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Category: voip

  • ESS Technology Offers Single-chip VoIP Solution


    ESS Technology has released a new chip for VoIP phones.

    By embedding two subscriber line interface circuits (SLICs) along with an Ethernet switch, ESS says the ES9701 will provide a high level of integration at a low cost for both VoIP adapters and applications.

    Included in its features is a 32-bit RISC processor, an AES encryption module and an LCD display with keypad interface.

    The ES9701 also comes packaged with a VoIP phone/adapter reference design as well as a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) stack.

    Robert Wong, the firm’s vice-president of marketing and worldwide sales, said the ES9701 enables rapid development of VoIP phones and adapters at the lowest system cost."

    "Finally, we can have affordable VoIP for everyone," he said.

  • Broadsoft Strengthens Position With Sylantro Purchase


    VoIP applications provider, BroadSoft, has acquired competitor Sylantro Systems for an undisclosed sum.

    BroadSoft provides VoIP application software designed to enable service providers to deliver hosted telephony and multimedia services to businesses and consumers.

    It recently launched a hosted unified communications service in conjunction with Microsoft.

    Sylantro offers server software for hosted IP communication services across fixed, mobile, and cable networks.

    Sylantro’s Synergy and Web services software provide a platform for creating converged services for businesses and consumers.

    The company recently announced compatibility of its Synergy platform with Amazon Web Services’ Elastic Compute Cloud.

    The deal is being seen as a way for BroadSoft to eliminate a competitor while building its market position in VoIP applications.

    BroadSoft provides VoIP applications to eight of the top 10 and 14 of the top 25 largest carriers worldwide, including Korea Telecom, KPN, SingTel, Sprint, Telefonica de Espana, Telstra, T-Systems and Verizon.

    Sylantro customers include AT&T, China Netcom, QWEST and Swisscom, among others.

    BroadSoft said it intends to support Sylantro’s Synergy platform through its direct sales force and authorized Sylantro and BroadSoft partners.

  • Skype Users To Get Access To Boingo Wi-Fi Network


    Boingo Wireless has agreed a deal that will allow Skype users to access more than 100,000 Boingo Wi-Fi hotspots worldwide, and pay using Skype Credit.

    The feature, called Skype Access, will be embedded into Skype as a core feature, first in the Skype for Mac 2.8 Beta software just released and then in versions of Skype for other operating systems sometime in 2009.

    The new application lets users connect to a Boingo Wi-Fi hotspot with a single click and to pay per minute only for what they use.

    Skype Access actively scans for available Boingo hotspots and presents a pop-up dialogue box displaying the price per minute to use the Boingo network using Skype Credit.

    Boingo’s Terms of Service and Acceptable Use Policy apply and access to all Internet services will be provided on a simple, per minute billing basis.

    Boingo offers Wi-Fi hotspots by combining more than 100,000 locations from more than 150 leading Wi-Fi operators into one worldwide network spanning 90 countries.

    Luis Alfonso Serrano, vice president of network strategy for Boingo Wireless, said the agrrement meant Skype users will be able to access hotspots around the world via the Boingo Network for their Skype calls.

    "Boingo provides digital nomads – no matter where they are in the world – with an easy and fast way to get online," he said.

    By sharing one authentication and enrollment process, one download and one payment method, the Skype-Boingo collaboration clears a path between one of the most popular communications platforms on the Internet with the world’s largest network of Wi-Fi hotspot operators.

    In addition to Skype credit and a Wi-Fi-enabled laptop, users must have Skype for Mac 2.8 Beta installed and running.

    Prices will vary based on location and currency. There are no connection fees or monthly charges for Skype Access.

  • Season's Greetings From The Biz-news Team

    Everyone at voip.biz-news would like to thank you for your support in 2008. We hope you will continue to enjoy the latest VoIP industry news and analysis in the year to come.

