VoIP Now

Who's Got Muni Wi-Fi?

Municipal Wi-Fi networks are popping all over the world, making connectedness easier for lots of people and pushing the possible ubiquity of dual mode cellular/ Wi-Fi phones (i.e., VoWiFi or VoIP over WiFi). Well, DailyWireless has a great list of the 10 most connected cities in the world, and goes in depth about each city. Note that the first 5 cities or so listed are all in Asia. Most of the rest are in Europe. What's up with North America, then?

Most interesting (to me, anyway): Shoreditch TV, which is a network of 100 public cameras in Shoreditch (east London, UK), broadcasting to the Internet. The idea is to dissuade criminals. Little Brother 2.0? Neighborhood Watch takes on a new meaning. Then again, the UK is considered to be one of the most endemic surveillance societies in the world.

Of course, there are loads of municipal Wi-Fi projects going on in the US and Canada, especially a few big ones in Silicon Valley (42 municipalities over 1500 sq mi).

Where in the World Are... You?

GPS capabilities are supposedly one of the current and near-future hot features of cell phones. It's been predicted, probably even before 2001, that all cell phones will have GPS capabilities, which would be particularly useful for tracking people in emergency situations.

However, for tracking bike and pedestrian traffic, PNAs (Personal Navigation Assistants) are supposedly not ready. That's primarily because the necessary cartographic work for bike and foot traffic hasn't been done for most places in the world, so having a nav system for them is pointless. And for safety reasons, you cannot assume either type of traffic can use regular GPS nav maps.

Still, when and if such maps are recorded, smartphones such as the Apple iPhone or some of the Linux keyless handsets might be ideal platforms for PNAs for cyclists and pedestrians. In fact, I'm predicting a general rise in world tourism over the next two decades (pretty easy prediction to make).

So PNAs for this type of traffic could become a burgeoning market. But having worked in GIS and digital mapping for seven years, I know there's a lot of work to be done to satisfy a market that doesn't yet really exist, and may not exist for many years. Not an easy business decision to make. On the other hand, as Clumsy on their feet says at the end of the article, paper maps never run out of batteries.

Cisco Entering Social Networking?

Cisco, as you probably know, has been a leader in computer networking for a long time. Nuno at 21talks writes about an NY Times article about Cisco buying Tribe.net, a social networking site. As the NYT piece says, it's a cuirious pairing. I can't see why they're getting into this market. But then, I can't understand why Microsoft might be coming out with a Zune phone. (Other than that Steve Ballmer hates Steve Jobs.)

But Nuno thinks it's a good idea, and points out that Cisco previously purchased a social network design firm. Didn't know there were such things. Seems kind of redundant, considering that sites like Ning let you design your own social network for free, and within a few minutes. Who knows. All I've learned is that when a large company buys a web services blog, they have some reason for doing so, even if it's obscure.

Skype Wants Changes To Mobile Network Access

Skype, whose name is synonymous with VoIP for some people, wants cellular networks operations to change, to be more open. In fact, they're demanding that the US FCC make changes to a legal decision from 1968 related to the AT&T network so that it applies to cell networks. That's because mobile operators limit the traffic on their networks, especially data networks.

Read between the lines and you'll probably conclude what I have: that Skype needs this ruling changed to offer full mobile Skype. Of course, they would also become very competitive with mobile operators as a result.

The irony of course is that while Skype has an open developer API (Application Programmer Interface), their networking protocol is closed - as in private. The general idea behind their request is a good one, but it just seems kind of hypocritical when they won't open their protocol - a decision that has caused companies, universities and countries to ban Skype use. And they're couching as a consumer rights issue.

What Internet TV Needs: 7 Suggestions/ Concerns

What's listed here doesn't preclude the possibility that some software or web service already does it. This is my list of ideal IPTV (Internet TV)-related functionality.

1. Mobile TV.
   This is fine, but with wearable, comfortable goggles that project a virtual large screen. Little tiny phone screens won't cut it. The goggles are out there. They just need to be married with smartphones and PDAs. (i.e., maybe through     Bluetooth, since cellular data plans are outrageously priced in some countries.)
   
2. Wireless streaming.
   From my computer to my TV, if I want. (Though my computer screen is still larger than my TV, and I use an external TV capture box, which gives better performance than IPTV.) Apple's tentatively called iTV, for the digital living room, is one example.
   
3. Faster Internet connection speeds.
   Let's face it, Joost might be nice (I'm still waiting for a Babelgum invite), but a faster connection would help, obviously. And what happens, for example, when everyone in my neighborhood on cable Internet starts watching at the same time? At that point, I turn back to regular cable TV, as will others. The success of IPTV hinges on much faster connection speeds.
   
4. More bandwidth.
   My cable Internet provider caps me at 6 Gb/mth. I eat bandwidth for breakfast. I can use a Gigabyte in a single day sometimes. But can I buy more bandwidth? Noooooooo. Instead, if I go over in a given month, they'll warn me twice then cut me off until the next month - something I simply cannot afford to have happen, as a freelance writer. And with Joost's bandwidth consumption, this is important. Which is why I've stopped using it, beyond a few beta tests.
   
5. New compression coding.
   Wavelets theory is an ultra-geeky discipline created by brilliant physicists in the 1970s but has roots in studies done in 1909. It's pure, advanced applied mathematics used to model a lot of phenomena, and a math professor told me that even most PhD's in math or physics don't understand it fully.
      
   Data compression of images and video is one application, and depending on the algorithm used, the space savings are phenomenal. The benefit is that a crunched file would download very quickly. The problem is, that massive crunching requires a fairly significant amount of processing power to uncrunch for viewing. It certainly could not be done, with present home computers, in real-time. That is, you couldn't watch streaming video as it comes in over your Internet connection if the video data has been massively crunched with wavelet compression. The alternative is to not compress and have a faster connection, or more powerful graphics cards.
   
6. Quadcore video boards.
   The whole net neutrality debate was sparked, from what I interpret, when Internet providers felt they had to apply a tiered price structure for connections based on expected usage. Fact is, if we suddenly had the billion or so current Internet users all using VoIP and/or IPTV simultaneously, the current infrastructure couldn't handle it. (Correct me if I'm wrong.)
      
   We all probably want faster connection speeds, and they're coming, but will take time to roll out. What could come sooner is a new set of video compression codecs (last point) coupled with high-power graphics cards sporting their very own quad cores or more. If our graphics cards were powerful enough, and we used super-crunched video formats, we might possibly reduce bandwidth requirements down to a point where every Internet user could potentially watch Internet TV simultaneously. (Of course, it'd be nice to have something similar for VoIP communications: a quadcore sound card.)
      
   
7. More content, more choice.
       Video sharing sites already have a great deal of content choice, though not all of it is necessarily watchable. Soft clients like Joost are young yet, but will need - in my honest opinion - a great variety of content, and a pay-per-view model without advertising. And that requires sign-on from production houses.
    

