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ITEXPO East 2009 Attendance and Demographic numbers

by VoIP & Gadgets Blog in February 6th, 2009   
Topics: ITEXPO, TMCnet, VoIP, attendance, conference, tradeshow     

itexpo-logo-10-year-east.jpg
With the resounding success of ITEXPO East 2009, I was just sent the final attendance figures and demographics that I thought I’d share.

Demographics:
Service Providers:33.3%
Reseller/Agent/VAR:28.2%
Developers:6.2%
Manufacturer:4.2%
Enterprise/SMB:28.1%

Total Attendance:
Paid Conference:211
VIPs:6,980
Exhibitors:847
Speakers:202
Press:69
Total:8,309

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ITEXPO says “Slumping economy? What slumping economy?” - VoIP tradeshow thrives

by VoIP & Gadgets Blog in February 5th, 2009   
Topics: Bill Miller, Greg Galitzine, ITEXPO, TMCnet, Tony Rybczynski, Unified Communications, VoIP, andy Abramson, conference, garrett smith, industry, internet telephony, joe staples, marc robins, matthew nickasch, miami beach, moshe maier, slumping economy, tradeshow     

itexpo-logo-10-year-east.jpg
Many people I talked to at ITEXPO before the exhibit floor opened had muted expectations about the attendance, because of the slumping economy. But I knew better… I talked to Rich Tehrani and he told me a week before the show opened that the pre-registration numbers were up from last year. VoIP when properly deployed and with the right product has an extremely fast ROI and can result in cost savings in just a short period of time. So I wasn’t worried that ITEXPO would be a resounding success.

But the VoIP industry is not without its curmudgeons. Alec Sauders wrote a scathing post titled “2008: The Year VoIP died”, which sparked a fierce debate amongst VoIP industry insiders. He wrote:

VoIP events are suffocating too. VON was a spectacular flameout, despite the best efforts of Jeff Pulver and his band of merry men to transform it from a voice only show into a voice, video and more show. At least the Pulverites understood where the future was, even if unable to craft a profitable event around those varied interests. There’ll be more of the same next year, I fear. Initial reports from this fall were that VoiceCon was an understated and quiet affair. Lawn bowling anyone?

Well, ITEXPO definitely didn’t have any lawn bowling. If you tried to chuck a bowling ball down the aisle, it wouldn’t travel 5 feet before clipping someone’s ankles. ITEXPO has solid traffic the entire show, which is a rare feat for any tradeshow these days. ITEXPO isn’t VON and it isn’t VoiceCon, and probably shouldn’t be compared to either. One thing everyone could agree upon when it comes to ITEXPO is that this show brings “buyers” to the show. It’s why exhibitors keep coming back. Exhibitors actually generate “leads” and close deals at ITEXPO where as VON (R.I.P.) and other IP communications shows were more about networking and trying to strike partnerships. ITEXPO has evolved over the years into a “networking” event as well, but its core strength has always been that it brings buyers, resellers, distributors, etc. to the show.

I found many positive ITEXPO reports from industry analysts, media, bloggers, and VoIP vendors on the Web that talked about just how successful ITEXPO was.

Here are a few of them:

Considering Convergence - Network World by Matthew Nickasch:
The conference events concluded Wednesday afternoon at Internet Telephony EXPO (ITEXPO) East 2009 in Miami Beach, FL. With a very high attendee and exhibitor count, it is clear that VoIP, convergence, and UC technologies are at the forefront of interest and innovation.

Community: ITEXPO is a wonderful example of the strong industry community that exists within the IP communications market. Highly-competing developers, integrators, and VARs maximize on the opportunity to discuss the state of the industry, exciting new technological developments, and tools for delivering better and more innovative customer solutions.

Greg Galitzine, Group Editorial Director for TMCnet.com - VoIP is Alive and Well
I’ve just returned from ITEXPO East 2009, which was held in Miami Beach, February 2-4. One of the trends that emerged at the show is that the VoIP industry is indeed alive and well. The show was well attended by people looking for solutions, the Exhibit Hall was full of vendors who were only too happy to speak to the attendees, the meeting rooms were full, the conference sessions were well attended, and all in all the show served as a barometer for the industry.

Joe Staples, Interactive Intelligence Internet Telephony Expo Wrap-Up
There’s an economic slowdown? Somebody must have forgotten to tell the show attendees. Traffic seemed as strong as ever (show promoters reference a 30% increase in attendance). The conference sessions were well attended. Our very own Rick Chin’s keynote session on “The Unified Communications Shootout” had a couple hundred people in the room (cool format…attendees hear a six minute pitch from four or five vendors touting why their approach in the best. The attendee can then decide from that whose booth their going to go spend time at getting more info).

The TMC guys really do know how to put on an event. Are tradeshows dead? Not if you look inside our industry. They still provide a single location to gather useful information and to network with others that might be able to help you with your product selection and implementation.
 
Good job TMCers for putting on a quality event.

Moshe Maier - The Flat Planet - Is VoIP Recession Proof?
Well based on the number of visitors to our booth last night at the ITEXPO opening night, the answer is yes!

Considering Convergence - Network World by Matthew Nickasch:
The session halls and exhibit floor offered standing room only during opening day at IT Expo East 2009, in Miami Beach, FL. With many innovative products, solutions, and services being discussed and displayed, it is clear that all forms of IP telephony and convergence communications are alive and well.

Andy Abramson - Industry blogger - First Impressions of ITEXPO East 2009
VoIP is far from dead and judging by the crowds and the rooms that were full of people the rumors of its death are far from over. I’ll be the first to admit that trade shows in general are down, but this year’s IT EXPO East in Miami Beach Florida is anything but. Walking the floor last evening I counted over 150 booths, and each one was buzzing with activity. In the hallways people were talking and the symposium/conference tracks had rooms full of people.

Garrett Smith - Industry blogger - IT Expo Proves VoIP Industry is Still Going Strong
Well, as usual Rich and crew, did a fantastic job. Yes, the number of exhibitors was down a bit from shows of the past, but the sessions and keynotes have never been as robust.

Not to mention the surprising level of foot traffic that was present from show open to close.

The VoIP industry is not dying. It’s alive, growing and those involved with it continue to impress me with what they are achieving.

In speaking with over 100 of the most influential people in the VoIP industry, the economy has had an effect on their businesses - in most cases a positive one. Someone even told me their customer base tripled from November to January - oh and they’ve been in business for a few years.

Marc Robins - industry analyst IP Communications Insights - Ingate SIP Trunking Seminar is Packed
Apparently bucking the current trend of “downsized” conference attendance, Ingate’s workshop on the first day of the Internet Telephony Expo in Miami Beach is packed with an overflow crowd.

While this is a clear signal that SIP trunking is still a red hot IP communications topic, it is also a very promising indicator of heathy attendance at the show in general.

Bill Miller, Digium: Facebook wall post
Awesome event! Digium Asterisk World Event is absolutely high quality attendees, presenters, and we thank everyone participating!

Tony Rybczynski, Nortel -  Dispatch from ITEXPO
Earlier today, I presented in an ITExpo keynote session on UC. Surprisingly good attendance and some probing questions on mobility, converged networking , CEBP and the future of the desktop phone.

I was very happy to see that IT Expo seems to have fought off the economic slump. Maybe that’s a good omen.

O yes, it’s been running for 10 years, so congrats to Rich, Greg and the gang. I think I spoke at the first one and many in between.

As Greg stated, if ITEXPO East 2009 can be considered a barometer of how the VoIP industry is doing, then it’s certainly not a stretch to say that the industry is far from dead. 2009 won’t be the year VoIP died, but the year VoIP thrived!

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Switchvox SMB 4.0 launches at ITEXPO

by VoIP & Gadgets Blog in February 2nd, 2009   
Topics: Asterisk, ITEXPO, Switchvox, Switchvox SMB 4.0, TMCnet, UC, VoIP, presence, server, unifed communications, users     


I just got into Miami for ITEXPO and to the convention center around 12pm and I’ve already learned some exciting news launching at the show. Digium has released Switchvox 4.0 with some new Unified Communications features. Matthew Nickasch, a writer for Considering Convergence on NetworkWorld.com covers the news extensively in his ITExpo East Kicks Off with Big Switchvox News article.

