Security Concerns Dog Mobile P2P Payments (NewsFactor)18.03.2008 16:21 - source: Yahoo tech NewsFactor - More and more vendors are rolling out technology that will allow consumers to use cell phones to do their banking. They're just waiting for customers to start using these technologies. While it will eventually happen, these companies should have some patience, because consumers are still wary about the perceived risks. Read more… |
LightPole Delivers Dynamic Content to Mobile Phones (PC World)18.03.2008 16:21 - source: Yahoo tech PC World - Current mobile information offerings don't really take advantage of the two-way nature of phones or relay information about transient events or changing opportunities, said LightPole, a San Francisco company launching a new mobile content service on Tuesday. Read more… |
CBS Offers Local Sites News Widgets and Revenue (NewsFactor)18.03.2008 16:21 - source: Yahoo tech NewsFactor - CBS Television Stations on Monday launched a local ad network with blogger and social-media sites. Dubbed the CBS Local Ad Network, the partnership is the first between a major media company's television stations and localized social-media mavens. Read more… |
EU picks mobile TV standard (AP)18.03.2008 16:21 - source: Yahoo tech AP - The European Union on Monday chose a mobile TV broadcast standard and suggested that its member governments now ask cell carriers to favor it. Read more… |
Dell: Asia Pacific business growing fast (AP)18.03.2008 16:21 - source: Yahoo tech AP - Dell Inc.'s business is growing fast in Asia and the outlook for laptop computers continues to be bright, CEO Michael Dell said Tuesday. Read more… |
Amazon: Vista SP1 to arrive Tuesday (AP)18.03.2008 16:21 - source: Yahoo tech AP - A major package of updates and security fixes for Microsoft Corp.'s Windows Vista operating system will be available for download Tuesday, according to Amazon.com Inc.'s Web site. Read more… |
Justices turn down Microsoft appeal (AP)18.03.2008 16:21 - source: Yahoo tech AP - The Supreme Court on Monday handed Microsoft Corp. a defeat by refusing to rule on the software giant's request to halt an antitrust suit against it. Read more… |
Yahoo expects 2010 revenue of $8.8B (AP)18.03.2008 16:21 - source: Yahoo tech AP - Yahoo says it expects to roughly double operating cash flow over the next three years and generate $8.8 billion in revenue after costs in 2010. Read more… |
Carphone Warehouse has 1 Million next-gen network users18.03.2008 16:21 - source: voip-news.co.uk 
Carphone Warehouse Networks now has one million UK users on its next generation network infrastructure, which is supported by the Sonus IP-based platform. This milestone was achieved in just 27 months. Sonus Networks, a leading IP-voice infrastructure company, expects to carry 3.5 million UK Broadband users by 2010. Carphone Warehouse Networks’ IP-based voice network [...] Read more… |
Mark Spencer Recounts the History of Asterisk PBX19.03.2008 18:45 - source: Asterisk Asterisk is an open source private branch exchange (PBX) originally created by Mark Spencer of Digium. A PBX, is a type of phone switch, that allows multiple attached telephones to make calls to one another, and to connect to other... Read more… |
Azulstar to Upgrade its Existing Municipal Wi-Fi Networks with WiMax19.03.2008 18:45 - source: Asterisk Azulstar today announced that it is enhancing all of its existing municipal Wi-Fi networks with WiMax technology, using equipment from Airspan Networks and Redline Communications. The networks being upgraded include Grand Haven, MI - America's first municipal Wi-Fi network, which... Read more… |
Polycom Introduces Applications, Wifi Phone and Microsoft Video Integration at VON.x Show19.03.2008 18:45 - source: VoIP-News.com If it's spring, it’s time for VoIP vendors to introduce new products at the annual VON.x show. Held in San Jose, Calif., the Spring 2008 VON.x Conference and Expo is where Polycom, Inc. is s... Read more… |
IPEVO Moves Beyond Skype Roots19.03.2008 18:45 - source: VoIP-News.com There was a good reason IPEVO Inc. gained notice for its Solo, a Skype desk phone that looks and performs like a high-quality traditional desk phone. The Solo, which plugs into any broadband port to c... Read more… |
Aastra Jumps Into IP-PBX Game19.03.2008 18:45 - source: VoIP-News.com Many IP-PBX vendors use Aastra Telecom SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) phones as part of the turnkey telephony systems they sell to small businesses. But those vendors often provide other phones in ... Read more… |
