Voice over Internet Protocol(VoIP) is a protocol optimized for the transmission of voice through
the Internet. VoIP is also known as IP Telephony, Internet telephony, Broadband telephony, Broadband Phone and Voice over Broadband.
Companies providing VoIP service are commonly referred to as providers.
Some cost savings are due to utilizing a single network to carry voice and data.
VoIP to VoIP phone calls are sometimes free, while VoIP to public phone networks may have a cost that is borne by the VoIP user.
VOIP Services
VOIP often has a large set of functionality that is free (whereas the normal public phone system must charge for each of these
functions to allow for the added cost they must go through in order to provide the functions):
extra telephone line
3-way calling
call forwarding
automatic redial
caller ID; features that traditional telecommunication companies (telcos) normally charge extra for.
secure calls
can be used from anywhere you have an internet connection (location independence)
integration with video, data, audio conferencing, managing address books, and others
Directions
We have looked and selected a number of voip carriers that meet your needs and provide voip service.
The voip providers are grouped by functional category and coverage area.
The different voip service categories are listed below center.
Everyone is hyping the new Super Wi-Fi standard which uses lower-frequency white spaces between television channel frequencies. These lower frequencies enable the signal to travel further (miles) and penetrate walls better than the higher frequencies previously used (hundreds of feet). Well, forget about Super Wi-Fi!
I met with Thomas Ngeow from Altai Technologies at ITEXPO, a Hong Kong-based company and he explained they coined Super Wi-Fi for one of their products long before the Super Wi-Fi standard was coined. You're probably wondering who cares who coined it first and you'd be right. It doesn't matter, except for the fact that Altai uses traditional WiFi (2.4, 3.6, 5 Ghz) spectrum frequencies and still gets the same range as the "newer" Super Wi-Fi standard. Put you're head around that for one second. Regular WiFi that can travel miles? Surely this must be some voodoo science. Trust me, it's not.
Their A8 Super WiFi Base Station can enhance outdoor WiFi signal coverage area by 10 times, particularly in non–line–of–sight environment. It has a multiple radio smart antenna platform that supports 360–degree coverage. It supports standard 802.11b/g access and 802.11a backhaul. Thomas Ngeow explained that their product had government backing and called their technology "revolutionary" with several patents that cover their smart antenna, beam forming antennas and the signal processing. Part of their secret sauce is that the can bounce their wireless signal off objects and detect interference and focus the beam elsewhere.
He stressed that their products don't interfere with 3G and can be placed right on the same 3G towers (pictured above). Their products have strict emission controls to ensure no interference with the 3G transmissions. Their outdoor antenna supports 1 mile line of sight and 500-1000 yards for non-line of sight. Importantly, unlike the low-frequency Super Wi-Fi spec, Altai's solution works with your existing WiFi devices - laptop, Android, iPad, iPhone, etc. Embedded Super Wi-Fi chipsets on consumer devices don't exist yet.
With this particular product line they are not focusing on enterprise with their products, but rather large scale WiFi networks, such as cities (municipal Wi-Fi) and carriers (Verizon, AT&T) for 3G offload. Unlike traditional city-wide Wi-Fi deployments, this is not a mesh wireless network, which requires mesh nodes on each lamp post and is costlier to deploy. Though they do offer a USB product called the U1 Super WiFi USB Client (~$100), which you connect to your computer and it can extend your existing WiFi's range to go an impressive 600m (line of sight) or 300m (non-line of sight). Thomas joked you can be half-a-mile away from your local Starbucks and connect using this device.
Essentially, using Altai's technology 3G service providers simply mirror their existing 3G architecture with Altai's Super Wi-Fi products. This results in a fraction of time & cost of traditional WiFi deployments. Thomas explained their products also work indoors in large buildings such as convention centers. For indoor deployments you simply put their device in the same position where 3G antennas are located. He said it would take him 5 hours to completely Wi-Fi enable the Miami Beach Convention Center.
They support WiFi 802.11 a,b,g, and n. WiFi 802.11a offers shorter range, but larger capacity, so it's often used in backhaul solutions. One competitive advantage they have is that they offer the complete end-to-end solution all the way to back-end. You can use their equipment including authentication. They support EAP authentication and you can use a SIM card for security.
