Category: VoIP
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Making Skype calls from a Blackberry… (yes, it is true!) And where was the PC making the conf call??
Continue Reading: Making Skype calls from a Blackberry… (yes, it is true!) And where was the PC making the conf call??Today I called Alec Saunders via Skype. Not terribly unusual, really… except that I initiated the Skype call from my Blackberry! Back on Monday, Jim Courtney over at Skype Journal had posted a teaser about an application for the Blackberry that allowed you to use Skype IM. Today my curiosity got the better of me and I had to IM Jim to get the info. I downloaded the app and promptly had to try it out… I guess by virtue of Alec being at the top of my contact list, he was my victim (I also know from past experience that he’s open to this kind of thing).
Tonight Jim has spilled the goods for all of us in the post rather dramatically titled “Skype on the Blackberry – A New Era in the AlwaysOn World“. It turns out to be an application called “IM+ for Skype” from a company called ShapeServices, which makes a variety of software products for PDAs (and specifically Blackberries). It turns out there was a news release about this back on May 7th, but I didn’t see any coverage of this at all. The app itself costs $25, but you can…
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Skype 3.5 beta out with Call Transfer and more… (and is Skype Pro now in the US?)
Continue Reading: Skype 3.5 beta out with Call Transfer and more… (and is Skype Pro now in the US?)Today Skype released their initial version of Skype 3.5 Beta for Windows. You can download it here if you are the adventuresome type. In addition to fixing a bug (that caused Skype to crash) with public chats that has been plaguing those of us who use them, the major feature rolled out in this release is the long-awaited “Call Transfer”. Don Kennedy goes into this at far greater length in “Skype Pro Does Call Transfer” where he provides some examples and also provides a sample application.
One of his examples is the interesting one of having all calls be transferred to a “group” which could include Skype names as well as SkypeOut numbers. In Don’s example, you could have someone call you on a SkypeIn number which would then be transferred to the “group” which could include your own Skype ID and also a SkypeOut connection to your cell phone. Now all of this capability isn’t yet in the Skype GUI. Today you need Don’s Call Transfer Example application, also available through the Skype Extras manager, but it is a glimpse of what is coming.
There is one gotcha… to do the transfer from a SkypeIn number or…
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Bandwidth.com to supply SIP trunking to Mitel solution centers
Continue Reading: Bandwidth.com to supply SIP trunking to Mitel solution centersYesterday, Bandwidth.com announced that their SIP trunking service would be powering Mitel solution centers across the US. From the news release:
Bandwidth.com, a leading nationwide provider of complete business communications solutions, today announced that it will be powering all Mitel(R) Solution Centers across the country enabling customers and VARS to preview innovative solutions, including SIP Trunking technology in a live environment. Mitel operates solution centers in five locations; Chicago, Costa Mesa, Atlanta, New York and Herndon (Virginia), all of which will be equipped with Bandwidth.com’s SIP Trunking VoIP solution by the end of June.
There’s been a relationship between Bandwidth.com and Mitel since last September. This announcement yesterday is a logical evolution of that relationship.
There’s a lot to write about the incredibly disruptive power of SIP trunking… I don’t think we yet fully understand how the power to obtain SIP trunks from anywhere in the world is going to so severely disrupt the global telecommunications infrastructure. With IP, geography no longer matters… and there are all sorts of local carriers – and tax authorities! – who I don’t think fully understand how much this messes up their business models. I really need to write that up……..
Two…
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ShoreTel joins the VoIP IPO game…
Continue Reading: ShoreTel joins the VoIP IPO game…Per Russell Shaw, ShoreTel has filed it’s paperwork for an IPO. Reuters also has the story.[1] Ken Camp also provides his opinion. I’m sure that more will be written in the time ahead. ShoreTel is one of the many newer entrants into the enterprise VoIP market and have been doing some interesting things (and yes, in the spirit of full disclosure, they do potentially compete in some areas with my employer, Mitel). Kudos to them for getting things together to go for the IPO. It will be interesting to see how that moves forward – best wishes to them all.
