Doug on IP Comm » Enterprise

The HD Voice News 2012 report is (finally) out. Whew

Doug Mohney — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 15:10:37 +0000

Did I ever mention that I’m Editor-in-Chief of HD Voice News? (OK, not really a joke to anyone who regularly reads this blog).

“HD Voice 2012: Proliferation” is now available at TMCnet.com. It was a much larger task to put together and edit than I anticipated, due to the rapid ramp in HD voice adoption going on around the world. You can find a description of the report here.

The net-net upshot is: HD voice has already in Europe, coming to America (“I feel good!”), and has a significant and growing presence in Asia and Africa.

With Sprint planning to introduce 3G CDMA HD voice in the US by late 2012 (and if you don’t understand what I just said, you should at least take a quick look at www.hdvoicenews.com), the pace and availability of deployments is picking up. Get excited. Buy a copy of my report. Buy two copies, give one to a friend…

Enterprise Connect 2012: From Enterprise Connect to… Business Connect

Doug Mohney — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 16:57:11 +0000

A couple of years ago, VoiceCon morphed into Enterprise Connect because there was UC, there was video, and voice was just so passé. When I talked to Co-chair/CEO Fred Knight back in the day, he said the “sweet spot” for the show were enterprise clients with 1,000 seats or more. Big companies. Multi-site companies. Fortune 500 to 1000-2000 companies. Sooo… how come there are a significant number of companies that show up to announce SME solutions?

Off the top of my head, there’s ADTRAN, Avaya and CounterPath. ADTRAN rolled out its SBC (session border controller) for NetVanta and Total Access CPE. The software can be purchased for 10, 25, and 100 sessions, with a $395 to $495 list price, depending on the box it runs on. Avaya introduced its cloud solutions, including AvayaLive Connect “a new, fully-integrated, unified communications solution for small businesses that includes voice, voice conferencing, messaging, video, mobility, presence and more.” CounterPath showed up to give a “sneak peak” of SoftPhone.com, a cloud offering to connect CounterPath X-Lite softphone users (i.e., the people too cheap to pay for a copy of Bria). SoftPhone.com is targeted at 25-30 seat SMBs to connect X-Lite to X-Lite calls for free, while terminating calls over an IP PBX when the recipient is not connected to the SoftPhone.com network.

Enterprise Connect isn’t a huge show — fits nicely into the Gaylord Convention Center in Orlando — and it treats the attending media quite well. I don’t know, but suspect from the quality of amenities given to attendees and the media, it’s not exactly a cheap show to exhibit at; a 3 day VIP Special for 2012 is already running at $1695 for attendees. (But you can get in on an Expo Plus pass free for access to keynotes, show floor, sponsored sessions, and networking receptions).

I guess my point is that I’ve seen SMB-esque announcements out of Enterprise Connect before and I have to wonder if there’s room somewhere for a dedicated Business Connect show strictly for the 2-500 SMB world.

Digium does hardware–services next?

Doug Mohney — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 19:13:31 +0000

Digium, the self-proclaimed “Asterisk Company,” is turning into the jack-of-all-trades company. For Enterprise Connect in Orlando this week, the company has rolled out “the first” of a family of VoIP gateways. Last month (well, more like two months ago), the company introduced its first IP phones at IT EXPO. I’m betting a cloud services offering at some point.

The new hardware are the G100 and G200 gateways, to support TDM-to-SIP and SIP-to-TDM applications (i.e. phone calls). With software based on the Asterisk “communications engine” and managed through a Digium point-and-click GUI, the gateways feature a power-saving design and “purpose-built” media processing capability via the DSP .

As you might expect, the G100 includes a single software-selectable T1/E1/PRI interface and supports up to 30 concurrent calls, while the G200 has two (2) T1/E1/PRI interfaces and supports up to 60 concurrent calls. Both models have integrated echo cancellation, a small footprint of 1U, half-width, half-depth, and no moving parts. List for the G100 is $1,195 while the G200 is $1,995. Hardware available today through a Digium distributor or integrator.

Digium’s move into more hardware begs the question as to how many other shiny products the company will roll into a VoIP hardware market already chock full of OEMs and name brands.

It’s not like there isn’t a market for VoIP hardware, mind you, given that the world is not even starting to crank into high gear to kick the TDM habit.

But hardware manufactures are starting to zag into services; Ericsson, Polycom, and ShoreTel all have rolled out cloud/hosted services, so it’s not a far-fetched idea to see Digium introduce a branded-version of Asterisk on a cloud.

