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Category: voip

  • VoIP Solutions Provider Codima Expands Operations Into France


    Codima has announced the launch of operations in the French market.

    The VoIP software tools provider is to offer sales, marketing and support to new and existing resellers throughout France from offices in Paris.

    Codima, a Microsoft Certified Partner, delivers an end-to-end solution that helps organizations manage their VoIP and data networks cost efficiently.

    Codima’s CEO, Christer Mattsson, said the solution reduces IT costs while improving the end user quality experience.

    He said this encourages organizations urgently looking to reduce IT costs to invest in the software based solution.

    Commenting on the opening of the new Paris office, he said: "Our strategy is to always act locally, which enables us to adapt to new markets quickly and benefit from local relationships."

    Mattsson said Codima develops and markets a solution that is built from the ground up to be VoIP specific, in comparison to other products on the market developed from existing platforms.

    According to ARPEC, the French regulator, France had 11.9 million subscribers to a VoIP service in Q1 2008.

    This represented 30 per cent of all fixed telephony services and was growing at the rate of 1 million new subscribers per quarter.

    The rapidly increasing usage of VoIP technology by French end users indicates an uptake in the market for products managing VoIP networks.

    Gheorghe Moga, who will lead the Codima operation in France, said VoIP technology is driving IP communications growth in the French market.

    He said the Codima offering responds to the growing demand for ensuring and improving VoIP call quality.

    "With in-depth local knowledge and strong channeling support to partners, we are ideally positioned to take advantage of the uptake in VoIP technology usage," he said.

  • Hosted VoIP Approaches One Million in the US – and Climbing


    The US had almost one million installed hosted IP telephony lines at the end of 2008.

    This figure is expected to grow to about 3.6 million lines in 2014, according to a report by Frost & Sullivan.

    It suggests that integration with other unified communications (UC) applications – chat, presence and conferencing – will provide the most opportunity for the hosted IP telephony market, which it believes is being challenged by the economic downturn.

    Elka Popova, Frost & Sullivan’s global program director, said small businesses will continue to be attracted to hosted IP telephony offerings primarily for cost-efficient voice communications.

    However, she said some of them will also choose a hosted offering for the ability to gain access to a complete UC package from a single provider.

    "Medium and large businesses will also appreciate the economies provided by hosted IP telephony, but will seek such solutions mostly so they can focus on core business processes and gain access to applications and capabilities that they can test without making a capital investment," she said.

    Popova said that integration with other applications can help the hosted IP telephony market plough ahead.

    Barriers to Market

    However, significant technology enhancements to premise-based solutions and extensive private branch exchange (PBX) vendor channels present significant barriers to further market penetration.

    The report said that IP telephony vendors will have to develop astute channel strategies since most market participants are small, next-generation providers with limited geographic presence and service support capabilities – and with no established customer base or brand-name recognition.

    It recommended that service providers should seek to expand and diversify their channels and strengthen relationships.

    Moves that will need to be based on specific portfolio requirements, it added.

    "Meanwhile, the low barriers to entry will cause the North American market to remain extremely fragmented," said the report.

    "The incumbent local exchange carriers (LECs) are reluctant to grab larger market shares due to the fear of cannibalizing legacy service revenues and limited demand for next-gen hosted telephony services among their existing Centrex base."

    Diverse Competitive Landscape

    The competitive landscape is also likely to become increasingly diverse with competitive LECs (CLECs), software as a service (SaaS)/hosted application providers, value-added resellers (VARs) and system integrators (SIs) competing for a share of a slowly growing market.

    In such a scenario, channel support will determine each provider’s chances for success.

    Popova said that in order to ensure extensive customer reach and superior customer support, service providers need to develop stronger relationships with various VARs, SIs, and agents that may include real estate companies, IT consultants, and moving companies.

    "Further, providers should seek to develop an eco-system of partnerships to jointly enhance market awareness and be able to offer customers a range of interoperable solutions and capabilities," she said.

    Other recommendations made in the report include:

    • Telephony providers should cooperate with hosted contact center, email, customer relationship management (CRM), Web 2.0 and other communication and business application providers.
    • Service providers may choose to adopt diverse business strategies. For instance, some may focus on businesses seeking inexpensive voice communication packages, while others may choose to target businesses that seek advanced communication solutions such as UC, where application integration provides considerable productivity benefits.
    • Providers could also take advantage of merger and acquisition opportunities based on complementary technologies, expertise or channels, since consolidation can help improve customer awareness, margins and the value proposition of hosted IP telephony.

