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Front End Server VoIP Components

2010-08-24T00:39:00.000-07:00

The principal VoIP components located on Front End Servers are as follows:

Translation Service

Inbound Routing component

Outbound Routing component

Exchange UM Routing component

Translation Service

The Translation Service is the server component that is responsible for translating a dialed number into the E.164 format or another format, according to the normalization rules that are defined by the administrator. The Translation Service can translate to formats other than E.164 if your organization uses a private numbering system or uses a gateway or PBX that does not support E.164.
Inbound Routing Component

The Inbound Routing component handles incoming calls largely according to preferences that are specified by users on their Enterprise Voice clients. For example, users specify whether unanswered calls are forwarded or simply logged for notification. If call forwarding is enabled, users can specify whether unanswered calls should be forwarded to another number or to a Microsoft Exchange 2007 Unified Messaging server that has been configured to provide call answering. The Inbound Routing component is installed by default on all Standard Edition servers and Front End Servers.

Outbound Routing Component

The Outbound Routing component routes calls to PBX or PSTN destinations. It applies call authorization rules to callers and determines the optimal media gateway for routing each call. The Outbound Routing component is installed by default on all Standard Edition servers and Front End Servers.

The routing logic that is used by the Outbound Routing component is in large measure configured by network or telephony administrators according to the requirements of their organizations.

Exchange UM Routing Component

The Exchange UM routing component handles routing between Office Communications Server and servers running Microsoft Exchange Unified Messaging (UM), to integrate Office Communications Server with Unified Messaging features. For details about these features, see Exchange Unified Messaging.

Other Front End Server Components Required for VoIP

Other components residing on the Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Front End Server or Director that provide essential support for VoIP, but are not themselves VoIP components, include the following:

User Services. Perform reverse number lookup on the target phone number of each incoming call and match that number to the SIP URI of the destination user. Using this information, the Inbound Routing component distributes the call to that user’s registered SIP endpoints. User Services is a core component on all Front End Servers and Directors.

User Replicator. Extracts user phone numbers from Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) and writes them to tables in the RTC database, where they are available to User Services and Address Book Server. User Replicator is a core component on all Front End Servers.

Address Book Server. Provides global address list information from Active Directory Domain Services to Microsoft Office Communicator clients. It also retrieves user and contact information from the RTC database, writes the information to the Address Book files, and then stores the files on a shared folder where they are downloaded by Office Communicator clients. The Address Book Server writes the information to the RTCAb database, which is used by the Address Book Web Query service to respond to user search queries from the 2007 R2 version of Communicator Mobile for Windows Mobile. It optionally normalizes enterprise user phone numbers that are written to the RTC database for the purpose of provisioning user contacts in Office Communicator. The Address Book Server is installed by default on all Front End Servers. The Address Book Web Query service is installed by default on all Web Components Servers.

Free Incoming and Outgoing Phone Calls

2010-07-21T00:09:00.000-07:00

You can now get free outgoing calls to real phone numbers and free incoming calls to a real phone number. You may be thinking "who is crazy enough to be offering that kind of service free in both directions" and that would be a wise question. The truth is that no one company is doing that -- You need to be a little creative and combine services from two companies to get free calling in both directions.

Stanaphone has been offering a free phone number that allows you to receive free calls and free voice mail for quite some time. All you need to do is register and select the area code and they will assign you a free phone number. You can receive calls using their Windows based software or you can stay offline and just use them as free voice mail that gets forwarded to your email account.

Now Skype has started offering free outgoing calls to any US or Canadian phone number if you are in the US or Canada. You just need to download their free software (Windows, Mac, Linux) and register. You can then make all the free calls you want to regular phone numbers as well as to other Skype users. Skype will offer free outgoing calls until at least the end of 2006, and perhaps beyond.

Please note that some users may have trouble getting outgoing Skype calls to regular phone numbers to work. They check your IP address to make sure you are in the US or Canada, and there are some IP addresses that they wrongly identify as not being US or Canadian. They say they are working on that problem. Also note that the Skype software may indicate you need to purchase credits to make outgoing calls, but you can just ignore that message.

Either of these services alone is pretty cool, but combine them and you have one awesome freebie.

Mobile VoIP - xG Technology

2010-05-27T06:22:00.000-07:00

According to the Federal Communications Commission’s Cognitive Radio Technologies Proceeding ET Docket No. 03-108 the commission has, “issued a Notice of Public Rulemaking regarding service rules for advanced wireless services or “cognitive radio technologies.”

These technologies, as the document goes on to explain, can enable a radio device and its antenna to adapt its spectrum use in response to its operating environment: “This provides a variety of options for a radio device and antenna to identify available spectrum that is unusable under current conditions.”

That’s crucial to xG Technology’s (News - Alert) xMax mobile VoIP application offering. According to company officials, it runs over unlicensed spectrum and “is the first service based on this technology. Such cognitive technologies were recommended in the recentFCC ( News - Alert) national broadband report as an area the FCC should promote.”

Just last month, in fact, in tests conducted by xG, the new xMax VoIP network was found to be “compatible with all standard SIP-based consumer VoIP systems,” according to company officials, who added, “this can allow such systems to add mobility to the benefits of low-cost VoIP calling.”

The xMax network is a fully mobile VoIP system, providing calls at highway speeds using unlicensed spectrum. “Although some U.S. carriers claim to use VoIP technology, they may still be operating over standard cell phone networks and require customers to purchase a more expensive additional data plan,” xG officials say.

“In contrast, the all-IP xMax network was built as an end-to-end VoIP system from the ground up and does not operate using the older and less efficient cell phone networks. XMax users will not require a more expensive data plan, but will enjoy high quality calls over an advanced network architecture.”

Evolution of VoIP

2010-05-27T06:14:00.000-07:00

Voice over IP (VoIP) technology is getting a makeover, and service providers hope it will reinvent the industry. There's a shift away from VoIP toward hosted unified communications -- that is, integrated voice, instant messenger, email, workflow applications, CRM Best Fit CRM Analysis - Learn which 3 CRM solutions would best fit your business.

Eight companies formed the Cloud Communications Alliance at the Cloud Computing Expo held last month in NYC, banding together to help drive the development of cloud-based unified communications.

The alliance includes Alteva, Broadcore, Callis Communications, Consolidated Technologies, IPFone, SimpleSignal, Stage 2 Networks and Telesphere. Together, the companies represent more than US$100 million in combined annual revenue and collectively serve more than 110,000 business customers in the United States.

Businesses that have become comfortable with the cloud computing concept are beginning to recognize the advantages of converging cellphones, office phones and computers, as well as the redundancy and cost savings gained through allowing enterprise voice and data communications to reside in the cloud, noted Clark Peterson, chairman of the Cloud Communications Alliance and CEO of Telesphere.

New Interconnection

To provide a true hosted unified communications solution for small businesses, Alteva has developed a way to interconnect its cloud-based voice and messaging services with Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) Communication Services' product suite. Alteva's new technology is also compatible with Microsoft Exchange, Microsoft SharePoint and Microsoft Office Communications Server (OCS). Alteva is marketing the new UC solution to both its small business and enterprise customers.

Microsoft is actively pushing the capability of a fully integrated communications platform by partnering with Alteva, Comcast (Nasdaq: CMCSK) and Go Daddy, among others. The goal is to provide users with more productive communications, improve employee productivity, and enhance office efficiency.

"The Cloud Communications Alliance is not just about Voice over IP, hosted PBX or unified communications. We're introducing an entirely new way to build, deploy and scale enterprise communications systems that provide HD voice services along with a platform of advanced apps and features that allow businesses to work in ways they never imagined," said Alteva CEO Bill Bumbernick.

Growth Factor

It was very awkward sitting in a room full of telecom competitors when future alliance members first started meeting at quarterly trade shows two years ago, Louis Hayner, chief sales officer of Alteva, told the E-Commerce Times.

The companies providing VoIP service were starting to recognize the growing need for end-users to be able to connect with other providers -- a process called "IP Peering," he explained.

One of the common problems those corporate representatives shared was how to come up with a standardized training approach. Not all VoIP service providers have the same level of features and functionality, noted Hayner.

"Cloud is all about collaboration," he said. "Unified Communications is much like VoIP was in its early early days when the cost was too prohibitive. Collaboration among service providers will thrust the new technology forward."

Improving Economy

VoIP in the residential space continues to do well, according to Diane Myers, directing analyst for service provider VoIP and IMS at Infonetics Research, and there are several different flavors of VoIP that will continue to grow with business on PBX.

"Last year was tough on the enterprise. Most were keeping a lock on new technology spending, but we saw at the end of last year things were starting to pick up," Myers told the E-Commerce Times. "We saw a really big spike for interest in hosted VoIP service."

That interest, both from SMB users and larger enterprises, provides fresh opportunites for service providers, she said.

Hosted Haven

With over 100 vendors in this space, the choices for customers can be overwhelming. Hosted services can be scaled to fit the changing needs of users. Providers that can offer flexible solutions will take the lead in leveraging the emerging interest in hosted unified communications, suggested Myers.

Another opportunity driver is that more businesses are getting comfortable with outsourcing, she said.

A key challenge for smaller service providers is dealing with the hesitancy on the part of larger companies to work with them. Smaller companies come and go in the business world, so the business maturity of the service provider can be a deal breaker.

Common Ground

The eight founding companies of the Cloud Communications Alliance use a software platform provided by BroadSoft to deliver a range of cloud-based IP multimedia communications to enterprises and consumers, said Joe Gillette (NYSE: G), CEO of Stage 2 Networks.

These unified communications components include hosted-IP private branch exchanges, video calling, unified communications, collaboration, and converged mobile and fixed-line services.

The organization of the Alliance marks an important milestone in the development of the cloud-based communications category. The group's commitment to evangelizing cloud-based communications services will help drive customer adoption and broad-scale investment into this next generation of communications, said BroadSoft CEO Mike Tessler.

Besides the typical business benefits from banding together, each alliance participant must have attained certain levels of success. Each of the eight companies grew its business through last year, said Tessler.

"Flat sales is not a part of the membership criteria, but new positioning is important to separate us from a new round of competition to leverage the public Internet," Stage 2's Gillette told the E-Commerce Times. "We need to focus on quality and service."

Not the Same

All VoIP services are not the same, and unified communications is not the same thing as VoIP alone.

"Other companies claim to offer UC, but in actuality they are only referring to basic VoIP features such as voicemail messages as a .wav file in your email," said Alteva's Hayner. "True UC is much more than that."

Alteva's UC product -- with the full suite of Microsoft Communication Services products integrated with Voice over IP phone service -- allows for a truly cloud-based UC environment. The cloud environment combines basic business-based technology like voice with office communications such as instant messenger, video conferencing, desktop sharing and telepresence.

"This capability is changing the landscape of enterprise businesses, creating unprecedented productivity enhancements," Hayner said.
VoIP Trends

Verizon, AT&T (NYSE: T), NGT, Cbeyond and 8x8 ranked among top business VoIP services leaders in the annual North America Business VoIP Services Leadership Matrix from Infonetics Research.

"VoIP services sold to the residential/SOHO market still make up the lion's share (about three-quarters) of total VoIP service revenue," said Infonetics' Myers.

However, there was a pickup in business VoIP service revenue growth in late 2009, her research indicates.

Furthermore, service providers reported increasing interest in hosted VoIP services across all sizes of businesses, including large enterprises, Myers noted.

"We expect this trend to continue as more companies turn to hosted services for their voice needs, with business VoIP services making up almost a third of all VoIP service revenue by 2014," she predicted.

The smaller VoIP service providers may face a fight for survival. Their challenge will be to pull customers away from the large established providers, according to Myers, and the way to do that is through meeting highly specific client needs.

HTC EVO 4G

2010-05-21T06:15:00.000-07:00

HTC has struck gold again with the HTC EVO 4G ($200 with a two-year contract from Sprint), which is easily the best smartphone available on Sprint and is second to the HTC Droid Incredible (Verizon) as the best smartphone available today. The EVO 4G packs powerful specs and a lot of features in a slick, stylish design. The biggest drawback is that not everyone will get to experience 4G connectivity, one of the phone's best features at launch--yet they'll still have to pay for it.

In addition to the phone's $200 price tag, EVO 4G owners will have to shell out $80 per month for unlimited data, as well as a mandatory $10 Premium Data add-on for 4G use. Given that only a handful of cities have WiMax coverage, this strikes me as unfair. Why should a user in, say, San Francisco have to pay that additional fee if they don't have 4G available to them?

Minimalist Design

Though I'm all for recyclable, minimal packaging, the EVO 4G's box is a little strange. A colleague pointed out that it resembles a tofu container. Other reviews have remarked that it looks like a microwavable meal. But really, it's what's inside the box that matters. The EVO 4G comes with the bare minimum: a Micro-USB cable, a USB wall charger, a 1500mAh battery, and an 8GB MicroSD card.

Design-wise, the EVO 4G is a bit imposing with its 4.3-inch WVGA (800-by-480-pixel) touchscreen, glossy black bezel, and blood-red detailing. Measuring 4.8 by 2.6 by 0.5 inches, the EVO 4G is also a bit larger than your average smartphone. Even so, it feels pretty comfortable to hold (and my hands are small), and I was able to use it with one hand without any issues. Like the HTC-built Nexus One, the four navigation buttons (Home, Menu, Back, Search) are part of the display rather than physical keys. This gives the EVO 4G a sleek, minimalist look. In my hands-on tests, I found the touch-sensitive buttons quite responsive, as well. The phone also has a much-hyped front-facing camera, which I'll cover later in this review.

Like the Nexus One, the EVO 4G has no dedicated camera key on its spine. The right edge houses the volume rocker. At the top of the phone sits the 3.5mm headphone jack and the power button. At the bottom is the HDMI port, along with the Micro-USB connector for both data transfer and charging.

Flip the EVO 4G over, and you'll find the 8-megapixel camera and dual LED flash, plus the phone's sturdy kickstand for tabletop video watching. When you pull out the kickstand, you see the aforementioned blood-red detailing. Remove the rubberized, matte-black battery cover, and you're greeted with even more color; the phone's interior and battery cover are both that same shade of red. HTC pulled the same design move with the Droid Incredible, as well as with the HD Mini (except that phone's interior is mustard yellow).

Honestly, the native Android keyboard isn't my favorite; the keys are too narrow and tightly packed, and its dictionary isn't always as on-point as the iPhone 3GS's. For an alternative, however, I recommend downloading the keyboard app ThickButtons, which follows a letter-by-letter algorithm to shrink the letters that you aren't likely to use and enlarge the buttons that you are.

Android 2.1 With Sense

Out of all of the custom skins for Android, HTC Sense is definitely my favorite. It is the easiest on the eyes, and it doesn't bog down the operating system by trying to do too much. The latest iteration of Sense features Leap, which is essentially an elegant way of handling multitasking; it's actually a bit reminiscent of Palm's WebOS deck-of-cards visualization. Pinch anywhere on the homescreen, and you'll jump to seven thumbnail versions of your open pages. From there, you can go to any of those open applications or close out of one.

Friend Stream, HTC's social network aggregator, allows you to view your friends' status updates, shared links, and pictures all in one seamless view. Supported social networks include Facebook, Flickr, Twitter, and others. I find such social network feeds a bit annoying--do I really need to see everybody's tweets and Facebook status updates all mixed up together? But I suppose if you're an avid social networker, seeing all of these updates in one place is useful.

One feature I found especially cool: You can tap and drag to highlight a block of text and either look up a word in a dictionary or translate it via Google Translate.

Along with the standard Android applications, such as Gmail, Google Talk, and YouTube, the phone offers HTC's Twitter app (Peep) and its photo-geotagging app (Footprints). In addition, you get a handful of Sprint apps, like SprintTV, Sprint Navigation, Sprint Zone, and Sprint Football Live.

Multimedia Machine

I'm not really a fan of HTC's Sense music player. Why? The album art doesn't take advantage of the EVO 4G's large display while the app is in Now Playing mode; it remains thumbnail-size. The Sense player is slightly prettier than the dull-as-dirt Android player, but I prefer iTunes or Palm's WebOS player. Audio sounded good, though, and the player supports a respectable range of audio and video formats. On YouTube, you get a feature called HQ, which enables you to watch better-quality videos (if available). You simply press the HQ button in the corner of the video, and a crisper, larger video--one that actually uses the EVO 4G's entire screen real estate--will load. Better yet, no 4G connectivity is needed.

Video playback via SprintTV was a disappointment, however. The video stuttered quite a bit, and the sound didn't match up. According to other reviews I've seen, it wasn't much better over a 4G connection, either.

Superb 8-Megapixel Camera

While 5 megapixels seems to be the standard for high-end smartphone cameras, the EVO 4G goes a step further with an 8-megapixel camera with a dual-LED flash. As with the iPhone 3GS, you can touch to focus on a subject. The camera's user interface is pretty straightforward, too, and it offers a handful of advanced controls such as exposure, color, white balance, and various photo effects.

Photo quality was impressive, both indoors and out. Colors appeared vivid but natural, and details looked sharp. My only complaint was that the flash tended to blow out details and color in indoor shots.

You can also capture HD video with the EVO's 4G camera. I was really pleased with how well my videos turned out, though the results don't hold a candle to those of a 1080p camcorder (see test video below). You can output your photos and videos in HD quality (720p) via the HDMI port. Of course, you'll have to purchase an HDMI cable--which is unfortunately sold separately.

To share videos, look no further than Qik, an application that will come preloaded on the EVO 4G. One of my favorite mobile apps, Qik allows you to stream live videos from your phone to your family and friends, as well as to share them via social networking sites like Facebook. And, yes, Qik supports HD-quality videos.

Last but not least, the EVO 4G sports a front-facing 1.3-megapixel camera with video recording. This feature, paired with 4G speeds, opens up many exciting opportunities for app developers. I'm anticipating lots of apps with integrated video-chat clients. Imagine being able to play a multiplayer game while video-chatting with your opponents. Or, what if you could watch a video while simultaneously discussing it with a friend? The application possibilities are endless.

4G and Mobile Hotspot

Unfortunately, at this time we were unable to test the phone's 4G speeds and features, as 4G coverage has not yet rolled out in San Francisco. For more information on the advantages of 4G, see "4G Wireless: 20 Questions Asked & Answered." We'll follow up with more testing as soon as possible.

Sprint says its 4G network delivers peak download speeds that are up to 10 times faster than 3G average download speeds. Though Sprint has been talking about its WiMax service (provided via the Clearwire network) for a few years now, we haven't seen many WiMax-enabled devices outside of laptop cards and modems.

If you are in a 4G-connected area, you can use voice and data simultaneously. I'm sure you've seen those Luke Wilson AT&T commercials, so you know this is a necessary feature. Yes, you can look up a restaurant while you're on the phone making dinner plans with your friends (even though that's kind of rude). Really, though, the most useful purpose for this function is when you're connected to the mobile 4G hotspot: You won't be disconnected if you get a phone call.

With the built-in mobile hotspot, you can connect up to eight Wi-Fi-enabled devices, including a laptop, camera, music player, video player, and any other Wi-Fi-enabled device, to the 4G network. Connecting to the hotspot is simple: You can access it either by a dedicated icon on the Launcher or in your Settings menu. You then type in your SSID name, the encryption type, and your password, and you're good to go. The hotspot will cost you $30 per month on top of the $80 for the data plan and Premium Data add-on. Fortunately, there's no cap on data usage.

Solid Performance

We were able to test 3G performance, and overall I was impressed with how quickly multimedia-rich pages loaded over Sprint's network. Additionally, I was pleased with how clear my phone calls were in San Francisco. A few of my colleagues on the other end of the line noted that my voice sounded a bit tinny, but my voice was still sufficiently loud and clear--even while I stood on a busy street corner.

Like the Nexus One, the HD2, and the Droid Incredible, the EVO 4G runs on Qualcomm's 1GHz Snapdragon processor. The EVO 4G was pretty speedy in my hands-on tests, even when I had multiple applications open. Applications launched quickly, too, though a few crashed on me (Sprint Football Live and Qik were the offenders).

Though Sprint hasn't released numbers for talk-time or stand-by time, I found that I was able to go a full day with moderate data usage without needing to recharge. 4G connectivity will definitely affect battery life, however, and we'll update our review once we're able to test it.

The HTC EVO 4G represents a huge step forward for both the Android platform and Sprint's 4G network. Unfortunately, it might be a little too ahead of its time, as 4G is fairly limited here in the United States. Aside from that issue, the EVO 4G is a winner with its solid hardware, multimedia capabilities, and speediness. Even if you don't have 4G connectivity in your city, you'll be pleased with this smartphone. But don't say I didn't warn you about that additional $10-per-month fee.

Impact of Mobile VoIP on Next Generation

2010-05-20T06:35:00.000-07:00

Impact of Mobile VoIP on Next Generation Cellular Networks, finds that that at the end of 2008, approximately $605.8 million of mobile VoIP revenues were generated in North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and Latin America. This is expected to grow to $29.57 billion by 2015. The technologies covered in this research service are

high-speed packet access (HSPA),
third-generation long-term evolution (3G LTE),
global system of mobile communications (GSM),
IP multimedia subsystem (IMS),
HSPA+, general packet radio service (GPRS),
voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) and session initiation protocol (SIP).

"The emergence of flat rate mobile data pricing, positive growth of smartphone shipments, and high-speed mobile broadband availability has spurred the adoption rate of mobile VoIP," says Frost & Sullivan Senior Industry Analyst Saverio Romeo. "Mobile operators realise they can no longer ignore the fact that mobile will be a key component of integrated IP-based communications and next generation wireless technologies such as HSPA+ and LTE."

Significant traction in the application space, primarily driven by the success of the iPhone, has resulted in several smartphone vendors making provisions in their applications stores for users to download and use third-party VoIP clients over both wireless fidelity (WiFi) and cellular broadband networks.

However, many cellular operators have prohibited the use of mobile VoIP over their cellular networks, with some imposing a surcharge to avoid cannibalisation of their circuit-switched voice revenue streams. Moreover, cellular operators face intense competition from the more popular Web-based VoIP alternatives that are permeating the mass market.

"Despite user demand for cost-effective services, some mobile operators will continue to discourage mobile subscribers from using VoIP over cellular networks and suggest that it will not provide the same quality, efficiency and reliability of services offered by the GSM network," explains Romeo. "Recent surveys indicate that nearly 60 to 70 per cent of the major European mobile operators prohibit or restrict the usage of VoIP over their popular mobile broadband data plans."

Mobile operators should eventually do away with imposing bans or surcharges to their mobile broadband packages to support mobile VoIP, as the client devices supporting HSPA+ and LTE will be based on open platforms and support SIP for third-party applications.

