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L&H Technologia, a Brazilian IT solutions provider, intends to start VoIP services in May 2006. It is in the process of developing its VoIP platform. The company is carrying out telecom-related systems integration projects for American Express and SKY. The company achieves 30% of its revenues from the sales of products developed by Quest Software.
SkyTalk Communications has finished the deployment of a full VoIP infrastructure situated at a secure location in Miami. Its sister concern Payless Telecom Solutions, Inc. will provide IPTV and VoIP services to its customers via the Skytalk backbone.
Voipfone.co.uk, which is an Internet Telephone provider based in London, has started offering 0800 number services with its telecom products. The 0800 calls are charged at 3p every minute and the service costs £4.99 per month.
In its 11th five-year plan (2006-2010), China foresees an increase in the number of its telephone and Internet users, which are expected to reach 1 billion and 200 million, respectively. China expects to have 350 million fixed-phone users and more than 388 mobile phone users by the end of 2005.
IDT has stated that its tender for acquiring outstanding shares of common stock of Net2Phone has expired. IDT already owns 41% of Net2Phone. telecomweb.com reports:
IDT’s NTOP Acquisition subsidiary is handling the existing tender offer of $2.05 net per share in cash.
Read More: IDT’s Net2Phone Tender Offer Expires
Avaya Inc. has stated that it has been approached by Xinjiang Unicorn, which is a mobile carrier in China. The carrier is already using the Avaya IP Contact Center system for making its services available in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. tmcnet.com reports:
The new system would connect the carrier's headquarters in Urmuqi and 16 other major offices in the region.
Skype’s foray into the corporate arena has raised security concerns regarding its VoIP service. According to the Info-Tech Research Group, even though Skype provides end-to-end encryption for its calls, IT administrators find it difficult to monitor Skype calls. Compliance regulations prevalent in several industries mean that companies deploying Skype will violate corporate policy. abcnews.go.com reports:
Tom Berson, a principal at Anagram Laboratories, has also conducted a review of Skype's encryption.
Read More: Skype Security Questioned
The consolidations that occurred in the telecom industry overshadowed the M&As that took place in the VoIP sector. In the VoIP sector, Vonage’s next move regarding its future is being awaited eagerly. Skype’s acquisition by eBay made headlines. The growing consumer confidence in VoIP, improvements in services, and new applications that lead to new sources of revenue will probably lead to more partnerships in 2006. VoIP could see M&As in any of the businesses including Gateway vendors, Edge access device providers, IMS pure-plays.
Sennheiser Electronic Corporation (SEC) is the US-based subsidiary of the German company that produces headphones and microphones. The company has launched two headset models, PC 20 and PC 30, which have been designed for VoIP users. Even though VoIP voice quality is good on the whole, it gets compromised sometimes because of the poor quality of headsets. The models from SEC are lightweight, equipped with extended-response transducers, and feature a microphone design that cancels noise.
The PC 20 and PC 30 are single-speaker monaural and dual-transducer stereo models, respectively. PC 30 offers sound quality good enough for games and other multimedia applications. A wide-range playback transducer and a non-intrusive microphone boom are common to both models. mobilewhack.com reports:
The Sennheiser PC 20 and PC 30 desktop headsets will be available January 2006, at Sennheiser’s suggested retail price of $24.95 and $29.95, respectively.
Read More: Sennheiser PC30 & PC20 Headsets
In order to run Skype 2.0 beta, the client needs to be downloaded and installed. Skype 2.0 features an uncluttered interface and one-click access to features such as conferencing. The beta is better integrated with the Skype online store for the purchase of ringtones and avatars.
The new version also provides find me/follow me features and the facility of calling up multiple phones simultaneously. Skype’s partnership with Six Apart allows users to embed links for Skype calling in their blogs. pcmag.com reports:
Four premium services round out the Skype offering and make it much more flexible to use as a dedicated phone service (you cannot get emergency 911 service via Skype, so you can't totally give up your landline or cell phone).
Read More: Skype 2.0 beta
Sennheiser Electronic Corporation (SEC) and Skype have entered into a partnership under which Skype has certified SEC headsets as exceeding the Skype standards of audio quality. The Skype website will sell selected headsets from the SEC range. news.ecoustics.com reports:
“We already know that our designs set the world standard,” continues Bach, “and it’s gratifying to be similarly recognized by such an important innovator in our field.”
Read More: Sennheiser, Skype Team Up For 21st Century TelCom
The USBset 8010 USB phone from Infinite Shanghai displays all the Skype contacts of a user on the LCD. In future, the phone may also have a PSTN port integrated into it. telecom.globalsources.com reports:
Infinite Shanghai is offering the SIPset 3010/3015 SIP phones. It is currently being tested and mass production is likely to commence by the end of 2005.
Read More: Maker strengthens VoIP product offerings
Vonage Marketing is offering a $ 100 mail-in-rebate to its customers on certified devices that will be available at more than 9,000 retail stores in the US. The rebate is available on devices from manufacturers such as Linksys, Motorola, Uniden, and Vtech. prnewswire.com reports:
Their service must be activated within 15 days of purchase and maintained for at least 60 days in order to receive a $100 check from Vonage.
Read More: Vonage(R) to Offer $100 Mail-in-Rebate on Devices Purchased at Over 9,000 Retail Locations
Denver-based Dash911 offers E911 for VoIP providers. The company has stated that it has completed the testing of its service and can now offer live E911 call-handling. The service provided by DashE911 is "telephone number provider agnostic". Dash911 plans to launch its 24x7 call center in January 2006 for managing address changes across the nation. webwire.com reports:
"Dash911’s architecture offers coverage to any number, and with our SOAP API interface, we can quickly implement a VoIP provider within ten days."
Experts opine that more than half the population of England could switch over to IP telephony in the next five years. 10 million English citizens will be using VoIP by the end of 2006. lse.co.uk reports:
Calls to landlines and mobile phones incur a small charge, but are still much cheaper than conventional calls.
Read More: Rise Of VoIP Could Be Last Call For Phones
The Itheon Network Emulator (INE) from Itheon, which offers support for multi-site networks, VLANs, and MPLS, has had new features added to it. Apart from emulating point-to-point traffic, INE version 4 enables traffic classification, prioritization, and selective routing. The latest VPNremote software from Avaya offers secure extension of HQ-quality telephony.
The 4600-series IP telephones can have VPN capabilities embedded in them by means of this software, which will enable telecommuters to be in touch with the head office at all times. The software also offers a built-in screen that enables web access. techworld.com reports:
Avaya claimed that the new software makes IP phones as simple to connect as a laptop, requiring merely power and a link to a broadband router.
Read More: Virtual interfaces, secure IP voice and remote controls
ZyEdge LLC, which is a managed service provider, has been selected by PCCW Global, Inc for handling the company’s VoIP deployments in the US. PCCW Global provides IP telephony services around the world and has been created out of the shuffling between the PCCW International Commercial Group and its subsidiary BtN Access, Inc. businesswire.com reports:
"ZyEdge has repeatedly proven itself to be a valuable asset to our organization," said Patrick Hannon, PCCW Global's President, Americas.
Read More: PCCW Global Selects ZyEdge to Provide U.S. VoIP Services
P2P as an alternative for enterprise telephony gained support with the acquisition of NimCat Networks by Avaya. The acquisition was worth $ 46 million. NimCat is based in Ottawa and its NimX software can run on any standard IP phone.
The software allows users to avail PBX functionalities such as voice mail, auto attendant, call waiting, etc without having to deploy a dedicated telephony server. The plug and play system features self-configuring phones that can automatically assign extensions. voipplanet.com reports:
"Avaya looked at [NimCat] as a viable competitor at the lowest end," Dzubeck says. "And it could also link easily with the high-end systems for the big play into the branch office [market]." The price for NimCat was also right, he adds.
Read More: NimCat and Avaya: Declawing the cat?
Sonus Networks Inc. provides VoIP infrastructure systems to traditional carriers, wireless network operators, cable providers, and ISPs. Sonus has supplied its equipment to customers that include AT&T, Bell South, Cingular Wireless, Qwest, Level 3, etc. Since its birth in 1997, Sonus has concentrated on developing a scalable and distributed network architecture.
This focus has resulted in Sonus gaining eminence as a carrier-class equipment provider with the advent of IMS. Sonus products support wireless technologies such as CDMA, 2GSM, 3GSM, and WiFi and wireline technologies such as xDSL and cable. The Sonus architecture has distributed intelligence, centralized subscriber database and routing, call signaling, and common applications.
The four major functions as defined by the IMS are Border and Media Control, Session Control, Application Layer, and Management and Charging. voipplanet.com reports:
The Application Layer products include the ASX Feature Server, which provides traditional, Class 5 subscriber features, such as call waiting, call forwarding, caller ID, and so on; and the OSPA Application Servers, which are provided by third parties.
Read More: Vendor Network Architectures—Part V: Sonus Networks, Inc.
The INTERNET TELEPHONY(R) magazine has selected the next-generation suite of Voice over IP (VoIP) Services from MCI as the recipient of its 2005 Product of the Year Award. MCI’s VoIP services consist of hosted IP Centrex, IP Integrated Access, Managed IP PBX, and IP Trunking Services. prnewswire.com reports:
In 2005, MCI launched two new additions to its VoIP portfolio, including Managed IP PBX and IP Trunking Services.
Read More: MCI Receives INTERNET TELEPHONY(R) Magazine's Product of the Year Award
Showtime Arabia, a major pay TV provider, will be deploying an IP-based contact center solution from Avaya. The contact center will enable Showtime Arabia to improve communications with its subscribers in 20 countries. tradearabia.com reports:
Given the twenty-four hour nature of Showtime Arabia's business, the company is operating across the Middle East to support subscribers.
Read More: Avaya to lift Showtime customer service
CBeyond Inc. has achieved four billion minutes of VoIP traffic and has reached 20,000 small business customers. CBeyond, which was formed in 2001, offers high-speed Internet and a phone service that includes both local and long distance. Other complementary services include data backup, fax to email, web hosting, etc.
Global Knowledge Congress, which is a regulatory teleconference provider, has stated that the E911 teleconference, which is slated to take place on January 26th, will be sponsored exclusively by VoIP Magazine. The E911 Teleconference will last two hours and will discuss the effect of regulations on VoIP.
NetIQ Corp has stated that it will be providing its NetIQ® VoIP Management solutions to MSPs like Analysts International, Calence, and Getronics. The solutions from NetIQ will help the MSPs to deploy VoIP applications quickly and also to ensure that the performance and availability of the applications. sanjose.dbusinessnews.com reports:
"We chose NetIQ because we look for best-of-breed vendors with whom we can partner to achieve the successful management of our customers' environments."
Read More: Managed Service Providers Deploy NetIQ for VoIP Management
Although peering deals between service providers allow them to circumvent PSTN, they can also lead to problems. When Level 3 Communications ended its peering deal with Cogent Communications in October 2005, it led to a major outage for a section of customers of both providers.
The reason for the peering arrangement falling through was that Level 3 believed that Cogent was using the peering network to direct an excessive amount of traffic and was not reciprocating by receiving an equal amount. The resulting outage has focused attention for the first time on the need for a body to oversee peering arrangements. redherring.com reports:
Usually peering arrangements allow the peers to avoid costly connections with the public network. Traffic on the peered network usually flows without cost to the peers.
Read More: Cable Talks VoIP Peering
RedVoiss, which is based in Chile, has launched a service SippyPhone that is on the lines of Skype. However, SippyPhone uses SIP as against Skype which uses a proprietary protocol.
SippyPhone can also be interconnected with other VoIP services like Vonage. As its bandwidth utilization is lower than Skype its voice quality may not be as good as that of Skype. tmcnet.com reports:
RedVoiss' aim with the new service is to target the youth market. Mordojovich also believes that SippyPhone will act as an introduction to IP telephony.
Orb V4S is a free voice messaging system for Skype. V4S stands for Voicemail for Skype. It has been launched by Orb Networks. V4S allows users to manage voice messages from a PC or mobile that support streaming audio.
The V4S software uses the PC as a voicemail server for storing Skype messages. Requirements for Orb V4S include Windows XP, an always-on broadband Internet connection, and Skype version 1.3.057 or a later version. news.designtechnica.com reports:
When the system received a message, V4S notifies users via an email message or a text message to a mobile phone.
Read More: Orb V4S Adds Free Voice Messaging to Skype
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Network failures in an IP environment can lead to a communication breakdown between the headoffice and the branch offices. Even though installing an IP PBX in each branch office can help companies to forestall such a problem, the cost of this exercise would defeat the very purpose of implementing IP telephony.
Multi-Tech(R) Systems has launched a SIP Voice over IP (VoIP) server that provides elementary IP telephony service to remote locations in case of a WAN breakdown. The MultiVOIP SS survivability server can also link to analog phones and fax machines. news.thomasnet.com reports:
Shipping immediately, the MVP210-SS two-port model sells for an MSRP of US$999, the four-port MVP410-SS for US$1599 and the eight-port MVP810-SS for US$2599.
Read More: SIP VoIP Server helps IP telephony survive network failure
Hosted VoIP offerings are gaining strength. These offerings typically try to duplicate the PBX offerings. Hosted VoIP provides facilities such as corporate name dialing, voice recognition, personal name dialing, notification services, etc. voip-magazine.com reports:
Then there’s the seamier side, like pay-per-minute voice services one might otherwise associate with 900 numbers that are being developed.
Read More: Hosted Apps for VoIP: Heating Up
Jardine OneSolution (JOS) has been appointed exclusive distributor for VoIP solutions provided by 3COM Asia Ltd. 3COM hopes to significantly increase its revenue in the first half of 2006 from local SMBs. star-techcentral.com reports:
The NBX V3000 comes with four PSTN ports, a fax port, voice-mail, auto-attendant and 15 IP telephone licences, and costs RM10,000.
Read More: JOS to supply 3Com VoIP solutions
Microsoft has teamed up with Softbank BB and Japan Telecom to develop and trial communication services that would include Internet telephony, e-mail, IM, etc. The trials would commence in the spring of 2006 before the services are made available to customers.
Microsoft will provide its solution for Enhanced VoIP, which includes hosted versions of many of its communication software packages. Softbank BB and Japan Telecom will provide broadband VoIP services and the network infrastructure, respectively. Microsoft has also entered into partnerships with Qwest Communications and MCI in order to achieve a presence in the VoIP market.
Covad Communications Group Inc saw an increase of 40% in its shares post its announcement regarding the settlement of an antitrust lawsuit with Verizon Communications Inc. Under the terms of the settlement, Covad will be able to offer its DSL services over the lines sold by Verizon voice resellers. Covad has also entered into a line-sharing agreement with MCI. customwire.ap.org reports:
Shares of Verizon, which is expected to close its MCI deal early next year, closed at $30.25, down 19 cents, on the New York Stock Exchange.
Read More: Covad Shares Soar on Verizon Settlements
Google Talk is facing allegations over patent infringements from Rates Technology Inc, which is based in Hauppauge, N.Y. The company has alleged that Google has been using its technology illegally for billing users of its IP telephony services. Google has refuted the allegations and stated that it will contest them.
Verizon Wireless has spent in excess of $ 290 million for the enhancement of its Texas voice and data wireless network in 2005. The money has been used to expand the BroadbandAccess(SM) EV-DO high-speed wireless broadband network, in the upgrade of more than 460 cell sites in areas that include Dallas-Fort Worth, Austin, San Antonio, etc.
Verizon has also invested in enabling services such as wireless broadband computing, text and video messaging, etc. prnewswire.com reports:
The network investment is key to maintaining strong coverage during hurricanes and other emergencies and continuing Verizon Wireless' leadership in network reliability and customer service.
Read More: Verizon Wireless Completes More Than $290 Million
Commtel Network, which is a value added reseller of network solutions by Nokia, will be supplying Nokia broadband DSL solutions to Telecom Cook Islands Ltd in the Pacific. The DSL system should start working by March 2006. It will represet a first for Nokia in this market.
The Nokia D500 IP DSLAM (Digital Subscriber Line Access Multiplexer) is the only IP DSLAM solution in the industry that provides integrated IP functionality and has been selected for making quick Internet access available in this market. prnewswire.com reports:
The Nokia D500 is a complete IP-based multiservice access node platform for providing both quality of service and secure authentication.
Read More: Nokia and CommTel Expand Broadband in the Pacific
The EU parliament has adopted a directive that will require that all telephone and Internet traffic be stored for a period of six to twenty four months in order fight terrorism. The directive was adopted with 378 votes for it and 197 against. The data will include incoming and outgoing phone numbers, call length, call location, IP addresses for emails and SMS, etc. eweek.com reports:
Tracking dropped calls has been particularly controversial, since service providers don't currently register lost calls for billing purposes. In fact, the technology to track lost calls requires new, expensive technologies.