  • Google Launches Free Voice Service


    Google today launched a free service in the US called Google Voice that gives users access to all their phones, voicemail and text messages through one phone number.

    The move is being seen as a threat to Skype – but also to telecom operators and technology firms.

    Initially Google Voice will only be available to existing users of GrandCentral, a service Google acquired in July 2007.

    But it is expected to be rolled out to the general public in the coming weeks.

    Google says the application helps users manage their voice communications better by improving the way they use their phones.

    It provides transcripts of voicemail and allows all SMS text messages sent and received to be archived and searched.

    The service can also be used to make low-priced international calls.

    Google says the new service will be similar to GrandCentral but with many new features.

    GrandCentral gives users a single number to ring their home, work, and mobile phones, a central voicemail inbox that you can be accessed on the web, and the ability to screen calls by listening in live as callers leave a voicemail.

    The service has been invite-only for nearly two years and has a sizeable waiting list.

    It’s too early to say for sure whether Google Voice is the beginning of the end for operators as a "voice pipe".

    What’s certain is that combined with Android it could begin to make life very interesting for them.

    The fact yet more data could soon be passing through Google’s hands is also making privacy activists just a little concerned.

  • VoIP Solutions Provider Cypress Communications Expanding into Europe and Middle East

    INTERVIEW: Frank Grillo, Cypress Communication’s executive vice president of marketing, speaks to voip-biz.news about the company and its move into international markets
    voip solutions
    One of the US’s largest providers of VoIP solutions, Cypress Communications, is to announce shortly that it is expanding operations into Europe and the Middle East.

    After more than 20 years providing managed communication solutions to clients across the States, the Atlanta, Georgia-based company is to extend its network internationally.

    Frank Grillo, Cypress Communication’s executive vice president of marketing, told voip-biz.news that more than 80 per cent of its revenue and customers come from a very focused base.

    This comprises law firms and businesses in the financial services, commercial real estate and professional services sectors.

    voip solutions, frank brillo, cypress communications
    Frank Grillo,  EVP Marketing, Cypress Communications

    Grillo said the decision to move into Europe and the Middle East came as a result of a new client – a large US law firm of a similar size to Cypress’ anchor tenant, Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP.

    The full details are expected to be released by the end of March.

    He said a data center is to be established in London, which is to be the initial anchor point in Europe.

    But the expectation is that the expansion will continue.

    "We are extending the Cypress network into other markets," he said.

    "We will initially be marketing to our US customers and serving their needs in Europe and the Middle East."

    Targeting US customers

    Grillo, who was recently, announced as the winner of the voip-biz.news’ Person of the Year award, said focusing Cypress’ initial marketing push on US customers made sense since many existing clients, such as law firms, had offices in Europe.

    The company’s business model is to be modified in the new markets, with more reliance placed on partners.

    In the Middle East, that is likely to be as a network manager rather than as a true end-to-end provider.

    Grillo added: "But from the customers’ perspective, it will be the same."

    As a provider of managed communication solutions, Cypress supplies technology that includes:

    * IP Communications (managed VoIP)
    * unified communication
    * digital and IP phones
    * unlimited calling
    * business-class Internet connectivity
    * firewalls
    * security and VPN solutions
    * audio/Web conferencing solutions

    Grillo described Cypress as a "fairly unique creature", firstly because its experience of hosted PBXs stretches back to the mid-1980s.

    "One of our biggest core strengths is that we get what it’s like to manage desktop phones," he said.

    The second reason was that Cypress’ core customers are high-value employees that depend on a quality phone service for doing business.

    So Grillo said a lawyer charging a client USD $400 per hour expects excellent service when using the phone for an important call.

    "Our clients are people using the phone as their primary tool for doing business," he said.

    Leap of Faith

    Last month, Cypress announced that an existing client, Ascensus, was making the move to IP communications.

    Grillo said this was an example of how customers are willing to put their faith in new systems because of the creditability Cypress has generated in over two decades in the industry.

    In Ascensus’ case, putting its trust in Cypress’ hosted VoIP and hosted unified communications solution, C4 IP, extends to nearly 1,000 associates from six offices — including a 300-person call center.

    C4 IP offers features such as integrated audio and Web conferencing, multimedia collaboration tools,presence, chat and Microsoft Outlook integration.

    "While the technology was new, we were not new," said Grillo. "We were a trusted provided."

