Business News Holding

Tag: hardware-and-technology

  • VoicePulse Announces SIP Trunking Interoperability with IPitomy PBX Products

    VoicePulse and IPitomy announced that they have successfully completed interoperability testing between SIP products and services. VoicePulse is now interoperable with IPitomy’s Pure IP PBX platform.

    IPitomy designs and manufactures IP telephony equipment for businesses. VoicePulse delivers SIP trunking, worldwide termination, origination, and phone service to residential and business customers.

    According to the companies, IPitomy’s PBX combined with VoicePulse’s SIP origination and termination services “create a complete phone solution for businesses of all sizes.”

    VoicePulse can now provide new customers using IPitomy’s IP PBX with official configuration guides when setting up VoicePulse VoIP services on their PBX. Businesses using IP PBXs such as Digium’s Asterisk, AsteriskNow, Fonality’s PBXtra, trixbox, FreePBX, FreeSwitch, Switchvox.

    “And now IPitomy can benefit from VoicePulse’s competitive international rates, toll-free services, and failover features all on a “Tier 1” back bone network,” as the company claims.

    “We are confident that with this new relationship, we will see an increase of resellers and new customers combining IPitomy’s IP PBX products with VoicePulse VoIP services,” said Monica Haley, Marketing Associate at VoicePulse.

    “IPitomy sets itself apart from its competitors by providing enhanced features beyond the typical key systems and PBXs of the past,” she added.

    Nick Branica, President and CEO of IPitomy, said: “IPitomy is happy to add VoicePulse to our growing list of qualified SIP providers. SIP providers are a very important component to the growth of the IP PBX market and VoicePulse adds value to our total overall product offering. Open Standards SIP based systems are all about choice.”

    Related articles
    XO Communications Debuts XO Enterprise SIP Savings Estimator
    Broadvox Announces SMB IP Multimedia Communications
    Yealink Release New Firmware for SIP-T2x Series IP phone

  • Wananchi Takes Triple Play Services to the Next Level

    Wananchi Group, Africa’s provider of triple-play (broadband, multi-channel cable television and voice telephony) and VSAT (broadband data and internet) services, has signed a contract for the purchase of Cisco network technology solutions and services in East Africa.

    The agreement is supported by Cisco Capital, a subsidiary of Cisco Systems, specializing in providing financing solutions.

    Wananchi Group, currently the only triple-play operator in East Africa, will roll-out its new services in nine countries in the eastern African region – Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, Malawi, Ethiopia, Sudan and Zambia.

    According to the companies, the contract will also enable the Wananchi Group to deploy Cisco’s integrated end-to-end network technology solutions, encompassing Cisco’s Borderless Networks, Collaboration as well as Data Centre Virtualisation solutions, as their customer base expands and technology advances.

    Cisco has been selected as the Wananchi’s preferred supplier as the full end to end network solution provider encompassing the access technologies (fibre and cable), IP Core Infrastructure, Optical Transport up to Video Head-End, Data Centre and Multimedia Set Top Boxes.

    The companies also informed that under this agreement, they will provide “a number of innovative and competitive managed and hosted communications and collaboration services for residential, corporate and government sectors.”

    “The Wananchi Group’s key objective is to expand our portfolio, enhance our commercial proposition, revenues and reputation. Cisco will help us to continuously deliver the necessary technology enhancements to our infrastructure to service our ever growing customer needs and remain at the forefront of delivering new and innovative services to our customers,” said Mark Schneider, group chairman, the Wananchi Group.

    Paul Mountford, President for Cisco’s Emerging Markets, stated: “This agreement with Wananchi is significant for Cisco’s business in Africa because it demonstrates our strong business partnership and consultancy capabilities beyond just being an end-to end network solutions technology provider. This is becoming increasingly important for our customers in Africa where we are witnessing major developments in the information, communications and technology (ICT) landscape.”

  • RIM Introduces BlackBerry Torch 9800

    Today, Research In Motion launched the BlackBerry Torch 9800 – RIM’s first slider smartphone. It features a capacitive touch screen, a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, and the new BlackBerry 6 operating system, which includes a WebKit browser.

    BlackBerry 6 features a redesigned interface that seamlessly works with the touch screen and trackpad, includes “expanded messaging capabilities with intuitive features to simplify the management of social networking and RSS feeds,” and provides integrated access to the BlackBerry Messenger, Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and other instant messaging applications.