Read More: EU Passes Contentious Data-Retention Law
BT has entered into a $ 17 billion agreement with four of its partners, Ciena, Huawei, Lucent and Siemens, for revamping its network. Over the next five years, BT intends to convert its entire network into an end-to-end IP network for voice and data. The network, referred to as 21CN, will use MPLS for voice and data QoS. According to BT, around six million calls have already been made as a part of the 21CN project.
Migration of customer lines is expected to happen in the second half of 2006. This will be the beginning of the end of PSTN for 30 million customer lines. An all-IP converged network is expected to be ready by 2008/2009 and will save BT around $ 1.7 billion every year. Juniper Networks has been named partner by Siemens and Lucent for helping with routing requirements for 21CN.
Carriers and cable companies that are involved in large-scale VoIP deployments need to consider the fact the quality of voice service can impact their revenues and failure to deliver mission critical services on time can incur legal repercussions. VoIP services are highly sensitive to QoS fluctuations; they utilize a number of different protocols, and support a wide range of infrastructure devices.
These attributes have led to a direct relationship between VoIP security and the performance of the VoIP service. VoIP security is affected by the number of features offered and the fact that in the near future VoIP services will have to coexist with PSTN, which necessitates media gateways. Carrier class service providers need to implement VoIP security in a step-wise manner.
The first step is prevention in which the already present VoIP-related security issues need to be tackled in a proactive manner. This involves assessing vulnerabilities, initiating remedial actions, and monitoring compliance. The second step is to deploy devices such as IDS, IPS, VPN, firewalls, and anti-viruses such that the VoIP service is adequately protected. The third step is to be in a state of readiness for an eventuality that may occur inspite of prevention and protection. This will help to mitigate the severity of the breach in security by offering a real-time automated response. voip-magazine.com reports:
While all these processes are critical to implementation of a comprehensive carrier-class security framework, in this article we will focus on the prevention as the simplest and most economical way of improving VoIP security.
Read More: Developing Carrier-Grade Security for Service Providers
Republican Senator Jim DeMint has introduced a bill which could lead to a market-oriented regulatory system for the telecommunication industry. According to the senator from South Carolina, the Digital Age Communications Act (DACA) will shield consumers and check unfair practices in the trade. DACA will not discriminate between VoIP services so long as they are the same from the consumer’s point of view. voip-magazine.com reports:
That means all providers of phone services, whether over wireline, wireless, or cable, would have to comply with the same regulations.
Read More: Telecom Bill Would Treat VoIP Like Other Phone Services
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has released a draft of its recommendations intended to assist India in moving on to IPv6. IPv6 will help to address the increase in Internet usage in the country as it will provide more IP address space, better support for mobility, and greater security. The draft includes comments from stakeholders and aims to obtain additional inputs on the issue.
The draft stated that the manner in which an IP address is defined needs to be altered so as to allow the use of 128-bit addresses. TRAI intends to experiment with IPv6 technologies with the help of funds from the government; the draft mentions that the new systems and networks must be IPv6 compatible.
M5 Networks, which is a hosted VoIP provider, and IP blue Software Solutions are jointly offering a solution that will allow VARs to keep in touch with remote workers. messagingpipeline.com reports:
The IP blue softphone software turns any PC or laptop into a fully functioning VoIP telephone.
Read More: M5, IP BLUE MOBILIZE HOSTED VoIP OFFERING
The rapid convergence of voice and data networks has mean that network security too has had to evolve accordingly. Till recently, most security concerns were regarding data networks; however, the development of IP telephony as a strategic tool has exposed it to application layer attacks, DoS, spoofing, etc. Since there is no uniformity in architecture of telephony platforms, vulnerabilities present in one platform may not necessarily be present in another.
It is important for businesses to realize that securing a converged network requires more than a one-step, one-layer, one-vendor solution. tmcnet.com reports:
With cyber attacks becoming more sophisticated, organizations that rely on securing the network infrastructure alone will find themselves defenseless if an intruder penetrates that first level.
Read More: Securing Voice In An IP World
In May 2005, the number of broadband users in Britain went past the number of dial-up connections for the first time. Of the more than 8.8 million broadband connections in Britain, 2.8 million use cable. The number of broadband users in Britain is expected to cross 10 million by the first half of 2006. tmcnet.com reports:
Expanding broadband internet provision is a central part of the rationale behind the deal (as well as squeezing out costs in a fiercely competitive market).
Read More: It's survival of the fastest as Broadband Britain
In order to implement a VoIP network, it is important to select the appropriate standard. A number of standards have been developed by the different standards bodies. These standards cater to the needs of different telephony environments such as Enterprise IP telephony, carrier long distance, call center, residential class 5 switching, etc.
Businesses need to understand the peculiarities of each environment and select a standard that will minimize the need to redesign the network and prevent the applications from getting outdated quickly.
In the early days of VoIP, several standards were developed for the sole purpose of integrating VoIP with PSTN. Even today, major VoIP carriers connect VoIP calls using PSTN. This is because VoIP peering still has to grow to a scale, which will allow users to bypass PSTN. tmcnet.com reports:
Computer Telephony Integration may not appear to be a critical design choice, but in 1995, neither was email. No doubt, the gap between computer and telephone will close over the next few years.
Read More: Which VoIP Standard to Use?
Royal Philips Electronics has released baseband chips for its cordless phones that will allow users to make calls over the Internet without having to access a PC or a wired phone. These VoIP-enabled baseband chips are a part of the Philips PCD8072x series of cordless phone baseband chips. tmcnet.com reports:
The PCD8072x baseband chips form the heart of the Nexperia 820 cordless phone system solution, which can handle Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, DECT (including US DECT) or WDCT as their transmission standards.
Read More: Philips Now Offering VoIP-Enabled Baseband Chips for Cordless Phones
Daewoo International Corp. and Vonage have joined hands to establish a presence in the VoIP market in South Korea. Daewoo has forwarded a proposal to the Transportation and Communications department regarding the interconnection of government departments by the replacement of analog communication systems with VoIP networks.
Municipal Wi-Fi networks are under consideration in various cities in the US. According to the report titled "2006 Muni Broadband Outlook" by Light Reading Insider, cities such as Anaheim, Calif.; Atlanta; Austin, Texas; Boston; Buffalo, N.Y.; Chicago; Denver; Kansas City, Mo.; and Lenexa, Kan. are planning to deploy Wi-Fi networks.
The main reason in favor of Wi-Fi deployments is that it allows greater capacity per user since the access points are deployed over small areas and the spectrum can be utilized several times. smallbizpipeline.com reports:
Because of the simpler CSMA protocols and smaller networks, Wi-Fi also has inherently lower latency, less than 10 msec, whereas 3G networks are struggling to get down to 100 msec.
Read More: The Case For (And Against) Muni Wi-Fi
AOL has released a beta of its integrated suite of applications consisting of email, web browser, and IM. The beta is available to the existing users of the AOL service. AOL Mail, Explorer, and Triton, which are also available as individual applications make up the AOL Suite beta. The beta also provides a universal address book that can be accessed via any AOL communication service such as email and Internet telephony.
3Com has reported an increase in sales, higher revenue, and lower losses for the second fiscal quarter. The company reported a loss of 3 cents per share that amounted to $ 10.7 million. The global revenue was of $ 184 million, a 4% sequential growth on the Q1 figures.
However, the revenue for North America registered a 10% sequential decline. Networking products were the major contributors, Layer 2 and Layer 3 stackable 10/100/1000 managed switches and Office Connect and Baseline-branded SMB products resulted in sales worth $ 132 million. The 3Com-Huawei Technologies joint venture registered revenues of $ 111 million for the third quarter that ended September 30, 2005. networkingpipeline.com reports:
3Com's security products generated revenue of $21 million, a sequential growth of 24 percent that was fueled by the TippingPoint acquisition, as well as strong growth in embedded firewall products.
Read More: 3Com Reports Networking Sales Growth
Mandriva, which is a Paris-based Linux distributor, has stated that it has successfully integrated the Internet telephony software from Skype into Linux. Linux is an open-source operating system. The Mandriva Linux 2006 is now available with a customized version of Skype at no additional cost. Discovery/Lx for the Linux beginner, PowerPack for the advanced computer user and PowerPack+ for small offices are the three editions of OS available.
The Interim VoIP Architecture for Enhanced 9-1-1 Services or i2 is receiving support from Vonage America. The i2 standard is for an architecture that will enable IP telephony service providers to make E911 services available by using the existing infrastructure. This arrangement will continue till an all-IP E911 system is available throughout the country. voip-magazine.com reports:
Last month, NENA announced the release of a reference guide to help VoIP service providers in planning and communication with regards to the FCC's E911 mandate.
Read More: Vonage Supports NENA's E911 Plan
Insight Research has stated that revenue for the telecom industry will amount to $ 1.2 trillion by the end of year 2006 and by 2010; it will touch $ 1.6 trillion. The analysis titled "2006 Telecom Industry Review: An Anthology of Market Facts and Forecasts" states that by the beginning of 2006, almost 1.8 billion people will utilize mobile wireless phones. Sections of the industry that have experienced growth include VoIP, Wi-Fi, IMS, etc. voip-magazine.com reports:
“Wireless communications will continue to displace wireline communications for voice calling and as the number of wireless 2.5G and 3G data services increases, wireless will continue to squeeze traditional landline calling."
Read More: Telecom Industry Revenue to Reach $1.2 Trillion in 2006
According to the analyst Point Topic, broadband access via DSL acquired 40 million customers globally over a period of one year till September 30, 2005. This adds up to a total of 125 million broadband DSL customers across the globe. voip-magazine.com reports:
This report confirms an Insight Research study, which states DSL growth as well as rapid growth of VoIP and wireless revenue are pushing the telecommunication industry's revenue to $1.2 trillion in 2006.
According to a study by Research and Markets “Hosted VoIP services in Europe”, companies in Europe are more open to the idea of hosted VoIP than companies in America. According to the report, lack of a cohesive telecom infrastructure and the absence of IP-related skills in-house are prime reasons for European companies choosing a hosted VoIP provider. voip-magazine.com reports:
This has given companies a chance to offer solutions to businesses ready to leverage the cost saving components of VoIP communications, but need assistance navigating security issues and gaps in connectivity.
Read More: Research and Markets: European Firms Likely to Outsource VoIP
STMicroelectronics will provide its expertise to the Enhanced Wireless Consortium (EWC) for the development of an IEEE high-speed wireless standard referred to as next-generation Wi-Fi. STMicroelectronics has experience in the field of system-on-chip (SoC) technology. voip-magazine.com reports:
The EWC, formed in October, has promised to improve the performance of wireless local area networks through industry-wide support of its standard specifications, based on MIMO (Multiple Input Multiple Output) technology.
Read More: STMicroelectronics Joins EWC
Three important considerations for a successful IP telephony deployment include network architecture, business processes, and an understanding of next generation applications. The issue that is top most in the minds of business managers is regarding the ability of the IP communications network to co-exist with the existing infrastructure.
A successfully deployed converged network can radically alter the manner in which staff communicates and impact employee productivity and the scope of business. Businesses need to plan beforehand for changes in business processes and foster acceptance and adoption of IP-based communications. voip-magazine.com reports:
A careful and comprehensive plan that aligns business process with technology architecture should be an executive’s first step before the actual implementation begins.
Read More: Business Processes for a Converged Enterprise: An Introduction
Level 3 Communications Inc has acquired WilTel Communications Group, LLC. The Leucadia National Corporation has been paid $ 386 million in cash and has also received 115 million shares of Level 3 common stock.
Jingle is a recent specification for deploying voice using the XMPP protocol by Jabber. The Google Talk IM uses the same protocol. With Jingle, Google is looking to extend its involvement with VoIP. voipplanet.com reports:
Google Talk's implementation of Jingle is now also available for download and third-party integration via the Google sponsored "Libjingle" project on SourceForge.
Read More: Google Jabbers And Jingles
TelTel, which provides free PC-to-PC VoIP services based on SIP, had initiated its beta phase in September. The company has recently introduced two new services, namely TelTel-Out for connecting to the PSTN and Call-Forwarding. TelTel does not operate over the public Internet; instead it operates via a global cluster of managed, SIP-based telephony networks. These networks are referred to as the PsipTN. ISPs, IPSPs, and CLECs are the SIP Virtual Network Operator partners of TelTel and they maintain the individual networks. Subscribers to TelTel-Out can purchase credits in chunks.
$ 10 gives a talk-time of 500 minutes. Regions that attract high traffic such as North America and Western Europe have been assigned a flat rate of 2 cents per minute. The rate varies for other locations. The Call-Forwarding plan is available globally and enables users to forward their calls to any phone located anywhere in the world.
VoIP regulations received greater attention from the FCC in 2005 under the chairmanship of Kevin Martin. FCC implemented rules for making 911 available over VoIP. This action was preceded by a few instances, which received widespread coverage, in which VoIP users were unable to avail the emergency 911 services. VoIP subscribers and providers will also have brace for the enforcement of CALEA and get ready to contribute to the Universal Service Fund.
IP/cellular handsets found favor with users as the number of Wi-Fi access points grew in 2005. Wireless VoIP also offered hotels, hospitals, airports, etc with a cost effective alternative to cellular mobile technology. However, issues regarding coverage, service handoff, and power consumption need to be resolved before wVoIP really comes of age.
2005 also had some news-making M&As, such as the acquisition of Skype by eBay. Microsoft acquired Teleo, Yahoo purchased Dialpad, and Google acquired Dodgeball. The growth of VoIP led to several network providers either blocking VoIP calls or downgrading VoIP traffic.
Madison River Communications in North Carolina attempted to block VoIP services by Vonage and earned a fine of $ 15,000 slapped by the FCC. Countries such as Mexico, Qatar, Costa Rica, and China have not been too receptive of the technology. VoIP also caught the attention of SMBs who stand to gain from the cost-saving and productivity-enhancing advantages of IP telephony.
SMBs are being offered a range of VoIP implementation choices such as broadband VoIP, hosted VoIP, premise-based VoIP, etc. Almost three-fourths of the SMBs surveyed by the Yankee Group have professed a desire for premises-based system.
The RFI released by CableLabs has met with a good response. Companies such as VeriSign Inc, Stealth Communications, NeuStar Inc. etc have answered to the RFI.
CableLabs intends to develop a VoIP peering fabric that would allow VoIP subscribers of the member MSO’s to communicate directly without their calls being routed through a PSTN network. This could save the MSO’s thousands of dollars every month in interconnection fees to the PSTN companies.
Alvarion Ltd. has provided Rioplex Wireless with BreezeACCESS VL for increasing its network. Rioplex is based in Texas and has completed the deployment of a 5,000-square-mile broadband network. The company services residential customers and SMBs and uses licensed frequencies. The company can now offer VoIP and data services to its customers including telecommuters with the help of the BreezeACCESS VL system. Speeds can go up to 25 mbps for every user.
Santa Cruz Networks has released a new plug-in that will enable customers of Skype and Google Talk to communicate with each other. Festoon, which is an application developed by the company, will have a new feature called Festoon Unity by early next year. This will enable the application to support AOL IM, Yahoo Messenger, and MSN along with Google Talk and Skype. pcworld.com reports:
Festoon, which users can download for free, currently enables customers of the Skype and Google Talk voice-over-IP services to make video calls, but only to other users on the same platform.
Read More: Messaging Goes Multimedia
The telecom sector in India is doing extremely well of late and according to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), the number of phone connections in November 2005 was 3.79 million, the figures for October and September were 3.24 million and 2.87 million, respectively. lightreading.com reports:
Emerging markets with little installed telecom infrastructure are finding it easier to install wireless networks, and India's no exception: 3.51 million of the subscribers added in November were mobile customers, and most of the 280,000 fixed-line subscribers were connected using wireless local loop.
Read More: India's Telecom Market Accelerates
A new Wi-Fi phone from UTStarcom, the F1000, will allow subscribers of Vonage to utilize hotspots for making phone calls. The phone, which has features such as three-way calling, voicemail, and caller-ID, brings to users the ease of use of cell phones minus the costs associated with it. voipplanet.com reports:
Among other features, the F1000 has over five hours of talk time, 50 to 100 hours of standby and the ability to recharge in two to three hours.
Read More: Turning Hotspots Into VoIP Phone Booths
Avaya has released a new software referred to as the VPNremote, which will provide Avaya IP telephones with VPN remote capabilities. Upon integrating the software with the IP phones, telecommuting employees will be accessible all the time. The facility is available with the 4600 IP Telephones series from Avaya. The software enables home-based workers to plug the phone to a power source, connect to a broadband router, and the phone becomes operable. voipplanet.com reports:
One recent customer of the product line was the U.S. Red Cross, which deployed the VPNremote and IP phones as part of its disaster recovery work after Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Region last fall.
Read More: Avaya Loads Up on Unified Communication
SIPphone has issued CallOut rates for its Gizmo appliance for US calling. The rate of 1 cent per minute is almost half of what is charged by Yahoo Messenger, which according to SIPphone offers the second lowest rates.
