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L&H Technologia, a Brazilian IT solutions provider, intends to start VoIP services in May 2006. It is in the process of developing its VoIP platform. The company is carrying out telecom-related systems integration projects for American Express and SKY. The company achieves 30% of its revenues from the sales of products developed by Quest Software.
SkyTalk Communications has finished the deployment of a full VoIP infrastructure situated at a secure location in Miami. Its sister concern Payless Telecom Solutions, Inc. will provide IPTV and VoIP services to its customers via the Skytalk backbone.
Voipfone.co.uk, which is an Internet Telephone provider based in London, has started offering 0800 number services with its telecom products. The 0800 calls are charged at 3p every minute and the service costs £4.99 per month.
In its 11th five-year plan (2006-2010), China foresees an increase in the number of its telephone and Internet users, which are expected to reach 1 billion and 200 million, respectively. China expects to have 350 million fixed-phone users and more than 388 mobile phone users by the end of 2005.
IDT has stated that its tender for acquiring outstanding shares of common stock of Net2Phone has expired. IDT already owns 41% of Net2Phone. telecomweb.com reports:
IDT’s NTOP Acquisition subsidiary is handling the existing tender offer of $2.05 net per share in cash.
Read More: IDT’s Net2Phone Tender Offer Expires
Avaya Inc. has stated that it has been approached by Xinjiang Unicorn, which is a mobile carrier in China. The carrier is already using the Avaya IP Contact Center system for making its services available in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. tmcnet.com reports:
The new system would connect the carrier's headquarters in Urmuqi and 16 other major offices in the region.
Skype’s foray into the corporate arena has raised security concerns regarding its VoIP service. According to the Info-Tech Research Group, even though Skype provides end-to-end encryption for its calls, IT administrators find it difficult to monitor Skype calls. Compliance regulations prevalent in several industries mean that companies deploying Skype will violate corporate policy. abcnews.go.com reports:
Tom Berson, a principal at Anagram Laboratories, has also conducted a review of Skype's encryption.
Read More: Skype Security Questioned
The consolidations that occurred in the telecom industry overshadowed the M&As that took place in the VoIP sector. In the VoIP sector, Vonage’s next move regarding its future is being awaited eagerly. Skype’s acquisition by eBay made headlines. The growing consumer confidence in VoIP, improvements in services, and new applications that lead to new sources of revenue will probably lead to more partnerships in 2006. VoIP could see M&As in any of the businesses including Gateway vendors, Edge access device providers, IMS pure-plays.
Sennheiser Electronic Corporation (SEC) is the US-based subsidiary of the German company that produces headphones and microphones. The company has launched two headset models, PC 20 and PC 30, which have been designed for VoIP users. Even though VoIP voice quality is good on the whole, it gets compromised sometimes because of the poor quality of headsets. The models from SEC are lightweight, equipped with extended-response transducers, and feature a microphone design that cancels noise.
The PC 20 and PC 30 are single-speaker monaural and dual-transducer stereo models, respectively. PC 30 offers sound quality good enough for games and other multimedia applications. A wide-range playback transducer and a non-intrusive microphone boom are common to both models. mobilewhack.com reports:
The Sennheiser PC 20 and PC 30 desktop headsets will be available January 2006, at Sennheiser’s suggested retail price of $24.95 and $29.95, respectively.
Read More: Sennheiser PC30 & PC20 Headsets
In order to run Skype 2.0 beta, the client needs to be downloaded and installed. Skype 2.0 features an uncluttered interface and one-click access to features such as conferencing. The beta is better integrated with the Skype online store for the purchase of ringtones and avatars.
The new version also provides find me/follow me features and the facility of calling up multiple phones simultaneously. Skype’s partnership with Six Apart allows users to embed links for Skype calling in their blogs. pcmag.com reports:
Four premium services round out the Skype offering and make it much more flexible to use as a dedicated phone service (you cannot get emergency 911 service via Skype, so you can't totally give up your landline or cell phone).
Read More: Skype 2.0 beta
Sennheiser Electronic Corporation (SEC) and Skype have entered into a partnership under which Skype has certified SEC headsets as exceeding the Skype standards of audio quality. The Skype website will sell selected headsets from the SEC range. news.ecoustics.com reports:
“We already know that our designs set the world standard,” continues Bach, “and it’s gratifying to be similarly recognized by such an important innovator in our field.”
Read More: Sennheiser, Skype Team Up For 21st Century TelCom
The USBset 8010 USB phone from Infinite Shanghai displays all the Skype contacts of a user on the LCD. In future, the phone may also have a PSTN port integrated into it. telecom.globalsources.com reports:
Infinite Shanghai is offering the SIPset 3010/3015 SIP phones. It is currently being tested and mass production is likely to commence by the end of 2005.
Read More: Maker strengthens VoIP product offerings
Vonage Marketing is offering a $ 100 mail-in-rebate to its customers on certified devices that will be available at more than 9,000 retail stores in the US. The rebate is available on devices from manufacturers such as Linksys, Motorola, Uniden, and Vtech. prnewswire.com reports:
Their service must be activated within 15 days of purchase and maintained for at least 60 days in order to receive a $100 check from Vonage.
Read More: Vonage(R) to Offer $100 Mail-in-Rebate on Devices Purchased at Over 9,000 Retail Locations
Denver-based Dash911 offers E911 for VoIP providers. The company has stated that it has completed the testing of its service and can now offer live E911 call-handling. The service provided by DashE911 is "telephone number provider agnostic". Dash911 plans to launch its 24x7 call center in January 2006 for managing address changes across the nation. webwire.com reports:
"Dash911’s architecture offers coverage to any number, and with our SOAP API interface, we can quickly implement a VoIP provider within ten days."
Experts opine that more than half the population of England could switch over to IP telephony in the next five years. 10 million English citizens will be using VoIP by the end of 2006. lse.co.uk reports:
Calls to landlines and mobile phones incur a small charge, but are still much cheaper than conventional calls.
