VoIP – Brian Roy's Blog Archive

How to Use Twitter and Asterisk for Call Notification

I’m still old school enough to think that voice conversations still matter. So I call people, and they call me. When I’m out and about I like to know who has called me back at my office (no I don’t want my cell to ring EVERY TIME someone calls my home number, my cosinity number… Continue reading How to Use Twitter and Asterisk for Call Notification

Mission accomplished – VoIP Softphone for Mac

One of my greatest frustrations with Mac has been the lack of a VoIP SoftPhone. To be completely clear, when I say VoIP SoftPhone I mean that the way you would mean “email client”. I’m not interested in a SoftPhone tied to a particular service provider or network. This search has been frustrating me for… Continue reading Mission accomplished – VoIP Softphone for Mac

Why is the Real-Time Web Community Shooting Itself in the Foot?

2008 was supposed to be the year we began to see real-time web take shape. And while Twitter and FriendFeed have begun to show us some bits of what a real-time web might look like mostly it has been a year of discontent. While I hate year end/beginning “predictions” (what am I Nostradamus?) I’m predicting… Continue reading Why is the Real-Time Web Community Shooting Itself in the Foot?

Skype begins un-walling the Walled Garden

I’ve said it before – and I’ll say it again. Walled gardens are great for developing a market – but the outcome is inevitable (barring anti-competitive regulation). The walls fall. Skype announced yesterday that they are introducing a Skype interface (know as a channel driver) for Asterisk. This is great news – it enables Skype… Continue reading Skype begins un-walling the Walled Garden

Voice Is Data – STOP THE PRESSES (Alexander Graham Bell would be so proud)

From Techdirt… With increasing attempts to turn internet access on in the sky, there’s been some concern about people making VoIP calls from airplanes, just as there is a concern over mobile phone use in the sky being too “annoying.” Some of the companies providing internet-in-the-sky have claimed that they would block VoIP calls, but… Continue reading Voice Is Data – STOP THE PRESSES (Alexander Graham Bell would be so proud)

Free World Dialup moving to $30 annual membership

From Jeff Pulver’s blog this morning comes news that FWD (Free World Dialup) is going to begin charging for VoIP Service. FWD has long had a very large user base and significant challenges generating any revenue from that base… they’ve seen Vonage, Broadvoice etc create businesses from the basic idea they’ve been working since 2001.… Continue reading Free World Dialup moving to $30 annual membership

Just because someone miss-uses something doesn’t make it bad…

Articles like this make me nervous: VoIP scam bilking Islanders – from CBC News Caller ID unreliable Caller ID on your phone will not help you identify the origin of the caller, said MacLean. “In some cases, these fraudsters will actually use spoof legitimate-looking numbers,” he said. “On your caller ID it may appear that… Continue reading Just because someone miss-uses something doesn’t make it bad…

Verizon targets Fixed VoIP Services

Jeff Pulver gives us his thoughts on Verizon’s continued patent assault on VoIP providers. This case against Cox is significant because rather than seeking the same win it got from Vonage from other similarly situated companies, Verizon is now seeking to expand the breadth of its winning patent portfolio to fixed VoIP. To the extent… Continue reading Verizon targets Fixed VoIP Services

The sad state of Voice Communication

If you really stop to think about it, voice communications is – by comparison with all of the other communication mechanisms available to us – hopelessly rudimentary. The reality is – even with the advent of VoIP and services like Vonage, Skype and Gizmo – the basic phone call hasn’t changed very much Alexander Grahm… Continue reading The sad state of Voice Communication