Off the bat I noticed the video phone support with support for H.263 and H.264 codecs. Another interesting new feature is XMPP support for a private chat server. Fonality’s trixbox, a competitor to Switchvox actually also uses a XMPP server for their chat/presence server as well.  Fax has never been Asterisk’s strong suit, so the fax integration sounds very intriguing. Check out some of the new features below.

  • Fax integration-Users can send and receive faxes quickly and easily via Switchvox.
  • Video calling-Switchvox supports video phones that use the codec standards H.263 and H.264.
  • Instant messaging-Switchvox includes a private chat server that uses the widely adopted, open XMPP protocol. The Switchvox Switchboard offers a Chat Panel, or users can select their favorite XMPP-based client.
  • Centralized presence-Presence and status details for call and chat activity are visible across multiple peered Switchvox PBXs.
  • Web-aware interactive voice response (IVR) tools-Switchvox includes many new IVR functions for building custom applications. These sophisticated tools include exchanging sound files with web applications, setting system-wide variables and more.
  • Unified messaging enhancements-IMAP integration provides a standards-based solution for voicemail and faxes. Also, users can customize multiple greetings and e-mail notifications optimized for display on a wide range of devices.
  • Organized phonebooks-Employees can organize their contacts into groups and keep multiple phone numbers for each contact. Also, a company directory panel uses type-to-find to help users find extensions quickly for any of their coworkers.
  • Call queue improvements-Small businesses and call centers alike will benefit from the ability to log into, log out of and pause a member’s status on each queue with a single click, and even add comments that are displayed to supervisors or other queue members.
  • Switchvox Notifier-A Windows desktop client provides interaction with MS Office applications. Pop-up notifications show incoming caller details and call history, and one-click options let users quickly add Outlook contacts and dial phone numbers.
  • Switchvox Extend-An XML-based API lets administrators create new extensions and access call logs, reports and extension lists.
  • Auto-provisioning snom IP phones-Switchvox offers automatic configuration of VoIP phones manufactured by snom technology and Polycom.
  • More call options-Switchvox supports BRI-an important step toward expanded international sales, and HD Voice-high-quality wideband audio delivered via the G.722 protocol.

According to the new release, “Switchvox SMB 4.0 is available free of charge to customers with a current Switchvox SMB software subscription. For new customers, pricing for Switchvox SMB remains unchanged and begins at U.S. $3,390 for a 10 user system, including hardware, software, a one-year subscription and warranty. The entire line of Switchvox SMB appliances, the largest of which scales to serve 4″

ITEXPO has barely begun and already some exciting news in the VoIP & Asterisk space. Stay tuned for more news updates…

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Microsoft Response Point SP2 launches + review

by VoIP & Gadgets Blog in February 2nd, 2009   
Topics: Florida, ITEXPO, Microsoft, SIP, VoIP, audio feedback, entire company, intercom, miami, microsoft response, phone, response point, sp2     

At ITEXPO in Miami, Florida, Microsoft has just launched Response Point SP2, the latest version of their IP-PBX. Microsoft sent me a sneak peek of the SP2 beta code in January to check out. I’ve reviewed the Microsoft Response Point system in the past and have been impressed with how easy it is to setup and install and I like the speech-recognition functionality that is built-in. With SP1 Microsoft added some sorely needed features. SP2 further enhances the feature-set by adding after hours receptionist schedules, one-way paging, two-way intercom, and it now supports out-of-band DTMF (the more accurate method) whenever appropriate in addition to its existing in-band DTMF support (more false positives).

microsoft-response-point-administrator-sp2.jpg

Also new in SP2 is that you can now escape from the voicemail greeting before the recording starts. In SP1, a caller would have to hang up and call back in order to attempt to talk to someone else instead of leaving a message.  In SP2, an external caller can press ‘0′ while listening to a voicemail greeting, to be routed back into the system or operator (if enabled). However, once the ‘beep’ plays, indicating that recording has started, pressing ‘0′ has no effect.

My favorite new feature is the one-way intercom paging and two-way intercom, which you initiate by pressing the blue Response Point button and then saying “page <person or group>” or “intercom <person>”. Instead of ringing a fellow co-workers phone, you can intercom them which automatically puts their phone into speakerphone mode with 2-way audio. Similarly, you can page (1-way audio) an individual extension. Even better, you can page an entire group (sales, marketing, entire company) for an important announcement.

You could in theory do a 2-way audio intercom page to the entire company, but having 20-50 IP phones go into speakerphone mode with “open mics” (microphones) will obviously lead to screeching audio feedback and some not-to-happy co-workers. I tested this and it appears that Microsoft was keen to the audio feedback issue since they seem to disable any intercom command to more than one phone.

For instance, when I said “intercom entire company” it swapped the command to “page entire company” instead and paged all the phones I added to the “entire company group”. The big difference of paging vs. intercom is that there is only one open mic versus several so you don’t get the audio feedback. Although I commend Microsoft for disabling corporate-wide two-way intercom calls, I think they should permit up to 3-4 phones to be intercom’ed together. This would allow for quick, impromptu conferences with a small group without having to call each extension individually and conference them together. Of course, these phones would have to be fairly far apart from each other to prevent audio feedback.

Alternatively, a user can perform intercom and page dial without using the RP button.  Intercom is done by dialing “4*nnn”, and page dial by “5*nnn”, where nnn is the recipient’s extension.

microsoft-response-point-assistance-click-to-call.jpg
The Assistant is also improved allowing you to double-click a contact to initiate a call. You can also right-click and click Call. Conveniently, it will automatically place your phone into hands-free speakerphone mode and ring the other phone so you don’t have to touch your phone. One suggestion I have for the Assistant application is the ability to Page a person or a group or intercom an extension. You can however call a “group” which will simultaneously ring a group of phones.

In many cases existing features from SP1 have been updated to fix bugs or improve performance.  SP2 adds a new After Hours Receptionist feature. When using the “Receptionist Plan” to answer incoming calls, a customer can schedule times when incoming calls should be routed to the human receptionist.  Outside of these scheduled times, calls will be routed to the Automated Receptionist.

Analog phones can be connected to Response Point via FXS gateway devices that support the Response Point discovery and provisioning protocol.  One such product is made by Quintum. These analog devices also work with SP1.

One minor usability improvement is that the Call Forwarding prompt is now optional. In some cases, users do not want call forwarding to be announced to the callers.  Each user can specify whether or not they want their callers to hear an announcement when forwarding calls.

Another addition in SP2 is the ability to launch a custom URL from an incoming call. This lets developers integrate RP into another application, especially a CRM application for instant customer information lookup.  Information appended to the URL will include the extension being called, the user at the extension being called, the time, the Caller ID of the incoming caller, and the name associated with that Caller ID. 

Another nice improvement in SP2 is Parked Call Return which will automatically return a call to the extension that parked it after 3 minutes. If there is no answer, the call is directed to the auto-attendant or receptionist. SP1 supports both analog lines, and VoIP service through a broadband connection (i.e. SIP trunk). 
SP2 adds two other common phone trunk technologies: Digital trunks (T1, etc); and VoIP trunks delivered via an on-premises gateway device. The addition of digital trunks means Direct Inward Dial (DID) support as well.

VPN & multi-subnet support is perhaps one of the more exciting new features in SP2. In SP1, all Response Point end points need to be on the same subnet.  In SP2, phones can be on a different subnet from the Base Unit, allowing a user to specify the IP address of the base unit. This will enable remote agents, telecommuters, etc. to use Response Point phones on their home broadband network. All that you need to do is first provision the phone in the office, then take it home, establish a VPN connection to the office, and plug the phone in. Remote phone capabilities was a sorely missing feature in Response Point that SP2 finally addresses.

