Friday, November 30, 2007

What Paris Hilton and Walmart Have to Do with Voip

November 30, 2007 Friday 11:00 - ? AM CST
What: Voip Users Live Conference/Podcast

Description: http://VoipUsersConference.org VOIP allows you to do almost anything with incoming and outgoing telephone lines. You can use the open source pbx asterisk in conjunction with hardware to control normal phone lines or with SIP or IAX providers to have worldwide pay-as-you-go service with no monthly charges. You can connect toll free numbers in multiple countries, invent new telephone services, be your own telco!
Hosted by randulo

Each of the past 3 Fridays, I've logged into the Voip Users Live Conference Podcast using Talkshoe. I always mute the mike because I have to keep working while listening. Today I was only able to listen from 11:03 AM - 11:30 AM CST, but I did take notes because several of our vendors, customers, and friends with voIP interest asked me to blog on it.

We were entertained at the beginning with the host sharing some of his recent VoIP poll results. He mentioned the preferred phones participants would want if stranded on a desert island. I only heard SNOM and Shoretel but there were others. (I wouldn't laugh at the Shoretel choice because it might have been a consumer who perhaps is using Shoretel voip service.) Poll participants gave their short bios. One said he is married to 2 girls, another is a self-made millionaire, and another typed he was an IP magician. The speaker sharing this information thought this was cool except that "magician" was spelled wrong. That's ten points extra credit toward his grade since I taught English for 16 years. At the same time, inventive spelling is fun to read if you're like me and love foreign languages. (I still am guilty of errors in grammar, spelling, and other mechanics, sometimes on purpose and most of the time by mistake.)

Next, we listened to a brainstorming of Asterisk problems. I quote as closely as I possible can. I don't have time to link all possible keywords to relevant websites.

"It's all in how you implement Asterisk."

"Asterisk 1.2 had one thread handling every piece of audio for every phone call. It would block and sit there, buffer and exhibit audio droppage."

"1.0 had no jitter buffer or maybe it wasn't usable in trunking but eventually used SIP over IAX," says one participant. "But 1.2 definitely has it."

"IAX was so unreliable two years ago during 1.2's era, that it had to be dropped."

"I like the IAX phones because of the single port thing. I have a couple of phones that do IAX. They are each about the size of a CDROM carrier. As long as there is an ethernet connection available to me, I can use them."

"If the protocol is becoming more standardized, will more and more third party firmware become available?"

"Someone uses Grandstream. Good luck using them?"

"They are using same chips as the PA 1688. The same manufacturer makes both."

"Do the Chinese manufacturers care at all if the devices work seamlessly with Asterisk? Remember Farphone (could be misspelled) from Wasim on IRC? He was the first one we've heard of to do such a thing, but it never was completed. What happened on it?"

"Freshtel's Firefly softphone pretty cool... not written by Freshtel. It's a branded phone. Someone will look it up."

"Firefly was Virbiage."

"Freshtel is the provider. They have a box 3010 ATA, fits in the palm of your hand, Internet telephone adapter, supports most codecs, does IAX not SIP. Made by Freshtel's company Verbiage."

"$88 price shipped from Australia..."

Check out http://www.virbiage.com

We were all checking out Virbiage's cubix.php softphone on preorder... and someone noted that they (or maybe another company) offered preorder forever on a product that never seemed to materialize.

Which led to...

"Someone may do a softphone that looks like the IPhone."

"Yes, Open Noko is available."

"What about the new Google Android phone: like Iphone but is vendor-independent (agnostic maybe?), you can write your apps in Java, and anyone can start testing with it."

"So can Open Noko. It's all open source. Problem, you can get a development unit, but you can't make a call with it."

"But the Google phone appears cooler. Anyone can make a device for it. Since it uses Java, it will work with anything."

"Google will have an easier time with it because they are not dependent on one software. They get more attention from potential developers."

"Google PC is for sale at Walmart for $200. Login from any computer to access your PC server. It's a secure server, stores data, and uses a specific MD5 key. You can login with your user name, login, and see the general settings of how you want your desktop to appear anywhere, even at perhaps the public library.

"Let's say that no matter where I am in the world, there is be a universal number that hooks me to my data, giving me access to all my extensions. Maybe something like Pingtel phone where you tell the phone where you want to login to."