Their solutions are deployed in 60 countries and they've been around since 2006. Some of their customers include China Telecom and China Mobile with thousands of units deployed. While the "other" Super Wi-Fi holds promise for the future, Altai's solutions work today and they solve the huge problem of carrier's 3G networks being overloaded. Thomas claims Altai has done more 3G offload than anyone else.
Thomas said one of their biggest advantages is time to deploy. Traditionally WiFi deployments use lamp posts and telephone poles with a mesh network that can take years to deploy city-wide. If you go to New York's Times Square and connect to the free Wi-Fi, that's Altai's technology. Central Park is also Wi-Fi enabled by Altai. Perhaps more impressive, Jamaica offers paid Wi-Fi country-wide using their technology. It only took 9 months to wire the entire country. It's important to note they offer bandwidth shaping at AP level, which is more effective - enabling you to even out the user experience if have bandwidth hogs.
Thomas explained that they are, "probably the #1 vendor for Wi-Fi access on rooftops. Not point-to-point but actual Wi-Fi access." He added that their solution is much more cost effective than 4G / LTE. Retail price is $8,000 for the A8 Super Wi-Fi Base Station product. It's the last day of ITEXPO, but there is still time to check out their products in booth 210.
Sir Terry Matthews is a Welsh/Canadian high tech entrepreneur, and Wales's first billionaire. He has directly started 89 companies with an amazing 83 out of 89 success rate. It's an even more astounding fact when you consider that according to TMC's Peter Bernstein, 90% of startups fail. Terry has sold many of these companies for millions and even hundreds of millions of dollars. Terry Matthews keynoted the StartupCamp at ITEXPO in Miami and he was certainly the highlight speaker of entire the show. The audience loved him. The previous StartupCamp had Internet & Ethernet legend Bob Metcalfe, who also gave a phenomenal keynote. Not sure how StartupCamp6 can top these two speakers!
During Terry's keynote he gave his secrets to startup success. It involves young graduates and greying hair. A paradox you say? Well, watch the video excerpt (not the full keynote) to learn his secrets to startup success.
There is a lot of news (product launches, new versions) being made at TMC's ITEXPO, some of which I've already covered (Digium, Xorcom)... ITEXPO has arecord number of exhibitors that have unveiled new products and services at ITEXPO in Miami.
There have been many competing shows over the years, most notably VON, which suffered an untimely demise. ITEXPO and VON were the two best shows focused on VoIP and IP communications. ITEXPO has continued to grow and has expanded into cloud services, M2M, Super Wi-Fi, and more. It has become the premiere communications show not just from expanding into new area, but due to TMC's strong commitment to a strong educational conference track, which attracts industry thought leaders and experts to speak in these sessions.
Launched in 1999, ITEXPO is well known as the “communications and technology marketplace” due to its history of fostering true business opportunity. The 25th iteration of the World's largest and longest-running B-to-B communications and technology conference attracts thousands of resellers and IT executives from enterprises, small and medium businesses, and government agencies. More than 200 exhibitors are participating at ITEXPO, and dozens of new products and services will be announced on the show floor this week. A sampling of announcements includes:
888VoIP (booth 701) and IPsmarx Technoloy (booth 541) are jointly announcing a new RAPID Multi-Tenant Cloud Based IP-PBX System
Apex Voice Communications (Booth 356) is announcing the availability of its APEX Composition Engine
ABP Technology (booth 316) is unveiling a series of new IP-based Video Door Phones
Allworx (booth 429) is announcing its new 6x12 IP-BPX
Almira Labs announced its plans to expand into Latin America
Connect Solutions (booth 530) is announcing the Managed Private Cloud for Microsoft Lync Solution
Commetrex (booth 524) is adding FoIP consulting services to its portfolio
Challenger Mobile (Booth 642) announced Mobile VoIP Service with Mobile Operator 3 in Sweden
Counterpath announced that the Counterpath BRIA For iPad with video calling feature is now available in the iTunes App Store
CrewsControl/Scenios (booth 229) unveiled the Scenios cloud-based video production platform
Dialogic (booth 507) announced a new Software Media Server for Mobile, broadband & Cloud
Digitalk (booth 629) introduced a new, fully integrated, Mobile VoIP Client on the DIGITALK Consumer Platform
Digium (booth 901) launched a line of IP phones that work in conjunction with their Asterisk and Switchvox solutions
Globecomm (booth 342) announced that it has been selected by Ericsson as a subcontractor of the maritime GSM/VSAT managed operation for an Ericsson mobile communication network.