Pretty much everything I've said here could apply to VoIP quality of service as well.

The Websident of the United States?

I'm happy to report that Senator Barack Obama's campaign team did finally answer my email. I'd griped about that when discussing his very popular social network.

Top Digger Muhammad Saleem says at 901AM.com that Senator Obama is your websident so far. This is based on his social network, my.BarackObama receiving critical acclaim. What's really amazing is that over 4,000 members have created blogs there and 3,000 more have created fund-raising pages. Brilliant. I hope Hillary, Rudy, John E., and others are taking note of this and Senator Obama's Internet TV channel.

I still think there's room for a political streaming video channel, but where, say, bloggers host podcasts/ vodcasts and ask the tough questions most mainstream media won't ask.

Viacom and Joost Exchange Video Valentines

An email in my inbox (as a Joost beta tester) announces a content deal with Viacom. Very cool. While Joost has two problems, bandwith hog and minimal content, as an IPTV (Internet Protocol TV) client, I'm very impressed with the video quality. And while content is still minimal, there still is enough there for many hours of viewing pleasure, including a great deal of variety.

Now while a lot of the Viacom content is from MTV past and present content, which I don't care much about, it might be kind of fun occasionally tuning in to watch old Beavis and Butthead episodes. Uh hunh hunh huh. But the rest of the Viacom content will likely appeal to a much younger crowd, not me.

Now I'm already a TV and IPTV junkie, but what I would shell out money to see is older stuff that is really hard to find - at least in Canada, and possibly in the US, maybe everywhere. For example, I'm a big fan of the American cartoon Freakazoid,and of a cancelled sci-fi-ish show called Early Edition. There are also 1950s short movies of Batman and Superman that I'd love to see and haven't found on DVD. (Granted, I didn't look very hard.)

Put all this sort of content (let me pick) online and allow payment via PayPal (Skype's sister company) and you've got me. Maybe make it a download of the month club sort of deal, for $9.95/mth, lots of content to choose from. And no ads.

Problem is, Joost streaming video content isn't stored on your computer (that I know of), so I'd have to download again and again. Hopefully they'll come up with a solution for that (straight burn to your computer's DVD drive?). But even if not, the Long Tail suggests that Joost (or someone else) could do very well by keeping the price low and offering lots of choice. And when Apple's iTV device comes out, I'm hoping I can stream Joost content straight to the 40" TV I'm hoping I'll buy myself for Xmas this year.

XM Satellite Radio Gets Sirius About Merger

How could I resist a pun like that? Peter Csathy talks about the pending merger of two Satellite Radio operations XM and Sirius. No doubt radio shock jock is wondering if the merger will affect the hundred plus million or so he got. Damn. Maybe I'm in the wrong business. I'm only offending people in the blogosphere.

Now I've been saying (just to myself, mind) since last Fall that they should merge. Service offerings-wise I think that customers would benefit. of course, for some cell phone handsets, you can already get XM Satellite Radio shows for about $15/m. No expensive XM device necessary.

Of course, whatever the merged company is called, they might consider offering some programming via the Internet. That's if their satellites are IP-based.

VoIP Roundup - Mon Feb 19, 2007

The Eye in the Sky: Pushing the IP Communications Envelope
There's been a lot of talk about SEDs - service-enabled devices. SEDs will have their own IP address and are thus pingable across the Internet. Now, imagine that you could query a satellite view a web browser. That's what Iridium is planning: satellites that monitor the Earth, taking pictures. And because they'll be IP-based satellites, Iridium can sell services over the Internet to clients who need to monitor, say, a facility.

Privacy Obligations For VoIP and Telecom Providers
The US FCC is rethinking how it will expect telecoms and VoIP providers to handle CPNI (Customer Propietary Network Information) data - or what amounts to call records and subscriber information. This is as a result of the Hewlett-Packard phone records pretexting scandal and similar cases. Privacy and Security Law Blog has more details on some of the new rules that may be imposed.

Cell Phone Been Bugged?
Despite all the issues of communications -related privacy and security, it's unlikely that most of us have our phones or IP communications bugged. But for whatever reason (jealous spouse, insane employer), if you suspect you do, check out Lauren Weinstein's post How to tell if your cell phone is bugged and the accompanying YouTube video Is your cell phone bugged?

Barack Obama's Social Network?

You might have heard that US presidential hopeful Senator Barack Obama has his own Internet TV channel, thanks to Jeremy Allaire's Brightcove and lots of campaign money. It appears that now has his own social network.

Brilliant way to use IP communications to build your potential presidential profile. (They've taken Peter Csathy's video politicking advice to heart, whether they realize it or not.) Wonder if the Senator has Skype? What about other leaders? It's all well and good, but maybe he should use some of his campaign money to actually answer email. It's been more than two weeks since I sent an email message to his campaign headquarter via his website. I know that as a Canadian, I don't really matter votewise - or at all. But how hard is it to hire someone to set up an automated response, to acknowledge the email? His campaigners might be doing all the new media stuff correctly, but they seem to have email communications handling all wrong. Or maybe men in black helicopters are intercepting my communications. I think I'd better wrap my house in tinfoil.

Joost Bandwidth Issues?

Hmm. Very interesting. Never thought about it until I read about how much bandwidth Joost IPTV might be consuming. It does make sense, consider how high quality the video content I've seen on Joost has been. Quality frames take space and thus increase bandwidth.

This is kind of scary, considering that my cable Internet plan only allows 6 Gb per month, if I'm not mistaken. For someone who tests a lot of software, it's not much, but there are no options for home-based service for me. If I exceed the limit, I get a warning, then I get cut off. Which is disastrous for me, who works all day online.

It'll teach me to read the fine print more carefully on the next application I test. But it does make me wonder how successful Joost is going to be if you can use up 1 Gb in 10 hrs. While it's unlikely I'd watch that enough Joost yet (because of lack of content I'm immediately interested in) to make it an issue, the issue is still there for the future.

I'm not sure that average future Joost user is going to want to be a node in a torrent-style network, and hence bandwidth is a real problem. From a very technical point of view, they could consider using fractal image compression or even wavelets, but those are quite advanced methods that don't necessarily lend themselves to video (fractal compression is a lossy method). Ultimately, it seems to me that Joost is ahead of its time, like Skype was, and that for true enjoyment of IPTV on the larger flat panel TV screens that are coming out, viewers are going to need quad processor computers with souped up graphics processors and Gigabit access speeds.

How VoIP, Presence and IP Conferencing Can Help Your Career

Phoneboy recently asked (on Web Worker Daily) whether telecommuting affects your career, in response to a similar piece at Network World. If someone asked me that in the 90s or even a few years ago, I'd have to say yes from what I've seen of other people. It's primarily because of what he said: executives tend to want/ need to meet their charges. It's been hard to do over traditional telecom and conferencing solutions that the average company can afford.