Read More: Rise Of VoIP Could Be Last Call For Phones
The Itheon Network Emulator (INE) from Itheon, which offers support for multi-site networks, VLANs, and MPLS, has had new features added to it. Apart from emulating point-to-point traffic, INE version 4 enables traffic classification, prioritization, and selective routing. The latest VPNremote software from Avaya offers secure extension of HQ-quality telephony.
The 4600-series IP telephones can have VPN capabilities embedded in them by means of this software, which will enable telecommuters to be in touch with the head office at all times. The software also offers a built-in screen that enables web access. techworld.com reports:
Avaya claimed that the new software makes IP phones as simple to connect as a laptop, requiring merely power and a link to a broadband router.
Read More: Virtual interfaces, secure IP voice and remote controls
ZyEdge LLC, which is a managed service provider, has been selected by PCCW Global, Inc for handling the company’s VoIP deployments in the US. PCCW Global provides IP telephony services around the world and has been created out of the shuffling between the PCCW International Commercial Group and its subsidiary BtN Access, Inc. businesswire.com reports:
"ZyEdge has repeatedly proven itself to be a valuable asset to our organization," said Patrick Hannon, PCCW Global's President, Americas.
Read More: PCCW Global Selects ZyEdge to Provide U.S. VoIP Services
P2P as an alternative for enterprise telephony gained support with the acquisition of NimCat Networks by Avaya. The acquisition was worth $ 46 million. NimCat is based in Ottawa and its NimX software can run on any standard IP phone.
The software allows users to avail PBX functionalities such as voice mail, auto attendant, call waiting, etc without having to deploy a dedicated telephony server. The plug and play system features self-configuring phones that can automatically assign extensions. voipplanet.com reports:
"Avaya looked at [NimCat] as a viable competitor at the lowest end," Dzubeck says. "And it could also link easily with the high-end systems for the big play into the branch office [market]." The price for NimCat was also right, he adds.
Read More: NimCat and Avaya: Declawing the cat?
Sonus Networks Inc. provides VoIP infrastructure systems to traditional carriers, wireless network operators, cable providers, and ISPs. Sonus has supplied its equipment to customers that include AT&T, Bell South, Cingular Wireless, Qwest, Level 3, etc. Since its birth in 1997, Sonus has concentrated on developing a scalable and distributed network architecture.
This focus has resulted in Sonus gaining eminence as a carrier-class equipment provider with the advent of IMS. Sonus products support wireless technologies such as CDMA, 2GSM, 3GSM, and WiFi and wireline technologies such as xDSL and cable. The Sonus architecture has distributed intelligence, centralized subscriber database and routing, call signaling, and common applications.
The four major functions as defined by the IMS are Border and Media Control, Session Control, Application Layer, and Management and Charging. voipplanet.com reports:
The Application Layer products include the ASX Feature Server, which provides traditional, Class 5 subscriber features, such as call waiting, call forwarding, caller ID, and so on; and the OSPA Application Servers, which are provided by third parties.
Read More: Vendor Network Architectures—Part V: Sonus Networks, Inc.
The INTERNET TELEPHONY(R) magazine has selected the next-generation suite of Voice over IP (VoIP) Services from MCI as the recipient of its 2005 Product of the Year Award. MCI’s VoIP services consist of hosted IP Centrex, IP Integrated Access, Managed IP PBX, and IP Trunking Services. prnewswire.com reports:
In 2005, MCI launched two new additions to its VoIP portfolio, including Managed IP PBX and IP Trunking Services.
Read More: MCI Receives INTERNET TELEPHONY(R) Magazine's Product of the Year Award
Showtime Arabia, a major pay TV provider, will be deploying an IP-based contact center solution from Avaya. The contact center will enable Showtime Arabia to improve communications with its subscribers in 20 countries. tradearabia.com reports:
Given the twenty-four hour nature of Showtime Arabia's business, the company is operating across the Middle East to support subscribers.
Read More: Avaya to lift Showtime customer service
CBeyond Inc. has achieved four billion minutes of VoIP traffic and has reached 20,000 small business customers. CBeyond, which was formed in 2001, offers high-speed Internet and a phone service that includes both local and long distance. Other complementary services include data backup, fax to email, web hosting, etc.
Global Knowledge Congress, which is a regulatory teleconference provider, has stated that the E911 teleconference, which is slated to take place on January 26th, will be sponsored exclusively by VoIP Magazine. The E911 Teleconference will last two hours and will discuss the effect of regulations on VoIP.
NetIQ Corp has stated that it will be providing its NetIQ® VoIP Management solutions to MSPs like Analysts International, Calence, and Getronics. The solutions from NetIQ will help the MSPs to deploy VoIP applications quickly and also to ensure that the performance and availability of the applications. sanjose.dbusinessnews.com reports:
"We chose NetIQ because we look for best-of-breed vendors with whom we can partner to achieve the successful management of our customers' environments."
Read More: Managed Service Providers Deploy NetIQ for VoIP Management
Although peering deals between service providers allow them to circumvent PSTN, they can also lead to problems. When Level 3 Communications ended its peering deal with Cogent Communications in October 2005, it led to a major outage for a section of customers of both providers.
The reason for the peering arrangement falling through was that Level 3 believed that Cogent was using the peering network to direct an excessive amount of traffic and was not reciprocating by receiving an equal amount. The resulting outage has focused attention for the first time on the need for a body to oversee peering arrangements. redherring.com reports:
Usually peering arrangements allow the peers to avoid costly connections with the public network. Traffic on the peered network usually flows without cost to the peers.
Read More: Cable Talks VoIP Peering
RedVoiss, which is based in Chile, has launched a service SippyPhone that is on the lines of Skype. However, SippyPhone uses SIP as against Skype which uses a proprietary protocol.
SippyPhone can also be interconnected with other VoIP services like Vonage. As its bandwidth utilization is lower than Skype its voice quality may not be as good as that of Skype. tmcnet.com reports:
RedVoiss' aim with the new service is to target the youth market. Mordojovich also believes that SippyPhone will act as an introduction to IP telephony.
