Business News Holding

Category: voip

  • Siemens Forges Partnership with NextPlane to offer Extended Federation Services


    According to an announcement made last week, Siemens Enterprise Communications and NextPlane UC Exchange Service will partner in providing extended federation services for Siemens' OpenScape UC platform through the NextPlace UC Exchange service.

    With Siemens being the world's leading unified communications provider and NextPlace being the market leader in provision of federation services that are cloud-based for UC, anyone who joins the NextPlace UC Exchange and is a Siemens customer will now enjoy a seamless connection and collaboration with lots of other partner on UC platforms. These include Google, IBM, Cisco, Microsoft, Open-Fire, eJabberd, eZuce, and Isode.

    Other than this ability to federate with their business partners, Siemens customers will also get to enjoy UC-to-social media federation like Yahoo! and Skype, public social media networks like Twitter, and enterprise social media networks like Microsoft Yammer and Salesforce Chatter.

    This is a partnership aimed at underscoring the commitment of Siemens Enterprise Communications to openness and support for the evolving communications business needs of their customers. The company announced that there will be instant message sharing of its customers with the business partners of their colleagues, third-party suppliers, supply chain vendors, and clients as if everyone is on a single platform.

  • Tas Government Responsible for Delays in VoIP Transition

    Delays in the transitioning to VoIP services by the Tasmanian government have resulted in the MyNetFone contract yielding no forecast revenues for the service provider. MyNetFone signed the $20 million contract with the state government in July 2012.

    According to the VoIP services provider, all commercial commitments and infrastructure have been delivered as required by the contract and the delays are a result of factors outside the company's control. The company has further said that these project delays will not harbor it from pursuing more government business for VoIP services.

    The expected gross revenue per annum for MyNetFone is nearly $2 million and the full revenue should be realized by FY2015.

    In January a government spokesperson confirmed that the services provided by MyNetFone were successfully used in the 2012 trials support and the first customers came to be cut over at the onset of January 2013.

    For the full year ending 30 June, 2013, MyNetFone had a profit increment of 35 per cent to $4.1 million. For the same period there was a 21 per cent revenue increment to $46.2 million. The period was reportedly dominated by considerable one-off integration expenses and being able to exceed the forecast is an achievement that is likely to facilitate the company's acquisition synergies and bolster its bottom line in future.

  • Voip-Pal.com Claims First Patented Method of VoIP Communications Interception


    The war of governments against terrorism is now becoming a reality as companies work on developing VoIP communications intercept technologies. Voip-Pal.com is having a head start in this field with its Lawful Intercept. The corporation asserts that it owns the first patented method of VoIP communications interception in the US.

    Voip-Pal.com Inc applied for a patent for its Lawful Intercept technology (U.S. Patent No. 8,422,507) in 2007, which was two years before the filing of Microsoft Corporation for a patent for its Legal Intercept (US Patent Application 20110153809). In 2011 the USPTO rejected Microsoft's Legal Intercept and Voip-Pal's Lawful Intercept was given priority in spite of the substantial similarities of both patent applications due to its earlier filing date. In January, 2013 Lawful Intercept was allowed and in April it was issued as a patent.

    There has been rapid growth of the Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) industry as the traditional landline subscriptions suffer a decline. In 2012 the revenues collected in the industry were $63 billion and at present the growth is a double digit. It is expected that by 2015, the mobile VoIP subscribers will have reached 410 million. The implication of this on the traditional wiretapping is that it's being rendered obsolete and law enforcement agencies have to look for alternative ways of intercepting VoIP communication.

  • Vulnerabilities Discovered in Code Library for Encrypted VoIP Calls

    At the onset of July, a code library for encrypted VoIP calls was found to have security flaws. Security firm Azimuth Security researchers discovered serious vulnerabilities in the open-source library ZRTPCPP, which is used by several applications to offer encrypted phone calls. PGP creator Phil Zimmermann designed ZRTPCPP specifically for the implementation of the ZRTP cryptographic key agreement protocol for VoIP communications.

    The Azimuth Security researchers say these flaws could be leveraged to perform denial-of-service attacks or arbitrary code execution. Apps that no longer get updates could also contain the vulnerabilities ad infinitum. Though not the first time security bugs are found in a code library, the ZRTPCPP problems serve as a somber reminder that security bugs can have widespread repercussions in a popular library.