"No, Pingtel, it's like Paris Hilton. Nice to look at but you really don't want to use it. Not user friendly. Someone bought one on eBay, beast to configure, and tough to use."

11:30 AM CST

I, Suzanne Bowen, agree that the notes I took above and are sharing with you, the reader, may not be the exact words spoken by the participants in today's VoIP Users Conference, but it is my best effort to do so. I stopped at 11:30 AM CST because I needed to use my IP Phone (model IPR 320 and made in Taiwan, configured in Pensacola, Florida by me) to conduct some teleconferences with our company's suppliers, customers, colleagues and voIP industry friends (who all rock and are not digitally smug.) I'm 27 minutes behind in my "work" today, but about 26 of those minutes were worth it.

Thursday, November 29, 2007

IP Communications Parties Must Meet at Internet Telephony East Conference & Expo 2008


January 23-25, 2008 are the days when you should be in Miami, Florida. Why?

Internet Telephony Conference & Expo East is the reason. The Technology Marketing Company was founded in 1972 by Nadji Tehrani, so this group is expert helping you and me in the "Every Kind of Communication over Internet Protocol You Can Imagine" industry. They are professional, intuitive and future-thinking. You don't have to be rockstar to get their attention and support.

Our company Super Technologies, inc. incorporated in the US since 1999 has participated in several dozen TMC activities. We are a good example of increasing our revenues and those of our customers because of it. During a one month period that included the dates of Internet Telephony West 2007 in Los Angeles, at least 500 new Internet protocol-based communications companies joined www.didx.net DIDXchange to actively buy and/or sell direct inward dialing phone numbers wholesale. This means that 500 more cutting edge CLECs, wireless operators, video over the net and other IP comms embraced open source technologies of Asterisk, OpenSER and other SIP platforms, proving that competitors can collaborate and realize new markets, new revenues and keeping customers is a reality! They learned about us at Internet Telephony West 2007!

Conference topics include:
Prepare Your Network for Quality Voice
Intelligent Interconnects in the VoIP Peering Environment
The Current State of Open Source
Signaling: SIP, SS7 & Integrating your Network with Legacy Infrastructure
A Look at Hosted VoIP
Trends in Consumer VoIP
SIP Trunking
IMS: Will it Work?
TMC University Exam
Optimizing Skype for the Business Environment
SIP-ify the E-mail Base
Take Advantage of Open Source for Success in the Contact Center
Improving Performance by Using Advanced Speech Technologies
trixbox Training (Extremely popular!)

Yikes, they are giving away one of my favorite cars, a hot new Ford Mustang Convertible 2008 on Friday, January 25, 2008 at 2:30 PM at the end of the expo hours. You must be present. Pick up your entry card at the registration counter when you arrive. (If I win, I will place my 1994 Toyota Camry, that I feel very sentimental about, in a special museum.)

Pictures from Internet Telephony East 2007 at http://www.tmcnet.com/voip/conference/east-08/e-08-event-photos.htm and http://picasaweb.google.com/suzanne.bowen/InternetTelephonyWestSept102007InLosAngeles

Video and written testimonals can be viewed at http://www.tmcnet.com/voip/conference/east-08/e-08-testimonials.htm.

Exhibitors you can browse for partnerships, purchasing, and possible channeling or reselling are http://www.tmcnet.com/voip/conference/east-08/e-08-exhibit-now.htm.

Diamond sponsors are Aculab and Fonality. Platinum sponsors are Nextusa, Ontario Canada, abpTech, 8x8, Inc., Iwatsu, Interactive Intelligence, Comverse, AudioCodes, nuvio, allworx, and Vitelity. See more event and media sponsors and supporting organizations at http://www.tmcnet.com/voip/conference/east-08/e-08-media-sponsors.htm.

Consider the 30 or more choices of and power of sponsoring Internet Telephony East 2008 at http://www.tmcnet.com/voip/conference/east-08/e-08-sponsorship.htm. Especially check out the great ways to promote toward the end of that web page from elevators, lanyards, taxi stands, conference notepads, hotel keys (now, that is a GOOD one!), publication bins, speaker ready room and more. Something for everyone. Contact Dave Rodriguez to make a choice that will maximize opportunities for you.

