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Tag: voip

  • Skype Announces iPhone App,Video Calling Coming Soon?


    STORY UPDATED: see below

    Skype is now available for the iPhone – and will be coming to BlackBerry in May.

    The VoIP app on the iPhone is intended to only work over Wi-Fi and not 3G. It will allow iPhone subscribers to use phone numbers in their existing iPhone address book – without the need for duplicate lists.

    As always, it allows free calls between Skype users and charges for calls to landlines or mobiles.

    The VoIP app allows iPhone subscribers to use the phone numbers in their existing iPhone address book – without the need for duplicate lists.

    News of the VoIP client coming to the iPhone and Blackberry was first reported by Gigaom ahead of this week’s mobile-centric CTIA conference in Las Vegas.

    The application for the BlackBerry platform will work in a similar fashion to that for the iPhone.

    The iPhone and Blackberry apps are being seen as part of Skype’s efforts to expand beyond its PC stronghold.

    Skype Chief Operating Officer Scott Durchslag said getting the app onto the iPhone was the top request from customers.

    He said there was "pent-up demand" for the service on the Apple handset.

    Skype has already been announced for Nokia and Android phones, as wel as handset operating Windows Mobile.

    The service will also work on later versions of Apple’s latest iPod Touch device, which has Wi-Fi links but no cellular connection.

    While Skype video is very popular with desktop customers, Durchslag said that the company is still considering whether it will offer video for the iPhone or other phones.

    "We’re considering video carefully but we have a really high bar on the quality," and how the user interaction will work with other applications on iPhone, he said. "If we do it we will have to do it incredibly well."

    Some other pieces of functionality are missing.

    While Skype is certain its native client will provide superior audio quality – there is no need to route through another server and transcode audio – the app is missing text messaging, file transfers and integrated voice mail.

    This will undoubtedly help multi-function apps like Fring and NimBuzz maintain a healthy presence on the iPhone, which famously doesn’t allow for multiple programs running concurrently.

    UPDATE: Since being released on Tuesday it has emerged that Skype on iPhone does works over 3G, despite being intended only for use with WiFi.

    Users report it working over the 3G data connection if the beta 3.0 firmware is being run.

    Since VoIP over the 3G cellular is clearly forbidden in the SDK rules, it’s obviously due to a bug on 3.0 that it works.

    This raises the question of how long it will be before Apple closes the hole?

    But also, how did was the app "approved" and certified by for the App Store without first "testing" if Skype would work on the 3G connection?

  • 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.

  • Skype Taking Larger Share of International Voice Traffic


    International voice traffic continues to rise – despite the availability of an ever-broader range of substitutes for standard telephone calls.

    Cross-border telephone traffic grew 14 per cent in 2007 and is estimated to have grown 12 per cent in 2008, to 384 billion minutes, according to data from TeleGeography.

    Due to declining call prices, however, revenues have largely been flat.

    But if international telephone traffic is increasing at a modest pace, Skype’s international traffic has soared.

    TeleGeography estimates that Skype’s cross-border traffic grew approximately 41 per cent in 2008, to 33 billion minutes.

    This is equivalent to 8 per cent of combined international telephone plus Skype traffic.

    TeleGeography analyst Stephan Beckert said Skype’s traffic growth has been remarkable.

    "Only five years after its launch, Skype has emerged as the largest provider of cross-border voice communications in the world," he said.

    Not all of Skype’s traffic is a net loss for international carriers.

    Skype’s paid-for ‘Skype Out’ service, which lets users make calls to standard telephones, generated 8.4 billion minutes of calls in 2008.

    Skype relies on wholesale carriers, such as iBasis and Level 3, to connect this traffic to the telephone network.

  • 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.



  • Cypress Communication's Frank Grillo Wins voip-biz.news' Person of the Year Award


    Frank Grillo, Cypress Communication’s executive vice president of marketing, is the winner of the voip-biz.news’ Person of the Year award.

    In nominating him for the title, the telecoms professional was described as a "visionary executive" and "innovative thinker" with "technical acumen".

