Business News Holding

Category: voip

  • Empirix Brings VoIP and IMS Expertise to Mobile Networks

    Empirix has expanded its flagship Hammer XMS technology to provide end-to-end network monitoring for mobile core architectures.

    For mobile operators transitioning to all IP LTE networks, and traditional wire line operators or MSOs that are adding mobile service offerings, Hammer XMS "helps lower the cost of deploying and maintaining multi-protocol network architectures and ensures a more consistent customer experience," as the company claims.

    Hammer XMS includes a suite of protocol support for both GSM and CDMA networks including MAP, CAP, IS-41, CAMEL and WIN services, complementing existing SS7/C7 and IMS protocol support. The new solution by Empirix extends its hallmark end-to-end view across TDM and IP domains to the mobile market. Acoording to the company, it gives operators ‘unparalleled visibility into the customer experience throughout the core network.”

    Transaction monitoring, real-time packet analysis and historical storage of CDRs enable operators to troubleshoot, analyze and report on service quality much more effectively – thereby giving them the ability to more quickly identify and fix issues before they impact their customers.

    “As the boundaries between fixed and mobile services blur, end-to-end network validation will only become a larger, more complex task for providers adding mobile services as well as mobile operators migrating to all-IP networks,” said J.D. Doyle, General Manager of service assurance solutions at Empirix.

    “Ultimately, however, these new services will help them become more nimble and Empirix is committed to smoothing the inevitable transition to IP, lowering costs and speeding the time to market for our customers,” he said.

    Hammer XMS also provides operators with the tools to introduce and monitor multiple IP-based elements and services. End-to-end correlation between TDM and IP domains is provided for mobile softswitches, helping carriers assure the quality of service over SIP-based trunks to the PSTN.

    According to Empirix, femto cell launches will go more smoothly as carriers will have the ability to monitor the quality of voice as traffic from femto cell is carried over the broadband network. Carriers can then assure a smooth integration of femto based sessions into the core mobile network. Additionally, carriers will be able to more effectively enforce SLAs with lower cost IP interconnect partners.

  • Report: European Videoconferencing Endpoints Market

    Videoconferencing has proved to be a viable solution for companies that are reducing their travel expenditure, thereby boosting the European videoconferencing endpoints market growth, says Frost & Sullivan.

    New analysis from the research group, European Videoconferencing Endpoints Market, finds that the market earned revenues of $383.6 million in 2009 and estimates this to reach $1.03 billion in 2015 at a compound annual growth rate of 18.0 per cent.

    According to Frost & Sullivan, the major growth factors of the videoconferencing endpoints market in Europe include the need for companies to decrease travel expenses, search for alternative ways to meet their workers and clients and the stringent environment policies imposed by the European Parliament.

    Additionally, videoconferencing is stepping up the decision-making process and enhancing teamwork in the more-than-ever dispersed workforce.

    "The videoconferencing endpoints market has been witnessing a slow transformation in the recent years, largely attributed to the introduction of high-quality products, such as high-definition conferencing and telepresence, the market’s shift towards converged audio, video and web conferencing solutions, and integration with other existing collaborative applications," states Iwona Petruczynik, Frost & Sullivan Research Analyst.

    However, the report says, the European videoconferencing endpoints market is restrained by several factors. For example, the misconception that videoconferencing services are communications tools used only by large enterprises is hindering the adoption among small and medium businesses.

    Moreover, new communications and collaboration vendors are delivering videoconferencing as a part of a unified solution, creating a one-stop-shop for their customers; however, this is hampering the growth of standalone videoconferencing providers. Poor infrastructure and low bandwidth, especially in the Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), also have adverse effects on the videoconferencing endpoints market growth.

    "The two main challenges with which the market is constantly battling are – the long-standing belief that videoconferencing is a complicated tool, reserved only for the top level management in large enterprises, and the rise of unified communications (UC), where audio, web, and video-conferencing tools are converging," said Petruczynik.