Now, we're entering into an era where VoIP, IP conferencing and presence applications are setting up the framework where I don't think telecommuting will be as much of a barried to career advancement. A couple of things still need to change: faster computers, faster Internet connections and attitudes. It might be years (maybe a half generation?) before being a full-time telecommuting executive becomes commonplace. It might become a reward of the job. (Part-time telecommuting has been allowed at all levels of staff for years, as I learned at IBM in 2001, even for meetings.) The acceptance may take time but the technology is already here.

Video Campaigns: Can You Smell What Barack Is Cooking?

Senator Barack Hussein Obama must have the right-wing TV show hosts running scared if they're already taking xenophobic swings at his unusual name, despite his having been born and raised in the United States as a patriotic American - unlike California Governor Arnold Terminator, whom some people want to rewrite US laws for, to get him into a presidential race - shudder to think. But Obama has made a smart move: embracing web video for his campaign.

While I have a different preference for the next US Prez, I sent Senator Obama's campaign an email suggesting they follow Peter Csathy's wise recent advice about video blogging and video politicking. This was a few days ago, before I knew that the Senator is working with Brightcove on a channel. Apparently this was just before Brightcove pulled
in nearly US$60M in next-round VC funding?

At any rate, I'm paraphrasing what Peter has said: the next President will utilize Internet video better than everyone other candidate. Now if an IPTV/ video streaming company got smart, they'd create a special campaign channel and show paid content from all candidates. Just my feeling, but they could pull a great deal of web traffic and pay for it with advertising. Teaming up with Google on their Google Video or YouTube sites is one option.

Then again, it may not be necessary, as Senator Hilary Clinton, too, has just embraced online video chats. Well, let's hope that they all follow my video calling etiquette, as I'm sure no one wants to see the next President via video in their undies.

VoIP Roundup - Sun Dec 31, 2006

VoIP Comm Now Mainstream?
Ken Camp points out that VoIP is no longer a niche and that it's gone mainstream.

San Fran Wi-Fi Is No-Fi
At least for now, San Francisco is delaying their citywide Wi-Fi network. Again. This is the network that Google is involved in. The issues come from within city council regarding who will own the network.

US Cellular Network Outages Kept Secret
When cell phone networks have service outages in the United States, they aren't announced. In fact, the FCC ordered "wire line" suppliers in 2004 to report them, but in turn removed them from the Freedom of Information Act. [via VoIP and Enum]

The US Presidential Race: Pushing The Viral Video Angle

Senator John Edwards has already announced his plan to run for the 2008 US Presidential race under the Democratic banner. Edwards is the politician who had experienced a recent faux pas dissing Wal-Mart's labor policies on the same morning that one of his campaigners asked them to provide a (free) Playstation gaming console for one of his family members. Wal-Mart of course told him to stand in line like everyone else. Maybe they thought it had YouTube?

At any rate, he seems to have taken Peter Csathy's advice about video campaigning and had someone post an initial campaign clip on YouTube. Now if every politician listened to Peter, imagine how much in campaign savings they would garner. Wouldn't that show some proof of fiscal responsibility?

[sources: 21Talks]

Mobile Comm: Over A Billion Served?

It's agreed upon in many circles that the next billion mobile customers are going to come mostly from developing nations including India, China and a few other Asian countries and very likely a number of African countries (some are already heavily moving into VoIP and looking at phone number portability). But will these customers be served properly? Will they get what they need for their use? In many of these countries, average incomes make it difficult for everyone to have a mobile phone, whether they need one or not.

Imran Ali has a look at some mobile market studies done by various people - including Jan Chipchase of Nokia - and analyzes some of the findings regarding the sociology behind phone sharing, as well as other related issues.

Funding Free Municipal Wi-Fi

You've no doubt heard or read about all the muncipal Wi-Fi projects popping up across the United States and elsewhere. In some cities, there are several subscription options for different access speeds. In others, it's all free. One question that comes to mind is who is going to pay for the costs of this "free" Wi-Fi? In Portland, Oregon, Microsoft is involved in a full-speed wireless network that'll offer free access in return for showing users paid advertising. Dailywireless asks whether this will work.

My own feeling is that in any given city, some people will be more than happy to have free Wi-Fi, even if they have to watch ads. It's why VoIP subscription models like that of Globe7 could work. However, are there enough such people? Way back in the early 90s, I tried free regional long distance calling in return for listening to ads (pre-Internet) and got sick of wait, the crappy music, and the same old ads. If, however, I had to watch, say, movie or TV trailers for access to the Internet, I might be okay on that. What about you?

If there are not enough people supporting the advertisers of such wireless networks, however, what happens to the city? Do taxes go up? Do they force paid subscription on users? And when people say sayonnara, does the city tear down the infrastructure? That costs money, too.

The concept of free wireless access is relatively new. I'm not sure, but I think it was used by some ISPs for dialup Internet access, though I'm not so sure that succeed as I can't think of any examples. Only time (or indepth surveys) will tell if such payment models will work.

Phisher Kings: Teach Someone To Phish?

Someone's psychology, sociology, and/ or electronic anthropology doctoral paper is lurking beneath all this latest research that shows phishers/ spammers/ scammers are using ever sophisticated methods to grab your attention so they can grab something of yours - preferably e-money.

Now I'm not going to get into the psych makeup of phishers; that's not my intent, despite my opinions. But the low cost of the latest communications technology and its ease of implementation makes it ever so much easier for you to at least be a target if not a victim. That means more vigilance in 2007 and beyond, as several experts are saying that the lastest avenues for phishers are vishing and smishing (SMS phishing). VoIP and SMS are, in fact, the latest tech platforms for phishers.

Tech intelligence and social intelligence seem unfortunately mutually exclusive in these cases. Fortunately, about computer-based crime in general, those getting caught are being given stiffer penalties.

Network Physics VoIP Quality Monitors

VoIP sys admins will have another potential tool in their arsenal with new VoIP quality monitors
from Network Physics. The offering, called NetSensory Solution Insight for VoIP, works as an extension set for Network Physics' appliances. These extensions measure over 60 metrics related to VoIP call quality.

As I've pointed out before, there are many factors that affect VoIP call service, but I wouldn't have thought there were even 60 IP metrics, let alone that many that affect call quality. Things I haven't touched on before, which Network Physic's solution does, includes using the appropriate CODEC (Coder-decoder) algorithm. Essentially, there are different algorithms to compress and decompress digital audio data, and some perform on the fly better than others, depending on issues related to both network and computing resources.

5 New + Recent Terms In IP Communications

IP telecommunications is obviously a huge area with many facets, and new ones popping up. While those in the industry and some VoIP bloggers may know the terms, the general public likely does not. I often use Google Trends to compare terms and their relative search volumes. Which is what I've done witih some of the terms below. These are terms to watch, because we'll see them mentioned in the media more often.