    That’s not the case with every provider in the industry, according to Grillo.

    He said the hosted VoIP marketplace has been damaged in the past by providers that he describes as nothing more than "two guys and a truck looking to make some fast money with a bare bones product and the appearance of low cost".

    He said there were only a few providers that offered the reliability and quality required – one he was happy to name was M5 Networks.

    However, Grillo said the current state of the economy meant that those providing poor service were unlikely to fare well.

    "There’s only so much appetite in the market for bad VoIP," he added.

  • TeleGeography Survey Shows VoIP Surge in Europe












    VoIP telephone services in Western Europe leapt to just under 30 million consumer lines by mid-2008 – up from 20 million only a year earlier.

    That figure has continued to climb and totalled 35 million lines at the end of the year, according to a survey by researchers TeleGeography.

    The study into fixed-line VoIP usage also found that while the aggregate pace of growth across Europe remains rapid, fixed line market trends in each country are surprisingly unique.

    Household penetration of VoIP telephony at mid-2008 ranged from slightly less than 50 per cent in France to less than 3 per cent in Spain.

    In terms of annual subscriber growth rates ranged from 544 per cent in Portugal to a comparatively anemic 13 per cent in Norway.

    TeleGeography analyst Patrick Christian said VoIP services are reshaping the fixed line market in Europe.

    But he said regional market differences were were much in evidence.

    "Europe may have a single market, but it’s far from common," he said.

    "However, while the uptake of IP telephony services varies widely, VoIP has been a powerful spur to innovation, even in some countries with relatively modest numbers of VoIP subscribers."

    This has taken the form of "incumbents" having to slash the price of traditional telephone services, to deploy higher-speed broadband networks and to introduce new video-over-IP services in the face of the challenge presented by IP-based competitors.

    TeleGeography projects that the number of VoIP subscribers will continue to grow strongly, increasing from 35 million at end-2008 to 45 million by the end of 2009.



  • Carrier VoIP Equipment Spend Down, IMS To Become Revenue Driver by 2011







    The worldwide market for carrier VoIP equipment has stalled after a pro-longed period of double-digit annual revenue growth that began in 2002.

    This led to the market contracting for the first time ever in 2008, with a drop in revenue of 6 per cent, according to Infonetics Research.

    On a brighter note, a second Infonetics report, found that IMS deployments are likely to become a serious revenue driver by 2011.

    Diane Myers, directing analyst at Infonetics, said the fourth quarter of 2008 confirmed what had been seen in the previous two quarters in North America, with signs in Western Europe and some parts of Asia as well.

    "The market for carrier VoIP equipment has stalled due to large deployments nearing completion and shifting strategic priorities," she said.

    "The global economic downturn will likely exacerbate the drop in VoIP equipment sales."

    The second Infonetics report paints a more optimistic picture for VoIP equipment manufacturers.

    It shows that worldwide sales of IMS (IP multimedia subsystem) equipment, including HSS (home subscriber servers) and CSCF servers, were up 94 per cent in 2008 compared to 2007.

    Myers said IMS deployments are growing, led largely by European operators.

    Fixed-line VoIP services are still the most popular applications delivered over IMS, however the reports suggests rich communication services will be an important part of the shift from fixed-line VoIP services to mobile networks and integration with standardized devices.

    She said the revenue total for IMS deployments is small currently, but will grow rapidly and become substantial in 2011 and beyond as mobile operators upgrade infrastructure.

    "With over 100 service providers worldwide having chosen their IMS vendors, less than half are fully deployed with live traffic," she said.

    "The move to turn-up the remaining deployments, in addition to new deployments, will help fuel the sales for IMS network equipment.

    "Mobile operator migration to IP and adoption of RCS will drive the deployments for IMS during the next four to five years."

  • Skype Seeks To Establish Common Audio Codec by Offering High-Quality Silk for Free







    Skype is to license for free a high-quality audio codec in its latest VoIP software to any developer or vendor.

    Called Silk, the "super-wideband" codec delivers a sound quality that captures the full sound of the human voice.

    Jonathan Christensen, Skype’s general manager of audio and video, launched the licensing program earlier this week at the eComm conference in California.

    He said that the normal phone system uses a narrow band for voice, from 400Hz to 3,400Hz, that cuts off high and low frequencies.

    Silk allows Skype to reproduce the full range of typical voice frequencies audible to the human ear, from 50Hz to 12,000Hz.