    Best Wishes For The Holiday Season and a Very Happy New Year

  • Snom Favors Italy Over UK For Expansion


    The VoIP phone maker and developer Snom Technology is making a push into Italy and opening an office in Milan.

    In what could be a barometer of the current state of Europe’s economies, the German company ruled out a move to the UK.

    Heike Cantzler, marketing manager for Snom Technology, said both the UK and Italy were considered for the expansion.

    She told voip.biz-news that both Italy and the UK had very active Web markets – which had made the decision about where to expand difficult.

    Ultimately, concerns over the UK’s economic situation and the perception that the Italian market was more receptive to new technology, tipped the balance in Italy’s favor.

    "The financial problems in the UK are worse than in Italy," said Cantzler.

    "The UK and US economies have big problems. With the rest of Europe, we are still waiting to see what will happen.

    "Maybe next year will be hard but at the moment we do not feel any difference."

    Snom develops and manufacturers VoIP telephones based on an open standard for enterprise communications.

    It employs 50 people worldwide, with offices in Germany, Italy, the US and China.

    In common with other VoIP industry businesses, Cantzler said a recession was likely to benefit Snom as companies sought ways to reduce costs.

    She said that as Snom phones can be operated with a large number of compatible IP-PBX that support SIP (Session Initiation Protocol), they offer customers a wider choice for enterprise communication systems.

    In October, the Berlin-based company launched the Snom 820, a VoIP business telephone with a high-resolution TFT color display.

    Cantzler said the 820 typified Snom’s philosophy of adding as many features to products while keeping prices down.

    "The 820 is the only phone worldwide – aside from Microsoft’s phones – that integrates with Microsoft Outlook," she said.

    "This is really interesting because the Microsoft phone is one that is very expensive and very difficult to handle. Even Microsoft developers tell us that they use a Snom phone because it’s easier."

    Praise indeed.

  • Nominations Open For The Outstanding VoIP Person and Product Of 2008


    With 2008 fast drawing to a close biz-news.com is seeking YOUR help in choosing outstanding candidates for the titles of Man/Woman of the Year and Product/Service of the Year.

    We would like you to nominate an individual and/or product/service that you feel has contributed greatly to the VoIP sector over the past 12 months.

    The winner will be selected from the nominations submitted by our readers – professionals and technology enthusiasts in the industry.

    Obviously, as this is a crowd-sourcing survey, we need your participation.

    Spreading word of this survey to friends and colleagues will also ensure a wider participation in the poll and will give a much more accurate result.

    If you have more than one nomination for either category you can make multiple submissions – but you can only vote once for any person or product.

    We will publish the results in early 2009 and share the raw data with the community. (Personal information about contributors will not be disclosed).

    After a year like 2008 there are plenty of good candidates – so please give it some thought and send your Man/Woman and/or Product nominations to us.

  • NICE Secures VoIP Deal With Alibaba.com


    The Chinese e-commerce company, Alibaba.com, has placed an order for NICE SmartCenter solutions for two of its VoIP contact centers.

    The NICE solution is to provide Alibaba.com with a quality management solution for improving customer service agent performance, training effectiveness, and customer satisfaction.

    Headquartered in Hangzhou, Alibaba.com has offices in more than 30 cities across mainland China as well as in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Europe and the United States. It recently expanded its business to markets in India, Japan, and Korea.

    The company offers business-to-business services that connect buyers and suppliers from around the world.

    Andy Li, vice president of Alibaba.com said the NICE SmartCenter would provide them with the ability to enhance customer satisfaction and drive comprehensive business performance improvements.

  • C2Call Unveils Updated Browser-based Service


    C2Call has launched a second beta of its computer-to-computer service that allows free calls around the world.

    The German startup also introduced new APIs – software tools that enable social media sites to add browser-based voice calls to any Web site.

    Martin Feuerhahn, CEO of C2Call, said a major appeal of C2C was its simplicity and the fact calls were made direct from the browser.