I look forward to meeting each of you myself for a meal, coffee, a morning run, cocktails, at our DIDXchange booth, receptions, parties, at the keynote speeches and just anywhere in the midst of the Internet Telephony East 2008 excitement.

Networking, sharing of knowledge, partnering, and buying and selling experience of the year for those in all 190+ countries on earth with interest in IP communications is in Miami, Florida Jan. 23-25, 2008.

Monday, November 26, 2007

Thomas Howe Log: Hello to the VON Show?

Thomas Howe Log: Hello to the VON Show?

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Telecom World Awards, Middle East Winners 2007

Every blogger has has his, her or its formula for posting. Some internally created, or off the patterns of others, or from a formula touted as the only way, or a combination of all three. I love to take the opportunity of blogging to highlight information technology and social media companies' accomplishments, awards and sponsored events.

So... I am impressed with this list of winners!

Telecoms World Awards, Middle East announces the award winners for 2007

The Telecoms World Awards, Middle East announced today it has named the nine winners of its 2007 awards for excellence in the regions telecoms industry.

The winners of the 2007, Telecoms World Awards, Middle East were announced at 9pm on Monday 19 November at the awards ceremony at the Jumeirah Beach Hotel in Dubai. Terrapinn hosted the evening alongside the principal sponsor Promoseven, who gave some insight into the role they play in adding value and working with telecoms operators. This year the awards were also sponsored by Linklaters and Holool.

The Telecoms World Awards were launched by Terrapinn to identify and reward those companies and individuals who have demonstrated an unparalleled ability to succeed, continually set standards of excellence, and who will be the future stars of the industry.

The 2007 categories and winners were:

Best Satellite Operator
Eutelsat
Horizon Satellite Services
Intelsat
Thuraya

Winner: Horizon Satellite Services

Best Technology Innovation
Afghan Wireless
Axiom Systems
BT Global Services
Holool

Winner: Holool

Best Wholesale Carrier
Belgacom International Carrier
BT Global Services
France Telecom
Tiscali International
VSNL Teleglobe

Winner: VSNL Teleglobe

Best Managed Service
Info2cell
NTT Global Managed IT Services
PCCW Global Managed Services
Verizon Managed Services Portfolio

Winner: PCCW Global Managed Services

Best New Service
Batelco
Du
Mobily
Qtel
Zain

Winner: Mobily

Best Customer Experience
du
Etisalat
Roshan
Saudi Telecom

Winner: Saudi Telecom

Best Brand, Sponsored by Promoseven
2 Connect
du
Etisalat
Saudi Telecom
ZAIN (MTC)

Winner: du

Best Operator, Sponsored by Linklaters
Batelco
du
Etisalat
Roshan
Saudi Telecom
Zain

Winner: Etisalat

Special Merit Awards for Industry Contribution, Sponsored by Holool
Mohammad Hassan Omran, Chairman, Etisalat
Saad Al Barrak, CEO, ZAIN (MTC)
Osman Sultan, CEO, du
Akil Beshir, CEO, Telecom Egypt
Saud Majed Al Daweesh, President, STC

Winner: Saud Majed Al Daweesh, President, STC

After dinner guests were entertained by the fantastic Joe Divanna the world renowned author, who gave an informative and hugely entertaining presentation.

About Terrapin
Terrapinn is a business media company whose products are trade exhibitions, conferences, training solutions and electronic and print publications. Terrapinn owns a portfolio of B2B brands. www.terrapinn.com

For Media Inquiries:
Matthew Wallhead
Terrapinn
Tel: +44 (0)207 092 1269
Fax:+44 (0)207 242 1508
E-mail: matthew.wallhead@terrapinn.com

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

All VoIP Veterans, Geeks, Testers, Early Adopters Invited to VoipUsersConference

The more people that know about the VoipUsersConference, the more exciting and rewarding it becomes. This invitation goes to all VoIP veterans and geeks, new technologies looking for testers, early adopters and installers and more.

Digg users? You can Digg the conference here:

http://digg.com/software/Asterisk_and_voIP_related_weekly_live_conference_podcast

Check out http://voipUsersConference.org and/or the new Ning space which is a
little richer in resources: http://food4wine.ning.com

Learn how asterisk revolutionizes the telecommunications industry. Share your expertise. An email I just received stated, "Asterisk is unlimited in potential, or rather limited only by the imagination and resourcefulness of those of us that install, configure and program for it.