"When the operators migrate to an all-IP IMS network, they should drive innovative services such as multimedia telephony, high definition voice, integrating voice with context-based information about the user, and the device from a converged presence-enabled address book," concludes Romeo. "This will enable them to differentiate their services from mobile VoIP start-ups."

Read the rest of the news click here, Impact of Mobile VoIP on Next Generation

How to Configure VOIP Windows Mobile 6?

2010-05-20T06:17:00.000-07:00

Configuring VOIP and SIP client services for Windows Mobile 6 SIP is simple. Typically, devices that support such services for Windows Mobile 6 SIP come pre-bundled and installed. However, if you are getting a free phone, as opposed to purchasing a new Softphone, you might need to manually configure VOIP and the SIP client.

To configure VOIP and SIP client for a Windows Mobile 6 SIP compatible phone, you must first check in the Windows directory to ensure the following files are present: rtcdll.dll, voipphonecanvas.dll, dnsapi.dll, and ipdialplan.xml. NOTE: If any of these files are not present before configuring VOIP and SIP client for Windows Mobile 6 SIP, you will have to go out to the net and download the files to ensure you are ready to configure before actually doing so. Configuring services for Windows Mobile 6 SIP without having these files will disable many important functions and processes that you need for your Windows Mobile 6 SIP compatible phone. Next, you will need to create a setup XML file to hold and store all applicable programs and applications to keep your Windows Mobile 6 SIP compatible phone running properly. This is the file directory you will be transferring the actual device. Then, create a _setup.xml file with all parameters for your Windows Mobile 6 SIP applications. If you do not know how to do this, there are many files available online that are quick and easy to run. Next, type the following command into a dos prompt: cabarc N myvoipsettings.cab_setup.xml. This command will go out and access the file you just made. Transfer this file onto your Windows Mobile 6 SIP phone. Rename the setup file with a .txt file extension. It will be transferred as _setup.xml and you change it to _setup.txt. Although it is essential, this step is often missed in configuring services for Windows Mobile 6 SIP. Delete _sip_provider_name_ and enter the name of your actually SIP/VOIP provider. Your mobile device must be aware of what SIP/VOIP service provider you are using. Change _account_and_password to your actual username and password. This will ensure you can get into the administrator tools for your device in the future. Where you see SIP: user@sip_host.com_, replace with your SIP address. Go back and save the file as _setup.xml and the run the cabarc N voip.cab_setup.xml. Now, you will need to go back and ensure the provisioning/parameter setting worked. To do this, check for the file ProvOSIPSettings file is present under the file tree of WindowsSystemVoIP.

Configuring services for Windows Mobile 6 SIP compatible phones can be simple if you have the right files setup beforehand. Lacking in any of these steps above will lead to a real mess; you would basically have to delete everything and start over. Your Windows directories will never know what you are trying to do unless you have the right dll files. Following the steps above will ensure you have a Windows Mobile 6 SIP client that works properly.

Google Spent $68 Million Dollars to Buy GIS

2010-05-20T06:04:00.000-07:00

Google's just plopped some $68 million dollars on the table to buy up Global IP Solutions, a company that sells voice and video IP conferencing gear. Is this a sign Google's revving up Voice or even its TV products to rival Skype and Apple?

Google's been a customer of GIS for some time, along with other huge tech players like Samsung, Nortel, AOL, and Yahoo (the technology powers the systems running Yahoo Messenger). GIS also recently revealed it's working on tech to make life easier for Android app writers keen to put voice and video chat into their apps.

At this point many things are unclear about the future of the deal, and GIS's role inside Google...but we can make some educated guesses. We know Google has to impress over 90% of GIS's current stock holders, although about 40% of the owners have already indicated their approval (due to potential financial benefits). And GIS has stated that it will continue to support its existing customers--indicating Google doesn't seem to have plans to cut off the supply of GIS tech to anyone. Less clear is what GIS will do for Google.

So let's think: Google is already rattling the telecoms establishment with its Voice system, a VoIP system that tackles person-person communications in a way alien to the existing fixed and mobile cellphone networks. Tech designed to boost Voice's powers would seem like a good investment, right at the moment that Android devices seem to be grabbing big market share. Meanwhile Apple's next-gen iPhone, due for arrival sometime over the next five to six weeks, appears to have a front-facing camera. And there are rumors Apple's beefing up its iChat system to enable voice and video conference calling. The camera may also be usable for 3G video calls over cellphone networks, and it may be accessible by other apps like Skype for video calling over VoIP. So, Google may also be planning on boosting its tech to take on Apple, and the mighty Skype itself.

And thinking of Skype, with recent rumors concerning Google's intention to move into the Net-connected TV space, a Google TV with built-in VoIP for voice and video solutions would certainly be attractive to many modern families. GIS's tech expertise may well play into Google's plans for this market too.

VoIP Solutions for your Business Productivity

2010-05-17T06:49:00.000-07:00

The business houses that are cost conscious have employed the best-of-breed IP telephony services as well as products to avail the benefits that they represent. With a dependence on the internet, voice over IP services have been successful in delivering phone calls, text chat, video streams as well as images to the users on a global scale in a cost efficient manner. As a matter of fact, the VoIP solutions have gained a strategic advantage in today’s contemporary market by simplifying, augmenting and unifying the different spheres of communication. In these solutions, video and audio signals can be captured, compressed and streamed over a high speed IP network. The users are able to enjoy seamless communication as these solutions are based on the packet switching technique. Routing of calls or videos over Internet connections using the packet switching technique makes the IP solutions distinct from the traditional PSTN services.

Unlike expensive PSTN systems, the VoIP solutions deliver high quality voice services and reduce calling costs quite significantly. The internet telephony solutions assist the business houses to be more innovative, flexible, competent and productive; they help the business houses to successfully take on their competitors.

With a dependence on VoIP solutions, making long distance calls is no longer a reason for concern or worry, as the monthly telephone expenditures are kept within limits. As a matter of fact, it is possible to save up to 40-60 percent with these solutions, more so when compared to the pre-existing PSTN services. Moreover, depending upon the usage and requirement, a VoIP solution provider would offer desirable business solutions to users.

Given all these reasons, the VoIP business solutions have gained in importance in various industries such as finance, telecommunication, insurance, travel and media. With various benefits and the latest applications, IP telephony solutions have almost achieved a complete market penetration, leaving their mark on both institutional as well as individual users.

The business solutions of VoIP are beneficial, as they allow business users to access more than one call at a particular time and users can avail the benefits of sending images, videos and voice through the same IP network. Apart from that, VoIP business solutions enable the users to access long distance calls at significantly cheaper rates. The wide array of benefits does not end here, as these solutions are backed with other features such as scalability, reliability and flexibility. These features ensure security in communication with others.

Before opting for IP solutions, business houses must carry extensive research for the best offers provided by VoIP providers. The market is replete with service providers. To attract users, providers have come up with value-added services such as call waiting, call forwarding, 3-way calling and call conferencing.

To conclude, VoIP solutions play a vital role in the improvement of the business productivity without compromising on the voice quality.

Skype focusing its services on IPad, Iphone, Android Except Windows Phone

2010-05-15T00:02:00.000-07:00

Skype, one of the go-to apps for any mobile platform these days, is taking a wait-and-see approach to Microsoft's latest mobile platform while it focuses on iPhone, iPad, Android, and others.

At a press briefing in Sydney, Australia, Skype's Asia Pacific vice president, Dan Neary, said that a Windows Phone 7 client is "on the roadmap," but that "the question is how quickly we're going to get to it." Further turning Skype's back on Microsoft for the meantime, Neary continued: "We feel that the best areas for us to develop are on the operating systems that we currently support -- iPhone, Symbian, BlackBerry and now Android."

That certainly isn't a "no, not never," but Skype is clearly not leaping out of its chair to start Windows Mobile 7 development. The VoIP company seems to be bearish on Microsoft's mobile platforms in general. Back in February, it discontinued Skype for Windows Mobile 6.5 altogether, citing a poor user experience across the myriad of Windows Mobile devices.

Perhaps more interesting to owners of Apple's mobile gadgets, Neary stated at the press event that Skype is due for iPad by summer. The company is also pushing hard into video chatting, as it unveiled a five-way video calling beta for Windows, and Neary hinted that Skype might support video-chatting if it arrives on Apple's next iPhone (which we may have already seen), expected to be released this summer.

Make PC to Phone Calls to Your Loved Ones

2010-05-14T02:03:00.000-07:00

The digitalization of Internet phone service has created a new world of international calling. The variety of VoIP services has been fascinating people and allowing them to make calls without any barriers. VoIP application offers great range of facilities including free voip calls predictive dialer, free international calls, Cheap International calls, Voip predictive dialers, Conference calling, Voip pbx, Hosted PBX ,Voip telephony along with business advantages like business Voip Business, Residential Voip service, Nortel Voip. This is one of the advanced technology that has contributed to the growth of entire world. The scenario showed that after the introduction of Internet phone service, a large number of people are relying on this service for their everyday communication, as it is one of the cost saving technology that do not require large amount of money for making international calls.

The innovations let to the popularity of VoIP calls that has been offering immense benefits and scope. Internet phone service offers desktop, mobile and even web application through which one can easily make calls worldwide using mobile phones, PC and landline phones. There are number of calling features through which one can add more fun and entertainment to his/her conversation. For example, with the ease of video calling, the caller can easily see the end user and enjoy the conversation. With the comfort of more features such as call waiting, call divert, call conferencing, video-audio sharing, instant messenger, individuals are just enjoying making calls through Internet. Technological progress let to the survival of such effective services that has been helping in eliminating the barriers of communication.

Moreover, mobile calling has made communication more better and even easier. There are immense mobile phones enabled with Wi-Fi connection, allowing users to get connected to VoIP technology at any point of time and thus can make calls as per their comfort. This favors huge popularity of Internet phone service. The popularity of PC to PC calls, PC to mobile calls and PC to PC calls has made people relaxed of their hefty phone bills. The increasing growth rate of VoIP technology has been helping marketers to expand their business overseas by promoting their products and attractive deals all over the world. With increasing demand of brand awareness factor, VoIP service providers are just delivering their wonderful services to every individual by adding more comfort to their routine lives. VoIP connect users directly to the IP network and allow them to make calls as per their convenience. It is becoming more and more common for telecommunications providers to use VoIP telephony just by switching to IP networks. So enjoy utilizing all such great features and thus make calls without any tension and fear of calling rates.

VoIP Service on 3G Mobile

2010-05-14T01:51:00.000-07:00

Growing number of VoIP services and suppliers Zuijin few years have seen a clear direction towards mobile VoIP, for the same of convenience, most users have enjoyed for the fixed VoIP is available in the Shi Jian on the road. As technology improved, the quality of voice and data transmission has improved significantly, more multimedia and video conferencing capabilities, most of the suppliers.

The next step is to have VoIP capabilities of 3G mobile networks through a standard run, in particular, EDGE and GPRS standards. Currently provided, limited only by the WiFi network VoIP, despite the recent operators and equipment manufacturers have started to allow VoIP on their 3G network standard. The impact of these developments are so profound, it will shake in the next few years, the future of telecommunications.

The former limit

Apple's iPhone in the smart phone has a great reputation popular mobile world. With the usage of VoIP over fixed-line universal parallel position, which is only a matter of time or before the final demand of mobile users to use more than 3G mobile systems such as VoIP. However, from the downgrading of VoIP operators restrictions, such as only through Wi – Fi for iPhone device use and do not use the phone data connection prevention.

Many people speculated that these restrictions brought about by the phone operators to protect their core business as operator about. Others see VoIP in 3G networks must use the balloon has a role to play serious congestion. Nevertheless, these limitations prompted the Federal Communications Commission's pressure on these operators and mobile service providers, also partly because FCC's commitment to opening up policy, and consumer support.

Latest news and developments

With a flood of iPhone hit the market, the popularity of smart phones, so do not be over-IP voice shouting, allowing users to use applications like Skype and Fring to their mobile networks to make free calls. This is the limit on cover for a while, until the announcement from the major 3G operators, AT & T companies, it has abolished the prohibition of its 3G network equipment to use in their iPhone VoIP previous policy.

This message is open, as many iPhone users and VoIP applications, previously depressed 3G network users to millions of uproar surprise. First of all, to take advantage of iCall, and Skype, Fring and Vonage the company to follow, so that iPhone users can finally make their 3G mobile phone network, VoIP phone.

The future of 3G VoIP

VoIP applications like Skype, iPhone usage and ultimately all other smart phones, even Blackberry devices, especially in the lower call costs for mobile communications world, a very important effect, operators compared to a very expensive program. The same is true of this trend, such as Europe, the telecom operators have blocked its 3G network, VoIP applications, not only in the United States, but in other areas.

While making VoIP calls is much lower cost, relative to 15 times lower than standard 3G phones, experts have projected revenues of the way with mobile phone operator, potential a very dynamic prediction of mobile VoIP users in anticipation of the exponential growth over 3G networks in more than 30 billion U.S. dollars. Part of this is through the integration of 3G functionality in other devices, such as Internet telephony in the IPAD, as well as social networking sites and mobile community integration. This is a new a new realm of global communications.

UK VoIP Provider Offer Mobile VoIP Sim Cards

2010-05-12T00:34:00.000-07:00

NTA, a privately owned UK VoIP provider, today announced the launch of its first True Mobile VoIP solution scheduled for May 28th 2010. Using an NTA SIM, customers will get all the flexibility and functionality of their VoIP Business System, on their mobile phone, and at a fraction of the cost of the current mobile providers.

NTA’s network is interconnected with one of the largest UMTS mobile network operators using voice over the Internet protocol (VoIP) technology. This means you are not required to install VoIP software or a SIP client on your mobile phone. Also you are not dependant on an unreliable WiFi connection.

Paul White, NTA MD commented ‘We will be able to take our customer’s existing mobile and make it an extension of our network. This means their mobile phones can now access the same huge range of functionality as their office based VoIP system.’ He continued ‘NTA is the first VoIP provider who is offering pure-play VoIP for mobile customers as well as offering “MOVEX” (Mobile VoIP Extensions) without costly mobile forwarding charges and limitations to an area. You can choose from a range of mobile numbers, geographic numbers and office extension numbers to be assigned to a NTA Mobile SIM Card. Or have multiple numbers assigned to the NTA Mobile SIM Card as well.’

Feature Rich Mobile devices at low cost
Functions include call recording, hold, call transfer, voicemail, hunt group, IVR, call pickup, DND, Time & Date routes, music on hold, Call announcements, Fax to Email, Alerts, Conference Calls, Call Screening, Whisper announcement, Pattern Menu, Queues, Remote Access, Instant Number Allocation and many more. Users of NTA’s Mobile VoIP will be able to make calls at exactly the same rate as their desk phone (with a small charge of 2.5ppm on top of the normal tariff). This means they can ring a UK landline for 3.7ppm (peak time) or call the US for the same rate. Calls within the NTA network (NTA mobile VoIP to NTA VoIP extension and vice versa) cost only 2.5ppm.

When launched on May 28th 2010, the service will cost £7.99 a month plus £0.99 for hosting the number.

More Unlimited Calling Plans from Skype

2010-05-10T00:40:00.000-07:00

Skype has introduced new monthly subscription plans, extending its pre-paid VoIP packages to landlines and mobile phones in 170 countries.

The new subscription offerings were launched last week, replacing Skype's previous "unlimited" plans that were launched in 34 countries in April 2008.

According to Skype's Asia Pacific vice president and general manager Dan Neary, the new monthly subscriptions would save customers 60 percent off the standard pay-as-you-go rates.

Australian customers could now pre-pay their monthly local calls for $1.49 for 60 minutes to landlines, $7.99 for "unlimited" calls to landlines or $12.99 for 60 minutes to landlines and mobiles.

There was also an "Unlimited World" offering for $15.99 that included calls to landlines in 40 countries and mobiles in countries such as the U.S., Canada, China, Hong Kong and Singapore.

Skype's "unlimited" offerings were bound by a fair use policy limiting users to 10,000 minutes per month, six hours per day and no more than 50 different numbers per day.

"We had some positive changes in our business with the expansion of our calling destinations from 40 to over 170 countries," Neary told iTnews.

"We also are now including calls to mobile phones as part of our low monthly rates. Overall, we are working hard to make it even easier for consumers to pick the calling plan that works for them."

Citing January 2010 data from TeleGeography Research, Neary said Skype accounted for 12 percent of the world's international calling minutes in 2009.

It exited 2009 with $716m in revenue, after being sold by eBay for $2.75 billion to an investor group led by U.S. private equity firm Silver Lake in November 2009.

Skype currently has half a billion registered users and adds 400,000 new users per day, Neary said.

VOIP Service Security Applications

2010-05-10T00:34:00.000-07:00

With the introduction of VOIP, the need for security is compounded because now we must protect two invaluable assets, our data and our voice. For example, when ordering merchandise over the phone, most people will read their credit card number to the person on the other end. The numbers are transmitted without encryption to the seller. In contrast, the risk of sending unencrypted data across the Internet is more significant. Packets sent from a user’s home computer to an online retailer may pass through 15-20 systems that are not under the control of the user’s ISP or the retailer.

Because digits are transmitted using a standard for transmitting digits out of band as special messages, anyone with access to these systems could install software that scans packets for credit card information. For this reason, online retailers use encryption software to protect a user’s information and credit card number. Hence, we are to transmit voice over the Internet Protocol, and specifically across the Internet, similar security measures must be applied. The current Internet architecture does not provide the same physical wire security as the phone lines. The key to securing VOIP is to use the security mechanisms like those deployed in data networks (firewalls, encryption, etc.).

The vulnerabilities in VOIP encompass not only the flaws inherent within the VOIP application itself, but also in the underlying operating systems, applications, and protocols that VOIP depends on. The complexity of VOIP creates a high number of vulnerabilities that affect the three classic areas of information security: confidentiality, integrity, and availability.

A virus is a piece of malicious code loaded onto the computer systems without your knowledge and runs against your wishes. As VoIP applications move beyond simply handling voice calls to running different applications, the virus risk is likely to increase because all VoIP applications have their own IP address like the computer systems on IP networks. Thus, a virus attack could bevery effective against the VoIP applications. One of the common examples is that virus injects small replication code through stack overflow to damage the VoIP applications or even bring down the IP networks. To tackle this scenario, VoIP applications should provide a security mechanism to verify received data packet size to avoid exceed bounds of available memory on stack. In summary, virus attacks could generate security threats to integrity and availability.

Denial of Service (DoS) attacks always refer to the prevention of access to a network service by bombarding servers, proxy servers or voice-gateway servers with malicious packets. An incident in which a user is deprived of the services or resource they would normally expect to have. Intruders can launch the full spectrum of DoS attacks (e.g., unauthenticated call control packets) against VoIP application’s underlying networks and protocols like traditional PBX. For example, voicemail and short messaging services in IP telephony systems can become the targets of message flooding attacks. The result may prevent legitimate attempts to leave a subscriber a message.

Man in the Middle attacks always refer to an intruder who is able to read, and modify at will, messages between two parties without either party knowing that the link between them has been compromised. The most common man in the middle attack usually involves Address Resolution Protocol (ARP), which can cause an VoIP application to redirect its traffic to the attack computer system. Then the attack computer system can gain complete control over that VoIP application’s sessions, which can be altered, dropped, or recorded. For example, an attacker can inject speech, noise or delay (e.g., silent gaps) into a conversation .In general, there are three types of vulnerabilities:(1) Eavesdropping: Unauthorized interception of voice data packets or

Real-Time Transport Protocol (RTP) media stream and decoding of signaling messages; (2) Packet Spoofing: Intercept a call by impersonating voice packets or transmitting information; and (3) Replay: Retransmit genuine sessions so that the VoIP applications will reprocess the information.

To tackle all these types of vulnerabilities, VoIP applications can adopt the Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) a security mechanism to ensure confidentiality of all transmitted data, and to verify and authenticate the validity of each party in the context of public and private key. Without proper encryption, anyone can sniff any voice data packets transmitted over IP networks that make security threats to confidentiality and integrity. In summary, Man in the Middle attacks create security threats to confidentiality and integrity because this type of attack may release the voice data packets to authorized parties or modify the content of conversations.

How Do You Choose Cheap Cell Phone Calling Plans?

2010-05-06T00:07:00.001-07:00

So the cell phone industry has blossomed into a gigantic gorilla that instead of taking loads of bananas from the public seems to give them out. You are bombarded everyday with free cell phone this and free accessories that. These promotions always seem great and too good to be true much of the time but what really counts in the whole deal is your calling plan.

What calling plan you decide to sign up for will be the most important decision in all of your wireless purchases being you will be paying monthly for whatever calling plan you choose. While calling plans will vary in prices and minutes the real outcome of a good cheap calling plan will rely on you and how you choose to use your phone.

While thinking of calling plans for your cell phone(s) there is more to put into consideration than just calling. There was a time when calling plan meant making phone calls, but now technology has graced the consumer public with advanced usage options such as email, texting, Internet, walkie talkie, ringtone downloads, and more. If adding people to your plan, expect to see that usage utilized by the other parties involved.

When signing up for a plan you will want to ask yourself what kind of usage your lifestyle will put into your wireless calling minutes. Put some of these questions into consideration:

How much do I need to talk on a mobile device?
Do I have to commute great distances often?
How many family members or business associates will be on the plan?
What are the calling habits of the other members I will add to the plan?
Will I need to do any text messaging?
Will I need to access email away from a computer?
How often will I need to talk to the members included in my plan?

In the questions you will notice I mention the word NEED not WANT. In your quest for a cheap cellular calling plan you will have to rely more on needs than wants. Wants can become a ravenous pig that consumes your budget and hogs up enough money to fund a spring vacation in one year alone in respect to wireless plans. You want to focus on bare minimums when considering your calling plan if going the route of cheap.

If you commute often or are in a bad reception area for your service you will have to put roaming charges into consideration. Many wireless providers offer free roaming in their pricier packages but if you think you will not end up accessing other networks while using your cell phone the gamble shouldn’t be too risky to opt out of a package with free roaming.

If you plan on adding other people to your wireless plan you will want to consider if you will be calling the involved parties frequently. If you will be then you might do better with an unlimited phone to phone calling plan to help reduce costs.

There are many calling plans out there with various pricing structures but the ultimate decision of cheap will rely on you. Focus on what you will need and not what you will want and you might find that you have created your own cheap calling plan for yourself without the help of a provider.

VoIP Technology Deals Give the Best Value in VoIP Services

2010-05-05T23:53:00.000-07:00

Connecting a VoIP service effectively gives you an additional telephone line. Your existing copper wire service will still work, but now you can make calls on your VoIP service at the same time. Connect from UK to anywhere in this earth without worrying about horrible telephone bills.

