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Cisco buys Jabber

Pete Wylie — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 14:00:57 -0400

Cisco has announced plans to purchase presence and messaging specialist Jabber. The additional features Jabber brings in play will be integrated into Cisco's WebEx Connect and UC offerings.

Jabber purports to have a carrier-class best model for presence and messaging, and offers operability with a range of common presence products, such as AOL AIM, Microsoft Office Communications Server and IBM Sametime.

This acquisition is one of many recent purchases by Cisco intended to bolster its software offering. Other buys include WebEx, IronPort, Securent and PostPath.

All Jabber employees will become a part of Cisco Collaboration Software Group, part of Cisco's larger software group which manages UC products, the IOS operating system and SaaS offerings.

Terms of the deal was not made public and it is expected to be completed in the first half of fiscal year 2009.

For more:
- see the Cisco press release jabber

Skype: VoIP is dead

Doug Mohney — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 12:48:50 -0400

Skype's GM of audio and video has declared VoIP dead. Wonder what that does to SkypeIn and SkypeOut?

Speaking at IT Expo in Los Angeles earlier this week, GM Jonathan Christensen declared VoIP morte as he walked through the history of Internet telephony, noting the benefits of lower cost, a who-cares attitude toward geographic number plans, and the irrelevance of long-distance calling in an IP world.

Christensen said unbundling is steering voice technologies in an unexpected direction and making them less important. As a result, IM and its support system become much more critical. IM, presence and chat are all much more important, and Skype should get its due for putting together IM, voice, video, NAT and peer-to-peer technology.

Moving forward, there are three pillars "beyond VoIP." Skype and other services require an "agreed relationship" where both parties agree to communicate. Secondly, new audio tech, including wideband audio, will improve communications. Finally, higher resolution video will make video conferencing "more real."

For more:
- TMCnet blogs Christensen calling VoIP dead

AOL Opens Up, Yahoo Outsources PSTN interfaces

Doug Mohney — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 16:23:40 -0400

AOL has introduced Open Voice APIs to allow third-party developers and VoIP device manufactures to integrate the AIM Call Out service into softphones, SIP-enabled hardware and cell phones with Wi-Fi connectivity. Meanwhile, Yahoo was outsourcing its PSTN interworkings to Jajah.

AIM Call Out is a pay-as-you go outbound voice calling service built into AIM that lets users make calls to landline and cell phones, with call credits purchased for as little as $5. The service complements the freebie PC-to-PC AIM Talk voice service. AOL hopes to facilitate real-time communications and rack up a few dollars in voice minutes.

Yahoo Messenger voice calls that touch the PSTN - - either inbound or outbound – will now be handled by Jajah. Yahoo is closing down its in-house infrastructure and Jajah will now provide the services for Yahoo’s for-pay “Phone In” and “Phone Out” features starting in the third quarter of 2008. Jajah will be responsible for the network infrastructure, providing customer support, and processing the payments.

Jajah brags it has 10 million users and will gain access to a potential audience of 97 million Yahoo Messenger users. The company also announced it is opening up its voice platform and offering strategic managed service solutions.

For more:
- AOL talks about AOL Open Voice APIs
- CNET blog on Jajah taking over Yahoo’s PSTN infrastructure

IBM foresees no email, phones nor PCs

Tom Burton — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 07:59:58 -0400

IBM is predicting the virtual office will become the norm driven by expanded globalization and environmentalism. The new workplace will be centered around mobile computing with instant messaging the preferred method of communications. Unified communications suites will be built around IM platforms, rendering email, desk phones and desktop PCs things of the past.

The scenario for the next workplace was detailed by the general manager of IBM Lotus software Mike Rhodin at VoiceCon 2008 this week. He predicted Enterprises will go beyond click-to-call and presence to integrate with business processes and this would be where the greatest benefits would be.

He said demand for interoperability and maturing of industry standards will force providers to embrace interoperability. "Converged, aggregated, and rich presence" will drive office and personal productivity.

The final five-point prediction was that the whole concept of meetings would change rapidly as 3D and gaming tools would enable far more instantaneous and ad hoc contact.