All participation in the conference including PSTN and SIP callers, anonymous stream listeners and the over 10,000 downloads to date generate a small income stream that is paid directly into the http://kiva.org loan fund. Each month, that fund participates in three or four loans to hard-working third world entrepreneurs. What better way to help the "other community", i.e., the world?"

Monday, November 19, 2007

Why DIDXchange Sponsors GSM > 3G Africa Conference

Planet Earth is finding that we its inhabitants have much in common. The net brings us closer via IM, voIP, IRC and the newer social media/utility/community platforms. Africa is just one of those areas of the world that is in the perfect position, less infrastructure with the old technologies, to embrace Web 2.0 strategies... time to get together to help make this happen!

November 14, 2007, "Super Technologies, Inc. today announced that its DIDXchange (News - Alert) is a media/association sponsor for GSM > 3G Africa Conference, the leading Pan-African event for mobile, broadband and satellite communications. The conference workshops are Nov 21-22, 2007 and the expo is Nov 21-22, 2007 in Cape Town, South Africa..."

See the complete press release at http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2007/11/14/3094300.htm.

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

The Meme Virus and VoIP by Association

A virus (from the Latin virus meaning toxin or poison) is a sub-microscopic infectious agent that is unable to grow or reproduce outside a host cell. Tinu Abayomi-Paul graciously explained to me how to get rid of the Meme Internet virus. It's all about me! Really?

I like to multi-task so while struggling with how to answer these questions and still stick to the theme VoIP by Association, I started downloading Sipphone's Gizmo Project to my Blackberry 8703e. The full version wouldn't open. I deleted it. Then, I downloaded the stripped down version. The program opens but it won't let me fill in my Gizmo ID, password and mobile number. Can anyone help me?

Ok, no more procastination. First question.

1. How long have you been blogging?

I started a personal blog in late 2005 and a "work" blog http://suzanne.supertec.com in August 2006.

2. What inspired you to start a blog and who are your mentors?

An essay kept revolving in my head as a nightmare? or dream? every night regarding DIDXchange about the similarities between my business partner & inventor Rehan Ahmed and Don Quixote de la Mancha laced with echoes of Mahatama Gandhi's something like, "First the ignore you. Then they laugh at you. Then they fight you. Then you win." I needed to publish it to the world.

Mentors? Truth? I just blog when and the way I want to. Sometimes I'm uncoachable.

3. Are You trying to make money online, or just doing it for fun?

Hmm... I crave the act of writing, a lifetime experiment of love. Money, I was making money before I started blogging. There's a mint in my kitchen.

4. Tell me 3 things you LOVE about being online.
First, I found my business partner online.
Second, I found my husband online.
Third, I'm anxious to see what else I can find online.

5. Tell me 3 things you STRUGGLE with in the online world.
First, I need to stop feeling insecure about being a woman in the voice over Internet industry. That's the truth that is hard to admit.
Second, there is so little time and so many people and ideas I want to know and learn and participate with, but I have to sleep.
Third, making a statement I know I believe in online and then realizing I probably offended someone. These statements haunt me, but I don't remove them. I don't want the history that the future reads to be more false that it already may be.

The five people (I'm an English and Media Education major not math) I am infecting with the Meme Virus are as follows:

Garrett Smith
Arfeen Muhammad
Takuya Misawa
Rich Tehrani
Rehan Ahmed
Jill Jenkins
Florian Serrousi
Muneeb Iqbal
Ken Camp
Mike Clark
Michael Bowen

Would you 11 answer these questions on your blog? Just these five questions? Thanks to Heather, Tinu's friend (my friend), who started all this madness in her birthday celebration (Happy Blirthday/Blogiversary!)

And btw, have an urge to get some voice over Internet, how my cell phone works, etc. education? Check out the activities around the world you can attend at http://www.didx.net/events! The GSM > 3G Africa conference has free expo tickets even.