Listen Up: 17 Signs That You Are Being Wiretapped19.03.2008 18:46 - source: VoIP-News.com Do you hear strange noises on your phone line? Do you feel like your secrets aren't safe? You're not as paranoid as you might think. Mobsters and cheating spouses aren't the only ones that... Read more… |
VoIP Leads the Way in IBISWorld Top 10 List for 200819.03.2008 18:46 - source: Voipmonitornet VoIP Leads the Way in IBISWorld Top 10 List for 2008IBISWorld released its list of industries with strong growth forecasts expected for 2008. VoIP is first of the top 10 industries which IBISWorld predicts to do well in 2008 and is forecasted to grow by 24.3 percent this year. Read more… |
Microsoft & Aspect Software Partner on Unified Communications19.03.2008 18:46 - source: voipgadgets Today, the Microsoft Unified Communications Group announced a a multi-year strategic alliance with Aspect Software to help deliver unified communications to contact centers. Aspect Software is considered one of the leading players in the contact center space, so this is huge news for Microsoft. The goal is to bring Microsoft's Office Communications Server (OCS) 2007 unified communications software to contact centers currently or planning to use Aspect Software products. Aspect has a huge footprint in the contact center space, so this strategic alliance will help Microsoft crack into this vital space. Aspect will design its Aspect Unified IP contact center solution to interoperate with Microsoft’s OCS platform for software-powered voice and unified communications and will offer it as the leading option to new and existing customers. Additionally, Microsoft is making an equity investment in Aspect to "accelerate the development and adoption of the new solutions and services." I listened to the teleconference, which I recorded here if you want to listen. Here are some of the important points: - Microsoft OCS will be offered as a primary option to all Aspect customers. - 174 of the Fortune 500 companies have already licensed Office Communication Server. (Impressive!) - Microsoft claims "customer adoption puts us on track to be the top 3 enterprise voice provider in a few short years." - One important goal is to improve business processes - Microsoft is investing in Aspect Software - This is a 5 year strategic alliance with an option for renewal. - Presence information will make agents more productive. - Ask Me Expert feature provides instant access to experts while preserving the whole context of the entire call. Efficiency to the business will be enormous. - Terms of the equity investment were not disclosed - Microsoft's current strategic deal with Nortel is not affected. “A key pillar of Microsoft's unified communications vision is improving access to the people and information you need to do your job better and more quickly, and, with Aspect, we aim to make this vision a reality for contact centers,” said Gurdeep Singh Pall, corporate vice president, Unified Communications Group at Microsoft. “Contact centers demand reliable and flexible communications solutions. The fact that Aspect, a noted leader, is choosing to optimize its next-generation solution for Microsoft UC is tremendous validation of the strengths of our unified communications and voice over Internet protocol platform, and for the momentum behind software-powered voice.” Aspect will begin development of the optimized solutions immediately. This year, Aspect plans to release a new version of its .NET-based Aspect Unified IP product, which delivers interoperability with Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007, and which will include a powerful ask-an-expert capability using instant messaging and presence technology in Office Communications Server 2007. Aspect is designing this feature to enable contact center agents to find and consult with experts anywhere in a company to resolve inquiries in a single interaction. Aspect plans to extend the interoperability of its Unified IP with Office Communications Server to include software-powered voice in subsequent releases. This solution is being designed to enable contact centers to seamlessly escalate customer interactions to different channels — phone, instant messaging, e-mail or conferencing — while addressing reliability, scalability and reporting needs. As part of the agreement, Aspect will also build a professional services and systems integration practice for Microsoft's unified communications software. Aspect will help customers deploy, customize and manage Office Communications Server in its contact centers and throughout its organizations for software-powered voice, instant