TA VoIP News Page

VoIP News Headlines

DirecTV tests IP telephony As part of joint venture, company to test a Net-based phone service for residents of apartments and condominiums. DirecTV is set to test an Internet phone service through its joint venture with Hicks Holdings as it tries to head off competition from cable operators using bundled services to attract and retain customers. 9/7/6 CNET

Skype phones sans the PC Skype on Thursday announced new cordless phones that will let users of its Internet phone service make calls without a computer or Wi-Fi connection. CNET 8/31/6

Call centers ramp up VoIP Though adoption hasn't climbed as swiftly as predicted, the outlook for growth is still positive, report says. Almost half of the call centers in North America will use voice over Internet Protocol systems by the end of next year, according to new research. CNET 8/18/6

Study: Net telephony quality worsening While it's no secret that Net phone services don't offer the same call quality as traditional phones, a new study suggests that the quality of voice over Internet Protocol is actually getting worse. CNET 8/6/6

Local VoIP numbers, international cell calls Imagine being able to use the hundreds of spare local minutes you get with your cellular plan toward international calls. CNET 8/6/6

Seven Ways to Get Cheap Calls Internet services have multiplied your choices for phoning across the country, or across the world, inexpensively -- sometimes for free BusinessWeek 7/21/6

Open Source Takes on Telecom Digium CEO Mark Spencer explains how he's woven freely available software into a low-priced phone system for businesses BusinessWeek 7/21/6

VoIP: Quality is still a big concern With Net telephony poised to hit the mainstream, experts say issues with service quality need to be worked out. CNET 7/21/6

Microsoft takes on Cisco with Nortel alliance The gloves are off as Microsoft challenges Cisco Systems in the corporate communications market. CNET 7/21/6

CEO Guide to VoIP: Tip Sheet Surviving the changeover to voice over Internet protocol can be tricky, but with these do's and don'ts, you'll be all set. BusinessWeek 7/13/6

Internet Telephony: Coming in Clear Companies are upgrading old phone networks to reduce bills and add features. But cost savings can take time, and IP systems aren't risk-free. BusinessWeek 7/13/6

Call China For Free From any Mobile or Landline A rather anonymous website at CallChinaForFree.com tells visitors that by dialing 712-338-8288 or 641-696-3188 (Iowa based phone numbers) they will get a second dial tone that allows them to call China for free. Google Ad 7/13/6

Packet8 Offers Free Activation & Shipping Thru 7/31/6 An email newsletter distributed through TMCnet states that businesses that order the Packet8 solution by 7/31/6 will get free activation & shipping (on top of saving 50% on their phone bill). TMCnet.com Email 7/13/6

Former Sprint Wholesale Services Executive VP Art MacDowell Joins Aptela Assumes responsibility for Aptela's channel sales including Wholesale, VAR and Master Agent programs and accelerating Aptela's growth via expanded channel partnerships. VoIP Magazine 7/11/6

Microsoft's Stepped-up Call to Business Armed with fresh products and partners, the software giant is opening a new front in its effort to dominate how professionals communicate. BusinessWeek 7/6/6

Vonage targets big-business customers Vonage is targeting large and medium-size businesses with its new V-Phone, a USB flash drive loaded with VoIP calling software. CNET 7/6/6

A teachable moment for Net telephony A small university in Rhode Island takes a chance on VoIP, including about 2,700 IP-based phones for its students. CNET 7/6/6

Moodys: VoIP No threat to Euro Telcos The ratings outlook for incumbent European telecom companies is stable and new technology, like Internet-based telephone services, poses little threat to the sector, according to a Moody's Investors Service report released on Thursday. Reuters 7/6/6

Vonage V-Phone: why bother? I've been doing some back-of-the-napkin number crunching about whether or not it makes business sense to buy a Vonage V-Phone. ZDnet.com 6/27/6

Microsoft announces plans to make a broad push into the business-telephone market, including desktop phones and videoconferencing devices designed by Microsoft and sold by partners, with some available as soon as June 2007. The plan sets the stage for Microsoft to take on other giants, such as Cisco, Avaya & Nortel in the industry march to replace traditional phone systems with more flexible and cheaper Internet technologies. MarketWatch.com 6/26/6

Microsoft Wants Your Office Telephone The founding vision for Microsoft Corp. was a computer on every desk, each one running Microsoft software. The next dream is every office phone. Microsoft Monday announced a broad initiative into the business telephone market, including desktop phones and videoconferencing devices designed by Microsoft and sold by partners, with some available as soon as June 2007. Microsoft software programs would link the new phones to computers so that they can handle voice functions, such as making a phone call and receiving voice mail. WSJ.com (subscription required) 6/26/6 archive

Microsoft's big IP telephony play Offering enterprise customers a full-blown communication system integrated with Office desktop software might give Microsoft some competitive advantage over established IP telephony vendors. It's not clear, however, if large companies are ready to trust Microsoft as a source of telephony, particularly when these users believe that other vendors may be capable of doing a better job working across multiple platforms. SearchWinIT.com 6/26/6