Humbug Labs announced the Silver Halk 3.0 protection service to proactively block fraudulent calls.
independenceIT (booth 1207) announced that Australian Cloud and Kiwi Cloud have selected their Total Freedom Workspace solution
IR-Link (booth 706) announced ZiLog Smart IP Call Recorder
Matrix Comsec Ltd. (booth 528) is showcasing its key SIP trunking solutions and its new all-in-one office communication solutions.
MediaPlatform unveiled new Enterprise Webcasting on Facebook and SharePoint
MixMoov (booth 129) announced the Video Editor for Brightcove online video editing service
NACT Solution (booth 440) announced the Pinless Plus Web Portal for prepaid telecommunications products.
Net.com (booth 837) announced the UX1000 Microsoft Lync SBA/SBC for branch office applications.
Nuspire Networks (booth 1104) provided details on its entrance into the Gartner Group’s Magic Quadrant.
OnAsset Intelligence announced enhancements to the Vision Software platform for monitoring and analyzing M2M-based asset tracking data.
Opengear (booth 831) Expanded its Secure Remote Monitoring and Management Gateway Line
PhoenixSoft (booth 1023) announced 11 new customer wins this quarter
RTX (booth 423) launched a new cordless Skype phone
Sangoma (booth 601) provided details for the upcoming release of its new 16-span digital board.
Speedflow (booth 418) released Version 2.12 of its CallMax Softswitch
Sprint announced its collaboration with OnAsset Intelligence to deliver the industry’s first Dual Mode M2M-based asset tracking solution
Surf Communication Solutions (booth 424) announced the Orion MCU HD Voice and Video Conferencing Bridge.
Telispire (booth 925) announced that leading mobile device accessories provider Zagg has selected its Hosted IP Contact Center solution.
Telarus (booth 923) announced its partnership with EarthLink Business
Veddio (booth 1107) announced the integration of the Veddio Cloud Dashboard into the ConnectWise PSA platform.
Voxvalley Technologies (booth 400) is showcasing its newest mobile VoIP solutions.
Windstream (booth 506) announced the Completion of the Paetec acquisition at the show
Whaleback Managed Systems (booth 543) announced the extensions of its Unified Communications Mobility to Tablets and Smartphones.
Xorcom (booth 617) announced a new Video Conferencing Solution for SMBs; a new Line of IP Phones Complementing its IP-PBX offering, and a new Analog Line Failover Solution.
Zycoo (booth 101) is showcasing the new ZX20 IP-PBX
Xconnect announced collaboration with IPV to reduce the cost and complexity of video calling and conferencing.
“ITEXPO is the industry’s best venue for launching new products and services, because of the large and diverse audience of IT buyers who attend to source new products, and the large contingent of media that cover the news at the show,” said Rich Tehrani, TMC CEO and Conference Chairman. “This year is no different, and we’re expecting dozens of additional announcements to come off the show floor throughout the three days of ITEXPO.”
Rich Tehrani gave some interesting ITEXPO facts during his keynote introductions. He also covered Super Wi-Fi, M2M, Facebook IPO causing new millionaires to fund new companies and StartupCamp, which in the past has had actually VCs in the audience write checks to startups after they gave their pitch / demo during StartupCamp. Watch the video:
I got to see the new Digium IP Phones up close - sort of. I ran into Digium's Steve Sokol in their ITEXPO booth and proceeded to ask Steve about these new IP phones. I asked him if they were developed internally (yes) or white-labeled, where they were being built (China), and a few other questions.
I was about to ask him to see a demo when a Digium employee interrupted and asked Steve to give a demo to two attendees standing a few feet away. Steve left me to give them the demo. Uh hello? Where'd ya go? It's not like I'm a member of the media or ever write about VoIP products or anything.