Rhodin announced a partnership with Forterra a developer of "virtual world" (i.e., Second Life-like) technology and unveiled its unified telephony suite as a middleware component in the multi-vendor world that characterizes many UC deployments.

For more:
- IBM made five predictions at VoiceCon Release

Related articles:
IBM pledges $1 billion for UC Article
Siemens announces new UC platform Article

Dual mode platform offers painless connectivity

Mon, 17 Mar 2008 07:59:55 -0400

D2 Technology has released a new version of its vPort embedded VoIP platform that it claims overcomes the problem many advanced gaming, video and messaging applications have with corporate firewalls. The new release promises VoIP connectivity regardless of network platform or firewall. According to D2 this will enable development of products that take full advantage of both traditional SIP-based VoIP and the latest VoIM protocols such as XMPP and other signaling protocols for messaging services such as GoogleTalk, Yahoo!, MSN Messenger and Gizmo.

D2 recently released new embedded mobile convergence software for dual-mode phones. Combined with vPort, the solution offers a simple and seamless interface for users to make their calls regardless of the network, protocol or service. Until now, users have had to manually jump between various applications, services and networks. The D2 solution creates a single contact book and automatically communicates by whatever means or network a user selects.

For more:
- mCUE for dual mode phones
- D2 vPort release

Related articles:
T-Mobile offers $10 a month VoIP Article
iPhone enables VoIP Article

Skype joins the IM war

Thu, 13 Dec 2007 06:59:56 -0500

MySpace's IM and Skype app has been released from beta with both companies planning to use each others significant market strengths to broaden their respective distribution footprints.

MySpace is hoping its integrated IM/Skype client will fuel growth for its instant messaging product which it says has 25 million users and is claimed to be the fastest growing IM client in the world. This comes as the IM market begins to consolidate, with Yahoo now being integrated into Microsoft's Vista and Google exploiting its stake in AOL to offer AOL's popular AIM client with Google's email client, gmail.

Skype is seeking to ride off MySpace's strength in the U.S. as it tries to build its distribution in North America, where the VoIP operator has been traditionally weaker. Most telephone companies offer free toll calling within the U.S. which has dampened demand for both the free and paid VoIP service. My Space has seen its dominance of the social networking space erode with the recent surge of popularity for Facebook. Facebook users can also access Skype through a mash-up which enables Facebook users to call using Skype.

All the corporate moves and product alliances in the IM and VoIP space represent a general convergence of the social networking, messaging and web voice sectors into one "portal," which is generally expected to see social networking and messaging merge into a general utility.

For more:
- MySpaceIM with Skype launched Report
- Skype/Facebook up mashup

Related articles:
- Skype releases high quality video upgrade Report
- Google, Skype rumors fill Holiday void Report

Verizon struts its FiOS stuff

Mon, 29 Oct 2007 07:59:56 -0400

The Verizon technology boys (and girls) last week showed off what the new order will look like as it demoed a house with all the FiOS bells and whistles. Significantly, much of the intelligence and smarts was sitting in the network. This included presence, service intelligence and applications such as games. Chief Technology Officer Mark Wegleitner said the real power of applications come from "cooperative processing and cooperative activity between the network and the devices at consumers' homes."

A big issue for all telcos is who is going to manage many of the new high access applications that will be in homes as supper fast networks become the norm. "Today, you almost need an IT geek in the family," said Tushar Saxena, director of home networking technologies. "We will be your IT geek."

So what does the FiOS home of the future look like? IM and gaming everywhere; presence technologies to identify who is doing what; Smart advertising; security, and of course multimedia able to be delivered any where any time.

For More:
Read the full story from Telephonyonline. Report

Related Articles:
SPOTLIGHT: Verizon gives FiOS users mobile email access. Report
Verizon FIOS ups the bandwidth. Report

Noise reduction software works for all VoIP services

Thu, 25 Oct 2007 06:59:55 -0400

New noise canceling software for VoIP services has been released by Silicon Valley start up, Noise Free. The software, NoiseFree VoIP, is in beta and is free to registered users till the end of the year. NoiseFree claims its VoIP product supports a wide variety of VoIP software and services including: Skype , Yahoo Messenger, Google Talk as well as many soft phones. It has been tested and is compatible with WindowsTM XP and Vista.