1. Spot dialing.
   Brian McConnell came up with this to describe make a call over a Wi-Fi hotspot. I.e., as a replacement to Voice over Wi-Fi (which some people call VoWiFi but is rather techy).
2. TVoIP, teeVoIP.
   Ken Camp wrote a very evocative piece called Ken's magnificent Seven for 2006, about what he thinks have been the hot growth areas for IP Comm. He came up with the term TVoIP to represent user-generated content such as that at YouTube and blip.tv. I've been referring to this as a facet of IPTV, though that's probably incorrect.
3. vVoIP, VVoIP, WoIP.
   This aren't new, per se, as there are references to it back to at least 2004, possibly earlier. But Google Trends says there isn't even enough search data for them to show a comparative graph. But there are three ways to signify this, possibly causing confusion. Should we use any of these or come up with yet another one and hope it'll catch on? Video calling works for me.
4. POVS.
   Garrett Smith came up with POVS, Plain Old VoIP Service to refer to any VoIP service mimicking traditional phone calls. I.e., what some people call pure play, when you use a regular telephone with an ATA (Analog Telephone Adaptor), such as with Vonage and PhoneGnome.
5. FMC, Fixed Mobile Convergence.
   Most searches for FMC are probably for one of two companies with "FMC" in their name. (Google doesn't give hard search volumes.) The longer version doesn't register in Google Trends. But true FMC will push dual-mode cellular/ Wi-Fi calling forwards, though maybe it needs a friendlier name.

What do you think about these terms? A bit technical, in some cases. Got any suggestions for alternates?

Is Wi-Fi Bad For Us?

George Ou of ZDNet writes about a UK woman who claims that Wi-Fi makes her sick. He then lays out a test scenario that he'd like to give her to prove that she can in fact detect when a Wi-Fi access point is present, like she claims. This isn't the first that I've read about something like this. Just about a month back, about someone in the UK - possibly the same woman - claiming they were getting headaches after installing a Wi-Fi router. This woman, Kate Figes, says Wi-Fi leaves her feeling exhausted, nauseous and sleepless.

Ou calls it "EMF junk science" but the WHO (World Health Organization, not the band that causes hearing loss) has an EMF project, due to public concern about health and electromagnetic fields. Figes isn't the only person claiming this. The WHO's brochure on EMF (PDF, 2 pgs) that "[no] major public health risks have emerged from several decades of EMF research but uncertainties remain." Maybe these people are the proverbial canaries in the coalmine of an cumulative illness that takes time to manifest.

I've certainly found myself more fatigued since installing my Wi-Fi router, but that could be for several reasons, including the fact that I always feel fatigued come Oct/Nov, during Daylight Savings Time change (or whatever it's called). As well, since installing my router, I also spend many more hours working on my computer than previously. Sleep is something I do because I have to. And lack of sleep gives me headaches. A few minutes outside in fresh air almost always seems to make a difference.

It's an easy correlation to assume it has something to do with Wi-Fi, but I'm certainly hoping it doesn't. Imagine what'll happen to the fledgling municipal Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi VoIP phone industry if it does.

VoIP Becomes More Free For Schools

The US FCC's E-Rate program means US$2B in federal grants for K-12 schools to Internet, telephone, and hardware costs. While that doesn't mean all schools will opt for VoIP, there are provisions on the application form for VoIP as well as mobile devices such as RIM's BlackBerry and Palm Treo. [via ExtremeVoIP]

A number of schools in the US have started using IP communications for their intercom system, and others for actual VoIP outbound calling. The most important technical issue for schools in this case should be the implementation of E911 emergency calling.

VoIP Roundup - Mon Nov 20/06

California Hospitals Implement Multi-Language VoIP Project
A number of public hospitals in California are implement VoIP technology with live multi-language call support in order to serve the large non-English speaking community AT&T is part of the project. Implementation was completed recently. [via TMCNet]

Phonezoo Ringtones Social Network
Diehard cell phone ringtone lovers now have a social network of their own. Phonezoo lets you create your own ringtones, share them with other members, and discover what they have. You can even rate and discuss each ringtone. [via Roam4free] Color me cynical, but do people have nothing better to do, or am I hopelessly out of touch?

How Now, Apple iPhone?
So if Apple really does come out with a so-called iPhone, how do you think it'll operate? Unlocked with SIM cards? Carriers? Daniel Raffel at O'Reilly Emerging Telephony provides his insights, concluding that a carrier partnership might be more painful to them.

VoIP Roundup - Wed Nov 15/06

Skype Enterprise Features Coming?
Skype execs have hinted at upcoming enterprise and call center features. So maybe this will be how eBay finally monetizes Skype?

Speed Demons
The 100-Gigabit Ethernet (100-GbE) technology is here, being demonstrated by a number of companies and the University of California Santa Cruz. A test run sent a signal from Tampa, Florida to Houston, Texas, and back - a first for a live production network. If I understand this correctly, IP backbones will get this technology fairly soon. And as 100-GbE becomes commonplace, likely in several years time, it should mean some incredible real-time video conferencing ability, superfast downloads of movies, and live video broadcasts, to name just a few benefits.

Legal Issues Surrounding VoIP Enterprise Implementations
TechRepublic details legal issues to be aware of when planning a VoIP implementation. They have real alphabet soup of issues, some of which I've only peripherally aware of: SOX/ Sarbox (Sarbanes-Oxley Act), GLBA, HIPAA, E911.

My Phone Is Red Hot; Your Phone Ain't Diddly Squat

Patrick Barnard of TMCNet asks how much are you willing to pay for fast wireless mobile broadband? Lucent Technologies has done research that shows that both consumers and businesses are willing to pay a premium. The United States and Canada have only recently started rolling out 3G (third-generation) services such as HSPA (HSUPA/ HSDPA - or supa-dupa, as I call it) and EV-DO wireless broadband networks, whereas these are already available in other parts of the world.

But Russell Shaw (who seems to have cloned himself for other blogs) writes at IP Networked (a new GigaOm web property) that he's skeptical of EV-DO, mainly because market analysis shows that many 3G phone users "fail to understand [3G service] benefits." He says that he is actually subscribing to EV-DO service through SprintNextel, which gives him a discounted rate, but that ROI for him specifically might not be worth it.

For me, EV-DO is only a backup, at present. As an onine-based freelancer writer/ technoblogger, I need a "plan B" in case I have any problems with my cable broadband access, or in case I cannot find Wi-Fi network for my laptop if I'm mobile. While it's expensive and I cannot exceed a maximum of 250Mb/month bandwidth. But given that my revenue would disintegrate without it, if I couldn't otherwise access the Internet, it's worth every cent. And I can probably write it off as a legitimate expense against earnings. It's also good for me, since I plan to move next year, and having had lousy response time from cable installers in the past. EV-DO for me is a security blanket, albeit one that could be less tattered and a bit more comfortable - especially in the area of mobile VoIP, which it sucks badly in, at least on the Palm Treo.