Orb V4S is a free voice messaging system for Skype. V4S stands for Voicemail for Skype. It has been launched by Orb Networks. V4S allows users to manage voice messages from a PC or mobile that support streaming audio.
The V4S software uses the PC as a voicemail server for storing Skype messages. Requirements for Orb V4S include Windows XP, an always-on broadband Internet connection, and Skype version 1.3.057 or a later version. news.designtechnica.com reports:
When the system received a message, V4S notifies users via an email message or a text message to a mobile phone.
Read More: Orb V4S Adds Free Voice Messaging to Skype
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Network failures in an IP environment can lead to a communication breakdown between the headoffice and the branch offices. Even though installing an IP PBX in each branch office can help companies to forestall such a problem, the cost of this exercise would defeat the very purpose of implementing IP telephony.
Multi-Tech(R) Systems has launched a SIP Voice over IP (VoIP) server that provides elementary IP telephony service to remote locations in case of a WAN breakdown. The MultiVOIP SS survivability server can also link to analog phones and fax machines. news.thomasnet.com reports:
Shipping immediately, the MVP210-SS two-port model sells for an MSRP of US$999, the four-port MVP410-SS for US$1599 and the eight-port MVP810-SS for US$2599.
Read More: SIP VoIP Server helps IP telephony survive network failure
Hosted VoIP offerings are gaining strength. These offerings typically try to duplicate the PBX offerings. Hosted VoIP provides facilities such as corporate name dialing, voice recognition, personal name dialing, notification services, etc. voip-magazine.com reports:
Then there’s the seamier side, like pay-per-minute voice services one might otherwise associate with 900 numbers that are being developed.
Read More: Hosted Apps for VoIP: Heating Up
Jardine OneSolution (JOS) has been appointed exclusive distributor for VoIP solutions provided by 3COM Asia Ltd. 3COM hopes to significantly increase its revenue in the first half of 2006 from local SMBs. star-techcentral.com reports:
The NBX V3000 comes with four PSTN ports, a fax port, voice-mail, auto-attendant and 15 IP telephone licences, and costs RM10,000.
Read More: JOS to supply 3Com VoIP solutions
Microsoft has teamed up with Softbank BB and Japan Telecom to develop and trial communication services that would include Internet telephony, e-mail, IM, etc. The trials would commence in the spring of 2006 before the services are made available to customers.
Microsoft will provide its solution for Enhanced VoIP, which includes hosted versions of many of its communication software packages. Softbank BB and Japan Telecom will provide broadband VoIP services and the network infrastructure, respectively. Microsoft has also entered into partnerships with Qwest Communications and MCI in order to achieve a presence in the VoIP market.
Covad Communications Group Inc saw an increase of 40% in its shares post its announcement regarding the settlement of an antitrust lawsuit with Verizon Communications Inc. Under the terms of the settlement, Covad will be able to offer its DSL services over the lines sold by Verizon voice resellers. Covad has also entered into a line-sharing agreement with MCI. customwire.ap.org reports:
Shares of Verizon, which is expected to close its MCI deal early next year, closed at $30.25, down 19 cents, on the New York Stock Exchange.
Read More: Covad Shares Soar on Verizon Settlements
Google Talk is facing allegations over patent infringements from Rates Technology Inc, which is based in Hauppauge, N.Y. The company has alleged that Google has been using its technology illegally for billing users of its IP telephony services. Google has refuted the allegations and stated that it will contest them.
Verizon Wireless has spent in excess of $ 290 million for the enhancement of its Texas voice and data wireless network in 2005. The money has been used to expand the BroadbandAccess(SM) EV-DO high-speed wireless broadband network, in the upgrade of more than 460 cell sites in areas that include Dallas-Fort Worth, Austin, San Antonio, etc.
Verizon has also invested in enabling services such as wireless broadband computing, text and video messaging, etc. prnewswire.com reports:
The network investment is key to maintaining strong coverage during hurricanes and other emergencies and continuing Verizon Wireless' leadership in network reliability and customer service.
Read More: Verizon Wireless Completes More Than $290 Million
Commtel Network, which is a value added reseller of network solutions by Nokia, will be supplying Nokia broadband DSL solutions to Telecom Cook Islands Ltd in the Pacific. The DSL system should start working by March 2006. It will represet a first for Nokia in this market.
The Nokia D500 IP DSLAM (Digital Subscriber Line Access Multiplexer) is the only IP DSLAM solution in the industry that provides integrated IP functionality and has been selected for making quick Internet access available in this market. prnewswire.com reports:
The Nokia D500 is a complete IP-based multiservice access node platform for providing both quality of service and secure authentication.
Read More: Nokia and CommTel Expand Broadband in the Pacific
The EU parliament has adopted a directive that will require that all telephone and Internet traffic be stored for a period of six to twenty four months in order fight terrorism. The directive was adopted with 378 votes for it and 197 against. The data will include incoming and outgoing phone numbers, call length, call location, IP addresses for emails and SMS, etc. eweek.com reports:
Tracking dropped calls has been particularly controversial, since service providers don't currently register lost calls for billing purposes. In fact, the technology to track lost calls requires new, expensive technologies.
Read More: EU Passes Contentious Data-Retention Law
BT has entered into a $ 17 billion agreement with four of its partners, Ciena, Huawei, Lucent and Siemens, for revamping its network. Over the next five years, BT intends to convert its entire network into an end-to-end IP network for voice and data. The network, referred to as 21CN, will use MPLS for voice and data QoS. According to BT, around six million calls have already been made as a part of the 21CN project.
Migration of customer lines is expected to happen in the second half of 2006. This will be the beginning of the end of PSTN for 30 million customer lines. An all-IP converged network is expected to be ready by 2008/2009 and will save BT around $ 1.7 billion every year. Juniper Networks has been named partner by Siemens and Lucent for helping with routing requirements for 21CN.
