VOIP Solution and Service

Until now, BlackBerrys have been exclusively designed for use in the corporate world - not anymore. BlackBerry Pearl from Rogers Wireless is a stylish and powerful smartphone featuring the gold standard in push-email. The smallest, lightest BlackBerry ever in a stylish smartphone designed for the person who works and lives on the go.

With Blackberry Pearl you have Camera, MP3 Player, Micro SD Card, Trackball, SureType, Voice-activated Dialing and Blackberry maps. Other features include:

* Email, calendar and contacts pushed to your device in real-time.
* Quad-band worldphone with email and Internet access to over 90 countries.
* EDGE enabled for faster downloading and Internet surfing.
* Speakerphone for hands-free and conference calling.
* Bluetooth® support for headset and car accessories.
* High-resolution colour display that automatically adjusts the backlight based on ambient lighting.
* Instant Messaging with BlackBerry Messenger and Yahoo!® Messenger.

It comes with a high resolution backlit LCD colour screen supporting over 65,000 colours. It has a resolution of 240 x 260 pixels and sells for $249.99 on a three-year voice and data plan from Rogers Wireless and is available exclusively across Canada through Rogers Wireless dealers, retail points of sale or online at www.rogers.com.

Rogers Wireless Inc. is Canada’s largest wireless voice and data communications services provider with offices in Canadian cities across the country, more than 6.3 million customers, and two powerful brands: Rogers Wireless and Fido.

Frost & Sullivan, a leading industry analyst firm, is really bowled over by Verizon business. It has recognized Verizon Business as an IP leader delivering some of the most innovative voice-over-Internet-protocol (VoIP) services and capturing the leading market share among Web conferencing reseller service providers.

Frost & Sullivan has selected Verizon Business to receive the 2006 North American Enterprise VoIP Services Customer Value Enhancement Award. Frost & Sullivan said service providers competing for the award for the enterprise VoIP market were judged on their ability to expand their existing customer base by adding new, innovative offerings and how they have positioned their services to create satisfaction among a diverse potential customer base. The Frost & Sullivan award recognizes Verizon Business’ ability to effectively integrate its products and services following the Verizon-MCI merger.

Frost & Sullivan, in its “World Web Conferencing Markets” study published in October, named Verizon Conferencing as the leading Web conferencing reseller services provider. Earlier this year, Verizon Business sponsored a Frost & Sullivan study, “Meetings Around the World: The Impact of Collaboration on Business Performance,” that determined that collaboration is a key driver of business performance.

Verizon Business, a unit of Verizon Communications is a leading provider of advanced communications and information technology (IT) solutions to large business and government customers worldwide. Combining unsurpassed global network reach with advanced technology and professional service capabilities, Verizon Business delivers innovative and seamless business solutions to customers around the world.

Source: “Verizon Business”

VoIP services are aiming for simplicity, cost benefits and mobility. Thomson, the U.S. branch of France’s Thomson SA which makes phones under the GE brand, is planning to launch next year cordless phones that include Voice-over-IP features.

The cordless handsets will embed the adapter technology needed to make phone calls over the Internet. The new devices will work with SunRocket’s VoIP service.

At the Broadband World Forum Europe, Thomson became the latest passenger on the convergence wagon by offering a new product that combines VoIP and IPTV. The company is also adding high definition sound to its home gateway products (BT is a gateway customer of Thomson’s). The new gateway will enhance services like Internet Radio and will cost up to €70 per box.

Vonage has been offering similar phones from VTech and Uniden for more than a year. This year also witnesses the launch of a Wi-Fi phone from Netgear by Skype. VoIP is really attracting the mainstream market with its added features.

The revenue from North American residential VoIP services is expected to reach $13.2 billion in 2012, up from last year’s $1.22 billion, according to Frost & Sullivan.

“The residential VoIP market is moving to mass-market consumers who are not interested in technology and novelty; they are looking at VoIP services based on convenience, control, and cost,” agreed Frost & Sullivan senior analyst Lynda Starr in a statement.

There is good news for teachers and administrators who need to keep in touch with schools while on the go. The eligible list for E-rate funding is out and PDAs, some mobile services and VoIP are eligible. The $2.25 billion E-Rate program subsidizes technology in the schools. VoIP telephony, offered by providers such as Vonage and Skype, are cheaper and offer more features than regular phone service, school officials say.

