technologist at high-performance networking specialist Ciena, John-Paul Hemingway, about how mobile operators are having problems with backhaul, and it got me thinking about how 3 would cope with the increase in traffic that would occur if Skypephones started to fly off the shelves. Does 3’s high-speed 3G network have the spare capacity to provide the necessary backhaul to service that increase in traffic? Well, 3 says yes, and I would have thought that you don’t sign on the bottom line of a deal like this without having first done some serious research, a smattering of in-depth modelling and a fair dollop of painstaking testing, so I guess its confidence is well founded.
But Ovum analyst John Delany highlights what could be another problem for 3. He said that while the Skypephone will boost 3’s subscriber numbers, the raft of free services available over the internet, such as Google, Hotmail and YouTube, could move 3’s business towards “subsidising phones, carrying data packets, and dealing with problems and complaints”. Does that add up to an attractive business, he wonders. Source: itweek.co.uk

VoIP Logic’s Solutions Carry One-Billionth Phone Call for Service Providers Worldwide

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--VoIP Logic, (www.VoIPLogic.com), a leading VoIP Managed Services and software provider, today announced that its solutions have carried more than 1 billion phone calls on behalf of communication service providers worldwide. Since its inception in 2003, VoIP Logic has provided communications infrastructure and an expanding array of innovative go to market solutions to over 140 different service providers.
VoIP Logic is a globally recognized provider of VoIP Managed Services to Voice 2.0, communications service providers and VoIP providers. Through its Cortex® System Management Portal, the company customizes deployment of best-of-breed components into integrated solutions.
A combination of the success of VoIP Logic’s VoIP Managed Services and Cortex coupled with overall rapid growth in the use of VoIP technology by Voice 2.0 providers and telephone companies has led to impressive results. VoIP Logic has seen a CAGR of 48% since 2003.
“Recognizing this milestone helps us quantify the value of marrying best-of-breed systems with an innovative middleware system that allows service providers to make great technology even greater,” said Micah Singer, VoIP Logic’s CEO and Founder.
Source: businesswire.com

DivX technology to be added to Sony's Playstation 3

NEW YORK, Nov. 13, 2007 (Thomson Financial delivered by Newstex) -- DivX Inc. (NASDAQ:DIVX) Tuesday said that DivX video technology will be integrated into Sony (NYSE:SNE) Computer Entertainment Inc.'s Playstation 3 game console.The technology will allow PS3 users to access a broad range of content in the DivX digital media format, the company said.Current PS3 users will be able to add DivX functionality to their systems with a software update.Shares of DivX closed at $18.63 on Monday.Christie RizkCopyright Thomson Financial News Limited 2007. All rights reserved.The copying, republication or redistribution of Thomson Financial News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Financial News.
Source: money.cnn.com

Wireless ATA supports two concurrent VoIP calls

Taiwan – Model VIP-161SW from Planet Technology Corp. is a wireless analog telephone adapter (ATA) that uses QoS to ensure voice quality, and offers access point (AP and AP-client), router (NAT, static, virtual and DMZ) and VoIP DSP functionality, allowing users to make calls via SIP, as well as share IPs.
The device is built in with two Ethernet interfaces for Internet (PPPoE, DHCP or fixed IP) or office LAN connectivity, capable of supporting two concurrent VoIP calls, as well as fax transmission-over-Internet protocol (FoIP). It supports three-way conferencing, call wait/forward/transfer/hold/resume/screen and caller ID functions, as well as VAD, CNG, dynamic jitter buffer and G.168~2000 echo cancellation.
The IEEE802.11b/g-compliant device has 54Mbps data transmission speed, and is compatible with G.711, G.729 AB, G.723 and G.276 voice codices; T.38 (G.711 fax pass-through); and in-band/out-of-band DTMF relay (RFC 2833).
Source: globalsources.com