Putting Your Best Face Forward

If what Ken Camp is saying in Advances in 3G mobile solutions include facial recognition in video, you might want to make sure that you wake up on the right side of the bed. Imagine: your hair is mess, you're bleary-eyed, and depending on your inclination, your face is either unshaven or unmade. And guess what? Your mobile phone doesn't recognize you and won't let you place a call. Damn biometric machines. Always thinking for themselves and getting it wrong.

Of course, I'm exaggerating. You don't have to worry about video calling etiquette for video-based facial authentication. But there are experiments going on that use facial biometrics to control functions on a mobile phone. This includes more important functionality such as contactless payment, access control, and identification. The biggest problem I see with this, which Ken also points out, is environmental conditions (such as darkness) that might give an inaccurate biometric and thus lock you out. It'll probably take a few years for DoCoMo and others to work these issues out. But if they succeed, we'll certainly live in interesting mobile times.

VoIP Roundup - Mon Nov 06/06

Electrocom VoIP Intercom
First there the VoIP-based home security alarm systems from InnovAlarm, Alarm.com, and others. Now there is Electrocom's VoIP intercom, which they're promoting as a "safety and security solution" for K-12 schools in the US state of Washington. Since data cabling already exists in these schools, installation is minimal. They system works in hands-free mode and allows two-way communication as well as facility-wide paging. [PRWeb via Yahoo News]

Pairing iBlue Mac Mini PBX And Snom VoIP Phones
The iBlue IP PBX from 4s newcom, which is essentially integrated into an Apple Mac Mini, will work with new VoIP phones from snom. Now that's sort of expected considering that 4s newcom is a spinoff of snom. In March of 2005, snom had announced that they were offering a mini IP PBX that could fit into a briefcase.

MyNetFone Satellite VoIP
I've previously commented that satellite VoIP stands little chance against other types of VoIP service. Though I have limited choices for my Internet connection, it actually never occurred to me that there is a market for whom satellite-based Internet, and thus VoIP, would actually be the only option. MyNetFone must have realized this too, when deciding to offer satellite-based VoIP service to rural parts of Australia. ISPhone, by the way, is another Australian satellite-based VoIP service.

Nokia Opens US Mobile Apps Research Center

Palo Alto, California, is the home of the new Nokia Research Center. Nokia has a three-agreement with Stanford University to jointly work on research projects for "collaborative mobile computing and applications". The four areas that their research will focus on are:

• Context-aware content and communities.
• Wireless grids.
• Advanced user interfaces and visual media.
• Innovation radio and sensor networks.

Nokia recently bought an RFID company, and with research into wireless grids and sensor networks, it's possible that they will work on crowdsensing applications. In such apps, each mobile phone would have an RFID chip capable of sensing some environmental condition, such as moisture or heat. Each handset would be a node on a wide grid. If such apps are feasible they could revolutionize local/ regional weather reporting, possibly even traffic reporting.

The research center will initially employ 35 researchers, with plans to expand to 100 or more. Nokia recently introduced a new wireless protocol called Wibree, which is a low-power connectivity protocol designed for small objects and possibly mobile phones. Whether Wibree will play a role in the Palo Alto research center is unclear. They have also been planning VoIP on their line of mobile phones for quite some time.

[additional sources: Press.XTVWorld]

The Electronic Global Village Expands

First Singapore announced plans for implementing 2400 hotspots in Northern Singapore. Now Japan plans a giant wireless mesh network over 100 cities, resulting in open broadband access for over 50Mln people. Earlier in the year, Taipei City, Taiwan announced a wireless project to replace PSTN, with an aim of having 200,000 wireless VoIP phones for city employees by year end. And of course there's the countless other cities in the USA and other places installing their own municipal Wi-Fi networks, or just finishing the bidding process.

And with free or inexpensive municipal Wi-Fi, growing in abundance, there's expected to be a burst in sales of plain Wi-Fi or dual-mode Wi-Fi/ cellular phones. If ever there was a time to consider buying stock in wireless and IP-related hardware manufacturers, it's probably now. Just wait until after the US stock market crashes this November due to the mini-tech bubble that's formed.

Embedded VoIP: You've Got Gizmo Project In My LiveJournal

FierceVoIP asks, Will bloggers want to talk to each other, referring to the fact that the LiveJournal weblogging  platform now has Gizmo Project embedded into it. Users of LiveJournal (LJ) can see the online status of their "friends" and communicate either with voice or text chat, or leave a message.

If you want to try Gizmo Project for LJ Talk, you'll need a free LiveJournal account first, which involves a ridiculously hard to read captcha graphic (to prove you are human and not a spambot). Then you'll have to choose between two different types of free account or a paid one. (While I like MovableType, a cousin to LJ, I'm not a big fan of LJ.) Finally, you can download the clients (Win 2000, XP = 11.1 Mb; Mac OS X 10.3.9+ = 18.9 Mb). A microphone and headphones (or speakers) are obviously required.

Once you've downloaded and installed LJ Talk, when you run the client, your "presence" will register on your LiveJournal journal pages, to your LJ friends. (This is based on what I can tell from the LJ pages. Since this is essentially Gizmo Project, I have no plan to install it as well.) Now you need some friends to try it on. Go search for and invite people on LJ.

Will you be my friend? If you are like me and have no friends, you can at least use the client to voice post to your LiveJournal weblog, which is a nice feature. If you already have LJ friends, your contact list will be used to populate LJ Talk. I suspect though can't confirm yet that LJ Talk supports click-to-call, whereby someone can click on a "call me" type of button on your LJ journal web pages to initiate a VoIP call with you in your LJ Talk client.

By the way, you can also use a variety of other compatible clients to chat with someone on LJ Talk.

Enterprise IP Telephony: It Costs How Much?!

While there are a number of reasons that businesses have been slow to adopt Internet telephony, there are companies doing big deals for enterprise VoIP migrations. Williamette Dental in Midwest USA operates 69 offices in the states of Idaho, Oregon and Washinton. They signed a deal with Qwest Communications International Inc. to set up a data networking and VoIP system over three years. At a cost of US$3.8M. The VoIP system will be used to transfer calls from customers to their call center.

The amount took me aback. That seems like a lot for VoIP. That's just over $55K per office. Now I don't claim to know the costs of traditional telephony systems - despite having worked for a large telecom - but $55K per office sounds like an awful lot. Then again, they may need to lay down coaxial, put in IP PBXes, interconnect offices. configure the software and the system, do any necessary training, and possibly manage the services. There's also the cost of call minutes and reportage, although these will likely be less than for PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network) systems.

But the good news for businesses that cannot afford to spend $55K per office is that there are probably probably plug-and-play IP PBX solutions that are SIP-based (open standard) and which cost less than that. One possible option is an Asterisk solution, maybe even the hybrid Skype-Asterisk solution for businesses, from Pika Technologies. I'll try to expand on business options in future posts.