    Analyst claims that overcoming the first barrier is a constant challenge for vendors. However, with the recession spurring the growth of videoconferencing, these collaboration tools and their benefits have been brought to the fore, especially their increasing ease of use.

    “Videoconferencing vendors should be able to proactively address their clients’ needs and evolve constantly in this market. The trend of shifting towards UC is leading to an increased attention to the adoption and usage of visual collaboration in business,” concluded Petruczynik.

    Related articles
    Goober Introduces New HD Voice and 6-Way Video Conferencing Solution
    Skype Introduces New Monthly Calling Subscriptions and Group Video Chat
    GIPS Enables Video Conferencing with HD Voice to iPhone Developers

  • NACT and VOIPFUTURE to Deliver VoIP Monitoring to Customers in the US and Canada

    NACT and VOIPFUTURE announced an agreement that establishes NACT as the exclusive distributor of VOIPFUTURE’s Voice Services Monitoring capabilities in the United States and Canada.

    NACT is a provider of prepaid application solutions (NACT’s Vinci, and Vinci Softswitch), having sold and installed more than 650 switching platforms – in 26 countries – that control more than 12 billion minutes of traffic annually.

    VOIPFUTURE specializes in VoIP monitoring and test equipment. Their solution enables communication service providers to monitor the quality of voice traffic crossing their IP networks, and use the data to troubleshoot problems, optimize the performance of their networks, and document the quality of individual call minutes exchanged between peering partners.

    The technology of VOIPFUTURE is based on its own unique speech recognition algorithm which delivers precise information on the voice quality within a telephone conversation and on the service quality status for an entire network.

    The company’s Smart RTP Monitoring Probes are passive, non-intrusive measurement devices located at demarcation points in the network, such as SBCs, gateways or peering points. According to VOIPFUTURE, the integrated solution for network optimization, SLA verification and troubleshooting shows superior performance for full line rate analysis at 1 Gbit/s.

    “Offering competitive voice services poses a number of challenges that are influenced by the dynamic behavior of IP networks, and effective, easy-to-use monitoring capabilities play an essential role for voice service providers,” said Jan Bastian, CEO of VOIPFUTURE.

    “NACT’s new management understands our industry – and they’ve aligned all of the resources that we feel are necessary to develop a market for our technology in US and Canada,” ha added.

    Arnie Goodstein, President of NACT, said: “Of all the VoIP monitoring technologies we’ve looked at, VOIPFUTURE provides a level of granularity and quality that is simply unmatched by any other offering.”

    Related articles
    VoIP Monitoring: Interview with Jan Bastian, CEO of VOIPFUTURE
    VOIPFUTURE First to Monitor Multiple GB/s Links at Full Line Rate

  • Goober Introduces New HD Voice and 6-Way Video Conferencing Solution

    Goober Networks, a Unified Communications provider, announced goober 3.0 as a public beta*, a new collaboration solution that includes multi-protocol instant messaging, HD Voice to landlines and cell phones and 6-way video conferencing calls to PCs including Windows and Macintosh.

    goober 3.0 delivers its HD VoIP calling across multiple PCs, including Windows and Macintosh, and the iPhone and iPad with gooberVoIP, which works over Wi-Fi and 3G networks.

    It delivers HD voice quality from 8-16 kilohertz and is able to support video conferencing resolutions from 720 to full HD. No additional hardware is required by the service provider or the end user, and the software-only client can be downloaded for free.

    It supports 227 countries, offering HD VoIP calling worldwide. According to Goober, their flat rates are “versatile and flexible”, offering an average per-minute price “that’s 25-50 percent less expensive than any other VoIP provider.” Calls in the US and Canada are $.01 USD per minute.