    The apps that were affected by this security flaw include Twinkle, CSipSimple, SilentCircle, and LinPhone. This also includes anything that uses GNU ccRTP with ZRTP enabled. Luckily, the problems in the ZRTPCPP library were fixed almost instantly. SilentCircle was also quick to take action, updating all its apps on both the App Store and Google Play.

  • WebRTC Gets Role in the Vonage Mobile Apps Arena

    WebRTC (Real-Time Communications) is stepping outside its comfort zone this year. Already an authority in the browser-to-browser audio and video communications industry, WebRTC has now showed up in Vonage mobile apps.

    In an announcement by Vonage this week, the open source WebRTC has been given a central role in the company's mobile app plans. According to Vonage VP of Technology Research Baruch Sterman, the company was in deep during WebRTC's Native Stack development. This is a lower-level code that is unrelated to the browser stack.

    Vonage plans to use WebRTC apps alongside its existing communications infrastructure because WebRTC is interoperable with a number of technologies that include RTP Real-time Transport Protocol and the SIP signaling protocol.

    A report by Disruptive Analysis issued in February asserts that WebRTC is likely to outperform its press clippings to date. The report says that many underestimate the true scale and impact of the company.

    This is contrary to the less positive range of reactions it has engendered — a case in point is a recent coverage of No Jitter entitled "WebRTC: Who really cares?"

  • Telstra's Business Customers Get IPv6 Connectivity

    Australasian network service provider Telstra is extending IPv6 connectivity to even more of its business customers. The company's business ADSL solutions are now offered with support for Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6), the next generation of internet addresses.

    With the world facing an impending shortage of current IPv4 addresses, IPv6 provides the much needed new and longer IP addresses.

    The IPv6 support has been deployed into the core Telstra network. Telstra has actually dual stacked the two addressing systems: IPv4 and IPv6. The implication of this on the company's small and medium business ADSL customers is that they can opt into IPv6 connectivity when they want to. This will only be affected by the lifecycle upgrade of their equipment.

    David Robertson, the Director of Transport and Routing Engineering, said that IPv6 will become the norm in coming years, and the company will be working directly with customers who wish to change from IPv4 connectivity now to assist them with the transition.

    Telstra remains one of the region's first network service providers to realize the potential of IPv6 integration in key Data and Next IP Solutions for the enterprise and business market, and therefore invest.

  • Kolmisoft and 5gFuture to deliver next-generation visual monitoring capabilities

    Billing software MOR and 5gVision, an advanced VoIP & SNMP monitoring system, are both set to be fully integrated by Kolmisoft to provide powerful, next-gen visualized monitoring tools.

    The solution comes in response to customer data accumulated by MOR. The new features will provide current and future customers with powerful new tools to allow for a wide-spectrum of capabilities. Many of these new features will be some which may not even be expected. Over 30 parameters will be consistently monitored to provide consistently updated information that can be easily looked over by customers.

    Just a few parameters listed will be things like the percent of short calls and percentage of various disconnect codes encountered when calling out. Additional statistics made available to customers surround pricing and profits.

    The primary tool used in the new model, 5gVision bases the new reports and statistics on highly elaborate statistics which are all pre-calculated. The calculations come for around the clock monitoring of all points used in call routing. The results have so far been stunning resulting in a very high volume of data collection over the span of only weeks to a month. The new tool provides a flexible alternative to watching connections all the time.

    VoIP providers that take on the new MOR billing and routing technology will ultimately allow additional services to customers. The added functionality provided by MOR allows providers to easily begin managing new business models such as termination of services. Telephony will be expanded to further retailers and residents, even allowing such features as calling cards and call shops. The features require no additional equipment and offer one a single solution to manage any type of business model.

    According to Andrew Han, CEO of LUCA Technology GmbH, transparency was integrated into his business model instantly. Han has made it clear that monitoring the softswitch has become a nearly instant process. He mentioned that the software has provided a model to see exactly where things are headed and how things like the number of active calls, short calls and profits are evolving over the span of time.

    Kolmisoft specializes in providing advanced billing and routing resolutions and services around the globe. Komisoft has made MOR a solution to expand VoIP into areas such as business without allowing room for risks.

    5gFuture is a specialized software design firm based out of Toronto, Canada with the primary goal of creating innovative, next generation monitoring tools.

  • Jabber now available for virtual desktops

    Cisco has announced that Jabber, its unified communications (UC) product, is now available for virtual desktops. Cisco says based on an estimate by research and advisory firm Gartner, there will be around 77 million Jabber users on virtual desktops by 2016.

    How does Jabber integrate with virtual desktops?