    According to RIM, new WebKit-based browser renders HTML web pages (as well as HTML email) “quickly and beautifully for a great browsing experience”. It features tabs for accessing multiple sites simultaneously, pinch to zoom and an auto-wrap text zoom feature that can intelligently wrap text in a column while maintaining the placement of a page’s key elements.

    Key BlackBerry Torch features include:
    • new form factor – Touch/QWERTY combination smartphone
    • touch-sensitive trackpad located on the front face of the device
    • BlackBerry App World pre-installed (supporting carrier billing through AT&T)
    • 3.2" 360 x 480 capacitive touch screen display
    • 5.0MP camera with flash, auto focus, image stabilization and geo-tagging
    • Support for 3G networks (HSDPA)
    • 512MB Flash memory, 4GB on-board memory, microSD/SDHC memory card slot (4GB card included, cards up to 32GB supported)
    • Built-in GPS and Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g/n)
    • Network Support
    o GSM/GPRS/EDGE: 850/900/1800/1900 MHz
    o HSPDA/UMTS: 800/850/1900/2100 MHz
    • Approximately 4.4" x 2.4" x 0.57" (closed), 5.8" x 2.4" x 0.57" (open)

    In the U.S, the BlackBerry Torch will be available for AT&T customers on August 12 for $199.99 with 2-year service agreement on a qualifying rate plan and data plan required.

    “We were the first to launch the BlackBerry solution in 1999 and have a rich history of innovation and collaboration with Research In Motion,” said Ralph de la Vega, president and chief executive officer, AT&T Mobility and Consumer Markets.

    “The two companies that brought the first BlackBerry smartphones to market have teamed up again with the new BlackBerry Torch, creating a true generational shift in hardware and operating system for this enormously popular service,” he added.

    Mike Lazaridis, president and co-ceo, Research In Motion, said: “This is one of the most significant launches in RIM’s history and we are proud to introduce the new BlackBerry Torch and BlackBerry 6 together with AT&T.”

    Related articles
    BlackBerry Bold 9650 Coming to Verizon
    RIM Introduces BlackBerry Bold 9650 and Pearl 3G
    comScore: Motorola and RIM Lead U.S. Smartphone Market

  • CTIA Updates Its “Consumer Code for Wireless Service”

    CTIA–The Wireless Association has released an updated version of its “Consumer Code for Wireless Service,” which was originally developed in 2003 to help consumers make informed choices when selecting and managing their wireless service.

    CTIA said that while they periodically review the Code to ensure it reflects the industry’s innovations and consumers’ needs and expectations, these updates reflect the new and increasingly popular offerings by carriers.

    The Code, which has been adopted unanimously by CTIA’s Executive Committee, includes new provisions that cover messaging and data services for both prepaid and postpaid wireless customers. It will be effective on January 1, 2011.

    Some of the changes to the Code include disclosure of data allowances offered in a service plan, whether there are any prohibitions on data service usage and disclosure of whether there are network management practices that will have a material impact on the customer’s wireless data experience.

    The Code also states that prepaid service providers must disclose the period of time during which any prepaid balance is available for use.

    Signatories must adhere to the Code’s 10 points, including commitments to disclose rates, additional taxes, fees, surcharges and terms of service; provide coverage maps; make customer service readily accessible; and allow a trial period for new service.

    Compliance with the Code is reviewed on an annual basis. Carriers complying with the Code will receive the Seal of Wireless Quality/Consumer Information, which they can display on their company’s website and collateral materials.

    According to CTIA, the Code has been widely supported by many national, regional and rural wireless carriers including AT&T, Cellcom, CellularOne of NE Arizona, Clearwire, Illinois Valley Cellular, SouthernLINC Wireless, Sprint, T-Mobile USA, Unicel, U.S. Cellular and Verizon Wireless.

    The Code’s signatories cover almost 93 percent of U.S. wireless subscribers. Additional carriers have indicated they will comply with the voluntary code.

    “When we originally developed the Code, many of the great innovative wireless products and services that are now seamlessly integrated in our lives were non-existent. The Code’s updates reflect how consumers are using wireless and to help them make the most informed and personalized choices,” said Steve Largent, president and CEO of CTIA.

    He added that the new Code “provides consumers with a wide range of information about their service, disclosures in advertising and reflects the industry’s continued voluntary commitment to consumers’ best interests when it comes to wireless.”