HD voice report work this week, Enterprise Connect next

Doug Mohney — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 21:37:31 +0000

Things are a little dry here because I’ve got my head down this week working on the 2012 HD Voice News report, as well as trying to pack in a couple more meetings at Enterprise Connect 2012 in Orlando next week.

I’ll be on site at Enterprise Connect – and at meetings – between Tuesday afternoon through Wednesday afternoon.

Hopefully I’ll have time to jot down some thoughts from Enterprise Connect. Maybe.

Enterprise Connect availability: March 27-28

Doug Mohney — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 13:03:48 +0000

I’ll be on site at Enterprise Connect on March 27 and March 28.

General topics of interest for this show are:

Cloud telephony and the migration away from the tradition PBX model in an enterprise setting.
SIP interoperability and federation.
HD voice and continued movement towards wideband voice solution in the enterprise market

Assuming no travel glitches, I should be on site at the Gaylord by 1 PM, on Tuesday, March 27. I have some limited availability to take briefings on that day.

Wednesday, March 28, I’ll be on site from about 9 AM through 3 PM. There are a lot of open briefing slots for March 28 at this time.

Enterprise Connect 2012 on the event schedule

Doug Mohney — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 18:08:21 +0000

Enterprise Connect 2012 has been added to the spring event schedule. Currently looking at a March 26 arrival with a March 27 departure.

Briefing topics and meeting schedule to be determined. For a briefing request, email moo@vegascommando.com

Reminder–Taking briefings at Metaswitch Forum in October

Doug Mohney — Sat, 24 Sep 2011 15:08:14 +0000

I’ll be at Metaswitch Forum in Las Vegas from October 3 through October 6, so if you’re looking for an opportunity to brief face-to-face, this is it.

Coordination through the Metaswitch press people (Engage PR) is suggested, but not required.

There’s also an invite-only event where to go out to Mike Tyson’s house at 3:30 AM in the morning and try to see his tiger.

Some things you just can’t DO via telepresence

Doug Mohney — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 18:08:42 +0000

Polycom sage Jeff Rodman (@jefferyrodman) and I swapped around tweets last week about things you just can’t DO via telepresence these days.

My brag was witnessing the last launch of the space shuttle program, STS-135 Atlantis last week. (Yes, like any good gawking media person, I took pictures and video. You can see the YouTube clip here. There’s also a bunch of articles over at http://satellite.tmcnet.com)

Jeff added “first kiss” and “winning pitch” to the list. I’d throw in “rock concert” for the simple examples.

May travel schedule–Interop Vegas and TIA 2011

Doug Mohney — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 19:39:52 +0000

I’ll be at two shows in May.

Interop Las Vegas 2011, Mandalay Bay Convention Center, Las Vegas, NV

Running around the show floor on Tuesday, May 10 and Wednesday, May 11.

TIA 2011, Gaylord Texas, Dallas, TX

Wednesday, May 18 – “HD Voice: Implementing the Advantages” 8:30 am – 9:15 am.

After my presentation, I’ll be on site through about 2 PM local time before I have to head to the airport.

As usual, if you are seeking a briefing, email me at moo@vegascommando.com.

LG-Ericsson enters North American business IP PBX market

Doug Mohney — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 20:06:40 +0000

LG-Ericsson has launched the iPECS-LIK business communications products family. The company says iPECS-LIK delivers all of the functionality of a traditional PBX (and seriously, who is buying a “traditional” PBX these days?) with the addition of UC features.

Offering solutions from 10 users up to 1000 users – this would cover SMB up to the “entry level” for the enterprise, depending on who’s definition you use – iPECS-LIK is a pure IP platform and includes applications such as PDA and PC softphones, a PC attendant for incoming call management, UC, unified messaging with an open interface based on TAPI and an Advanced Interface Messaging (AIM, hmm) interface for computer telephony integration with third-party apps.

There’s also specialized interfaces for the hospitality market and Skype Connect for SIP.

The iPECS-LIK Call Server provides a bunch of telephony features, including the usual hold/transfer and video calling, plus least-cost routing, incoming call distribution, and SIP trunking. “Standard SIP terminals” and legacy digital phones are supported.

An LG-Ericsson Unified Communications System, provides unified messaging capability that combines voice, instant messaging, video and FAX and email messaging under a single easy-to-use intuitive user interface. You’ve got the usual advanced features like multi-phone ring, ACD supervisor, ACD statistics reporting, caller-controlled routing, and caller ID routing.

Needless to say, there’s a lot of stuff that I’m not listing here. Support for HD voice via G.722 is available.