Skype has pretty good VoIP deals on International rates. Skype is already working (in some form) on the iPhone, and considering the iPod Touch and the iPhone are as similar as Apple says they are, the software shouldn\’t be a problem. Getting the audio in and out to the right places is where the trouble lies in many VoIP deals.

Switch to the best cable provider. Make a great VoIP deal while you do so! Switch Call has a 5 monthly fee, better phones, and other bundled features. But the real signal that VoIP is here is in announcements like Switch Call\’s: announcements that are based on the prosaic, frankly dull business of comparing one call package with another.

Based on information and research, we invested in a VoIP deal heavily in a complex architecture and programming scenario that would allow us to aggregate and consolidate services. If you need to solve a problem strike a VoIP deal, give SolveForce a shot at the solution. Based on these imperative things, you can choose the right choice – get connected with the people and the world, anytime-anywhere – great VoIP deals.

Yet, I’d rather remain net-free on flights than be subjected to folks yammering on headsets all flight along. Is it just me? Yet one only has to have a closer look at their international rates, then you will see immediately that once an unsuspecting consumer has signed up for their services they are taken for a ride. Which is not such a great VoIP deal! Although GMX is a reputable company and an established ISP in Germany the international VoIP call rates are the most expensive to many destinations in the world and substantially a VoIP deal higher than the average.

SunRocket Internet Phone Service has the ability to save you money in a couple of ways. One way that you get less expensive service is because the company has very low rates on its monthly calling plans, normally even lower than the most basic plans of local telephone companies. SunRocket is the nation\’s leading VoIP deal provider of Voice over Internet Protocol services. If you are not familiar with VoIP (as it is commonly known), you might be missing out on a telephone service that can give you plenty of fresh options as well as save you plenty of money in the VoIP deal. SunRocket will have to prove they rendered service properly. If they can\’t provide sufficient evidence, the credit card company will debit the disputed amount from their account and credit it to mine.

High Definition Mobile VoIP Calls Will Boom By Coming Years

2010-05-05T23:38:00.000-07:00

The High-Definition mobile phone market is expected to boom in the next few years, according to research.

ABI Research has predicted that around 487 million mobile phone users will use HD enabled handsets to make high quality calls over upgraded networks in 2015.

This advancement could provoke VoIP providers to make a similar improvement in the standard of mobile VoIP phone calls as the bandwidth offered over mobile broadband networks increases.

Although there is a high demand for HD television and radio sets, the mobile phone HD market is virtually non-existent at present.

The industry is expected to grow in 2013, before expanding significantly in 2014, with the research company highlighting cost as a major driver.

Principal analyst for ABI Research, Fritz Jordan, expressed his belief that implementing the new technology will not be an expensive task for newer 3G networks.

He said: "The upgrade to HD voice is not especially expensive. Newer 3G networks- those deployed since about 2005-2006 - can already use the new format and require only a software update and a changeover to HD handsets."

This will mean developing countries with recently installed 3G networks in Africa and Middle East will be HD voice ready before North America and Western Europe, who will have to change older infrastructure to accommodate the new format.

Users of the new hardware will not be faced with huge bills, but customers may find prices are frozen for long periods.

Mr Jordan added: "Price per minute won't go up for HD voice subscribers, but it may not erode as quickly as for subscribers to conventional services."

More than 900 million people already regularly use VoIP solutions to make high quality phone calls using internet applications, and they will expect the same standard of service from their mobile provider.

In addition to the introduction of HD quality calls, customers will soon be able to record videos in HD as well.

This could revolutionise business VoIP communications, as remote employees could benefit from improved video conference calls, thereby increasing worker efficiency.

Some handsets which will feature HD Video in the near future include the Sony Ericsson Vivaz and the Google Nexus One.

Droid from Verizon Wireless Motorola

2010-05-05T01:46:00.000-07:00

A wide variety of: Verizon Wireless Motorola Droid for Sale, Free Verizon wireless family phones are for sale at www.free-cellular-phone-deals.com. Especially this month because you will have the ability to sign up for a free Verizon family phone so you can communicate with your mother anytime you wish up until the midnight of May sixth, 2010 and not have to pay an activation fee. If you want to sign up for four Verizon phones you can potentially save $135 on free activation. Simply go to the web site by clicking on the link below!

Click here sign up To Get cash back For You & Your Spouse When You Order The free HTC DROID family phone

Save on Your Telephone Bills with Voice Over IP Using Your HTS Droid Verizon Phone.

Before you learn what it means to switch over to voice over IP, know that currently you're using a conventional landline telephone system also known as public telephone switch network. So when you pick up the phone when Pan said the connection is automatically made to a local switching center. When you hear the dial tone on the phone that's your confirmation that you've connected to the local switching center. For instance, when you enter the phone number of your wife or husband that you wish to call to wish a happy Mother's Day, but you're actually doing is issuing a set of instructions to the switching center which creates a circuit between your telephone and to the person that you are currently calling.

When someone picks up the phone on the other end, the circuit is then completed. So when you're making a call from Santa Fe New Mexico two San Diego, California you literally have a physical connection to the other person via 2000 miles of wire and fiber optic.

Unfortunate I will not to be writing a 10,000 word essay so I cannot give you a full-blown details of how voice over IP works but initially what happens is that a voice over IP line translate the sound of your voice that's initially captured analog audio signal into digital packets. These are collections of zeros and ones. These of zeros and ones are transmitted via the Internet to the person that you're calling. And they are be translated into analog audio signal and reproduce as an electronic simulation of your voice.

Pros of VOICE OVER IP

the biggest Pro is the actual cost calls made from computer to computer are actually free. Please subscribe to my RSS feed later on I will be creating a newsletter to teach you how you can save or/60% of your cell phone and landline long-distance costs by using voice over IP services. Folks such as von edge for instance offers a presidential package that includes; free long distance, voicemail, caller ID, call waiting, call forward and other features that you will love.

Cons of VOICE OVER IP

Reliability! Because voice over IP works only on cable modems or broadband faster Internet connections, users that are using dial-up Internet will not be able to enjoy a clear voice over IP call. It's too frustrating to try to have a voice over IP conversation with your loved one on a dial-up Internet connection.

Simply smile at your mother for the incredible woman she's been towards you. When you receive the $100 cash back when you click on the link above to order your Verizon family phone, why not treat your mother to your favorite restaurant? Do you enjoy Peruvian food, Japanese food, authentic northern Beijing food, Filipino food, Thai food, Italian food, Russian food, Singaporean food? You owe it to your mother after all she's or equal to 20,000 meals for the first 18 years of your life. Why not return the favor to not make her do the dishes, slave over the hot stove and having to run out of the grocery store and circle endlessly looking for parking lot for all the times she is how to buy groceries to feed you.

maximize your life, bring maximum happiness to you mother by giving her Droid by Motorola phone has a Mother's Day gift

Turbocharger your wireless network with all the incredible features of a Motorola Droid. Advanced 5 Megapixel Camera/ Camcorder Is Integrated With GPS, Social Networks, and More
Amazing 7 Customizable Home Screens For Each HTC Scene Saved
Bright 3.2" Touch Screen Display For Easily Watching Videos, Surfing The Web and Checking Emails
Fully Customizable Experience To Suit Your Needs Every Day Or Mood
Fully Integrated Social Networking- Even Set Facebook Profile Photos As Caller ID
Place Free and Discounted Calls To Other PCs, Mobile and Landline Phones Worldwide With Skype
Support For Fast 3G Speeds and WiFi (Hotspots)
Thousands Of Applications (Apps) and Hundreds Of Widgets Available From The Android Market
Your Favorite Google Apps Pre-installed - GTalk, Google Maps, Gmail, Etc.
Source: http://www.tmicell.com/plans/ph_detail.asp?PhoneId=4314&aid=781

VOIP Advantage for Small Business/Home Business

2010-05-05T01:33:00.000-07:00

Small businesses, home-based businesses, and self-employed individuals have been turning to internet telephone service (also called broadband phone or VOIP) in droves. What is the attraction? As a self-employed, telecommuting, small-business-owning freelance writer, I can provide some insight.

I switched my business to internet phones early in 2005. Despite a few hiccups, I’m not going back to landlines. Internet phone service has too many advantages, which I’ll describe for you. I also have some tips for avoiding possible rough patches.

VOIP Internet Phone Small Business and SOHO Advantages VOIP Advantage No. 1: Look bigger.
If your small business has to seem large, a virtual PBX with a dial-by-name directory might help. These systems cost thousands to install. But many VOIP companies let you rent this service for less than a hundred dollars a month. Give each member of your team their own outside line. With most VOIP companies, each line costs around $10. Get one or more 1-800 numbers at around $10/month.

VOIP Advantage No 2. Freedom of movement.
Freedom to travel. When I went to Sacramento to visit a friend, I ended up extending my stay to a whole month. I couldn’t have done that without regular phone access. With VOIP, my Massachusetts number follows me wherever I go. Tropical adventures. I regularly work with a virtual assistant company that takes phone calls on their Quebec phone number everyday. That wouldn’t be so strange except they’re in the Philippines. They’re using the same small business VOIP phone service sold right here in North America. True, VOIP companies don’t generally guarantee their services will work outside the country of purchase. But the internet is the internet, whether in Fargo or the South Pacific. With the growth of broadband to virtually every non-pariah nation on earth, your second office really could be in a tropical paradise–or year-round ski resort. Isn’t that the freedom you hoped being your own boss would bring?Telecommuting. Feel a cold coming? Work from home! With VOIP, even the receptionist may be able to telecommute!Voicemail by email. You don’t have to be by the phone to get voicemail. This is the perfect service for busy people and email addicts. Bonus: the message (in a file similar those used on MP3 players) can be stored indefinitely.

Internet Phone Advantage 3. CostMake lots of calls?

Many VOIP providers’ unlimited-calling plans cost just $20 to $80 a month. Features such as call waiting, caller ID, hold, call forwarding, and multiple ring-to numbers are usually costly extras with landline service. With most VOIP services, those are built-in features.

SOHO VOIP: Tips for Making it Work for Your Business SOHO VOIP,

Tip 1. Test internet phoning out before committing.
Yes, some VOIP connections are so scratchy and patchy they sound like cell phones. That’s usually because of a problem in the internet connection. Such problems may not be apparent in ordinary web browsing and file downloading. Go with a service that has a 30-day money-back guarantee. Try VOIP out where you live and work. Make sure to try inbound and outbound calls.

Small Business Internet Phone Tip 2. Phoning from a laptop.

With VOIP telephones, you don’t need a computer. But you can use your computer as a phone. A piece of software called a “softphone” uses your computer’s speakers and microphone. If your laptop is running too many programs at once, calls will deteriorate. Higher-end laptops shouldn’t have this problem.

SOHO Internet Phones Tip 3. Go with an established VOIP company.

You don’t want to lose your telephone service and possibly your number. Yet only a few VOIP companies have roots before 2000. Choose a service with deep enough roots to survive a VOIP industry shake-out.

Small Biz Internet Phoning Tip 4. Choose a provider carefully before putting the number on your business cards.

Switching VOIP companies is at least as much of a pain as switching landline phone companies. In fact, there is typically no outward number-portability. You can bring a number in, but good luck taking it with you. Researching in early 2005, I found no nationwide VOIP services officially offering outward number portability.

Choose a VOIP provider with a 30-day money-back guarantee. Test the service out thoroughly. One thing is likely: you may want to switch VOIP providers, but you won’t want to go back to landline.

Major 5 Reasons Your Business Should Switch to VoIP Technology

2010-05-04T00:29:00.000-07:00

Today, many businesses are choosing to unplug and go with VoIP technology. There are many advantages for using VoIP including cost effectiveness, greater productivity, and the incorporation of data, audio, and video all intertwined in one program. Here is an overview of five reasons that your business should make the switch to VoIP.

1. VoIP Reduces Cost

Businesses today depend upon telecommunications. Whether it is Internet, E-mail, Customer Service through telephone, online web applications, and E-mail, or whatever your IT business needs may be, VoIP offers to handle all of your needs with one application. Additionally, this reduces cost and increases productivity. VoIP also has combined with software applications that are perfect for many business needs. Software such as accounting programs, Email, and PC based applications help to save money by combining services. The reduction in long distance charges is another great advantage for switching to VoIP for business needs. By combining data, video, and audio needs, companies save on bandwidth usage, which ultimately leads to financial savings.

2. VoIP is perfect for Call Centers

VoIP is slowly becoming the standard choice for Call Centers. VoIP offers some major benefits for Call Centers such as flexibility, cost efficiency, and enhanced customer service applications. For instance, in the past, a Call Center needed to be a stabilized facility equipped with many phone lines used by people who would physically be located in the Call Center. By using VoIP for your Call Center, not only is your main location easily relocated as your business expands, but you can hire employees virtually world wide. Larger companies take advantage of VoIP Call Centers by outsourcing work overseas where they can hire employees for less.

The Integration of data, audio, and web based features is another reason why businesses are opting for VoIP. Customer service calls are handled more efficiently with the integration of these three components. Not only are calls transferred more proficiently, but also greater care can be given to customers when Call Centers use integrated software platforms.

More Call Centers are taking advantage of the opportunity to hire employees world wide through VoIP services. Employees may work in different time zones, giving greater customer service benefits year round, and hiring home based employees is another way businesses are choosing to save money.

3. VoIP is better for Mobile Employees

Many companies employ mobile workers. Mobile Employees have typically used cell phones at the company's expense to stay in touch during the day. By utilizing VoIP Mobile Employees can remain virtually connected with the company, and the company saves money on fees.

When mobile employees rely on cell phones, many times a customer will call the main office, only to hear a message or be told the worker's cell phone number. This requires the customer to hang up and call the employee on their cell phone- increasing the chance that the employee will lose the sale. By using VoIP, a call is instantly routed to the mobile employee and productivity increases.

Since VoIP integrates many other technologies, including E-mail, mobile employees are able to conduct many more transactions with one application.

4. VoIP allows Real Time Global Conferencing

Global conferencing and training can put a burden on a business. Attempts to reach employees worldwide are not only expensive but time consuming as well. With VoIP technology businesses can avoid conferencing costs, and enable secure audio and videoconferences to offices worldwide. By reducing long distance costs, employees are also taking advantage of calling each other and corporate headquarters more frequently.

5. VoIP offers Flexibility that Ultimately Increases Productivity VoIP allows greater flexibility.

By using a standard VoIP Phone Adapter, you are able to take your telephone number with you. This allows greater productivity by allowing employees to conduct business overseas, while traveling, staying in hotels, etc. Your customers will be able to call you on your regular business phone number, and you won't have to use your cell phone.

Many VoIP services are fully integrated with PC applications such as fax and email. There is greater productivity when employees can integrate their email and phone services with one application. Conduct business with VoIP on your laptop, any time day or night.

With the option to get VoIP phone numbers with area codes throughout the country, and some world wide, businesses can expand by choosing local area codes for the city, state, or country they are targeting.

General Configuration Information when using VoIP Service

2010-05-04T00:20:00.000-07:00

This document will provide an overview of the more common concepts which need to be kept in mind when configuring 3CX PhoneSystem inside your network infrastructure, including the following topics:

NAT Configuration
STUN Resolution
DNS Resolution in a VoIP environment
Custom Configuration for particular network layouts
Different types of VoIP Provider Accounts
Custom Source Identification for VoIP Provider SIP message exchange

NAT Configuration

Number one on the VoIP provider configuration check list is the Port forwarding (also known as port publishing) on your NAT device.

If your PBX is operating from an average network i.e. connected to the internet through a single router, your PBX is behind NAT. The NAT device has to be instructed to forward the right inbound packets (from internet) to the PBX server. The UDP port ranges that need to be forwarded are related to SIP (call signaling) and RTP (Voice data). If you are running the PBX on the standard SIP port 5060 then all packets to UDP port 5060 need to be forwarded to the PBX. For the second port range (audio) you must forward ports 9000-9049 to the PBX. This only applies if you are using the standard range. You can find out the exact port range that your PBX uses in the “General Settings” of the 3CXPhoneSystem web console under the “Ports to use for external calls” setting. On the other hand the PBX in reverse must also be allowed to send out SIP traffic (source and destination port 5060), RTP traffic (in this case traffic with source ports 9000-9049) and STUN requests (destination port 3478). It is highly recommended that you test with an open access, i.e. allow ALL outgoing traffic from the PBX.

STUN resolution

In order to work properly the PBX needs to know its public (internet) IP address and what kind of NAT it is behind. It needs this so it knows how it is seen from the VOIP providers point of view. This is achieved via STUN resolution. Successful log entries will reflect proper stun resolution and will appear in the server status page on PBX at startup. These entries will look like the following;

14:40:27.703 StunClient::process [CM506002]: Resolved SIP external IP:port (64.233.167.99:5060) on Transport 192.168.0.1:5060
14:40:27.265 StunClient::onInitTests [CM506001]: STUN request to resolve SIP external IP:port mapping is sent to STUN server 64.69.76.23:3478 over Transport 192.168.0.1:5060

If there is no answer from the STUN server the PBX will log a failure, the message will look as follows;

11:14:38.687 StunClient::onTestTout [CM506004]: STUN request to STUN server 64.69.76.23 has timed out; used Transport: 10.172.0.132:5060

Note: If the customer wants to skip STUN resolution, because its on a public IP and no firewall is involved, then he can delete the STUN server entries in the general settings page. This will cancel out any STUN resolution. For further information about working in a STUN-less environment, go to this article: How and when can I switch off STUN Resolution?

From the successful logs one can notice that the “Resolved SIP external IP:port” contains a correct public IP, this can be cross checked on the NAT device. Every NAT device will have a status monitor where its IP can be reviewed. If the port forwarding rules have been set correctly then (normally, depending on the type of NAT implemented) no PAT (Port Address Translation) will occur. This means that the source port will not change when the PBX contacts the STUN server, the reported source port by the STUN server will remain 5060 (untouched). If the NAT device did not have the SIP port (5060) forwarding rules set it would be very likely that the NAT device would change the source port (along with the source IP) when the request traverses the device. The log entry in this case would look something like this (notice the report reflects a changed (translated) port);

14:40:27.703 StunClient::process [CM506002]: Resolved SIP external IP:port (64.233.167.99:24842) on Transport 192.168.0.1:5060
14:40:27.265 StunClient::onInitTests [CM506001]: STUN request to resolve SIP external IP:port mapping is sent to STUN server 64.69.76.23:3478 over Transport 192.168.0.1:5060

Note: The chances are that this setup may still work but it is definitely not as reliably as the scenario described earlier (no PAT) it is therefore not recommended.

The resolved public IP and Port will be used by the PBX for all external (internet) communication. If your internet connection has a frequently changing IP address your PBX is running in what can be considered a hostile environment, this type of environment is highly discouraged as it will most likely lead to intermittent service. In such a case make sure you have a frequent “Recheck external IP every (sec)” interval in the “General Settings” page under “STUN Server options”. You can discover if you have a frequently changing IP by either reviewing the status monitor of youe NAT device (WAN IP) or by reviewing the “Resolved external IP” in STUN server responses logged by the PBX in its status monitor page.

DNS resolution

Before being able to communicate with a VoIP provider the PBX must resolve the IP of the server it has to speak with. The PBX will send SIP traffic to the specified “Registrar/Proxy” found in the VoIP provider’s configuration. If this is an FQDN (opposed to an IP) the PBX will need to resolve this. It will first try to resolve the FQDN as an SRV record, and then (on failure) as an “A” record. “A” records are normal DNS records and these will be resolved normally. i.e. The PBX will ask it’s host OS to resolve the FQDN to an IP. The OS will ask the root servers for the DNS server in charge of the zone (example.com), and then ask for the particular record (A) at the zone’s DNS server. SRV records on the other hand have an extra step. “SRV” records are described in RFC2782 – these work much alike MX records. If the configured “Registrar/Proxy” of a VoIP provider is “example.com” the PBX will query for the “_sip._udp.example.com” “SRV” record. The initial steps for resolution are normal; i.e. the OS will query for the authorative server of example.com and then query for the SRV record _sip._udp at that server. The result however is not a single IP but a list of A records with a priority. e.g. ;

_sip._udp.example.com. 86400 IN SRV 10 60 5060 bigbox.example.com.
_sip._udp.example.com. 86400 IN SRV 10 20 5060 smallbox1.example.com.
_sip._udp.example.com. 86400 IN SRV 10 10 5060 smallbox2.example.com.
_sip._udp.example.com. 86400 IN SRV 10 10 5066 smallbox2.example.com.
_sip._udp.example.com. 86400 IN SRV 20 0 5060 backupbox.example.com.

The PBX will then go ahead and query the returned A records. The record with highest priority (this is indicated as the one with the lowest number in the column directly after the SRV column) will be the server that the PBX sends the SIP traffic to.

Using NSlookup to check records

You can manually check what SRV records are available for a particular provider using windows nslookup. This allows you to easily check if the provider has correct SRV and A records setup. For example:

Nslookup –q=srv _sip._udp.3cx.com
This queries the 3cx DNS server for a SIP server.
This returns sip.3cx.com

3CX Phone System will then query the A record for this host. The resulting IP will be used by 3CX Phone System.
Likewise, you can check what SRV records and IPs for A records will be returned by your VOIP provider.

Which interface is used for outgoing traffic

3CX Phone System uses Windows routing to decide which Network Interface it should use to do routing. Therefore, if you have multiple network cards in your machine, you will have to ensure that you have routing configured correctly. Use the windows route print command to find out traffic routes and priority.

Additional routable subnets

By default, 3CX Phone System will assume all devices on IPs of private networks as defined by RFC 3330 are local:10.0.0.0/8,169.254.0.0/16,172.16.0.0/12,192.168.0.0/16

If you have additional local subnets that should be considered internal, then you can configure these in the 3CXPhoneSystem.ini file by setting the “localSubnets” option in the “[Network]” section. This option should be specified as a comma-separated list of IP Address ranges in the form “a.b.c.d/maskLen”. If the option is specified it completely overrides default ranges specified above, so you must add ALL local ranges, including those that are by default considered local.

Example 1:

[Network]
localSubnets=
; IP will be treated as local only if it is directly accessible (residing in the same network as PBX host).

Example 2:

[Network]
localSubnets=172.99.95.0/24,45.23.68.0/24
; IP will be treated as local if it is directly accessible (IP Address in same subnet as PBX)
; or has IP in range 172.99.95.0/24 or 45.23.68.0/24

REGISTER

Registration-Based VoIP Provider Accounts

The PBX will attempt to REGISTER its VoIP provider lines on startup. SIP registration is a method for a SIP device to inform its registrar (in this case the VoIP provider) where it is located. Once this is established the VoIP provider will know where to forward incoming calls. REGISTER requests are usually challenged for authentication; this is a handy way to find out if the credentials set up in the VoIP provider line configuration are correct.

If STUN resolution does not work then the PBX will NOT try to REGISTER. Registration attempts will show up in the server status page.