Now That's What I'm Talking About: Custom Voice Mails

Not long ago, I was bellyaching about wanting a way to produce different voicemail messages for different callers (based on caller id). In fact, some other blogger mentioned something about wanting one voicemail message for his girlfriend/ wife (both?), another for business contacts, and yet another for friends and family. Well YouMail lets you do this. Their initial application rollout is for Verizon, Cingular and T-Mobile cellular subscribers only. Currently, there is only Windows support, with Mac coming soon. More details at YouMail. (As I'm not a subscriber of any of the above providers, I can't test it.)

I'm guessing that even if YouMail doesn't get into the VoIP niche, someone else will come up with similar features for soft phones. I mean, it can't be that hard. All soft phones already know who is calling, if the caller is at least on a soft phone. Now since I have not explored VoIP soft phone and VoIM voicemail all that much, I may have just missed the fact that some of them already have customized voicemails. I'm wagering that if Asterisk cannot already do this, that it wouldn't be all that hard to do so.

[sources: MobileCrunch, Technology Evangelist]

Bluetooth File Transfer Capabilities

The Bluetooth SIG (Special Interest Group) has declared October as "Bluetooth Transfer Month". They are promoting the fact that Bluetooth can be used to transfer digital content wirelessly between enabled devices including phones, computers, PDAs and other devices. Any two devices with Bluetooth capability and memory have the ability to transfer files to each other. (Whether they actually can is dependent on whether manufacturers have made the functionality available to users.) [via Wireless IQ]

Sample applications include passing digital business cards between phones and PDAs, capturing TV or stage show information from digital billboards and posters, sharing photos and music, and more.  A stage version of the Lord of the Rings included a promotion where special subway posters allowed people to download ringtones using Bluetooth. Obviously, there could be some very interesting social applications.

To help promote the file transfer abilities of Bluetooth, devices that are capable of this will have an "Experience"  icon on the device and packaging. But with VoIM becoming more common on cell phones, Bluetooth file transer usage might increase without the promotional campaign - if the ability is built into the next generation of VoIM clients, for short-range transfer.

Virtual GPS

Don't have GPS capability in your mobile phone or PDA? The Navizon Web API from Mexens Technology can pinpoint users by triangulating signals from nearby Wi-Fi access points. This location can then be used as a reference point to show the user additional location-based information such as nearby stores, banks and restaurants.

This functionality could be teamed up with the mobile click-to-call/ pay-per-call that Microsoft and Ingenio are now offering (jointly with Ingenio). It could be a great way to promote local businesses in cities that are offering municipal Wi-Fi. Given that cell phone use is expected to increase all over the world - particularly with dual-mode Wi-Fi/ cellular phones, there is likely to be a market for such services.

[sources: Wireless IQ, Biz Yahoo]

SMS Text Messages In Non-Roman Alphabets

While English might be the de facto language in India, especially for business, and usually the first language taught in most schools there, Hindi is the official language. The script known as Devanagiri, and the language both derive from the dead language Sanskrit, which is a sister language of Latin.

The fact that Hindi is written in a non-Roman alphabet makes it complex to when it comes to computers and cell phones. However, Feedelix Wireless has managed to send the first-ever Hindi SMS message from a subscriber in India to another in San Diego, California. Feedelix's HindiVayuSMS software was used. [via Cellular News]

This of course bodes well for other languages that do not use the Roman alphabet. An alternate method would be for one participant to type in English, and for on-the-fly language translation software to convert to Hindi, even in Devanagiri script. This of course is only a partial solution. Other possibilities are to auto-generate Devanagiri script by translating voice input.

Microsoft's Click-to-Call

Google's doing click-to-call, so why not Microsoft? Ingenio and Microsoft have teamed up to offer a mobile version of click-to-call, which incorporates pay-per-call advertising on Windows Live Search for mobile devices. The pay-per-call advertising market is expected to reach nearly US$4Bln by the end of the decade, for mobile or otherwise. Essentially, advertisers get exposure in Windows Live Search, and if a mobile user clicks their link to find out more information about their products and/or services, then the advertiser pays Microsoft and Ingenio for the call. Example advertisers might be local businesses such as restaurants, hotels, travel agencies. [PR Newswire via Biz Yahoo]

Quantizing Voice Data For VoIP Applications

One of the great benefits about VoIP and IP telephony in terms of business use is that a voice call now becomes data. What that means, amongst other things, is that a VoIP system adminitrator can manage user accounts invidually or in groups. Access can be given to voice-related data - such as call recordings - in the same manner that computer file access can be given. It also means that a group of people can be given access to long-distance calling, file transfer, application sharing, or what have you, with relative ease. While traditional telephony offers some of these group-access features, VoIP telephony makes it fairly easy to implement advanced features without special phone lines or equipment. As well, VoIP calls are treated as a computer resource, so security is easier to implement.

Sightspeed: SMBs and Video Conferencing

Back when I was working on a Master's degree, one class I was in was part of a trial with another nearby university. The course was being jointly taught by two professors, one in each town. The room my class was in was a small amphitheatre with a large screen usually obscured by the overhead projector's screen. The other university had a similar setup. Occasionally, our lecturer would turn on the transmission and we'd see the other professor, who would conduct the rest of the lecture - or vice versa with our professor. This only happened a few times during the semester, and the transmission was over a satellite link. It was video-conferencing of a sort, but very expensive, if I recall.

This was back around 1993-4. I know the room is still there, although I don't know if they still use the satellite link. The campus had access to the "web" back then, which consisted only of email, ftp, gopher, archie, newsgroups, etc., access. The full Internet was only a few months away. Today, there is Wi-Fi across parts of the campus, accessible if you have a student or alumni account. But video-conferencing is not only a lot more accessible these days but far less expensive. Anyone with an internet connection and a video-calling soft phone like Sightspeed can have a video conference.

In fact, several SMBs (small and medium businesses) in the United States are using video-calling functionality. A small teacher certification business in Texas uses Sightspeed's video-conferencing feature to communicate with their students. The founder of a consulting firm also uses Sightspeed to communicate with both clients and colleagues (in another office). Yet another company uses Skype and the Festoon add-on, which bridges both video and voice calls between Skype and Google Talk.

VoIP itself can save a small business. Video conferencing can save a business even more, coupled with the ability to share clickable URLs, documents and desktop applications, the need to travel even locally between offices can be reduced significantly. This not only saves money but valuable time.

Wibree: New Nokia Wireless Connectivity Protocol

Nokia has introduced Wibree, a short-range wireless connectivity protocol, which is complementary to Bluetooth and UWB. It's the culmination of five years of development and is ten times more energy efficient than Bluetooth. Wibree operates in the 2.4Ghz band, has a range of 10 meters, and a maximum speed of 1Mbps (megabit per second). (Bluetooth operates in the UHF above 6 Ghz.)

Instead of being used in cell phones, it would be in watches and possibly enterprise devices such as keyboards, mice and digital pens. Other possibilities are "wearables" such as intelligent jewelry. Nokia already has dula-mode cellular VoIP phones. I'm wondering if Wibree could be used for VoIP "communicator" badges that double as lapel pins or brooches - similar to Vocera's Call Badge.