Conclusion:
Microsoft Response Point SP2 fills in quite a bit of feature-gap that existed before. Response Point continues to be one of the easiest phone systems to setup and maintain and it doesn’t skimp on features. The only noticeable feature missing might be call queues, but Microsoft insists most SMBs don’t require call queues. All-in-all RP SP2 rounds out the feature-set and I look forward to what Microsoft adds in future releases.

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Ready for ITEXPO?

by VoIP & Gadgets Blog in January 26th, 2009   
Topics: Digium Asterisk World, Florida, ITEXPO, Microsoft, SIP, TMCnet, Unified Communications, VoIP, aastra, adtran, dialogic, digium, miami     

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With ITEXPO just one week away, Rich has a good roundup of some of the happenings going on at Internet Telephony Conference & Expo taking place in Miami, Florida. Aastra, Adtran, Dialogic, Digium, and Microsoft are just some of the companies exhibiting at the show. And don’t forget Digium Asterisk World is co-located with ITEXPO!

Several prominent VoIP bloggers will be there, including Andy Abramson, Dan York, Jon Arnold, Greg Galitzine, Rich Tehrani, and of course, yours truly. I’m sure there are others as well, but I’d have to check the press registration list and I’m pretty busy today.

Hope to see you in Miami!

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56 Reasons to Attend Digium Asterisk World in Miami

by VoIP & Gadgets Blog in January 13th, 2009   
Topics: Asterisk, Bill Miller, ITEXPO, TMCnet, Unified Communications, VoIP, andy Abramson, asterisk world, digium, dinner     

Bill Miller over at Digium today blogged 5 reasons why you should attend Digium Asterisk World in Miami taking place just a few short weeks away from February 2nd-4th, which is colocated with TMC’s Internet Telephony Conference & Expo (ITEXPO).

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Left-to-right clockwise: Steve Sokol, John Todd, Russell Bryant, Dave Rodriguez (TMC), Greg Galitzine (TMC), Jane Brooks, Tom Keating (TMC), Bill Miller

Bill forgot to mention another important reason - all the networking and meeting with industry insiders at ITEXPO, which also includes eating at great restaurants and fun dinner reception parties at the show. Now, the picture above isn’t from ITEXPO - it’s my visit to Digium’s offices - but it may as well have been from ITEXPO since we always go out to fantastic restaurants with major VoIP vendors to discuss the IP communications industry and meet the people who design/engineer or market VoIP products and services.

While there is plenty of important business to be had at ITEXPO, I find that I acquire some of the best information at these dinner parties where I meet industry heavyweights in a more relaxed atmosphere. I’ve pried some NDA information from some vendors after they’ve had a few beers.

I’ll have to remember to snap a few photos at this upcoming ITEXPO at the various after-show functions & parties. I’ll try and make sure to snaps some photos at the ITEXPO Bloggers’ Dinner that Andy Abramson organizes.

I’m very excited to attend since this is the first time Asterisk World will be at ITEXPO. With the global slowing economy, it’ll be interesting to see how well attended the show will be. The pre-show attendance numbers look good, so I’m crossing my fingers.

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TMC & Digium Announce Educational program for Digium|Asterisk World

by VoIP & Gadgets Blog in December 15th, 2008   
Topics: Asterisk, Digium|Asterisk World, ITEXPO, SIP, TMCnet, Unified Communications, VoIP, asterisk world, digium, digium asterisk, tmc, world itexpo     

Some good news from my company TMC and Digium, the founder of Asterisk that I thought I’d share. If you’re an Asterisk fan, you need to be at Asterisk World, which is co-located with the #1 VoIP tradeshow in the U.S., namely TMC’s ITEXPO.

digium-asterisk-world.jpgTechnology Marketing Corporation (TMC) and Digium, the Asterisk Company, today announced the educational program for Digium|Asterisk World, scheduled to take place February 2-4, 2009 in Miami. The event is collocated with TMC’s ITEXPO East 2009.

TMC and Digium also announced that although the conference content and exhibiting opportunities are more than 90 percent complete, additional opportunities remain for interested Digium partners.
Digium|Asterisk World at ITEXPO is the conference that addresses “Everything Asterisk” for business users, resellers and executive decision-makers. The initial conference sessions featured in the program include:

1. Web-Aware Unified Communications with Switchvox
2. Asterisk for Enterprise
3. Enterprise Pitfalls: Lessons Learned
4. The Case for Asterisk: Call Center App Integration with .NET
5. Multi-Site Open Source Call Center Deployment: A European Case Study
6. Asterisk as a Regulatory Compliance Toolkit
7. Website Identity Management and Authentication Using Asterisk
8. VoIP Transparency: Asterisk and the Economics of Monitoring
9. The Asterisk VoIP Conversion and the Opportunity for Substantial ROI
10. Druid: Case Study for Selling UC Solutions
11. Ingredients for Successful Asterisk PBX Sales

Limited booth space and sponsorship opportunities are still available for companies to showcase their offerings and provide training to Digium|Asterisk World and ITEXPO attendees. Companies exhibiting in the showcase include: Asteria Solutions; Camrivox; Freeside Internet Services; High Powered Help; Interlink Communications Systems; OpenLine Networks; Orecx; TransNexus; Voice Pulse; and Xorcom.

Registration for Digium|Asterisk World and ITEXPO is now open.
“Now in our third year, Digium|Asterisk World’s content is evolving to reflect the maturity of the world’s most widely used open source telephony software,” said Mark Spencer, CTO and founder of Digium and the creator of Asterisk. “Our three-day event at ITEXPO will provide the hands-on training and education that Asterisk developers need to build more advanced and more flexible telephony solutions.”

“We’re proud of several new and innovative programs that will make the 19th iteration of ITEXPO one of the best ever,” said Rich Tehrani, TMC president and ITEXPO East 2009 conference chairman. “Digium|Asterisk World bolsters an already strong developer focus, and other programs like TMC University, the 4GWireless Evolution event, TMC Editors’ Week and the balance of the conference content make ITEXPO the one-and-only ‘must-attend’ event in the communications industry.”

ITEXPO East 2009 is the world’s largest and most significant communications technology event, featuring hundreds of companies exhibiting on the EXPO floor and hundreds of sessions led by the industry’s most prominent thought leaders. The show helps attendees identify the issues and challenges affecting the deployment of communications technologies. It provides a comprehensive forum for evaluating the latest products and services and delivers a face-to-face networking opportunity that service providers, carriers, resellers, distributors, equipment manufacturers and IT executives from enterprise and SMB companies need to cultivate new business relationships. For more information on ITEXPO East, please visit: http://www.tmcnet.com/voip/conference/.

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TMC Celebrates 10 Year Anniversary for ITEXPO!

by VoIP & Gadgets Blog in October 30th, 2008   
Topics: ITEXPO, TMCnet, Unified Communications, VoIP, conference, tmc     

The next ITEXPO marks the 10th anniversary for Internet Telephony Conference & Expo. I for one cannot believe its been 10 years! We started ITEXPO way back in 1999. That was way back in the 20th century. Did VoIP even exist back then? Yep, it sure did - take a walk down memory lane.

In celebration of 10 years of TMC’s most successful event, our art department has designed a new logo. Check it out:

itexpo-logo-10-year-east.jpg

Thanks to all of you out there that have helped make ITEXPO the success that it is. I hope to see you all at the next event. The show takes place February 2-4, 2009 at the Miami Beach Convention Center in Miami, Florida.

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Excellent Telecom & Voice over IP Blog

by VoIP & Gadgets Blog in October 20th, 2008   
Topics: ITEXPO, Inc., On Rad's Radar, Peter Radizeski, Rad-Info, TMCnet, Unified Communications, VoIP, Wireless, blogger, industry, peter, telecom     

If you haven’t been reading On Rad’s Radar, you should. This TMC blog is written by Peter Radizeski the CEO of Rad-Info, Inc. Let me take an excerpt from his bio.