12:35:31.675 ClientRegs::Register [CM504003]: Sent registration request for 10000@sipgate

If no response is received then the VoIP provider’s server may have never received the request, the VoIP provider’s server did not send a response or the response was lost on the way. In any case check that:

STUN resolution is working. – reviewed in status log.
The host part of the SIP URI in the Contact Header in the REGISTER request is truly your NAT device’s public IP (and port).
Port forwarding on the NAT device is indeed set correctly.

The VoIP provider’s response to a REGISTER request is usually a challenge (407). The subsequent REGISTER request to the provider will contain a Proxy-Authorization Header with the challenge response (a hash calculated using the nonce which was sent in the challenge) and an incremented Call Sequence Header. If the calculated hash matches the calculation done on the VoIP provider’s end VoIP provider will know that the PBX has a matching copy of the authentication ID and authentication password. The response from the provider should be a failure or success. One of the following two logs will appear;

13:40:08.953 ClientRegs::onFailure [CM504005]: Registration failed for: 10000@sipgate
13:41:53.328 ClientRegs::onSuccess [CM504004]: Registration succeeded for: 10000@sipgate

If the REGISTER fails it is very likely that the credentials are set incorrectly. It is best to verify the credentials that are being used in the PBX’s configuration by cross checking using a SIP phone. Check your account details.

SIP Trunk (Non-Registration-based) VoIP Provider Accounts

SIP Trunk accounts do not go through the REGISTER process. The VoIP provider does not need to discover the client’s whereabouts because the client’s IP is fixed in a “hard coded” configuration in the VoIP provider’s server. Usually this can be set in a SIP Trunk account’s web portal. Apart from skipping the REGISTER process SIP Trunks also skip the Authorization (challenge / response) process; this can be done because calls are automatically trusted by their source IP. i.e. calls coming from the configured IP address are identified by their source IP. When a SIP Trunk is configured in the PBX a password is not provided (since passwords are not used in this model) the PBX will not try to REGISTER but a successful registered state will be assumed and a normal log entry will appear;

13:41:53.328 ClientRegs::onSuccess [CM504004]: Registration succeeded for: user@siptrunkprovider

Receiving INVITES

A successful registration means the VoIP provider knows the correct public address where it can reach the PBX. When the VoIP provider receives a call placed to a number assigned to your VoIP provider account it will send an INVITE to the address registered by the PBX. If you wish to review the registration some providers will display the registration status in your VoIP provider account page. This internet address is the public IP of the NAT device, if forwarding rules are set correctly the INVITE will reach the PBX. The following is a sample INVITE;

INVITE sip:8632606@72.14.207.99:5060;rinstance=7303026702615448 SIP/2.0
Record-Route:
Record-Route:
Record-Route:
Via: SIP/2.0/UDP 217.10.79.23:5060;branch=z9hG4bK11d4.8a4bf394.0
Via: SIP/2.0/UDP 172.20.40.4;branch=z9hG4bK11d4.8a4bf394.0
Via: SIP/2.0/UDP 217.10.79.23:5060;received=217.10.68.6;branch=z9hG4bK7d2a0377
Via: SIP/2.0/UDP 217.10.66.71:5060;branch=z9hG4bK7d2a0377;rport=5060
From: “0015552368″ ;tag=as21013b10
To:
Contact:
Call-ID: 38b34a2512c9c1903d5d5940348c18f4@sipgate.co.uk
CSeq: 102 INVITE
Max-Forwards: 67
Allow: INVITE, ACK, CANCEL, OPTIONS, BYE, REFER, SUBSCRIBE, NOTIFY
Supported: replaces
Content-Type: application/sdp
Content-Length: 446

Source Identification – Default behavior

When the PBX receives an INVITE it will check its source. This checking is called “Source Identification” and the purpose of this process is to see if the call is a valid request, is from a trusted domain and hence should be let through. If a call source is not identified (trusted) the PBX will ask for authorization. The default behavior for source identification is to check the “user part” of an INVITE’s Request Line against the authentication IDs configured in the PBX. Once a match is made the call is trusted and forwarded according to the configuration of the matched line.

In order to illustrate this process take for example the below INVITE which is coming from a VoIP provider with rather standard behavior. The VoIP provider line is configured with the following details;

External Number : 415551234
Authentication ID : 8632606
Authentication Pass : $ecret_W0rd
The received Request Line in an INVITE from this VoIP provider is as per below:

INVITE sip:8632606@72.14.207.99:5060;rinstance=7303026702615448 SIP/2.0

The user part in the request line is “8632606”, this matches the “Authentication ID” (8632606) of the configured line.
Latest source identification rules

For PSTN providers: Match any of following:

LineID is in Contact OR RequestLine (user part, of course)
Gateway host/port is in Contact

For VoIP providers: Match any of following:

AuthID is in Contact OR RequestLine (user part, of course)
External number is in To OR RequestLine (user part)

Source Identification – Custom behavior

Unfortunately not all VoIP Providers act the same and some VoIP providers will not INVITE with the SIP identity in the Request-Line URI. For these cases the source identification strategy can be altered in order to match any VoIP provider. In the “Edit gateway” page of a VoIP provider under “Source Identification” a custom matching strategy can be constructed. On the left there is a list of SIP fields and on the right there is a list of values against which the PBX will attempt a match. A call’s source will be considered successfully identified if a set pair matches (i.e. if they are equal when compared). The list of pairs can be set to match ANY or match ALL, the latter means that if a single pair does not match the PBX will assume a failure. An INVITE coming from the provider must be reviewed in order to plan a suitable strategy; fields that do not change from call to call must be identified. Unidentified incoming INVITEs can be collected from the server status page. Advisable identifiers (constant fields) would normally be the Authentication ID or the External number (DID). In extreme cases you can fall back to identifying the source by locating the VoIP provider’s domain in some field or by the VoIP provider’s Proxy IP (if they are using a single IP).

Example:

“Request Line URI: User Part” can be matched against the “LineNumber external number of line”. This kind of strategy would suit cases where a VoIP provider inserts the DID number or external number of a line in the Request Line instead of the account’s Authentication
IDINVITE sip: 0015552368@ 72.14.207.99:5060;rinstance=800f2f60c40d1d10 SIP/2.0
“TO: User Part” can be matched against the “LineNumber external number of line”. This strategy would look for a line’s external number e.g. “0015552368” in the user part of the “To” header of the SIP URI in an INVITE from the VoIP provider in question.
To:
“From: Host Part” can be matched against the “GWHostPort gateway/provider host/port”. This strategy would look for the VoIP provider’s Proxy address and port (myexamplprovider.nl) in the host part of the SIP URI in an INVITE from the VoIP provider in question.
From: “00315552368″ ;tag=as33577b1c
Via and record route

Via and record route

The Via header will show up in sip packets and basically indicates the “SIP hops” via which the packet has traveled. Last hops are inserted at the top. Responses to these sip packets are then sent to the back over the same path – starting with the top entry.

The Record route header is similar to the Via header, however it is used to instruct the receiving end point over which path to send any REQUESTS (as opposed to responses). A record route command is inserted by the proxy if it wants to remain in the loop for future communications.

Re record route command will be used by the 3CX SIP bridge, which tunnels all traffic. The VOIP client, seeing the record route command, will send all traffic via the bridge (which inserted itself as a hop and therefore wants to remain in the loop), rather then directly.

Note: When the 3CX Phone uses the record route header to send a request back, it will insert “route” and not “record route”.

Skype calls not in iPad 3G connections

2010-05-01T05:44:00.000-07:00

During our live iPad 3G first look this afternoon, TUAW readers were able to confirm that Skype calls still cannot be placed over the iPad 3G's cellular network connection. The Skype application will not connect those calls, telling users that, "You need WiFi to call over Skype." So what's the reason for this? "Skype calls over 3G networks are currently not allowed due to contractual restrictions."

This should not come as a surprise. Skype has yet to release an iPad version of their software, and the iPhone-specific application has not received an update since early April. Testing the software on the iPad only confirmed that the same old things continue to work the same old way, regardless of the platform they were run upon.

So why the big interest?

In January, the iPhone SDK agreement and software was updated to specifically permit VoIP, or "voice over Internet protocol" communication. Since then, users have been waiting for Skype for iPhone OS with cell network access to debut. According to a February Skype blog post, it will be "soon."

As expected, February levels of "soon" do not include late April/early May. That's mostly because new VoIP OS features will be released this summer when iPhone OS 4.0 hits the street. Unfortunately, the removal of VoIP restrictions does not seem to backtrack into the 3.x firmware.

For the time being, you can continue to make Skype calls over Wi-Fi. The iPad (and the iPad 3G) includes both a built-in microphone and built-in speakers. You can also use external head sets, either through the headphone jack (via iPhone style earbuds with built-in microphone) or through the Camera Connection Kit with a USB dongle.

Don't Pay Huge Money to Make a International Calls

2010-04-30T00:34:00.000-07:00

There was a time when it used to be a great thing making a call to the loved ones abroad. But today, the things have changed to a greater extent, as one can make cheap international phone calls very easily. The advent of international calling cards has made the call rate very much affordable whereby the users can make the most of every pence spent. The international calling cards are not the only option for making pocket-friendly calls, there comes an option of VoIP too. VoIP stands for Voice Over Internet Protocol. It proves very much affordable in making calls to the countries other than the home country.

One can avail the advantage of cheap international phone calls from any of these two means. When the first one, means the calling cards, come into picture, it is one of the easiest ways of making calls to the foreign counties. A calling card is very easily available in the market, it comes with an access PIN printed on it which is the most important thing, when the user dials the given code with the phone number of the person whom the call is going to be placed, the call simply gets connected and the rates remain very affordable as per the tariff of the card concerned. An international calling card is specially designed for this purpose that the individuals will have the ease in making calls outside the country. The price cautious users seem to have understood it very well, this can be seen in the growing popularity of these cards these days. The best part is that one does not have to take the help of any other equipment of any such things to make use of the calling cards, one can simply use it right from the mobile phone.

Moving further to the ways of cheap international phone calls, VoIP has also been very much popular in the recent days. What you need to take the benefit of this, is a computer or laptop with an internet connection. Interestingly, the good news is that the technology has made a good number of mobile phones too which are compatible with this feature now. The users who have got the mobile phones which are compatible with the VoIP service can make international calls right from the handset, they do not need to connect to the computer every time thinking of making calls. It happens so that the phones come loaded with the VoIP client like Skype, Yahoo or any others. The best part of VoIP is that two different users of the same VoIP client can interact with each other simply free of cost

Both the above-mentioned ways of making international calls are very much popular and the people are utilizing the services worldwide. But as far as the ease in use and the sophistication are concerned, the international calling may prove to be the best option but that again varies from person to person. Whatever may the medium be, be it the calling cards or the VoIP, the ultimate result is the cheap international phone calls. Happily, if you wish to gather more information on these mediums of sophistication, you are not required to do a lot, just log into to the website which are dedicated to provide the visitors with the regarding information. Hopefully, there is no dearth of such websites these days

Overview of VoIP Gateway

2010-04-29T04:21:00.000-07:00

VoIP gateways can come across as a bit confusing but hold in there as I will guide you via layman’s terms through these devices powerful capabilities and functionality.

VoIP gateways are a piece of hardware that have the standard purpose of converting Time Division Multiplexing (TDM) telephony traffic from the PSTN (Plain ‘ol Analog Lines) into digital IP packets for transport over an IP network. VoIP gateways can also be used to translate digital IP packets into TDM telephony traffic for transport across the PSTN.

That’s great but….how do VoIP gateways actually work and what does that mean to me?

VoIP gateways are actually rather simple. Think of a VoIP gateway as a bridge between the IP land and the Analog world. Depending on the origination of the voice traffic, a VoIP gateway will convert the voice traffic into proper form to be received by the destined network (IP or Analog). Meaning, Analog phones can be integrated into your VoIP system as can PSTN (POTS) lines.

Make Cheap International Calls Using VoIP Service

2010-04-28T05:45:00.000-07:00

It has always been interesting to talk to our near and dear ones for long hours. We have made our links in different parts of world. These links may be because of sweet relations, business purposes, study reasons or our relatives on foreign tour. Soon, Football world cup is going to be organized in South Africa. People from different parts of the world would gather in South Africa to view interesting historic matches going on. Spectators would surely be happy with cheap communication options to call to their home countries. VoIP is one such cheap communication medium which allows you to make cheap calls to any country.

VoIP uses Internet protocol to transfer voice data. This protocol can be used to make cheap calls from PC to PC, landlines and mobile phones. VoIP services can also be availed on landlines. VoIP service is highly popular in UK. There are many VoIP service providers active in the country. Some branded VoIP names are Vonage, First global phone, 247fone, 2telecom, 44UK, 4tel VoIP, 5gtech, Aastra Telecoms, Airbank Limited etc. Some companies have also launched VoIP cards. These cards come in prepaid and postpaid forms. Postpaid VoIP cards are suitable for those who have frequent International call requirements where as Prepaid cards are meant for users who don’t have to make calls most often. They can use their remaining balance when ever required. Viewing the popularity of VoIP calls, some VoIP providers have introduced VoIP software which can be easily installed on PCs. These software are highly useful and cost saving for business organizations and BPOs. Now, they can make thousands of calls every day at cheap rates. The audio quality of VoIP calls is same as that of normal phone calls. The reason of popularity of VoIP calls is that it has many advantages over other communication mediums. Some of these are listed below:

Call rates are cheaper than ISD call rates and we can make unlimited VoIP calls abroad
With VoIP software, calls and videos can be recorded on computers
If we use laptops, calls can be made from any part of the world
Attractive postpaid tariff plans of VoIP calling cards are available for customers who call abroad frequently and spend much time on calls
Balance of your prepaid VoIP calling card don’t expire after a certain period. It can be used any time in future

With VoIP services, people get many free facilities like call forwarding, three way calling, automatic redial and conference calling for which they had to pay extra charges while using mobiles or telephones.

LTE Could be Increase VoIP Traffic

2010-04-28T04:37:00.000-07:00

Using mobileVoIP solutions could become increasingly efficient as more and more LTE networks are rolled out around the world.

LTE, a beyond third-generation mobile telephony interface, is gaining momentum, bringing closer the prospect of a viable 4G mobile network, IDC has said.

More than a dozen new networks are set to go live this year, and spending on LTE will exceed spending on Wi-Max by the end of next year, according to the technology market intelligence provider.

The spread of LTE networks could encourage the growth of VoIP traffic as LTE can supply mobile internet at the speed and capacity needed to use mobile IP telephony solutions.

Godfrey Chua, wireless and mobile infrastructure research manager at IDC, said that the "world is coalescing around the LTE standard" because these capabilities will allow it to "address the exploding growth in mobile data traffic".

Near 4G technologies such as Wi-Max and LTE are expected to deliver speed and reliability to wireless users, wireless industry jobs website 4G Wireless Jobs said recently.

The bandwidth and consistency of mobile internet access that 4G is anticipated to provide could enhance the use of mobile VoIP provider applications.

Redworks Selects PortaSwitch for VoIP and PBX Services

2010-04-25T23:45:00.000-07:00

Global communications software company PortaOne, Inc. announced today that Redworks, a Netherland-based diversified provider of telephony, Internet and data services, has selected PortaSwitch as its core telecommunications services and subscriber management platform. PortaSwitch will drive not only Redworks’ integrated VoIP and hosted IP PBX services for small-to-medium businesses (SMBs) and larger enterprises, but also its IP payment solutions for retail businesses.

PortaSwitch, a Class 5-level product, is able to handle the full range of call control and billing functions of a heterogeneous digital services company, from billing and service provisioning to advanced call features, monitoring and reporting. The comprehensive product consists of a real-time billing system, Class 4 and 5 SIP softswitch, and application servers that deliver converged VoIP billing and service provisioning, SIP call control, unified messaging, IP Centrex and hosted IP PBX, callback management, IVRs, conferencing and more.

Redworks chose PortaSwitch based on its experiences with the system through a third-party telecom systems infrastructure provider. “We were using a hosted partition of PortaSwitch and were impressed with its dependability and complete feature set,” said Leslie Herps, Redworks director. “PortaSwitch is able to handle the sophisticated routing we need to terminate calls based on cost, ASR or other factors. Its high availability and easy mobility suits the wide range of needs required by our business and retail customers.”

“PortaSwitch will enable Redworks to remain very competitive in a rapidly changing Dutch telecommunications marketplace,” said Roman Khalenkov, sales and marketing director for PortaOne. “As business customers in the Netherlands continue to seek lower cost alternatives to expensive fixed telephony systems, Redworks will be able to rely on PortaSwitch to deliver exceptional reliability and quality of service within the VoIP environment.”

Redworks is one of the Netherland’s fastest-growing telecommunications companies. Amid a challenging global economy, the government-approved telecom has experienced remarkable 25% month-over-month growth; its 2009 revenues, in fact, marked a 1,200% increase over the prior year. The company attributes its success to its unique bundling of Internet, VoIP and call handling services that help businesses of many sizes and types become more efficient while reducing their communications costs.

In addition to hosted IP PBX capability and VoIP calls, the company offers IP-based transaction processing for retailers as well as network, Internet, website hosting and data backup/restore services. To ensure quality of service over its IP networks, Redworks deploys innovative line monitoring scripts that constantly monitor availability and performance. The scripts trigger alarms and if necessary, automatic reinstatement if service is jeopardized.

Also unique to Redworks is its commitment to redundancy and reliability throughout its infrastructure. It has invested in redundant server power supplies, multiple redundant circuit uplinks, a high availability server platform, and redundant tier providers in multiple international locations. Should a failure take place at one point of presence, another will replicate in fractions of a millisecond to ensure uninterrupted service.

PortaSwitch is designed to reinforce redundant systems like Redworks’, notes Khalenkov. “Redundancy and high availability are considered very important at PortaOne. Even basic PortaBilling100 and PortaSwitch setups include data redundancy by default: the product architecture assumes there is constant data replication between Master and Slave databases,” he said. “Fully redundant solutions like PortaSwitch Procinctus, where every business critical component is clustered, are also available to ensure the highest service availability essential for modern telecommunication providers and carriers.”

To learn more about PortaSwitch, or for more information about PortaOne’s complete menu of telephony infrastructure products, log on to www.portaone.com. For more about Redworks, visit www.redworks.nl.

Visiongain Mobile Market

2010-04-25T23:23:00.000-07:00

The mobile market is growing, up 1.4% to €417 billion in 2010. The strongest growth is posted by data services such as mVoIP, both on fixed and mobile networks, finds Visiongain in its recent “The Mobile VoIP Market Report 2010-2015.”

Analysts predict that sales of internet connections and data services on fixed networks will grow in 2010 by 7% to almost €200 billion. Mobile data services – such as mVoIP are posting even stronger growth: up 16% to over €140 billion.

The report also examines how the growing market share of smartphones offers potential for third-party applications developers in the mVoIP market. In 2010 for example, mobile phone users will download over 6 billion applications to their mobile phones, growing to 7 billion by 2013.

According to Visiongain, there will be opportunities for the mobile telecoms industry in the IP convergence/substitution market. By introducing fixed VoIP to cellular telephony and mobile VoIP to fixed telephony, operators will have the opportunities to grow on a unified voice and multimedia service experience.

“VoIP services are cheaper than circuit-switched services on traditional legacy networks. VoIP has diversified from purely voice implementation to a complete multimedia experience offering video calling, video conferencing, gaming and many other features,” the analysts say.

Visiongain claims that the global economic crisis appeared to have had only a slight impact on the global telecommunications and IT markets. After a slight dip of 0.5% in 2009, the information and communications (ICT) market will increase by 1.9% to €2.3 trillion in 2010 and by 3.7% to €2.4 trillion in 2011, according to the European Information Technology Observatory (EITO)'s forecast. The number of mobile subscribers (currently four billion) is set to reach 6 billion by 2013, and smartphones will outsell PCs by 2011, growing to over 50% of the total handset market share by the end of 2013.

As the report highlights, the strongest growth markets are in the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India & China) countries - where in 2010 the Chinese telecom market will grow by 8% to €126 billion and the Indian market will grow by a staggering 15% to €40.5 billion. The inherent cost advantage of mVoIP may help drive and contribute towards wider proliferation of the telecoms sector for the near-term, by way of accelerated take-up among more price-sensitive consumers.

The research group also notes that the online social networks such as Facebook and Myspace have integrated mVoIP services to offer opportunities for development of third-party applications and software, as well as multimedia content and advertising. Facebook users for example currently send one billion IMs per day.

Telava’s Business VoIP Services, Built on Wimax

2010-04-23T23:09:00.000-07:00

Unilava Corporation, headquartered in San Francisco, Calif.—and its subsidiary brands—provides a highly diversified portfolio of communications services, including long distance phone service in 41 states, local phone service in 11 states, plus mobile, Internet, and VoIP services.

Since its founding in 2003, the firm has grown to include 40 locations of carrier-grade microwave wireless broadband infrastructure access points and broadband Internet access partners. Unilava offers mobile and high-definition IP hosted voice services to both residential and small to medium-size businesses.

In addition, the company offers a number of online advertising, mobile advertising, and Web services, including operating enterprise social networking portals for its members, which utilize a wide array of services, including video chat, video e-mail, e-fax, VoIP and conference calling capabilities. Unilava has offices in Chicago, Hong Kong, Korea and China, supported by approximately 45 employees and 100 agents and representatives worldwide.

Unilava’s voice communications subsidiary, named Telava, provides services to both residential and business customers, including high-definition business grade VoIP.

Telava owns its own wireless network, operating under the WiMAX standards, and covering over 45 cities and 22 states, nationwide, with access points currently located in the northwest United States along the Pacific coast, and in the central region, stretching from Texas to the Great Lakes. This network has been designed to be scalable as more access points are added, with deployments possible in both metropolitan and rural markets.

Telava’s business VoIP services are marketed under the name VINCE, an acronym representing Voice over Internet Communication Evolution. VINCE is a remote network that hosts high-definition quality calls using IP, utilizing two network facilities in San Diego, California and one in Dallas, Texas, that encompass over 64,000 square feet of total space. This offering is designed to remove many of the operational concerns that network managers face, and also minimize the customer’s upfront capital expenditures. The only requirement that a business needs to get started is a broadband high-speed Internet connection, and a phone system (either traditional or IP-based). The VINCE network then provides links to both third-party IP networks and the PSTN, and connects to the customer premises via either a T1/E1 line, or through an optional SIP gateway.