E-rate discounts will make the wireless email and interconnected VoIP services even cheaper. The decade-old federal program collects fees paid by telephone customers into a universal-service fund that covers from 20 percent to 90 percent of the cost of eligible school telecommunications services, depending on the poverty level of the district’s students.

The FCC has made these services eligible:

* Interconnected VoIP,
* VoIP equipment
* Wireless Internet-access service designed for portable devices, (such as BlackBerries)
* Training for installation and configuration, as long as it is provided at the same time as, or soon after, installation of eligible components
* Universal-service fees on schools’ telecommunications services Voice- or video-conferencing services
* Digital-transmission services, which enable schools to run distance-learning programs
* Paging services for bus drivers or teachers on field trips
* E-mail and Web hosting
* Long-distance and local telephone service
* Internet services, including access charges
* Internal connections, including cables, hubs, and routers in a school’s computer network.

Ineligible for E-Rate funding:

* Fees for universal-service administration
* Portable wireless devices (such as PDAs and BlackBerry devices), including those that provide wireless Internet access to e-mail service
* Personal computers
* Cellphones
* Educational software and other content
* Teachers Training

Source:education.zdnet.com

RCN Corporation has signed an agreement with Cedar Point Communications to deploy its integrated voice and multimedia SAFARI C³ switch for voice over internet protocol (VoIP) telephone services. The use of the multimedia switch is designed to compliment RCN’s current VoIP offering, primarily in Chicago, and provide additional on and off-net capabilities. SAFARI C³ is a centralized platform that bundles several PacketCable network elements into one device.
In Chicago, RCN initially launched VoIP in the last mile access network with its existing Lucent Class 5 switch, the GenBand G6 gateway, and multimedia terminal adapters from Motorola. The new Cedar Point platform will introduce the softswitch and full PacketCable-based offering. In addition to Chicago, RCN also provides services in Boston, New York, eastern Pennsylvania, Washington D.C., San Francisco, and Los Angeles.
RCN will begin its four month test in mid November and RCN will be able to offer VoIP services to residents and businesses through this switch. “We are excited about the prospect of expanding the RCN brand to our 6 million licensed homes,” said Rick Swiderski, Vice President of Network Engineering.

“In keeping with our innovative and forward-thinking DNA,” stated Richard Ramlall, SVP of Strategic and External Affairs, “we are excited about testing the possibilities of advanced VoIP in our top Metro markets.”

Cedar Point’s Executive Vice President, Strategy and Market Development, Dave Spear commented, “We are pleased to have this opportunity to trial our integrated voice and multimedia switch with RCN.”

Convergence is the word today. After the convergence of Wi-Fi and cellular technologies, the solution providers are now looking forward to drive WLAN, VoIP, applications and services sales.

Aruba Networks is about to deliver Fixed Mobile Convergence (FMC) to enterprises, while Cisco Systems is gearing up for the launch this week of its Master Unified Communications specialization, its new top-level certification for VoIP partners. Other vendors such as Meru Networks, Nortel Networks and Trapeze Networks also are preparing VARs to capitalize on the emerging FMC market. The Santa Ana, Calif., distributor last week launched a new mobility division to encompass new partnerships with wireless carriers such as Verizon Wireless, Sprint/Nextel and Cingular as well as with device manufacturers and ISVs including Palm, Nokia, Motorola, Research in Motion and Good Technology to help VARs build wireless solutions.

I-mate, Motorola, Nokia and Paragon Wireless have already flooded the market with their Dual-mode handsets that have both Wi-Fi and cellular radios. By 2009, the Wi-Fi phone market is expected to hit $3.7 billion, up from $125.5 million in 2005, according to Infonetics Research. The firm projects that 91 percent of Wi-Fi phone revenue will come from dual-mode handsets by 2009, up from 42 percent in 2005.

With business flourishing via mobile phones, the idea of replacing separate desktop and cellular phones with a single mobile device that provides access to enterprise VoIP calling features and messaging applications is extremely attractive to a wide variety of customers and service providers are working hard to tap this opportunity.

