VoiceCon

SPOTLIGHT: Euro VoiceCon

Doug Mohney — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 22:24:01 -0400

TechWeb (the company formerly known as CMP) announced VoiceCon Amsterdam, the first European venture for the VoiceCon brand.

Large increases in exhibitors and attendees at events in San Francisco and Orlando has convinced the media company to go East. Probably didn't hurt that VON Europe, scheduled to occur in Amsterdam in early June, disappeared. Rarely does one launch a trade show in under four months; VoiceCon Amsterdam is happening October 14-16, 2008

VoiceCon's popularity has stemmed from its focus on the enterprise, plus IP telephony, unified communications, and converged networks. Amsterdam, in additional to being a great place for voice and a poor place for cuisine, is an international airline hub that should be able to offer (somewhat) attractive fares to Pan-European and North American travelers.

For more
- Visit the VoiceCon Amsterdam website

Related article:
VON chases the UC market

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

Avaya wants to be king of presence

Tom Burton — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 07:59:56 -0400

Avaya has announced its multi-party presence server, designed to integrate presence data from a variety of sources and devices using standard protocols such as, SIP/SIMPLE and XMPP. Dubbed Intelligent Presence the server platform aggregates telephony, desktop and application presence information from either Avaya or third party sources, such as industry leaders Microsoft and IBM.

The aim is to eliminate barriers to responsiveness such as location, time of day, type of network, platform, channel or device. Avaya claims the more holistic view of the employee's presence obtained from its specialist presence server will enable more accurate contact between employees, customers, partners and suppliers.

The Avaya announcement was made at VoiceCon which was dominated by releases and discussion around UC. The UC space has been on fire since Microsoft signaled its determination to dominate the sector last fall. IBM last week pledged one billion dollars to its UC campaign and Siemens Communications recently released its OpenScape UC server software platform.

But while the vendors are falling over themselves there are precious few examples of firms successfully remaking work flows and processes to take advantage of the productivity advantages from the unification of communication and enterprise systems. Too often the UC platform is simply paced over the top of legacy work flows, leaving the technology to carry out what could best be described as glorified secretarial round-up duties.

For more:
- Avaya announces Intelligent Presence Release
- Avaya changes UC game Article

Related articles:
UC meets the contact center Article
Siemens new UC platform Article

VoiceCon vs. VONx

Mon, 17 Mar 2008 07:59:56 -0400

The two competing conferences this week, United Business Media's VoiceCon in Florida and Pulver Media's VONx, reflect some of the industry trends at play. VON has always been an evangelist's conference driven by the celebrity power of Jeff Pulver and his acolytes. Quirky but interesting, VON has struggled to find buzz in recent years as VoIP has become more and more plumbing like. The attempt this year to broaden VON beyond its VoIP heritage with the new VONx brand is an admission the show needed a new direction. But the lack of top-line speakers suggests the show is struggling to maintain its place in a crowded trade show calendar.

In contrast VoiceCon is positioned as an enterprise unified communications conference and is riding the enormous interest and dollars now associated with that space. UBM's newly created Techweb division is putting on the show at a time when UC is undeniably the hot topic of 2008 in the voice world. Former VP and Nobel laureate Al Gore is speaking and the conference is unashamedly corporate and mainstream. With the big IT and carrier vendors all pushing to get their voices heard in this converged market, VoiceCon finds itself at the right place at the right time.

For more:
- VoiceCon's speaker program
- VONx program

Related articles:
VON chases the UC market Article
IBM ups the ante in UC battle Article

Microsoft and Cisco make nice

Thu, 23 Aug 2007 06:59:55 -0400

Microsoft and Cisco pulled together a press event in New York to show how they could simultaneously compete and cooperate. Cisco CEO John Chambers and Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer sat down before a roomful of reporters for an interview with PBS talker Charlie Rose to discuss détente.

Seven joint initiatives covering IT architecture, security, mobile communications and IPTV were announced at the event that formalized existing alignments between the two tech giants. Dynamically, the two companies are somewhat interdependent. Cisco is more active on the network level; Microsoft, the user level. But Microsoft hasn't developed a stellar reputation for playing nice, to the point where it was slapped down by Washington. Motley Fool analyst Anders Bylund noted that the very public CEO summit was a way to reassure business customers that Microsoft applications and Cisco gear would continue working together.

Meanwhile, Microsoft executives at the VoiceCon trade show in San Francisco this week reportedly said the company's new unified communications platform--Office Communications Server 2007--would debut in October.

For more:
- BusinessWeek provides background here
- Information Week covers the VoiceCon goings-on 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

SPOTLIGHT: New technologies planned for VoiceCon debut

Thu, 16 Aug 2007 06:59:53 -0400

VoIP venders are gearing up to demo their latest technologies at VoiceCon in San Francisco, Aug 20-23 at the Moscone North Convention Center. Among those on hand--8x8, purveyor of Packet8 VoIP service, Active Voice, Broadvox, Convergence, Sipera, NetQoS, General Dynamics and many more. Press Release

Editor's Corner

Sun, 18 Mar 2007 20:01:39 -0400

As you're reading this on our new Monday publication day (if all has gone according to plan), I'll be in a great silver bird aimed at San Jose for Spring VON. Two weeks ago, it was Orlando and VoiceCon, but the shows are about as different as lemon and eggs. VoiceCon focuses on the enterprise; VON, although there's plenty of enterprise talk, is really about carrier grade VoIP.