    Related articles
    Nokia Siemens to Acquire Motorola’s Wireless Network Infrastructure
    Consumer Interest in Smartphones Catapulted to Unprecedented Levels
    Mobilicity Gets CRTC Approval and Launches in Toronto This Spring
    MWC 2010: Interview with Robert Mijalski of DGT Wireless

  • VoIP Innovations Launches Canadian Origination

    VoIP Innovations, a provider of wholesale VoIP service, is introducing Canadian origination this week, giving customers the ability to receive calls, purchase DIDs, and port telephone numbers in Canada.

    The company plans further growth with Canadian termination coverage, with service in Puerto Rico and Hawaii to follow later this quarter, making for a complete North American service package.

    According to the VoIP Innovations, “customers will be able to enjoy a full array of domestic VoIP services from a single wholesale provider,” including origination, termination, local and toll-free number porting, and features such as CNAM and T.38 faxing.

    "Through our tremendous growth, it has become very clear who we are and who we want to be," says Jason Tapolci, Product Manager at VoIP Innovations. "We are a wholesale VoIP provider with an unparalleled aggregation model. Our goal is to become the premiere VoIP carrier in North America."

    The company now offers an origination footprint covering most of the United States and Canada. They have 7,500 rate centers and boasts a DID warehouse with over 110,000 numbers.

    Related articles
    IBBS to Acquire SinglePipe
    TELES Adds Media Gateway to Portfolio via New Tech Partner NewGrid
    XO Communications Debuts XO Enterprise SIP Savings Estimator

  • WAC Accelerates Delivery of Open Applications Platform

    The Wholesale Applications Community (WAC), an alliance of telecommunications companies committed to building an open applications platform, has announced its formation as a corporate entity, as well as the organisation’s leadership and board of directors.

    They also outlined the business models and technology evolution path that will enable developers, operators and other commercial organisations to monetise applications and services.

    Launched in February 2010, WAC wants to unite a fragmented applications marketplace and create an open industry platform that benefits the entire ecosystem, including applications developers, handset manufacturers, OS owners, network operators and end users.

    The company announced that Peters Suh has been named the CEO of the WAC. Most recently Peters was the CEO of the Joint Innovation Lab (JIL), a joint venture between China Mobile, SOFTBANK MOBILE, Verizon Wireless, and Vodafone. Prior to JIL, Peters held a number of executive positions at Vodafone, Fremont Communications and AirTouch.

    “Our goal is to create a wholesale applications ecosystem that will establish a simple route to market for developers to deliver the latest innovative applications and services to the widest possible base of customers around the world. We’re focused on establishing WAC as the first choice for brands and developers in the mobile ecosystem, ultimately delivering greater choice and value for the end user, the consumer,” said Suh.

    The company also announced that Michel Combes, Vodafone Chief Executive Europe has been elected Chairman of the WAC, and Jean-Philippe Vanot, Deputy CEO, France Telecom has been named as Vice Chairman.

    At launch, WAC will allow operators to distribute applications through their respective application storefronts and charge users through their existing phone bill. In this model, developers will set the application price and will receive a revenue share for the transaction.

    The revenue share will be defined on an operator-by-operator basis. According to the company, this will ensure that revenue shares will be competitive in today’s application market. WAC is a not-for-profit organisation and will receive a small transaction fee for each application to cover its operating costs.

    In the future, WAC wants to offer business models that enable additional purchases from within an application; leverage network capabilities, such as location, to enhance an application; and facilitate the serving of advertisements to end users.

    "Developers will see great benefit in a single process through which they can create, distribute and profit from their applications on multiple retail outlets," said John Delaney, Research Director for Consumer Mobile with industry analysts IDC.

    "Unification with JIL will prove a significant boost for the Wholesale Application Community’s efforts to achieve a global, open development platform."

    WAC will publish its initial specification and components of its SDK to developers in November. The specification will be based on W3C standards.

    WAC will also provide backwards compatibility for devices based upon the current JIL and BONDI specifications. Details of the developer roadmap and a preview of the WAC specifications will be available in September.

  • IBBS to Acquire SinglePipe

    Integrated Broadband Services  (IBBS), a provider of managed communications services for cable companies, has announced that it has reached an agreement to acquire SinglePipe, a provider of voice over IP solutions for cable.