“Today, I am still an agent for about 20 carriers (all through other master agents), but I spend more time consulting for service providers (ISP, WISP, CLEC, MSO, FTTH, and ITSP) on strategy, marketing, messaging, and sales training. I also spend a good deal of time blogging here at TMC and other places. Thanks for reading!”

Peter also speaks and moderates sessions at Internet Telephony Conference & Expo. Peter knows the VoIP/telecom industry very well and has great insights. He’s especially knowledgeable in the wireless industry. I’ve had some great conversations with Peter in the ITEXPO press room about various industry topics. He’s not as prolific a blogger as me , but when he does write, it’s good stuff! So add him to your RSS reader - you won’t be disappointed.

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TMC & Digium Partner for Digium|Asterisk World at ITEXPO

by VoIP & Gadgets Blog in October 6th, 2008   
Topics: Asterisk, Digium Asterisk World, ITEXPO, Internet Telephony Confernce & Expo, TMCnet, Unified Communications, VoIP, asterisk world, digium, digium asterisk, world itexpo     

digium-asterisk-world.jpgI’ve had some big news I had to keep under wraps until today. My company, Technology Marketing Corporation (TMC) and Digium, the Asterisk Company, today announced that they have partnered to host Digium|Asterisk World™ during INTERNET TELEPHONY Conference & EXPO East 2009 in Miami, Florida. Having ITEXPO host Digium|Asterisk World is a huge win for TMC and further cements TMC’s ITEXPO as the most preeminent VoIP and IP communications show. In fact, I recently came across this quote from Phonevite, “With the demise of the VON Show, the Internet Telephony Conference & Expo (aka ITEXPO) is now regarded as the biggest and most eminent show in the VoIP industry.”

Digium|Asterisk World at ITEXPO will be the conference that addresses “Everything Asterisk” for business users, resellers and executive decision-makers. The event will be held February 2-4, 2009 at the Miami Beach Convention Center.

All can come to Digium|Asterisk World to discover how Asterisk, the world’s most widely used open source telephony software, can save them money and allow them to create more flexible telephony solutions.

“We are honored to host Digium|Asterisk World, as open source technology is such a critical driver the growth of the communications market,” said Rich Tehrani, TMC president and ITEXPO East 2009 conference chairman. “Mark Spencer and the Digium team are without question true pioneers and innovators. What is important to note is that by joining forces with Digium|Asterisk World, ITEXPO reinforces its position as the industry’s most valuable, major communications event worldwide.”

The conference will include both booth exhibition space and a Presentation Theatre on the EXPO floor. In addition, TMC and Digium will collaborate to create the conference track agenda, which will be announced in the coming months.

“Digium has led the Asterisk revolution in telecommunications,” said Mark Spencer, founder and CTO of Digium and original creator of Asterisk. “Hosting Digium|Asterisk World at IT EXPO East 2009 will allow us to share the vision and power of Asterisk with a broad set of customers who might not be familiar with open source. By giving them their first taste of Asterisk, we empower them to not only save money but to use and create new technologies that never existed before.”

ITEXPO East 2009 is the world’s largest and most significant communications technology event, featuring more than 200 companies exhibiting on the EXPO floor and hundreds of sessions led by the industry’s most prominent thought leaders. The show helps attendees identify the issues and challenges affecting the deployment of communications technologies. It provides a comprehensive forum for evaluating the latest products and services and delivers a face-to-face networking opportunity that service providers, carriers, resellers, distributors, equipment manufacturers and IT executives from enterprise and SMB companies need to cultivate new business relationships.

For additional information on ITEXPO East 2009 or Digium|Asterisk World at ITEXPO, please contact TMC’s Dave Rodriguez at 1-203-852-6800, ext. 146 or at drodriguez@tmcnet.com.

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HUD 3.0 for trixbox CE and any other Asterisk IP-PBX!

by VoIP & Gadgets Blog in September 23rd, 2008   
Topics: Asterisk, Fonality, HUD 3.0, ITEXPO, Kerry Garrison, Mobile, TMCnet, Unified Communications, VoIP, ip pbx, trixbox, trixbox CE, users     

HUD3_Client.jpg
I spoke with Kerry Garrison last week at ITEXPO and he gave me a news scoop that Fonality would soon offer the HUD 3.0 Unified Communications client for the open source trixbox CE Asterisk-based platform. trixbox CE is one of the most popular Asterisk distributions. I recently commented in my trixbox Pro review (paid version),”The feature-rich HUD Pro client is certainly a competitive advantage Fonality has over many other Asterisk-based solutions.” As such, offering HUD 3.0 for trixbox CE is a major move by Fonality.

In fact, Kerry told me that once HUD has been ported to trixbox CE, the new HUD will work not only on trixbox CE but should also work other Asterisk flavors, i.e. Switchvox, PBX in a Flash, Voiceroute, etc. Fonality plans to license the HUD 3.0 client, however, pricing has not been set. While Fonality loses the “exclusivity” of their feature-rich HUD client, they will certainly gain revenue from other Asterisk distros that license HUD.

The new HUD 3.0 will provide trixbox CE users with presence management and detection in a single interface for all types of office communications, including SMS, instant message, landline calling, mobile calling, chat, voicemail, email, conferencing, recording, and barging.

HUD 3.0 permissions in the Group Manager:
HUD3_GroupManager.gif

“Open source rarely lacks in features, but often lacks in ease-of-use and polish. Our intention with this announcement is to bring the polish of the HUD 3.0 unified communications platform, which is in use by more than 100,000 paid users, to the trixbox community. This should allow them, now more than ever, to compete with the high-prices of the big-iron oligopoly,” said Chris Lyman, CEO of Fonality.

HUD 3.0 for trixbox CE delivers a unified communications dashboard that shows availability for onsite and remote employees, eliminating wasted time created by busy signals, voice mails and phone tag. Users can easily drag and drop calls onto a colleague’s desk or mobile phone, quickly convert IM chats to voice calls, and even personalize calls with photo caller ID.

One caveat with the new HUD 3.0 client that some may object to is that it uses a hybrid-hosted model for the sign-in process. It uses Fonality’s hybrid-hosted data centers to authenticate the sign-on process to determine if you have a valid license. I asked Kerry what happens if the Internet is down and he said you can’t sign-in to HUD. However if Internet goes down after you sign-in, HUD still works.

HUD3_UserManager.gif

The new capabilities of multi-lingual HUD 3.0 include:
• Integration with Google Talk from any desktop, BlackBerry, or iPhone. Users will now be able to chat and exchange presence with any of Google’s more than five million Google Talk users.
• Deep and instantaneous Web 2.0 integration with all applications such as CRM, Google, ticketing, billing, and financial systems. Web pages can either actively launch upon call activity or send silent (background http) notifications to web-based applications.
• Mobile presence displays mobile users to the rest of the company when they connect to the trixbox CE phone system. Mobile presence also supports Busy-Ring Back™ so as not to disturb a fellow employee who is on a mobile device.
• Personalized photo caller-ID displays photos of all inbound and outbound callers, and displays caller photos when listening to voicemail or joining a conference bridge.
• SMS one-way text messaging is now included, in addition to the already supported one-click call, mobile call, voicemail, email, and chat.
• Visual conferencing for the easy creation and recording of conferences. Drag users in, kick, and mute all with a single click. Each conference bridge participant has a face photo displayed, which makes it easier to talk to them, see them, and communicate with them using HUD 3.0 built-in instant messaging.
• Visual voice mail allows users to receive voicemail directly on their PC or Mac desktop. A MWI (message waiting indicator) provides notification when a new voicemail has arrived and, with a few simple clicks of the mouse, messages can be played, fast-forwarded, rewound, or saved to disk. Also, voicemail contacts can be easily added to Outlook, and users can click to return calls, or click to chat.
• HUD Queues take trixbox CE and HUD 3.0 into larger call centers without the typical associated costs. HUD 3.0 now supports big call center features such as real-time queue displays, up-to-the-second queue stats including ASA, dragging-and-dropping any holding queue call to an agent, call center alarms, abandon alerts, broadcast agent messaging, virtual wall boards, and much more.
• Seven languages at launch including English, Spanish, French, Japanese, Russian, and simplified and traditional Chinese.