Carriers and cable companies that are involved in large-scale VoIP deployments need to consider the fact the quality of voice service can impact their revenues and failure to deliver mission critical services on time can incur legal repercussions. VoIP services are highly sensitive to QoS fluctuations; they utilize a number of different protocols, and support a wide range of infrastructure devices.
These attributes have led to a direct relationship between VoIP security and the performance of the VoIP service. VoIP security is affected by the number of features offered and the fact that in the near future VoIP services will have to coexist with PSTN, which necessitates media gateways. Carrier class service providers need to implement VoIP security in a step-wise manner.
The first step is prevention in which the already present VoIP-related security issues need to be tackled in a proactive manner. This involves assessing vulnerabilities, initiating remedial actions, and monitoring compliance. The second step is to deploy devices such as IDS, IPS, VPN, firewalls, and anti-viruses such that the VoIP service is adequately protected. The third step is to be in a state of readiness for an eventuality that may occur inspite of prevention and protection. This will help to mitigate the severity of the breach in security by offering a real-time automated response. voip-magazine.com reports:
While all these processes are critical to implementation of a comprehensive carrier-class security framework, in this article we will focus on the prevention as the simplest and most economical way of improving VoIP security.
Read More: Developing Carrier-Grade Security for Service Providers
Republican Senator Jim DeMint has introduced a bill which could lead to a market-oriented regulatory system for the telecommunication industry. According to the senator from South Carolina, the Digital Age Communications Act (DACA) will shield consumers and check unfair practices in the trade. DACA will not discriminate between VoIP services so long as they are the same from the consumer’s point of view. voip-magazine.com reports:
That means all providers of phone services, whether over wireline, wireless, or cable, would have to comply with the same regulations.
Read More: Telecom Bill Would Treat VoIP Like Other Phone Services
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has released a draft of its recommendations intended to assist India in moving on to IPv6. IPv6 will help to address the increase in Internet usage in the country as it will provide more IP address space, better support for mobility, and greater security. The draft includes comments from stakeholders and aims to obtain additional inputs on the issue.
The draft stated that the manner in which an IP address is defined needs to be altered so as to allow the use of 128-bit addresses. TRAI intends to experiment with IPv6 technologies with the help of funds from the government; the draft mentions that the new systems and networks must be IPv6 compatible.
M5 Networks, which is a hosted VoIP provider, and IP blue Software Solutions are jointly offering a solution that will allow VARs to keep in touch with remote workers. messagingpipeline.com reports:
The IP blue softphone software turns any PC or laptop into a fully functioning VoIP telephone.
Read More: M5, IP BLUE MOBILIZE HOSTED VoIP OFFERING
The rapid convergence of voice and data networks has mean that network security too has had to evolve accordingly. Till recently, most security concerns were regarding data networks; however, the development of IP telephony as a strategic tool has exposed it to application layer attacks, DoS, spoofing, etc. Since there is no uniformity in architecture of telephony platforms, vulnerabilities present in one platform may not necessarily be present in another.
It is important for businesses to realize that securing a converged network requires more than a one-step, one-layer, one-vendor solution. tmcnet.com reports:
With cyber attacks becoming more sophisticated, organizations that rely on securing the network infrastructure alone will find themselves defenseless if an intruder penetrates that first level.
Read More: Securing Voice In An IP World
In May 2005, the number of broadband users in Britain went past the number of dial-up connections for the first time. Of the more than 8.8 million broadband connections in Britain, 2.8 million use cable. The number of broadband users in Britain is expected to cross 10 million by the first half of 2006. tmcnet.com reports:
Expanding broadband internet provision is a central part of the rationale behind the deal (as well as squeezing out costs in a fiercely competitive market).
Read More: It's survival of the fastest as Broadband Britain
In order to implement a VoIP network, it is important to select the appropriate standard. A number of standards have been developed by the different standards bodies. These standards cater to the needs of different telephony environments such as Enterprise IP telephony, carrier long distance, call center, residential class 5 switching, etc.
Businesses need to understand the peculiarities of each environment and select a standard that will minimize the need to redesign the network and prevent the applications from getting outdated quickly.
In the early days of VoIP, several standards were developed for the sole purpose of integrating VoIP with PSTN. Even today, major VoIP carriers connect VoIP calls using PSTN. This is because VoIP peering still has to grow to a scale, which will allow users to bypass PSTN. tmcnet.com reports:
Computer Telephony Integration may not appear to be a critical design choice, but in 1995, neither was email. No doubt, the gap between computer and telephone will close over the next few years.
Read More: Which VoIP Standard to Use?
Royal Philips Electronics has released baseband chips for its cordless phones that will allow users to make calls over the Internet without having to access a PC or a wired phone. These VoIP-enabled baseband chips are a part of the Philips PCD8072x series of cordless phone baseband chips. tmcnet.com reports:
The PCD8072x baseband chips form the heart of the Nexperia 820 cordless phone system solution, which can handle Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, DECT (including US DECT) or WDCT as their transmission standards.
Read More: Philips Now Offering VoIP-Enabled Baseband Chips for Cordless Phones
Daewoo International Corp. and Vonage have joined hands to establish a presence in the VoIP market in South Korea. Daewoo has forwarded a proposal to the Transportation and Communications department regarding the interconnection of government departments by the replacement of analog communication systems with VoIP networks.
Municipal Wi-Fi networks are under consideration in various cities in the US. According to the report titled "2006 Muni Broadband Outlook" by Light Reading Insider, cities such as Anaheim, Calif.; Atlanta; Austin, Texas; Boston; Buffalo, N.Y.; Chicago; Denver; Kansas City, Mo.; and Lenexa, Kan. are planning to deploy Wi-Fi networks.
The main reason in favor of Wi-Fi deployments is that it allows greater capacity per user since the access points are deployed over small areas and the spectrum can be utilized several times. smallbizpipeline.com reports:
Because of the simpler CSMA protocols and smaller networks, Wi-Fi also has inherently lower latency, less than 10 msec, whereas 3G networks are struggling to get down to 100 msec.