Calls using Gizmo are free between Gizmo users and so are the calls to SIP endpoints irrespective of the location. Gizmo also provides clients for computers using Macintosh, Linux, and Windows OS. voipplanet.com reports:
"Phone calls are now like water. You know there's a cost, but you don't think of it every time you turn on the faucet," Gizmo CEO, Michael Robertson said. At a penny a minute—or less—that's probably a reasonable statement.
Read More: Goings-On in the IM/VoIP Space
VoiceRD by Novacoast Inc. is a Rapid Deployment solution for the open source Asterisk IP PBX. VoiceRD integrates the hardware, software, security, and identity management. The VoiceRD bundle also includes codec licenses and a web-based management tool for the IP PBX. voipplanet.com reports:
VoiceRD includes the recently released Asterisk version 1.2 and runs on a Linux appliance from PogoLinux with Novell SUSE Linux installed. On the hardware side, the Linux appliance also has a 4 port T1 card from Asterisk's corporate sponsor Digium Inc.
Read More: Novacoast Integrates Identity Management with Asterisk
IMS vendor, MetaSwitch, has provided Allied Telesyn with an interoperability certification. The solution offered jointly by the IMS vendor and the networking equipment vendor will allow service providers to access POTS using VoIP without having to deploy a TDM/IP gateway. voipplanet.com reports:
The joint solution also enables local calls, that is calls that originate and terminate on the same access network to remain within the same network.
Read More: Allied Telesyn Certifies with MetaSwitch
Nortel has a strong presence in both enterprise as well as carrier switching markets. Its three main products are the Business Communications Manager (BCM), the Communications Server (CS) 1000 and 2000, and the Multimedia Communications Server (MCS) 5100 and 5200.
SMBs and regional offices can utilize the BCM, which is an IP-enabled, single-platform communications system. It can also be used as a hosted solution for small sites. The BCM can scale up to 200 digital or IP-based stations and offers a number of applications such as routing, fax, voice messaging, IVR, wireless capabilities, etc.
The Communications Server 1000, which is a server-based IP-PBX, comes with more than 450 telephony features. The advantages of a converged network and IP applications can be had in one IP PBX. It is targeted at the enterprise market as a private, customer-managed solution, or as a part of a managed service solution from a service provider. It offers support for ISDN, H.323, and SIP signaling and can handle up to 15,000 clients for each call server.
The Communication Server 2000 softswitch is designed for large enterprises. It is a single platform that can be used as the basis for providing a hosted solution to several customers. It is the intelligent core of a multiservice network and offers local and long distance call services.
The Multimedia Communications Servers boost the existing voice and data capabilities by providing SIP-based multimedia and collaborative communications applications. The 5100 server can support up to 60,000 active subscribers and is meant for enterprises, the 5200 server is targeted at hosted service providers and it can support 100,000 subscribers. MCS includes applications such as white boarding and file exchange, co-web browsing, IM, call management, etc.
Lucent has concentrated on three major segments, namely communication service providers, the government, and big enterprises. These segments are handled by Network Solutions, Worldwide Services, and Bell Labs. The network service providers are catered to by the Network Solutions group, which also provides support for the wireless and wireline systems used for the integration of multimedia services.
Big organizations around the world are managed by a global group of engineers, consultants, and network designers that constitutes the Worldwide Services group. The communications networking requirements of the US Government and service providers situated around the world are met by Bell Labs. Lucent is currently researching several technologies such as 3G wireless, broadband and DSL access, multimedia systems and their applications, etc. voipplanet.com reports:
Their softswitch research is part of the Accelerate™ Next Generation Communications Portfolio. This architecture is based upon the IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) and the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP), and is focused on the service provider market.
Read More: Vendor Network Architectures—Part IV: Lucent Technologies
When legacy PBX systems were the norm, users had to pay for proprietary operating systems that used proprietary hardware and software. The upshot of legacy PBXs has always been the reliability and availability. The advent of VoIP was greeted with skepticism regarding the ability of IP telephony to provide reliability on par with legacy systems. networkworld.com reports:
Network managers immediately need to understand the critical elements that comprise modular open PBX systems and begin understanding the finer points of each.
Read More: VoIP: more survivable than legacy PBX
Webtorials is a community of next-generation-network designers. It will soon be releasing the 2005-2006 Webtorials "VoIP State-of-the-Market Report.” The report presents experiences of users regarding Spam over Internet Telephony (SPIT). Around 375 respondents cover the entire range of network planners and implementers for companies of all sizes spread over the globe. The Webtorials community feels that networking-related security issues pose the biggest threat to secure VoIP implementation. DoS attacks and viruses too figure high on the list of security concerns. Apart from these traditional security threats, SPIT is fast becoming a cause of concern.
Thomson, which is based in France, has entered into a license agreement with CableLabs for its CableCard-Host Interface License Agreement (CHILA) specifications. The interface between a digital cable receiver and a set-top box with the CableCARD is defined by the CableCard Host Interface specification. eetimes.com reports:
These products would be capable of receiving and displaying advanced cable services such as program guides and video-on-demand (VOD).
Year 2006 will see policymakers in the US making several key decisions regarding the future of networking. The major issue is to allow Internet services to grow without compromising upon the security of the individual or the state. Two measure IT-related measures scheduled for next year are the data breach notification and spyware regulation. eweek.com reports:
At the Federal Communications Commission, IT services historically have been given a break when it comes to rules that ensure consumer protection, universal affordability and access for law enforcement.
Read More: Big Issues Face FCC in 2006
IBM has stated that it will be purchasing Micromuse Inc, for a sum of $ 865 million in cash. Software from Micromuse manages Internet-based computing networks and facilitates the management of voice, video, and data. nytimes.com reports:
The move by I.B.M. is the most recent evidence that the many software markets continue to consolidate. And the data center management market - where Micromuse occupies a niche - is one such business.
New hosted VoIP software from Phonetag LLC can be used for providing a new line to the existing phone numbers so that in case of a phone outage, work can continue uninterrupted. phoneplusmag.com reports:
Using Level 3 Communications Inc. as its underlying provider, Phonetag’s service works with existing infrastructure and bandwidth.
Read More: Phonetag Launches Hosted VoIP via Level 3
BridgePort Networks, which offers SIP-based VoIP, has been endeavoring consistently to deploy IMS for smooth call transfers between mobile and VoIP networks. The company will soon introduce its NomadicONE IMS Convergence Server or ICS. The ICS will facilitate cellular/Wi-Fi handoffs in a seamless manner. The handoffs will be executed as per the 3GPP and 3GPP2 requirements. wi-fiplanet.com reports:
Not only can the NomadicONE ICS provide access to IP Centrex services over your mobile phone, Jhawar says, the reverse is also true; your cellular phone's services can be made available at your desk, whether you're using a single multi-mode phone or multiple devices.
According to Rauno Toivonen, director-marketing, voice solutions products, Espoo, Nokia is planning to launch a mobile that will allow access to SIP-based VoIP services. This will allow callers to access VoIP services provided by ISPs and CATV companies. Cisco Systems and Avaya are working with Nokia on this project in three specific areas; namely IP PBX, hosted IP PBX, and IP Centrex.
The phones will have SIP complaint and Skinny SIP compliant VoIP clients for Avaya and Cisco, respectively. This will allow PBX functionalities such as four-digit calling, conferencing, and call forwarding to be extended to mobile phones.
The phones are expected to be launched in the first half of 2006; they will be dual-mode cellular and WLAN, with the PBX functionality only over the WLAN. The functionality will be extended to the cellular network in the second half of 2006.
CloudShield is offering its CloudSentry VoIP Services Assessment (VSA) to network operators. VSA is a VoIP traffic analyzer that offers lawful intercept capabilities, analysis of infrastructural shortcomings, intrusion detection, etc. Service providers can use the information provided by VSA to better understand the traffic trends and offer their subscribers a better experience. They can control their offering in a better manner by understanding their main subscribers, call volumes, QoS levels, etc.
According to research firm TeleGeography, the main driver of VoIP deployment is still its low cost. The improved call quality provided by VoIP and facilities such as click-to-dial and a number of area codes have also contributed toward residential and enterprise VoIP adoption. The TeleGeography VoIP report for 2004 states that VoIP traffic in 2004 was of 30.8 billion minutes. The figures are exclusive of PC-to-PC VoIP traffic. VoIP growth was the highest in Brazil, Nigeria, and Bangladesh. Countries that have deregulated telecom market have seen a spurt in VoIP traffic. In 2004, inbound international VoIP minutes in Brazil, Nigeria, and Bangladesh grew by 112%, 103%, and 97%, respectively.
The preliminary documentation of Jingle has been published by the Jabber Software Foundation (JSF). Jingle is a set of extensions to the XMPP developed by the IETF. XMPP can be used for P2P multimedia sessions such as VoIP. lightreading.com reports:
Jingle provides a powerful framework for peer-to-peer multimedia sessions," said Peter Saint-Andre, Executive Director of the Jabber Software Foundation and co-author of the Jingle specifications.
Read More: Jabber IM Adds VOIP
Vendors such as Empirix Inc and Agilent Technologies Inc. offer VoIP management tools that enable enterprises to solve VoIP networking issues by acting on the advance indications that the tools provide. The tools monitor common VoIP-related problems such as jitter, delay, low QoS, packet loss, volume issues, etc. informationweek.com reports:
"We'll correlate for you in real time, and it'll say, yeah, the issue is at this particular port on this router," says Qovia Inc. COO Steve Mank.
Read More: Explosive Growth Expected For VoIP Monitoring Tools
Verso Technologies Inc has conducted a successful trial of its VoIP products that were operated on a pre-WiMAX (IEEE802.16a) network. The trial was carried out by Telkom South Africa (SA) and Saab Grintek Technologies, which is Verso’s partner. In the course of the trial, Wi-Fi-compatible PDAs were provided access to PSTN via CPGs and routed to the Telkom central office by using WiMAX technology. Class 4 and Class 5 softswitching and gateway technologies (BHG2500) from Verso were used in the trial. home.businesswire.com reports:
WiMAX is a standards-based wireless technology that provides high-throughput broadband connections over long distances. WiMAX can be used for a number of applications, including "last mile" broadband connections, hotspots and cellular backhaul, and high-speed enterprise connectivity for business.
Read More: Verso and Saab Grintek Complete VoIP Trials
US LEC Corp. had added BIGData to its Dynamic T VoIP service. BIGData is a high-bandwidth Internet and networking service option. The company serves enterprises in Eastern United States. Dynamic T BIGData allows speeds of up to 45 Mbps and is ideal for businesses that require large bandwidths. The bandwidths are available incrementally; this allows businesses to scale as per their requirements. prnewswire.com reports:
"While Ethernet Local Loop provides a desirable solution for some high-bandwidth requirements, US LEC can now also offer businesses a more scalable Internet solution that adds an advanced, feature-rich voice solution and optimizes the bandwidth investment."
Read More: US LEC Boosts Dynamic T(SM) VoIP Service
The report "Steady Growth Ahead for Hosted VoIP Solutions" has named Covad Communications Group, Inc. as the leading hosted VoIP provider for business customers. Covad has a 28% share of the market, which is greater than the share of other companies such as MCI, SBC, etc. Covad has concentrated its efforts on the SMBs. home.businesswire.com reports:
"The primary drivers for this growing demand are both cost savings and the enhanced feature sets available from VoIP applications."
Read More: In-Stat Names Covad Market Leader
ShoreTel has launched the ShoreTel Converged Conferencing 5.6. It is an integrated conferencing and collaboration platform that works alongside the ShoreTel 6 IP telephony system and offers facilities such as integrated audio and web conferencing, enterprise instant messaging and document sharing. The platform offers greater security by virtue of being an onsite embedded Linux appliance and is not Internet-based. home.businesswire.com reports:
"ShoreTel Converged Conferencing eliminates the expense of using outside web conferencing services for our internal and customer collaboration," said Jason Colburn, IT manager at Optimal Solutions, one of the fastest growing suppliers of broadcast software in the United States.
Read More: ShoreTel Delivers Collaboration Platform
Ceva has launched a semiconductor package for incorporating VoIP functionality into SoCs. The package, Ceva-VoP, consists of a fully programmable 200 MHz DSP engine and xpertteaklite 2, which is an integrated subsystem that has a memory cache. The solution enables users to avail voice coding, echo cancellation, and telephony interfaces. The Ceva-VoP is available in two versions; a co-processor version that uses a host CPU for voice processing and another version that uses the DSP for voice processing and network support.
The package can be used to support up to 8 voice channels with support for protocols like G.711, G.726, G.729AB, and G.723.1. Ceva-VoP provides echo cancellation, a wide range of telephony features, fax relay, and functionality for signaling and user interface management.
The Linksys One Hosted Small Business System is an IP PBX solution targeted at hosted service providers and VARs. The system, which provides network discovery and automated configuration, features a 16-port services router and an analog VoIP gateway. Linksys One will be available in the US in the first quarter of 2006; MCI and NeoNova are two of the companies that plan to provide hosted services using Linksys One.
CrystalVoice will provide its acoustic QoS technology to NetZero as support for its new phone to phone VoIP service. The software is capable of making real-time adjustments according to the variations in bandwidth availability.
The Adtran Total Access 904 and 908 are 4 and 8 port gateways that offer the functionalities of an SIP gateway, an IP router, a firewall, remote survivability, etc. Carriers can use the gateways to avail VoIP, SIP trunking, hosted legacy, and IP PBX applications. WAN connectivity can be achieved by means of a T1 port, connectivity to an Ethernet switch can be had by means of a 10/100 Base T Ethernet port, a PRI/Ti port and voice ports provide PBX connectivity and support for analog devices, respectively.
Toll-free technical support is provided on a 24x7 basis, the gateways are accompanied with a 10-year warranty, and users are provided with free firmware updates. The 4- and 8-port gateways cost $ 1,025 and $ 1,150, respectively.
TMC will come out with two bi-monthly print publications on SIP and IMS in the year 2006. The SIP magazine will offer news on deployments, case studies, etc. The first issue will be published in January 2006. The first issue of the IMS magazine is scheduled for a February release.
AirGate is offering VoIP modules for phones that are used by prison inmates for making collect calls. The modules can be either wired or wireless. The wired module works with a PoE, the wireless module needs a power source providing voltage and current to the units. AirGate will earn a percentage of the collect call charges.
Net Satisfaxtion IP is a T.38 boardless fax server launched by faxback. It can work with the existing IP routers and also with legacy PBXs.
Developers and service providers can now make use of the IMS testing suite provided by Radcom to conduct pre-deployment evaluations of IMS network devices, services and architectures. The suite can be used for tracing transactions carried out via wired and wireless interfaces. The network suite can be used in conjunction with the Radcom SIP simulation tool for building call flows for conducting stress tests on the media gateways and SBCs.
Quintum Technologies has added enhanced software to its Tenor MultiPath switches and gateways. The additions will enable automatic deployment of Tenor upon addition to a network. The software supports the mapping of ports enabling PBX extension functionality for branch offices. Support for DNS addressing, failover capability, and automatic load balancing are other facilities provided by the enhanced software. The software is available for download at the company website.
Since the inception of its VoIP over DSL service, Neuf Cegetel has acquired more than 350,000 subscribers. The France-based broadband service provider introduced its service in June 2004. The VoIP service uses the CS 2000 softswitch and 15000 model media gateways provided by Nortel.
Tele Norte Leste Participacoes S.A is the largest telecom provider in South America and it will use the hosted solution provided by Net2Phone for providing VoIP services in Brazil. Tele Norte provides its services under the brand name Telemar and it has more than 731,000 customers subscribing to its broadband services.
Vonage Holdings Corp. has managed to raise $ 250 million via convertible debt funds. This could well be the final finance effort by Vonage before it is either acquired or it goes public. Vonage intends to use the funding to increase its network in the US and to continue the deployment of E911. lightreading.com reports:
This latest financing was led by affiliates of Bain Capital , with Vonage's existing investors - including New Enterprise Associates (NEA) and Meritech Capital Partners - chipping in as well.
Read More: Vonage Raises Another $250M
Of the major desirable features in an IP phone, a large display is considered very important. An IP phone requires a large display so that real-time presence information can be viewed in the personal and corporate phone directories. itarchitect.com reports:
The Wireless Markup Language (WML) used by the mobile industry for creating applications on mobile phones has been adopted by at least two IP telephony vendors: Avaya, in its new IP phones; and Siemens, in its OptiPoint phones.
Read More: The Incredible VoIP Solution
Open source IP PBXs are developing at a fast clip and could soon be providing the scalability and availability that is expected of enterprise telephony solutions. By May 2006, sipX could well provide 1,000 seats a server. However, it may still be some time before open source IP PBXs pose a serious challenge to proprietary IP PBXs.
This is because open source IP PBXs make message transfer difficult due to server-centric voicemail implementations and configurations cannot be managed on a system-wide basis. itarchitect.com reports:
As with Linux and other open-source projects, open-source VoIP is offered both as an ongoing project developed by the grass roots community and as a prepackaged product that's tested, maintained, and sold by a sponsoring vendor.