    Through a new piece of software called the Virtualisation Experience Media Engine, Jabber is now available for Cisco thin clients and will soon be rolled out to other thin platforms as well as to mobile devices.

    What is Jabber?

    Jabber is a sophisticated communication solution that builds on Voice over IP (VOIP) technology popularized by video calling products like Skype. Its enterprise users have the opportunity to access their preferred method of communication to collaborate with others anytime, anywhere. Enterprise users can take advantage of Jabber's voice, video, presence, web conference and instant messaging capabilities to get the job done and can exchange information swiftly and securely. Users can arrange virtual meetings, work collaboratively on documents or simply stay in touch, regardless of whether they are using a mobile device, virtual desktop or a traditional PC. Jabber increases productivity by linking seamlessly with Microsoft Office.

    Jabber is an ideal solution for telecommuters or businesses whose employees travel frequently – it is in many ways the closest thing to being in the office in person, and is flexible enough to adapt to all kinds of workplaces and working situations.

    Cisco has so far sold 1.4 million Jabber 'seats' or licenses.

  • Survey Reveals Mobile Users Prefer Voice Over IP

    A study conducted by BroadSoft revealed greater than 2/3 of mobile device users showed a preference for voice over IP or UC services and regarded it the most worthwhile application. BroadSoft surveyed 700 people who work in assorted industries located in Sweden, Spain, and in the United States.

    The primary issue users had with communication was lack of speed at 78%. The next two issues were finding and contacting a person (68%) and email problems (58%). Other issues users experienced included travel interruptions, internal meetings, and telecom problems.

    The survey found that users of voice over IP preferred internet collaboration, instant messaging, and mobile incorporation. Leslie Ferry, vice president of marketing for BroadSoft concluded operators of mobile devices are in a better position to make their investments earn them the most profit quicker in LTE networks and they can furnish users with excellent service business users need regardless of location and device. This is because of the greater revenue produced by each user through UC services.

    A white paper issued by BroadSoft indicated there are still professional employees who communicate with smartphones and laptops more than desktop computers. Other professional employees still communicate with desktops and standard telephones perhaps because of limited finances. Desktop computers are among the most used deice for communication proceeding laptops and office telephones. Desk tops and office phones tied as a commonly used communication device for the health industry.

    Other studies and BroadSoft agreed with other studies that observed the developing enterprise adaptation of UC services. The study also concluded that a lack of UC applications may cause a 'production gap' amid employees onsite and mobile device users of nearly 2.5 hours weekly. The trend of voice over IP and other UC services will proceed to expand as employees continue to take their mobile devices to work and more services for mobile communications are provided by UC vendors. Vendors will need to stay ahead of trends.

  • Radvision Unveils eVident and Scopia Elite 6000 MCUs

    Unveiled by Avaya's Radvision, the software-based multipoint control unit (MCU) Scopia Elite 6000 Series, is the newest monitoring tool available for video networking and video conferences.

    This MCU supplies 1080/60fps double channels that provide content and video, with synchronized H.264 high profile bandwidth effectiveness, and H.264 video coding. The unit operates on an Intel server, and provides an interoperable, multi-stream, engaging telepresence system.

    Centered on hybrid architecture the MCU offers 40 ports with live video resolutions up to 1080p from one 1U system. Users will also be able to regulate meetings through a series of on screen menus compatible with the Scopia iPad application, and other equipment.

    Bob Romano, the global vice president of marketing at Radvision, reported to Fierce Enterprise Communications that, "there has been a real trend toward desktop mobility and BYOD" among the video conference market. Romano feels that potential customers want the ability to join a conference remotely without having to consider what type of device they have.

    Ramano goes on to say, "What we are seeing is a real desire for more capacity because as you extend video conferencing out to mobile and desktop users, that draws on a bigger user base". With Radvisions new Scopia desktop and mobile platform, plus the new MCU support, remote involvement is now possible.

    Also launched this year by Radvision is the eVident video monitoring tools set. These tools allow the administrators to ensure that their networks are ready for video conferencing preceding operation. The tools including Prevideo, RVMON, and VQInsider, provide measurement and analysis of quality monitoring, audio and video metrics, and codec parameters.

    Even though 1,000 influential firms interested in the mobile conferencing market agreed that they would embrace desktop video conferencing, the revenue produced in the market fell by 6 percent in the second quarter. Service providers must find innovative ways to encourage firms that the use of video conferencing is necessary, or these enterprises will look for other options.