[1] Side note: It’s interesting to me to see that the Reuters story about ShoreTel IPO filing in the US was actually filed by a reporter in Bangalore, India at 6:54am. At that time most North American reporters were probably only getting going.
Technorati tags: shoretel, voip -
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Digium/AsteriskWorld to be co-resident with VON Fall 2007 in Boston
Continue Reading: Digium/AsteriskWorld to be co-resident with VON Fall 2007 in BostonIn my queue of things to write about, I’d be meaning to comment on the fact that this year’s Fall VON on October 29 – November 1 in Boston will also be the site of Digium / Asterisk World. Jeff Pulver’s team announced this back in March and it will have Mark Spencer and others from Digium involved. I wasn’t particularly surprised to hear this, given that Jeff Pulver has always had an interest in open source and that Digium has always had a large presence at VON exhibit halls. (You would have to be blind to miss the giant orange booth with its many pods!) Kudos to Digium and Pulvermedia for organizing a way to spotlight all the great stuff happening in open source telephony. I’ll look forward to seeing what goes on there.
Technorati tags: asterisk, digium, asterisk world, jeff pulver, von, von2007 -
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Do you prefer a softphone or an IP ("hard") phone? – Jeff Pulver’s Question of the Day
Continue Reading: Do you prefer a softphone or an IP ("hard") phone? – Jeff Pulver’s Question of the DayOver on his blog, Jeff Pulver asks “Do you prefer softphones or IP phones?“, which is a great question to ask. What do you think?
I left a comment there and then started writing a longer blog entry – but I just don’t have the time to complete that particular entry, so I’ll have to stick it in the queue for a future article. In the meantime… do head on over to Jeff’s site and leave any comments you have. It’s definitely an interesting question.
Technorati tags: softphones, voip, jeff pulver, phones -
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BT to enable VoIP (and video) over Sony PSP game consoles
Continue Reading: BT to enable VoIP (and video) over Sony PSP game consolesA colleague pointed me to this Engadget story (which, in turn, points to this BBC article) about the fact that BT will soon be allowing UK owners of Sony PSP game consoles to use their PSP to make voice and video calls to other PSP users and eventually to any other phone number. Per the BBC article (which also includes a nice little video showing this in action)
The software has been developed by BT and will eventually allow PSP users to call PCs, fixed lines and mobiles.
Initially the service will only be available in the UK and will only work on home or BT wireless hotspots.
Currently, there are around 2,000 of these situated in airports, railway stations, hotels and fast food restaurants.
Interesting move by BT. The cameras were apparently to be available from Sony May 25th but this service from BT will not be available until more details are announced at a conference in August. Certainly there’s a strong potential user base there:
More than 24 million PSPs have been sold around the world, with more than eight million of those sold in Europe.
And the article states that BT says that this software…
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Skype launches "Small Business Pack" in Europe (and for resellers)
Continue Reading: Skype launches "Small Business Pack" in Europe (and for resellers)Yesterday, Skype announced a new “Small Business Pack” available in 12 European countries – and also indicated that you could become a Skype reseller to sell this pack.
Phil Wolff over at Skype Journal has more coverage and raises some good points that are unknown about the reseller program. (And FYI, in the interesting way all this happens, my “tip” to him was in the Skype public group chat that Phil has hosted for months when I asked him if he’d heard of this new pack.)
To me, this represents another new method for Skype to look to get into the business market. It’s not entirely clear to me how many resellers will really pick it up, since the pack really only represents a 50-euro savings, but I suppose on one level it’s something they can at least sell. It’s also not clear to me exactly why a reseller would be needed since you can also order the pack directly from Skype’s online web site, so even with volume discounts, there would not seem to really be a whole lot of margin in it for a reseller. Maybe there are, as Phil writes, enough “Skype-crazy consultants” out there seeking to…
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Come party with Jeff Pulver in Stockholm in June!
Continue Reading: Come party with Jeff Pulver in Stockholm in June!As Jeff Pulver notes today, he’ll be once again hosting a big party at his VON Europe Spring 2007 in June in Stockholm. Jeff’s events are definitely always interesting… and I’m looking forward to being at this one. If you’re going to Stockholm, I’ll see you there!
Technorati tags: jeff pulver, von, voip