As befits a conference devoted to big bandwidth, there will be several panels about IMS and a fair amount of talk about fixed mobile convergence and IPTV. The companies that have been on the phone with me and filling my mailbox are heavy on the session border controller vendors and carriers, so I'm expecting a few days of hearing about interoperability and SIP trunking, and not so much about Microsoft Exchange and desktop telephony.

And even before it all starts, there are whispers of a deal or announcement or two. Details below.

Lest you expect too much, however, keep in mind that there's also another other show going on at the same time: CeBit, far and away the world's largest IT and telecom show, over in Germany. We'll try to pick up some news from there, too. - Dan

Cisco buys WebEx for $145,000 per customer

Thu, 15 Mar 2007 20:01:38 -0400

Cisco's chief development officer Charlie Giancarlo gave a keynote last week at VoiceCon. Given Cisco's position in the VoIP market, he kind of had to, since Nortel and Microsoft gave talks of their own. But Giancarlo's was kind of odd because he focused a great deal of his alloted time to videoconferencing and its place in enterprise communications. Now we know why. Cisco yesterday agreed to buy WebEx, which hosts web-based online conferencing, for $3.2 billion. That ranks the purchase up with Cisco's purchases of set-top box maker Scientific-Atlanta or broadband switch builder Stratacom. WebEx has 28,000 customers; is each of them really worth $145,000? No, money like that is strategic, which would indicate that a) Cisco is interested in service revenue, not just hardware, and b) we should expect Cisco to get very interested in IMS, if it isn't already.

For more information about Cisco and WebEx:
- read this article from EE Times

Related Articles:
Cisco, Nokia reach dual-mode phone deal. Report
Cisco: How to select the right VoIP integrator. Report

Nokia, Siemens in enterprise FMC deal

Thu, 15 Mar 2007 20:01:35 -0400

Not to confuse matters, but Nokia and Siemens have another, unrelated deal in the works. Siemens Communications--the enterprise part of Siemens that's staying (for now) with the parent company--is working with Nokia's enterprise business on a fixed-mobile convergence agreement. The idea is that Nokia's dual-mode E series phones will be able to work with Siemens Hi-Path Mobile Connect Solution to hand off calls as necessary between WiFi networks and the cellular network. The companies were hinting about this broadly at last week's VoiceCon; this week came the official announcement.

For more information about Siemens and FMC:
- check out this article from ZDNet UK

SPOTLIGHT: Three very different user stories from VoiceCon

Thu, 08 Mar 2007 19:01:33 -0500

Shell is drinking deep of Microsoft's Flavor-Aid, Whirlpool is throwing in with Avaya, and the University of Pennsylvania is going with Asterisk. Three user stories from VoiceCon. Article

Editor's Corner

Mon, 05 Mar 2007 19:01:39 -0500

It's tempting but not always fair to draw a lot of conclusions about a trade show after taking just a quick walk through the show floor. However, it's certainly possible to make some informed observations.

I'm currently attending VoiceCon, a show aimed squarely at VoIP in the enterprise. It's no surprise that big exhibitors include Siemens, Cisco, Avaya, and Alcatel-Lucent. (By the way, Lucent's flaming circle of death logo has been supplanted in the Alcatel purchase by a blue dot with a stylized infinity. Rather nice, actually.) Notable, however, is Microsoft's constrained floor presence. For a company that everyone thinks is poised to take over the world, the Redmond giant isn't over-spending on booth space.

Don't be fooled, though. Cruise the seminars at VoiceCon, and you'd be hard-pressed to find a time slot that doesn't have at least one Microsoft exec on the podium. Microsoft may not have a lot to show--which is why a company buys a booth--but they've plainly got tons to talk about and lots of persuading to do. Microsoft may own the data side of the enterprise, but the voice side is far from a done deal. - Dan

Prognosis adds Avaya to Cisco support

Mon, 05 Mar 2007 19:01:36 -0500

Prognosis, which has made performance monitoring and performance systems for Cisco, is expanding its portfolio. The company announced at VoiceCon that the Prognosis IP Telephony Manager 9.0 will also support Avaya's IP technology. In addition, the software can support mixed Avaya/Cisco environments, giving customers a unified view across both systems.

For more about Prognosis and Avaya:
- read this from Prognosis

Alcatel-Lucent readies rev of OmniPCX Enterprise

Mon, 05 Mar 2007 19:01:34 -0500

Alcatel-Lucent, the merger safely in the books, is making the rounds of VoiceCon to talk about the new version of its OmniPCX Enterprise. The news is that version 8 of the softswitch, which ships in July, will now support up to 15,000 users on a single server (up from 5,000), and that servers will be able to be clustered to serve 100,000 users. Also, its systems are designed so that a regional media gateway is able to provide full feature functionality in its branch should it lose connectivity with an upstream data center.