Friday, November 09, 2007

Must Get VoIP Educated: Watch & Listen to Experts

Part 1: Ensuring Call Quality with SIP Trunking webinair is Tuesday Nov 13 at 11 AM CST. Check your timezone in relation at World Timezone Converter. Presenters will be Bill Casey, SVP, Marketing, Reignmaker Communications; Dave Martin, VP, Marketing, Edgewater Networks; and Erik Linask, Associate Editor, Technology Marketing Corporation.

SIP Trunking is the most efficient connectivity method for today’s IP-PBX’s. As the popularity of SIP Trunking grows, so have the tools and services to manage the voice quality of this service. Please join Reignmaker Communications and Edgewater Networks for this informative webinar on ensuring call quality with SIP Trunking. You’ll learn how Reignmaker has constructed and end-to-end voice quality assurance program for its new nationwide SIP Trunking product – backed by the industry’s strongest SLA. Areas of discussion will include interoperability, on-site edge monitoring devices, bandwidth pre-qualification and troubleshooting tools and techniques.

After the presentation, the Webinar will be open for a live Q&A after the presentation. Be sure to have your questions ready!

Our team from Super Technologies, Inc. and DIDXchange will be there.

Part 2: Let me summarize the Ensuring Call Quality with SIP Trunking Webinair of Internet Telephony by Reignmaker and Edgewater Networks, Inc.

We were introduced to interopability, bandwidth pre-qualification, troubleshooting techniques, and more for small and medium-sized customers.

SIP Trunking Market Overview?


Quotes Chris Jones, CEO of Intuitive Voice Technology, a provider of an Asterisk-based IP-PBX) said today "30% of his Evolution PBX sales include T1/E1/PRI Hardware, 30% include analog hardware, and 30% is strictly SIP trunking with NO TDM HARDWARE."
- September 14, 2007, Internet Telephony Expo Recap

SIP Trunking offerings from service providers are driven by increased sales of SIP-enabled IP-PBX's and cost reduction demands by the end users.

These are offered with different underlying network designs, interop strategies, legacy/IP-PBX/hybrid support, bandwidth requirements, supported features such simultaneous ring and different codecs supported.

Benefits of SIP Trunking?
1. Reduce costs.
2. Can replace PRI or analog trunks on a PBX.
3. Only purchase the number of SIP trunks you need. No waste.
4. Uses excess bandwith for voice services. Efficient!
5. Flexible and scalable. Add single SIP trunks as needed within days.
6. Converge voice and data services.
7. Less system maintenance which can managed from anywhere even remotely over the Internet.

Drawbacks of SIP Trunking?
1. Call quality problems such as echo, one-way audio, static or warble, and dropped calls. (Hmm... sounds like a cell phone.)

2. Reliability: single connection failure potential for example, during the period when firmware is updated.

3. Problem Resolution: Could be within the Internet and/or the customer's LAN.

How to Overcome SIP Trunking Drawbacks?
1. Be proactive prior to installation.
2. Complete the interopability testing between the PBX, phone systems and the service.
3. Reignmaker offers a bandwidth circuit testing from customer site to Reignmaker for number of hops, etc.
4. Customers can order bandwidth from Reignmaker.
5. Utilize redundant private peering directly.
6. Mandatory call quality device installed at every customer premise... in this case, the Edgewater Networks' EdgeMarc device. It is configured specifically the customer's particular IP-PBX make/model. Provides security and firewall.

Questions and Answers to Reignmaker:
1. Where does Reignmaker offer SIP trunking services? In all 50 USA states with E911 throughout most areas.

2. If a SIP carrier uses a Level3 MPLS backbone, how would Reignmaker differentiate? They give access to their Tier 1 providers, the Edgewater devices...

3. Interopability with Edgewater device, is there an extra charge for the device or is it included?
Customer does not have to buy the Edgewater device. If they choose it, it is rented to the customer per month as low as $15.00 per month.

4. Are your SIP trunking services to international customers? They cannot provide to those located outside the USA.

5. Do you offer reseller or agent programs? Yes, they offer even a team dedicated to the partner program participants: referrals or resellers.

6. How does the Edgewater device work? It manages the last mile connection. It is a Session Border Controller type device + more. It provides security, bandwidth management, call quality improvement, and NAT traversals for networks that are mobile.

7. Does it work with just SIP or also other protocols?
From a trunking perspective, SIP only.

http://www.reignmaker.com and http://www.edgewaternetworks.com