Read More: Find the REAL Value
Streamcore System, a WAN optimizer company based in Paris, is enhancing its WAN appliances by adding adaptive real-time application behavior monitoring to the appliances. commsdesign.com reports:
The ABBA software module in StreamOptimizer 4.1 will allow more finely grained quality-of-service control at the session layer, using weight-based algorithms to adjust prioritization schemes in real-time.
Read More: Real-time adaptive software hits WAN
The TJ 955 embedded multimedia terminal adapter from Terayon Communication Systems, Inc. has been awarded the CableLabs® certification for the PacketCable™ 1.5 cable voice over IP (VoIP) specification. The TJ 955 can support high-speed Internet access and it delivers two primary lines of VoIP telephony for every household in a low-cost manner.
An enterprise migrating to IP telephony has the option of deploying IP PBXs or going for IP Centrex, also referred to as hosted IP. A hosted IP has the IP PBX, application servers, and the media gateways situated at the service provider’s premises. The IP phones and the failover media are deployed at the user’s premises. The security of a hosted network is managed by the third party. The end-user can boost security by installing security components like network switches, SIP-aware firewalls, SEPs, etc.
Hosted IP with access over the Internet does not provide the same level of security as hosted solutions for enterprises that offer failover to the PSTN. In a hosted environment, the devices installed at the end-user’s premises include softphones that are by and large SIP-enabled; low-density media gateways that facilitate IP communication for circuit-switched devices; survivable Proxy for communicating with PSTN as a cover if connectivity to the service provider is not available; an edge device for NAT functions. An enterprise needs to have information on the manner in which the service providers provide security to their IP PBX and media gateways, and if they have an action plan in the case of an attack on their servers.
IP phones are the visible components of the network and hence more vulnerable, enterprises need to be aware of the security measures promised in the SLAs; the mode of executing NAT needs to be understood; preventive measures against attacks that are SIP-specific such as registration hijacking, DoS, etc; enterprises should check for the availability of TLS and SRTP and the preparedness for handling attacks that are initiated from within the network. voip-magazine.com reports:
One requirement of a hosted IP deployment is that the IP phones must be externally addressable in order to accept inbound calls. This means that these devices are "public" to some degree on the service provider’s voice network.
Read More: IP Security in a Hosted Environment
Cisco has stated that broadband carriers need to focus on bettering the quality of their applications so that customers can enjoy better access services. Cisco has stated that it will help service providers to add IPTV to their offerings. networkworld.com reports:
The idea is not to interfere with services consumers might receive over the Web, but to ensure any carrier services connected to the access service have a guaranteed level of quality, no matter what else is running over that link.
Read More: Carriers must take control of their broadband, IPTV services, Cisco says
The maturation of the IP telephony market has witnessed two distinct periods and the growth is now entering into its third phase. Beginning in 1996, the first phase saw trials with VoIP and proprietary protocols; this resulted in a Linux-based IP telephony platform. Over a period of time, certain suppliers have acquired the capability of providing QoS similar to that of TDM phones.
The second period in the growth of VoIP saw companies moving away from PSTN and toward VoIP attracted by the promise of an attractive ROI and convergence. The third stage in the growth of VoIP is going to involve its contribution at a strategic level. networkworld.com reports:
Two new industry developments propelling this phase are Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) and Web services in an SOA construct. SIP standardizes call signaling and communications between different types of devices from different vendors.
Read More: Is Avaya poised for a breakaway?
According to a survey by Foote Partners VoIP along with storage/storage-area networking and Gigabit Ethernet was among the three most paying network related skill for the period July – September. Training for VoIP is basically of two types. The first type is the vendor-specific training that may be obtained by enrolling for a certification course that is managed by one of the many vendors such as Cisco, Avaya, etc.
The second type of training is not vendor-centric and may not result in a certificate from a vendor but it gives the learner an all-round understanding of VoIP and issues related to its deployment. This type of VoIP training is provided by TRA, the Teracom Training Institute, and Global Knowledge.
CompTIA, which offers vendor-neutral training, is endeavoring to offer certification to the students. It is in the process of developing its Convergent Technologies Certification. Vendor-neutral training offers IT executives and management personnel, who are involved in executing VoIP initiatives, the opportunity to learn about VoIP architectures and deployment-related issues.
8X8, Inc, which provides the Packet8 services, will be selling 7, 142, 858 shares of common stock at a price of $ 2.10 per share. The shares are being purchased by two institutional investors. The share price is exclusive of the placement fees and adds up to around $ 15 million. The money will be used for scaling the Packet8 services and adding both retail and wholesale subscribers. prnewswire.com reports:
The investors will also receive warrants to purchase 1,785,714 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $3.00 per share. The warrants contain weighted average anti-dilution provisions.
Read More: 8x8 Enters Into Agreements
GIPS, which provides embedded solutions for processing speech, will be providing its iLBC voice codec to several leading companies in the VoIP market. HelloSoft and CIRPACK are two of the many users of the royalty-free software. iLBC-enabled solutions benefit from interoperability across different platforms. globalipsound.com reports:
These newest customers, who join other well-known companies such as Texas Instruments and AudioCodes on the growing roster of iLBC-enabled solutions, are planning to implement iLBC in a variety of existing and next-generation voice switches, gateways, and VoIP software solutions for various VoIP client devices.
Read More: Major VoIP Suppliers Select GIPS iLBC Royalty-Free Voice Codec
With the advent of VoIP, the conventional approach to calculating availability which was developed during the days of PSTN, does not hold true. VoIP systems are more distributed and are capable of supporting parallel structures in a manner not possible with PSTN. They can also include greater redundancy.
This can lead to high availability, which has to be arrived at after considering all the elements of the distributed architecture, such as the service components, software, hardware, etc. An availability of 99.999% or five nines implies a downtime of less than one hour every decade. spanlink.com reports:
VoIP-based IP Communications solutions are different. Intelligence is distributed to devices throughout the enterprise network: routers, firewalls, media gateways, LAN switches, IP phones, the IP PBX, and so on. Each device is itself a complex hardware/software system.
Read More: Taking VoIP Beyond Five-Nines
Cable operators stand to gain a lot if the concept of VoIP peering is propagated. It will enable cable operators to transmit VoIP calls to the backbone networks of other cable operators; they stand to gain from substantial savings by circumventing the PSTN. VoIP peering would also enable the cable operators to provide multimedia services that are not available through the PSTN network.
MSOs in North America have around 2.4 million customers of IP telephony and the customer base is growing at the rate of 50,000 customers every week. This has made VoIP peering a critical business issue. cabledigitalnews.com reports:
In a move just before Thanksgiving, CableLabs issued a formal request for information (RFI) about possible "technologies, products and service solutions" that would allow cable operators to "share VoIP traffic directly over their respective IP networks."
Read More: Cable MSOs Move to Jumpstart VoIP Peering
Not just cable companies but also companies such as Microsoft, Google, Yahoo, and AOL are providing voice services and thereby offering competition to the traditional telephone companies. America Online has introduced consumer VoIP. EBay has acquired Skype and Microsoft acquired Teleo in order to develop MSN voice services. networkworld.com reports:
Eclipsing the earliest versions of PC-to-PC voice, today's PC-to-PC offerings have solved many of the quality-of-service issues and are integrated with other information services.
Read More: Microsoft, Google, AOL and Yahoo as VoIP service providers?
MS Exchange 12 beta offers unified messaging. Microsoft’s VoIP offering, if integrated with Exchange 12, could be considered a safe buy by many IT administrators and it would enable them to incorporate VoIP into the desktops of users with ease. eweek.com reports:
Whether the Microsoft channel will be able to effectively sell VOIP, or whether the VOIP industry will gravitate toward Exchange server are two important challenges that Redmond faces.
Read More: Don't Make Us Wait for New Exchange Features
Goldman Sachs purchased a 12.6% stake in Jupiter Telecommunications Co. from Microsoft Corp. It then sold of the stake to institutional buyers. eweek.com reports:
Shares in Jupiter have risen 22.2 percent since the company debuted on Japan's Jasdaq market for start-ups in March.
Network professionals are of the opinion that hybrid IP/legacy PBXs are enabling companies to experience increased productivity and cost savings without having to completely replace the existing communications network. The hybrid of IP and TDM technology has been available from PBX vendors for quite some time.
The main drivers of this technology were reduced costs of inter-company long distance calls and converging of voice/data T-1s. Legacy PBXs use cards for connecting to the LAN and gateways for translating voice signals between IP and TDM. TDM handsets that have been IP-enabled can be used from desktops and obtain features such as click-to-call and unified voice/e-mail. networkworld.com reports:
Avaya is one company following the hybrid telephony trend in the industry - moving towards IP while maintaining TDM presence. Merrill Lynch says Avaya's TDM PBX sales shrunk 3% from the second to the third quarter of 2005, and compared with the same quarter a year ago sales are down 20%. Meanwhile, its hybrid IP voice sales grew 14%.
Read More: Users: Hybrid PBXs work
A family of integrated VoIP solutions has been launched by Marvell. The offering, Marvell 88W8618, is targeted at the fast growing Internet voice communications market and is particularly meant for the VoIP residential gateways. The products on offer integrate VoIP processing, low power WiFi circuitry, a high-performance host CPU and peripherals into single system-on-a-chip (SoC) solution. yenra.com reports:
These VoWLAN SoC solutions significantly reduce overall system cost for OEMs because of extremely high levels of integration. In addition, Marvell has increased the performance of these offerings for their respective applications.
Read More: VoIP SoC
Digiweb Ltd has been given a national license by Comreg which permits it to make mobile data services available in Ireland. It can use the 900 MHz spectrum band for this purpose. webwire.com reports:
This is a very significant award to Digiweb who will now add Mobile data and mobile Voice over IP services to it’s growing portfolio of wireless, DSL and satellite products and makes Digiweb one of the strongest players in the fixed and wireless markets in Ireland.
Read More: VoIP and Wireless Pushing Growth of Modems & Residential Gateways
Italtel and Cisco systems will be providing TP, the primary telecom operator in Poland, with equipment for implementing a PSTN gateway solution. The two companies will also assist in system integration. The new multi-service IP network will allow TP to offer VoIP and high-speed Internet access to customers. webwire.com reports:
The efficiency and robustness of the proposed Italtel platform have been demonstrated by its performance in other network infrastructures which have commercial traffic capacities of up to 500 billion voice minutes per year.
Read More: Italtel and Cisco Systems Connect Telekomunikacja Polska
Verizon is conducting a lab evaluation of an IMS solution developed by Nortel. The testing is for evaluating the IMS solution for interoperability with products from different vendors and also to check if it can provide full support for voice services over FTTP. webwire.com reports:
VoIP is being introduced into the local service network as well, potentially allowing Verizon to provide customers with network-based services that dramatically increase functionality, mobility and productivity.
Read More: Verizon Tests Nortel IMS Solution
Juniper Networks has provided mpower broadband with routing and security solutions that will help in providing reliable and secure VoIP services. mpower provides hosted VoIP services and applications for business and residential clients. The M-series multiservice routing platforms, VF-series session border controllers, and Integrated Security Gateways with IDP have been provided by Juniper networks. The solution ensures simple and seamless deployment of a feature-rich VoIP service. Customers of mpower will gain network connectivity, automated billing facility, and VoIP portal customization. This offering by mpower is a useful addition to its already well-received suite of carrier and enterprise services.
The M-series multiservice routers are deployed in the core of the mpower broadband network. The network acquires advanced IP/MPLS capabilities and the capability of delivering voice-specific quality of service (QoS) policies. The M-series router works alongside the multiple VF-series SBCs that offer a high level of security and hosted NAT traversal. In order to ensure the security of the network and protect it from DoS and network attacks, the ISG 1000 is used. It integrates a firewall, VPN, and IDP.
Vonage America has stated that it can now provide 911 services to all its customers in the US. Vonage transmits a 911 call to the most appropriate local emergency call center and also forwards the address and phone number of the caller. This caller information is then made available to the dispatcher every time the customer dials 911 from a Vonage phone. Vonage has ensured that at least basic 911 facilities are available to the users in case e911 is not provided. In the absence of the regular 911 facilities, emergency trained personnel at the Vonage national 911 emergency response center offer support.
Vonage Marketing has stated that it has been extending the e911 services to cities in the US. In two weeks, Vonage has been able to equip 140 emergency call centers in more than 80 counties. webwire.com reports:
In June, the FCC gave Vonage, and all Internet-based phone service companies, 120 days to create an E911 system from scratch, and provide all of its customers, wherever they are in the U.S., with E911 service.
Read More: Vonage® Equips Over 80 New Counties With Enhanced 911 Capabilities
According to Gurdeep Singh Pall, who is the Vice President of Microsoft real time collaboration, it is important for businesses to ensure the interoperability of their VoIP infrastructure with the developments in communications applications. Microsoft is working on presence communication that improves the communication between employees. The Office Communicator and Live Communication server are efforts in that direction. networkworld.com reports:
Microsoft is prepping applications that better integrate with communications channels - voice, instant messaging, e-mail, videoconferencing - that it says will improve efficiency and productivity among workers, says Pall.
Read More: Microsoft: Keep converged nets open for new applications
NimSoft will soon introduce a tool, NimBUS, which will help to monitor Cisco-based IP telephony networks. It will be able to scrutinize protocols and IP PBX hardware. NimBUS is a VoIP monitoring tool for the Cisco CallManager. It keeps track of the activities of the Cisco CallManager IP PBXs, IP phones, gateways and messaging servers, etc. NimBUS resides on a separate network server and reports on the quality of VoIP calls and also the robustness of the IP nodes. networkworld.com reports:
Users can get detailed statistics from CallManager servers, such as those relating to call setup and processing, as well as memory and CPU utilization for the Windows-based IP PBX server itself. Alerts can be sent to administrators as well if a CallManager’s hardware becomes overtaxed or is in danger of failing.
Read More: Software promises better monitoring of Cisco VoIP networks
Triple-play consisting of a satellite-based video component has been offered for quite some time by local phone companies. However, with the advent of phone companies like Verizon and SBC into the IPTV market, cable companies are gearing to reply to the challenge and they are doing so by offering bundled voice services. networkworld.com reports:
First, when cable operators make the "sale" of voice, that service is "just another part" of the bundle - almost like an HBO or Showtime subscription.
Read More: The 'triple-play' war heats up
Microsoft Corp. and MCI Inc. have come together in a partnership to make such software and services available that will enable callers to use a PC and call up any phone anywhere in the world. The service will be similar to that offered by Skype. The service will be available as a part of the Windows Live Messenger. The service will be available upon subscription and calls will be allowed on paying a fee, the concept is similar to that of Skypeout.
During the beta phase, users will get one hour of calls free and the rates for calls to the US, Canada, the UK, and Western Europe will start at 2.3 cents / minute. Prepaid calling time will be available in slabs of $5, $10 and $25. Customer registration, terminating calls, customer support, and billing will be managed by MCI.
The Coffs Harbour City Council, NSW, Australia, has taken recourse to SAN virtualization in order to consolidate its infrastructure. computerworld.com reports:
Andrew Sales, the council's special IT projects manager, said that after seeking bids for an integrated infrastructure solution, $337,000 was spent on new HP Proliant servers and an EVA3000 SAN.
China Netcom has stated that it is not planning to promote VoIP by joining hands with Skype. The company feels that even though there are subscribers of Internet VoIP, it is still too early to decide if the Internet will be able to handle the traffic load of a commercial VoIP service.
SOFTBANK Capital, Telesoft Partners, and Blumberg Capital, which are investors in LiteScape technologies, Inc. have pooled in another $ 5 million as a part of the Series A venture financing. The additional capital will be utilized to increase the scope of sales and marketing activities and strengthen relationships with the existing business partners like Cisco and Avaya. The company has registered strong growth in the past year and has increased its customer base thrice over. It also signed an agreement SBC which allows it to deploy its solutions for SBC’s customers.
The Multi-modal Application Platform (MAP) from LiteScape allows management of interactive sessions made up of voice, video, data in real time. These can be made available concurrently to several IP phones. LiteScape is concentrating on the enterprise VoIP market and its solutions, including OnCast, are aimed at empowering enterprises and service providers to integrate their business applications and IT infrastructure in a manner that will improve day-to-day communication.
According to In-Stat, the Customer Premises Equipment (CPE) market grew 20% in 2005 riding on a wave of increase in broadband subscribers and the increase in usage of wireless- and VoIP-enabled equipment. The broadband CPE market is moving from being primarily one of modems and hone-networking devices to include gateways as well. In-Stat states that the increased interest in VoIP and the drift from two-box solutions to residential gateways has had a positive effect on the CPE market.