Convergence technology finally steps in India. For the first time, the Indian consumer can avail of electricity, internet and telephone services on a single line. The $90 billion tech giant IBM global is all set to launch a pilot project in India to usher in the broadband over power line (BPL) system in December.

The company is in talks with state electricity boards and power utilities for the project implementation. Sources said the Uttar Pradesh government is keen to implement a pilot project in rural India. What more, by increasing grid observability, BPL, can deliver stable and quality electricity, apart from internet and telecom facilities through the same line.

BPL will make the electricity network intelligent and keep transmission and distribution loss minimum. As telecommunication signals are also going through the electricity line, network errors and breaks can be located easily. This will help the controlling unit to deploy the worker in the right spot in minimum time to solve the problem.

Not long ago, if an Army infantry battalion commander wanted to communicate, he relied on radios that had limited range and often spotty coverage. But today, the army has harnessed he power of VoIP as a battlefield communications system by using a phone connected to a Joint Network Node terminal.
VOIP phones connected to Cisco Systems routers in the JNN equipment suite enable infantry commanders to make phone calls as comfortably as anywhere else in the world. The commercial routers connect to satellite circuits via a Datapath dish.
VOIP used in the battlefield is indeed a great achievement of technology but it has its own limitations. Phone calls made via JNN don’t sound as bad as communications on a tactical radio, but they also don’t sound as good as a circuit-switched or VOIP phone call made via a commercial, wired phone network.
Besides the Cisco routers, commercial equipment used in JNN includes Redcom PBX switches, Juniper Networks firewalls and Promina broadband network interfaces. After the Army selects that equipment, developers only needed to integrate the equipment into shelters or hardened transit cases.
In the JNN configuration that battalion commanders use, much of the commercial gear is on a trailer towed by a Humvee. The equipment can be set up quickly after the vehicle stops.
Jim Sintic, technical director of the Army’s Program Manager for Tactical Radio Communications, said the battalion JNN can be established in 30 minutes to support “a highly mobile and agile fighting force with broadband voice, video and data.” (source fcw)

The joint efforts of Yahoo and Linksys have given birth to the cordless phone. The new-born comes with a base station that plugs into a regular phone jack to provide regular phone service. Users can switch between the regular phone service and their Yahoo Messenger with Voice and VoIP service by clicking a button on the phone. You can also use the web portal’s search engine for things like Yellow Pages, weather, and one-click restaurant search.

The Linksys Dual-Mode Cordless Phone for Yahoo Messenger with Voice (CIT310) lets users make free PC-to-PC calls using Yahoo’s voice over Internet Protocol service. Users can also use their Yahoo Phone Out accounts and Yahoo Phone In accounts to make and receive calls.

Linksys, a division of Cisco Systems, has designed a similar phone for Skype users called the Linksys CIT200 Skype. Both the Yahoo and Skype versions of the phone allow users to control “presence” information, letting people know if they are away, busy or online. Users also have the ability to view the presence of their Yahoo Messenger “buddies.”

However the Yahoo version offers additional features like get daily weather reports, Yahoo’s local search service for information about local services and businesses, etc.

Skype Ltd. will begin testing an upgrade of its free communications software Skype 3.0 that can automatically detect phone numbers in Web pages and initiate calls. It also features community conference calls and text chats, as well as IT management features.

The new feature that recognizes telephone numbers in a Web page is called Click-to-Call. It allows users to place calls to those numbers using the fee-based SkypeOut service.

It has also introduced two new features: Skypecasts, for conference calls and public chats, in which people with a common interest can gather to communicate with each other.

Finally, the user interface has been modified to make it easier to find commands and perform actions. This launch shows Skype futuristic considerations. Skype keeps on venturing into new areas to find newer source of revenues. No wonder Skype is the leading VoIP provider today.

Niklas Zennström, Skype’s CEO and co-founder, aptly said at the Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco, “
This software upgrade reflects Skype’s strategy of diversifying beyond Internet telephony toward other modes of online communications and of finding new revenue streams beyond phone charges.”

He also said, “Eventually, the price of telephone calls will continue falling until they are free, so Skype needs to generate revenue from other sources, such as e-commerce and advertising.”
Source: IDC News