Read More: The Case For (And Against) Muni Wi-Fi
AOL has released a beta of its integrated suite of applications consisting of email, web browser, and IM. The beta is available to the existing users of the AOL service. AOL Mail, Explorer, and Triton, which are also available as individual applications make up the AOL Suite beta. The beta also provides a universal address book that can be accessed via any AOL communication service such as email and Internet telephony.
3Com has reported an increase in sales, higher revenue, and lower losses for the second fiscal quarter. The company reported a loss of 3 cents per share that amounted to $ 10.7 million. The global revenue was of $ 184 million, a 4% sequential growth on the Q1 figures.
However, the revenue for North America registered a 10% sequential decline. Networking products were the major contributors, Layer 2 and Layer 3 stackable 10/100/1000 managed switches and Office Connect and Baseline-branded SMB products resulted in sales worth $ 132 million. The 3Com-Huawei Technologies joint venture registered revenues of $ 111 million for the third quarter that ended September 30, 2005. networkingpipeline.com reports:
3Com's security products generated revenue of $21 million, a sequential growth of 24 percent that was fueled by the TippingPoint acquisition, as well as strong growth in embedded firewall products.
Read More: 3Com Reports Networking Sales Growth
Mandriva, which is a Paris-based Linux distributor, has stated that it has successfully integrated the Internet telephony software from Skype into Linux. Linux is an open-source operating system. The Mandriva Linux 2006 is now available with a customized version of Skype at no additional cost. Discovery/Lx for the Linux beginner, PowerPack for the advanced computer user and PowerPack+ for small offices are the three editions of OS available.
The Interim VoIP Architecture for Enhanced 9-1-1 Services or i2 is receiving support from Vonage America. The i2 standard is for an architecture that will enable IP telephony service providers to make E911 services available by using the existing infrastructure. This arrangement will continue till an all-IP E911 system is available throughout the country. voip-magazine.com reports:
Last month, NENA announced the release of a reference guide to help VoIP service providers in planning and communication with regards to the FCC's E911 mandate.
Read More: Vonage Supports NENA's E911 Plan
Insight Research has stated that revenue for the telecom industry will amount to $ 1.2 trillion by the end of year 2006 and by 2010; it will touch $ 1.6 trillion. The analysis titled "2006 Telecom Industry Review: An Anthology of Market Facts and Forecasts" states that by the beginning of 2006, almost 1.8 billion people will utilize mobile wireless phones. Sections of the industry that have experienced growth include VoIP, Wi-Fi, IMS, etc. voip-magazine.com reports:
“Wireless communications will continue to displace wireline communications for voice calling and as the number of wireless 2.5G and 3G data services increases, wireless will continue to squeeze traditional landline calling."
Read More: Telecom Industry Revenue to Reach $1.2 Trillion in 2006
According to the analyst Point Topic, broadband access via DSL acquired 40 million customers globally over a period of one year till September 30, 2005. This adds up to a total of 125 million broadband DSL customers across the globe. voip-magazine.com reports:
This report confirms an Insight Research study, which states DSL growth as well as rapid growth of VoIP and wireless revenue are pushing the telecommunication industry's revenue to $1.2 trillion in 2006.
According to a study by Research and Markets “Hosted VoIP services in Europe”, companies in Europe are more open to the idea of hosted VoIP than companies in America. According to the report, lack of a cohesive telecom infrastructure and the absence of IP-related skills in-house are prime reasons for European companies choosing a hosted VoIP provider. voip-magazine.com reports:
This has given companies a chance to offer solutions to businesses ready to leverage the cost saving components of VoIP communications, but need assistance navigating security issues and gaps in connectivity.
Read More: Research and Markets: European Firms Likely to Outsource VoIP
STMicroelectronics will provide its expertise to the Enhanced Wireless Consortium (EWC) for the development of an IEEE high-speed wireless standard referred to as next-generation Wi-Fi. STMicroelectronics has experience in the field of system-on-chip (SoC) technology. voip-magazine.com reports:
The EWC, formed in October, has promised to improve the performance of wireless local area networks through industry-wide support of its standard specifications, based on MIMO (Multiple Input Multiple Output) technology.
Read More: STMicroelectronics Joins EWC
Three important considerations for a successful IP telephony deployment include network architecture, business processes, and an understanding of next generation applications. The issue that is top most in the minds of business managers is regarding the ability of the IP communications network to co-exist with the existing infrastructure.
A successfully deployed converged network can radically alter the manner in which staff communicates and impact employee productivity and the scope of business. Businesses need to plan beforehand for changes in business processes and foster acceptance and adoption of IP-based communications. voip-magazine.com reports:
A careful and comprehensive plan that aligns business process with technology architecture should be an executive’s first step before the actual implementation begins.
Read More: Business Processes for a Converged Enterprise: An Introduction
Level 3 Communications Inc has acquired WilTel Communications Group, LLC. The Leucadia National Corporation has been paid $ 386 million in cash and has also received 115 million shares of Level 3 common stock.
Jingle is a recent specification for deploying voice using the XMPP protocol by Jabber. The Google Talk IM uses the same protocol. With Jingle, Google is looking to extend its involvement with VoIP. voipplanet.com reports:
Google Talk's implementation of Jingle is now also available for download and third-party integration via the Google sponsored "Libjingle" project on SourceForge.
Read More: Google Jabbers And Jingles
TelTel, which provides free PC-to-PC VoIP services based on SIP, had initiated its beta phase in September. The company has recently introduced two new services, namely TelTel-Out for connecting to the PSTN and Call-Forwarding. TelTel does not operate over the public Internet; instead it operates via a global cluster of managed, SIP-based telephony networks. These networks are referred to as the PsipTN. ISPs, IPSPs, and CLECs are the SIP Virtual Network Operator partners of TelTel and they maintain the individual networks. Subscribers to TelTel-Out can purchase credits in chunks.
$ 10 gives a talk-time of 500 minutes. Regions that attract high traffic such as North America and Western Europe have been assigned a flat rate of 2 cents per minute. The rate varies for other locations. The Call-Forwarding plan is available globally and enables users to forward their calls to any phone located anywhere in the world.