Information Security Forum has released a report that highlights the security threats in IP networks. The report says that as VoIP grows, the threats will evolve to a greater degree of sophistication. The risks associated with VoIP will increase as it moves into the enterprise environment. Security threats such as caller-ID spoofing, voice modifiers, SPIT (voicemail spam), etc have the potential to seriously hamper voice communication and also lead to identity theft. Theft of VoIP bandwidth and packet injections are other security hazards mentioned in the book.
The 2006 Small Business Technology Outlook by the Information Technology Solution Providers Alliance has highlighted some pertinent points for SMBs. Very often SMBs do not make use of services that really matter, these include VoIP, e-mail and mobility. These affordable solutions offer improvements in efficiency and better growth prospects. smartbiz.com reports:
VoIP has become mainstream in small businesses. It increases business viability and efficiency and reduces costs by avoiding the traditional phone companies when making local and long distance calls. These services also increase phone-based applications.
Read More: Small Businesses: Focus On VoIP and Mobility
The acceptance and growth of VoIP within organizations occurs at three levels; the first level is of cutting costs by deploying VoIP and moving away from POTS, the second level involves improving operational efficiencies by deploying a converged network that enables smooth and centralized management of voice and data spread over multiple locations; the third level covers the convergence of applications that help in improving productivity and customer experience.
VoIP is now being leveraged by smaller companies to improve the functioning of their CRM applications. The acquisition of Skype by eBay points to the fact that soon VoIP will cease to exist as an independent offering but will be available embedded in a wide range of IP applications. The ubiquity of VoIP underlines its importance as a tool for enhancing communications and the business experience. For SMBs, the initial pull of VoIP is its low cost of ownership, VoIP services also provide features such as voicemail and conferencing and in terms of voice quality are on par with traditional telephony.
The increased number of service providers offering VoIP services has opened up the options for SMBs who can now choose the one with quality and service bundle of their liking. Looking beyond the obvious benefits of VoIP, SMBs are now discovering that it can also generate revenue by enhancing productivity, enabling user-level customizations that make work easier for employees. Automatic routing and prescreening of calls are just some of the features that a company can use to its advantage by deploying VoIP.
SMBs that invest in solutions aim to meet their crucial objectives that are usually on the lines of increasing sales and reducing expenses. This has led to VoIP solution providers and channel partners joining hands so that the most effective converged solution can be made available to the business. The 2005 SMB Communications, Broadband, VoIP Survey by the Yankee Group has found that saving money on inter-office calling and long-distance calls was the prime reason for VoIP adoption by 37% of the SMBs questioned. Employee productivity and mobility were rated as reasons for VoIP adoption by 32% and 31% of the respondents, respectively.
The University of New Hampshire InterOperability Laboratory (UNH-IOL) was assisted by 10 companies and the U.S military in a project that successfully demonstrated that IPv6 can be used to make secure, international voice calls. The tests were carried out on Moonv6 network, which the largest multi-vendor IPv6 network in the world. convergedigest.com reports:
UNH-IOL engineers employed realistic traffic streams, passing mixed VoIP and data traffic over the IPv6 network and successfully demonstrating basic application layer functionality and IPv4 equivalency in areas such as addressing.
Read More: UNH-IOL Tests Security, Mobility and VoIP on IPv6 Testbed
Pactolus Communications Software and Convedia have come together in a partnership to hasten the deployment of SIP-based, IMS-compliant services by service providers. The partnership will make use of RapidFLEX Service Creation Environment and SIPware Carrier Service Suite and IP multimedia processing by Convedia. convergedigest.com reports:
Pactolus has implemented IMS across its RapidFLEX Service Delivery Platform and SIPware Services using an open software environment that includes SIP, SOAP, XML, HTTP and other IP-based technologies in an extensible framework.
Read More: Pactolus and Convedia Collaborate on IMS
SS8 Networks will be providing emerging IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) based networks with the capability of Lawful Intercept. convergedigest.com reports:
Xcipio interprets the messages, correlates them with a specific warrant and sends the SIP signaling and RTP voice streams to the collection function nodes at law enforcement agencies (per ANSI T1.678 protocol).
Read More: SS8 Develops Lawful Intercept For IMS
The enhanced version of the IMG 1010 integrated signaling and media gateway from Excel Switching Corporation will carry SIP and ISDN functionality. This will allow service providers to incorporate VoIP capacity and make a smooth transition to an all-VoIP scenario. convergedigest.com reports:
The IMG 1010 supports SIP, H.323, SS7 and ISDN simultaneously, all in a compact 1U design that can accommodate up to 768 channels.
Read More: Excel Switching Enhances its Integrated Signaling/Media Gateway
The new Spectra2 Release 4.4 software by Tektronix allows the Spectra2 VoIP testing solution to achieve twice its VoIP and converged network RTP large-scale load generation features. convergedigest.com reports:
Spectra2 combined with the WTI RTP board performs large-scale media tests, allowing users to evaluate busy hour call capacity by simulating load under ever-increasing, real-world operating conditions.
In the coming holiday season, users of the BT Communicator will be able to make free calls to landlines across 30 countries. According to BT, it is already offering lower rates than Skype for calls made to landlines via a PC. convergedigest.com reports:
Meanwhile, the price of Broadband Talk, which allows customers to use a normal phone, rather than the PC, has been slashed by up to 50 per cent to just £2 per month for evening and weekend calls or £7 a month for anytime calls and with BTs top two Broadband packages, evening and weekend calls are completely free.
Read More: BT Offers Consumer VoIP Promotions
MiRS Communications, which provides integrated wireless services in Israel and has around 333,000 subscribers, has chosen Tekelec for providing it with a core convergence switching solution. The solution will allow MiRS to move to an IMS architecture and acquire next-generation capabilities such as FMS and hosted SIP services. The MIS architecture will support the execution of network applications and manage the switching of the MiRS mobile devices and SIP-based clients.
According to telecom provider Thus, users who are a part of a P2P VoIP network end up losing bandwidth without realizing it. Their bandwidth gets used for carrying voice and data of other users. These applications that can find their way across firewalls are difficult to identify and control. In order to prevent productivity loss due to high bandwidth consumption and also to ensure network security, Thus recommends that the IT administration should educate users on the risks associated with VoIP, installation of applications from desktops should be disallowed, traffic flows should be monitored to check for unusual activity, if used, VoIP applications should be managed as supported business applications, and up-to-date antivirus should be in place.
Linksys, which is a division of Cisco Systems, Inc will be collaborating with UK-based Telabria for making VoIP services available to business and residential subscribers. Linksys analogue telephone adaptors (ATAs) and VoIP handsets will be used in this endeavor to cover the huge WiMAX-class wireless broadband network, which happens to be one of the largest in Europe.
Responses for a RFP released by CableLabs have to be made by December 14. The RFP is regarding a VoIP peering solution and pertains to information on the architectures required, specifications, operations and management needs for creating a production grade environment.
The I-Gate 4000 Edge is a media gateway from Veraz Networks that is meant for supporting distributed low density sites. It can scale up to 500 simultaneous calls. The I-Gate 4000 Edge supports diverse compression, switching, and applications like VoIP trunking, legacy PBX access, mobile network compression and switching, etc. The gateway enables carriers to implement compressed backhaul and local switching applications.
The XelorRate Service Quality Manager from Xelor Software is a Linux application for Red Hat. It offers a QoS solution for Avaya's Communications Manager and Cisco's CallManager. The software uses SNMP and provides network configuration, dynamic bandwidth allocation, and automated packet prioritization. The software enforces the QoS policy from end-to-end after the initial configuration. It configures Class of Service and Differentiated Services for Layer 2 and Layer 3, respectively.
The bandwidth availability and the delay bounds are evaluated by using an SAC algorithm. Upon receiving a positive response from the SAC, the software starts to control the network resources. It uses the ACL entries on the access ports that are nearest to the point of origin and termination of the call in order to allocate bandwidth and manage the flow treatment. XelorRate is available at rates $ 14,700 and $ 61,000 for companies with 200 and 1500 seats, respectively.
Converged Mobile VoIP is a platform that allows mobile operators to provide PC-to-PC and PC-to-phone VoIP calls. It has been developed by Tatara Systems. 3GPP/2 compliant architectures are required for this technology.
Features like network authentication and authorization, presence and location management, etc are available with the platform. Other features include NAT and firewall traversal, SIP session management, voice call information, CDR generation, etc.
Cisco Systems has launched several products and product enhancements that are linked with the service exchange framework (SEF), which is the service convergence layer of the IP NGN architecture. SEF is interoperable with both IMS and non-IMS networks. It facilitates the availability of a number of SIP applications like dual-mode telephony, push to talk, etc. It enables users to offer bundled services that can be customized by means of selection, prepaid and postpaid alternatives, different billing and usage models, etc.
SEF facilitates monitoring of VoIP quality in real time in non-IMS applications. It also enables the combining of network with third-party anti virus and intrusion detection appliances. The new offering comes with a session border controller integrated on the XR 12000 series router. This allows for interoperability of the SIP and H.323 signaling and the MPLS-enabled media gateway. Product enhancements have been made in the call session control platform v 3, service control engine v 3, PGW2200 media gateway controller v 9.7, and the BTS 10200 softswitch v 4.5.
Consumer Voice over Broadband (C-VoBB), which is a residential VoIP service solution for network operators has been introduced by Sonus Networks. C-VoBB supports both e911 and CALEA and provides features such as voice mail and speed dialing. It comprises a call routing server, a call management server, and a management system.
The 4500 series of switches from 3Com will enable SMBs to support VoIP and converging applications. The series includes a 26 port switch and a 56 port switch; the switches can work in networks installed by different vendors. Layer 2 switching and dynamic layer 3 routing functionality is provided as well. The switches are also available with PoE. The 26- and 50-port switches cost $ 695 and $ 1295, respectively. Their cost with PoE is $ 2,292 and $ 4,295, respectively.
Interactive Connectivity Establishment (ICE), which is a standard developed by IETF, has received support from Cisco Systems and Microsoft. ICE is used as a NAT traversal solution. The technology is considered to be more robust and scalable as compared to tunneling that is done using HTTP and Port 80.
LiteScape Technologies has launched a Secure Profile Management (SPM) service that allows users of IP phones to gain access to enterprise services. The product supports only the Cisco IP PBX as of now but will hopefully offer support to IP PBX solutions from other vendors. The LiteScape Multi-modal Application Platform (MAP) that is used for real-time data management in a converged network has the SPM application on top of it. SPM uses authentication measures such as policy, RFID, biometric readers, etc. voipplanet.com reports:
The authenticated user gets access to whatever services their policy level dictates, no matter where the physical IP device may happen to be. SPM also provides logging and auditing capabilities in order to meet potential regulatory compliance issues.
Read More: LiteScape Takes Aim at Improving Profile Management
Marconi, which has for long been a leading player in the global communications field, has included a few key elements in its Impact portfolio of next generation of switching products. The elements are an IMS and Softswitch platform, an access network for accessing xDSL, POTS, VoIP, GSM, etc, a common application and management environment.
The core business products of the company include those required for broadband routing and switching, microwave radio, optical networks, etc. Customers of the company include ISPs, public network operators, etc. voipplanet.com reports:
One of the strong features of this architecture is that the SoftSwitch is software upgradeable to the IMS Session Controller, as they run on the same hardware, and with the same management platform, yielding greater flexibility in network deployment.
The increased use of VoIP has led to the development of headphones created particularly for the VoIP market. These complement the quality of VoIP audio which is improving steadily. networkingpipeline.com reports:
The really comfortable earpieces are made of thick cloth, resulting in an immediate soft, snug fit. One advantage this headset has over Logitech’s Premium 350 Headset is that the adjustable mic extends out far enough that it can be placed directly in front of the mouth.
Read More: Review: Four VoIP Headsets
The merger of H.J Heinz and Del Monte resulted in the jettisoning of a hundred systems and voice over IP was given a boost within the enterprise. eweek.com reports:
The moves were intended to cut costs and expedite the integration of the business, but IT got a bonus, Brown said: "It drastically improved system reliability."
Read More: Del Monte Cuts Help Desk Calls by 90%
In Skype transmissions the size of packets within the same stream can vary between 115 to 190 bytes in a packet. The identification of a Skype stream based on packet spacing is rendered difficult as the VoIP packets have variable spacing that varies from 27 milliseconds to 40 millseconds. networkworld.com reports:
The nodes involved in call setup are obscured by a blast of traffic that occurs in the second or so that a Skype call is established.
Read More: Spotting and stopping Skype: Good luck
Free VoIP services such as Skype are not a serious security threat according to an assessment by Networkworld. Most NAT-based firewalls are unable to stop Skype from entering the system. Given that there are more than four million users online at any given time, it is not improbable that Skype is already present in several organizations. networkworld.com reports:
We evaluated the security of Skype Instant Messaging and file transfer, along with the internetworking of Skype 1.4 and 2.0 beta. We also tracked the effect of Skype operations, in terms of CPU and memory use, on laptops.
Read More: Assessing Skype's network impact
VoIP deployment requires changes in the existing network in order to make it capable of handling real-time traffic. This also calls for a thorough pre-deployment assessment of the network. According to Gartner, around 85% of the existing networks are not geared for handling VoIP transmissions and three fourths of the companies that do not carry out a predeployment analysis of their IP network infrastructure are bound to falter with the actual deployment.
In order to prevent seen and unseen problems from hampering a VoIP deployment, it is important that companies execute necessary changes such as replacing LAN/WAN links, including PoE for the network switches, etc. Predeployment assessment tools such as AppareNet Voice can help in assessing problems with the NIC drivers such as full- and half-duplex conflicts. Rate-limiting queues and latency can lead to packet loss and degradation of voice quality. Faulty media and incorrect media deployment such as incorrect cabling and imperfect optic ends, electromagnetic interference, etc can lead to variable jitter. eweek.com reports:
"You'll see call-quality issues there first," said Kurt Wright, senior network engineer at IPC. Engineers execute tests that measure bandwidth utilization, packet loss, round-trip time, latency and packet reordering. They also look at mean Opinion scores, which measure call quality.
Read More: Dodging VOIP Predeployment Pitfalls
The growth of wireless LAN has prompted vendors to come up with upgrades that offer features such as intrusion detection, wireless VoIP, etc. The changes should allow the network administrators to exercise greater control over the management of the WLAN infrastructure. AirDefense will be introducing the AirDefense Enterprise 7.0. It will gather and archive data in order to help in discriminating between normal and dangerous activity.
AirDefense Enterprise 7.0 consists of radio sensors, a rack-mounted security appliance, etc also has a data store referred to as Intelli. 200 days of data can be stored by the device. Upon detecting a new device on the WLANs, the product gathers data regarding the behavior and features of the device and compares it with the behavior of access points in the vicinity. networkworld.com reports:
Also new is a client program that can be downloaded to corporate laptops, where it can enforce a range of WLAN security policies when users are tapping into public wireless hot spots or a home WLAN.
Read More: WLAN products undergo facelift
8x8 Inc is reselling its Packet8 service through BellSouth Corp. The service has been named BellSouth Digital Phone Service and is currently available in Gainesville, Fla. The service includes standard features such as caller ID, call waiting, voicemail, etc. lightreading.com reports:
The FastAccess service costs between $24.95 and $46.95 per month, depending on the speed of the connection.
Read More: BellSouth Launches Residential VOIP
The Infrastructure Modernization Program (IMOD), which is to commence in 2006, will cost $ 4 billion and is one of the most significant telecom projects issued by the federal government. The program aims to modernize the fiber-optic cable and wireless communication networks at the various US army bases globally. This will help in providing better support to critical missions. The contract, which has a five-year base term and one five-year option, will be awarded in April 2006. The program will also help the army to make a shift from POTS to VoIP in the next five years.
The IMOD program will be carried out under the Installation Information Infrastructure Modernization Program (I3MP). IMOD was preceded by the billion Digital Switched Systems Modernization Program, which cost $ 1 billion. Under the program, 18 contracts were awarded to 17 vendors in June 1997. washingtonpost.com reports:
Other big Army telecommunications contracts to be awarded in 2006 are for the $20 billion Information Technology Enterprise Solutions 2 Services (ITES 2S) and the $5 billion Worldwide Satellite Systems Program (WWSS).
Read More: Army Prepares Major Telecom Transition
Telus Corp. has announced the merger of its fixed-line and wireless divisions. The company’s wireless division has been growing and is the main driver of revenues. lightreading.com reports:
Carriers across North America and Europe have been busy reorganizing their businesses to incorporate fixed and mobile operations, and many have been buying other mobile operations to expand their presence in key growth markets.
Read More: Telus Catches Convergence Fever
The concept of Broadband over Powerline (BPL) has found acceptance in countries where traditionally the communications infrastructure has not been very strong. However, it is still very much a niche market. Apart from offering cheap connectivity in emerging markets, it also offers the advantage of better monitoring of power distribution. businesswire.com reports:
But, according to Vamsi Sistla, ABI Research's director of broadband, digital home and media, such disruptive technologies, while they address emerging markets, can also benefit legacy businesses such as power utilities in the industrialized world.