VINCE provides two key voice services: SIP Trunking and Hosted VoIP. The SIP Trunking Services allow customers to use their broadband Internet connection, existing phone system and an IP Phone Adapter to obtain high-quality voice service. Telava provides six different plans for SIP Trunking, beginning with a single line package that provides 800 domestic/international outbound minutes per month, and ranging up to a 12 line package with 9,600 domestic/international outbound minutes per month. Costs vary from $30.00 to 240.00 per month, plus a one-time setup fee of $99.99 per package. All of the plans include unlimited inbound traffic, E-911 service and Direct Inward Dialing (DID) capabilities.

The VINCE Hosted VoIP Service, available worldwide, is targeted at small and medium-size business customers. The service includes a comprehensive list of voice features, including: unlimited auto attendants, music or announcements on hold, enhanced voicemail, find me/follow me, and extension-to-extension dialing.

Telava offers three different pricing options for the hosted VINCE service. The Basic Plan provides unlimited local and long distance in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, and is priced at $29.95 per month per line plus $7.95 per extension. The Premium Plan adds unlimited calling to 16 different counties in Asia, the South Pacific, Europe, the United Kingdom, and South America, and is priced at $34.95 per month per line, plus $7.95 per extension. The PremiumPlus Plan extends the unlimited calling to 34 countries, including some in Central America and the Middle East, and is priced at $44.95 per month per line, plus $7.95 per extension. The PremiumPlus Plan also includes a 10 user conference bridge and Internet fax capabilities. Polycom Soundpoint IP Phones and conferencing systems are available through Telava on either a sale or lease basis.

Further information on the Telava voice solutions can be found at www.telava.com. Our next tutorial will continue our review of various service providers hosted voice solutions.

Grow Your Business Using VoIP

2010-04-23T23:02:00.000-07:00

There are different varieties of business VoIP systems available these days. There are methods where you get to own the technology but you need to invest in the infrastructure. What this means is that you need to put up capital in buying the equipment and hence it can be very costly. Though it would definitely work for a large company, it would be difficult for a small company to put up the kind of money required to buy the machinery and equipment to completely run this.

There are other methods as well. One of the other methods is to have the technology and host it elsewhere. This has lots of advantages. When you host it outside, it can be hosted in a central place which also hosts it for many other businesses. This model makes it viable for small businesses to come together and put up a shared hosting system. But the problem is that many small businesses might find it difficult to come together.

That is where the professional business VoIP companies come in to the picture. They act as the shared resource for the small companies. They put up the equipments and the infrastructure and help the small companies to host their business VoIP system outside their premises into this particular pool.

This means several advantages for the small companies. This means that they don't have to invest in the entire equipment set up. This also means all the advantages that big companies typically enjoy in terms of the phone lines and so on can also be enjoyed by the small companies as well now. This also means lower cost of calls and lower cost of setting up.

Above all this, the business VoIP also means that one can start immediately without waiting for the set up to happen as the set up is already there and ready.

Virgin Mobile Service Insisting Firms to use VoIP Instead of Flying

2010-04-22T00:38:00.000-07:00

As the chaos at UK and European airports continues, one thing should be learnt by the disruption, that, as far as business goes, the internet could be used more for meetings and conferences.

This would save travel, time and the cost of visiting events such as the recent MIPTV event in Cannes.

According to Alistair McKinnon of the IP Multimedia Division at Virgin Media Business, it is very surprising that companies are not embracing services such VoIP as with most cities using fibre broadband, online meetings are no longer affected by delays and interruptions.

Video calls offer businesses the chance to have face to face meetings without having to travel.

It is times like this when technology can take the strain.

VoIP Service on Your BlackBerry

2010-04-20T23:51:00.000-07:00

Mobile software developer fg microtec today announced that they have developed a software development kit (SDK) that will allow developers to build wireless voice over IP capabilities for the BlackBerry platform. While VoIP applications have become commonplace on the iPhone, Android, and Symbian platforms, they have been notably absent on the BlackBerry. While much of the impact will likely be felt in the consumer space, there is a benefit for enterprise mobile UC as well.

Research in Motion (RIM), the manufacturer of the BlackBerry line of smartphones, is in a peculiar position in the mobile market. While everyone associates Apple’s iPhone with the smartphone revolution, according to market researchers comScore, RIM's share of the US smartphone market is 43% versus Apple's 25.1%; that difference is even more pronounced among enterprise users.

However, Apple's relationship with the mobile operators (or more specifically "operator" as AT&T is the only US carrier who can offer the iPhone), is decidedly different from RIM's. RIM's devices are offered by all of the mobile operators, though certain models like the Storm may be offered by a single carrier. What's more, RIM's relationship with the carriers has been mutually beneficial. Every BlackBerry sold comes with a data plan that typically costs $30 to $45 per month, adding to the carrier’s average revenue per user--that's the "ARPU" the carriers are so enamored of.

Apple's relationship with AT&T has also been mutually beneficial, though they seem to have run roughshod over the carrier. iPhones consume data service far out of proportion with their numbers, as AT&T's much publicized difficulties in their data network will certainly attest; according to Morgan Stanley, in 2009 iPhones represent 16% of unit shipments but accounted for 51% of mobile Internet usage. Certainly the app store has had a lot to do with that, but Apple has fundamentally changed consumers' expectations of what a mobile device could and should do. AT&T did put some constraints on the applications catalog, initially allowing VoIP applications to work only over Wi-Fi, but they have since opened up to VoIP over 3G.

RIM has clearly been more beholden to the mobile operators. In the first edition of the Storm touch screen device, they famously eliminated Wi-Fi capability, apparently at the behest of Verizon. In fact, the only VoIP capability RIM provides is for carrier-provided Unlicensed Mobile Access (UMA), which is the basis for the Unlimited Hotspot Calling service from T-Mobile and the similar TalkSpot service from Rogers in Canada. Clearly RIM knows how to build a VoIP capability, but will do so only if it is sanctioned by the mobile operator.

What fg microtec has produced is a VoIP toolkit that application developers can incorporate in their products. On the consumer side, that could be things like iCall or Truephone, while on the enterprise side it could allow for dual mode FMC/mobile UC solutions like those from DiVitas to support BlackBerry devices. Agito and Varaha have already delivered dual mode BlackBerry support, but DiVitas and Siemens have not. As fg microtec provides the handset clients for Siemens' dual mode Mobile Connect product, it is probably a pretty safe bet that we will see BlackBerry support there before too long.

Robert Mirbaha, President of fg microtec, is bullish on the prospects for their new product. While RIM's relationship with the carriers may make them reluctant to get behind VoIP, fg microtec's SDK might be a blessing in disguise. Lord knows, the offerings in BlackBerry's App World are pretty thin when compared to Apple's app store. RIM could benefit from a richer set of offerings while arguing to the carriers that it's beyond their control. Mr. Mirbaha acknowledges the threat to all of these VoIP on BlackBerry initiatives, in that RIM does not support any of them and could take steps to render them inoperable in subsequent versions of the operating system. The current SDK works with the BlackBerry operating system Rev 4.3 to 4.6, and they are working on a version for Rev 5.0.

The initial version of the product uses G.711 (64 Kbps) voice encoding so it most likely will be used over Wi-Fi networks; when you add in the IP/UDP/RTP overhead, packetized G.711 adds up to about 80 Kbps, which would be a stretch on current 3G networks. The company is planning versions that use G.729 (8 Kbps) and adaptive multi-rate (AMR) voice coding in the future, which could be more practical in a 3G environment.

The mobile world runs by a different set of rules than the rest of the IT industry, and those rules are defined by the carriers. This VoIP on BlackBerry option is just the most recent in an ongoing series of initiatives that test the limits of what the mobile operators will allow. Hopefully, fg microtec's tool will be accepted (or at least "ignored") by the operators, and it will be one more step in the long process of bringing the mobility marketplace into the 21st century along with everyone else.

China VoIP Show Its Virtualization Solutions at 2010 Beijing Healthcare Industry

2010-04-20T00:00:00.000-07:00

Beijing PowerUnique Technology (BPUT), the wholly-owned subsidiary of China VoIP & Digital Telecom Inc. showcased its integrated virtualization solutions designed for the healthcare industry at the 2010 Beijing Medical Industry Virtualization Technology Conference (the “Conference”). The Conference was successfully organized by the China Hospital Association Information Management Committee and more than 20 hospitals’ datacenter administrators and Chief Technology Officers from Beijing and Tianjin attended the Conference.

During the Conference, BPUT presented Virtualization in the Healthcare Industry to all the participants. Using its recent successful implementation of the virtualization project of a well-known hospital as an example, BPUT introduced its integrated virtualization solutions in datacenters including: server integration, business continuity plans, virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI), fault tolerance, and disaster recovery.

The Conference provided PowerUnique an unprecedented opportunity to continue to promote virtualization solutions in the healthcare industry in a broader scope. In addition, the Conference also offered hospitals and other healthcare facilities the opportunity to learn about virtualization, which could markedly improve the efficiency and solve current issues of their datacenters. Many of the participants showed their approval and great interest by adopting BPUT’s solutions in the near future.

Read the rest of the news china voip

VoIP Technology Helps During the Volcanic Ash Disruption

2010-04-19T23:47:00.000-07:00

With thousands of business travellers stranded in Europe this week due to a cloud of volcanic ash in the skies, many meetings have not gone ahead as planned.

As flights remain grounded for a fifth day, the Eyjafjallajokull volcano in Iceland is estimated to have already cost the UK economy alone some £500m.

This act of god has inadvertently showed many business why they need to get to grips with VoIP technology.

Voice over Internet Protocol allows business to make low cost calls and conduct video conferencing at times when meetings cannot be done face-to-face.

A statement from Outsourcery, a UK hosted IT and IP telephony soutions company, said companies which had IP telephony solutions were not affected by the Europe wide flight ban.

Commenting on the new technology, Alistair McKinnon, senior product manager for IP multimedia at Virgin Media Business said: "It amazes me that some companies neglect new technology which can help minimise the disruption to their business in hectic times."

He added: "Not only are the technologies able to help when the problems occur, but they also improve productivity on a day-to-day basis."

A business in Pennyslyvania, America, was recently singing the praises of VoIP after a huge snow storm had prevented employees from coming to work.

Despite the disruption staff were still able to close a number of deals on their smart phones without needing to be in the office.

Tips to Make a Cheap Phone Calls

2010-04-19T01:54:00.000-07:00

Everyday most people make international calls for so many reasons. It may be to your family or friends who are in foreign countries or abroad and also to speak for business purposes or to your office abroad. It is therefore vital to find a cheap way to make calls. New innovative methods have been developed recently to make cheap phone calls in an easy way. Telecommunication sector developed vastly in the last decade which contributed to make low cost calls internationally.

In olden days telephone systems used copper wires which were more costly and unfeasible most of the time. During the last decade conventional telephones were replaced using microwave towers and other latest technologies. Additionally this led to so many methods of cheap calling methods including prepaid cards, VoIP, Calling cards etc. Now talking to your family or friends throughout the world is no more an expensive affair.

Modern equipments for cheap communication are satellite phone, cellular phone etc. Phones that are connected with the help of orbiting satellites are called sat phone or satellite phone. These phones are similar like mobile phone and are easy to carry anywhere, also these sat phones work in remote places where cell phones cannot be used due to lack of signals. Sat phones consist of a maneuverable antenna which can be steered to track the satellites in the orbit automatically.

Satellite phones can be used to call all over the world from any place at any time. An initial purchase of a satellite phone equipment ranges from $200 to $1000 based upon the facilities available in it. These sat phones are of great use for people who dwell in remote areas or terrain where it is impossible for the signal to reach. Call rate from a satellite phone to a land line phone is cheap and cost between $0.80 to $1.50/min while calls within two satellite phones are expensive.

Calling card or phone card is the next way to make international calls at low rates. Picking up the best calling card that fulfills your need is a clever way to make cheap calls. The call charges for the mobile and land line are different, so it is necessary to choose the phone card based upon the phone (land/mobile) you are going to make call. Some of the other factors that has to be taken into account while choosing a phone card are time duration of the call, destination where the call is being made etc.

If you are going to speak for a long time with your family members or friends then postpaid connection would be the right option, if not it is better to choose a prepaid connection to talk with your office or business associate. Also it is necessary to compare calling cards before you buy a calling card so that you can save more bucks while you talk.

VoIP Phone Service Offers Packet Switching Technique for Making a Call

2010-04-19T01:48:00.001-07:00

The concept of Internet-based telephony is relatively new in the telecommunications industry has increased productivity and increasing costs call on the call. VoIP allows users to send and receive data, video and voice through the single IP network or Internet. Call over Internet Protocol means the transmission of analog signals into digital packages or broken packages compressed data transfer through multiple lines. These packets are reassembled before arriving at multiple stations. The user enjoys normal call over IP telephony. Therefore, the packet switching technique reduces phone call per minute of users. Besides costs, the user is provided with other benefits such as efficiency, low operating costs and safety.

Voice over Internet Protocol service offers a wide range of next generation business solutions, reseller programs, services or managed portioning service carriers. Potential users of the business are the first to reap the benefits in VoIP telephone services . With your consent and reports, VoIP is also getting poplar among residential users. These services allow users to communicate quickly, reliably and securely over our converged network compared to traditional PSTN service. Moreover, users are always moving and reap the benefits of mobility, as these lines can be carried anywhere and anytime.

User Internet Phone Service VoIP or packages can serve as cable, Internet and Internet-based telephony or join an independent provider of Internet phone services. Importantly, to qualify for the best , the user needs boarding service, ATA or Analogue Terminal Adapter or a phone, and IP service. In the market, there are many VoIP service providers of Internet phone, so that the selection of the best depends on the call rate, or fraction, add in benefits such as call forwarding, call termination, 3-way calling or conference call. So always opt for the provider that offers voice quality, full service clock technical support and low rates. Lastly, VoIP Internet telephony has made cheaper and easier to call everywhere.

VoIP Calls: Now More Beneficial With Several Plans

2010-04-19T00:31:00.000-07:00

Terminating voice calls with VoIP network has always remained incredible. But it is left to the users on how they comprehend the latest services. A lot is dependent on the various plans offered by the service providers. Accessing the Internet is a must for data transmission. The Internet brings the VoIP technology to a global platform. Thus, international VoIP calls can be made easily at very low call cost.

The users can choose from monthly and yearly plans. With low and convenient payment options, the users can make international calls to any country of the world. Calling through VoIP is so simple that one can connect instantly with distant end users and remain connected with them for any period of time. The charges are less and the services are effective. The voice quality too remains very prominent and the users can clearly listen to the voice of the end users. Generally it is found that the VoIP calls with unlimited call plan offer the lowest rates when it comes to making international calls. Thus, it is necessary for the users to keep themselves updated with the plans of VoIP service providers. By doing so, one can actually avail the VoIP services at the lowest possible rates.

5 Ways to Saving Money With Voip Providers

2010-04-17T02:36:00.000-07:00

Saving money is crucial for all companies after all businesses are in business to make money, not spend money, but there will be essential business costs must be met for a company to function properly. Like most businesses will use the phones for a part because of their commercial transactions, it is important that they have the best deal on the phone and communications. Traditionally, analog phones were used for all communications, but today with the advent of voice communication over Internet protocol that is changing. Here are five ideas to save money the companies can be made using VoIP providers.

1. Companies can reduce costs by turning to VoIP providers instead of regular phone service providers in its current form to provide increased features at low cost. Features such as call waiting, caller ID, Internet faxing, three-way conference and multiple phone lines are usually provided as standard from the vast majority of VoIP providers.

2. The registration with the VoIP providers need not be expensive – in the offices that already have an Internet connection, telephones and computers only have to buy adapters for phones to use VoIP services. Using VoIP providers are not the companies add extra costs for living expenses, in fact, total spending of the adapters can be easily retrieved in the first phone bill due to the large savings that VoIP providers can offer .

3. Additional phone lines can be added at no additional charge to mean that all employees can manage their own phone number and extension without having to pay individually for each line separately, rather than a regular phone company will charge large amounts. VoIP offers users the option of working from home, other parts of the country or abroad, even plug-in simply input your account and start making VoIP calls.

4. Save money in the payment of separate voice mail and fax services. A growing number of VoIP providers actually offer these as standard features in many of its pricing plans. Extended users greater access to different functions without having to pay these characteristics separately which saves a company a great deal of money each month. Additional features can be added for a small fee that will be resolved much less than you would expect to pay from a traditional telephone service provider.

5. Many VoIP providers also offer customers the option of greater availability through programming their phones to call on multiple devices, before being diverted to voicemail. This means you never lose a valued customer phone call anymore, but also shows your customers that are dedicated to being available to talk to them 24 / 7.

Companies that want to advance, while reducing costs while increasing efficiency, productivity, revenue and customer satisfaction should look to the providers using VoIP for all their telecommunications needs. In fact using VoIP providers offer these money savings that large companies will wonder why he had not changed before.

AT&T Approved VoIP Service on Its Mobile Phone Network

2010-04-15T23:58:00.000-07:00

Recently AT&T formally presented that they will let VoIP requests to function on their mobile network. This new brings joy to the entire mobile phone user who uses 3G facilitated mobile phones. This means that now 3G and EDGE mobile network users will be able to use Skype and other VoIP applications on their mobile phones. This will enable VoIP applications to run successfully on iPhone.

Previous to this VoIP was not allowed on the mobile network, the only explanation to this difficulty was Wi-Fi. Previously VoIP applications on iPhone were facilitated for Wi-Fi connectivity.AT&T has also offered a variety of other wireless applications that enable VoIP application on 3G, 2G and Wi-Fi networks.

AT&T has not established anything about the Google Voice use but it has enclosed conventional VoIP services. This is mainly because Google Voice is not cent percent VoIP like service. It allows consumers to download and even initiate on their wireless device many applications anywhere from any legal website. Moreover, as AT&T uses GSM technology, it supports its consumers using and GSM phone that work on their frequencies.

Now if AT&T can get more bandwidth in iPhone-rich cities such as San Fransisco, CA so a few hundred people in one specific area using iPhones don’t bring the service down to it’s knees, it would be awesome!

How Do You Choose Your VoIP Service?

2010-04-15T03:52:00.000-07:00

On many IT platforms, VoIP is a subject of discussion. Lots as well as lots of people have been switching to VoIP each day due to a glorious use as well as lowest job rates. If we have been tender by this record as well as have been unfortunate to switch to it, afterwards here we have been to beam we through. Guidelines have been referred to below, following that we can relief improved compensation of Voice over Internet Protocol.

VoIP Phone Service Provider

In a market, there many dealers who suggest opposite VoIP plans. You initial have to explain your order in this regard. Once we have been certain of your needs, as well as afterwards demeanour around opposite packages offering by opposite use providers. With a tiny bid we would be means to find a undiluted a single according to your needs. Your order can be that of a residential user, tiny business, call centre as well as International VoIP job plan. Make a checklist for your mandate as well as opt for a package gratifying all or many of them. if we have been a residential user of VoIP as well as many of your contacts additionally have VoIP service, than any package would be great since upon net calls have been often offering giveaway by all dealers.

For a tiny commercial operation package we competence be offering e-mail, fax as well as total internal calls by default. Apart from this often vendors yield Internet Phone adapter to their brand new users that is trustworthy with normal write device to have that a VoIP phone. Similarly offers befitting for opposite final have been accessible in market.

Hardware Requirement

Many VoIP use providers promote we by upon condition that all a hardware inclination indispensable to work broadband phone. These one more things can embody phone adapter as well as program with already accessible mechanism as well as broadband internet connection. Some Internet Phone use providers might suggest Dial-up tie with it, though that would be usually to sale their product since VoIP does not work scrupulously upon delayed internet. A quick internet tie is a simple order of peculiarity audio as well as video calls by VoIP, so don’t tumble for any such offer.

Keep your PSTN Number as well as Switch to VoIP Service

Now we have a preference to keep your series or we can ask for a series of your own preference (it depends upon a availability). You additionally have a choice to select any area code, that has a little benefits as well as implications also, do demeanour in to them additionally before to finalizing your number. Mostly people select area formula where they have many of their contacts situated since if someone calls from a opposite code, that chairman would be charged a prolonged stretch call.

Additional Services

You contingency be in robe of services offering by your normal phone service. With VoIP, we have been not usually offering all those services that were offering by your classical phone, though we have them with improved peculiarity as well as marked down price. Moreover, there have been facilities offering by VoIP that have been not accessible with any alternative use similar to a trickery to embrace calls upon assorted inclination as well as numbers during a same time. Apart from it we can embrace your voice messages by email.

Is VoIP Phones hit Sticks?

2010-04-15T03:37:00.000-07:00

Rural communities all over the UK could soon be able to adopt IP telephony solutions.

The UK's fastest rural broadband was yesterday launched in the village of Lyddington in Rutland by rural internet service provider Rutland Telecom and Zhone Technologies.

Broadband access equipment provider Zhone Technologies has created a 40Mbps service, averaging out at 25Mbps, for the rural community. The UK average broadband speed is around 3.2Mbps.

The service, which rivals urban broadband using telephone lines will allow the residents of Lyddington to access digital online services such as VoIP solutions, online HDTV and on-demand television.

Lyddington's service could provide a model for other countryside communities to set up high-speed broadband through a sustainable self-financing programme.

The service exploits telecoms legislation, which can allow smaller companies to use parts of the BT copper wire network to supply high-speed broadband to individuals and businesses.

The worldwide broadband market stayed healthy in 2009, despite the continuing effects of the economic downturn, the technology market research firm ABI Research has said.

Revenue from fixed broadband services rose to £110 billion last year, up from £97 million in 2008, which could increase access to web-based VoIP phones.

Home Intel, Samsung, and Motorola Charging Wimax

2010-04-12T23:27:00.000-07:00

802.16m, 4G, 300 Mbps, VoIP, and a partridge in pear tree bring consumers of mobile broadband an embarrassment of riches, or more pictures of Tiger Woods' mistresses in bikinis. We'll take it all.

Silicon suppliers, equipment makers and research organizations have announced a new initiative to accelerate interoperability of WiMAX 2, based upon the IEEE 802.16m standard. 802.16m builds upon 802.16e by adding new capabilities while maintaining backward compatibility. It meets the International Telecommunications Union requirements for 4G or “IMT-Advanced,” delivering higher system capacity – peak rates of more than 300 Mbps – lower latency and increased VoIP capacity. The 802.16m air interface standard definition began in 2006 in the IEEE as a follow-on to 802.16e, and is expected to be completed in the 2nd half of 2010.

WiMAX vendors Alvarion, Beceem, GCT Semiconductor, Intel, Motorola, Samsung, Sequans, XRONet and ZTE as well as the Taiwanese research organization, ITRI, have announced the launch of the WiMAX 2 Collaboration Initiative (WCI). The group will work closely with the WiMAX Forum to improve collaboration on performance benchmarking, joint testing of 4G applications over Wimax 2, interoperability testing, and certification processes.

