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Tag: sip

  • Cost Savings Drive SMBs To IP Telephony


    Small to medium-sized businesses primarily shift to VoIP services because of the cost savings they offer.

    That’s the conclusion of a new report from Infonetics Research, which also points to powerful features as a secondary motive for SMBs to switch to IP telephony.

    It cites the fact that the growth of SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) trunking is outpacing other VoIP services as evidence of the importance of price in enterprises’ decision-making.

    The report found that global VoIP services grew 33 per cent in 2008 to USD $30.8 billion. The researchers include hosted VoIP, hosted UC (unified communications), integrated IP access, managed IP PBXes, residential VoIP, SIP trunking and other types of IP voice access in its definition of VoIP services.

    They found that while business VoIP services represented only 31 per cent of the total, they grew faster than residential services during the year.

    Managed IP PBX, hosted IP PBX and hosted UC services accounted for three-fourths of the business VoIP total.

    Diane Myers, directing analyst at Infonetics, said demand for residential and business VoIP services continues to grow through the economic downturn because of the cost savings they provide.
    She said that as a result, in 2008 the VoIP services market had healthy growth of 33 per cent to USD $30.8 billion.

    "For the first 3 months of 2009, service providers experienced an average of 40-50 per cent year-over-year growth for IP Centrex, indicating the demand for outsourcing and managed solutions remains healthy," she said.

    "We expect hosted UC services to take off, with worldwide revenue doubling between 2009 and 2013, and we forecast SIP trunking service revenue to hit an 89 per cent compound annual growth rate from 2008 to 2013."

    Other highlights of the report include:

    • NTT, France Telecom, and Comcast took the lead as the world’s largest VoIP service providers in 2008
    • Deregulation plays a significant role in the adoption of VoIP in some countries, such as France, where it costs only USD $0.02 per minute for fixed-to-fixed line calls worldwide, making PC-based services such as Skype irrelevant
    • Residential VoIP growth in Central and Latin America has grown stronger in the past year, particularly in Brazil where Embratel ended 2008 with 1.8 million subscribers to its NetFone service
    • In 2008, there were 106 million residential VoIP subscribers worldwide, the majority in EMEA (Europe, the Middle East, and Africa) and Asia Pacific, where competitive operators and incumbent carriers are in an aggressive battle for subscribers

  • XConnect Appoints IP Expert Shockey To Board


    Richard Shockey has joined the advisory board of XConnect, the VoIP and Next Generation Network (NGN) interconnection service provider.

    A pioneer in ENUM (Electronic NUMbering) and expert in VoIP, Shockey is a founder and has been co-chair since 2002 of the IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force) ENUM Working Group.

    His appointment is expected to strengthen XConnect’s position in the carrier ENUM and federation-based interconnect sector.

    Eli Katz, CEO and founder of XConnect, said ENUM registries are at the heart of the company’s peering and federation infrastructure.

    He described Shockey as the "godfather" of ENUM technology and services.

    "He probably has the greatest understanding of this vital infrastructure component and its commercial applications of anyone in the industry," he said.

    Richard Shockey

    Shockey also co-chairs the recently-formed IETF working group DRINKS (Data for Reachability of Inter/Intra NetworK SIP), dealing with provisioning data for VoIP/NGN peering federations.

    Based in Washington, DC, he has participated in IETF working groups on other subjects including SIP (Session Initiation Protocol), the dominant IP-based communications signaling protocol.

    He has also helped develop several commercial products based on ENUM, the protocol devised to enable routing of IP-based calls and services using telephone numbers.

    From 2000 until early this year, Shockey was a director and distinguished member of the technical staff at NeuStar.

    Previously, as a consultant, he developed IP communications solutions for such companies as HP and Xerox.

    In addition to his IETF roles, Shockey is a member of the board of directors and technical working group co-chair of the SIP Forum, an organization of IP communications companies that promotes adoption of SIP-based products and services.

    He also chairs the SIP Forum’s SIPconnect task group, which produces specifications for interconnecting SIP-based IP PBXs with service providers.

  • Gizmo5 CEO Challenges Skype For SIP


    The CEO of Gizmo5 Michael Robertson has responded to last week’s announcement of Skype for SIP by posting a comparison (see below) of the new service and his own company’s OpenSky.

    While welcoming Skype’s initiative, he described it as a "vaporware announcement" with "murky pricing details".

    Writing on his blog, Robertson said he has been a vocal advocate for open standards, both in music with my company MP3.com and in VOIP with Gizmo5.

    He said open standards have always give consumers more choices and ultimately better value.