Microsoft Plans to Blend Phones With Computers NYtimes.com 6/26/6 archive

IP-PBXs For SMBs: From Avaya to Zultys Solid performance and features from four IP-telephony packages designed for small to medium businesses. Business Communications Review 6/20/6

WEBCAST - Challenges and Solutions for Voice over Wireless LANs. NetworkWorld & Trapeze Networks 6/20/6

WEBCAST - IP Telephony Reality Check: A real world look at the costs & benefits of VoIP. NetworkWorld, ShoreTel & Nemertes 6/19/6

Kimberly-Clark's VoIP Plan for 200 Sites K-C consolidates voice traffic for more than 200 sites into three data centers applying a conservationist's approach to its VoIP and IP telephony plans. NetworkWorld.com 6/19/6

Enterprise VoIP Success Case study where a

SMB goes beyond Vonage to find a more scalable solution; adding intelligence to the phone. Line56.com 6/19/6

Users: Hybrid PBXs Work Cost savings, features outweigh wholesale TDM-to-IP upgrades. While the industry pushes IP as the future of telephony services, network professionals who manage business phone networks say hybrid IP/legacy PBXs are helping introduce productivity gains and cost savings without forcing networks to undergo dreaded R&R - as in "rip and replace" - upgrades. NetworkWorld.com 6/19/6

Business VoIP Comes of Age Henry Kaestner, CEO of Bandwidth.com shares why the company recently signed an agreement with Sylantro Systems and CompUSA to distribute its VoIP services through the retailer's chain. IT Business Edge.com 6/19/6

Is Your VoIP Phone Vulnerable? Security experts warn that attacks on Internet-based calling systems—though rare now—may be just around the corner. Businesses, be ready. BusinessWeek 6/16/6

eBay tests Skype/VoIP calls for customer service Online marketplace eBay said Tuesday that its U.S. auction business plans to incorporate its Skype Internet telephone-calling service, setting the stage for a new wave of online customer service. Reuters 6/16/6

Universal Service fees to raise cellular, VoIP bills? Consumers would likely face higher wireless and Internet telephone bills under a plan that could be approved by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission next week, sources familiar with the matter said Wednesday. Reuters 6/16/6

AD: See What Your Voice Can Do A flash video ad by Avaya pitching IP and other Avaya solutions that was seen on BusinessWeek.com Watch the animated ad. View the ad landing page after clicking on the ad. BusinessWeek/Avaya 6/13/6

Nine Tips For Deploying Enterprise-Class VoIP Whether to deploy VoIP is no longer an issue --- it's something you have to do. But there are a lot of high-level steps you need to take before deploying. It's not just technology you need to be concerned about. In fact, say many experts, hardware and software may be the least of your problems. It's the business issues you should be concerned with most. Which issues are important --- and what to do about them? We've talked to several experts, who offer their advice. Brett Shockley, CEO of Spanlink Communications, a consultant in VoIP solutions based in Minneapolis, suggests the following ... CMP.com 6/12/6

The Inside Story of A Million-Dollar VoIP Scam A Miami man allegedly defrauded Internet voice providers to the tune of $1 million, with a sophisticated hacking scheme. Here's the inside story of exactly how he did it. CMP.com 6/8/6

Six Reasons Not to Deploy VoIP There's plenty to like about VoIP. There's also plenty to hate. While VoIP vendors are good at touting the former, they tend to ignore the latter. Here, then, are six "gotchas" picked up over the years of deploying and reporting about all things VoIP-related--none of which will eliminate the technology from your business' consideration, but all of which must be accounted for when you consider the technology. CMP.com 5/22/6

Shifting to VoIP: The SMB market for VoIP This supplement focuses on opportunities and tools in the VoIP arena, including a report on how SMBs are the sweet spot for hosted PBX services and a side-by-side comparison of hosted PBX suppliers and their partner programs. In this supplement, you'll also find an introduction to new appliance-like IP PBXs you can offer to your small business clientele; VoIP System Anatomy 101 for partners new to next-gen solutions; and new VoIP products from Cistera Networks, Signate, BroadTalX, Vertical and more. Phone+ 5/9/6

VoIP: Are we there yet? Even in these times of rapid technology development, changes in consumer behavior can be a maddeningly slow process. Anyone who's followed the emergence of IP services since the late 1990s has endured a steady diet of hype surrounding voice over Internet Protocol, or VoIP. The dream for VoIP enthusiasts has always been the retirement of the dinosaur-age public switched telephone network in favor of a more dynamic, connectionless network using the Internet Protocol. CNET 3/16/6

The ROI of VoIP A step-by-step guide to determining the true cost and benefits of VoIP. When it comes to VoIP, most network managers are satisfied that the technology works. The challenge is developing cost analyses: What will the new technology cost to roll out and support, and what benefits can companies expect to reap? NetworkWorld 7/11/5