To help businesses to implement VoIP, XO Communications has developed two new educational resources: The XO webcast “What Every Small and Medium Sized Business Should Know About Implementing VoIP” and companion XO white paper, “Ten Steps to a Successful VoIP Implementation: What Every Business Should Know“. These resources outline the various factors that should be considered in determining when and how to implement VoIP as well as what type of VoIP solution is best for varying business needs.
“Many small and medium-sized businesses that are considering VoIP are unsure of how or where to begin the process,” said Vince Margiotta, vice president of product management at XO Communications. “Not all businesses have the resources or experience to develop a framework for deploying VoIP. These tools are designed to help IT and telecom managers and provide an easy roadmap that can serve as the basis for their decision making process and implementation of VoIP.”
What are the ten steps ?
The XO webcast and white paper outline the following ten-steps for evaluating and implementing VoIP:
-Identify Business and User Needs.
-Understand How VoIP Works.
-Assess a Network Situation.
-Identify the Right Partners/Providers.
-Designing the Solution. In general, there are four types of VoIP solutions available to businesses: IP-enabled Integrated Access, SIP Trunks, Managed IP PBX and Hosted IP PBX solutions
- Select a Proposal.
- Install and Test.
-Manage Service and Support.
- Understand the Bill.
-Consider Future Options.
To find out more, click here
June 28th, 2007
   
Nortel Networks announced plans recently to help small and medium-size businesses move to VoIP and unified communications by combining Nortel applications with IBM System i servers.
The combined technologies will be available to customers in October, announced Lori McLean, general manager of the Nortel-IBM alliance. Pricing was not announced.
The new initiative “effectively converts the System i operating system into an IP private branch exchange,” she said. “The integrated solution makes the move to IP telephony along with unified communications as easy as a software upgrade on IBM System i.” With a new System i model announced in April by IBM selling as low as US$8,000, the combined technology will be able to provide as little as five VOIP lines, she added.
Zeus Kerravala, an analyst at Yankee Group Research, said the System i combinations with both 3Com and Nortel applications are only suited for smaller businesses, since larger ones wouldn’t want to combine VOIP and systems servers.
June 18th, 2007
IP telecommunication provider Avaya ended speculation when it unveiled on the 5th of June 2007 that it has agreed to a buyout offer of $8.2 billion in cash from private equity firms TPG Capital and Silver Lake.
Avaya’s pending acquisition by two private equity firms paves the way for the VoIP vendor to aggressively pursue the IP communications market, said Avaya’s COO Michael Thurk.
“It provides the company with the opportunity to become very aggressive in the private environment. In the public environment, there are always the pushes and pulls of quarterly performance,” Thurk said. “Within the private environment, and with the resources available, I think the company will fare very well,” he added.
Reports began surfacing recently that Avaya was entertaining several interested suitors, including the two private equity firms as well as competitors Cisco Systems and Nortel Networks. Financial analysts viewed Avaya as an attractive takeover target because of its strong market share in the hot VoIP market and its small size relative to other players in the space, such as Cisco.
According to Russell Shaw for ZDNET : “If I were in a position of financial control over Avaya, I might think of strategies to thwart competition from substantially lower priced, Asterisk flavors of managed VoIP. And that wouldn’t necessarily be a proactive mood. I say this because I see Digium, Fonality and others of that ilk ramping up to forestall intrusion into their business model by the Avaya’s of the world.
The sale is expected to close this fall.
June 11th, 2007
iRiver / W10. iRiver introduce iRiver W10 to compete with Apple’s iPhone. This new product integrates a VoIP phone with an internet browser, an FM radio, an mp3 player, an e-book reader and a navigation tool.
VoIP / Summit. BroadSoft will host the inaugural Southern Europe VoIP Leaders Summit in Milan on 20 June with partners Acme Packet, Polycom, BEA Systems and the Savatar research firm. This Summit will offer service providers valuable industry insight into the latest issues in the European VoIP market. Registration is online via : http://www.regonline.com/Checkin.asp?EventId=135960
UK / VoIP battle. T-Mobile is blocking calls from its network to UK mobile VOIP operator Truphone, in a dispute over costs that gets to the heart of the struggle between mobile operators and VOIP providers.
