October 21, 2009

Google VoIP service investigated

Filed under: VoIP — Tags: , — admin @ 2:09 pm

The Voice over Internet Protocol services provided by Google are being investigated for a possible breach of telecommunication laws.

The Federal Communications Commission are investigating the possibility that Google Voice has allegedly been refusing to connect the Internet Protocol service to some rural areas.

The Chief of the Wireline Bureau at the Federal Communications Commission has expressed their interest in gathering facts in order to have a clearer understanding of exactly what has been going on.

The FCC bans blocking carriers so that consumers can implement affordable broadband networks of their choice.

It is not fully understood how Google Voice’s VoIP services works and so the FCC have been brought in to investigate this and discover exactly how many people are using the service.

Currently the service is available only by invitation allowing those special individuals to make, receive and take calls – even conference calls. Users can also record calls should they need to and store them on the internet.

The investigation continues.

October 20, 2009

VoIP hacker extradited back to the US

Filed under: VoIP — Tags: — admin @ 2:26 pm

Edwin Pena, 26, was arrested in Mexico last February for computer hacking and fraud and finally faces these charges this week.

The Venezuelan, who was a former Miami resident, fled the US justice system in August of 2006. This was two months after being bailed following phone hack charges and stealing VoIP call credits.

It is estimated that Pena and his accomplice stole $1.4 million by selling on 10 million voice call minutes taken from unsuspecting telecoms suppliers.

Pena’s accomplice, Robert Moore, pleaded guilty and is currently serving a two year jail sentence. Pena is alleged to have used ‘brute force’ tactics to extract information and activation codes from susceptible telecom supplier systems.

Pena used the proceed of his dirty dealings to live a life of luxury, buying himself a 40 foot boat, a BMW M3 and not to mention the estate in Miami.

The United States have been clamping down on hackers, working with other countries to bring criminals to justice and extradite them back to receive punishment. This case will be the beginning of many.

September 29, 2009

Should in-flight VoIP calls be allowed?

Filed under: voip phones — Tags: , — admin @ 3:12 pm

The debate continues over whether or not in-flight VoIP calls should be allowed.

It seems that discussions have erupted amoungst U.S. travelers, airlines and regulators regarding the use of in-flight cellphone usage via voice over internet protocol.

Travellers have been able to use their mobile phones to make calls over wireless internet access on airliners. The objection comes as mobiles use normal wireless spectrums that are banned because of the potential disruption to an aircraft’s equipement.

A total ban has been urged by some in Congress and a poll has learned that 45% of fliers believe that mobiles should be completely banned. 40% want to know if mobiles pose any threat, and then if there is none, they would like to be able to use the VoIP service.

The other issue will be in-cabin noise levels that will no doubt increase as a direct result of the use of phones onboard.

The debate goes on.

September 28, 2009

Improve Customer Services with Mobile VoIP

Filed under: VoIP — Tags: , , — admin @ 12:24 pm

According to a study by Dimension Data, businesses and companies can improve their customer services by using mobile VoIP.

Howard Spink who is the Director for Customer Services and Interactive Solutions at Dimension Data, said that VoIP will push the boudaries of customer services beyond current expectations.

A company using VoIP solutions will also have an integrated customer services department, instead of a separate, margainally isolated department.

Voice over Internet Telephony technology would be combined with other technologies to ensure that the needs of customers would be easily met.

According to research by In-Stat, who analyse the industry, by 2013, there will be 278 million registered VoIP users worldwide. This works out at annual revenues of £19.5 billion.

We already know that VoIP saves money, so how long will it benuntil everyone knows this?

September 24, 2009

VOIP still going strong despite recession

Filed under: VoIP — Tags: — admin @ 5:02 pm

Many companies are pulling the purse strings in on spending, but it seems that despite this, VoIP and the growth of Unified Communications continues to rise.