    Combined under the IBBS brand, the company is said to offer “fully integrated voice and data solutions for cable companies that seek to expand their residential and commercial service offerings.”

    IBBS provides back office systems, technical support services and data and voice applications to cable operators.

    SinglePipe offers voice over IP- enabled communications through its owned and operated facilities-based network to cable companies throughout the United States.

    According to the companies, with the acquisition, IBBS will deliver “a fully integrated platform combining the industry’s leading back office systems and technical support services with a robust portfolio of voice and data services.”

    Supported by the proprietary Broadband Explorer (BBX) operational support system, IBBS will offer a single platform from which cable providers can launch and manage their services for residential and commercial customers. IBBS will back its services with its advanced Network Operations Center and 140-person U.S.-based Technical Support Center.

    The IBBS/SinglePipe deal is expected to satisfy cable operators’ demands on multiple fronts. According to IBBS’ 2010 annual customer survey, finding new revenue streams and creating additional service opportunities ranked as top priorities. Nearly 70 percent of customers polled seek new services and support to penetrate business markets. Forty percent of customers stated that tapping new revenue opportunities is a strategic priority, with commercial services and VoIP identified as top drivers for growth.

    “We have heard our customers loud and clear. They seek a single source of expertise to launch new services and accelerate bottom-line growth with a proven company they can trust. Our acquisition of SinglePipe and the addition of voice services to our portfolio will enhance our ability to support operators as they deploy voice and commercial services – two of the fastest growing opportunities in cable,” said Dave Keil, CEO of IBBS. “With the addition of a superior voice service, we are even better equipped to develop innovative solutions and to support operators in their quests to be market leaders.”

    “SinglePipe and IBBS have collaborated during the last two years to serve our common customers with individual expertise in voice and data,” said Jeff Carr, CEO of SinglePipe. “Now, with the combination of our companies, customers will be well-served with united capabilities and an innovative approach.”

  • TELES Adds Media Gateway to Portfolio via New Tech Partner NewGrid

    TELES, the Berlin based Next Generation Networks and Access Gateway vendor, has announced its technology partnership with Korean converged network solutions provider NewGrid for their carrier-grade, low-power-footprint, and high density media gateway.

    As part of the TELES NGN Solution, the NewGrid Compact Media Gateway will serve as a scalable and reliable building block for carriers and providers looking to deploy high-density, high availability VoIP systems.

    According to the companies, combined with the TELES C4 softswitch and its extensive and comprehensive standards of protocol conformity, providers can expect “smooth and seamless” integration with the media gateway thanks to the rigorous interoperability tests conducted successfully prior to the agreement.

    The Compact Media Gateway offers either 16 or 32 E1s or an STM-1, provides carrier-grade reliability, and complies with industry standard protocols (MEGACO, SIGTRAN, etc.) Its compact size is also an important factor, with lower power consumption requirements and less rack space required, it combines with the TELES NGN solution to reduce not just costs, but also environmental impact and carbon footprint, as the companies claim.

    TELES C4 Softswitch meets all carrier-grade requirements including full component redundancy, multi-protocol support, and five-nines availability. TELES says that the C4 Softswitch is “one of the most highly scalable solutions available” – suitable for small and large-scale configurations alike, offers cutting edge performance, and is ideally suited to high peak loads and short call duration value-added services.

    NewGrid’s Marketing director, J.S. Park, is confident that the partnership with TELES will be very productive: “We are really impressed with the TELES solution, and it was clear to us from the beginning, that our Compact Media Gateway would fit nicely into their solution. The broad flexibility the TELES C4 softswitch with its proven outstanding reliability makes it the perfect match for our Compact Media Gateway.”

    TELES Product Marketing Director, Thomas Haydn, is strongly encouraged by the new technology partnership: “Our partnership with NewGrid, and the inclusion of their excellent Compact Media Gateway alongside a TELES NGN softswitch, will see our carrier and provider customers benefit from a major increase in its price-performance ratio in addition to improved services for growing traffic. NewGrid’s media gateway only takes up a single unit of rack space, and together with our softswitch represents an ideal solution for conserving power and resources. It fits perfectly into the gap between the small and mid-sized media gateways in our NGN portfolio, so that we are now in an excellent position to meet the requirements of a whole host of scenarios.”