The global recession dented the growth of Wimax in 2009, but the signs look good for growth with a strong showing for adoption in the first quarter of 2010.The Wimax technology propaganda can be digested here. Warning! Acronyms, standards, and world domination can be found all over this site.

Tesco Stops its VoIP Business Service

2010-04-06T00:25:00.001-07:00

Tesco will be phasing out its VoIP service over the next few weeks, until the 27th April when the service will be closed down completely.

The company has not been allowing customers to top up their pre pay accounts for some time.

Those customers that have any outstanding credit, or those that have purchased a handset during the past three month, can expect to receive a refund.

According to a Tesco Spokesperson the service, launched in 2006, has not been a great success, with customers not really taking up the VoIP phone service despite the chance to have free calls between Tesco Internet phones and 2p per minute calls to landlines, including some international calls.

Many customers feel let down by this action, but cannot really be surprised that Tesco has finally decided to pull the plug on Tesco VoIP.

VoIP Service Can Change Your Business

2010-04-06T00:03:00.000-07:00

Today, in the age of technology, everyone wants things to be fast. The same holds true to making calls also. This is what happens when you use VOIP. It helps you to make calls through internet where the telephone calls are conducted in packets. The technology of Voice over internet protocol or VOIP works by the method of transmission of the call by your internet service provider to the VOIP provider to the internet company taking care of the call recipient’s services. You can use the keyboard of your computer to make the calls by dialing the numbers. The advantage of this technology is that offers significant advantages to the users in terms of savings in long distance calls. There are also other benefits like call waiting, call forwarding and three way calling. You can also avail the call filtering facility and ensure that the calls from such numbers are not attended. The call can be forwarded to another number or handled through a voicemail. You can also play a not a service message to avoid calls by a certain caller.

The best part about VOIP is that it does not involve any kind of connection problems. So, its ideal for use by businesses for multiple connections involving 50 or less numbers. The system is also quite reliable. VOIP has become so popular that it is used by Fortune 500 companies to promote themselves. A VOIP provider generally has its own hosted VOIP technology, which ensures that customers don’t face any hassles and are able to impress their clients with un-severed phone connections. Another advantage of VOIP is that once calls are forwarded to your email id, you can check them in the form of voice mails. That’s why, business VoIP has become the need of every company today because of the speed and efficiency which it adds to all the business calls.

Is Phone Cards Good to Make International Calls?

2010-03-31T02:45:00.000-07:00

The same applies to telecom industry also. Gone are the days of land lines. But do you think the same applies to phone cards also? Well, if you are a person who needs to make an international call quite often then you will strongly go against this.

It does not mean you are not quite familiar with the new technologies coming in the market. It simply means that you still want the things in simple and painless ways. By no means, we are trying to go against the benefits of new technologies introduced in telecom industry, e.g. VoIP (Voice over IP). They all have their own advantages. But still there are many people out there who do not know the working details of these new technologies. People like them still use international calling cards to call their loved ones staying abroad.

You may be wondering why popular technologies like VoIP did not take over callings cards. Many reasons can be stated for this fact. First of all you should know that VoIP lets you to make a call anywhere in the world at the lowest possible rates. But again you must be an average online person to make this work. Moreover you cannot make the call unless you are sitting in front of your computer.

What if you wanted to make a call to your friend when you are on the way back to home from office? The only best option available will be international calling cards. Phone card industry has a reputation in the market for staying too long to disappear easily. So you can easily trust on phone cards for your international calls.

Another reason due to which phone card is still the best can be considered as its widespread availability in the market. You can easily buy an international calling card from the store available next to your street.

But this is not the only reason to make phone cards so popular. Due to the huge prevailing competition in the market, many companies have come up with online stores. Yes, you can easily buy phone cards online with your credit card or PayPal. Phone cards available online are not the same as available in physical market. When you buy a calling card online, an e-mail is sent to you containing your PIN code and Access number which you must use while making an international calls.

You can search for guides on how to use PIN code and Access number to make an international call. A lot of information is available online. Another benefit of buying a phone card online is that, you get an opportunity to go through all the card providers’ offers at once and after making a brief comparison you can easily buy the best one suitable according to your needs.

Now that you know all the benefits of using an international calling cards, go online and buy one to make your next international call.

Netone International is a reputed company in US for providing cheap and best phone cards. You can easily buy phone cards on their website. It advisable to buy Jamaica prepaid phone cards as we already discussed above.

Cheapest Cell Phone to Cheap Phone Calls

2010-03-29T22:52:00.000-07:00

Cell Phone Deals are regularly cheaper, and if you know how to get the many out of the lazy spot, a couple of deals phone with many functions to receive, and a mobile with the best prices. Most tools of the cell phone can be on top, and you need usually a phone call, and you can end with them. What does not allow to the Internet wirelessly, for example, if you do not need to check e-mails. The cost for the cell phone company you can usually use a couple of dollars per month to allow to special offers, even if you do not use it if you do not register for the bonus long distance, if you rarely. Stick to the basics remain your cell phone offers cheap, so you do not want to allow to a service if you positively need.

Now more than ever, is an smart time to do, how you manage your hard-earned money? In this sense, we should start to the execution of our needs, instead of relocating our wishes. And given mobile information exchange is a great need in our complicated age, receiving worth of the cheapest cell phone plans you can have a long way to salvation. Since each of us has a singular multiple of needs, jump in the consumer movement would be really unwise. Although prepaid cell phone plans the many renouned preference for its practicality is, this choosing will not regularly pledge that you’ve made the right choice. Why? Because you should delicately consider how the benefits could be the undiluted answer to your needs and your lifestyle will be developed.

You contingency additionally investigate how the disadvantages that you can assign. And usually after a sure duration of time considerations, you competence be a improved preference than if you do not rush things. But if you’re the type that no bill for the use and frequency, more stretchable and has improved cell phone plans, that can be paid. With one, you usually need to compensate more, or buy credits if they are already low on minutes. This does not need to sign contracts, and need no credit check. This equates to that any one could join, in any case of age, and make no long-term lock-up periods.

On the traditional side or postpaid, are mobile not buy cheap shots as simply as its reflection on. The credit will be reviewed to safeguard that the member is able to compensate the fees in advance monthly. To show off the full worth of the payments, you contingency use the plan, the hilt of the minutes, that were paid for. If the user exceeds his cell phone the call, overtime will be added as a supplement. These plans are preferred to run in May, with experts and other users, whose lives can not means a 0 balance.

Cheapest cell phone plans can additionally come in packages that the whole family can enjoy. Family plans cell phones suggest a paper to each patron in conditions of hit with the rest of the group. This can be plainly used for improved management by small businesses in maintaining channels of communication. Plans preferred for travelers are accessible and get the low worth subscribers free long stretch calls. For those who are abroad for the many part, there are systems that suggest no in motion charges.

Understanding Voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP) Technology

2010-03-29T22:43:00.000-07:00

If you have long distance phone bills on your home phone that are more than $50 a month, it is time to consider ways that you can save some real money by making use of one of many different technologies called digital voice or Voice over Internet Protocol (also called VoIP or Internet Phone). This article will compare the various services that are offered and provide information to help you decide whether or not this service is appropriate for you. For simplicity’s sake, we call this Internet Voice.

The notion is simple, but the subtleties are confounding. You replace your standard wired home telephone line from your local phone company with a service that is carried over your high-speed Internet service provider. If you don’t yet have high-speed Internet, you can choose one of the “double-play” or “triple-play” combination bundles — meaning that telephone service is paired with high-speed Internet and other services, typically at a discount. The potential savings is huge — most of the Internet voice providers offer unlimited local and long distance calling within North America. Some offer lower-priced plans for unlimited local calls only, and charge per-call for long distance or international calls at pennies per minute.

Who should NOT get Internet voice serviceBut these services aren’t for everyone. If you have young children (say under the age of 5) or if you are in ill health and live alone, you should steer clear of this service because it is less reliable than a standard phone. In case of a power outage, most ordinary phones (but not cordless) can still work over the low-voltage lines that the phone company maintains. All of these Internet voice services require AC wall power to work.

The other issue for emergency use is that ordinary phone lines do a better job of connecting to 911 call centers than Internet voice providers. While most of the providers have made progress in this area, there are still situations where an emergency call doesn’t directly go to the closest call center or where your address doesn’t automatically display for the dispatcher. That could be just a matter of seconds or minutes in answering your emergency call, something that could make a difference in some emergencies.

If you have multiple devices other than telephones connected to your current phone lines, such as fax machines, home security monitoring panels, and TiVO video recorders, you also might not want to go through the trouble of testing each of these to ensure that they will work with your new Internet voice line. While most of the Internet voice carriers support other things besides straight phones, some don’t, and troubleshooting them could be more than you bargained for.

Also, if you have had your local phone number for some time, some of the Internet voice providers can allow you to keep that number, and some can’t. It is important to ask up front before getting service, particularly if changing phone numbers is unappealing. It can also take several weeks to perform the transfer, something else to keep in mind. Some of the providers, such as Vonage and Packet8, allow you to check this from their Web sites directly.

Finally, most of the providers require you to sign up for a year of service in advance to obtain free hardware or rebates, just like the cell contracts. If you cancel before your year is up, you have to pay additional fees. If you are planning on moving or not sure whether these services are for you, then consider that as well.

What are some of the benefits of Internet voice? There are plenty of reasons that might motivate you to switch to Internet voice other than price.

First off are the features. All of the providers offer features that typically you would have to pay extra for with your traditional phone company, such as voice mail, call forwarding, caller ID, last number redial, call waiting, three-way calling, and “find me” multiple simultaneous line rings. Some of the Internet voice providers also offer additional features such as 800-toll free numbers or support for multiple area codes on a single line, so that your family or customers can make local calls to you.

The multiple-line ringing feature deserves some additional explanation, and is one of the most useful ones. Say you run a small business from your home, and have a separate line for your business calls. When you are away from your office, you can set up the Internet phone service to first ring your cell phone, and if that doesn’t answer, then ring some other line. Or they can all ring at the same time, which can be interesting. It is a great way to be productive and it doesn’t cost anything extra. Remember, if you pick up the call on your cell phone, it is charged against your plan’s available minutes.

Second is that the providers let you manage your phone’s features from a Web page. You’ll never again have to talk to a phone company representative or stay on hold. All of the providers have call logs, the ability to change features (such as turn on do-not-disturb or change call forwarding information) on the fly. That is appealing to some people.

Third, you can take your phone number with you, when you travel or if you have a second home. You’ll need high-speed Internet service at your second home, and how your service is configured for 911 identification is important.

Finally, you can appear to be someplace that you aren’t by having a local phone number in another city. If you do business elsewhere, or if you have many friends and family in a distant city, you can attach a second or third local phone number to your Internet voice line and let your callers make local calls to you, even though you are elsewhere. All of those “extra” numbers can ring the same phone in your house.

Here you can read more about how to choose the right Internet Service provider and also how to pick Internet voice for your small business.

Source: Understanding Voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP) Technology

How do you VoIP Service Provider?

2010-03-24T01:39:00.000-07:00

Voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP) is a recent communication technology that allows individuals to make “phone calls” over the Internet using a broadband connection in place of a phone line or cellular signal. VOIP services are now reliable and transmit clear signals and have several advantages over traditional phone services. The costs for VOIP phones are usually much less than other phone services, and they allow conferencing and international calls at rates that are often included in the monthly fees.

Another key advantage is that communications are easier to manage. From an IT perspective, troubleshooting is simpler with fewer physical cables, and from a managerial perspective, it is easier to manage voice-mail, email and faxes from a single hub on your computer than multiple devices. From this single location the various communications can easily be saved, archived, forwarded or deleted.

Choosing a VoIP Provider

When selecting a VOIP provider, the main criteria for deciding which service is needed will be the plan details and the costs. Some providers allow for unlimited long distance calls, free Webinars or various online support services. It is important to review these and then compare them to the monthly fees which will range from about $8-$40. Taking into account other factors such as the whether the customer service is based in the US or what locations are considered long distance can save some headaches when the monthly bill arrives.

If your business is very small, it may worth considering a residential VOIP service which, may still include many features including multiple lines or generous long distance services. Jive, ITP, Vocalocity, Aptela and Nextiva are popular service providers for business and residential VOIP, and their various plans are worth comparing.

Additionally, other communication services may be viable supplements or replacements. Video chat is emerging as a new standard and free services like iChat or Google Chat allow for video communication with a free account. The only additional equipment needed for these is a webcam which may be cheaper than the VOIP phone that would be needed for VOIP services.

If a small business is looking to save costs on overhead, a simple choice is to restructure the communication services through the Internet. As long as the broadband connection is fast, centralizing the services will lead to a dramatic increase in efficiency and a substantial decrease in expenses.

Source:http://www.hostway.com/web-resources/running-your-business/work-smarter/choosing-a-voip-provider-for-your-business/

Make Free Phone Calls To India From Spain

2010-03-22T06:43:00.000-07:00

Before making Free calls to India you should know something about India. India is a country in southern Asia and its capital is New Delhi. The prefix for calling India is 91. So many times i get request from the reader, they are asking about the information how to make Free Calls to India. We are processing your request for information regarding a Free Calls to India, which i find out from a site. After searching long days i get this information. But its my first responsibility that to satisfy readers demand, without readers my blog is no worth. So for satisfying readers demand i can do everything. Anyhow i am succeed to process you helpful information. Now i will show you the different options available to us if you want cheap or free calls to a relative, friend, traveler… in short, from this page we make it easy to make your phone calls infinitely cheaper, do not hesitate and take advantage of Free Calls to India services.

These are the search results in relation to Free Phone Calls to India from Spain …

1.Service 902 to call India from Spain:

Service 902, this is the cheapest way to call that this service provider is currently offer, prepaid card works like a regular phone, totally free service, nor do any contract or subscription, just call the phone number you indicate below that best suits your requirements (the number can change depending on whether you are calling from a landline or mobile phone, and if the recipient is a landline or mobile) when the connection is established with 902 a term that will require you to enter the number you want to call, then just dial the phone number in international format (with the 00 before the number + the appropriate country code) and the communication system will put you in automatically, and remember, this service is totally free, you only pay the cost of the call to 902 that is similar to a call inter provincial, approximately 4 cents in reduced hours and 6 cents/euro at rush hour.

2. Calling a land line in India since a fixed Spain, Cheap Calls to India:

Just call 902 024 877 and enter the destination phone number you want to call international prefix (00) and the prefix of India, an example: 902 024 877 + 00 91 India Phone Number. And you can talk all you want, no cards, no contracts and international connection also leaves you completely free Cheap Calls to India and the only thing you pay is the call to 902 024 877 which is about the same cost as a call inter provincial, for more information consultation with your regular telephone company or visit our comparative international telephone rates.

3. Calling a landline in India from a mobile in Spain, Free Calls to India:

For making Free Calls to India from a mobile dial 902 024 877 then the phone number whom you are calling and before phone number 00 and the code of India +91. The call cost is very low compare to others voip providers.

4. Calling a mobile from a fixed in Spain , Cheap Calls to India :

All the procedure is same. But this time you are calling from a land line Spain to mobile in India. The cost varies as per your phone service providers.

Alternative for making Free Calls to India from around the world to landlines and mobile phones in India using calling cards: If you want to save money on your telephone system we recommend prepaid phone card valid for all countries, comfortably receive your pin code in seconds, directly to your email, to get your prepaid phone card click on the link below: International Calling Cards

Remember that if you’re not in Spain, plan to travel abroad.. or simply prefer to use a phone card to save all your phone calls (including national calls) features a convenient service for online sale of telephone cards that includes a powerful search engine for phone cards that will show you which cards are cheaper for the type of calls you want to perform, showing all telephone charges, cost of establishing a call, … of each phone card, plus our system is fully automatic, simply choose your preferred calling card, pay online with your credit card, paypal, … and comfortably in a few moments you will receive your pin code directly in your email.

Find the best calling cards by clicking the following link: And we also have special cards for travelers to pass through different countries, these cards can be used in several different countries and are therefore ideal for traveling with them, using only one card for all your calls home, buy it and clicking on the following link: Free Calls to India dial the international prefix (usually 00) plus the prefix that India is 91 so for example to call the 123,456 should dial:00 91 123456 .Thank you for your attention and enjoy making Free Calls to India.

Qatar Telecom launches 'Stop the Clock' Promotion

2010-03-18T23:53:00.000-07:00

Qtel's innovative "Stop the Clock" international promotion, where customers pay for five minutes of international talk time and receive an extra 10 international minutes for free, has proven so popular with the people of Qatar that it has been extended.

The promotion will now run until 6 April, so that Qtel Shahry customers can continue to speak to their friends and families in the most popular call destinations in the world, at the discounted rates.

The promotion works by providing callers with an additional ten free minutes of international call time for every five minutes they talk. Shahry customers can enjoy clock-stopping conversations with people in more than 40 countries across the Middle East, Asia, Europe and the Americas.

The offer was developed following Qtel research that showed customers wanted more talk time for the calls that mattered the most to them. Many customers also wanted to be able to talk for a long time, without having to worry about the price.

In addition, because of the strength and reliability of Qtel's world-class international network, customers wanted to make full use of the clarity and dependability of their calls with Qtel.

The "Stop the Clock" International Promotion is very simple to understand. For every five minutes of charged calling, customers receive up to 10 minutes free. This means that for every 15 minutes of international calling, Shahry customers only pay for five minutes.

The cycle constantly repeats, so that if a conversation goes for 30 minutes, only 10 minutes are charged. If an international call does not quite last until the full 15 minutes, customers need not worry, as after the first five minutes of charged calling, up to the next 10 minutes are free.

The charged portion of "Stop the Clock" calls is made at the corresponding peak (7 a.m. to 7 p.m.) and off-peak (7 p.m. to 7 a.m.) rates.

Stop the Clock applies to Shahry Standard and Shahry Value Packs services and the service applies to calls to the following "Stop the Clock" Countries:

Far and Southeast Asia
Bangladesh, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Sri Lanka and Thailand.

The Middle East
Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, UAE and Yemen.

North America and Europe
Canada, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, UK and USA.

Understanding Your VoIP Service Provider

2010-03-18T23:44:00.000-07:00

Internet came across as one of the biggest inventions of the century. It made life much easier and convenient by facilitating its users to connect to people from overseas in a matter of seconds. For instance, sending mails has never been as easy and speedy as made through with the help of Internet. The advantages of Internet have only been increasing with time. Its latest blessing is the ability to route calls making it not just economical to make calls but also increases the overall efficiency.

With this boom, VoIP providers have no difficulty in finding potential users of VoIP service. VoIP call termination service enables transmission of calls over the net by compressing the voice packets into small digital IP packets (in the form of data). These digital packets are then decompressed and reconverted into analog signals or voice packets when they reach the listener. Since the entire process takes place virtually on Internet cloud, the cost of call termination is relatively very less.

VoIP service providers offer different services like wholesale carrier service, VoIP reseller programs, managed partitioning services, and business solutions. The success of your organization (if you are a wholesaler or a reseller) depends to a great extent on your service provider.

Making of a Best VoIP Provider:

A lot goes in making a provider attain the status of a best VoIP service provider. Quality of service provided is one of the key factors. Imagine being on an important call and the voice starts cracking or there is problem of latency. In telecom sector especially the voice quality stands on a very important platform. One can check the quality by the average call duration, average success ratio and post duration delay. Higher the ACD and ASR and lower the PDD better would be the service. Additionally, you can ensure the service by selecting a VoIP phone provider who offers multiple routes as backup, has numerous switches and points of presence thereby minimizing the latency.

Support service follows up close to quality of service on the list of priority items to be included in the VoIP service package. A strong, professional and responsive support personnel team is synonymous with uninterrupted VoIP call termination service.

Rate comes as the third criteria in selection of VoIP Internet service providers. Different providers of voice over IP service render different call tariffs. There are some who will charge an initial set up fees too which may be avoided by opting for a provider who does not charge this initial fee. Hence, it becomes important to carefully review each provider to select the one that is most affordable and offers the best features along with it.

Cheap Internet Providers tips for Making Cheap Phone Calls

2010-03-18T03:59:00.000-07:00

Finding the cheapest phone deals for yourself is a very hard task to do when you’re busy with family and work, but the chore just got easier and we are just a click away to serve you. Here at Bsmart communications we have nearly ten years of customer service and our resources come from all over Australia.

We look for the cheapest phone deals for people just like you, trying to save them some hard earned money. We know that service is important to you, but we also know you do not want to pay a lot of money for a good quality service.

At Bsmart communications, we offer free service to you to find the cheapest phone deals available in Australia. We take your current phone bills and check them to see where you’re losing money; next we research providers that have less expensive plans to suit you and what you’re looking for. We can find cheap internet providers too so you can use the Voip (voice over internet protocol) system that will keep you saving money, especially on your long distance charges.

We will find providers that offer no contract or fees to get you on your way to savings and not losing cash like a man with holes in his pockets. There are plans that offer capped calls that actually save you on the phone calls you pay for with your current plan.

Cheap internet providers make it easy to set up the Voip system, so the cheapest phone deals that run hand in hand will have you saving tons of money in the long run.

Using the Voip will not only save you money, it allows you to work hands free to keep up with your daily tasks. Never has it become more convenient or affordable to keep up with the times, it has also become easier. Look to us at B smart communications for all of your communication needs and take comfort in knowing we are there to serve you and leave you satisfied with the choices you have made.

Cheap internet providers, cheap mobile phone deals and cheap contract phone deals are what our business is all about. Don’t be afraid to take that first step. Call us now at B smart and find out how thousands of Australians are saving money on their communication needs and be a saver too. We are there for you, so come see us today.

If you need help to find the best cheap internet providers in Australia, you can’t afford to make mistakes and get locked into a wrong plan. Use the free online comparison service at http://www.bsmart.net.au to find the best Australian phone plans for your needs.

Nokia 2720 Mobile Phone

2010-03-18T03:47:00.000-07:00

The Nokia 2720 Fold is one of a line of Nokia mobile phones in the Fold range. All of them have a very distinctive style of hinge mechanism and follow the same basic principals of flip mobile phones, namely that the keyboard and screen are hidden from view (and damage) by having the phone fold over on itself.

There is a basic level external screen on the Nokia 2720 Fold mobile phone. This screen is ‘hidden’ usually, and when activated only displays in black and white. It is activated when you want to see the time, date or battery life – or when you have an incoming call or text (SMS) message.

The phone comes with a number of multimedia functions, not least the built in FM radio allowing access to all manner of radio shows, from news to music. It has full MP3 support meaning that you can use the 2720 Fold as an MP3 player, simply transferring your music files from your computer onto the phone – then using the phone as a speaker or plugging in headphone to listen to the music in privacy.

There is a 1.3 mega pixel camera that can take photos and video, and supports the play back of video from other sources as well. The phone also comes with full support for polyphonic ringtones, so you can use almost any music or sounds as a ringtone or alarm.