An open beta program will begin in a couple of weeks. HUD 3.0 for trixbox CE will be available in October.

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ITEXPO Live Video Streaming!

by VoIP & Gadgets Blog in September 19th, 2008   
Topics: ITEXPO, Johnathan Christensen, Microsoft, Sonus Networks, TMCnet, Video, VoIP, Xuedong Huang, mobile phone, skype, streaming, streaming video, video blogging, video conferencing     

This blog entry will show live video streaming (via my Windows Mobile 6.1 phone’s camera) of various ITEXPO events, including keynotes, receptions, and of course the exhibit hall. I’m going to broadcast starting at 3:30pm PT (6:30 ET) when Skype’s Johnathan Christensen and Microsoft’s Xuedong Huang and Sonus Network’s Vikram Saksena will be keynoting. So if you couldn’t make it to ITEXPO, you’ll at least be able to see the keynotes in just a few hours.

I’ll also livecast the show floor when it opens. I’m going to “future date” this post so it stays on the very top of my blog’s home page. I’ll update this blog post as I find out exact times I will be live video blogging.

Live Video Feed (when available) follows:

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ITEXPO West 2008 Best of Show Winners

by VoIP & Gadgets Blog in September 19th, 2008   
Topics: 8x8, Apex Voice Communications, CosmoCom, Epygi, Fonality, ITEXPO, Inc., Instant Solutions, IntelePeer, KnoahSoft, Mitel, MobileMax, Oaisys, Pactolus, PhoneFusion, Phonevite, Quintum, Ring Carrier, SIP Print, Syntellect, TMCnet, TelcoBridges, Touchstone Technologies, Unified Communications, VoIP, VocalCom, Volt Delta, WBS Connect, companies, digium, i2Telecom, products, sangoma, solution, solutions     

itexpo-logo.jpgIt’s been a great ITEXPO - perhaps the best West Coast show we’ve had, especially when you consider the economic turmoil. It’s worth sharing the companies and their products that were just awarded “Best of Show” at TMC’s Internet Telephony Conference & Expo.
 
Best Service Provider Solution
Ring Carrier
TelcoBridges
IntelePeer
 
Best Large Enterprise Solution
Instant Solutions
MobileMax
 
Best SMB Solution
8×8
Quintum
Epygi
 
Best Consumer Offering
Phonevite
 
Best Development Tool
Sangoma
Apex Voice Communications
Touchstone Technologies
 
Most Innovative Solution
i2Telecom
Oaisys
PhoneFusion
 
Best Booth
WBS Connect
Mitel
 
Best of Call Center 2.0
VocalCom
Syntellect
CosmoCom
 
Best of Open Source
Digium
Fonality
Pactolus
 
Editors’ Choice
SIP Print
KnoahSoft, Inc.
Volt Delta
 
“These companies are pioneers and their products represent the cream of the crop in VoIP solutions,” said Rich Tehrani, president and group editor-in-chief of TMC. “As the event grows, selecting Best of Show winners each year becomes more and more difficult as the solutions displayed on the exhibit floor become more and more impressive.”
 
Tehrani continued: “Every product is worthy of distinction, therefore you can rest assured that the companies and products on the list this year represent truly outstanding achievement in IP telephony.”

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ITEXPO West 2008 a Resounding Success

by VoIP & Gadgets Blog in September 18th, 2008   
Topics: Asterisk, Conferences, CosmoCom, Fonality, ITEXPO, Microsoft, Packet8, Pika, SIP, TMCnet, Toyota Prius Hybrid, Unified Communications, VoIP, angeles convention, communications, communications technology, convention center, digium, skype, video conferencing     

Some great news from TMC about our IP communications conference & expositions (ITEXPO) taking place this week that I thought I’d share. The show is still going on, with today being the last day. Yesterday’s exhibit hall attendance was tremendous as seen by some photos I snapped and posted yesterday. I had some great meetings or saw many important VoIP companies, including Asterisk/Digium, CosmoCom, Fonality, Microsoft, Packet8, PIKA, Skype, and more. Many companies announced news or launched new products at ITEXPO, which is now the #1 IP communications show in the U.S. Further, in talking to two vendors I learned some interesting news coming out next week at Astricon, that I can’t divulge yet, but stay tuned.

In the meantime, check out this news release put out by TMC

itexpo-logo.jpgITEXPO West 2008 to Generate over $1 Million for Los Angeles; Brings Next Generation Technology to the City of Angels

Leading Communications Event Attracts Largest, Most Diverse Audience of any Conference in the Internet Communications Technology Industry

Technology Marketing Corporation (TMC) today announced that ITEXPO West 2008 taking place September 16-18, at the Los Angeles Convention Center, expects more than 7,000 attendees from around the world. Year after year, ITEXPO West plays a prominent role in supporting Los Angeles, with estimates of a more than $1 million influx surging into the local economy in less than three days.

ITEXPO West 2008 is the world’s largest and most significant communications technology event, featuring more than 150 companies exhibiting on the EXPO floor, and hundreds of sessions led by the industry’s most prominent thought leaders. Attendees are afforded unprecedented access to a diverse population of both global and local companies; in addition to executive keynote speeches from household names like Skype, Microsoft, Avaya and Texas Instruments, local companies, such as AireSpring, Fonality, Grandstream, TW Telecom, will use this conference as platform to make announcements and showcase their groundbreaking voice and video offerings.

What is also important to note, is that contrary to other declining economic sectors, IP communications and VoIP salaries had a noteworthy rise in the second quarter. OnForce, Inc., is an online jobs mart where employers and workers meet on the Internet and agree on an hourly rate. A recent report from the company showed growth in VoIP rates have increased from 1.5 to 1.95 between Q1 and Q2; VoIP jobs are now paying twice the average of all IT jobs.
“Over the past several years, we have welcomed many people from around the world who flock to the Los Angeles Convention Center each Fall to attend the Internet Telephony Conference & EXPO,” commented Pouria Abbassi, P.E., CEO & General Manager of the Los Angeles Convention Center.

“Communications technology is important in every type and facet of business operations across the board, especially in Convention Center business. Knowing the communications technology of today will help anticipate and address our business issues of tomorrow. We are honored to host the ITEXPO 2008 at our World Class Los Angeles Convention Center,” added Abbassi.
The show helps attendees identify the issues and challenges affecting the deployment of IP-based communications technologies. It provides a comprehensive forum for evaluating the latest products and services, and delivers a face-to-face networking opportunity that service providers, carriers, resellers, distributors, equipment manufacturers, and IT executives from enterprise and SMB companies need to cultivate new business relationships.

“Converged applications that leverage VoIP and video-over-the Internet are diving our industry forward, and may very well be one of the few silver linings in an otherwise dismal economy,” said Rich Tehrani, TMC president and ITEXPO West 2008 conference chairman. “Clearly, this technology is here to stay as over 16 million U.S. consumer VoIP lines were in service by the first quarter of 2008, according to new data released by TeleGeography, representing nearly 14 percent of all households and 27 percent of broadband households.
“It is a no-brainer for us to host this event in Los Angeles at the Convention Center, as this facility and this City are second to none.”

The expo hours for ITEXPO West are: Wednesday, Sept 17th from 4:00 to 8:00 PM, and on Thursday Sept 18th from 11:00 AM until 5:00 PM.

Free expo passes are still available, and interested attendees should visit https://www.tmcnet.com/scripts/itexpo/ca08/itfall08reg.aspx?theplan=D for more information. In addition to educational content and new product information for today’s latest communications technology, ITEXPO also features several vendor promotions — including the Toyota Prius Hybrid Giveaway, which is free to participate, with no purchases necessary. For more information on this exciting promotion, please visit: http://www.tmcnet.com/voip/conference/west-08/w08-prizes.htm.

