File this under “how to reduce complexity by increasing complexity”. I always wondered why people thought GrandCentral’s primary offering was so great… one (more) number for life… It seems that whole plan has come back to bite some GrandCentral users as they have now been informed that their existing one (more) number for life is… Continue reading I have too may phone numbers… so give me another one???
Category: VoIP
Skype outage – debunking the peer to peer myth…
Skype has been down for close to 12 hours now… which – as a software architect by trade – got me to wondering how a nodal peer to peer system (theoretically with no centralized services/single points of failure) could suffer a complete outage… Listen to the embeded CallRecord for more… http://www.cosinity.com:9080/lps-3.3.3/my-apps/cosinity/miniplayer.lzx?lzt=swf&lzr=swf7&debug=false&ref=3c7781a36bcd6cf08c11a970fbe0e2a6
Wal-Mart VoIP – Yep, it is a commodity.
An MSNBC article yesterday details a new alliance between Wal-Mart and Skype. The dedicated Skype section will feature handsets, headsets and webcams designed to work with Skype, a provider of free and very cheap long-distance calls, including to phone numbers abroad. Wal-Mart will also sell the first prepaid cards for Skype calls to be sold… Continue reading Wal-Mart VoIP – Yep, it is a commodity.
Jajah picks up 20mm in Series C Funding
Our friends at TechCrunch announced today that Jajah has received 20 million in Series C funding. Jajah is tying to become a first tier VoIP provider – and their primary advantage is that they recognize and accept that the PSTN (publicly switched telephony network – you know, the one that gets you to any standard… Continue reading Jajah picks up 20mm in Series C Funding
VoIP is in Big Trouble?
An article in CIO Magazine today by Thomas Wailgum discusses the less than stellar adoption of VoIP in the enterprise market. I believe CIOs are ignoring VoIP for the exact same reason they are ignoring telecom and networks on a much larger scale. They just don’t seem to care about it, and the status quo… Continue reading VoIP is in Big Trouble?
Mitel acquires Inter-Tel
Big doings in the SMB VoIP equipment manufacturers space today. Mitel has aquired Inter-Tel for approximately 723 million dollars. The merger creates a market leader in the U.S. and U.K. SMB IP communications markets with anticipated revenues of over $800 million, twice those of Mitel today. It combines the strength of the two companies in… Continue reading Mitel acquires Inter-Tel
jaxtr – Nifty little Voice Application
Check out jaxtr (see widget to the right). Jaxtr is a voice applicaiton designed to specifically target the social networking scene. It allows you to call, text or leave a voicemail for your friend right from thier page (or blog in this case). Pretty nice… would great if presence (you could see if I’m available… Continue reading jaxtr – Nifty little Voice Application
Why VoIP isn’t a big deal… and why VoIP IS a big deal…
Microsoft unvieled a SMB (small-medium business) phone system… Microsoft Unveils Small-Business Phone System Software Designed for Ease of Use: Financial News – Yahoo! Finance http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/070319/clm074.html?.v=62 This is a fantastic illustration of why VoIP is not – and IS – a big deal.
The irony Verizon vs. Vonage
File under irony. It turns out the primary patents that Vonage infringed have to do with methods for routing calls to the PSTN (publicly switched telephone network). Now that is irony…
Why Verizon’s patent win is bad for everyone…
Vonage has been ordered to pay Verizon 58 million dollars and (here is the real problem) 5.8% of future revenue for patent infringement. If that wasn’t enough nails in Vonage’s coffin (remember they have yet to turn a profit) Verizon is still seeking a permanent injunction to prevent Vonage from using the patents. This is… Continue reading Why Verizon’s patent win is bad for everyone…