Read More: BPL May Boost Utilities' Bottom Line
VoIP access solutions from Quintum provide businesses with the opportunity to connect to a VoIP network without having to go through an expensive integration overhaul process.
Acme Packet Inc. will be providing its Net-Net session border controllers to TeleCommunication Systems Inc, VoIP Inc, and Pac-West Telecom Inc. The Acme Packet session boarder controllers will be used by TeleCommunication Systems for its VoIP e911 location information routing and delivery platform.
VoIP Inc. will use the product to deliver its VoIP services to a greater number of those who are using its VoiceOne network. According to VoIP Inc, the local access points in the VoiceOne network number in excess of 5,900. This gives the network the potential to reach out to as much as 90% of the American population.
The VoiceSource suite of services offered by Pac-West is available in six western states in the US. The company hopes to reach out to more than 50 percent of the population by making its services available in thirty-six metropolitan markets in the US.
In order to consider VoIP interconnect, a VoIP carrier has to take into account the expenditure and quality of the calls. Even though the number of VoIP carriers is on the rise, the carriers are trying to reduce costs by cutting down on the number of interconnects. The cost of establishing a bilateral VoIP-peering arrangement is too high even for Tier 1 carriers.
A single private interconnection for VoIP peering requires equipment such as routers, switches, session border controllers, and a significant amount of effort. The cost of all this can run into hundreds of thousands of dollars. The cost of running and maintaining such an operation would amount to tens of thousands of dollars. The Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) is used by carriers to interconnect through the public Internet. This helps to bring down transport expenses. However, since BGP offers “best effort” routing, It is not very suitable for real-time VoIP applications. BGP chooses the route with the fewest number of hops but does not take into account variables such as network conditions and cost.
The QoS of VoIP traffic routed through various exchanges cannot be controlled by the carrier and voice quality invariably suffers from a degrade with each handoff. The peering solution do not enable easy introduction of new services by carriers. The different aspects in a network need to function seamlessly if carriers wish to benefit from a smooth interconnection of services and business practices.
A new model of VoIP interconnect service proposes to offer seamless interconnection at low cost. Several service providers are now providing direct and transparent VoIP peering that allows carriers to access the networks of other carriers through a single interconnection. The quality of voice is also high due to optimization of the routing decisions. The routing techniques used take into account factors such as load balancing, line quality, etc. The paths are judged for latency, packet loss, and jitter. A seamless VoIP interconnect across the media and protocols of the various carriers can open up the doors to a number of profit-making services.
The “Interim VoIP Architecture for Enhanced 911 Services” developed by the National Emergency Number Association (NENA) is the first significant revamp of E911 design in the past thirty years. It is also the first step in coming up with a standard on VoIP and E911 system interface. telecomweb.com reports:
NENA’s been working on a new design for E911 since 2003, and the new standard was described as only an interim solution, which enables VoIP telecommunications service providers to deliver full E911 service through the current E911 infrastructure.
Read More: NENA OKs Interim VoIP E911 Architecture
The Wi-Fi Alliance will be certifying features meant to increase the battery life of LAN phones. The Wi-Fi alliance also offers certification to interoperable Wi-Fi products. It will now offer a label referred to as the Wireless Multimedia (WMM) Power Save. The label will serve as an identification of products that have succeeded in reducing the power consumption for multimedia applications over LAN. pcworld.idg.com.au reports:
The size and weight requirements of Wi-Fi phones as well as dual-mode cellular and WLAN handsets, plus the need to carry them around all day, make power consumption even more critical.
Read More: Wi-Fi group to certify battery-saving tools
Engin and People Telecom have come together in a wholesale partnership to expand the existing VoIP services in Australia. Engin will take over the existing and future VoIP customers of People Telecom. People Telecom’s service was previously available only in Melbourne, Sydney, and Perth. pcworld.idg.com.au reports:
"We currently have over 1000 on our network, and another 100 have signed up just this week," he said. "This partnership will open VoIP up to a lot of our resellers who would not otherwise have had access to it."
Read More: Wholesale partnership expands VoIP
Yahoo will soon offer US users of its IM service the facility to dial out to traditional and mobile phones. Users will be able to receive phone calls on their IM by obtaining one or more numbers on rent. The numbers are offered at $ 2.99 per month or $ 29.9 per year. In the initial phase only the numbers of the US, UK, and France will be available. It will be possible for non-US residents to get US numbers.
Calls to US-based numbers will be charged $ 0.01 / minute whereas calls to countries in Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America will be charged under $ 0.02 / minute. Currently, thirty countries have been chosen for this tariff. The rates are decided by the termination point of the call and not based on the country where the call originates.
Yahoo has named the feature “phone out”. Prepaid credit is available in slabs of $ 10 and $ 25. There is no time limit for using up the credit. Yahoo has already been providing free PC-to-PC calls and the facility of calling up a telephone number by using the service of Net2Phone Inc.
Yahoo Messenger has had PC-to-PC voice communications for years, and it has offered users a fee-based option to dial out to a phone number using the third-party Net2Phone Inc. service. Yahoo has still to announce the release date of this new version of Yahoo Messenger.
BCM3368, launched by Broadcom, is a VoCable SoC based on Viper, which is an enhanced RISC processor architecture. The chip does not need a dual processor or dual memory architectures for supporting multiple voice lines. The solution offers good scalability and wireless mobility. An ICSA certified firewall offers security. The solution supports peripheral interfaces such as multi-port Ethernet, USB, Bluetooth, and storage devices. The cost of the chip in sets of 100,000 is $ 25 each. It comes in 426-pin PBGA packaging
Norfa Lite is a billing and call management platform introduced by SysMaster. It works with managed IP Centrex and IP PBX systems that use end user CPE like IP phones for processing calls.
The VoIP Security Threat Taxonomy has been released by the VoIP Security Alliance (VoIPSA). The taxonomy classifies and explains the various threats. The study comprises a path for integrating public policy and technology issues; understanding the human and technological inputs; the role of the law; and a study of the susceptibilities that exist throughout the value chain.
The AP-100 is an SIP video phone developed by AuPix, which is based in the UK. The phone has a 12.1” active TFT LCD display and it can support CIF/QCIF video at 30 fps. An RS-232 port and 2 Ethernet 10/100 ports are present in the phone.
DeltaThree has added a callback feature and *88 to its wholesale VoIP service. The callback feature consists of Tel CallBack, Web callback, and SMS callback. *88 allows users to check their account balance. DeltaThree has a reseller program that is focused on call centers, Internet cafes, ISPs, web portals, etc.
The VoCable solution offered by Net2Phone will be used by Cable & Wireless for providing VoIP solutions to a population of 3.6 million in the West Indies.
NetZero has introduced five calling plans for PC to PC and PC to VoIP phone service in the United States. The paid calls are in packages of $5, $10, $25, and $50. A free package allows NetZero users to make free PC-to-PC calls. The plans include functionalities such as voicemail, an email account, instant messaging software, caller ID, call waiting, and call blocking. The paid packages also include a personal phone number and 3-way calling. Other plans include a 100, 250, and unlimited minutes plans. They are priced at $3.95, $9.95, and $14.95 per month.
Telephia is tracking VoIP under its Total Voice Share service. The service monitors the market shares of wireless carriers, traditional phone companies, and cable companies in US markets like San Diego, Los Angeles, and Charlotte. The market data is divided into residential and business subscribers.
The iNAV 9400 is a SS7 signaling gateway that is used with IETF SIGTRAN signaling networks. It has been developed by Interphase. The SS7 signaling gateway works with low speed, high speed and ATM line interfaces. It supports a number of protocols such as ANSI, ITU-T, ETSI, TTC-Japan, NTT-Japan and China for SS7.
BellSouth Corporation will now support Rich Media Conferencing. BellSouth provides support for advanced enterprise VoIP applications. Cisco Systems has awarded the Rich Media Communications (RMC) Advanced Technology Provider (ATP) status to BellSouth. The designation is acknowledgement of the fact that BellSouth is capable of providing the knowledge and skills necessary for a successful deployment of Cisco RMC systems that cater to high-end and enterprise clients. tmcnet.com reports:
"BellSouth's full portfolio of VoIP solutions allows customers to experience productivity enhancing applications that immediately impact business operations."
AirGATE Technologies Inc. will be providing a VoIP add-on module for telephones used in correctional centers. The modules will be wired and wireless. LANs and the Internet can be used for routing the VoIP-enables telephone calls. Power-over-Ethernet powers the wired module and a power line that can provide voltage and current is used for the wireless modules.
SMS, or Short Message Service, is the technology behind what we
often refer to as ‘text messages’ or ‘SMSes’, as well as what allows
for news alerts on cellular phones. In recent years SMS has ballooned
to over a 50 billion dollar industry and is quickly taking the
communications world by storm.
Short Message Service actually refers to a framework that uniquely
allows computers, or in this case phones, to communicate with each
other without the need of a central hub. With SMS, phones can find each
other, send short packets of information back and forth, and do it all
without any central computer to guide them. But because the system does
not rely upon fixed lines like a land based telephone system does, the
amount of information that can be sent at one time is limited in size.
This depends on the language spoken, but for English letters this
typically means around 150 characters (Chinese and Japanese letters are
limited to 70).
Quite recently, however, new developments in the technology have
allowed for even longer messages to be sent. Long or Concatenated SMS
is a development that allows multiple messages to be combined to form a
single message. In effect, what happens is that your phone actually
sends out a few smaller messages and then the receiving phone simply
compiles those messages so that for users on both ends, it appears as
though the message were cohesive. While there are some limitations, the
brilliance behind SMS is that because there is no need for central
hubs, and thus the system can be expanded indefinitely without any
concerns of it slowing down or becoming more expensive.
The most common form of SMS is ‘texting’. This usually takes place
with a cellular phone in which individuals use the letters behind the
number pad on their phone to spell out words and phrases and then send
them out. Because many companies charge by the word, individuals have
come up with a sort of ‘texting slang’ to cut down on the amount of
words required to convey a particular message. For example, ‘gr8’ and
‘BTW’ mean ‘great’ and ‘by the way’. In addition, other words have just
been shortened, such as ‘lata’ to mean ‘later’. Most users simply pick
up the lingo through frequent use, and although some slang is widely
understood and used, other shortcuts are developed within circles of
friends and family.
The major advantage of SMS is its price. The price is typically
$0.05 per message, a significant cut below that of traditional
telephony and cell phone per-minute charges. The savings of SMS has its
roots in the nature of the technology. Short Message Service, like SIP,
is modeled on a peer to peer model and not a cog and wheel like
traditional communication systems. This means that instead of having to
route a message through a central hub, your text goes straight from you
to its destination. This has radically cut down on the cost of SMS
implementation and led to its overwhelming popularity throughout the
world.
Short Message Service (SMS) has radically changed the face of the
communications industry. While the practice has become quite common
throughout the world, it has only recently become popular here in the
United Stats, a growth partly predicated upon, surprisingly enough, its
featured role in the show American Idol. The fact that ‘texting’ is
quickly gaining both in popularity and recognition in the United States
is not surprising however, due to its ability to offer users a cheap,
quick, and often fun way to communicate with friends and family.
About the Author: Jim Sherman writes about interesting topics such as SMS call. See http://www.mobalex.com/products/smspage.html for more information.
Even though connectivity is becoming increasingly easy to access for the lay user, communication between the various networks that make it possible is not easy to achieve. The reason for this is that standards and protocols vary from network to network. The Internet Protocol for Multimedia Subsystems (IMS) is a standard that looks to bridge the gap between networks. mobilepipeline.com reports:
From simple phone calls, voice mail and call waiting, to wireless text messaging and multimedia downloads, most existing telecom services were designed to perform their specific functions as if walled off into distinct silos on the network.
Read More: IMS Convergence Technology Gains Momentum
Post Katrina, New Orleans is moving to reduce its dependence on traditional and mobile telephony. The city will be offering a free Wi-Fi network to the citizens. The city will get a municipal-scale network from Tropos Networks. mobilepipeline.com reports:
During the height of the hurricane’s destruction, a dramatic broadband moment occurred when existing telephone and cell phone services were disabled and the White House was able contact city officials over a broadband link using Vonage VoIP technology.
Read More: Big Easy Gets Free Wi-Fi Network
Regulatory agencies in North America, the EU, and the Asia-Pacific region are developing new ways to use the spectrum in the most efficient manner. The different approaches to this end include the IEEE 802.11n, UWB, and cognitive radio. The former approach concentrates on improving the efficiency of systems by developing the existing standards. The latter two strategies include opening up the spectrum to other users as well. mobilepipeline.com reports:
The sharing strategy of UWB is accomplished by severe restrictions of the transmit power. Cognitive radios probably will not have that limitation, but will constantly sense the spectral environment and then alter their characteristics as necessary to avoid interference.
Read More: Moving Toward A Future Of Gigabit Wireless
Setting up a wireless network at home is as easy as plugging a wireless router into an available Ethernet drop. However, in an enterprise a wireless WLAN needs to be planned and designed, once that happens setting up a network is easily accomplished.
Wireless networking has been adopted enthusiastically by verticals including healthcare and retail. However, its ease of deployment is offset by factors like the existing network infrastructure that may require and upgrade. Wireless WLANs are also gaining in popularity as more companies move toward VoIP.
Wi-Fi deployments are a function of a company’s requirements; the wireless networks may or may not be linked to the wired networks. This has implications for network security; an integrated network leads to access and security integration. mobilepipeline.com reports:
"But you do have to define how you will do security for the WLAN and for the network as a whole. There are new standards out there, but no one's using them right now, so this is something you have to think about."
Read More: Ten-Minute Guide To Setting Up A WLAN
Wi-Fi APs can be configured such that Ethernet is no longer required. The Wi-Fi APs function as self-configuring routers capable of creating multihop meshes. These meshes can overcome network congestion and physical obstructions. The major players in this field include Tropos, BelAir, Strix and Firetide. Interoperability between products manufactured by these companies will not be possible till the 802.11s standard gets incorporated into the products.
Wireless meshes offer greater flexibility, are comparatively inexpensive than LAN cables and T1 services, and less prone to outages. However, their proprietary technology will not allow them to scale to applications that require a very high bandwidth. Thus, even though Wi-Fi meshes are cheaper and more flexible, they will not completely overshadow the Cat 5 cables. Wi-Fi meshes operate with IEEE 802.11 clients and connects the access points.
The Wi-Fi mesh is not a P2P network as it does not connect every phone and use it as a router. Temporary offices that require connectivity can consider meshed Wi-Fi, also since it is difficult to find wired connectivity in an outdoor environment; most vendors are targeting this space and coming up with outdoor systems. Also, the new FCC regulations regarding DSL are the reason behind ISPs having to turn to wireless. Public Wi-Fi networks being developed by various municipalities are another opportunity for this technology.
Tropos Networks and BelAir Networks focus on government projects but are also available for use by enterprises. Strix Systems and Firetide were initially active only in the indoor systems market but have now increased the scope of their operation to include outdoor systems. An elementary Wi-Fi mesh will have the clients and APs using the same frequency channel; although this results in lowered AP cost it also reduces the bandwidth. The clients have to contest with one another in order to use the bandwidth. As these meshes are basically single radio systems, reception and transmission cannot occur at the same time.
Every additional hop reduces bandwidth by half, which affects the speed of voice and data transmission. The single-radio system has found acceptance with government networks because it is a low cost alternative. However, for enterprise use, dual- or multi-radio networks are preferred. mobilepipeline.com reports:
Currently, metro-area vendor BelAir is the only player to sell both single-radio and multi-radio systems, designating the multi-radio gear for the network core and the single radios for the edge. Firetide sidesteps the issue entirely by including an Ethernet hub instead of an AP for client connections.
Read More: The Rewards And Perils Of Meshing With Wi-Fi
Nortel will be developing a commercial broadband wireless access network in Canada. It has been selected by the Alberta Special Areas Board (SAB) to do so. The network based on WiMAX IEEE 802.16-2004 (fixed WiMAX) standard is the first of its kind in Canada. NETAGO Wireless is working in conjunction with the SAB to make wireless broadband available to the rural populace of Alberta spread over an area of 8,000 square miles. webwire.com reports:
"This WiMAX network will support our goal of bridging the digital divide through affordable broadband wireless Internet services to users located in rural areas of Alberta," said Jay J. Slemp, chairman, SAB.
Littelfuse Inc. has awarded a three-year networking contract worth $ 1.8 million to AT&T. Littelfuse manufactures electrical components and circuit protection products. Littelfuse will acquire a global IP VPN that will enable better communication. The MPLS platform provided by AT&T will assist in the planned migration of Littelfuse from traditional telephony to VoIP. webwire.com reports:
The new technology offers Littelfuse significant cost savings, including unlimited toll-free calling between branch offices and a system design that can be scaled to precisely fit Littelfuse’s growing business.
Read More: Littelfuse Launches Global VoIP with AT&T
Cisco Systems is donating IP videophones for hospitalized children to experience Christmas festivities, especially interacting with Santa Klaus. voipplanet.com reports:
The children and their families will gather in common areas in the hospitals where the Cisco video telephony equipment will be set up for the calls.