"Our software easily installs and when used at both ends of a call completely removes the challenges presented by uncontrollable environmental noise. Additionally, NoiseFree VoIP is able to reduce the packet load on a network, mitigating instances of voice distortion due to impacted network nodes. By doing so it enhances overall bandwidth availability."

Unlike many other noise canceling offerings, the NoiseFree software does not require additional hardware devices, DSP chips, or other additions to support laptop or VoIP handset usage. The software has been demonstrated at this weeks CTIA conference in San Francisco.

For More:
- Noise free statement
- Report from CTIA conference

Related Articles:
SoliCall slams background noise Report
VoIP quality on the upswing Article

Unified comms jam traffic

Thu, 30 Aug 2007 06:59:57 -0400

Unified communications is all the rage in telecom, so naturally there's a down side. That would be bandwidth consumption. Network General Corp., a San Jose, Calif., quality-of-service provider released a study this week demonstrating how unified comms will increase pressure on an already crowded information Super traffic jam.

The idea behind unified comms is simple: to fold voice, instant messaging, texting, email and other forms of electronic communications into one application. That way, road warriors can check fixed line voicemail via text from a mobile handset, for example. Several big players, including Microsoft, Cisco, Siemens and Verizon are busking the unified comms market, which is starting to take off as businesses adopt the necessary VoIP systems.

In a survey of 576 Network General customers, 75 percent estimated a quarter of their network traffic over the last three months consisted of unified comms. Nearly 40 percent said they'd had software problems after implementing unified comms, while 20 percent weren't as certain of the source of similar problems. Only 9 percent of those who responded said they didn't have a unified communications system. Key to successful deployments is adequate planning and a very agreeable IT administrator.

For more:
- The Network General summary of its survey is here

ALSO NOTED: Canadian firms partner on international VoIP; ATSI connects Hong Kong telecom; and much more...

Mon, 20 Aug 2007 06:59:52 -0400

> Canadian firms Call Center Development Services and Ubity Solutions, both of Montreal, Quebec, struck a strategic partnership so CCDS can offer its service internationally via Ubity's VoIP network. Press Release

> ATSI Communications of San Antonio, Texas struck an agreement to interconnect Hong Kong telecom PCCW Global to international VoIP traffic via ATSI's subsidiary, Digerati Networks. Press Release

> San Jose, Calif. Winbound Electronics Corp. has added a Skype-targeted unit to its line of USB audio controllers. Article

> NetQoS of Austin, Texas, is unveiling an end-user VoIP monitoring system at the VoiceCon tradeshow in San Francisco today. Press Release

> Engineer Yusef Motiwala is working on a way to use Yahoo! Messenger VoIP Service with any SIP phone. He notes that the service is SIP-based, but it doesn't appear to be a straightforward transfer. He's looking for feedback on a method here.

And finally… Sony is getting ready for all those dead analog TVs in 2009. The Tokyo conglomerate is launching a free recycling program for all of the products it markets in the United States--TVs, laptops, Walkmans, the like. The program is being administered by Houston, Texas-based Waste Management, a company with a storied history of having to clean things up. The fun begins Sept. 15. Article

PeerMe now loads phone pix to Facebook

Thu, 09 Aug 2007 06:59:54 -0400

PeerMe, a three-year-old Mountain View, Calif., firm that does multiplatform voice and instant message technology, has launched a one-click photo upload tool. The PeerMe Java version tool facilitates one-step photo uploads to Facebook, and a similar interface to Twitter (neither of which, interestingly, endorse the product).

The PeerMe instant message platform works with VoIP, broadband and broadband-to-cell phone connections. The service was rolled into Motorola Q smartphone's last year. PeerMe also offers an application that allows its VoIP client to be integrated into websites.

PeerMe said it was opening its application programming interface up to any social network, image or blog site that wanted to work with the photo-upload feature. Aligning with Facebook, Twitter and any other site that care to mesh with its API will go a long way to raise the profile of this company that wants to voice-enable the Internet.