    "V0IP standards got a huge boost this week with two announcements," he said.

    Roberston said these were Gizmo5’s launch of its SIP for Skype service called OpenSky, which lets any SIP device call Skype and receive their Skype calls, and Ebay’s announcement of Skype for SIP.

    "These announcements are a huge boost for SIP as the open standard which will let calls move freely from any calling device or network," he said.

    "It’s great to see Skype inching towards a more interoperable world. Even if this is a vaporware announcement at least their heart is in the right direction."

    Robertson compared Skype For SIP with Skype for Asterisk, announced last year, saying that Skype’s business offering is not yet available and pricing details are murky.

    In response to Robertson’s blog comments, Skype said its SIP offering is available now.

    While there are other details that will undoubtedly be challenged by Skype, Robertson’s riposte will certainly give any enterprise pondering the services something to chew over.

  • eBay Bets on Skype's Entry Into SIP-based PBX To Boost Revenue


    Skype has launched Skype for SIP, a beta program that allows companies to make domestic and international VoIP calls from an office PBX rather than PC.

    The move comes the week after eBay announced that it expects Skype to more than double its revenue to over USD $1 billion by 2011 – with hopes high that the new business service will be a compelling proposition.

    Skype For SIP allows SIP PBX owners to make Skype calls to fixed phones and mobiles around the world, and to receive calls from Skype users directly into their PBX system.

    The service will also allow businesses to be contacted by Skype’s 405 million registered users through click-to-call from their Web sites.

    The calls will be received through their existing office system at no cost to the customer.

    At the same time, businesses can purchase online Skype numbers available in over 20 countries to receive calls from business contacts and customers who are using traditional fixed lines or mobile phones.

    Stefan Oberg, VP and general manager of Skype for Business, described the introduction of Skype for SIP as a significant move for Skype and for any communication intensive business around the world.

    "It effectively combines the obvious cost savings and reach of Skype with its large user base, with the call handling functionality, statistics and integration capabilities of traditional office PBX systems, providing great economical savings and increased productivity for the modern business," he said.

    The initial beta is available to a limited number of participants: SIP users, phone system administrators, developers and service partners are invited to apply.

    Applicants need to be businesses, have an installed SIP based IP-PBX system, as well as a level of technical competency to configure their own SIP-enabled PBX.

    The Skype for SIP beta program is open today to a limited number of participants; SIP users, phone system administrators, service partners, and developers can get in on the beta. Beta users will need to be businesses, have a SIP-based IP-PBX phone system, and in-house expertise to configure their SIP-enabled PBX.

    The SIP software will be available for free, but Skype plans to charge about 2.1 cents per minute for calls to landlines and cell phones. Calls from computers to phone systems using Skype will be free.

    Key Features of the Skype for SIP Beta include:

    • Receive and manage inbound calls from Skype users worldwide on SIP-enabled PBX systems; connecting the company Web site to the PBX system via click-to-call
    • Place calls with Skype to landlines and mobile phones worldwide from any connected SIP-enabled PBX; reducing costs with Skype’s low-cost global rates
    • Purchase Skype’s online numbers, to receive calls to the corporate PBX from landlines or mobile phones
    • Manage Skype calls using their existing hardware and system applications such as call routing, conferencing, phone menus and voicemail; no additional downloads or training are required

  • Nimbuzz Bridges iPhone 3G VoIP Gap


    Nimbuzz has today released what it describes as the most comprehensive VoIP application for the iPhone after "quite a few" rejections from Apple.

    Building on its iPhone app launched in November, Nimbuzz users can now make international calls to mobiles and landlines at domestic rates by dialing a local access number available in over 50 countries.

    The Dial-Up VoIP 3G call is then connected to anywhere in the world via Nimbuzz VoIP servers.

    Other new additions include the introduction of a full dial-pad and the ability to make VoIP calls to landlines and mobiles via Skype-Out, and Nimbuzz’s major SIP provider partners including Gizmo5, Vyke, and sipgate over Wifi – effectively turning the iPod touch into an iPhone.

    Nimbuzz can also show users’ available credit on the dial-pad when using Skype Out for phone calls to landlines and mobile phones.

    Another new feature allows Twitter updates via the Personal Message option.

    Free Wi-Fi calls to instant messaging buddies were already available.

    Evert Jaap Lugt, CEO of Nimbuzz, said Nimbuzz’s rapidly growing user base is partly due to its already successful iPhone application.

    "We are a mass-market lifestyle application and are keen to ensure we keep up to date with the needs of the hyper-connected, so this update reflects initial feedback from our users."