VoIPowering Your Office: Defeat the Pesky NATs of VoIP With IAX

By Carla Schroder
Getting SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) through NAT (Network Address Translation) firewalls is a complex process thanks to the complexity and asymmetry of SIP, and thanks to the inherent unsuitability of NAT for anything but stretching the pool of available IPv4 (Internet Protocol version 4) addresses further than it deserves. NAT complicates everything, and the only reason that client-server functions work at all over the Internet is because of all the clever hacks designed to overcome NAT.
The cure for NAT is IPv6, which has a host of benefits in addition to a huge address space, such as easier network administration and addressing, and genuine QoS for high-quality streaming media. Someday NAT will be an optional tool for those who really want it, instead of a necessity to have un-rationed numbers of clients in your networks. I'm not holding my breath, as the USA owns about three-fourths of the available IPv4 addresses, and is well behind Europe, Japan, Finland, and other parts of the world in affordable broadband, and in advanced wireless and cellular services. So there is an insufficient level of urgency for migrating to IPv6, and a corresponding lackadaisicalness in—forgive me for using the word—innovation in these areas.
So until that golden day when IPv6 becomes the norm, we must deal with the nasty, brutish realities of current reality with cunning and ingenuity. If you must support SIP there are a number of ways to get around nasty NAT problems: SIP proxies, STUN (Simple Traversal of UDP through NAT) servers, and majick routers. Or you might consider avoiding SIP entirely and use IAX (Inter-Asterisk Exchange) instead.
What is IAX?IAX is the native Asterisk protocol. It has a number of advantages over SIP:
It uses a single UDP port, 4569, so it slides through NAT with ease
It is bandwidth-efficient
It supports trunking, which means data from multiple calls are merged into a single set of packets, which reduces IP overhead
You can trunk SIP calls over IAX to sneak them through those nasty NATs
Signaling and data travel together, rather than independently as they do with SIP
It is a binary protocol, so it's more difficult to attack Some of the downsides of IAX are it is not supported as widely as SIP, and it places a heavier load on your server because all traffic must pass through the server. SIP, on the other hand, allows the media stream to route by the most efficient method, so your VoIP server is not a bottleneck. (Those with a thirst for details can consult Resources.)
When to use IAXSo the short story is if you're running an Asterisk server, or an Asterisk derivative, there are some scenarios where IAX just might be a better option for you than SIP:
If you connect to branch offices that also run Asterisk servers, you could run IAX trunks between them for all inter-branch call traffic
Road warriors can use IAX phones for easy remote connectivity
If you connect to any Asterisk peer, such as a customer or vendor
If you use a VoIP service that supports IAX trunking
IAX softphonesSupport for IAX in VoIP devices is growing. I don't know that it will ever equal SIP's popularity (I shall refrain from repeating my rant about U.S. vendors and their antipathy towards real innovation; apparently one new protocol per generation is the limit), but as long as you're running Asterisk you can mix'n'match the protocols to your best advantage.
Let's take a look at softphones first. I'm getting to be a big fan of softphones, especially since I finally retired my very antique Thinkpad (it is now a specialized networking diagnostic-and-fixit laptop) and got a new hotrod dual-core model with a gigabyte of memory. Suddenly all softphones sound good.
IAX softphones are terrific for road warriors who have to lug along a laptop anyway. Throw in a lightweight USB headset and they're all set. There are a number of good IAX softphones; these three are free of cost and cross-platform:
iaxComm runs on Linux, Mac OS X, and Windows.
KIAX runs on Linux, Mac OS X, and various flavors of Unix, and Windows. This is a nice phone with multi-language support.
Voix Phone is a freeware (but not open source) IAX phone derived from the Voix Manager, which is a nice call manager (also called a switchboard application) for Asterisk. It runs on Linux, Mac OS X, and Windows.
All three are nice softphones with the usual rafts of useful features like address books, multiple codec support, hold, transfer, user-configurable ringtones, multiple server support, and so on.
Source: voipplanet.com

Housing Association to provide VoIP to residents

London-based Gallions Housing Association has installed wireless broadband from Motorola, with a view to eventually rolling out VoIP and IPTV services to its residents.
The housing association is currently trialling the solution, which provides affordable broadband to residents in its 150 multi-unit dwellings.
Many of the units are in high-rise blocks which would be expensive to connect to traditional broadband solutions.
Motorola has provided Broadband over Powerline (BPL), which is cost-effective and easy to deploy, as there are no wires.
The system combines radio, Ethernet, networking, HomePlug and modem technologies, providing broadband both wirelessly and over existing power lines. It was installed in just half a day.
It provides residents with a secure system, with internet access available simply by plugging a BPL modem into an available electrical socket. There is no need to install additional software.
CCTV will also be installed over the broadband network.
Source: voip-news.co.uk

New, Carrier-Grade VoIP Switch Developed by China Voice Holding Corp.

To help meet its obligations stemming from its current and future government contracts, Beijing CandidSoft Technology Co. Ltd., a subsidiary of China Voice Holding Corporation, has reportedly developed a new carrier grade softswitch for use in IP/TDM networks.

The new full featured VoIP switching platform will see integration into the CandidSoft’s patented SKY O/A Office Automation System. It is highly scalable so as to serve a large number of lines at certain government run agencies, as per contracts already signed by the company. Beihang University (BUAA), one of China's leading research universities, reportedly contributed to the development of the new softswitch.

The new platform supports converged communications services by integrating SS7 telephone signaling with packet networks. Offering Class 5 functions, it was designed to serve as a replacement for a third party hardware-based switch. The Chinese Navigation Affair Administration Bureau is reportedly already trialing the new switch with success.

"By developing our own softswitch, CHVC is not only in a much better position to keep the competition out but has also eliminated a very substantial licensing and hardware cost in deploying our Government Contracts,” said CHVC's president and CEO, Bill Burbank, in a press release. “As previously announced, CHVC is currently installing 103,000 initial contracted telephony seats. The third party licensing cost savings will amount to $55 per seat, or over $5,000,000 additional to the bottom line on just those contracts."

CandidSoft CEO and CHVC President of Asian Operations, Xing Chunlin said the Sky O/A voice and data solution “now uses technology that we own in every aspect of its services”

“With over one million Office Automation users currently on our SKY O/A platform, and contracts for hundreds of thousands of seats that include telephone services, it's essential that we have full control and ownership of the technology,” he said. “This enables us to properly support our customers and guarantee the highest standards. In addition, by contracting BUAA, the most prestigious engineering university in China, we feel that we have jointly developed one of the most advanced switching platforms available in the World.”
Source: tmcnet.com