Read More: Connecting Kids With Claus
Zultys Technologies has released the Frisbee-form BTC (Bluetooth Conference Phone). The company believes that the product will greatly enhance the quality of audio conferencing. The Frisbee-form BTC can work with any phone that is equipped with Bluetooth. The BTC is equipped with four microphones and high quality speakers that can provide loud and clear sound with hormonal distortion of only 2%.
The Zultys ZIP 4X5 is an IP desk phone that works smoothly with BTC. The phone can manage up to four remote participants of a conference call. The BTC can also function as a mobile conferencing tool if it is used with a mobile phone. The lithium ion batteries of the BTC can be charged by AC, the batteries offer up to ten hours of talk-time and two weeks of standby. The product weighs up to three and a half pounds with batteries and around two pounds without it.
The recent issuing of patches by Skype has only served to heighten security concerns regarding the deployment of Skype in an enterprise environment. According to some experts, a major factor in the popularity of Skype is its ease of use and one reason for this is that it is non-standard. Even though Skype uses SIP, most of its codes are closed and proprietary. Those who feel that the security fears regarding Skype are overblown state that several software vendors, Microsoft included, release security patches from time to time. Skype is also a member of Forum for Incident Response and Security Teams (FIRST). The forum advocates transparency. voipplanet.com reports:
Some believe the best way to ensure continued strength is to make encryption source code public and expose it to a barrage of attempts at breaking the keys. Others –Skype included—believe it's better to closely guard the technology and submit it for peer review, which Skype has done.
Read More: Skype: Big Bad Wolf? part 2
According to Infonetics, global third quarter sales for PBX/KTX have been $2.1 billion. The figure is a 17% growth in sales compared to the third quarter of 2004. 47% of enterprise IP line shipments in the third quarter of 2005 were meant for the United States. voipplanet.com reports:
Data from Synergy Research Group's Q3 2005 enterprise VoIP market shares shows a 30.6 percent year-over-year increase in the worldwide enterprise IP telephony market. According to Synergy Research's metrics, Avaya and Cisco were the worldwide leaders in Q3, each growing their enterprise IP telephony port shipment by almost 20 percent on a quarterly basis.
Read More: Global IP PBX Market Continues to Grow
Avaya Inc. evolved from Lucent Technologies in October 2000. The company traces its history to AT&T and Bell Telephone Laboratories; these two companies have been major players in circuit-switched telephony. Avaya, however, is one of the leaders of packet-switched telephony.
The core areas of Avaya’s business include IP Telephony, Contact Centers, Mobility, and Services. Their IP telephony products include the Communication Manager Software, the supporting Media Servers, and Media Gateways. The company released Communication Manager 3.0 in June 2005. The product integrates functions like call processing and control, messaging, contact center, etc. The software is the feature product of the Multivantage ™ communications applications portfolio offered by Avaya. It can manage up to 36,000 users on a single system and in excess of 1,000,000 users on a network. Media Servers that utilize the Linux operating system and the Avaya DEFINITY server are capable of running the software.
The Enterprise Edition of this software is equipped with an Enterprise Survivable Server (ESS) feature. It is located on the main server and enables an ESS server to assume command if the main server located at the headquarters suffers from a communications failure. The Communication Manager 3.0 also has the Inter-Gateway Alternate Routing (IGAR) which enables the transferring of traffic to a PSTN if the IP network is overloaded. The SIP Enablement Services support analog, digital, H.323, and SIP endpoints.
The Avaya Media Gateways are available in a variety of sizes and support the H.248 protocol. They are stackable and modular in design. They support applications using Ethernet for LANs, T-1 for WANs, and also DSL, cable modem, and Power over Ethernet (PoE).
Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT) is using the M-series multiservice routers provided by Juniper Networks. This will help SLT to offer advanced IP services to its premium clients. The M-Series routers are being used in place of the legacy gateway routers that SLT was using till now.
The routers from Juniper will allow SLT to offer a range of services such as ADSL, VoIP, and IP VPN services to its business and premium customers and in the process enabling them to avail competitive advantage.
The M-series multiservice edge routing platform provides service providers with the opportunity to implement several money-earning services. Layer 2 services including ATM and Frame Relay are supported by the M-series high-performance platform. It also offers Layer 3 services as well as firewall and data encryption protection.
Patelco Credit Union is one of the largest credit unions in the US and has 37 branches countrywide. It will make use of network services provided by AT&T Inc under a three-year contract. Patelco will obtain NVPN services that will ensure the security and reliability of MPLS-based IP network connections used for linking the various branches, ATMs, and service centers across the United States. Patelco will also get network management and VoIP services from AT&T.
Mr. Jeffery Citron, who is the CEO and Chairman of Vonage will take part in the panel discussion titled “VoIP or Not to VoIP”. webwire.com reports:
Vonage will also be demonstrating new devices configured with its service, offering consumers more choice and flexibility. Attendees signing up for any of Vonage’s calling plans at its booth will have their choice of a free voice gateway from Motorola, VTech or Uniden.
Read More: Vonage® Sponsors Ces 2006 Phone Booths
Session Initiation Protocol and Short Message Service (SIP and SMS
respectively) refer to frameworks that allow devices to communicate
directly with one another without the need for a central routing
computer. It seems rather surprising that a mere framework can so
radically change the face of communication, but in the few years since
their explosion onto the communications world, SIP and SMS have done
just that.
The brilliance of SIP and SMS is that they are able to bypass the
traditional telephony model whereby a line had to be routed through a
telephone hub and maintained for the duration of a call to complete the
conversation. The process of routing and establishing connection as
well as maintaining connectedness throughout the call in increasingly
congested phone lines is quite an expensive venture. And like all good
for profit businesses, telephone companies were happy to pass the costs
of operation on to consumers in the form of high long-distance bills.
That has all changed, however, since the advent of SIP and SMS.
Because the SIP and SMS code is based on computer communication and
not telephone communication, it is able to work much like the internet
itself. That means that when you place a call through SIP or send a
message through SMS you do not have to pay the cost of a router
connecting your calls, but rather the technology automatically finds
the person you are trying to communicate with and rings their line.
What is established is a stable but temporary connection in between you
and the person you are speaking with. When you are done speaking the
connection is severed. That means that unlike traditional telephone
companies, SIP and SMS providers do not have to maintain millions of
lines that are not being used, but rather they simply rely on the very
precise code built in to the phone to create and sever connections as
needed. This creates a perfectly efficient system, which consequently
explains why SIP and SMS providers are able to offer long-distance
communication so cheaply.
SIP and SMS were designed not only with efficiency in mind,
however, but also integrated ease of use in the model. Because the
designers were fully aware that telephone users have become used to
having a handset and phone number, this has been integrated into the
SIP technology. Under the system SIP users can make calls from their
number through a regular handset just like they would ordinarily.
However, because the system is based on internet and not telephone line
communication, the benefits do not stop there. Rather, SIP allows users
to take their phone and plug it in wherever there is internet access.
And when they do, they can make and receive calls on their very same
phone number. So for instance, a business traveler can take his office
phone with him on a trip and receive calls to the same number, on the
very same phone, although physically he may have moved across the
country or even across the world.
The fact that the system is based on internet communication also
means that users get the benefit of paying their bill and adjusting
their services all from a single website. That is not to mention extra
services like conference calling, which is significantly cheaper with
SIP than with traditional telephony.
SIP and SMS allow users to send messages and phone calls from
around the world with the ease of making a local call. Because the
system is internet based it is able to offer a wide array of services
and features that typical providers are simply not able to touch. But
by far the most important benefit of both SIP and SMS is the cost. Due
to the fact that the system is peer-to-peer, users are able to save
tremendously on long-distance charges over their much more costly
land-line competitors.
About the Author: Jim Sherman writes about interesting topics such as Internet phone service. See http://www.mobalex.com for more information.
Have you ever wondered why long distance calls cost so much? In part
the reason is because telephone lines cost so much. When driving, you
might occasionally see a telephone crew maintaining a telephone line,
but what you may have never considered is that there are literally
thousands of individuals working around the clock to maintain our
telephone lines.
The telephony system works via a cog and wheel setup. What this
means is that every long distance call you make is routed along a
telephone wire to a central station, where your voice is routed to
another central station, which is finally carried to the person with
whom you are trying to communicate. For the call to be maintained, the
entire time you are speaking, a space along all the lines in between
you and the person you are talking with must be completely devoted to
you. Because millions of people are talking at the same time, the
little space along the telephone lines becomes rather desired property.
And like all things desired, the price is high. Before recent
innovations, however, there were no alternatives, so everyone
grudgingly paid the often costly long-distance telephone bill.
SIP, or Session Initiation Protocol, has turned the telephony world
upside down. Specifically, SIP refers to a protocol that allows
computers to talk to each other without going through a central
station. Practically, what that means for you and me is that it is no
longer necessary to pay for expensive telephone lines to complete our
calls. SIP technology is a relatively new development in which calls
are made on a peer-to-peer rather than cog and wheel network. What that
means, is that you are now able to call people directly from your SIP
enabled phone to theirs. This ends up being radically cheaper than the
old way of calling.
The SIP system does not require a central computer and operators
like the old telephony system did. Rather, your computer, or SIP
enabled phone, does all the routing for you.
SIP has been around for a number of years, but only recently has it
begun to go mainstream and take off in popularity. This quick increase
in interest over SIP is due to companies like Mobalex, who were aware
of the fact that over the generations we have come to expect certain
tones, buttons, and protocols from our phones. So what they have done
is to transpose those functions onto the SIP system. Rather than
forcing users to communicate in a completely new way, what these
companies have done is to provide a calling experience which from the
user’s perspective is completely identical to traditional telephony.
SIP is typically offered in two formats, computer based and
hardware based. Computer based SIP is a system that allows you to make
calls using your computer as the router and communicating via a headset
on your computer. The more practical and popular version, however,
actually provides you with new SIP enabled telephone handsets or
converts your existing phones to SIP. By eliminating any technical
requirements, modern SIP providers have made using the system as easy,
or easier, than using a traditional phone. I say easier, because many
companies are able to take advantage of the fact that the system is
internet based to provide you with some very unique benefits. These
include the ability to adjust your plan, change your calling options,
and even pay your bill from the same website.
SIP technology is quite revolutionary in the world of
communication. By creating a peer-to-peer network, SIP has been able to
radically undercut the prices of traditional telephony, take advantage
of the Internet, and still maintain the ease of traditional telephony.
It is merely a matter of time before we are all using SIP for all of
our telephoning needs.
About the Author: Jim Sherman writes about interesting topics such as SIP. See http://www.mobalex.com/products/sip4pbx.html for more information.
8x8 will be using technology from TCS for providing E911 services to its Packet8 subscribers. TCS will provide address verification tools, routing key access infrastructure, and boundary information regarding every PSAP in the U.S. In order that the system works perfectly, it is important that subscribers keep updating their addresses in case of a change in address.
InfiniRoute Networks has introduced VoIP Direct, which is a managed VoIP peering service. The service offers single aggregated connections to tier 1 carriers. The connections are for linking with other carriers in regions such as Latin America, Asia Pacific, and Eastern Europe. Pre-set thresholds used by the service enable intelligent dynamic routing decisions. The service uses an optimization engine that decides routes taking into consideration jitter, packet loss, and latency. The VoIP Direct service has an SLA and offers 8 T1 or E1 ports for multiple DS3s connections in US and Canada and E3 connections in Europe.
Cable One is a US-based MSO and runs 52 cable systems across 19 states. It will employ VoIP Enhanced Local Service provided by Level 3. Level 3 is concentrating its services at those providers that have their own Class 5 feature servers.
OfficeServ Wireless, a wireless IP PBX, has been launched by Samsung. It is based on the OfficeServ 7200 platform and uses the model 100 and 500 iDCS. OfficeServ Wireless runs at a frequency of 2.4 GHz through a WLANs and uses a WLI card, a wireless access point, and the WIP 500M wireless IP handset. The wireless IP PBX can be programmed through a networked computer and can support 240 wireless instruments.
Global Crossing and CPCNet have linked their networks together. CPCNet Hong Kong Limited provides IP VPN service across 12 cities in China. It does so by using its MPLS network. Global Crossing will assist CPCNet in providing IP-based enterprise services along with end-to-end QoS.
Sprint Nextel is looking to speed up the process of development and deployment of multimedia services to cell phone services and provide quadruple play to cable companies. To achieve this, the company has planned JVs with major cable companies such as Comcast, Cox, Time Warner, and Advance/Newhouse. The venture has a 20-year term, both Sprint and the MSOs will be pooling in $ 100 million each. The products and services that result from this partnership will be available at Sprint stores that are more than 1,600 in number, cable outlets, distributors, and Radio Shack stores.
The partnership can reach the 75 million homes that the cable companies cover and they stand to gain from new services that can be made available with technologies such as remotely programmed DVRs, integrated mail boxes, Internet via phone, and viewing streaming music and video. The billing and customer service activities will be handled by the cable companies.
An IP video phone and video conferencing solution designed by Ittiam can be used in stand alone devices and can also be added to a set-top box. The solution uses SIP and the TMS320DM642 DSP from TI, which comes with a media engine, media controller, an adaptive jitter buffer, etc. The TI DSP comes with a built-in keypad, mic, speaker, and LCD display. HDD and storage devices that work with a CardBus interface are supported by the platform.
The VoIP open application enabling platforms introduced by Motorola use the FACT-SIP software and ComStruct CompactPCI voice boards. The platforms will aid in the development of IP PBXs and VoIP access gateways. FACT-SIP can be integrated with codecs, tones, and echo cancellation. ComStruct boards can support up to 2,016 voice channels and facilitate a broad spectrum of I/O functions.
According to the Dell ‘Oro Group IP Telephony Enterprise Report, Avaya has retained its position as the market leader in Enterprise Telephony. Avaya is concentrating on providing IP solutions to enterprises in the MENA region. ameinfo.com reports:
Avaya MENA recently announced a strategic customer win with Aramex, a leading global provider of business communications applications, systems and services.
The Vonage F1000 is a wireless home phone that helps to provide Internet telephony without the wires, when in proximity of an 802.11b network. The instrument has been developed with help from UTFStarcom Inc.
Accton Technology Corp, which is based in Taiwan has released what it believes is the first mobile phone to have a Skype software built into it. This allows users to make free calls without the need for a computer. The Wi-Fi WM1185-T will allow individuals and companies to avail P2P Internet calls without having to log on to their PCs.
Peneo Telecomunications was launched in October 2005 and it has an easy sign-in for its VoIP service on its website. It offers free PC-to-PC calling and competitive rates for calls to PSTN. Peneo enables VoIP communication without a PC as it uses SIP technology. Peneo offers its users the facility to connect two telephone lines anywhere in the world and web callback as well. SMS callback can also be used to connect two phones. These facilities help to make phone calls to places where PC2phone services are not allowed.
According to VoN Magazine, VoIP companies are hoping that the FCC will not follow up to strictly on its directive related to location mapping of mobile E911 calls. A law, the S 1063, which requires VoIP companies to stop, marketing their services in places where they cannot provide E 911, will come into force this week. However, VoIP providers can draw some succor from the fact that the deadline to conform is four years away. newswireless.com reports:
"Some VoIP service providers say they will continue to market their offerings to prospective customers in areas that are not outfitted to provide enhanced 911 capabilities, despite the passing of a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) deadline that requires E911 for all service areas.
Read More: One rule for the telcos; another for the VoIP rebels
Nokia and PLTD, which is Philippines’ leading telecom provider have come together to develop an NGN laboratory for the creation and testing of end-to-end Fixed-Mobile Convergence services prior to a market release. Customers of the PLDT group stand to benefit from the existing mobile and converged networks of the company. The NGN laboratory will have end-to-end Fixed-Mobile Convergence solutions that consist of converged access networks and VoIP-enabled terminals. webwire.com reports:
As an example of the new services development, PLDT and Nokia organized a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) contest for Filipino application developers called the "SIP Challenge".
Read More: Nokia and PLDT cooperate in Fixed-Mobile Convergence solutions
Changi Airport at Singapore now has two VoIP lounges that can be used by travelers to make long-distance VoIP calls. The lounges have been set-up as a result of a partnership between the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore and MediaRing Limited. The VoIP lounges will allow callers to save up to 80% on their long-distance calls; the calls are made using the Global Talk service of MediaRing. The two VoIP lounges have 23 VoIP booths and are located at the departure/transit lounges at terminals 1 and 2.
Internet phone service provider, SunRocket has achieved 96% E911 compliance and has also met the FCC November 28 deadline for doing so. The company had plans on building E911 into its service from the very beginning and did not want to wait for a government directive to get into action.
8x8, which provides VoIP and videophone services has enabled nomadic E911 emergency services across its network of domestic residential and business services. tmcnet.com reports:
According to the company's news release, all of Packet8 subscribers with a U.S. service address will now be able to contact emergency service personnel by dialing 911 from their Packet8 phone.