VoIP regulations received greater attention from the FCC in 2005 under the chairmanship of Kevin Martin. FCC implemented rules for making 911 available over VoIP. This action was preceded by a few instances, which received widespread coverage, in which VoIP users were unable to avail the emergency 911 services. VoIP subscribers and providers will also have brace for the enforcement of CALEA and get ready to contribute to the Universal Service Fund.
IP/cellular handsets found favor with users as the number of Wi-Fi access points grew in 2005. Wireless VoIP also offered hotels, hospitals, airports, etc with a cost effective alternative to cellular mobile technology. However, issues regarding coverage, service handoff, and power consumption need to be resolved before wVoIP really comes of age.
2005 also had some news-making M&As, such as the acquisition of Skype by eBay. Microsoft acquired Teleo, Yahoo purchased Dialpad, and Google acquired Dodgeball. The growth of VoIP led to several network providers either blocking VoIP calls or downgrading VoIP traffic.
Madison River Communications in North Carolina attempted to block VoIP services by Vonage and earned a fine of $ 15,000 slapped by the FCC. Countries such as Mexico, Qatar, Costa Rica, and China have not been too receptive of the technology. VoIP also caught the attention of SMBs who stand to gain from the cost-saving and productivity-enhancing advantages of IP telephony.
SMBs are being offered a range of VoIP implementation choices such as broadband VoIP, hosted VoIP, premise-based VoIP, etc. Almost three-fourths of the SMBs surveyed by the Yankee Group have professed a desire for premises-based system.
The RFI released by CableLabs has met with a good response. Companies such as VeriSign Inc, Stealth Communications, NeuStar Inc. etc have answered to the RFI.
CableLabs intends to develop a VoIP peering fabric that would allow VoIP subscribers of the member MSO’s to communicate directly without their calls being routed through a PSTN network. This could save the MSO’s thousands of dollars every month in interconnection fees to the PSTN companies.
Alvarion Ltd. has provided Rioplex Wireless with BreezeACCESS VL for increasing its network. Rioplex is based in Texas and has completed the deployment of a 5,000-square-mile broadband network. The company services residential customers and SMBs and uses licensed frequencies. The company can now offer VoIP and data services to its customers including telecommuters with the help of the BreezeACCESS VL system. Speeds can go up to 25 mbps for every user.
Santa Cruz Networks has released a new plug-in that will enable customers of Skype and Google Talk to communicate with each other. Festoon, which is an application developed by the company, will have a new feature called Festoon Unity by early next year. This will enable the application to support AOL IM, Yahoo Messenger, and MSN along with Google Talk and Skype. pcworld.com reports:
Festoon, which users can download for free, currently enables customers of the Skype and Google Talk voice-over-IP services to make video calls, but only to other users on the same platform.
Read More: Messaging Goes Multimedia
The telecom sector in India is doing extremely well of late and according to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), the number of phone connections in November 2005 was 3.79 million, the figures for October and September were 3.24 million and 2.87 million, respectively. lightreading.com reports:
Emerging markets with little installed telecom infrastructure are finding it easier to install wireless networks, and India's no exception: 3.51 million of the subscribers added in November were mobile customers, and most of the 280,000 fixed-line subscribers were connected using wireless local loop.
Read More: India's Telecom Market Accelerates
A new Wi-Fi phone from UTStarcom, the F1000, will allow subscribers of Vonage to utilize hotspots for making phone calls. The phone, which has features such as three-way calling, voicemail, and caller-ID, brings to users the ease of use of cell phones minus the costs associated with it. voipplanet.com reports:
Among other features, the F1000 has over five hours of talk time, 50 to 100 hours of standby and the ability to recharge in two to three hours.
Read More: Turning Hotspots Into VoIP Phone Booths
Avaya has released a new software referred to as the VPNremote, which will provide Avaya IP telephones with VPN remote capabilities. Upon integrating the software with the IP phones, telecommuting employees will be accessible all the time. The facility is available with the 4600 IP Telephones series from Avaya. The software enables home-based workers to plug the phone to a power source, connect to a broadband router, and the phone becomes operable. voipplanet.com reports:
One recent customer of the product line was the U.S. Red Cross, which deployed the VPNremote and IP phones as part of its disaster recovery work after Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Region last fall.
Read More: Avaya Loads Up on Unified Communication
SIPphone has issued CallOut rates for its Gizmo appliance for US calling. The rate of 1 cent per minute is almost half of what is charged by Yahoo Messenger, which according to SIPphone offers the second lowest rates.
Calls using Gizmo are free between Gizmo users and so are the calls to SIP endpoints irrespective of the location. Gizmo also provides clients for computers using Macintosh, Linux, and Windows OS. voipplanet.com reports:
"Phone calls are now like water. You know there's a cost, but you don't think of it every time you turn on the faucet," Gizmo CEO, Michael Robertson said. At a penny a minute—or less—that's probably a reasonable statement.
Read More: Goings-On in the IM/VoIP Space
VoiceRD by Novacoast Inc. is a Rapid Deployment solution for the open source Asterisk IP PBX. VoiceRD integrates the hardware, software, security, and identity management. The VoiceRD bundle also includes codec licenses and a web-based management tool for the IP PBX. voipplanet.com reports:
VoiceRD includes the recently released Asterisk version 1.2 and runs on a Linux appliance from PogoLinux with Novell SUSE Linux installed. On the hardware side, the Linux appliance also has a 4 port T1 card from Asterisk's corporate sponsor Digium Inc.
Read More: Novacoast Integrates Identity Management with Asterisk
IMS vendor, MetaSwitch, has provided Allied Telesyn with an interoperability certification. The solution offered jointly by the IMS vendor and the networking equipment vendor will allow service providers to access POTS using VoIP without having to deploy a TDM/IP gateway. voipplanet.com reports:
The joint solution also enables local calls, that is calls that originate and terminate on the same access network to remain within the same network.