    He said users no longer had to download, install, configure and update special software just to make VoIP calls or just to talk only to users on the same service.

    "Instead of tapping out messages to online friends on social media sites, C2Call gets people talking – which helps to increase use of the site," he said.

    For users, computer to landline and computer to mobile calls cost from two cents (Euro) per minute, depending on tariffs – and C2Call displays rates when they apply, as that call is made.

    There are no connection charges or set-up fees.

    C2Call is platform independent. It works by temporarily loading a Java widget into Internet Explorer, Safari and Firefox when running under the Windows, Mac or Linux operating systems.

    The widget establishes a peer-to-peer voice connection that works behind firewalls.

  • Fortify Warns Of VoIP Hacking Risk Over Holidays


    It’s not exactly a message of festive goodwill but Fortify Software’s warning about the threat of fraudulent international VoIP calls is no doubt well intended.

    Citing a recent case where a hacker ran up a USD $52,000 phone bill, the application vulnerability specialist said it was a timely warning to all organisations to protect their PBX IT resources.

    According to Robert Rachwald, Fortify’s director of product marketing, this time of year is one of the busiest periods for phone companies on the
    international call front, with the result that international call resale fraud is also at its highest.

    The fact that HUB Computer Systems in the US was hit by a phone bill for USD $52,359.59 in calls to Bulgaria, he said, illustrates the demand for
    fraudulent international calls.

    Once a hacker has reprogrammed a company PBX to allow free dial-through international calls, one or more people act as human operators, accepting payments – always in cash – and then allow callers to place international calls at a heavy discount to their chosen destination.

    "The advent of IP-enabled PBXs, and the facility of remotely- programmable conventional PBX systems, means that hackers can – with sufficient time and access – rack up large phone bills on the unfortunate victim’s account," said Rachwald.

    "And with the holiday shutdown looming, this is the perfect time for hackers with time on their hands, to crack a firm’s PBX and engage in more than a little phone call resale fraud."

    Rachwald said the modus operandi was always the same – the hackers stand at known meeting and gathering points for international visitors in a given city and then announce they are offering calls home, typically via prepay mobile phones, for a fraction of the normal costs.

    "After that, they simply rake the money in – probably around USD $5,000 to $10,000 in the case of the HUB Computer Systems telephone hack," he said.

    Rachwald warned IT staff to take extra care over the holiday shutdown to protect their company PBXs, as well as their firm’s IT resources, shutting down systems that are unlikely to be used.

    He said locking down the ability to reprogram the system remotely has to be high on the list of holiday period checklists.

    Merry Christmas.

  • Jaxtr Gambles On Free Mobile Calling


    Jaxtr has launched a new service called FreeConnect that allows subscribers to talk to each other for free on their mobile phones.

    The VoIP startup’s CEO, Bahman Koohestani, said he expected the service to attract new members, some of who will switch to the more convenient and feature rich premium services offered by Jaxtr.

    The free calls ploy has been used beforeby other VoIP companies – among them Rebtel and AOL – but has never proven to be a great success.

    A drawback to FreeConnect is its complexity. All users have to be members of Jaxtr.

    To make a call, the number has to be entered into Jaxtr, which then provides a local number for the caller to use.

    This is then dialled on the cell phone and Jaxtr sends an SMS message to the person being called with a number that’s local for them.

    They then dial this number and the two callers can then have a free mobile call for as long as they like.

    While the call set-up is long-winded, once doen the same local numbers can be used again in the future.

    What Jaxtr is hoping is that sufficient numbers of callers will tire of the process and make their calls on Jaxtr’s paid service.

    Koohestani insists that FreeConnect will not just be available for a trial period.

    That remains to be seen, especially as Jaxtr will incur overhead costs for the FreeConnect service.

    In June, the company completed a USD $10 million funding round but then had to lay off 13 staff.

    Its CEO Konstantin Guericke then resigned and Koohestani (VP Engineering) stepped up to be interim CEO.