[via CBR Online, CRN]

The Demise of The Blackberry?

I don't believe this for a minute, given how long BlackBerries have lasted and how much their users love them, but.... IDC has release a report saying that BlackBerries cannot last against push email solutions from Microsoft and Nokia. [via Teleclick.ca]

Here's why I don't believe it. The people who use BlackBerry, as far as I'm aware, are employees. Their employers have all the equipment and servers in place. While Microsoft and Nokia may succeed in signing on new business, existing RIM clients are probably unlikely to want to do a wholesale switchover. Unless there was some overwhelming benefit. And not just cost, I'm thinking.

Another factor? RIM stock. I know former RIM employees who became millionaires and retired. One of the founders of RIM set up an incredible science facility in the Waterloo, Canada area, where RIM is headquartered, with $95M of his own money, if I remember correctly. Then the brightest physics minds of the world were invited for fellowships.

It isn't just Canadians, particularly employees, who bought stock. No doubt loads of Americans, particularly executives, bought stock. With Microsoft stock sucking bollocks for about five years now, execs aren't going to let RIM stock decline just because Microsoft or Nokia comes out with a new competitve product. I'm sure of this. When Microsoft had hot stock, I found this same kind of attitude from executives I worked with. I despised Microsoft's strategies back then, but they defended the big M, even though I presented facts as to why they were not the better choice. No luck at all.

So even if Microsoft and Nokia come out with something better, they have a whole "Crackberry" culture to deal with. And with RIM moving into cool phones like the Blackberry Pearl and plans to get into VoIP, they are expanding their potential customer base. They may not have as deep pockets as Microsoft and Nokia, but they're deep enough to, say, make a few strategic acquisitions. And they are a wildly innovative company with a large "fan" base.

Lights, Camera, Sightspeed

MTV is looking for VJs for their Total Request live show, which often features Sightspeed-driven videos by fans. Sightspeed is arguably the best video-calling VoIP soft phone available. Andy Abramson talks about the MTV casting call and some of the positive aspects of this development, including a new type of social interaction enabled by VoIP.

Earlier this year, Skype promoted a special contest for fans of alt-rock band Coldplay. The two young women who won got to Skype with members of the band for several minutes. Now consider the Japanese TV broadcasting via Skype. So there is great potential for celebrities to connect with fans via IPTV over VoIP IMs, either live or recorded. And with video interaction through Sightspeed, Skype or similar soft phones, citizen video could become the source of unique TV or IPTV content, such as 11 Cameras (which is supposedly a view of the lives of several people via 11 video or webcams viewed through instant messengers).

Free Public iKiosk VoIP Phones

Ginny Granger writes about a network of free public VoIP phones called iKiosks in Aberdeen, Scotland. The iKiosks offer free email, videomail, internet access, and free VoIP phone calls. Calls are based on software similar to Skype. Robert Gordon University is one of the first iKiosk sites.

This is a marked contrast to SJSU (San Jose State University) in California (and other universities) where they had planned to ban the use of Skype on campus but later reversed their decision. Maybe something like iKiosk would be more to the university's liking? Free public phohes is a radical idea. In Australia and other places, public VoIP pay phones are being rolled out.

SkyNET: Single Geek Male Finds Single Toll-Free VoIP Number

Well, I didn't find it, exactly. After I posted my Single geek male seeks single toll-free number article, Michael Steverson from SkyNET-tel.com posted a comment saying that they can do what I was asking for right now: a single 800 VoIP number. Do my eyes deceive me? Really?

The deal is US$9.99/month for a Personal 800 Number. That has to be teamed with the One Cent Plan, which is $4.99/mth. Calls are then $0.01/minute. While I haven't been as much of chatty kathy lately, if I were to resume my old talk habits of 800+ minutes per month, well that'd still only be 14.98 + 8.00 per month. My old toll-free number cost me about $35/mth, if I remember correctly. So even if I used 1000 minutes per month, that'd still be just under $25/month. There's also the unlimited plan of $23.99/mth (first month free) or the unlimited business plan of $39.99/m.

Coupled with a personal 800 number, that's not a bad deal at all, if I can find a reasonable VoIP call-in number plan and suitable area code, then I'm set. The 800 number requires a local number, but if I can get a local area code with VoIP when I move to the big city, then I'm good. (That might be a problem, as most popular VoIP services do not cover the city I'm moving to, including SkyNET, from what I can tell.) But the 800 toll-free number is apparently good for 36 international locations. People from all of these locations can call the number as if it were local. Man, am I excited. I can finally enjoy vishing and annoying telemarketing calls from all over the world.

Sounds like a deal. Currently, most of my voice chat minutes are local. I've been taking advantage of Skype's SkypeOut free calling promo in North America, to test quality and generally freak friends and family out with my pc-to-phone calling. On the other hand, I did say I was moving. I would still need a soft phone Call-In number for the new locale. If I find one, basically for not more than what I used to spend only a regional 800 number, I can get pretty much what I was looking for: a single toll-free 800 number, not counting a local number. (SkyNET will have their own soft phone in the future. Just a suggestion, but guys/ gals, base it on SIP, so that it can communicate with users on Gizmo Project, iPhox, and others.)

Incidentals: There's a shipping charge of $25 for the free SkyBOX, which I assume is a VoIP adapter for the broadband connection. They're charging sales tax, even though it's the Internet. Maybe it has to do with where I am. And there's a $19.99 activation fee. Okay, I'll stop being a cheapskate. This still seems like a pretty good deal

I'm listening to Roy Orbison, the man with the soothing golden voice, right now as I write this. So maybe I'm a bit sentimental at the moment, but this might just be the beginning of a beautiful VoIP relationship. Thanks, Michael. The only things that worry me are (1) the secure HTTP server certificate on their website has expired. So I hope they'll fix this before I decide to commit to a serious relationship. And for those of you that don't use credit cards, like myself, they accept payment by Paypal. I'm not moving just yet, but when I do, I'm itching to try this. Although if Skype ever gets real mobile support going, I'll have a grand time combining Skype and SkyNET.

Skype From Mobile: SoonR - Take 2

Song Huang from SoonR responded in detail to my original post about Sooner, as well as a post about soft VoIP for mobile devices. SoonR is an application that lets you not only make Skype calls from your mobile phone or PDA, but it also lets you view your desktop applications. Apparently it can render all kinds of information on your phone including Powerpoint slides, AutoCad and Illustrator drawings, and PDF documents.

Except that I couldn't get it to work, other than being able to view my desktop's folders. I couldn't get a simple text file, nor could I use the Skype feature to phone a friend. Actually, I could, but when SoonR called my cell, I was still on data mode and it went to voicemail. So the friend I was trying to call heard my voice mail instead of me.