Joost / Head. Joost appointed Cisco veteran Mike Volpi as chief executive officer, the Internet-based TV service said. oost, launched late last year by the founders of Web telephone-calling service Skype and music file-sharing company KaZaA, aims to replicate cable television services on the Internet.
WiFi / Technology. WiFi mesh networks are now going solar. Meraki Networks, a startup funded by Google and Sequoia Capital, announced a solar-powered wireless router/repeater that can create a mesh network with other similar routers.
USA / Skype. U.S. cell phones unfairly limit consumer choices, keeping people from using programs and attributes not sold by their carrier, Skype said in a blistering filing with the U.S. Federal Communications Commission. The company accused Verizon Wireless and other big carriers of holding customers hostage by selling cell phones that are “locked,” meaning users can only use applications and features their carrier offers.
June 5th, 2007
Deerfield and 3CX announced a strategic distribution partnership that pairs 3CX’s PBX for Windows with Deerfield.com’s U.S. Electronic Software Distribution network. 3CX is an open standard, full-featured IP PBX server built to SIP standards.
3CX integrates existing PSTN lines using VOIP gateways, VOIP providers and SIP soft or hard phones, providing a comprehensive PBX server without proprietary hardware or software restrictions.
3CX benefits include Auto Attendant, Ring Groups, Call Queuing, and Voice Mail for flexible call routing ; Hot Desk – move phones from one desk to another without rewiring or reconfiguring ; Allow remote employees to pick up their extension from anywhere
Mike Deerfield, Deerfield.com CEO explained that 3CX is “the perfect combination of cutting edge technology, usability and value that we look for in products that we use and represent, (…) and its cost of ownershipâ€?.
“We love the fact that it’s open SIP standards based and doesn’t tie us into any one vendor or technology, so it let us integrate our existing PSTN lines with new SIP phones and our VOIP provider, all through an easy to use web based interface hosted on a low cost Windows server!â€?, he added.
May 30th, 2007
Jajah announced a $20 million investment from Intel for its mobile calling service. Intel Capital was the lead investor in the round.
Besides financing the startup, Intel also plans to cooperate with Jajah for product development and marketing. The startup will get access to the Intel sales and development network. In addition, as a participant of Intel’s IP access program, the Jajah developers will get access to the semiconductor giant’s VoIP patent portfolio.
Jajah hopes that the deal will allow it to expand its services beyond web-based calling into the broader telecoms market.
“We are aiming at developing future-oriented solutions that can be optimized for and integrated into mobile and fixed computers and communication devices of any kind”, explained Jajah Co-founder Roman Scharf. Daniel Mattes, also one of the founders, said : “All voice communication will soon be IP-based. Phones are quickly turning into computers, and computers are quickly turning into phones. We need to marry them in a fundamental way.”
Intel might embed Jajah in processors
This investment says a lot about the direction in which VoIP technology is headed.
VoIP technology is still in its early days, and is often sold as a free-standing service complete with dedicated hardware. But more and more, VoIP applications are becoming embedded in larger applications or devices. Google is working on building VoIP software into its spreadsheet software. eCommerce pages at eBay feature click-to-call VoIP buttons.
Similarly, Intel is looking at ways of baking Jajah’s VoIP software right into its microprocessors. Jajah’s VoIP software might show up as a widget on the desktops of new PCs with “Intel Inside.”
Still, it is too early to say if Intel will embed Jajah VoIP in its microprocessors. Intel execs are non-committal. For now, Intel just says it will enter several “marketing, patent and distribution” deals with Jajah.
Jajah has around 2 million registered users today, and is aiming for 5 million by the end of 2007.
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In the meantime, Jajah announced a web interface optimized for the Sony PS3 to initiate calls. It may not an ideal VoIP solution for the PS3 but this is certainly a technology that could really pick up if Jajah decides to capitalise on the PS3’s hardware a bit further – and the investment from Intel might just make that possible someday. More infos
May 16th, 2007
Deutsche Telekom / Jajah. Deutsche Telekom’s investment arm, the T-Online Venture Fund, announced that it is investing in Jajah, making Germany’s top teleco one of the first major telephone incumbents to fund a third-party internet phone provider.
