Archive for December, 2006
Sunday, December 31st, 2006 | Posted in VoIP News | 2 Comments »
Russell Shaw at ZDNet’s IP Telephony blog, writes that:
I for one, see the reasoning why Google seems to be more intent on marketing a mobile Google phone with searchable listings rather than concentrating on making its GoogleTalk more competitive as a PC-to-PSTN calling service.
It’s because search is what Google does best, not talk.
Shaw argues that Google isn’t interested in turning Google Talk into a competitor to VoIP services like Skype 
or Vonage 
– landline replacements. He’s probably right.
Google has a history of launching products and services alongside its search engine – Gmail, Google Earth, Blogger – but at the end of the day, Google is primarily a search engine. Those other features are nice to have and we’re happy to use them, but Google isn’t trying to turn them into major revenue streams – it’s still in the business of search, or, more specifically, selling advertisements to searchers.
So will we see more expansion of GoogleTalk in the near future? We say no. What do you think?
Linksys pulled a fast one today, announcing its iPhone line of VoIP solutions for home and small business use.
The iPhone family of handheld devices harnesses the power of the Internet to enhance voice communications, integrate compelling information services, and deliver access to multimedia. In short, Linksys iPhones voice solutions and products give consumers the ability to do more with their phone than talk.
"As the next generation of handheld devices, Linksys iPhone voice solutions and products are changing the way people communicate with their friends, family and colleagues. They enable compelling internet services, allow consumers to know when their contacts are available for calls, and offer access to personal content like music, movies and live video cameras." said Mike Pocock, Linksys senior vice president and general manager. "The development of the iPhone family demonstrates our flexibility in selecting the right partnerships, feature sets, and product designs to exceed the demands of even our most connected customers to whom the Internet is no longer a destination, but an inextricable part of their lives."
(more…)
Microsoft has begun a private beta testing phase of its Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007, which allows businesses to integrate VoIP with their existing telephony infrastructure.
The new voice server will also allow workers to instantly launch a phone call from 2007 Microsoft Office applications, such as Office Word 2007, Office Outlook® 2007 or Office Communicator, by simply clicking on a colleague’s name to determine his or her availability and initiate a person-to-person or multiparty call.
With native support for Session Initiation Protocol (SIP), Communications Server 2007 and Microsoft Office Communicator, part of the 2007 Microsoft Office system, interoperate with products from industry partners including Nortel Networks, Alcatel-Lucent, Avaya Inc., Cisco Systems Inc., LG-Nortel Co. Ltd., Mitel Networks Corp., NEC Philips Unified Solutions, Polycom Inc. and Siemens Communications Inc. Through these relationships, customers worldwide will be able to support VoIP using their existing desktop phones, data networks and time division multiplexing (TDM) or Internet protocol (IP) private branch exchanges (PBXs). Customers will also able to leverage the softphone capabilities of Office Communicator to make and receive phone calls from their PCs, eliminating the need to purchase expensive IP-compatible phones.
"The convergence of telecom and data networks is happening rapidly. Software will integrate these two worlds, enabling IT managers to deliver new communications possibilities that include VoIP," said Gurdeep Singh Pall, corporate vice president of the Unified Communications Group at Microsoft. "With this open architecture and broad interoperability, Office Communications Server 2007 will give IT managers the flexibility to determine when and how and in what way they move their communications infrastructure forward."
The business VoIP server system can also be integrated with the Exchange 2007 communications package.
An entertaining article on some of the downside of VoIP service:
The Comcast people wore me down.
They kept trying to explain how much money I could save by switching my phone service, and I kept hanging up. This standoff went on for months until a sales representative managed to blurt out the price before I hung up. It was so much lower than what I pay now that I said: "Fine. Send someone over. How long will it take to switch the service?"
"About an hour," the sales representative said.
Then I called my husband to say we were rich. By my calculations we were about to start saving $100 a month by making our voice calls using a broadband Internet connection instead of a traditional phone line.
"That technology is called VoIP," he said. "I don’t suppose they told you that during a power outage our phone service will go out too?"
No, they didn’t mention that.
"If it doesn’t work out, we can always go back," I said. "It only takes an hour to switch the service."
"An hour?" he asked skeptically. "I don’t suppose you told them about your special problem?"
No, I didn’t mention that.
I am surrounded by what my husband calls an "anti-technology force field." He loves gadgets. Unfortunately, any device that behaves perfectly for him goes on the fritz for me. If I am in a room, his cell phone will not complete a call. His computer will crash, and his digital camera will refuse to correct for red eye. When it comes to technology, whatever the opposite of a green thumb is, I have it.
The Broadband Task Force will bring together public and private stakeholders to remove barriers to broadband access, identify opportunities for increased broadband adoption and enable the creation and deployment of new advanced communication technologies. In October, the Governor signed an Executive Order to clear the government red tape for expanding broadband networks and to create the Broadband Task Force, which was expanded to 21 members earlier this month.
"California is No. 1 in so many different things, whether it is biotechnology, stem cell research, protecting our environment, creating jobs or our university system. The Golden State must remain competitive in the telecommunication revolution so that we can continue to attract the best, the brightest and the most creative workforce in the world," said Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. "Broadband will help build California so we can grow our economy, create great jobs and stay ahead in the global marketplace."
As CEO of one of the VoIP industry’s leading independent service providers, Mr. Martin has been actively involved in telecommunications industry and business affairs and has spoken before numerous trade, financial and regulatory organizations including the FCC, California Public Utilities Commission, California State Senate Energy, Utilities & Communications Committee, IEEE, National Emergency Number Association, Association of Police Communication Officials, Technet, United States Telecom Association and NGN. He also holds 31 United States Patents in the fields of semiconductors, computer architecture, video processing algorithms, videophones and communications
… from a press release announcing that the chairman and CEO of the Packet8
videophone and VoIP business is being appointed to the broadband task force.