    Grillo joined Cypress Communications in August of 2005 and was responsible for taking C4 IP, Cypress’ hosted VoIP and hosted unified communications solution, from inception to launch.

    Praising Grillo’s handling of the process, a voter said: "C4 IP is a technically challenging configuration and took Frank Grillo’s visionary leadership, technical acumen and foresight to launch.

    "It is the only integration of two traditionally disparate platforms: the carrier class softswitch, Nortel CS 2000, with the powerful multimedia server, MCS 5200.

    "With the successful integration of these platforms, Cypress became the only company in the USA, and only one of three in the world, to accomplish this feat.

    "To date, the C4 IP solution has won 10 awards for product innovation, and under Grillo’s leadership, C4 IP now has over 6,000 installed seats and is credited with the largest hosted VoIP/unified communications installation in the US."

    Prior to joining Cypress, Grillo was senior vice president of business services for Z-Tel and senior vice president of global business markets for MCI WorldCom.

    From 1995 to 2000 he was vice-president of marketing for LDDS.

    Voip-biz.news would like to thank everyone who took the effort to nominate a product and to cast a vote.

  • OnRelay's Ivar Plahte Wins Smartphone-biz.news' Person of the Year Award


    A true visionary, a trend spotter, truly innovative and the driving force behind OnRelay.

    Just some of the plaudits from those that voted OnRelay’s CEO and co-founder Ivar Plahte as smartphone-biz.news’ Person of the Year 2008.

    In second place was Ofer Tziperman, president and co-founder of LocatioNet, the mapping and location applications company.

    As CEO of OnRelay for the past seven years, Plahte has established himself as a key thought leader in the Fixed Mobile Convergence space.

    Prior to OnRelay, Plahte was director of IP telephony at Telenor, where he created and was the general manager of the Telecom over IP business unit.

    Ivar Plahte, CEO OnRelay

    His team produced several world-first launches and was among the first public operators worldwide to establish a voice over IP based revenue stream.

    Before Telenor, Plahte was Ericsson’s global product manager for IP Services.

    He has a BSc in Electrical Engineering and an MSc in Computer Engineering and Computer Science from the University of California at Santa Barbara.

    Voters who recommended Plahte spoke of his vision and drive.

    "Ivar has been at the forefront of Mobile telephony for his entire career," said one reader.

    "He founded OnRelay to develop cellular FMC and only recently has the market managed to get over the WiFi hype and start to take the cellular option seriously.

    "Ivar has been there all along, and now has his company well positioned to capture the market as it looks for the right solution."

    Others described him as a "telecoms pioneer" whose vision predicted FMC shift back in 2000 and did something about it – "picking the right tech and staying at it".

    The last word must go to one supporter, who simply said "he rocks". Praise indeed.

    The runner-up, Ofer Tziperman, has over a decade of extensive experience in international business and in the marketing of high-tech products.

    LocatioNet provides mapping and location enabled applications to tier one telecom and defense customers around the world.

    Under Tziperman’s guidance the company has become one of the leading technology providers in the LBS and C4I markets, with an international presence in Europe, USA, Latin America and Asia.

    Prior to establishing LocatioNet, he served as VP Marketing for OTI, a public high-tech company listed in the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and NASDAQ that specializes in contactless smart card technology.

    Tziperman played a major role in turning OTI from a young start-up company to an international organization with subsidiaries and front offices around the world.

    An attorney who practiced commercial and business law, he holds an LLB degree from the Faculty of Law at Tel Aviv University and is a graduate of the Israeli Naval Officers Academy.

  • Economy To Slow VoIP Growth in US Business Markets


    The struggling economy will slow the growth of VoIP, but deployments remain wide-ranging at mitigated levels.

    So says In-Stat in a report that also found just over a third of US businesses that have deployed VoIP use it exclusively.

    Many more businesses use VoIP as a partial voice solution – and they are also beginning to embrace voice-enabled IM capabilities, particularly among younger workers.