500 call centres were contacted across 36 countries by network provider Dimension Data. Of the firms contacted most were still keen to have value-added services.

Spending may have dipped and the call for customer relationship management software fallen, but VoIP continues to prove popular for many businesses.

It is worth noting that the survey found that 60% of call centres in the UK now use VoIP software.

Howard Spink, of Dimension Data, says that the findings are a clear indication of the recession creating a ‘contact centre evolution’. With the intervention of VoIP, call centre communications will now be revolutionised and will enable companies to keep costs down.

VoIP is going to help companies to continue to communicate throughout the recession and keep a lid on costs.

Twitter launches VoIP service

Filed under: VoIP — Tags: , , — admin @ 4:56 pm

Twitter has launched its own VoIP service, allowing Twitter site members to make calls to friends, regardless of whether they know their number or not.

The service has been developed by Jajah who have limited calls to 2 minutes, which believe is the time needed to write a 140 character ‘tweet’.

Those interested in using the service will have to register their telephone number and screen name with Jajah. They can then send a message to the name of the person that they wish to speak to.

The new service is currently only available in the US but Twitter hopes that the service will be available to everyone by Christmas.

AT&T blocks 3G VoIP

Filed under: voip phones — Tags: , , — admin @ 4:53 pm

US Communications giants AT&T admits to blocking 3G VoIP across the company’s network.

AT&T had to admit to the Federal Communications Commission in the States that it struck a deal to prevent VoIP calls being made across the 3G network.

VoIP calls cost mobile phone providers money, as it cuts the cost of calls for the user – calls that would usually be made with mobile minutes.

Customer voice plans would not generate the predicted revenues if VoIP calls were available.

It seems that despite this rather unfair move on the part of AT&T, it seems that without removing the ability to make VoIP calls, they will all lose money. In fact, without the revenues created by voice call plans, there would be a slow on mobile phone advancements overall.

AT&T has said that VoIP can be used on any VoIP apps that use Wi-Fi to operate, but that they would be blocked from the iPhone.

August 28, 2009

The New Avaya 4621SW IP Telephone Available

Filed under: VoIP — Tags: , , , , — admin @ 12:06 pm

The Avaya 4621SW is perfect for your classic business desk phone – but comes with the advantages of low cost VoIP calling through a 10/100 Base T Ethernet connection. It includes a separate auto-negotiation for each port and integrated switch for PC connection.

The Avaya 4261SW IP has a large graphic display (168 x 132 dots) and 3 fixed feature keys: Conference, Transfer and Redial. There is also 3 application feature buttons: Dial, Call Log and Web Browser. The phone comes with a headset jack and desk stand. There is multi-language support to enable global user application.

The main features of the Avaya 4261SW:

• Full duplex speaker phone with Auto Echo – Avaya IP office compatible
• 10/100 BaseT Ethernet with seperate auto-negotiation for each port
• Intergrated switch for PC connection – with phone over PC priority
• IP Address Assignment – DHCP Client or Statically Configured
• Support for Simple Network management Protocol (SNMP)
• Multiple language support built-in: English, French, Italian, Spanish & KataKana
• Downloadable firm-ware for true investment protection
• Infrared (IrDA) Port
• Large screen graphic display (168 x 132 dots)
• 24 Programmable DSS / call appearance / feature keys
• 4 application feature buttons along bottom of display Speed Dial, Call Log, Web Browser, Options
• 10 Fixed Feature Keys: Speaker, Mute, Hold, Volume Up, Volume Down, Headset, Conference, Drop, Transfer and Redial
• Microsoft NetMeeting compatible
• Call Log Application
• Special Speed Dial Application
• Web Browser (WML)
• LDAP Directory
• 8 Ring-tone options
• Message Waiting Indicator
• Hearing aid compatible
• Built-in Headset Jack
• Wall Mountable / Desk stand with 7 positions

Please note, this phone is only compatible with Avaya IP Office / Avaya Communication Manager, and is not suitable for home use.