    So, while traditional systems carry voice in a standard 64Kb per second (Kbps) channel – which has disadvantages, such as blurring the difference between similar sounds such as "f" and "s" – VoIP can be carried in a fatter pipe.

    This has allowed new codecs to be written to encode and decode voice at higher quality.

    Benefits of this include helping callers identify different speakers on conference calls and making calls sound generally warmer, according to Christensen.

    Additionally, the new codec requires half the network bandwidth of Skype’s previous version.

    Christensen said the codec will be made freely available to third-party developers. They will be able to use it in any device or application, with or without Skype.

    "We think this is a way the whole industry can come up to a new standard of voice quality," he said.

    Skype’s motivation for making Silk available for free is to expand the range of hardware and software clients its calling software works with by establishing a common codec for clients to adopt.

    This goes from PC software, headsets and videoconferencing systems to cordless phones and mobiles.

    Silk runs on x86 chipsets for Windows, Macintosh and Linux systems, and the software has been run on Arm and MIPS chip platforms.

    It is currently available as Skype 4.0 for Windows and as a Macintosh beta version 2.8. A final Mac version and one for Linux are due in April.

  • INTERVIEW: Carrie Hartford Fedders From IPsmarx Technology








    IPsmarx was named as joint winner of the 2008 voip-biz.news Product of the Year Award last week for its SIP-based calling card platform.

    Carrie Hartford Fedders, account manager with IPsmarx, spoke to voip-biz.news about the solution, which eliminates the need for a VoIP gateway and PSTN lines using DID (Direct Inward Dialing) technology.

    She said that removing the need for a gateway in the network reduced both initial costs and overheads for operators.

    This meant savings could be made on initial investment of between 30-40 per cent compared to a calling card and gateway solution.

    As well as being more feature rich, the new platform also gives operators the flexibility to use fewer channels and upgrade when needed – as opposed to paying for T1/E1 lines.

    "When our sales people are talking to prospective clients, the main challenge is to convince them that they do not need a gateway in the network," she said.

    "People are so used to having it that they don’t believe it’s no longer required.

    "We really do feel that we are on the cusp of this new technology.

    "It’s a very innovative solution, which others are not offering."

    IPsmarx was founded in 2001 and initially offered a calling card platform designed for enterprises that needed a more effective way to manage their billing.

    Hartford Fedders said it grew quickly from there, with the company’s in-house developers continually adding new and more advanced features.

    The development progressed with the addition of a software switch.

    "Now we have all different kinds of solutions that enable businesses to offer VoIP and Calling card systems, the latest being our SIP-based platform," she said.

    While not needing a gateway in the network has streamlined equipment requirements, it has also added flexibility to the platform.

    Hartford Fedders said that in situations where a client’s business was growing, adding new capacity and lines was no longer a time-consuming and costly business.

    "Now you simply have to upgrade the software license with us and order more DIDs," she said.

    "So the long-term benefits are very attractive to our clients."

    Since the IPsmarx platform takes advantage of SIP Based DID technology, operators can provide calling card services to customers worldwide, where DIDs are available, and they only need one platform.

    Hartford Fedders said they had clients in 62 countries around the world, with the main markets being in North America, Latin America and the UK.

    "Every region demands different features and operators have certain fees they like to apply to a service in a particular country," she said.

    IPsmarxs portfolio of VoIP and IP telephony solutions and services includes:

    * Prepaid and Postpaid Calling Card and Residential Solutions
    * Softswitch IP-IP Billing Solution
    * CallShop and Hosted CallShop Solution
    * VoIP Termination Solution
    * Wholesale Carrier Solution
    * Carrier Services
    * VoIP Network Integration, Configuration and Migration Solution


  • Skype Deal With Nokia Stokes Operators' Fears Over Lost Revenue












    Operators O2 and Orange have reacted to plans by Nokia to embed Skype in handsets and may refuse to stock the N97.

    Skype is linking up with Nokia to embed its calling software in the Finnish company’s new handsets.

    Initially this will be the N97 by Q3 2009 and also, later, in other N-series devices.

    However, the deal, which was announced at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, has angered UK operators Orange and O2, according the Mobile Today.

    It reports that the two operators are considering refusing to stock the N97 unless Nokia strips out the Skype client.

    Key to their concern is ownership of the customer and potential lost revenue from calls from Skype’s VoIP service.

    Rival operators 3 UK and T-Mobile UK are said to be backing Nokia and Skype’s partnership.