Its all good though. The exhibit hall was busy and loud, so it's possible Steve said something to me and I just didn't hear him. Besides the exhibit hall is open tomorrow and Friday, so I hope to get some hands-on with these phones then. Stay tuned. In the meantime here's a couple photos of a small section of their large booth where they were demonstrating the new phones:
Ingate, makers of SIP-capable enterprise firewalls, has done it again! Every show they have one of ... if not *the* largest conference room and they continually pack it in - often standing room only in the back. I stopped in to check it out. This short video followed by a cool interactive panoramic says it all:
The keynotes have started with Michael Rouleau telling the story of a company that has invented a flying car. It can travel 65mph on the ground and I think he said 115mph or 150mph in the air with a range of 450 miles. Hit traffic on I-95? Fly over it! He went onto explain all the issues this great idea has - $200,000 price tag, certified for both flight and ground, need for pilot's license, etc. Now he's discussing M2M examples. He said customers want something unique that solves problems. They want Sprint to invent things to hold costs down, increase multimedia capabilities, and improve communications leveraging the cloud.
Today, at ITEXPO, the premiere communications event, Digium launched a line of IP phones that work in conjunction with their Asterisk and Switchvox solutions. This truly could be a gamechanger, since Asterisk is a popular IP-PBX solution that popular 3rd party phone vendors such as Aastra, snom, and Polycom offer products for. This move by Digium and the impact on these phone vendors could be quite interesting. This reminds me of 2008 when Aastra, a traditional IP phone manufacturer decided to offer a full-fledged IP-PBX based on Asterisk, called AastraLink. As I said during the AastraLink 2008 product launch:
Aastra Telecom has entered the IP-PBX game with the AastraLink Pro 160. This is a very interesting move since Aastra Telecom is known for their IP phones used by various IP-PBXs, including many of the Asterisk-based solutions - trixbox, AsteriskNOW, Druid, PBX in a Flash, etc. With the AastraLink Pro 160 Aastra is now competing with IP-PBX vendors that purchase their phones. It will be interesting to see if some IP-PBX vendors, especially the Asterisk-based ones, move towards other IP phones such as Polycom
Aastra even admitted in a follow-up interview I did that this was a delicate issue with their partners. Digium offering IP phones could have much more of an impact than Aastra's move did back in 2008. Digium is espousing their new phones by promoting, "Simple configuration and game-changing app engine" as well as "best possible performance, unprecedented integration and a uniquely customizable phone system."
“Digium’s new phones mark the launch of the next chapter in our history of innovation,” said Danny Windham, president and CEO of Digium. “These are the first phones designed specifically for Asterisk—with the tightest integration possible between the phones and Asterisk. The success of Asterisk began with the transfer of power from the hands of the proprietary phone vendors to the hands of end users and administrators of phone systems. And now we’ve done it again by bringing control to the desk phone. These phones are absolutely the easiest to install, integrate, provision and use with both Asterisk and Switchvox. And best of all, we’ve done all of this at a very competitive price point, providing our customers with the best value in business phone systems.”
Asterisk certainly has always been about customizability. Well, Digium phones include an app engine with a "simple yet powerful JavaScript API" that lets programmers create custom apps that run on the phones. They aren’t simply XML pages - Digium phone apps can interface directly with core phone features.
At ITEXPO, I met with Eric Pinto, sales engineer from Spam Soap, a cloud-based messaging service provider. Founded in 2002, back in the early cloud days, Spam Soap pioneered the use of the MX record email filtering model. Today, Spam Soap has thousands of customers worldwide using a range of cloud-based messaging services, including, anti-virus filtering, anti-spam filtering, preserving business continuity, protecting confidential information, and ensuring regulatory compliance.
They currently have 900 channel partners and are very much channel-centric and leverage Managed Service Providers (MSPs). They'll point direct end-users that come to them to a MSP. This is especially important for customers that need hand-holding and want a customized solution. Spam Soap targets SMBs ranging from 5-500 users.