Read More: Allied Telesyn Certifies with MetaSwitch
Nortel has a strong presence in both enterprise as well as carrier switching markets. Its three main products are the Business Communications Manager (BCM), the Communications Server (CS) 1000 and 2000, and the Multimedia Communications Server (MCS) 5100 and 5200.
SMBs and regional offices can utilize the BCM, which is an IP-enabled, single-platform communications system. It can also be used as a hosted solution for small sites. The BCM can scale up to 200 digital or IP-based stations and offers a number of applications such as routing, fax, voice messaging, IVR, wireless capabilities, etc.
The Communications Server 1000, which is a server-based IP-PBX, comes with more than 450 telephony features. The advantages of a converged network and IP applications can be had in one IP PBX. It is targeted at the enterprise market as a private, customer-managed solution, or as a part of a managed service solution from a service provider. It offers support for ISDN, H.323, and SIP signaling and can handle up to 15,000 clients for each call server.
The Communication Server 2000 softswitch is designed for large enterprises. It is a single platform that can be used as the basis for providing a hosted solution to several customers. It is the intelligent core of a multiservice network and offers local and long distance call services.
The Multimedia Communications Servers boost the existing voice and data capabilities by providing SIP-based multimedia and collaborative communications applications. The 5100 server can support up to 60,000 active subscribers and is meant for enterprises, the 5200 server is targeted at hosted service providers and it can support 100,000 subscribers. MCS includes applications such as white boarding and file exchange, co-web browsing, IM, call management, etc.
Lucent has concentrated on three major segments, namely communication service providers, the government, and big enterprises. These segments are handled by Network Solutions, Worldwide Services, and Bell Labs. The network service providers are catered to by the Network Solutions group, which also provides support for the wireless and wireline systems used for the integration of multimedia services.
Big organizations around the world are managed by a global group of engineers, consultants, and network designers that constitutes the Worldwide Services group. The communications networking requirements of the US Government and service providers situated around the world are met by Bell Labs. Lucent is currently researching several technologies such as 3G wireless, broadband and DSL access, multimedia systems and their applications, etc. voipplanet.com reports:
Their softswitch research is part of the Accelerate™ Next Generation Communications Portfolio. This architecture is based upon the IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) and the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP), and is focused on the service provider market.
Read More: Vendor Network Architectures—Part IV: Lucent Technologies
When legacy PBX systems were the norm, users had to pay for proprietary operating systems that used proprietary hardware and software. The upshot of legacy PBXs has always been the reliability and availability. The advent of VoIP was greeted with skepticism regarding the ability of IP telephony to provide reliability on par with legacy systems. networkworld.com reports:
Network managers immediately need to understand the critical elements that comprise modular open PBX systems and begin understanding the finer points of each.
Read More: VoIP: more survivable than legacy PBX
Webtorials is a community of next-generation-network designers. It will soon be releasing the 2005-2006 Webtorials "VoIP State-of-the-Market Report.” The report presents experiences of users regarding Spam over Internet Telephony (SPIT). Around 375 respondents cover the entire range of network planners and implementers for companies of all sizes spread over the globe. The Webtorials community feels that networking-related security issues pose the biggest threat to secure VoIP implementation. DoS attacks and viruses too figure high on the list of security concerns. Apart from these traditional security threats, SPIT is fast becoming a cause of concern.
Thomson, which is based in France, has entered into a license agreement with CableLabs for its CableCard-Host Interface License Agreement (CHILA) specifications. The interface between a digital cable receiver and a set-top box with the CableCARD is defined by the CableCard Host Interface specification. eetimes.com reports:
These products would be capable of receiving and displaying advanced cable services such as program guides and video-on-demand (VOD).
Year 2006 will see policymakers in the US making several key decisions regarding the future of networking. The major issue is to allow Internet services to grow without compromising upon the security of the individual or the state. Two measure IT-related measures scheduled for next year are the data breach notification and spyware regulation. eweek.com reports:
At the Federal Communications Commission, IT services historically have been given a break when it comes to rules that ensure consumer protection, universal affordability and access for law enforcement.
Read More: Big Issues Face FCC in 2006
IBM has stated that it will be purchasing Micromuse Inc, for a sum of $ 865 million in cash. Software from Micromuse manages Internet-based computing networks and facilitates the management of voice, video, and data. nytimes.com reports:
The move by I.B.M. is the most recent evidence that the many software markets continue to consolidate. And the data center management market - where Micromuse occupies a niche - is one such business.
New hosted VoIP software from Phonetag LLC can be used for providing a new line to the existing phone numbers so that in case of a phone outage, work can continue uninterrupted. phoneplusmag.com reports:
Using Level 3 Communications Inc. as its underlying provider, Phonetag’s service works with existing infrastructure and bandwidth.
Read More: Phonetag Launches Hosted VoIP via Level 3
BridgePort Networks, which offers SIP-based VoIP, has been endeavoring consistently to deploy IMS for smooth call transfers between mobile and VoIP networks. The company will soon introduce its NomadicONE IMS Convergence Server or ICS. The ICS will facilitate cellular/Wi-Fi handoffs in a seamless manner. The handoffs will be executed as per the 3GPP and 3GPP2 requirements. wi-fiplanet.com reports:
Not only can the NomadicONE ICS provide access to IP Centrex services over your mobile phone, Jhawar says, the reverse is also true; your cellular phone's services can be made available at your desk, whether you're using a single multi-mode phone or multiple devices.
According to Rauno Toivonen, director-marketing, voice solutions products, Espoo, Nokia is planning to launch a mobile that will allow access to SIP-based VoIP services. This will allow callers to access VoIP services provided by ISPs and CATV companies. Cisco Systems and Avaya are working with Nokia on this project in three specific areas; namely IP PBX, hosted IP PBX, and IP Centrex.
The phones will have SIP complaint and Skinny SIP compliant VoIP clients for Avaya and Cisco, respectively. This will allow PBX functionalities such as four-digit calling, conferencing, and call forwarding to be extended to mobile phones.