messaging, presence and conferencing. Tags: Aspect Software, call center, contact center, Microsoft, OCS 2007, unified communications, VoIP Related Entries Voice Mobility UCN Vmerge takes on Microsoft OCS - Feb 13, 2008 SAP Duet to leverage Microsoft OCS 2007 - Oct 16, 2007 Rich Liveblogging Microsoft UC Launch - Oct 16, 2007 Dell Gets into VoIP Game with OCS 2007 - Oct 16, 2007 Microsoft OCS 2007 Review - Oct 16, 2007 FaceFon Video Phone on its way? - Feb 07, 2008 Dell VoIP Products Analysis - Jan 23, 2008 Microsoft OCS 2007 Training - Dec 14, 2007 NET Acquires Quintum, VoIP Gateway Manufacturer - Oct 26, 2007 Office Communications Server 2007 Software Update Service - Oct 17, 2007 Read more… |
Sangoma Technologies Offers Lifetime Warranty19.03.2008 18:46 - source: voipgadgets 
Sangoma Technologies just threw down the gauntlet today by announcing a lifetime warranty on their Advanced Flexible Telecommunications (AFT) product line. Sangoma used to have a five year warranty, but now they've gone all-out with their lifetime warranty - unheard of in the telecom space. Wow! Sangoma is aggressively moving to retain a leadership position in Asterisk telephony cards. Digium, Rhino, Pika, Aculab, Dialogic, it's your move... Full release after the jump...Continue reading Sangoma Technologies Offers Lifetime Warranty... Tags: Aculab, Advanced Flexible Telecommunications, AFT, Asterisk, Dialogic, Digium, PIKA, Rhino, Sangoma, VoIP, warranty Related Entries Asterisk Hardware - Which would you choose? - Jun 15, 2007 Astfin announces Asterisk Appliance based on Blackfin - Oct 30, 2007 trixbox Pro Editon + trixNet - Aug 13, 2007 Switchvox SMB 3.5 and AA60 Switchvox Appliance - Mar 18, 2008 PIKA Fax Adds Faxing to Asterisk - Feb 26, 2008 PIKA for Asterisk boards now trixbox CE compatible - Jan 22, 2008 Digium reaches 1 million download milestone - Dec 19, 2007 Digium Acquires Switchvox - Sep 27, 2007 Digium Wins InfoWorld ''Best of Open Source Software'' Award - Sep 18, 2007 Skip2PBX, SIP-to-Skype Gateway, is here! - Aug 31, 2007 Read more… |
More on the Aastra AastraLink Pro 160 appliance19.03.2008 18:46 - source: voipgadgets 
I spoke with Aastra's executive vice president, Yves Laliberte just 50 minutes ago to discuss the newly launched AastraLink Pro 160 appliance, which I blogged about this morning. As I suspected, the appliance is Asterisk-based. In my morning post I wrote, "This is a very interesting move since Aastra Telecom is known for their IP phones used by various IP-PBXs, including many of the Asterisk-based solutions - trixbox, AsteriskNOW, Druid, PBX in a Flash, etc. With the AastraLink Pro 160 Aastra is now competing with IP-PBX vendors that purchase their phones." With this in mind, my first question to Yves was "Aastra makes some very good IP phones that a lot of IP PBX vendors use but now you're moving into the IP-PBX space, so how do they feel about that?" Yves responded, "It's a great question. One that's delicate to answer. The reaction from our partners in the IP PBX space is that this changes the nature of how we are perceived. That being said this early in the game, time will tell soon how we both manage the evolution of that. Our goal and purpose is not so much to compete with our partners even though we have solutions that are targeting the same space. But from our perspective we are really trying to compete with the traditional PBX manufacturers that have various solutions for the small business. And we think we can use our critical mass and our approach and compete with them on price, easy of use, and support angle as well as further promote open source and open standards." This response is similar to what I said this morning, i.e. "I suppose in the SMB space you're [Aastra] still more likely to go up against Avaya, Nortel, Toshiba, etc. than another Asterisk competitor." Similar to other low cost IP PBX solutions, Aastra is pricing their AastraLink Pro 160 system less than $1000 with their $999 list price. I should mention that unlike many of Aastra's competitors, there are no hidden license costs. You simply buy another Aastra phone to add additional users. AastraLink Pro 160 Specs/Features The system is 100% flash memory (no hard drive or moving parts) and comes with 512MB of memory. Interestingly, Aastra developed their own FXO/FXS ports for analog connectivity. It doesn't support a T1/E1 interface card, though most SMBs still use analog. The AastraLink Pro 160 also supports SIP trunking and it seemed apparent to me in my conversation that Aastra believes strongly that SIP trunking is the way to go over a T1/E1 card for higher trunk line scalability. Tom: What version of Asterisk are you using? 