Read More: Weekly review
LignUp Corporation, which provides web-based converged VoIP communications, will distribute the LignUp Communications Platform in Europe through Zycko. Zycko is a leading distributor of networking, storage, and VoIP solutions.
The LignUp Communications Platform consists of the LignUp Call Director, LignUp Media Server, and LignUp SDK. The LignUp solution also offers onsite IP-PBX, hosted IP-PBX, unified messaging, voice mail, etc.
Scientific Atlanta will be providing headend and optical transport equipment and systems to the Moscow Telecommunication Corporation (COMCOR) to enable it to provide cable programming to Moscow residents. Equipment from Scientific Atlanta will enable cable operators to access signals from COMCOR. Scientific Atlanta will be the exclusive supplier to COMCOR throughout its two years of network expansion. COMCOR hopes to avoid interoperability issues and save on time by using a single vendor.
Codec: It is a compression/decompression algorithm which is used for IP telephony as well as other streaming media.
G.723.1: It’s a codec developed by the ITU-T and has two associated bit rates; 5.3Kbps and 6.3Kbps. It is mainly used in IP telephony systems.
G.729: It is a codec developed by ITU-T and has a bit rate of 8Kbps.
Gateway: It is network which converts voice and fax transmissions between PSTN and IP networks in real time.
H.323: It is a collection of standards by ITU-T. The standards define endpoints, gateways, etc that are used in VoIP calls. The H.323 standards are older than SIP.
IP-PBX: An IP-based phone system is configured and has call control provided by an IP-PBX server.
IP Phone or Handset: It is used for connecting to the IP PBX over an IP LAN.
MPLS: It stands for Multiprotocol label switching and is a set of QoS labeling standards released by the IETF. It helps ISPs to prioritize the different data streams.
PBX trunk: It is a path of communications shared by both the public network and the PBX at the customer end.
PSTN: It stands for Public switched telephone network and is also referred to as plain old telephone service POTS.
Q. Sig: Q Signaling is a signaling standard that is used for PBX interoperability in the US and Europe.
RTP: It stands for Real-Time Transport Protocol; it is the Internet protocol that is used by IP telephony systems to stream voice and video.
Enterprises should consider VoIP as an alternative if they are in one of these situations:
If a phone system is in need of an upgrade or the Centrex service contract is expiring, exploring the option of a hybrid or pure VoIP system is an alternative.
Companies with varied phone systems attract extra overheads. A VoIP system can provide valuable cost savings.
VoIP can be integrated into a company’s telecom plans if it has just set up office or has added a new branch.
A hybrid VoIP system can make its benefits felt immediately in operations like sales, where the mobility and convergence provided by VoIP increases productivity.
Fluke Electronics Corp., which is owned by Danaher Corp, will be acquiring Visual Networks for approximately $ 75 million. Visual offers managed VoIP service capabilities and posted revenues of $ 52 million last year.
America Online, which sells TotalTalk, has informed FCC that it plans to implement a network-based measure to prevent users from availing its service from multiple Internet connections. eweek.com reports:
There is also a crackdown on mobility by VOIP operators whose subscribers are, technically, not supposed to take their services mobile but usually do, despite the dire warnings or service contract language.
Read More: Regulations Threaten Nomadic VOIP
Net Neutrality implies the freedom of Internet users to access websites of their choice and to be able to execute applications of their choice. However, consumer rights could be compromised by the recent decisions by the FCC and the U.S Supreme Court. networkworld.com reports:
In June, the court ruled that cable companies offering broadband access do not have to open their high-speed lines to competitors, and in August, the FCC followed suit by ruling that DSL providers no longer have to share their networks with competitors.
According to some telecom experts, the US government communications regulations that distinguish between telecom and Internet services are hindering economy. networkworld.com reports:
The U.S. Congress needs to pass a comprehensive overhaul of telecommunications law, focused on removing regulations on carriers trying to provide enhanced broadband services such as VoIP, said panelists at a Forum on Technology and Innovation event in Washington, D.C.
Read More: Telecom experts call for reduced regulation
A blog has been set up by Google for discussing its Google Talk VoIP application. The first post on the blog is by Mike Jazaveri and it talks about the process of formal documentation of the voice signaling extensions to the XMPP.
VoIP is growing at a healthy rate in the US. According to the research firm Telegeography, the number of voice-over-broadband users increased 33% in the third quarter of 2005. There were 2.7 million voice-over-broadband users in the second quarter. The number of subscribers has shown a 400% increase over the third quarter of 2004. There were only 714,000 lines in use then.
VoIP revenues were $ 220 million and $ 304 million for the second and third quarters, respectively. The third quarter earnings were a 473% increment on the earnings for the same period in 2004. Vonage and Time Warner Cable are the two leading VoIP providers in America. Time Warner Cable grew 39% in the third quarter and added 240,000 users. It had registered a growth of 65% in the second quarter.
Organizations are opting for new applications that can help them to converge their networks. Converged messaging ranks high on the list of applications that can provide tremendous benefit to an organization. Companies that have deployed VoIP infrastructure are looking to incorporate additional features that will help in improving operations and cutting costs.
Fax through IP is an alternative that several organizations are exploring as fax support (T.38) is already inbuilt in several IP routers such as Cisco, 3Com, Alcatel, etc. Fax over IP (FoIP) allows enterprises to leverage IP networks for transmitting documents over secure and boardless fax servers. Faxes can be sent from the desktop where the content travels in a digital form till it reaches the PSTN endpoint gateway. FoIP integrates well with existing applications and works with multi-function devices.
FoIP offers fast ROI which is a function of the faxing volume in a company. It eliminates the use of paper for faxing which itself is a major cost saving. There is no longer any need for dedicated PBX line cards and additional telephone lines for the fax machines. Since FoIP does not require dedicated hardware, fax boards, toner, paper, etc it results in a lower total cost of ownership. Boardless solutions also lead to less downtime as installations are easier and no reboots are required.
Boardless fax solutions also provide VoIP encryption and virus-free transmission that facilitates compliance with regulations like HIPAA, Sarbanes-Oxley, and Gramm-Leach-Bliley. A centralized archiving system ensures easy tracking and management of documents. techweb.com reports:
As the market heats up there are a range of VoIP solutions with various price points. For such companies also looking to roll-out network fax functionality, a review of the actual cost of a VoIP system as well as a comparison of a boarded fax server versus one that is boardless should be added to the IT checklist.
Read More: Boardless Fax over IP
The growth of router-based telephony has placed VoIP firmly as an alternative to PSTN. VoIP adoption in enterprises and SMBs is on the upswing. According to the TIA, IP-based communications were supposed to be the major expense for companies in 2005. One reason is that enterprise networks are approaching the time to upgrade and several enterprises are exploring the VoIP option.
A report by the Synergy Research Group released in October 2005 states that the market for Service VoIP in 2005 will be worth $ 2 billion. Factors that companies consider before opting for IP-enabled communication networks include reduced infrastructure costs, reduced total cost of ownership, service levels identical to PSTN service, availability of bundled services such as fax.
The growth of VoIP can be attributed to the increased availability of cheap broadband and interoperability facilitated by IP telephony. Telecom and cable companies are also readying themselves for VoIP. In October 2005, Verizon made known its intention of deploying optical fiber lines in order to converge all products on to an IP network. Convergence is of major benefit to large organizations; the reasons why an IP network is an attractive means of convergence include the fact that there is only one technology to manage, the number of network elements is reduced, and IT systems support for network management is also reduced.
The major obstacles to VoIP deployment include the inability of existing networks to handle real-time VoIP traffic that is sensitive to latency. This calls for network upgrades like adding WAN bandwidth and replacing switches and routers. The cost of an IP deployment is affected by the size of the enterprise and the vendor selected for the job. According to a study by Nemertes Research in November 2004, the cost of IP hardware and that of implementation adds up to $ 525 for every 1000 users and $ 763 for 100 users and less. The report also stated that even though VoIP deployment costs were high, large enterprises could quickly gain significant savings from them that could be up to $ 28,000 every year.
IMS enables service carriers to combine several Internet applications with already present wireless services and has hence generated a fair amount of interest with the vendors. The IMS architecture is being developed by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). 3GPP has laid down several specifications that deal with various issues such as requirements, service aspects, technical realization, etc.
Call control, media processing, and gateways are three functions of IMS. The Call/Session Control Function (CSCF) handles the call control function. Signaling messages from SIP are processed by the CSCF. The three CSCF functions include Proxy CSCF which performs like an SIP User Agent and handles the forwarding of SIP requests and responses; the Interrogating CSCF is also an SIP proxy and functions as a contact point for the operator’s network and the users that are roaming that network; the serving CSCF is an SIP server that helps to maintain the state of a session as desired by the network provider.
The Media Resource Functions (MRF) manage media processing. The Media Resource Function Processor (MRFP) handles functions such as the processing of mixed incoming media streams, audio transcoding, announcements, etc; the Media Resource Function Controller (MRFC) performs a controlling function for the media stream resources within the MRFP.
The gateway interface consists of the Breakout Gateway Control Function (BWCF) which is an SIP server that performs routing functions to allow calls between networks. This enables calls to begin on the IMS and finish on the PSTN; the Media Gateway Control Function (MGCF) transforms the signaling protocols such that they can be used by a given network; the Media Gateway (MGW) is used for changing the media streams that are used on a network such as RTP to a format that can be used by another network such as the PCM.
According to a report by the Vertical Systems Group, the revenues from dedicated IP VPNs will total $ 34.6 billion in the US for the period 2004-2009. Of the total revenue, network-based services that will use MPLS or IP networks will account for 50% of the revenue. According to the report, there will be around 1.7 million dedicated access VPN sites by 2009 and custom Internet-based VPN networks will add $ 12.2 billion to the total whereas $ 5.3 billion will accrue from site-to-site service revenues.
The market for dedicated IP VPNs is cost sensitive. Other factors that businesses consider include interconnectivity between various networks, VoIP, level of service, the service-level agreements, etc. Users are moving away from frame relay Access technologies include DSL, Ethernet, and OC-3+. DSL is the most preferred technology.
According to Infonetics Research, Nortel is the leader in the North American IP-PBX market. Avaya is placed second with Cisco hot on its heels. The IP PBX market registered revenues of $ 2.1 billion in the third quarter; this is a 17% growth over the previous year and a 7% growth over the second quarter. The growth is driven by companies migrating to VoIP. At present, the major chunk of the revenue comes from hybrid PBXs; pure IP contributed only 1% of the total revenue.
Davacord, which is based on Oklahoma, has stated that its DigiVoiceXE call and screen recording system now offers VoIP support. VoIP compatibility in the product enables concurrent recording, tracking, analyzing, and monitoring of voice and data. The product also facilitates a move to VoIP using VoIP switches from Cisco, Avaya, Nortel, etc.
The Jerusalem Post has reported that the Communication Ministry of Israel is asking ISP’s to follow the state license agreements. Israeli communications policy requires ISPs that allow international VoIP calls to acquire a license. extremevoip.com reports:
"To clarify, ITP VoB service will be given only by holders of ITP licenses who provide the entire range of ITP services, including ITP services provided to subscribers of DTP [Domestic Telephone Provider] and SDTP [Specialized DTP] license holders."
Florida is one of the only five states in the US where enterprise PBXs are required to make emergency 911 services available and give the correct location of the origin of the call. The state of Colorado does not require location information to be made available for emergency services. In several US states, the actual phone from which the call is made cannot be determined, only the location of the building in which the PBX resides can be learnt.
The current state of non-uniform E911 regulations will change in 2006 when the FCC will issue mandates requiring that all PBXs ensure compatibility between E911 and location information. Even though 911 is a different system from the PSTN, they are compatible as they both run on the circuit-switched architecture. The same compatibility does not exist between VoIP and 911 systems. PSAPs all over the country are connected to the telephone exchanges using trunk lines dedicated only for 911 service. The PSAPs utilize the database of ALI which can map phone numbers with a fair degree of accuracy, getting the street name usually and sometimes even locating the building. This helps to save precious seconds so that people in an emergency situation do not waste time explaining directions.
FCC’s regulations for cellular operators will become effective from the end of this month. According to these regulations, the carriers are to make available to the PSAP accurate grid references for at least 95% of the E911 calls. VoIP carries when faced with FCC’s mandate have resorted to getting a prospective customer to agree to a waiver that states that the service provider may not be able to provide 911 services. This can help VoIP with home users who are looking to reduce the expenses of long-distance call but with respect to enterprises that wish for VoIP functionalities to match those of PSTN, this can be a negative for VoIP. The FCC ruling for VoIP providers requires that the service providers cease to provide non-essential connectivity to subscribers who are outside the area that the providers can cover for providing E911 service.
The FCC regulations have led to an improvement in the quality of VoIP calls, hardly an year ago, 911 calls made through VoIP had to be routed through the PSTN and then too there was no guarantee that they would reach the dedicated 911 network. In the present scenario, 911 calls made from VoIP networks get transferred to the 911 network via gateways; however for the call to be answered by the appropriate PSAP, the caller should ideally update his address if he has moved. informationweek.com reports:
In practice, not every PSAP has upgraded its ALI to support wireless E-911 (see table). VoIP also faces an additional obstacle in the limited supply of ESQKs. Each area code contains only a finite number of phone numbers, most of which are needed for real phones. And whereas spectrum licensing means there are rarely more than four cellular operators competing for a PSAP's temporary numbers, the potential demand from VoIP is infinite.
Read More: VoIP causes an Enterprise 911 Emergency
Skype is offering a videophone in the beta release of Skype 2.0. This will put it in a better position to compete with the likes of AIM and MSN. The beta, which was released on Thursday, contains other features such as creating contact groups, mood settings, a different user interface, and calling up Outlook contacts. The beta also provides the facility to start a phone call from a blog or a website. On2 Technologies is providing the video compression technology being used for the Skype video service.
Skype has entered a licensing deal with On2 technologies for the existing and yet to come versions of the TrueMotion video codec of On2. Skype had planned to release its beta in August; its delay meant that AOL was able to introduce the video service first. Skype has an arrangement with Logitech regarding the marketing of Skype-certified webcams.
Lucent counts BellSouth, SBC, and Cingular Wireless among its customers for IMS products and services. The IMS architecture uses a digital interface to provide multimedia services over wireless and wireline networks. Lucent has several IMS contracts in its bag and the potential revenue is to the tune of hundreds of dollars.
According to UBS Warburg, Lucent could be involved in IMS deployments in the range of $ 75 million to begin with but will see revenue generation only in FY 2006. Lucent has to evolve a business plan that will enable it to earn revenue from the end users. Lucent is also concentrating on 3G wireless mobility, optical/data convergence, and broadband access. The demand for these services is set to increase and according to UBS, these services could grow at a CAGR of up to 41% in the next four years.
The Qtopia Phone Edition 2.2 from Trolltech will now have Wi-Fi support. Trolltech makes application development platforms for Linux devices. Apart from phones, makers of handheld devices such as PDAs and media players are also keen to incorporate Wi-Fi into their products. Although the present version of the Qtopia phone does not support roaming between mobile networks and Wi-Fi networks, the newer versions will be capable of doing so and providing a more converged solution for bringing together VoIP and mobile networks.
Apart from Trolltech, Cicero Networks is also developing IP-based support to provide convergence. However, its offering is not compatible with Linux devices. Along with support for VoIP, Qtopia also provides facilities such as support for streaming MP3 audio files and better documentation for users. Motorola and ZTE are two users of Qtopia.
The Sunshine Village Ski & Snowboard Resort at the Banff National Park in Canada had initiated an IP-based network upgrade in 2002. It had cost US $ 236,717 at that time and according to the resort, it has recovered the investment many times over.
The upgrade involved using ProCurve switches from HP and laying a fiber-optic network. This has resulted in savings on long-distance calls and reduced maintenance costs. Earlier, the bank had to shell out Canadian $ 1,800 every month for a single leased-line to a bank in order to facilitate credit card transactions. The cost has now come down Canadian $ 10.
November 28 was the deadline for VoIP providers to ensure 911 emergency calling provisions for their customers. The service providers were to explain by that date the nature of the 911 systems employed by them, the percentage of customers that have access to 911 service, the areas covered currently, and plans for future expansion.
The commission, which had already extended the deadline three times earlier, is now studying the explanations filed by the VoIP vendors. According to Associated Press, there is no clarity on the penalty for non-compliance nor has FCC outlined its next step.
Calls made using IP networks make it difficult for 911 dispatchers to track the phone from which the call was made. In order to overcome this problem, FCC has restricted VoIP providers from acquiring users in areas where they are unable to provide the 911 service. Users of services such as Vonage have to provide the company with the details of their location so that they can be routed to the nearest dispatching site. The caller has to then provide the 911 site with his phone number. Vonage has teamed up with BellSouth and SBC to provide 911 services to its customers.