VoIP / USA. The voice over Internet protocol telephony market will top 25 million US households by 2012, driven by greater broadband subscribership and the expansion by cable operators into new markets, according to research firm JupiterResearch.
SHAPE Services has announced the release of a new version of its IM+ for Skype Software for BlackBerry smartphones from Research In Motion.
In the meantime, The technology
Skype / Wal-Mart. Skype announced a distribution deal with the giant Wal-Mart chain of stores. The voice communications area of 1,800 Wal-Mart stores in the U.S. will carry Skype-certified hardware, including headsets, webcams, and handsets, and also pre-paid calling cards for Skype.
Microsoft / VoIP devices. Nine manufacturers, including LG Nortel, Samsung, Asus and NEC, have built fifteen new IP telephony devices that will make VoIP calls via Microsoft’s Office Communications Server 2007 when it launches this summer.
May 9th, 2007
The fight between giant Internet companies has gone a level higher , two weeks ago.
On the 16th of April, Google announced acquisition of DoubleClick, a global leader in digital marketing technology and services, for $3.1 billion
The combination of Google and DoubleClick will offer tools for targeting, serving and analyzing online ads of all types, significantly benefiting customers and consumers. The deal, if it is approved by US antitrust watchdogs, would give Google an instant strong position in the display ad business.
DoubleClick, ‘the great granddaddy of the banner ad industry’, is widely adopted by leading advertisers, publishers and agencies, and the combination of the two companies will accelerate the adoption of Google’s innovative advances in display advertising,� said Eric Schmidt, Chief Executive Officer of Google.
It seems that Google has paid a huge premium to keep DoubleClick out of the hands of rival Microsoft, which was first tied to the acquisition rumors at a $2bn price tag that at least one Microsoft executive scoffed at as being ridiculously high.
On the 1st of May, Yahoo! announced that it plans to acquire online advertising company Right Media for about $680 million. Yahoo! plans to acquire the online advertising firm Right Media for about $680m. Right Media operates an online auction system that allows advertisers to bid on space on a Web site.
The move is seen as a response to Google’s recent purchase of the online ad firm DoubleClick for $3.1bn. “Absolutely not”, affirmed Terry Semel, Yahoo’s chairman and chief executive.
On the 2nd of May, rumours spread that Microsoft will buy ad firm 24/7 Real Media. A report in the New York Post revealed that Microsoft is planning to give twice the amount of the actual market value of Real Media. The report doesn’t cite an exact purchase price, but puts the number somewhere between $600 million and $1 billion.
And the winner is…
Yahoo! lags far behind Google in the online search market. With text-based ads that pop up along a Web user’s search results, Google holds about a quarter of the online advertising market, according to JupiterResearch.
Will Google be allowed to buy DoubleClick ?
A privacy watchdog asked recently the U.S. Federal Trade Commission to investigate Google’s intended acquisition of DoubleClick on the grounds that it poses a threat to the privacy rights of tens of millions of American Internet users.
“Google’s proposed acquisition of DoubleClick will give one company access to more information about the Internet activities of consumers than any other company in the world. Moreover, Google will operate with virtually no legal obligation to ensure the privacy, security and accuracy of the personal data that it collects,� EPIC said in the filing sent to the FTC.
In the meantime, Microsoft and AT&T also called on the FTC to probe the Google-DoubleClick deal due to concerns over anticompetition issues arising from the two companies’ online advertising practices.
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Readen on information week, by Stephen Wellman : “DoubleClick could give Google the ammunition it needs to kill Yahoo. (…) Now that Google has DoubleClick, I don’t see Panama’s (Yahoo’s ad branch) advantages lasting more than six months, tops. By that time, Google should have integrated DoubleClick’s technology and data into its ad systems.
What do you think? Will DoubleClick give Google the ability to drive Yahoo out of business?“
May 3rd, 2007
VoIP provider Vonage has warned that its intellectual property battle with Verizon could bankrupt the company. Vonage says its legal woes have severely restricted its ability to add new customers and ultimately could lead to bankruptcy court, according to a regulatory filing.