  • XO Communications Names Wagner As New Head of Business Services


    Daniel Wagner has been appointed head of XO Communications’ Business Services unit.

    The appointment, which is effective immediately, will see Wagner focus on accelerating the division’s profitability and revenue growth.

    Key to this is expected to be the intergration of new and different approaches to delivering voice, data, converged and managed services for businesses and enterprises.

    Wagner is an industry veteran, including fourteen years of combined experience at Global Crossing and Frontier Communications.

    Dan Wagner, XO Communications

    Most recently, he served as Global Crossing’s executive vice president of Enterprise and Collaboration Services.

    He also played a significant role in Global Crossing’s Regional Direct Sales, Government Services, Collaboration Services, Indirect Channels and Sales Engineering divisions.

    He is credited with increasing sales productivity and customer-focus, streamlining business processes and developing a metrics-driven culture.

    Wagner also holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from Cornell University.

    XO’s Business Services group recently installed VoIP services at a milestone 15,000 businesses and continues to develop its Session Initiation Protocol trunking solution – XO SIP.

    In 2008, XO Communications secured USD $780 million in financing.

  • Gizmo5 Introduces Browser-Based VoIP Application


    Gizmo5 has launched a web-based VoIP app that allows users to call 800 numbers and SIP addresses for free.

    GizmoCall is Flash-based, so it only requires a browser to use the service rather than having to download a software client.

    Users go to the Web site, sign up for a username and password, and start making calls.

    The service can also accept inbound calls to the login user name, so long as the app is running in a window or browser tab.

    You can also drop one line onto a webpage to do inbound calling from GizmoCall.

    To make outbound calls, users require a GizmoCall account.

    The Adobe Flash client should work on Mac, Windows and Linux platforms.

  • Security tool for VoIP solutions released


    A new tool which allows enterprises to assess if their VoIP solutions are vulnerable to targeted eavesdropping has been released.

    UCSniff, from Sipera Systems’ VIPER Lab, is a free application which allows network managers find out how easy it is to imitate an enterprise VoIP phone, download a directory and then listen in on confidential calls.

    "UCSniff is an assessment tool that helps demonstrate vulnerabilities in VoIP design and implementation," said VIPER Lab director Jason Ostrom.

    "It was born from the concept of combining targeted attacks against VoIP users along with the corporate directory, intelligent VLAN support, and man-in-the-middle features."

    The results of a survey released last month revealed that security was one of the top-five concerns for respondents when investing in VoIP solutions.

    The security and regulatory compliance implications are significant for VoIP eavesdropping, especially given the ability for outside hackers to access corporate directories.

    Once done they can use that information to target and automatically record conversations between anyone from CEOs, CFOs, corporate counsel and outside law firms to accounts rReceivable dealing with customer credit card payments.

    The UCSniff tool is available now for SIP and SCCP signaling protocols. A future version will allow testing VoIP Video calls on the Windows OS.

  • DIGITALK Now Certified "XConnect-Ready"


    XConnect, the world’s largest provider of VoIP federation peering services, has announced that the DIGITALK SIP Application Server has been certified XConnect-Ready.

    To obtain the certification the server had to complete interoperability testing based on SIP signaling and ENUM queries with XConnect Federations.

    Eli Katz, XConnect CEO, said the impact for customers would be to make VoIP federation-based routing quick, simple and easy.

    He said the certification ensures DIGITALK customers, such as Telfort, BT, and Cable & Wireless, will be able to rapidly connect to XConnect

    Peering Federations to reduce the costs of terminating VoIP calls to millions of telephone numbers in the XConnect registry.

    It will also protect their networks from spam-over-Internet-telephony (SPIT) attacks and reliably deliver new IP communications services across disparate and often separate mobile, wireline and IP based telephony networks.

    Justin Norris, managing director of DIGITALK, said the XConnect Ready certification is another way of ensuring that DIGITALK solutions enable integrated capabilities for the future.

    "The voice industry is moving towards Peering Federations that integrate peering and ENUM registry services to increase the efficiency of interconnection and routing, leverage new approaches to LNP, and deliver enhanced IP Communications services on more calls to their customers," he said.

    XConnect enables multi-media communication, reduces capex and opex and enhances call quality for service providers via its multi-lateral XConnect Alliance, DirectRoute and Private Federations services.

    XConnect Federations are carrier-neutral peering environments that deliver complete signaling interoperability, intelligent ENUM Registry services, and VoIP security for the interconnection of XConnect Members.

    These include voice over broadband providers, MSOs, and PTTs. The XConnect Ready Partner Program is an ecosystem of vendors and solution providers dedicated to facilitate service provider peering.