However the target market of the Nokia 2720 Fold is unlikely to be swayed by it’s multimedia capabilities. The main selling points of the 2720 are it’s cheap price and it’s easy to use functionality. In a day when mobile phones can cost more than a university education, an education you will need to be able to use them, it is refreshing that there are mobiles out there that are affordable and easy to use.

And that is the target market of the 2720 fold. It is a well designed phone, able to withstand some damage, and is easy to use with a simple menu system and well laid out buttons. This means that it appeals to people who want a nice, cheap, simple phone that they can use from time to time.

It is that target market that makes the 2720 Fold hard to review. Because it may not measure up to the high flying new generation phones that are all singing and all dancing, but it is not meant to, that is the very point of the 2720.

But to give it the respect that it deserves it does exactly what it says on the tin. It is a stripped down mobile phone that pretty much goes ‘back to basics’. Yes there are a number of options, including a fair few multimedia ones, but in the main it is a sturdy, affordable, simple to use phone that many people will enjoy.

So with this phone it is about knowing what you are looking for. But if you want a cheap and reliable mobile phone you can certainly do worse than look at getting the Nokia 2720 Fold as the mobile for you.

Make Cheap Calls Through Your Mobile Phone

2010-03-16T23:38:00.000-07:00

Cheap Calls through your Mobile phone. No hassle of buying calling cards. If you are connected to WiFi or have a flat rate subscription with your mobile operator you will not pay for any local call. No change of SIM card or operator, Superb call quality, Synchronize and backup your contacts and calendar, Secure Payment and First 30 mins and 30 text msgs free on registration.

Please sms at +447781480717 and write ausvp in the text area.

You will receive a text msg to download the software for your phone. If your phone is connected to internet the download will start happening after you click the link on it. Or Email:sales@rooztech.com

Rates in cents per minute.

China 02 mob to mob 02 mob to land 12 SMS
India 05mob to mob 05mob to land 12 SMS
UK 23 mob to mob 04 12 SMS
Pak 08 mob to mob 08 12 SMS
Bangladesh 06 mob to mob 06 mob to land 12 SMS
Germany 21 mob to mob 04 mob to land 12 SMS
France 18 mob to mob 04 mob to land 12 SMS
Japan 18 mob to mob 04 mob to land 12 SMS

and more countries

Five Ways to Reduce Your Monthly Phone Bills

2010-03-16T22:56:00.000-07:00

With consumer sentiment at rock bottom due to the ongoing credit crisis and the US economy on the verge of recession, many consumers are seeking ways to reduce monthly expenses. A relatively painless way to reduce expenses is to eliminate goods and services that are paid monthly but not needed or fully utilized each and every month.

Telecom services fall into this category for most people since many telecom companies have been very successful at bundling services and selling consumers packages of services that they do not fully utilize. Many of these packages sound like good deals but they are really just high priced conveniences since most consumers do not fully utilize or even need all of the services in the package. A smart way to reduce monthly expenses is to rationalize these packages by removing services that are not needed or fully utilized and paying for them separately, as needed. It is often better to shop around in order to find the best deal on the desired services rather than purchasing them from one service provider. The following are some examples where phone related expenses can be significantly reduced.

Use Prepaid Long Distance

With the proliferation of cell phones many people question whether the traditional home phone is really necessary any more. Many households maintain a home phone even though they have a cell phone family plan where all members of the household have a cell phone and individual phone number. For many, keeping a traditional home phone is a sensible option since it is cheaper than paying for cell phone air time for receiving calls, calling toll free numbers or making local calls. It may also be necessary for emergencies (911 calls) or for alarm systems or other monitoring devices. However, traditional long distance phone service is likely not necessary or even an economical option.

In most cases using prepaid long distance is a far cheaper option than using traditional long distance from the phone company. Prepaid long distance like that offered by Tel3Advantage is very convenient and costs nothing if it is not used. So consumers only pay for calls they actually make at dirt cheap rates with no taxes or added fees. Tel3 only charges 1.9 cents per minute for long distance calls made to North American (USA and Canada) destinations. This means that a consumer can use more than 500 minutes for a mere $10. Rates are slightly higher for international calls depending on the location called but they are up to 95% cheaper than phone company rates. It is also easy to open an account and there is nothing to change, it can be used from any phone or with any existing phone service. An account can be opened by visiting the Tel3Advantage website or calling 800 441 0321.

Replace Your Existing Traditional Home Phone with a VoIP Phone

Consumers who want traditional home phone service and already have high speed INTERNET should consider adding a VoIP Phone. Home phone service from the phone company is very expensive when compared to VoIP, especially when one considers all of the added fees and taxes. In comparison, a VoIP phone that includes local phone service, unlimited long distance in North America and every conceivable feature costs as little as $15 to $20 per month (including taxes and fees). Compare this with your next phone bill.

A VoIP service provider will typically provide a modem and other necessary equipment at no additional charge. There will usually be a small setup and activation fee but most VoIP service providers will also provide a bonus for new customers, like one month of free service, so setup costs are minimal. It is relatively easy to save between $60 and $80 per month by using VoIP phone service instead of a home phone from the telephone company. To be fair, VoIP does have limitations. It is less reliable than traditional phone service since it needs both electricity and an active INTERNET connection or it will not work. Also, VoIP will typically not work with home alarm systems or other monitoring devices. However, people can still save significant money by mixing the two services. For example, people who need a secure, reliable connection can get a cheap, basic land line from the phone company and install a VoIP phone for making their expensive long distance calls.

Use Free PC to PC or Cheap PC to Phone Service

Consumers can make Free calls using their computers and an INTERNET connection with PC to PC or PC to Phone service. Companies like Skype provide Free software for making free calls over the INTERNET between computers. The software is downloaded from their website and can also be used to make computer to standard telephone calls to any phone in the world. However, there is a charge for calls to a standard telephone, this is how companies like Skype make money.

PC to PC calling is typically Free if both parties download software from the same company. This is obviously the cheapest option for making long distance calls, especially between international locations. However, it does have drawbacks and limitations. For one, both parties need to have a personal computer and an INTERNET connection. They also need to be on-line at the same time so some coordination is required. Also, some countries try to block or downgrade Skype calls in order to protect their high cost monopoly phone companies. For those who can work around these shortcomings, PC to PC calling is a very good and extremely cheap option for making international long distance calls.

Make Cheap International Calls from any Country with Callback Phone Service

International Callback phone service is a popular option for making cheap international calls from countries that have very expensive monopoly, often state controlled, phone companies. These countries block outside competition in order to keep their international calling rates artificially high. Rates on Phone Cards also tend to be high in these countries and they often actively block the use of the INTERNET for making low cost calls. These countries want to force consumers to use their high cost phone company.

In most cases, international callback can be used to avoid the high tariffs imposed on international phone calls in these countries. International callback by-passes the high cost monopoly company by placing the international call through a low cost third country. It works in the following:

The user triggers a call to from a phone located in a low cost third country. The call is triggered by making a call to a special phone number (letting it ring one or two times with no answer) in the third country or by sending a message like an e-mail or a text message from a cell phone.

The phone (computer) in the third country recognizes the user and places a call to there phone in the high cost country.

The user answers the call and has a dial tone. The user can than place an international call over the third countries low cost network by dialing the phone number they desire.

Callback calls are normally triggered using three different methods. The most common method is to place a call to a phone number in the third country. The caller will let the phone ring two or three times than hang up without an answer. In this way they are not charged for an international call. A computer at the other end will recognize them based on their phone number and place a call back to their phone number. Thus the term callback phone service. When the call is received, the caller will be in the low cost phone system and can place a call to any country in the world. This method of triggering a call is referred to as traditional callback. Another method, commonly called web call, uses a standard e-mail message to trigger a callback and place a call. A third method, commonly called SMS call, uses a text message from a cell phone to trigger a callback and place a call.

Several countries try to block callback in order to protect their high cost, monopoly phone companies. Blocking traditional callback is relatively easy since it relies on caller ID in order to recognize the customer. Blocking web call or SMS call is difficult or impossible so these methods can be used from almost any country.

Callback phone service can be obtained through a variety of service providers. The service is almost always provided on a prepaid basis.

Use a Prepaid Cell Phone

Mobile phones are great to have in case of an emergency and a nice convenience but most consumers find them an expensive option especially if they are locked into a long term contract. Many people do not use all of the minutes they pay for each month so having a long term contract is a waste of money. One way to avoid paying for unnecessary cell phone services is to purchase a prepaid cell phone. Prepaid minutes are rather expensive, usually around 10 cents per minute, but a far cheaper option for people who rarely use a cell phone but want one as a convenience or for emergency use. In most cases consumers need to purchase a phone and prepay minutes in standard denominations but many prepaid cell phone providers offer rebates and other incentives on phones. Consumers should shop around for the best deal on a prepaid cell phone. Also, prepaid cell phone refill cards (minutes) can be purchased at a discount to face value from a variety of discounters for some added savings

VoIP Technology Advantage

2010-03-16T00:19:00.000-07:00

Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), Internet telephony, IP telephony, voice over broad band (VoBB), call it what you may, it simply means that you can use the internet for voice, facsimile, and voice messaging applications.

From a tech point of view, VoIP is a term used to denote the transmission of voice communications over IP networks such as Internet or packet-switched networks.

For most of us, it is synonymous with Skype, that peer-to-peer software application which allows millions of people across the world to make really cheap voice calls to landline and mobile phones using their traditional Internet connections.

The fact that it also allows for video conferencing and instant messaging means that it is of great utility value to individuals, entrepreneurs and medium-sized business entities.

In the UAE, however, it didn’t really matter because VOIP as a service was not available. Yes, there were ways to get around it, and people with access to unblocking software bypassed traditional Internet service providers to do as they pleased.

The grey market which supplied pre-paid VoIP call cards made a killing. And because making VoIP voice calls was much cheaper than using international phone calls over the public switch telephone network (PSTN) they had all the consumers they could dream of.

It however came at a risk, as is the case with anything deemed illegal by the state.

But now with the Telecom Regulatory Authority (TRA) granting operating VoIP licenses to four UAE companies: Etislat, du, Yahsat, and Thuraya things are going to change.

It means that third party services like Skype, Vonage, Zfone, MindSpring or Minisip would be able to tie-up with the internet service providers and give the end consumer the best deal possible on his phone billing.

At the same time there will be issues relating to loss of voice quality over long distance phone calls, and the fact that your VoIP connection is inextricably tied to the internet, which could suffer from the vagaries of disruption at any given point of time.

Downloading extensions every time there is an upgrade will also be a headache.

And then there are the security issues – VoIP systems are susceptible to hackers who could initiate denial of service attacks, harvest customer data, record conversations and even break into voice mailboxes.

Having said that, attractive price points will make sure that people embrace the VoIP culture wholeheartedly.

N95 VOIP Nokia Cell Phone

2010-03-15T21:52:00.000-07:00

Nokia’s N95 VoIP exquisite multimedia phone has the connectivity, storage and communication technology for expert multimedia users. Professional video, images and sound files can be created, managed and shared at a moment’s notice with Nokia’s N95 VoIP. Add on the N95’s advanced mobile communication features and GPS system, and the N95 becomes a valuable tool for the multimedia professional or heavy multi-media users.

The N95 VoIP is a lustrous bar of advanced technology that can expertly handle the demands of a heavy multimedia user and media communicator. The Nokia N95 VoIP comes with 100 MB internal dynamic memory and 8 GB of internal flash memory. Both memories serve ringtones. But messages, calendar and note information, images and video clips are saved under the internal dynamic memory, and the multimedia content, which includes music, pictures and map data are stored under flash memory.

The generous storage capacity of multimedia is enhanced by exceptional connectivity. Wireless LAN is compatible with 802.11 b/g, and the N95 VoIP is plug and play ready. Wireless Bluetooth technology can gather and send all of your media files, including business cards. Your media can get connected with Bluetooth stereo audio (A2DP), TV out support and a Nokia AV connector. Nokia’s PC Suite facilitates convenient over-the-air synchronization and easy drag and drop. Images are conveniently kept in a gallery feature for easy access, review and uploading.

With the N95 VoIP, your images and videos will be precise and professional. Carl Zeiss optics with a Tessar lens and CIF sensor can capture 30 frames per second on this 5 megapixel front-facing camera. Videos are beautifully formatted into mpeg-4 VGA video format. The N95 mobile video has a playback time of 215 minutes. If you need to slice and dice your images, the Nokia N95 comes with video and still image editors.

The camera has all the features that make mobile photography easier than the filmstrips of the past. Red-eye reduction, white balance, day and night sensor, scene sensitivity and color tone adjustments are easily adjustable for your professional mobile photography needs. The N95 mobile camera has a focal length of 5.6mm and a macro focus distance of 10-50cm. The mechanical shutter speed is 1/1000 in a ¼ second. The focus range goes from 10cm to infinity.

Images, pictures, videos and text can be sent to a mobile phone or PC as individual media objects, or in a multi-slide presentation. The N95 VoIP phone even takes care of automatic resizing to fit MMS.

Music Features for the Nokia N95 includes visual radio that identifies the title and artist, FM stations, playlists, equalizer, and OMA DRM 2.0 & WMDRM support. Nokia’s podcasting service makes finding, downloading and managing your podcasts into a time-saving process.

With all the professional camera features, it’s easy to forget that the N95 is a cell phone. Voice commands, voice dialing, conference calling, push to talk features, text messaging, voice over internet protocol (VOIP) and voice recording maintain the N95’s sophisticated reputation. Nokia’s N95 VoIP mobile phone is made even more complete with its GPS with A-GPS support, and Nokia’s browser with map support.

The N95 VoIP is a complete multimedia sophisticated unit with professional multimedia capabilities, voice technology and communications systems. If you need media on the move, and enjoy the savings and convenience of voice over Internet protocol and an integrated GPS system, the N95 VoIP mobile phone can put the potential of professional voices and image applications in the palm of your hand.

Is VoIP Technology Helps You to Make Free Calls?

2010-03-15T02:50:00.000-07:00

For quite some time since its inception, the Internet was nothing more than a virtual platform for people to meet and communicate with each other in a non-verbal fashion. Apart from bringing the whole world closer through chat rooms and emails, there wasn’t much that the Internet could do to connect users verbally. This scenario changed with the entry of the VoIP technology that gave users a much needed verbal communication platform.

As far as the development is concerned from a manufacturer’s point of view, it is just another usual turn of events. However, users have a different story to tell about the VoIP technology, which has actually narrowed the distance between them and their friends to a great extent. Internet users can now talk to their friends and relatives over Internet telephones or VoIP phones, to be precise through this technology.

The VoIP technology works on the calculation of transmitting voice calls over the Internet or through an IP based network. Through this technology, two kinds of phone services are available in the form of regular telephone adapter based VoIP phones and software based VoIP phones. The former can be used to make and receive calls to and from any phone, while the software based VoIP phones need a computer to transmit the voice signals.

To enjoy the benefits of the VoIP technology, all you need is a broadband Internet connection or your regular telephone that is connected to an Analog Telephone Adapter (ATA) given by the provider to get going. With several impressive options laid out through this technology in the form of voice mails, caller ID, call forwarding, etc., VoIP phone users stand to gain a lot.

Make Free calls on AT&Ts iPhone over 3G with Nimbuzz

2010-03-15T02:18:00.000-07:00

Yes, it is true! You can make free calls over 3G on your AT&T iPhone with Nimbuzz!! Apple just approved our new release. Call your friends and family on Skype, Yahoo! Messenger, Windows Live Messenger or Gtalk for free over your 3G internet connection!

VoIP Technology in the Australian Marketplace

2010-03-11T22:41:00.000-08:00

There is increasing awareness of Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) in the Australian marketplace of late, and understandably so. VoIP has the potential to revolutionise the way we communicate.

Much of the hype has been around residential VoIP, rather than business VoIP communications. It is crucial to understand that major differences exist between residential and business grade VoIP solutions. Relying on a residential grade VoIP service can have disastrous effects for a business, including loss of sound quality in phone calls and down time where your business ability to communicate may be cut off entirely. The integration of a business grade VoIP solution has many cost and efficiency benefits for Australian Small to Medium Businesses (SMBs).

The most obvious advantages of a business-grade VoIP solution are the reductions in call and line rental costs, however, there are many other significant business advantages for SMBs of all sizes to realise:

Increased productivity by integrating VoIP with the computer desktop and allowing features such as Click2Dial from Outlook
Increased business metric capabilities from detailed reporting on inbound and outbound call patterns
Vastly improved and centralised personal attendant and reception capabilities allowing visibility of all staff extensions in a consolidated view, simplifying transfers to extensions and voicemail
Awareness of an individuals location as available, busy or out of the office until 2pm
Increased efficiency from converging the voice and data networks (operating both voice and data on the one network)

To decide how best to integrate VoIP with your existing voice and data infrastructure you must have a clear understanding of your business drivers and the results you wish to achieve.

VoIP Gateways
Ideal times to consider the introduction of a VoIP solution are during an office relocation, or during times of high growth. An excellent entry level solution for businesses who wish to experience the benefits provided by VoIP is to connect their phone system to PSTN via a VoIP gateway device. A VoIP gateway device is a simple piece of hardware that allows the basic integration of VoIP with a traditional phone system, most often without having to physically change any configuration.

Pacific Internets VoIP gateway is connected via a business-grade broadband service and will send calls destined for external locations (whether local, national, mobiles, international or another VoIP service) across the VoIP network and into the traditional phone line at the destination point. It is Pacific Internet that maintains connectivity to the traditional phone line. This scenario allows for the seamless integration between the two networks (PSTN and VoIP) and a traditional phone system to co-exist with a VoIP solution. The advantage of a gradual migration to a total VoIP solution is that it allows you to immediately appreciate some of the benefits of VoIP, without the upfront cost of replacing your entire existing voice infrastructure.

Connecting to Traditional Voice Networks via VoIP

A number of scenarios are available to connect your phone system to the traditional PSTN via VoIP, the most common of which are:

Full replacement of traditional analogue or digital lines for all inbound and outbound calls, providing for standard geographic Direct Inward Dial (DID) numbers to be allocated to the VoIP service, for example, 02 9999 9999 for Sydney, 07 3333 3333 for Brisbane, 02 4900 0000 for Newcastle
Partial replacement of traditional analogue or digital lines for all outbound calls
Installation of additional VoIP lines to sustain call overflow during unexpected or regular peaks in outbound calls traffic
Additional lines for calling only specific, designated prefixes. For example, making all outbound calls to mobiles via VoIP.

Each of these scenarios can be configured to either work automatically or to require manual user selection with most phone systems. For example, if VoIP is being installed solely to make all outbound calls to mobiles then the phone system can be set-up via Least Cost Routing (LCR) to automatically use a VoIP line when an individual calls a mobile.

An important consideration when integrating your traditional telephone system with VoIP is to very clearly understand current calling behaviour. For consideration are items such as:

How many simultaneous inbound calls does the business receive?
How many simultaneous outbound calls does the business make?
How many spare PSTN ports (or trunk ports) does the telephone system have?
Are the spare PSTN ports for analogue lines or for digital (ISDN) lines?
If there are currently insufficient spare PSTN ports, can the phone system be cost-effectively upgraded with additional cards to provide sufficient port capacity?

Once you have a clear understanding of your current call behaviour and phone system, you can accurately determine how many VoIP lines are required and the resulting demands this will place on business-grade broadband service. You must consider bandwidth requirements, segregation of voice from data, and Quality of Service (QoS).

As your VoIP provider, Pacific Internet, can make qualified recommendations on the best configuration to achieve your desired business benefits. Integrating VoIP with an existing business data network and phone system takes a significant amount of careful planning and it is crucial that this step not be overlooked, however, it is an ideal way to test a VoIP solution and immediately start to appreciate some of the cost and efficiency benefits that VoIP can provide.

VoIP Service Resellers: A Best Method of Cheap International Calling

2010-03-09T23:13:00.000-08:00

Internet phone service is all about making calls using PC. The presence of VoIP resellers has made the mode of international calling more easier and even convenient. Moreover, the user can enjoy forwarding international calls at any corner of the world using value added features of video calling, call waiting, call divert, call conference etc.

The voice over IP (VoIP) has huge potential and that is why it has been gaining immense popularity. VoIP is one of the fastest communication technology that connect people in few seconds. Anyone can avail its facilities, using a good broadband connection. Moreover, the user can even download a VoIP software that is capable of providing more better quality. The VoIP reseller are an easy medium to generate more revenue. As its main focus is to serve user's requirements and with such concern, companies has been introducing cheap calling plans for making communication more effective. VoIP reseller allow browsers to get connected to the end users of his choice in a hassle free manner. One can enjoy unlimited international calling with the ease of these resellers.

It provides open opportunity to various companies to spread their business along with serving user's satisfaction. There are number of VoIP service provider available on internet, user can select as per his/her budget. VoIP resellers help companies to distribute VoIP services all over the world. Internet phone service is one of the cost effective means of long distance communication, offering umpteen attractive deals. Internet is crowded with thousands of wholesale dealers who promise to provide best reseller agencies that too at affordable rates. Generally, there are two main kinds of VoIP reseller programs- Private and White. Private label VoIP services offers rates that has fixed by the reseller whereas in white, the wholesaler himself defines the rates of services. The resellers of VoIP is globally available.

Multimedia VoIP Phone

2010-03-08T22:45:00.000-08:00

Returns from multimedia IP telephony solutions in 2014 will more than triple by 2009, Infonetics Research has said.

The communications industry market research firm has forecast that worldwide IP multimedia subsystem (IMS) equipment vendor revenue will rise to $1.44 billion (£950 million) in 2014.

Income from multimedia VoIP solutions equipment totalled $426 million (£281 million) in 2009, with the year's fourth quarter up 92 per cent on the previous quarter.

The fourth quarter of 2009 was also the first quarter in which revenue from IMS equipment for mobile networks outstripped that of IMS equipment for fixed-line networks.

Diane Myers, directing analyst for service provider VoIP and IMS at Infonetics Research, said that the company expects "strong annual growth for at least the next five years" from IMS.

Deployments of LTE is expected to drive IMS growth from 2012, with telecommunications industry leaders currently looking to agree on a standard for rolling out voice and SMS over 4G.

The likes of Wi-Max and LTE could eventually see high-definition mobile VoIP phones supersede traditional mobile voice services, technology news and reviews website PCWorld said recently.

Veterinary Software

VoIP Service Information

2010-03-08T02:14:00.000-08:00

VoIP or voice over protocol is one of the latest innovations in communications technology. The main difference it has with the old telephony system is that it uses data packets while the old telephony system uses switch boards.