Following this announcement, the company has also cut about 200 jobs, or roughly 10 percent of its work force, completing a previously announced job cut plan
The financial difficulties come from a court decision last month, in which Vonage was ordered to pay Verizon US$58 million plus royalties on future sales.
Verizon had sued Vonage in federal court, claiming the technology used to connect Vonage’s 2.2 million subscribers to telephone service through Internet connections infringed on five Verizon patents.
At the time, the court barred Vonage from adding new customers. However, an appellate court issued a stay of that injunction, ruling that Vonage could continue signing up new customers until April, 24 when it will rule on whether or not to make the injunction permanent.
Most of the company’s $607.4 million in revenue last year came from customers’ subscription fees.
“If we are prohibited from offering our service to new customers, we will be required to cease selling our service through all channels,” Vonage said in its annual report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
No Workaround
Vonage’s biggest problem is it has found no workaround for the VoIP technology it has been using.
“While Vonage has been considering design-around options, it does not have a design that can be implemented immediately, if such a design-around is even feasible,” the company said in the filing. “In fact, current design-around options contemplated could take many months.”
String of bad-news events
For investors, the lack of a viable workaround anytime soon is the latest in a string of bad-news events.
Shares of the New Jersey-based VoIP service provider dropped 6 percent after the company warned that legal wrangling with Verizon.
Vonage has seen its shares plunge more than 80 percent since it went public last year. This year alone, its shares are down more than 45 percent.
Vonage is also threatened by a legal order that prevents it from signing up any new customers, and is facing another patent case from Sprint-Nextel later this year.
April 20th, 2007
Recently, Wicom Communications announced that Deutsche Bahn has implemented a new contact center system jointly delivered by Wicom and HP. The new solution transforms DB Dialog’s call centers into an all-IP environment based on Wicom CSS software.
“By the middle of the year, we plan to have up to 1,300 agents using the VoIP system, handling approximately 25,000 calls per day�, said a representative at DB Dialog.
It is not the first contract of the genre.
Many call centers are making the migration from legacy voice and data communications to VoIP platforms as a means of obtaining a much wider range of features that can increase productivity, reduce costs and lead to more efficient and effective management.
These call centers go overseas to lower prices. India is now a center for offshore call centers, but a range of companies in other emerging markets are now looking to capitalize on the outsourcing like Philippines or Costa Rica. South Africa can also be notcies, since it has begun deregulating its telecom market. Following the trend, VoIP service providers and their suppliers are spreading to Africa.
The market is wealthy, and VoIP solution provider are numerous in this sector :
Amcat
Amcat’s IP solution helps call centres establish migration path to VoIP customer contact. Amcat provides a wide range of VoIP solutions, from soft PBX to SIP soft phone, to create a true distributed environment and improve customer contact.
sky-click
SKY-click is a free call center solution which leverages the Skype client and turns this software into a call center solution that scales. It offers all the functionalities of a professional call center including agent availability, call queuing, feedback database, reporting and more.
Voicenet
VoiceNet offers complete inbound, outbound and blended multi-channel contact center capabilities, as well as robust routing, data management and reporting functions. The new VoiceNet version 5.2 includes full VOIP support
Indosoft
Indosoft rely on the Asterisk IP-PBX for its Call Center product
Virtual call center : What is it?
The concept of virtual call center is simple : customer service representatives take calls from home instead of from the office.
With the commoditization of personal computers, plummeting storage costs, improved security features, and the advent VoIP networks, it is now realistic to create a customized, dispersed workforce that can exceed the productivity of in-house staff with the same or better levels of visibility, security and control.
According to the CEO of Alpine Access, it only takes a few steps :
- Using a personal computer, the agent or employee logs into the outsourced call center’s Web portal or “Web Center.�
- This log in data is then analyzed and authenticated. Agents should only be able to log into critical systems when they are scheduled to work.
- Once the Web Center recognizes the agent, a local dial-in number is provided.
- After the person’s computer is connected to the Web Center and his or her phone is dialed into the voice router, the agent is ready to begin answering calls.
Simple like a smile !!
April 20th, 2007
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