There are few products on the VoIP marketplace that aim to solve a major problem: Completing the difficult transition from TDM (or legacy) telephony to Voice Over IP. After spending a few months with the Portico TVA from Citel, I'm convinced that the TVA is one of those essential products.
With the continued economic uncertainty, companies and organizations need cost effective methods to continue their transition from TDM to VoIP. Now, with the Portico TVA, organizations can utilize their existing digital handsets to connect to SIP-based soft switches or IP centrex systems.
As the Microsoft Office Communication Server 2007 platform gains popularity between end users and IP-PBX platform vendors, more and more companies are offering integration. Toshiba announced today that its "Strata CIX" IP communications system will offer remote call control integration with the Microsoft OCS platform.
In the past twenty years, Nortel has built a large market share in the enterprise voice markets, accumulating thousands of customers across the globe. Now, with a potential buyer on the horizon, many Nortel customers are fairly asking: "What now?" Read more
Almost every technology that is present in the modern enterprise requires constant attention and re-evaluation. Your collaboration and communication solutions are no exception to this rule. In the early part of this century, organizations across the world were nearing the end of major communications systems upgrades. New environments based around converging technologies, such as unified communications, were being staged across the world. Read more
A recent report just published by the Dell'Oro Group indicates that Voice Over IP adoption in the enterprise marketplace will begin to slow for the first time ever. While this specific metric measures "IP lines for the PBX market", the study does specify that the overall "penetration of VoIP technologies" will also slow as well compared to previous years. Read more
DIDs, or Direct Inward Dials, are a critically-important resource for organizations that need visible methods of communication from the outside world. Only a few years ago, the acquisition and provisioning of these numbers was a difficult and cumbersome process. Read more
Today's job market, especially in IT-related jobs, is increasingly difficult. In comparison with other industries and professions, IT is still one of the strongest areas in terms of job growth, salary, and overall need. What's often left out of the news and analysis of the IT sector, is the ultimate need of adaptability, constant skill improvement and refinement, and optimism about the future. Read more
The Federal Communications Commission is ratcheting down the rules for VoIP carriers and providers once again, in the name of increasing end-user rights and protection.
The recent vote from FCC commissioners will result in decreased number porting time from one carrier to another. The new resulting local number portability (LNP) restrictions will require carriers to port numbers within one day. This time period is significantly decreased from the four-day allowance that major carriers have to port numbers. Read more
Cisco's presence in the wireless products and services market was strengthened yesterday as new strategies were rolled out into its product portfolio. This recent news adds new features to its WebEx product suite, including the ability to arrange and schedule WebEx meetings through an iPhone application. In addition, new WLAN products, including the Cisco Wireless Controller 5500 series, the Aironet 1524 Mesh Access Point, and the Cisco 3310 Mobility Services Engine, among others. Read more
At the ITExpo East conference in early February of 2009, Digium announced the newest version of Switchvox SMB software... SMB 4.0. Since then, I've had the opportunity to evaluate and test the exciting new features of this very "web-aware" system. As promised in February, I'm happy to share my thoughts about the newest software release with the NetworkWorld community. Read more
The ability for organizations to communicate in multi-vendor, multi-site environments with ease and flexibility is essential. The direction of the convergence marketplace has proven that solutions designed around proprietary and single-system solutions are quickly becoming extinct.
In late March, Avaya launched a new communications architecture strategy named Avaya Aura. Available globally by the end of this May, Avaya's forward-thinking strategy combines "voice, video, messaging, presence, Web applications and more to employees anywhere". Read more
In a recent PC World article, Microsoft claims that it will strictly forbid VoIP-focused applications from the Microsoft Windows MarketPlace for Mobile Store. Read more
The enterprise world is increasingly familiar with the concept of open source, and its acceptance is quickly gaining steam. We have heard of open source operating systems, telephony platforms, productivity software... and the list continues. Now, IT budgets are tightened, forcing decision makers to look at more cost-effective alternatives. Even core network infrastructure systems are being shifted to open source solutions. Read more
New challenges, technologies, strategies, and policies greet the literally thousands of CIOs and IT executives across the United States. Whether it's long-term strategy planning, to dealing with immediate and short-term fires that erupt, the modern day responsibilities of today's pool of IT executives is nothing to laugh at. Like it or not, "convergence", as a whole, has molded the modern CIO into a technology, strategy, and personnel traffic cop. Read more
The discussion of telecommuting and telework options always drifts to the forefront when topics of wide-scale disaster, potential pandemics, or any other far-reaching crisis arise. The mass media frequently identifies the use of telecommuting and telework solutions to support the 24/7 business climate that the world is accustomed to. Read more
Snom, developers of SIP endpoints and VoIP products made two large announcements this week, proving that the company is accelerating it's growth in the SIP endpoint space.
First, on April 21st, Snom announced that its entire SIP endpoint product suite will be available on the GSA (General Services Administration) contract, making the product line available for purchase by US government agencies, or GSA buyers. Read more
The news of Oracle's acquisition of Sun brings new questions, and possibilities, to the table this morning. While some early indications and views are skeptical, this deal has the potential to bring an increased marriage between Oracle's database and ERP products and the future of the Sun Solaris platform.
In a slowly-developing debate between carrier and customer, the battle of allowing (or blocking) VoIP-related traffic on mobile networks is finally reaching a boil. With the recent news of T-Mobile blocking VoIP on their European mobile networks, customers are outraged, leaving a carrier with a difficult decision to make: upgrade their network, or start shedding customers. Read more
While news on the Nortel front has been quiet in the last few months, rumors are abound once again, spelling the nearly immediate and final death of Nortel. The Wall Street Journal reported today that Nokia Siemens has made an offer for certain segments of Nortel's assets, most notably the carrier networks unit, as well as a "next generation" wireless R&D unit. Read more
The phrase "mobile convergence" has been gaining steam in both the Enterprise and SMB spaces lately, as users and organizations alike demand the flexibility of converged communications on their mobile devices. Agito Networks announced revolutionary changes to it's RoamAnywhere Mobility Router platform, which ties together WiFi, cellular, and IP telephony with location information to provide a seamless mobile environment. Read more
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