One feature is the ability to offer archiving (up to 7 years), including an encryption option. They also have excellent business continuity functionality. The customer points their MX record to Spam Soap, so email is delivered their first before it is spooled down to the customer's local primary email server. If Spam Soap detects that the primary email goes down it gives users access to their email remotely from their servers. Once the primary email server is back online, it obviously pushes the emails down. Spam Soap is email-server agnostic, so the customer can be using Exchange Server, Lotus Notes, or any other email server.
Spam Soup competes with Google Postini as well as Microsoft Office365. Eric pointed out in the case of Office365, Microsoft is the person collecting the billing direct from the customer. The MSP would have to charge an additional fee on top of the monthly bill the customer is charged from Microsoft. This is not very channel-friendly. Eric mentioned that their solution is often bundled by MSPs with other solutions, so the customer gets an all-in-one solution with a single bundled bill from the MSP.
Another important feature is content and attachment scanning - both inbound and outbound. Not only can it detect viruses (McAfee engine), but it can look for competitive business keywords or phrases, such as someone trying to hire away talent or forwarding confidential information. On a related note, McAfee named Spam Soap 'SaaS Partner of the Year - North America'.
Spam Soap has comprehensive anti-spam features including the ability for users to whitelist contacts. Importantly, you can set certain groups (i.e. Sales) to never block an email and send a NDR (Non-Delivery Receipt) - but simply tag the subject, i.e. [Possible spam]. Also, emails can also be encrypted to prevent interception. Spam Soap is exhibiting at ITEXPO in Miami this week.
I heard the Asterisk 1-2-3 session, the first one of the day was standing room only will people waiting outside the door trying to get in. I went to check it out when I saw people filing out. What gives? I captured video and heard someone say that they were moving to a bigger room. I then headed to the new room and captured some photos.
At ITEXPO in Miami, Zultys today announced their latest UC software offering mobility features for Android, call center enhancements, and third-party CRM integrations. The latest major firmware release for the MX platform, MX Release 7.0 Unified Communications Software is a secure, all-in-one SIP-based IP phone system that is highly scalable and highly customizable. This version also includes enhancements to SIP security.
Zultys introduced Zultys Mobile Communicator for iPhone and Blackberry users in MX Release 6.0. In MX Release 7.0, Zultys adds support to Android-powered devices. Mobile workers using Android may leverage the same real-time Unified Communications (UC) features as their on-premises and Blackberry/iPhone-using counterparts, essentially transforming their mobile smartphone into a fully featured business phone.
Key features of the Zultys Mobile Communicator for Android include:
Presence, access to company directories, call log, secure IM, single-number contact and more
Advanced call handling features, including hold and transfer
MX Release 7.0 enhances support for Salesforce.com Communicator and the Outlook Communicator. The enhanced Salesforce.com Communicator supports multiple call appearances and the latest Web browsers such as Firefox 4.0+ and Internet Explorer 8+. Zultys’ Salesforce.com Communicator is now featured on the Salesforce.com Appxchange. Both Communicators allow contact center agents to selectively log into queues and to use any phone in the world as their office phone, ensuring that companies are able to reap the benefits of a distributed workforce.
MX Release 7.0 users are able to tailor the MXIE Unified Communications client interface according to user preferences. Users may reposition toolbars and windows such as address book, call log, voice mail, contact center queues and many more to any location on the main screen. Windows may be docked into tabs to ensure efficient use of screen space, or kept separate to provide immediate visibility of the most important information. In addition, the new Zultys Quick Contact bar with its intelligent filtering enables users to instantly search all address books for a contact's name or number, then call or send an IM directly from the Quick Contact bar.
SIP Security Enhancements
The MX system actively monitors network packets and dynamically blocks suspicious traffic while also remaining invisible to hacking attempts. System administrators may now implement tighter Network Admission Control policies through the introduction of Trusted/Untrusted network classifications and configurable Denial of Service attack detection thresholds. The built-in security features ensure that Zultys customers can confidently deploy Internet-connected tele-workers and SIP trunking services without needing to purchase expensive third-party SIP-aware firewalls or manage complex network architectures.