According to Song's response to my problems with SoonR on my Palm Treo 650, it appears that I missed a few details. Treos are problematic, especially on EV-DO networks. (At least, I think that's the issue. Palm devices using Microsoft Pocket PC don't have the problem.) SoonR allows you to set a delay so that you can switch from data over to phone mode. I missed that. But then, I missed that setting for a few apps. Delays are how Mino Wireless and EQO Mobile both get around the Treo data network problem. (Though at least Mino's is automatic, and EQO might be as well.) So if you are having similar problems with SoonR on Palm OS-based smartphones/ PDAs, try configuring the delay setting.

Now I guess I have to add SoonR to the growing list of VoIP/ voice apps that I have to try or re-try. But assuming that it will work for me now, with all the features it has, it's an incredibly cool application. At least in theory. While it'd be very nice to have access to apps like Outlook, Powerpoint, Illustrator, and PDF, it's like I said about Cognos announcement about running their business intelligence software on Blackberry devices. Basically, the app may be cool, but all of them suffer from the fact that mobile devices typically have such small viewing screens.

What I'd like to see - although I am a geek - is a HUD (heads-up display) that I can connect to my PDA, and a simple interface - possibly a wired glove (maybe even RFID) to actually interact with the application as simply as possible. This is about the only way I'd care about running complex apps or viewing complex data on the go. (That and a better cellular data plan.) Even my relatively large Palm Treo 650 screen won't cut it for me.

Skype Ubiquitous On Mobile Phones? Not Just Yet

So it's not just me. According to a CRN article, Skype on mobile phones and PDAs has some technical hurdles to cover before it'll function correctly. Skype CEO and co-founder Niklas Zennstrom specifically mentioned Symbian phones being more difficult than expected. PocketPC-based phones and PDAs do have Skype, but a lot of other mobile communication devices do not. Or when there is a Skype-related mobile solution, such as SoonR, there are still technical glitches, depending on your phone. So I can almost sympathize with Zennstrom.

In fact, Skype isn't really the only VoIP service having this problem of achieving ubiquity on mobile devices. I've had little luck getting anything to work on Palm Treo 650, a very specific phone. Mino Wireless works, and Chris from EQO says that EQO Mobile should work, too. (I'll try it this weekend.) But as for actual mobile Skype, well Niklas Zennstrom says that have nothing to offer yet and no timetable besides.

Too bad. I guess I'll be waiting with bated breath, and keep my outrageously expensive cellular wireless data network plan going in anticipation. Wonder how many additional active users Skype'll gain when they do go mobile? Maybe Skype needs to start acquiring a few companies with some of that US$2.6B they got from eBay last year. In the meantime, though, Skype-specific Wi-Fi and dual-mode phones do seem to work, so you might want to consider one of those for a bit of mobility.

VoIP Roundup - Fri Sep 29/06

Should Web Traffic Be Prioritized?
Matt Brunk at VoIP Loop considers the types of web-based traffic and makes an argument for why certain types of traffic might need to be prioritized, especially since media convergence is pushing a lot of public services into IP-based access.

Testing Your VoIP And IMS
Ixia has just announced their IxVoice software for testing VoIP and IMS (IP Multimedia Subsystem) protocols. via Light Reading] IMS is a core part of media convergence. That is, offering a variety of media over via Internet Protocol (IP), and communication between networks.

Telepresence Via Video VoIP
Be Here is offering their TotalView "VoIP Collaboration Phone" which gives a full-room view for conference participants. TotalView was announced at DEMOfall 2006 earlier this week. [via VoIPLoop]

VoIP Roundup - Wed Sep 27/06

EverywhereNet: Might As Well Be On Mars?
Ted Wallingford posted a fascinating article, EverywhereNet is on peoples' minds, in response to Andy Abramson's discussion of something called Open Net. It's new territory for me, and I honestly don't think I can sum it up for you just yet. But if you are interested in reading about ideas for a better national and global IP infrastructure, I suggest you read them both.

Forget iPhone?
Cynthia Brumfield points to David Pogue's NY Times discussion of the rumoured Apple iPhone (not to be confused with the SIP-based iPhone from Teledex). Basically, forget about it.

Jajah Mobile Suite No Threat?
Russell Shaw weighs in with his nine reasons why Jajah Mobile Suite is no threat to cell or VoIP. Common thread: people with existing cellular or VoIP subscriptions are unlikely to switch.

SJSU OK's Skype
Phil Wolff reports at Skype Journal that, reversing an earlier decision to ban Skype on campus, SJSU (San Jose State University) has okayed the popular soft phone for now. The post also has a nice summary of the reasons why Skype would be beneficial to the university. Bravo on both counts.

VoIP Crimes Of Another Stripe?

After the arrest of five foreign nationals in Namibia providing VoIP service without a license, as well as goings on in various Asian and African countries in regards to VoIP, you might be wondering if VoIP is under attack there. Marcelo Rodriguez takes a crtical look [Voxilla] at what Russell Shaw [ZD Net] and Rich Tehrani [TMC Net] are saying.

Rodriguez points out that both Shaw and Tehrani mention "Third World" countries as locales where VoIP seems to be under attack, possibly due to affiliations between the government and the traditional telecoms, but that they leave out the US as being in a similar category. (Examples: Korea and the UAE blocking Skype.) He then goes on to reveal several examples of lobbying, campaign contributions, and all-expense golf vacations.

The Voxilla piece is very revealing and extremely politically charged. I'm going to take my cue to up the voltage. Let's take a few separate scenarios. First scenario, conspiracy: the entire telephony system in North America is fully wiretapped and all calls are monitored either by humans or machines, for whatever political purpose the real men with power wield. Second scenario: the first scenario is crock, but phone calls are a valuable commodity and thus extremely lucrative. Third scenario: a combination of both the first and second scenarios.

Choose your scenario. Either way, VoIP threatens the status quo, and hence spawns acts like CALEA, possibly attacks on Vonage's share price, and debates like neutrality vs tiered Internet service. Everything that is happening politically in telephony satisfies one of those three scenarios. Let's face it: VoiP is a threat no matter how you slice your political pie.

VoIP Roundup - Mon Sep 25/06

Universities Banning Skype
A number of universities have decided to ban Skype, stating that it consumes bandwidth and supposedly is an "illegal" waste of resources. (Illegal? Seriously?) Grid computing apps are also included in the ban at several California universities including University of California Santa Barbara, San Jose State University, and California State University Dominguez Hills. They are not banning Gizmo Project or Wengo. [via Ars Technica] Several countries also ban/ block Skype, including Korea and the UAE (United Arab Emirates).

Telrex CallRex VoIP Call Recording For Cisco
Telrex claims that their CallRex version 3.1 is the  first VoIP call-recording solution to be certified for encrypting Cisco Unified CallManager 5.0 calls. [via Business Wire]

SIP Trunking Makes VoIP Telephony More Flexible
Rich Tehrani reflects on how SIP trunking has made IP telephony more flexible by reducing the