For more:
- PeerMe's announcement is here

Linksys wireless VoIP phone shuns WiFi

Thu, 09 Nov 2006 19:01:37 -0500

Linksys is now offering a dual-mode wireless phone that doesn't use WiFi. No, that's not a contradiction in terms. The CIT310 (photo) works both with Yahoo Messenger with Voice and with the PSTN. But unlike most wireless VoIP or VoIM phones, the Linksys unit uses the DECT standard to communicate with a base station that plugs both into a PC's USB port and a PSTN wire. The phone has a color screen that lets users scroll through a buddy list or search for a local business. Estimated price: $100.

For more information about the wireless Linksys phone for Yahoo Messenger:
- read this PC World article

ALSO NOTED: BridgePort raises $13 million more; GIPS samples software for Windows Mobile; and much more...

Thu, 09 Nov 2006 19:01:32 -0500

> BridgePort Communications raised another $13 million in venture funding. Officials say the money will be used during a "scale-up phase" as the company builds VAR relationships. Article

> GIPS has released a free, "lite," version of its VoIP engine for developers of Windows Mobile devices. Article

> Indian regulators are allowing Yahoo to set up a company to provide Yahoo Messenger with Voice service there. We're not sure if the new company also needs a telecom OK or if they're good to go now. Article

> And Finally... It's like I always say: quality, not quantity. Article

GoogleTalk gets a 3rd-party VoIM service

Mon, 09 Oct 2006 20:01:38 -0400

We've written before about VoIM services on Yahoo Messenger, AIM and Skype. Here's one that works with Google: Splinternet is in beta and hopes to go commercial at the end of this month. It works about how you'd expect--add someone to your Google buddy list and use Splinternet to call over GoogleTalk to the PSTN. There's an initial free trial and rates for the outbound service vary depending on the country being called. Calls to the U.S. are 2.9 cents per minute. We don't know yet if this service will also work with other Jabber-based chat clients, such as Apple's iChat.

For more information about Splinternet:
- read this article on TMCNet

SPOTLIGHT: Yahoo Messenger gets conferencing

Mon, 11 Sep 2006 20:01:33 -0400

Don't count on conferencing to save your business. Yahoo Messenger has partnered with Vapps to let Yahoo's IM customers set up conference bridges of up to 500 users. Only a consumer application? Sure, it is... Article

SPOTLIGHT: IBM to add VoIP to Sametime

Thu, 17 Aug 2006 20:01:33 -0400

IBM is building SIP-based VoIP and video conferencing into version 7.5 of its Lotus Sametime collaboration application. The upgrade will also inter-operate with Yahoo Messenger, AIM, ICQ and Apple's IChat. Article

Yahoo follows AIM's VoIP lead

Thu, 25 May 2006 20:01:36 -0400

AOL's doing it, so you could have made book on Yahoo's getting into the game, too. Weeks after AOL announced a VoIP add-on to AOL Instant Messenger, Yahoo has cut a deal with iBasis, a global VoIP carrier, to create Yahoo Messenger with Voice. PC-to-phone calls within the U.S. and to 30 countries will cost 2 cents a minute or less; 150 other countries will cost more. No word about inbound calling with Yahoo's product.

For more information on Yahoo Messenger with Voice:
- read this article in CIO

Will Yahoo deal undercut AT&T long distance?

Fri, 28 Apr 2006 12:29:15 -0400

AT&T and Yahoo have joined forces to provide Yahoo messenger with voice to AT&T Yahoo high-speed Internet subscribers. As a result, AT&T companies will be Yahoo's preferred network termination providers for the PC-based calling services globally. At first it may seem a broadband service feature. However, by comparing the rates--Yahoo's $2.99 a month for Phone In feature and AT&T's $29.95 a month CallVantage service--it seems that the deal will cannibalize AT&T's standard long-distance services. The real factor that could even out the math is how much AT&T is getting from Yahoo for call termination and switching services.

To learn more about the AT&T-Yahoo partnership:
- read AT&T's press release
- check out this ZDNet's blog entry