    “Goober 3.0 is compatible with today’s 100 million VoIP subscribers worldwide, the 1.6 billion people projected to use IM services by 2012 and the projected 1.9 billion email users by 2013, plus the growing population of social networking and instant messaging sites, such as Facebook, Twitter, GoogleTalk, Jabber, ICQ, MSN, QQ, Yahoo and AOL,” the company said.

    "Goober Chat offers multiple protocol messaging features, allowing friends to join chats, even if they’re using other messengers besides goober, such as ICQ, MSN, GoogleTalk, Jabber, AOL, Yahoo! and QQ – no other UC provider offers this cross-platform chat capability and we’re excited to be the first to bring this capability to the market, so people can simplify their communications from one location," said goober Networks’ CEO Peter Uhlich.

    The solution will be powered by Global IP Solutions’ GIPS VoiceEngine and GIPS VideoEngine.

    *The current beta version offers 4-way video conferencing; however, the final public release of goober 3.0 will support a record-setting 6-way video conferencing capability.

  • GIPS HD Voice to Power LG FMC VoIP Solution

    Global IP Solutions announced that it has been selected by LG Mobile to provide HD voice for its Fixed Mobile Convergence solution.

    FMC allows telecom operators to combine fixed telephony, cellular telephony and broadband into unified end-user services. The aim is to provide both services with a single phone, which could switch between networks ad hoc. Several industry standardisation activities have been completed in this area such as the Voice call continuity (VCC) specifications defined by the 3GPP.

    Typically, these services rely on Dual Mode Handsets, where the customers’ mobile terminal can support both the wide-area (cellular) access and the local-area technology (for VoIP). However, an alternative approach achieves FMC over 3G mobile networks – eliminating the requirement for Dual Mode. LG SU210

    Last month LG announced the KH3900 JoyPop, the company’s first FMC phone.

    LG Electronics added HD Voice capabilities to its FMC application by integrating GIPS VoiceEngine Mobile, which includes advanced acoustic echo cancellation (AEC) technology. “Good AEC implementation is critical to improve quality of voice calls on mobile devices,” according to LG.

    The company also said that GIPS’ strong local support and expertise team in South Korea ensured a smooth implementation of voice processing technology in their smartphone model SU210/KU2100/LU2100 for FMC solution.

    LG will be initially selling this product to service providers, starting with the South Korea market.

    According to GIPS’ CEO Emerick Woods, implementing GIPS HD voice technology offers service providers assurances that network, bandwidth and delay issues will be overcome.

    GIPS has already enabled HD Voice and Video Chat to the iPad, iPhone as well as to the Android mobiles.

    Related articles
    MWC 2010: Interview with John Hermansen of Global IP Solutions

  • Verizon Boosts Functionality and Security for Selected VoIP Services

    Verizon Global Wholesale is now offering additional functionality for three of its product platforms — SIP Gateway Service, Advanced Toll Free IP Termination and Carrier IP Termination Transport. This new functionality enables the product platforms to share a single, secure virtual private network connection called an IP Security (or IPSec) tunnel.

    According to Mike Yancey, director of wholesale voice services for Verizon Business, Verizon bypasses other security protocols in favor of IPSec tunnel because it offers the greatest level of flexibility.

    An IPSec tunnel maintains integrity and confidentiality because all data is encrypted prior to transmission, then authenticated upon receipt to verify the data has not been altered. The source of the data is also authenticated to prevent the possibility of such security breaches as "spoofing" an IP address – a fraudulent network technique in which a program or person masquerades as another.

    Verizon’s SIP Gateway Service comes in four configurations: Inbound Complete, Two-Way Local, Two-Way Complete and Outbound. These services are complemented by Carrier IP Termination Service. This offering allows customers to take advantage of the cost savings of originating long-distance traffic and terminating that traffic via SIP protocol over a global network.

    The company’s Advanced Toll Free Service allows U.S.-based customers to support toll-free calling solutions on a global basis. The service supports in-country toll-free dialing outside the U.S. across more than 80 countries and Universal International Freefone Numbers across more than 40 countries.