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VoIP is Dead, Long Live VoIP!

by VoIP & Gadgets Blog in September 17th, 2008   
Topics: ITEXPO, Jonathan Christensen, TMCnet, Unified Communications, Video, VoIP, keynote, skype, videoconferencing     

itexpo-logo.jpgIn case you missed Skype General Manager for Voice & Video Jonathan Christensen’s ITEXPO keynote, you can check out my mobile phone video phone recording here. In the keynote, Johnathan made a bold statement - “VoIP is dead”. Specifically Johnathan said, “The title of my talk is: ‘VoIP Is Dead.’ So, maybe a little bit of controversy about that, but as I said, let’s work through it.” TMCnet’s Michael Dinan has a good summary of the keynote here.

Of course, VoIP isn’t really dead, as can be demonstrated by the 175 exhibitors at ITEXPO, and the plethora of research reports that shows VoIP is growing very rapidly. What Jonathan is attempting to point out in a somewhat sensational manner is that VoIP - or voice over IP will become less important as video over IP and unified communications grows. He pointed out how videoconferencing helps build a rapport with customers and helps close more deals due to the personal touch. He also mentioned how popular the High Quality video feature is very popular with Skype’s customers utilizing specific Logitech webcams.

So VoIP isn’t really dead, rather video over IP is the next sexy & cool thing. Still, VoIP has a far wider adoption than video and will for some time. When Grandma starts making & receiving video calls, then we’ll know videoconferencing/video over IP has arrived and it’s on to the next cool technology.

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Video Stream the ITEXPO Keynotes from earlier today

by VoIP & Gadgets Blog in September 17th, 2008   
Topics: ITEXPO, Johnathan Christensen, Microsoft, TMCnet, Unified Communications, Video, VoIP, Xuedong Huang, keynotes, skype, video conferencing, video streaming, windows mobile 6.1     

I live video streamed the ITEXPO keynotes from earlier today using my Windows Mobile 6.1 phone. But in case you missed it, I recorded the live video stream.

Here’s a link to two video recordings I made for two keynotes:
Skype’s Johnathan Christensen (2-3 minute filler in beginning so fast forward)
Microsoft’s Xuedong Huang

video quality isn’t the greatest. Will have to try and tweak it in the future. Though a lot of it has to do with the poor video camera built into the XV6700

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Phonevite API released at ITEXPO

by VoIP & Gadgets Blog in September 17th, 2008   
Topics: Asterisk, Calvin Kim, ITEXPO, John Nahm, Phonevite, SMS, TMCnet, VoIP, api, email, explained, mobile phone, phone, service     

Phonevite-logo.png At ITEXPO I met with John Nahm, CEO and co-founder of Phonevite, an intriguing VoIP-enabled one-to-many broadcasting service that takes the concept of the popular Evite email-centric invitations service and extends it to the phone world.

Calvin Kim is the other co-founder and he actually founded Dialpad, one of the pioneers of VoIP with their Java-based click-to-call application. Dialpad was later sold to Yahoo. Calvin is now the CTO of Phonevite.

John explained he wants Phonevite to be like Evite but for the phone. Phonevite was incorporated in January of last year and has reached profitability with their premium customers. They offer a free service with the only limitation that you can only blast a maximum of 25 phone numbers/contacts.

John explained that the largest users of his service includes lots of schools, Boy Scouts, soccer / little leagues, emergency rescue teams, and emergency management teams. The most important feature of Phonevite is that it trumps email when it is a time-critical matter and users don’t check email regularly. Or even if they do check email, John explained what if each of the soccer team’s parents are on the way to practice, it starts raining and the coach wants to cancel. They will most likely not be email accessible while driving. Using Phonevite you can blast the entire team’s mobile phone list announcing that practice has been canceled.

John pointed out that SMS is an alternative, but it has a limit to how many people you can SMS and it is difficult to describe situation in the 150 character SMS limit. The premium service offers a tiered bonus structure for tiered VoIP calling rates. Also, schools and non-profits get a discount.

At ITEXPO Phonevite is announcing their API. This will enable websites such as
freeconferencing.com, Evite,  socializr, pinger, etc. to directly tie into Phonevite’s service.

Interestingly, the back-end doesn’t use Asterisk, the open-source PBX platform. John told me they developer the back-end VoIP calling interface themselves. They do leverage other open source software though, such as MySQL.

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Microsoft Response Point News

by VoIP & Gadgets Blog in September 16th, 2008   
Topics: Aastralink RP, ITEXPO, Microsoft, Richard Sprague, TMCnet, VoIP, Xuedong Huang, aastra, bill gates, ip pbx, jerry seinfeld, microsoft response, response point     

I just met with Microsoft to talk about what’s new in their Response Point IP-PBX. They demo’ed the Aastra AastraLink RP phone system which works with Aastra IP phones with the Response Point “magic” blue button embedded onto the phones. The magic button allows you to use speech-recognition to perform call transfers, directory lookups, and more. I met with Richard Sprague, Senior Director, Microsoft Response Point and Xuedong Huang, General Manager, Microsoft Response Point to find out what’s new and to see a demo of RP SP1.


microsoft-richard-sprague-xuedong-huang.jpg


Microsoft’s Richard Sprague & Xuedong Huang (holding a cordless Aastra Response Point phone)

Microsoft gave TMC’s Michael Dinan and myself a demo of the Response Point system, which now features a fully-functional click-to-dial software application, and presence integration. They mentioned they recently added the ability to say “free411″ and have it dial the free directory assistance service. Microsoft will be announcing some interesting Response Point news tomorrow at ITEXPO, so stay tuned. I’m also told Xuedong Huang will give an interesting keynote with some insights in the future direction Microsoft will be taking in (unified) communications. He said he will showing a video and it’s a one-time only video and won’t be available anywhere for viewing. So I’m hoping to capture the keynote session using my liveblogging mobile phone!


microsoft-response-point-itexpo.jpg


Microsoft’s demo setup at ITEXPO

During our meeting, Richard Sprague mentioned he read my blog about live video blogging from ITEXPO using my Windows Mobile phone. So I gave him a quick demo and recorded the video. In the video you will see the table Microsoft setup at ITEXPO in a meeting room to demo the platform to the media and analysts attending the show. The video shows some Aastra phones and the AastraLink RP system, which I should mention features PoE (Power over Ethernet) ports for easy plug-and-play installs. Check out the video below, which even features a special hidden dial string that gets you into some uber secret auto-attendant featuring Bill Gates himself as the recorded voice prompts. Alas, my camera didn’t pick up the dial string. Too bad Jerry Seinfeld doesn’t make a special voice-over appearance.

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Live Streaming Video via Mobile Phone Camera

by VoIP & Gadgets Blog in September 12th, 2008   
Topics: ITEXPO, Internet, Mobile, Mobile Phones, TMCnet, Unified Communications, Video, VoIP, XV6700, camera, camera phone, live streaming, mobile phone, streaming, video conferencing, video streaming, windows mobile 6.1     

Well, thought I’d do a live streaming test from my Windows Mobile 6.1 XV6700 mobile phone in preparation for Internet Telephony Expo (ITEXPO) next week. I plan on live streaming portions of the show, which you’ll be able to watch via my blog. I may do some video interviews as well.

This streaming video test will last until at least 11am.

Quicktime version:
” id=”WebcastEmbed_tbEmbedQT” disabled=”disabled” style=”width: 4790; height: 172″ type=”text”>

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Internet Telephony Expo Preview

by VoIP & Gadgets Blog in September 10th, 2008   
Topics: Asterisk, Fonality, IP Communications, ITEXPO, Livecast, Pika, Rich Tehrani, TMCnet, Unified Communications, VoIP, andy Abramson, communications, digium, sangoma, smb     

itexpo-west-2008-show-guide.jpg Rich posted the official ITEXPO Show Guide, which gives you a preview of what’s happening at next week’s ITEXPO. You can check out the 17MB PDF by clicking the image to the left. In Rich’s blog post, he previews what’s happening at the show and he writes, “All the top names are in the show… Cisco, Avaya, Time Warner Cable, Mitel, Interactive Intelligence and Dialogic. In addition, the most important open-source communications companies will be exhibiting. Digium/Asterisk, Sangoma, Fonality, Pika, Orecx, Xorcom, Redfone, FreeSide and many more.”