    David Lemelin, In-Stat analyst, said IP continues to be a partial voice solution for most businesses with VoIP, particularly among larger businesses.

    "Therefore, there is significant room for growth even among businesses that have already adopted it," he said.

    Recent research by In-Stat found the following:

    • 32 per cent of Enterprise size businesses say the economic situation has slowed their VoIP deployment plans.
    • Broadband IP Telephony remains the most common carrier-based business VoIP solution with revenues exceeding USD $1.1 billion in 2008, compared to USD $857 million for hosted IP Centrex service within the US.
    • Adoption varies significantly by size of business, with Enterprise businesses preferring a partial deployment, while SOHO businesses are more likely to go IP-only.
    • 13 per cent of US businesses use both carrier-based and premises-based IP solutions.
    • Digital visual interface (DVI) and high-definition multimedia interface (HDMI), are related, high-bandwidth, unidirectional, uncompressed digital interface standards.

  • Truphone Unveils First Multi-country Mobile Service


    Truphone has unveiled its plans for a single-SIM, multi-country mobile service that will enable users to make calls in supported countries at local rates.

    The mobile communications company says a key aim of the Local Anywhere service is to eliminate the hassle of switching SIM cards or the expense of often-exorbitant roaming charges when callers use their handsets on foreign trips, according to voip.biz-news.

    Truphone claims that the new service, which will launch in September, will offer up to 80 per cent savings on roaming charges when visiting other countries.

    Making the announcement at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Geraldine Wilson, Truphone’s CEO, said the service was intended to get rid of the need for people to juggle multiple devices and phone numbers to avoid paying roaming charges.

  • HD Communications Launches All-in-one Data Port


    HD Communications has unveiled a new In-Wall Wi-Fi, Data, VoIP, and PoE device. 

    The HD27000 is an all-in-one device designed specifically for hotels, motels and the enterprise market. 

    Don Davis, president and CEO, said these types of enterprises needed good Wi-Fi, a wired ethernet connection, and the ability to plug in a VoIP phone as well as power it. 

    He said the HD27000 is a small, PoE-powered 802.11b/g access point that is IEEE 802.3af PoE-compliant and is designed for locations wired or planning to wire for Category5/Cat5e/Cat6 cable. 

    The HD27000 offers up to four SSID, so customers can set up both public and private networks. The device also has an RJ45 jack on the front that is PoE (IEEE 802.3af-compliant) that can power a VoIP phone or just provide a data port to the location. 

    It also has the latest in security available. 

    "The HD27000 is a result of over two years of working with customers with our earlier in-wall product, the HD24613," said Davis. 

    HD Communications has enjoyed healthy growth in the broadband wireless arena over the past few years, more than doubling its sales in 2008.

  • Final Chance to Nominate VoIP Person/Product Of The Year


    The new year is firmly underway and time is running out for submitting your nominations and votes for voip.biz-news’ 2008 Man and Product of the Year awards.

    But with voting expected to be close in both award categories there’s plenty of opportunity for latecomers to make their mark.

    In the product section, submissions can be made for any product launched in 2008 that has particularily impressed.

    Among the leading contenders in this category are Ifbyphone, HelloSoft, ShoreTel and Cypress Communications.

    Described as an "innovative telephone application platform" Ifbyphone is praised for the introduction of its "innovative new data mash-up, which links phone call data to web-based ad information".

    Fans of HelloSoft particularily highlight the company’s move from desktops to mobile handsets and the potential that offers.

    ShoreTel is picked out for showing it "can stand up to the big boys and dominate". Readers have no doubt this is a growing company people are going to hear a lot more about.

    Eli Katz, CEO XConnect

    Equally, Cypress Communications is praised for its hosted and managed IP Telephony solutions, which are "unmatched by any within the VoIP industry today".

    For Person of the Year, XConnect’s founder and CEO, Eli Katz, is vying with Peter Dietrich, CEO of Mobivox, for the honor.

    They may be favorites but don’t let it stop you putting forward other contenders.

    But please don’t delay – we need your product or person nominations before the end of January.