In case you are not familiar with switchboards, imagine your call being routed to an operator before it reaches the person you are calling. That illustrates how a switchboard works. VoIP uses data packets that are sent and received via the internet. Hence, the basic equipment you will need to enable VoIP is a modem because this is the main device that allows you to get an internet access.

VoIP products come as trunk or hosted. If you are still wishing to use your old telephone device while utilizing VoIP at the same time, you will need to purchase a gateway from VoIP vendors. The gateway comes in a data packet that looks like a box. You would have to connect this to your conventional telephone or fax machine to enable VoIP. However, if you have an IP enabled system, there is no need to purchase the gateway.

There are four ways by which you can make the calls using the VoIP. These include

internet-internet,
phone-internet,
internet-phone,
phone-phone.

If you are making a call towards a phone, it can be a regular, non-VoIP phone. Otherwise, the recipient of your call also needs to have a VoIP-enabled device. If you are making a call through a computer, you need to have a head set and a VoIP software program. If you are making an internet-internet call, the computer you are calling to must also have the same software as you have. Examples of this software are Skype, that of Yahoo, MSN, etc.

Make Free Phone Calls to Chile

2010-03-04T05:12:00.000-08:00

In order to ease concerns as customers reach out to friends and family members in Chile, Bright House Networks will make all Home Phone customer calls to Chile free of charge through the end of March. Retroactive to calls beginning Feb. 27 and continuing through March 31, Bright House Networks' Home Phone customers will not be charged for any calls to land lines or cell phone numbers in Chile.

“Bright House Networks wants to continue to help where we can by connecting people who are worried about their families and friends impacted by this past weekend's earthquake through our Home Phone service. We know how important communication is to those who have been through such devastation,” said Robert McCann, Detroit Division president.

Customers who are making calls to Chile during the program timeframe will be issued a credit on their Home Phone account for any direct dial calls made to Chile, with no hassle and no need to do anything else. Credits for all calls made during the program time period will appear on customer accounts in May. Calls to operators or directory assistance are not direct dial calls so these will be charged at the usual rate.

“Residential communication networks may be overburdened in Chile so it may take some time to reach the person you're calling,” McCann said. “Again, we are happy to provide this assistance so that it may reduce some of the concern our customers are facing with their loved ones in Chile.”

Huge Number of VoIP Users Will Approach 300 Million by 2013, In-Stat Reports

2010-03-04T01:10:00.000-08:00

Market research firm In-Stat (http://www.in-stat.com) estimates the total number of mobile VoIP users will reach 288 million by the end of 2013. Of these, well over half will be associated with online mobile VoIP providers, under one-third will utilize mobile VoIP with 3G MVNOs or mobile operators, and 11% with WiMAX/LTE operators. On a geographic basis, mobile VoIP will be heavily biased towards the Asia Pacific region, particularly among the online mobile VoIP services.

“The near-term opportunity for mobile VoIP is closely linked with the growing success of dual-mode phones and other Wi-Fi connected devices,” says Frank Dickson, In-Stat analyst. “However, mobile VoIP still poses a direct threat to operator voice revenue and operators are navigating how to balance new opportunity with the threat.”

Recent research by In-Stat found the following:

In-Stat projects that by 2013 mobile VoIP applications will generate annual revenues of $35.2 billion.
While the EMEA region has more mobile VoIP related revenue currently, Asia Pacific will be the largest regional market in revenue terms by 2013.
Dual-mode handsets (Wi-Fi + Cellular) will be well over 400 million units shipped in 2013.

The research, “Mobile VoIP—Transforming the Future of Wireless Voice” (#IN0904428MCM), covers the worldwide market for mobile VoIP including:

Analysis of VoIP’s impact on the mobile market.
Forecasts for mobile VoIP associated revenue by region through 2013.
Forecasts for mobile VoIP users and annual usage by region through 2013.
Profiles of mobile VoIP startups.
Profiles of VoIP providers.
Profiles of WiMAX providers.

VoIP Technology Problems

2010-03-02T21:23:00.000-08:00

VoIP is a means of telephone service made available through the ever-expanding popularity of broadband internet service. VoIP (or “Voice over Internet Protocol”) services enable users to call extremely long distances over the World Wide Web without accruing large conventional long-distance telephone fees. In order to use VoIP, customers must have an existing broadband internet connection in place. The VoIP carrier provides a new phone number, access to the service, and for an additional fee, the phone equipment as well. While companies such as Vonage and Skype helped pioneer the industry by making people more aware of the technology, large conventional telephone carriers are also stepping up in order to offer their own VoIP services, proving that the technology is maturing. However, despite the large backing of major telephone carriers, VoIP still isn’t perfect.

The most notable of existing VoIP problems is the lack of an adequate infrastructure and effective back end system. Though as the companies and divisions that are devoted to VoIP services implement increasing usable standards in place this aspect grows less worrisome. However, in the beginning, billing issues as well as IP concerns had some companies, particularly those that specialized in conventional phone services, reeling.

Another large weakness that VoIP exhibits when compared to traditional home phone service is that VoIP is reliant on a broadband connection (dial-up internet is too slow), service up-time, and power, whereas a traditional phone service combined with an older, powerless phone needs none of them. While broadband internet service has become much more reliable in recent years, it is still not as dependable as conventional telephone lines. This means that if there is a problem with internet service, there will be no telephone service as well. While this can be very inconvenient for home use, it can be downright devastating for businesses that find themselves in a situation with no phones. Additionally, the unavailability of telephone service during a power interruption can leave people stranded with no phone service during emergencies, which can have life-threatening consequences.

Finally, the quality of phone calls that VoIP services offer can range from very good to very unacceptable. While many customers rave about their clear service, others regularly complain of dropped calls, strange sounds, delays, and echo. Delays are commonplace in VoIP phone calls and many expect the problems to become worse before they get better because, as with anything else on the internet, VoIP calling is subject to hacking. Therefore, companies will be scrambling to implement security patches in place, possibly at the sacrifice of quality, at least at first.

However, even though VoIP may not be as reliable as traditional telephone communication just yet, there really should be no surprise. Traditional telephone services have had the better part of a century in which to perfect their networks and it still isn’t perfect, either. For the cost, VoIP cannot be beat if you have a contingency line in case your power or broadband goes out. If you already have broadband internet service then the equipment and monthly VoIP service fees should be affordable enough to utilize the service in spite of its flaws – which are only going to become minuter as the technology matures.

Potential Benefits of VoIP Service

2010-02-18T04:30:00.000-08:00

Possible savings in intrabuilding wiring costs for new buildings or renovations due to reduced wire infrastructure. Typically, campus buildings have two or three cable systems, one each for data networking, telephone connections, and cable television distribution. It may be possible to consolidate the data networking and telephone connection cable plants if VoIP is implemented, saving the cost of the second cable plant installation and maintenance. It should be noted, however, that in many, particularly newer, buildings, the "lateral" wiring that connects wiring closets to workstations is already the same for data connections and telephone connections.
Low cost or free toll calls to some locations (e.g., other VoIP installations). It is possible to bypass the centralized campus telephone system and provide voice communications between on-campus and off-campus groups of people, all using VoIP instruments and the Internet. However, taking advantage of this potential savings requires more configuration and support for the Call Management system due to the need for careful dialing plan management and routing considerations.
Can relocate instrument without central administrative support. Currently, moving a telephone line from one building location to another requires having a technician (either from Communications Services, an off-campus vendor, or your own department's staff) visit your office, find or install a new pair of wires to the new instrument location, change some wire jumpers in one or more wiring closets, and then test the changes. With a VoIP network, the instrument can be connected into any data network outlet and it should work within a matter of minutes. Just unplug it, move it, and plug it back in. There may, however, be network device management issues such as address assignment, firewall configuration, and port availability that must be resolved, typically by departmental network staff.
Can "roam" between instruments and "log in" at any handy instrument, and it takes on the configuration of your office instrument. Some VoIP systems allow people to walk up to a telephone instrument in any office and dial a couple of numbers on the keypad ("log in"), and that telephone temporarily assumes the configuration of the telephone line in your home office (e.g., it assumes your telephone number, your list of speed dial numbers, and your intercom settings).
Potential of accessing the campus VoIP network from off campus, and your office phone can be extended to your home or another remote location. It is possible to obtain a network service from a local Internet Service Provider (ISP), such as Verizon or Cox Communications, and connect a VoIP telephone set in your home to the VoIP network in your office. The telephone set in your home then has all of the features and capabilities of your office telephone set (but, consider the University's policies regarding the use of University facilities for personal business).
Can acquire or develop applications that integrate voice and data applications. Some examples are unified messaging, pop-up database lookups based on incoming Caller ID, and web browsing using the telephone set.

VoIP Phone Service Requirements, Availability, and Service Limitations

2010-02-10T22:57:00.000-08:00

When considering VoIP service, you should not assume that its features, functionality, and options will equal those of traditional landlines; you should be familiar with the requirements, availability, and possible service limitations of VoIP service before switching to VoIP as either a primary means of communication or an enhancement to your current services.

Requirements

VoIP requires a connection to the Internet through an ISP, a VoIP service to extend the reach to traditional landlines, and VoIP software to actually place calls. Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS) requires none of these prerequisites. It is important to note that Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) internet service uses traditional phone lines for your internet connection; in this case, you already have telephone service to begin with. You may wish to weigh the expected benefits of VoIP against these costs given your current operating environment.

Availability due to power outages

During a typical power outage, VoIP becomes unavailable because VoIP devices (computers, routers, adapters) usually rely on a power source to function. Traditional phone lines are usually still available during such an outage, which is a major advantage in an emergency. Ultimately, it may be necessary to use an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) with a VoIP installation if connectivity is desired during a power outage or some other kind of emergency.

Availability Due to Bandwidth

VoIP communication nearly always requires a high-speed (broadband) internet connection for reliable functionality. Even given typical broadband connection speeds, though, service interruptions or degradation of quality is possible due to high internet traffic. For example, if you are trying to place a VoIP Call while other people are using a lot of bandwidth on the same internet connection, the sound quality of your VoIP call or general VoIP availability may be affected.

911 Services
911 services are not guaranteed with a basic (VoIP to VoIP) setup. However, it is available with many of the interconnected services that extend VoIP connectivity to traditional landlines. You should not assume that 911 services are present and working but should consult with the terms of your service agreement.

Threats and Risks of VoIP Service

2010-02-08T04:11:00.000-08:00

Many of the threats associated with VoIP are similar to the threats inherent to any internet application. Internet users are already familiar with the nuisance of email abuse in the form of spam and phishing attempts. VoIP opens yet another pathway for these annoyances, which can lead to spam over internet telephony (SPIT), spoofing, and identity theft. Additionally, the confidentiality of VoIP conversations themselves has come into question, depending on service type or VoIP configuration.

Spam over internet telephony (SPIT)

As VoIP usage increases, so will the pesky marketing strategies associated with it. Perennial annoyances like telemarketing and spam have been plaguing consumers and internet users for years. A new sort of hybrid of these two concepts is SPIT, or spam over internet telephony. Like email spamming, sending commercial messages via VoIP is fast and cheap. Unlike traditional telemarketing, though, VoIP offers the potential for large volumes of unsolicited calls, due to the wide array of tools already available to attackers on the internet. Telemarketers could easily send large amounts of messages to VoIP customers. Unlike traditional spam email messages, which average only 10–20 kilobytes in file size, unwanted VoIP voicemails can require megabytes of storage.

Spoofing

It is technically possible for an attacker to masquerade as another VoIP caller. For example, an attacker could possibly inject a bogus caller ID into an ordinary VoIP call so that the receiver believes the call to be coming from a known and trusted source (a bank, for example). The receiver, fooled by the electronic identification of the caller, may place unwarranted trust in the person at the other end. In such an exchange, the receiver may be tricked into disclosing personal information like account numbers, social security numbers, or secondary authentication factor: a mother’s maiden name, for example. This scheme is essentially the VoIP version of traditional phishing, where a user follows links in an unsolicited email and is tricked into providing personal information on a bogus web site. Attackers may use these bits and pieces of personal information to complete partial identity records of victims of identity theft.

Confidentiality Concerns

Many critics of VoIP question its confidentiality. The concern is that VoIP data sometimes travels unencrypted over the internet. Therefore, it is technically possible for someone to collect VoIP data and attempt to reconstruct a conversation. Although it is extremely difficult to achieve, some software programs are designed to piece together bits and pieces of VoIP data in an effort to reconstruct conversations. While such activity is currently rare, you should be aware of this possibility as it may increase as VoIP becomes more widespread.

Source: http://www.us-cert.gov/reading_room/understanding_voip.pdf

Cisco VoIP Phone Quick Start Guide

2010-02-05T03:33:00.000-08:00

Make & Receive Calls
To place a call:
• Lift the handset and dial the number.
• Press the line button for your extension, then dial.
• Press the Speaker button, then dial.
• Press the New Call soft key, then dial.

To answer a call:

Lift the handset.
To use the speakerphone, press the
Answer soft key or the Speaker button.

Place a Call on Hold

To put a call on hold:
Press the Hold soft key.
To return to the call, press the Resume soft key.
If multiple calls are on hold, use the Navigation button to select the desired call before you press Resume.
If multiple calls on multiple lines are on hold, press the line button for the line to which you want to switch and use the Navigation button to select the desired call. Press Resume.

Transfer a Call

To transfer a call:
During a call, press the Transfer soft key. This puts the call on hold.
Dial the number to which you want to transfer the call. As soon as you hear ringing, or after the party answers, press
Transfer.
Note: If the transfer fails, press the Resume soft key to return to the original call.

Conference Call
To place a conference call:
1. During a call, press the more soft key and then the Confirm soft key to open a new line and put the first party on hold.
2. Place a call to another number.
3. When the call connects, press Confirm again to add the new party to the call.

Call Forward
To forward all calls to another number:

1. Press the CFwdAll soft key. You will hear two beeps.
2. Enter the number to which you want to forward all of your calls. Enter the number exactly as you would if you were placing a call to that number. An animated phone icon flashes in the upper-right corner of your LCD screen.
3. To cancel call forwarding, press the CFwdAll soft key.

Volume & Ringer Sound
To adjust the ringer volume:
Press the up or down Volume button while the handset is in its cradle.
To change the ringer sound:

1. Press the Settings button.
2. Press 1 for User Preferences
3. Press 1 for Ring Type.
4. Use the Navigation button to scroll through the list of ring types and press the Play soft key to hear samples.
5. Highlight the ring you want, then press the Select soft key.
6. Press the OK and Save soft keys.
7. To adjust the handset, speakerphone, or headset volume:

During a call, press the up or down Volume button. Press the Save soft key to apply the new volume level to future calls.

Instant Help Button
Press the ? button once, then press a button or soft key.
• Highlight a feature in the Directories, Settings, or Services menu, then press the ? Button twice

How Do You Connect Your VoIP Phone?

2010-02-04T03:29:00.000-08:00

DC adapter port (DC48V) for phones not provided with inline power
AC-to-DC power supply
AC power cord
Network port (10/100 SW) for connecting to the network
Access port (10/100 PC) for connecting your phone to your computer
Handset port
Headset port
Foot stand button

VOIP Service Disadvantages

2010-02-03T05:37:00.000-08:00

Sometimes you hear an echo sound through your phone; it sounds like you are repeating yourself. Also if your cable or DSL goes out, so does your phone line.

There is no emergency reliability. Maybe you will never need it, but if you have to use 911, you have to give exact address and name. They have a hard time tracking where you are and this could cost you valuable seconds.

You must have a DSL router or a second computer set up to run a second phone line. With traditional phone services, a phone jack is in almost every room.

Why Are You UsIng Broadband Internet Service?

2010-02-02T05:18:00.000-08:00

There are many reasons why Broadband internet service is desirable over your dial up modem. One of the main advantages is that broadband internet access is much faster than dial up speeds. For the people who are new to broadband internet service you may be wondering what this 'Broadband' is. Well, the term 'Broadband' is used to describe any kind of high speed internet access service. The main types of Broadband internet access technologies that are introduced below are 'DSL Service' and ' Cable Internet'. These are commonly used technologies by both business and residential customers. The following provides a summary of some of the main reasons why Broadband Internet service is the best choice:

Internet Speed:
Broadband internet speed is typically 10 to 30 times FASTER than dial-up modem connections. Internet speed is an important factor when using the internet. The faster your internet speed the faster you can view websites on the internet, the faster you can download MP3 music files, the faster you can download photographs emailed from family and friends, and the faster you can download Microsoft updates, to name but a few. With a broadband internet service, these types of applications can take seconds rather than minutes/hours with a dial up connection.

Always-on:
Broadband internet service is an 'always-on' connection. This means that 24 hours a day and seven days a week you will have instant internet access when your computer is powered on. No more trying to connect with user names ad passwords or trying different dial-up numbers to find the best connection or after annoying busy tones.

You can use your telephone line:
With broadband internet service you can 'surf' then internet without tying up your phone line. No more missed calls or logging off your dial-up connection to make an important phone call. DSL service technology does not affect your normal phone line usage. You can talk to family and friends while you download your favourite MP3 audio soundtrack from the internet.

More than 1 computer:
With broadband internet service you can link several computers together on the same connection. This can be useful if your spouse or kids have a PC separate from yours and want to use the internet at the same time. This can also be useful for small businesses that require more than one PC for the employees/owners.

Applications:
High speed internet access opens up a whole new world of applications and use for your computer whether from a residential or business focus. For residential users this can include applications from internet games with other gamers on the other side of the world, or sending large files such as photographs to family and friends via email. These types of applications would be painfully slow or just unusable with dial-up internet speed. For business users this can include applications such as videoconferencing and telecommuting.

VoIP (Broadband Phone Service):
Broadband internet service is the only requirement for Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), also known as Broadband Phone Service. VoIP can be used to replace your traditional phone line. VoIP broadband phone service uses your high speed internet access to 'carry' your voice call, rather than like your normal telephone service that uses your dedicated phone line.

Session Initiation Protocol (SIP)

2010-01-28T01:02:00.000-08:00

Application level signaling protocol

Allows creating, modifying, terminating sessions with one or more participants

Carries session descriptions (media types) for user capabilities negotiation

Supports user location, call setup, call transfers

Supports mobility by proxying and redirection

Allows multipoint control unit (MCU) or fully meshed interconnections

Gateways can use SIP to setup calls between them.

Benefits of VoIP Technology

2010-01-22T04:54:00.000-08:00

1. Saves money on moves, adds, and changes.

* Telephone number is associated with an IP phone, not a location
* Take phone with you when move offices - simply plug into VoIP-ready jack

2. Local control of numbers and features

* Case can add and delete telephone numbers from IP phones and turn features on or off
* User controlled features through Web or telephone interface for forwarding and speed dial lists

3. Connection to latest campus directory and other XML applications (Public Address system).

* The IP phones can access the Case phone directory, allowing users to find the mostup-to-date telephone numbers right on their phones.
* Users will be able to store a Personal Address Book and Fast Dial list, either using a Web interface or through manually entering information on the IP phone set.
* The speakerphones can be used in emergencies as a Public Address system.

Overview of VOIP Data Handling

2010-01-19T03:35:00.000-08:00

Before any voice can be sent, a call must be placed. In an ordinary phone system, this process involves dialing the digits of the called number, which are then processed by the telephone company’s system to ring the called number. With VOIP, the user must enter the dialed number, which can take the form of a number dialed on a telephone keypad or the selection of a Universal Resource Indicator (URI), but after that a complex series of packet exchanges must occur,based on a VOIP signaling protocol.

The problem is that computer systems are addressed using their IP address, but the user enters an ordinary telephone number or URI to place the call. The telephone number or URI must be linked with an IP address to reach the called party, much as an alphabetic web address, such as “www.nist.gov” must be linked to the IP address of the NIST web server. A number of protocols are involved in determining the IP address that corresponds to the called party’s telephone number.

Advantages of VoIP Service

2010-01-19T03:23:00.000-08:00

Organizationally, there are significant benefits of implementing a VoIP system, such as simplifying our infrastructure, reducing our eventual costs as the world migrates to VoIP, and keeping up with technological trends.

For the individual, IP phones offer certain features beyond those of the traditional phone. These features allow you to manage your calls, to access services, and to enjoy additional handy tools. In addition to the features you already have on your traditional phone, all of our IP phones provide these features:

An LCD display allows you to view more information about who the call is to or from, the duration of the call, and other calls waiting to be answered.
You can search the University Directory on your IP phone and then dial the number with a single button.
Easily accessible Call Logs allow you to view missed, received, and placed calls. You can clear these logs at any time. You can also call a number from your Call Log with a single button.
Your IP phone uses "softkeys" for accessing call features and options. Softkeys may change according to what you're doing, allowing the phone to provide new options based on the status of your call.
The iDivert feature allows you to divert a call you cannot immediately answer directly to voicemail with a single button.
The Join feature allows you to join two or more independent calls to create a conference call.
The Direct Transfer feature allows you to connect two calls to each other, without remaining on the line.
An improved redial feature allows you to redial the last number, even if it is an on-campus number.

Click here for more information about VoIP Technology.

How to Avoid Harassing Phone Calls?

2010-01-14T23:20:00.000-08:00

Your telephone is for your use and service; always use it on your own terms. If the caller does not speak or if you simply don’t feel comfortable talking to the caller, hang up. Remember that the telephone is under your control and you are not obligated to speak to anyone.

If you hear an obscene or improper question KEEP CALM, if you have caller I.D., write the number down and HANG UP IMMEDIATELY. Crank callers want to get a frightened or angry response from you. So try not to analyze the caller or prolong the call. DO NOT answer if they call back.

DON’T slam down the receiver because this lets the caller know s(he) has succeeded in bothering you.

DO NOT give any information to strangers over the phone.

DO NOT try to figure out who is calling. Extending the call is what the caller wants.

DO NOT tell others of the calls. Many obscene or harassing calls are made by acquaintances, family members, or a boyfriend/girlfriend. ONLY discuss the calls with the proper authorities.

NEVER give your phone number to strangers or anonymous callers.

If you receive or have received late night or early morning calls, unplug the phone or turn the ringer off.

If the calls are received on an answering machine, SAVE the calls and share them with the proper authorities.

If you receive the telephone calls on Wake Forest University, notify University Police immediately and make a report of the matter.

If you receive the telephone calls off of Wake Forest University, notify local authorities. Report the calls to the local authorities and contact your service provider and request assistance on having the calls blocked, traced, or any assistance they can provide.

DO NOT engage in conversation with the caller if you do not know them. YOU are in control, not the caller. DO NOT argue with; attempt to justify anything the caller may be complaining about. HANG UP.

DO NOT humor the caller, give advice or personal opinions. HANG UP. Once you begin a dialogue with the caller they have succeeded in having a platform to speak on.

Contact your local phone service provider to inquire about what other options may be available to you.

For more information about this news http://www.wfu.edu/police/pdf/Calls3.pdf