He adds, “Every IP PBX vendor who matters will be there. Every SMB VoIP provider… There will also be a great deal of solutions for service providers, call centers and more. The entire communications vendor community will be in attendance.”

I can’t believe the show is less than a week away. Should be a great show! Looking forward to meeting all the major players in VoIP & IP communications, as well as hanging out with fellow bloggers and journalists at Andy Abramson’s renowned Bloggers’ Dinner.

As I previously stated, I plan on using Livecast to stream portions of the show. I should probably test it sometime today on my blog to see how well it works. Come to think of it, I think I will. Stay tuned!

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Buying an iPhone at Best Buy

by VoIP & Gadgets Blog in September 8th, 2008   
Topics: Apple, Apple iPhone, Best Buy, Gadgets, ITEXPO, Mobile Phones, Rich Tehrani, TMCnet, Wireless, iPhone, store     

bestbuy-iphone3.jpg Best Buy began selling the Apple iPhone on Sunday, becoming the first U.S. retailer to do so outside of Apple and AT&T stores. The Apple iPhone will be carrier in 970 Best Buy stores. Rich Tehrani and I decided to take a walk to Best Buy which is just down the street from TMC and take some pictures of their display. Rich was also interested in buying an external battery back for his current iPhone since the battery life is atrocious. He especially wants the extra juice so he is prepared for ITEXPO just one week away. No doubt Rich will be being tons of interviews as well as speaking, and he’ll be using his iPhone to take photos, record video interviews, and check email. I’m using my Windows Mobile xv6700 phone and plan on using LiveCast to stream portions of ITEXPO.

As we approached the Best Buy store, we noticed the Apple iPhone stickers on both sets of sliding glass doors heavily promoting that they are carrying the iPhone. Both Rich and I snapped some photos. As we entered the store, the “greeter” told us we weren’t allowed to take pictures inside the store. So we weren’t able to snap photos of the display.

bestbuy-iphone2.jpg Here’s what we learned. One, a Best Buy representative told us that Best Buy is not allowed to advertise the fact that they are carrying the iPhone and said “Apple wants most of the revenue.”, implying that Apple wants people to purchase iPhones directly from Apple stores. Very interesting. Well they may not be able to advertise it in TV, newspapers, etc. but they sure are advertising the hell out of the iPhone in the store itself!

The display of the iPhone with a demo unit is front and center as you walk into the store. You are bombarded with pictures of the iPhone and the demo display as soon as your walk in. You can sort of make out the iPhone display and the table containing iPhone brochures and literature in this picture below:
bestbuy-iphone.jpg
The iPhone accessories display was a bit limited. They didn’t offer an external battery pack that Rich was looking for. Offering iPhones in 970 Best Buy retail stores gives Apple a much larger retail footprint than just their Apple & AT&T stores. That’s a huge plus for Apple. Also, when people walk into an AT&T store or even an Apple store, they are probably already interested in an iPhone. Customers walking into Best Buy to buy electronics or DVDs, might make a impulse purchase of an iPhone after seeing / playing with the demo unit and all the corresponding iPhone marketing literature.

Rich is blogging our trip to Best Buy as well speak. Be sure to check out his blog for more.

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Interviews with Top 60 VoIP Movers and Shakers…

by VoIP & Gadgets Blog in September 5th, 2008   
Topics: AT&T, Aspect, Asterisk, Fonality, ITEXPO, Mitel, Rich Tehrani, TMCnet, Unified Communications, VoIP, digium, interviews, learn, movers, movers shakers, shakers, skype, telecom     

Rich Tehrani has a nice roundup of 60 interviews he’s done with many of the major “movers and shakers” in the VoIP / IP communications industry.

Rich writes:

Whenever I go to a conference, I learn a tremendous amount from the people I meet at the show. I really enjoy the impromptu networking which takes place at events as it allows me to learn so much about what is happening in the market….{snip}

In less than two weeks the world with gather at ITEXPO — The World’s Communications Conference to help select products for purchase, learn about the latest events in the telecom market and network with peers.

It is this last area where this blog entry should be of maximal benefit. You see, over the past month or so I have been interviewing the telecom movers and shakers who will be coming to ITEXPO. I certainly didn’t interview every mover and shaker (exactly what is a telecom shaker anyway wink  ) but this list should give you a good idea who some of the speakers and exhibitors will be at this year’s show.

Some of the movers & shakers Rich interviewed include Digium, Skype, AT&T, Fonality, Mitel, Aspect, and more. Rich’s blog enter includes a nice organized table list of the interviews letting you read the companies you’re interested in. Like Rich said, many of these movers & shakers will be at ITEXPO which is less than 2 weeks away. I’m going to be there and hope to do some on-site interviews. Hope to see you there!

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VoIP Supply Named to CRN’s Fastest Growing Retailers - Proof VoIP a Fast Growing industry

by VoIP & Gadgets Blog in September 2nd, 2008   
Topics: Bloggers Dinner, CRN Magazine, ITEXPO, SIP, SmithOnVoIP, TMCnet, Unified Communications, VoIP, VoIP Supply, Wireless, andy Abramson, company, garrett, garrett smith, growing, retailers, salaries, supply, voipsupply.com     

Garrett Smith from VoIP Supply emailed me this morning expressing his excitement that “A VoIP pure play keeping up with a who’s who of America’s top retailers.” Specifically, the company Garrett works for was named to CRN Magazine’s Fastest Growing retailers listing VoIP Supply’s retail business amongst the big boys like Best Buy, New Egg and PC Connection.

Out of the 15 companies listed, only one company posted better growth numbers then VoIP Supply.

itexpo-logo.jpgA hearty congrats to VoIP Supply team! I’m sure I’ll see some of you at Internet Telephony Expo (ITEXPO) in a couple weeks. I’m sure Garrett, who blogs for SmithonVoIP will be at Andy Abramson’s Bloggers’ Dinner that Andy puts together each show. I’ll have to raise a toast to VoIP Supply’s success.

Obviously, VoIP is growing like gangbusters for VoIP Supply to beat out other retailers. Relatedly, Rich 3 days ago pointed out that VoIP jobs salaries grew dramatically in Q2 this year.

Rich writes:

OnForce Inc., is an online jobs mart where employers and workers meet on the Internet and agree on an hourly rate and a recent report from the company shows growth in VoIP rates have increased from 1.5 to 1.95 between Q1 and Q2. This basically means VoIP jobs are now paying twice the average of all IT jobs.

Get this… Jobs in the field of printers and point of sale systems (cash registers, etc) command 1/3 the salary of those in VoIP!

If you are in the VoIP space, your time is now. Sure these salary levels may not be this high forever but it is great to see demand and salaries increase so rapidly in a time where news in other markets is generally not as good.

If you are looking to get into the VoIP market or enhance your skills, the time is now. Don’t wait… Don’t delay.

There are many certifications you can look into and many are very good but only one is offered by TMC — the company which publishes the only VoIP-related magazine — Internet Telephony and puts on the world’s only IP Communications event ITEXPO…

And of course that would be TMC University. Frankly, you cannot find a better certification anywhere IMHO and as you may have noticed it is tough to be humble when you think your product is so great.

Well said, Rich. And with ITEXPO just 2 weeks away, it’s not too late to sign up for some of the training and certification classes. Rich lists a bunch of the classes you can take at the show to polish your VoIP skills & to get in on this fast-growing & lucrative VoIP action.