    Related articles
    Skype Mobile for Verizon Wireless Now Available
    Verizon Business Offers New VoIP Contact Solution

  • Winning VoIP Philosophy: Interview with Arash Vahidnia, CEO of IPsmarx

    “VoIP penetration among businesses is increasing rapidly, but I believe that reliability and redundancy can still be improved. Many service providers have not yet implemented redundancy to improve reliability,” said Arash Vahidnia, President and CEO of IPsmarx, in an interview with VoIP.Biz-News.com. 

    IPsmarx SIP-Based Calling Card Platform has recently been awarded our “Product of the Year Award 2009”.

    The platform is an all-in-one solution that incorporates both Pin & Pinless service management with advanced recharge options, integrated billing and e-commerce, as well as rich marketing features. Because the solution is SIP based, there is no need for a physical gateway to be installed, which dramatically reduces operating costs and go-to-market time.

    The award goes to IPsmarx second year in a row. We asked Arash to tell us what he thinks makes their product unique: “Because all of our solutions are built on the same platform, we are able to provide a unified solution. Therefore, service providers are able to offer a wide variety of VoIP services without installing and managing more than one piece of equipment or billing interfaces,” he answered.

    He gave us this example: “We have clients who offer residential VoIP service, calling cards, and manage callshops or internet cafes and they are able to use the same billing system, agent management solution, and marketing features for each service, which significantly reduces their operating costs.”

    “IPsmarx also puts focus on testing and reliability, enlisting the top testing companies to test our billing and switching capabilities under the most stressful conditions and the highest capacity and CPS (calls per second), to ensure that our platform can support the most successful VoIP companies out there,” he added.

    When asked how the Platform has changed during this year and what features have been added to keep it competitive on the market, Arash said, “Our development team is constantly adding new features based on our clients’ needs. This year we’ve added a complete suite of marketing features, such as integrated email marketing, a customer service ticketing system, loyalty program management, and discount and promotion tools for service providers. We’ve also enhanced our reseller and agent management platform, enabling many different multi-tiered selling strategies among our clients.

    “We’ve also added additional solutions to our product line, enabling calling card providers to expand and offer other VoIP services as well, such as business and residential VoIP service. We’ve released the latest version of our IP-PBX platform for business service providers recently.”

    He revealed that the company will also introduce some new features pertaining to smart phones in the near future.

    He said IPsmarx has seen a lot of their clients grow and expand their businesses with IPsmarx solutions over the years. “Small start ups have become nationwide chains and we have remained their preferred backbone because of our scalable solutions and high customer support standards,” said the CEO of IPsmarx.

    As for plans for 2010, Arash said the company will continue to add features to our IP-PBX Platform to encourage growth among Small and Medium Business Service Providers.

    “We believe that the Small and Medium business sector will begin to adopt VoIP more rapidly in the near future, creating an opportunity for service providers. That is why we have placed an emphasis on developing features for providers addressing this market,” he said.

    He also said IPsmarx is looking forward to the ITW show in Washington, DC May 24th-26th where they can meet with new and existing clients.

    “For the last 10 years, our philosophy has been to foster growth among our service provider clients’ businesses. Therefore, we strive to support all of our clients to achieve success and expand their service offering in any way that we can,” he concluded.

    Related articles
    IPsmarx Introduces IP-PBX And SIP Trunking To Its “All In One” Solution
    Winner of the Biz-News.com "Product of the Year Award 2009” Announced
    IPsmarx Announces New Enhanced Direct DID Solution

  • Skype Introduces New Monthly Calling Subscriptions and Group Video Chat

    Starting tomorrow, Skype is rolling out new calling plans to more than 170 countries.

    1-month, 3-month and 12-month calling plans will be available in 60-, 120-, 400-minute and unlimited packages.