MX Release 7.0 adds to the aforementioned vast list of benefits with a variety of additional unique features and functionalities:
Multiple Music on Hold Playlists—Enables each contact center queue or group of users to have a unique music playlist for parties on hold, park and in queue (especially useful in situations where a single MX serves multiple distinct businesses). Effectively, the system now supports 64 music sources.
Voice mail enhancements—Provides options for announcement-only voice mailbox and auto-deletion of voice mail messages
Integrated Contact Center functionalities
o SuperView, Zultys' real-time statistics monitoring screen for contact centers, now enables supervisors to pick and choose which real-time statistics they see and the order in which the information is displayed.
o Report Scheduler for MXreport enables report customization and automatic, scheduled delivery to a user's email in-box (or saved to the user's computer or network) every day, week, month, etc.
Pricing and Availability
MX Release 7.0 will be available in February. Existing customers with a current software subscription are eligible for free access to the upgrade.
Gadget lovers rejoice! LaGuardia Airport has added electric outlets to roughly every other seat in the seats by all the gates. The electric outlets sport a glowing blue light that draws gadget lovers like moth to a flame. It was so annoying when I previously came to LaGuardia airport and had to struggle to find an outlet to plugin. Now your iPad, iPhone, Android, iPod touch, and any other gadget won't be drained surfing the Web, checking email, etc. while waiting to board Your gadgets can be fully charged so they last throughout the flight. Here's some photos:
It's almost February and it has been a very mild winter with only two snow storms so far and warmer temperatures than normal. Not that I'm complaining - my heating bill has been less than half it was from the previous winter even with the higher hearing oil prices. It sure didn't look like it was going to be a mild winter if you judged the coming winter back in October where a freak snow storm broke thousands of limbs in the Northeast, which had not yet shed their leaves. The leaves caught the wet snow weighing down the trees and causing massive damage to trees and power lines from fallen trees. Here is a look outside one of my house windows where you can see Asian maple trees lining my driveway bent way over:
Still, even with the unseasonably warm winter, i am excited to be leaving Connecticut tomorrow for Miami to attend ITEXPO, which promises to be the best ITEXPO yet. I am moderating a few sessions and covering all the news happening at the show. Stay tuned for more...
Symantec suspected in 2006 that its network had been breached, but when Anonymous started talking publicly about Symantec source code it confirmed their suspicions. According to Wired:
The company surprised the public last week when it disclosed that hackers had obtained source code for its pcAnywhere software and other products, and that the code had likely been stolen in a six-year-old breach that Symantec had never disclosed.
Symantec said in its announcement that users should disable pcAnywhere until the company had time to update the software to ensure that hackers are unable to exploit holes they might find in the code.
Disable pcAnywhere? Disable pcAnywhere? Now I was a huge fan of pcAnywhere ... back in like 1996. It was one of the first, perhaps the first remote desktop sharing software. But when Windows XP bundled a free version of essentially the same functionality, I stopped using pcAnywhere. Putting aside some slowness issues with Microsoft's Remote Desktop client, why pay for software when you can get it for free?
I'm shocked that people still use pcAnywhere when Microsoft offers a free remote desktop client from Windows XP on - Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 2003, Windows 2008, etc. Not to mention the various free VNC & open source cross-platform clients.
You can read the security whitepaper, where Symantec advises users to disable pcAnywhere due to Anonymous's access to the source code of not just pcAnywhere, but also Norton Antivirus Corporate Edition, Norton Internet Security, and Norton SystemWorks (Norton Utilities and Norton GoBack). Good thing I use avast! antivirus!
Update: One other thought. Maybe pcAnywhere offers easier multiple-server management, but I can just as easily create multiple .rdp Remote Desktop files or use the Remote Desktop MMC snap-in within the Microsoft Management Console to manage multiple servers. So still not understanding why people still pay for and use pcAnywhere.
I met with Thomas Ngeow from 
Well, watch the video excerpt (not the full keynote) to learn his secrets to startup success.
Every show they have one of ... if not *the* largest conference room and they continually pack it in - often standing room only in the back. I stopped in to check it out. This short video followed by a cool interactive panoramic says it all:
Symantec suspected in 2006 that its network had been breached, but when Anonymous started talking publicly about Symantec source code it confirmed their suspicions. According to 