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Astricon, Win $100, and Party Hardy at ITEXPO

by VoIP & Gadgets Blog in July 29th, 2008   
Topics: Asterisk, Astricon, DIDx, DIDxchange, IP Communications, ITEXPO, SIP, Suzanne Bowen, TMCnet, VoIP, email, survey, voucher     

didxchange-logo.jpgCame across DIDx (DIDXchange) CEO Suzanne Bowen’s blog today, where she mentions that DIDXchange is sponsoring the Code Zone Reception on Tues PM Sept 23 at Astricon and also “giving a lightning talk with some of you on DIDX and IAX2.”

astricon.jpgShe includes a sign up link to http://www.didx.net/astricon2008/, but the link doesn’t work.

Anyway, she’s offering an interesting survey with the chance to win a $100 gas card or $100 American Airlines voucher.

“Whether you are using IAX2 or SIP or both, please reply to this survey asap. Just copy the Qs and paste them to me on email or on Facebook message with your name, company, if you have a DIDX account … include that number, cell phone and email for contacting. Each person who uses IAX2, SIP, or a combination AND also DIDX who answers this survey fully with complete contact information to me on Facebook or my regular email will be entered in a drawing for $100 gas card or a $100 American Airlines voucher.”

Considering it’s $15 per checked bag, and $100 per piece for the 3rd, 4th and 5th checked bags, this $100 voucher won’t get you very far if you’re a heavy packer. Nevertheless, the $100 voucher will offset some of the costs to attend Astricon, which takes place September 23-25th in Arizona.

So what’s the survey? Here’s the questions:

- do you use IAX2, SIP, a combination, or other? please describe.
- what is the efficiency gain or loss from using IAX2 if you use it?
- how do your IAX2 vs. SIP customers differ in QoS, call setup time, complaints, etc.
- what roadblocks has IAX2 helped you overcome?
- what roadblocks has IAX2 introduced?
- other issues relevant to you and your customer/vendor’s use of Asterisk and IAX2

itexpo-logo.jpg In the same blog post Suzanne mentions a DIDx-sponsored party at Internet Telephony Expo taking place September 16th-18th. Ya know, I didn’t realize how close Astricon and ITEXPO were. Astricon is more “niche” since it is Asterisk-focused while ITEXPO covers all IP communications including Asterisk, but I would have liked to have seen Astricon and ITEXPO co-located. One less trip for me to the West Coast and the two shows are very complementary. I should go talk to Rich Tehrani about trying to partner with Astricon in for future events. (though I do see we are a media sponsor at Astricon)

In any event, Suzanne writes:

Sept 16-18, 2008, Internet Telephony West 2008, Los Angeles, CA
Sign up at http://www.tmcnet.com/voip/conference for free expo plus passes and discounts on conference passes. See past videos and pictures of past ITWest conferences at http://didx.net/itexpowest08/!

DIDX is a media sponsor of ITWest 2008 and an exhibitor at booth 153. Please respond with your name, email address, cell phone and DIDX account number if you’d like to meet up for a business development meeting, just for you. Watch for another email about the DIDXchange party during ITWest 2008!

Cool,  I like parties. Am I invited?

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ITEXPO 90% Sold Out - IP Communications industry looks strong

by VoIP & Gadgets Blog in July 21st, 2008   
Topics: IP Communications, ITEXPO, Internet Telephony Expo, Mike Genaro, Rich Tehrani, TMCnet, Unified Communications, VoIP, communications, ip, perhaps, von     

ITEXPO is still two months away (September 16-18, 2008 — Los Angeles, CA) yet Rich reports that the exhibit booth space is already 90% sold out.

Rich is pretty excited when he writes, “There has been more interest in ITEXPO Fall 2008, Los Angeles, CA September 16-18 than any other Internet Telephony Conference & Expo I can remember in recent years.”

At first I thought perhaps Rich is being a bit too exuberant. After all, one well-known communications show (VON) faltered this year, so surely ITEXPO might not have its strongest show - at least if VON is any indication. But ITEXPO has been growing steadily and hasn’t truly had a bad show (yet).

Also, the economy is certainly slowing, so many companies are holding back on their advertising and marketing budges. However, if anything companies are looking to increase productivity in their communications to help reduce costs. One sure-fire way to do that is to deploy VoIP or unified communiations solutions. So perhaps that explains why in addition to the exhibit hall space being 90% sold out, pre-registration for attendees is actually ahead of last year at this time by 30%! Our VP of Marketing, Mike Genaro gave me these latest pre-attendance numbers.

Perhaps with one less IP communications show, that could have something to do with it. Rich had the same thought when he wrote, “It seems people are beginning to realize this show is the only major IP communications event left — it is growing quickly and it draws attendees from around the world.”

Here’s a floor map:

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BroadSoft, Fonality, and ITEXPO news all rolled in one

by VoIP & Gadgets Blog in July 16th, 2008   
Topics: Asterisk, BroadSoft, BroadWorks, Fonality, ITEXPO, Michael Tessler, News, SIP, Service Providers, VoIP, VoIP conference, fonality products, sip trunking, smb     





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Some BroadSoft, Fonality, and ITEXPO news all rolled in one. First, TMC put out a release about BroadSoft keynoting the next ITEXPO, the leading VoIP conference:

The energy behind the upcoming ITEXPO West 2008 (www.ITEXPO.com), the industry’s only Major Communications event taking place this Fall, continues to grow everyday. The most recent news - Broadsoft CEO, Michael Tessler, has committed to delivering a keynote speech, which will take place on Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2008, at 3 p.m. at the Los Angeles Convention Center. This news, while significant, is only one of many reasons not to miss this year’s conference. For a full agenda, please visit: http://www.tmcnet.com/voip/conference/west-08/w08-conferences.aspx.

BroadSoft, a SIP-based service provider, also announced today that they’ve teamed up with Fonality to offer managed IP PBX for service providers. BroadSoft certified that Fonality with BroadWorks, annd Fonality Welcomes BroadSoft into its FACE Program.

Fonality®, the leading provider of open-source phone systems, and BroadSoft Inc., the leading provider of VoIP application software, announced today that the two companies have certified their products to work together, enabling service providers to market and deploy Fonality to their small and medium-sized business (SMB) customers with confidence. BroadSoft®, which provides VoIP applications and SIP trunking to seven of the top 10 and 13 of the 25 largest carriers worldwide, has completed certification of Fonality trixbox® Pro and PBXtra® with BroadWorks®, BroadSoft’s industry-leading VoIP application platform for fixed-line and wireless service providers. BroadSoft has also joined the Fonality Authorized Certified Ecosystem (FACE).

BroadWorks offers a range of carrier-grade applications that includes hosted PBX, unified communications, mobile PBX, business trunking, and residential broadband. Fonality products include a family of open-source-based, hybrid-hosted IP PBX offerings tailored for SMBs. By certifying the products together, the companies offer service providers a complete line of hosted and premise-based unified communications offerings for customers of all sizes.

“By collaborating with Fonality, we’re giving service providers a way to go to market quickly with fully integrated, market-tested offerings for smaller companies,” said Leslie Ferry, Vice President of Marketing for BroadSoft. “Service providers can now take new products to their customers with the confidence that comes from knowing that both companies’ solutions will work together seamlessly.”

“BroadSoft is the dominant VoIP platform deployed by service providers and MSOs,” said Chris Vuillaume, Vice President of Business Development and Channels at Fonality. “Their certification is an important stamp of approval for Fonality products and expands our market opportunity to include Tier 1 and Tier 2 providers.”

Fonality business phone systems are designed for modern workplaces, accommodating companies that have a mix of office, mobile and home-based workers. Fonality solutions support both VoIP calling and traditional phone lines, allowing a smooth transition for businesses upgrading their calling services. Its patented, hybrid-hosted architecture allows employee identity to be maintained as they travel between work, home and hotels. Fonality products, when paired with the award-winning HUD® presence software, provide a unified view of Instant Messaging, e-mail and calling for all fixed and mobile workers.

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