1.4? 1.6? Yves: What Aastra is announcing today is based on Asterisk 1.4. at GA date launching May 15th the appliance will actually deliver the first wave based on Asterisk 1.2 not 1.4. In the 3rd quarter Asterisk 1.4 will be delivered. Those with Asterisk 1.2 can freely upgrade to 1.4. Yves explained, "The major difference is really the IP key system features such as shared line appearances (SLA) in 1.4. We wanted to make more time to do some additional things with it." Tom: (thinking to self: Users & especially Asterisk VARs & resellers have been clamoring for shared line appearances in Asterisk for quite some time. See this post for some of this SLA discussion. So if Aastra can make SLA easy to configure & use that could be a key advantage) Tom: Obviously you have the ability to auto-provision your own phones, but do you support 3rd party IP phones? Yves: Not at this time. Really the concept is the difference between us and our partners is that we decided to support auto-provision for our phones only; to offer the entire portfolio so you get the classic (4 series phones) and the 5i phones. The auto-discovery, in our opinion , because we control both the phone and the system is probably the simplest in the industry, including the provisioning of remote phones. Yves explained you can hook up your phone on your LAN, have it auto-provisioned, assigned an extension, and then take it home and hook it up to your broadband connection and it will automatically work. Other solutions support this as well, including Fonality's hybrid-hosted trixbox pro & PBXtra solutions. The difference is that Fonality leverages their hybrid-hosted approach (external hosted & internal components) where Aastra doesn't require a hosted web server. Finally, the system comes with 6 FXO ports and 2 FXS ports (for fax machines). Each FXO is equipped with on-hook CallerID detection and full G.168 echo cancellation Pricing & Availability: General availability is May 15th and pricing is $999. Tags: AastraLink Pro 160, Aastra Telecom, Asterisk, IP-PBX, shared line appearances, SLA, VoIP Related Entries Aastra AastraLink Pro 160 - Mar 18, 2008 Intuitive Voice Technology Calls Out other Asterisk Competitors - Asterisk Clone Wars Have Begun... - Mar 13, 2008 Asterisk 1.6.0 beta5 - Mar 06, 2008 Schmooze the Yiddish Asterisk - Feb 01, 2008 PIKA for Asterisk boards now trixbox CE compatible - Jan 22, 2008 Digium launches Switchvox Free Edition - Oct 31, 2007 Free IP-PBX! - Oct 24, 2007 Avaya #1 VoIP PBX Vendor? - Aug 21, 2007 Digium Acquires Astricon - Jul 11, 2007 Mitel sues ShoreTel - What does it mean? - Jun 28, 2007 Read more… |
wi-tribe limited selects Aptilo Networks to provide WiMAX solutions...19.03.2008 18:46 - source: www.topix "In addition, Aptilo's interoperability with leading WiMAX vendors means we are well poised for future growth, and to leverage new services for our customers moving forward." Aptilo Networks, the global leader in integrated solutions for Service Management and Access Control for wireless networks including WiMAX, metro Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi hotspots, announces that wi-tribe limited has ... via AME Info Read more… |
Nortel keeps SSA contract19.03.2008 18:46 - source: www.topix "We've committed the necessary resources to meet SSA's aggressive deployment schedule, and we're eager to get started." Nortel Government Solutions has prevailed in a protest of its $300 million contract to build a voice-over-IP network for the Social Security Administration. via Federal Computer Week Read more… |
VOICECON - Bidding on VoIP systems is all about the details19.03.2008 18:46 - source: www.topix "If you don't get dial tone, nothing counts" Phones, redundancy, energy vary vendor to vendor VoIP systems vary in so many ways that businesses need to comb through the gory details of what vendors offer to make sure they get the features and functions ... via ComputerWorld Read more… |
Next Bond film gets early release19.03.2008 18:46 - source: BBC News Quantum of Solace, the next James Bond film, is to be released earlier than expected, at Hallowe'en. Read more… |
Robots fly into Antarctic skies19.03.2008 18:46 - source: BBC News A pair of lightweight, robotic planes have made the first unmanned flights over Antarctica's icy expanses. Read more… |
Mortgage firm needs to raise $1bn19.03.2008 18:46 - source: BBC News Thornburg Mortgage says it is trying to raise $1bn (??500m) to keep its lenders at bay and avoid filing for bankruptcy. Read more… |