    The range of subscriptions start from $1.09 (€0.89 /£.69) per month and offer effective rates as low as €0.01 ($.01/£.01) per minute to almost any destination around the globe.

    According to Skype, this provides customers with a savings of up to 60 percent compared to Skype’s standard Pay As You Go rates.

    Skype also announced that it will be releasing the new beta of its Windows software next week. It will feature video conference calls for up to five callers.

    Related articles
    Skype Mobile for Verizon Wireless Now Available
    Skype Goes Symbian
    Skype’s On-Net International Traffic Growing Fast

  • IPsmarx to Demonstrate New Solutions at International Telecoms Week (ITW)

    May 4th, 2010 – IPsmarx, a leading provider of VoIP application and switching solutions for service providers, will be attending and displaying new products and services at exhibit booth #717 at ITW 2010. ITW is the premier global wholesale telecom industry event that serves as a meeting point for the international telecoms wholesale community.

    ITW 2010 will be taking place at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel in Washington, DC from Monday, May 24th – Wednesday, May 26th, 2010. Each year ITW expects at least 4,000 delegates from over 130 countries to attend. Conference sessions include a wide range of high-level speakers from carriers and service providers will be discussing the latest market developments from around the word. The exhibit area will provide an opportunity to see the latest new offerings from IPsmarx.

    IPsmarx provides VoIP based solutions that provide integrated customer applications, softswitching and billing solutions for VoIP service providers, wholesale carriers, VoIP Calling Card Operators and ISPs. IPsmarx solutions are designed specifically for competitive VoIP service providers. The All-In-One architecture makes allows for easy management of the entire operation from a single web-based Unified Management Console, streamlining operations and saving money. IPsmarx also offers peace of mind not found in low-end solutions, with an extensive QA process and 24/7 technical support.

    IPsmarx solutions support a variety of business models allowing service providers to offer customized features and a customer management system tailored to their business requirements. IPsmarx works closely with customers to assure successful deployment providing security, technical training, support and a reliable billing platform.

    The IPsmarx portfolio includes:
    • Prepaid and Postpaid Pinless Calling Card Solutions
    • Softswitch IP-IP Billing Solution
    • Wholesale Carrier Solution
    • Callshop Solution
    • Callback Solution
    • The NEW VoIP Business Communications Server

    About IPsmarx
    IPsmarx has been providing VoIP applications and switching solutions to service providers, carriers, ISPs and calling card providers for almost 10 years. To schedule a time to meet with IPsmarx at ITW please contact [email protected].
    For more information contact IPsmarx at 703-871-5273 or email [email protected], and visit www.ipsmarx.com.

  • Phone.com and Turbobridge Partner to Offer HD Conferencing to Businesses

    Phone.com and TurboBridge are partnering to make a HD telephone audio conferencing service available to Phone.com’s installed user base. This new HD phone service launch comes 3 months after Phone.com introduced its own HD Business Phone service.

    TurboBridge has also launched its own HD audio conferencing service, which is claimed to be “the world’s first High Definition audio conferencing service.” It is powered by the company’s patent-pending TurboSound technology and offers HD audio combined with standard business conferencing features such as call recording, support for up to 250 conference participants, and lecture and Q&A modes.

    The company claim that its service offers more access methods than any other conferencing service in the world, providing features such as direct connectivity for IP PBX’s and IP telephone handsets via a public SIP URI. The service can be accessed through any IP method (Skype, SIP or TurboPhone).

    Phone.com and TurboBridge say they are partnering to give Phone.com customers their own dedicated conference access number as well as speed dial access from their Phone.com Virtual Office telephone handsets to their own dedicated conference bridges.

    In addition, the companies assure that those Phone.com customers who have the new HD Voice Polycom HD phones will be able to enjoy their conference calls in “crystal clear HD quality audio.”

    Phone.com will initially offer the enhanced TurboBridge conferencing service to its customers free of charge, further reinforcing its “all included” philosophy when it comes to bundling and selling services.