Microsoft and JaJah Join Forces to Increase VoIP Communication

Filed under: VoIP — Tags: , , , , , , , — admin @ 10:45 am

JaJah, a Mountain View California based VoIP service provider, have joined partnership with Microsoft to launch a new IP service for enterprises. This allows business customers to make calls from computers and landlines over the internet, with an improved quality of the VoIP calls made via Office Communications Server 2007 R2.

The partnership means that JaJah will provide Microsoft with SIP trunking services – a technology that connects OCS 2007 R2 to carrier networks, and maintains phone calls arriving at their destination that are made from PCs, VoIP phones and mobile devices. These trunking services are now authorised to be compatible with OCS 2007 R2.

Ebrandz explains that: “a SIP trunk is a concurrent call that is routed over the IP backbone of a carrier using VoIP technology.” Companies using OCS 2007 R2 will not have to buy additional hardware and software to enable their voice calls, because of JaJah’s VoIP platform.

JaJah competes with other web-based calling platforms (e.g. Skype, RingCentral and Google Voice) but its aim is to give VoIP accessibility to technology companies, carriers and mobile operators. By pointing the server at JaJah’s IP address, businesses who buy OCS 2007 can start making calls instantly.

Businesses can start taking advantage of making high quality calls by using JaJah’s IP platform, meaning no infrastructure upgrade is necessary. Microsoft OCS users can now make low cost voice calls from their IP phones, computers or mobile phones to any device because of the new partnership with JaJah.

Trevor Healy, JaJah’s CEO said: “The JaJah qualification on Office Communications Server 2007 Release 2 is a clear indicator of the strength of JaJah’s platform and quality as a carrier-grade SIP solutions provider. Enterprises across the world can implement VoIP and unified communication easily and cost effectively with Microsoft and JaJah.”

Lots of small to medium businesses use JaJah’s phone platform to enable calls as it is similar to Skype but without the need for headsets, downloads, software or hardware. Users on Yahoo Messenger making calls are also using JaJah – from when they are registering to when they are paying.

Healy explains: “What this indicates is that when you make an internal call inside the enterprise, we will carry [the call] all the way to your destination. … But then also, if you want to connect to a mobile phone in France, we will handle all the routing and trafficking of that call to Orange in France.”

August 27, 2009

Desktop VoIP Phones Still Relevant in the Marketplace

Filed under: VoIP — Tags: , , — admin @ 11:38 am

Garrett Smith, a blogger from smithonvoip.com suggests desktop VoIP phones are still highly relevant.

In regard to a post by Dave Michels on pindropsoup.com, Smith discusses how personal and business communications have “become increasingly fragmented,” and that there is a wider choice in the present day of how to get hold of someone.

This evolution has in turn limited the possible growth for desktop VoIP phones. However, desktop VoIP phones are not being wiped out. As Smith states, desktop VoIP phones are still the most appropriate enabler of business VoIP calling.

He indicates this is because the phone call is “an experience,” and one that is tied directly to a desktop VoIP phone. Desktop VoIP phones will face competition – although these new competitors still have to change prosumer habits, a task not easy to do.

To maintain their power as the preferred medium of enabling a call, desktop VoIP phones will need to evolve. As manufacturers are continually creating new and developing existing products, this is sure to happen.
Smith agrees with Michels on the fact that people love their mobile phones as they are becoming rapidly more relevant to users. So it is suggested that some partnership between the mobile phone and desktop phone that meets the needs of the prosumer is likely.

Overall, Smith agrees that the “evolutionary fragmentation of communications will limit the potential growth of the desktop VoIP phone over time.” But, that this is apparent in all other forms of communications too due to technology advancing and continual evolution. The market winner will be the product that is most relevant to the user – and currently that is the desktop VoIP phone.

« Newer Posts — Older Posts »
Sales and Mail Order: 0870 770 1890 Investors In People