  • Mercury Technology Delivers “Green” Cloud for Oracle EBusiness Suite Using RamSan Flash Storage

    Texas Memory Systems and Mercury Technology today announced that the Mercury Technology ultra high performance “Enterprise Cloud” hosted solutions for Oracle-based applications are powered by Texas Memory Systems’ RamSan PCIe-based solid state disks (SSD).

    Users of the RamSan SSD-enabled servers see significantly higher performance so their Oracle applications can handle very high transaction volumes and more simultaneous users than is possible with hard disk-based systems.

    “We added solid state disks to win additional new business with a premium enterprise cloud-based hosting service for large users of Oracle-based applications,” said Brian Day, Vice President of Sales at Mercury Technology. “We also wanted to maintain our cost advantage by building a more energy-efficient, lower-maintenance and greener, data center. The Texas Memory Systems RamSans allowed us to do that.”

    The RamSan PCIe Fault Tolerant Flash-based SSD cards are easily inserted into a server’s PCIe slot to deliver up to 120,000 sustained I/Os per second (IOPS) with a mere 50 microsecond latency and just 15 watts of power. This industry-leading latency is key to RamSan’s ability to accelerate transactions and improve user response time, resulting in productivity gains for users. .

    “We chose Texas Memory Systems because it is the only company that has such a long history in this technology,” continued Mr. Day.

    ”The other vendors are newer players, none of whom have been working in the Oracle world. It’s important to have a partner that is not only knowledgeable, but who also has first-hand experience with other customers running Oracle software, a company that develops its own products based on the feedback it gets from customers. We wanted to offer our clients the stability that only Texas Memory Systems offers today.”

    “Some of the biggest, most demanding Oracle customers are hosted with Mercury Technology so we were delighted that it chose our RamSan solid state disks over all competing alternatives,” said Jamon Bowen, Director of Sales Engineering at Texas Memory Systems. “RamSan solutions are a proven way to turbo charge Oracle performance.”

    Related articles
    Texas Memory Systems Delivers Record 5-Million IOPS Flash-based SSD System
    Texas Memory Systems Sets New SPC-1 Records for Flash Storage Performance
    Texas Memory Systems’ New RamSan-630 Achieves 1 Million IOPS in 6U Flash Storage

  • XO Communications Debuts XO Enterprise SIP Savings Estimator

    XO Communications has released a new Savings Estimator tool that gives enterprises the ability to calculate an approximate cost-savings benefit of utilizing XO Enterprise SIP.

    According to XO, designed specifically for multi-location enterprises, the XO Enterprise SIP enables customers to “simplify, streamline and achieve better cost savings by transforming their distributed voice network architecture to a more centralized and cost-effective VoIP solution.”

    The Savings Estimator tool provides a snapshot of potential savings by factoring in the number of employees, network locations and intra-company long distance calls. The tool also takes into consideration the multiple cost-savings benefits of XO Enterprise SIP, including increased network management efficiency and lowered operating costs as a result of reducing equipment, local voice trunks, long distance and multiple voice and data network charges.

    “Now, more than ever, companies need to allocate their IT and network budgets as strategically as possible while still maintaining the highest standards of network quality and performance,” said Mike Toplisek, chief marketing officer for XO Business Services at XO Communications.

    “This new Savings Estimator is an innovative tool that will enable enterprises to quickly and easily assess the potential cost-savings impact that XO Enterprise SIP can have on their bottom line,” he added.

    XO Enterprise SIP

    The XO Enterprise SIP enables customers to utilize a centralized IP-PBX architecture in key locations and deliver VoIP services to branch locations across an existing wide area network (WAN) or using the XO MPLS IP-VPN solution.

    According to the company, utilizing XO Enterprise SIP customers can achieve a number of benefits including:
    • Lower Total Cost of Ownership by using a single or fewer IP-PBXs to support all locations;
    • Reduced Operating Costs by not having to maintain costly PRI facilities or local voice trunks at each location, and eliminating the operating expense of managing separate voice and data networks;
    • Greater Flexibility by allowing locations to burst above their normal call capacity and sharing idle voice trunk capacity from other locations across the enterprise;
    • Increased Efficiency in network management through simplified and converged network operations, significantly less effort to connect new locations to the public switched telephone network;
    • Business Continuity with redundant Enterprise SIP connections and the ability to automatically re-route calls to alternate locations;
    • Extensive Nationwide Availability of XO VoIP services in all 50 states and more than 2,700 cities.

    Related article
    XO Unveils New Enterprise SIP