The phones are expected to be launched in the first half of 2006; they will be dual-mode cellular and WLAN, with the PBX functionality only over the WLAN. The functionality will be extended to the cellular network in the second half of 2006.
CloudShield is offering its CloudSentry VoIP Services Assessment (VSA) to network operators. VSA is a VoIP traffic analyzer that offers lawful intercept capabilities, analysis of infrastructural shortcomings, intrusion detection, etc. Service providers can use the information provided by VSA to better understand the traffic trends and offer their subscribers a better experience. They can control their offering in a better manner by understanding their main subscribers, call volumes, QoS levels, etc.
According to research firm TeleGeography, the main driver of VoIP deployment is still its low cost. The improved call quality provided by VoIP and facilities such as click-to-dial and a number of area codes have also contributed toward residential and enterprise VoIP adoption. The TeleGeography VoIP report for 2004 states that VoIP traffic in 2004 was of 30.8 billion minutes. The figures are exclusive of PC-to-PC VoIP traffic. VoIP growth was the highest in Brazil, Nigeria, and Bangladesh. Countries that have deregulated telecom market have seen a spurt in VoIP traffic. In 2004, inbound international VoIP minutes in Brazil, Nigeria, and Bangladesh grew by 112%, 103%, and 97%, respectively.
The preliminary documentation of Jingle has been published by the Jabber Software Foundation (JSF). Jingle is a set of extensions to the XMPP developed by the IETF. XMPP can be used for P2P multimedia sessions such as VoIP. lightreading.com reports:
Jingle provides a powerful framework for peer-to-peer multimedia sessions," said Peter Saint-Andre, Executive Director of the Jabber Software Foundation and co-author of the Jingle specifications.
Read More: Jabber IM Adds VOIP
Vendors such as Empirix Inc and Agilent Technologies Inc. offer VoIP management tools that enable enterprises to solve VoIP networking issues by acting on the advance indications that the tools provide. The tools monitor common VoIP-related problems such as jitter, delay, low QoS, packet loss, volume issues, etc. informationweek.com reports:
"We'll correlate for you in real time, and it'll say, yeah, the issue is at this particular port on this router," says Qovia Inc. COO Steve Mank.
Read More: Explosive Growth Expected For VoIP Monitoring Tools
Verso Technologies Inc has conducted a successful trial of its VoIP products that were operated on a pre-WiMAX (IEEE802.16a) network. The trial was carried out by Telkom South Africa (SA) and Saab Grintek Technologies, which is Verso’s partner. In the course of the trial, Wi-Fi-compatible PDAs were provided access to PSTN via CPGs and routed to the Telkom central office by using WiMAX technology. Class 4 and Class 5 softswitching and gateway technologies (BHG2500) from Verso were used in the trial. home.businesswire.com reports:
WiMAX is a standards-based wireless technology that provides high-throughput broadband connections over long distances. WiMAX can be used for a number of applications, including "last mile" broadband connections, hotspots and cellular backhaul, and high-speed enterprise connectivity for business.
Read More: Verso and Saab Grintek Complete VoIP Trials
US LEC Corp. had added BIGData to its Dynamic T VoIP service. BIGData is a high-bandwidth Internet and networking service option. The company serves enterprises in Eastern United States. Dynamic T BIGData allows speeds of up to 45 Mbps and is ideal for businesses that require large bandwidths. The bandwidths are available incrementally; this allows businesses to scale as per their requirements. prnewswire.com reports:
"While Ethernet Local Loop provides a desirable solution for some high-bandwidth requirements, US LEC can now also offer businesses a more scalable Internet solution that adds an advanced, feature-rich voice solution and optimizes the bandwidth investment."
Read More: US LEC Boosts Dynamic T(SM) VoIP Service
The report "Steady Growth Ahead for Hosted VoIP Solutions" has named Covad Communications Group, Inc. as the leading hosted VoIP provider for business customers. Covad has a 28% share of the market, which is greater than the share of other companies such as MCI, SBC, etc. Covad has concentrated its efforts on the SMBs. home.businesswire.com reports:
"The primary drivers for this growing demand are both cost savings and the enhanced feature sets available from VoIP applications."
Read More: In-Stat Names Covad Market Leader
ShoreTel has launched the ShoreTel Converged Conferencing 5.6. It is an integrated conferencing and collaboration platform that works alongside the ShoreTel 6 IP telephony system and offers facilities such as integrated audio and web conferencing, enterprise instant messaging and document sharing. The platform offers greater security by virtue of being an onsite embedded Linux appliance and is not Internet-based. home.businesswire.com reports:
"ShoreTel Converged Conferencing eliminates the expense of using outside web conferencing services for our internal and customer collaboration," said Jason Colburn, IT manager at Optimal Solutions, one of the fastest growing suppliers of broadcast software in the United States.
Read More: ShoreTel Delivers Collaboration Platform
Ceva has launched a semiconductor package for incorporating VoIP functionality into SoCs. The package, Ceva-VoP, consists of a fully programmable 200 MHz DSP engine and xpertteaklite 2, which is an integrated subsystem that has a memory cache. The solution enables users to avail voice coding, echo cancellation, and telephony interfaces. The Ceva-VoP is available in two versions; a co-processor version that uses a host CPU for voice processing and another version that uses the DSP for voice processing and network support.
The package can be used to support up to 8 voice channels with support for protocols like G.711, G.726, G.729AB, and G.723.1. Ceva-VoP provides echo cancellation, a wide range of telephony features, fax relay, and functionality for signaling and user interface management.
The Linksys One Hosted Small Business System is an IP PBX solution targeted at hosted service providers and VARs. The system, which provides network discovery and automated configuration, features a 16-port services router and an analog VoIP gateway. Linksys One will be available in the US in the first quarter of 2006; MCI and NeoNova are two of the companies that plan to provide hosted services using Linksys One.
CrystalVoice will provide its acoustic QoS technology to NetZero as support for its new phone to phone VoIP service. The software is capable of making real-time adjustments according to the variations in bandwidth availability.
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