ADTRAN is hosting its annual media/analyst event in Huntsville on November 29-December 1.

The first big event in 2012 for HD voice looks like it will be at CES in Las Vegas.  I’ll be running [...]]]>

In November (7-8), I’ll be a guest of GENBAND for its Perspective 2011 event in New York City.

ADTRAN is hosting its annual media/analyst event in Huntsville on November 29-December 1.

The first big event in 2012 for HD voice looks like it will be at CES in Las Vegas.  I’ll be running around town from Sunday, January 8 through Wednesday, January 11.  More thoughts on CES 2012 will be posted at HD Voice News (www.hdvoicenews.com) next week.

On the Ethernet side, new solutions include:

SBC leader Acme Packet (www.acmepacket.com) used to have a very good PR firm.  I got regular briefings [...]]]>

Anyone who KNOWS me, really knows me, knows that I get annoyed at PR firms.  I thought I had mellowed in my old age and really hadn’t been set off.  Then I get an email today…

SBC leader Acme Packet (www.acmepacket.com) used to have a very good PR firm.  I got regular briefings at trade shows from the product manager(s) when I was writing for VON and the other publications I was associated with, occasionally got quality time with senior level executives who provided further insight into the thinking and personality of the company.

About a year ago, Acme switched PR firms. And suddenly everything just stopped.

No press releases, no regular briefings, na-da.

If memory serves, the last time I had a briefing with Acme was probably a year ago, at Metaswitch Forum.  I met with Acme’s new VP of Marketing, complained that 1) the new PR firm had sent out some generic pitch written by a just-out-of-college “associate” that made it sound like I didn’t know the first thing about Acme and 2) Then stopped sending me press releases at all.

Fast forward to today. I get an email from one of the execs of above-mentioned PR firm who wants to set up a briefing with Acme because a few weeks ago I wrote a story about Metaswitch’s (www.metaswitch.com) Permeta SBC and now wants to have a “conversation.”

And…“We know we haven’t had the opportunity to speak with you in awhile, apologies for that in advance.”

NO, you didn’t CREATE the opportunity, so now you’re starting cold after Acme has done a whole bunch of things to build up the company over the past year. Newsworthy things.  Things that would have been appropriate for at least two of the publications I contribute to.

Acme Packet is no slouch. I would wager they are paying anywhere between $5,000 to $10,000 (or more) per month for this PR firm to represent them. So let’s break this down–

1) When new PR first gets the account a year ago, it gets a rookie wage-slave to send out some lame-ass pitch in an email blast, rather than taking 5 minutes to make a list of people who have written about Acme over the past 24 months and then taking a more personal approach. 

I may not love Microsoft, but its PR firm does its homework in spades.  Never would have done a bush-league stunt in the first place.

2) After a month, it becomes clear I’m not getting press release in email. I complain. NOthing happens.

3) Today, I get an email that comes over/occurs because I’ve written a story about Metaswitch’s entry in to the SBC marketplace.

I start writing about potential competitors to Acme and suddenly the PR firm wants to offer a “conversation.”  After a year.

Hmm, in the time since Acme Packet’s PR firm has set up a briefing or sent out a press release NEARLY A YEAR, the company has–

a) Been named by Fortune among the world’s 100 fastest growing public traded companies

b) Added some executives, changed others (Congrats on the promotion Seamus! Your PR firm didn’t tell me…)

c) Racked up all kinds of record revenue and earnings over the past number of quarters

d) Expanded its headquarters

e) Enhanced its platforms to do hardware-based transcoding

f) Adding new high-end-carrier grade platforms…

g….

Seriously, do I have to go on? Acme Packet has obviously done a lot of things since October 2010.

Emailing press releases and making an occasional phone call/inquiry to writers is what PR firms are supposed to do. 

Showing up at my doorstep because I write something about a potential competitor’s entry into the marketplace after a year doesn’t win anyone any points.

*** UPDATE at 2:45 PM ET***

PR is as much about ongoing relationships as it is about news.   I’m not talking about fancy dinners or brown-nosing, I’m talking about a level of comfort and steady involvement/engagement between a PR firm and the media. 

At The Cable Show 2011, Skype and Comcast (www.comcast.com) announced that Comcast users would be able to lease Comcast hardware to enable Skype video calling on HDTV video sets.   The service uses [...]]]>

Over the past six weeks, Skype (www.skype.com) has announced new products and/or deals with Comcast, on Android, and with Facebook. Anything else?

At The Cable Show 2011, Skype and Comcast (www.comcast.com) announced that Comcast users would be able to lease Comcast hardware to enable Skype video calling on HDTV video sets.   The service uses a little adopter box plus a customized remote to manage the Skype – and to-be-named-later apps – session to make and receive Skype video and audio calls, IM, and watch TV at the same time.

No price on the hardware has been set, but it kinda screams dead-end unless Skype is also going to offer/sell/promote this to other cable companies in the future. 

Later, Skype released Skype for Android 2.0, enabling video calling over Android in the (closed) Skype universe. Support runs over Wi-Fi or 3G, with downloads free.  Again, it’s nice, but with all U.S. wireless vendors except for Sprint rolling out data caps, I’m not sure how useful running video on a mobile phone actually is, unless you’re next to a power outlet.

To wrap up its summer of video, Skype announced a partnership with Facebook (www.facebook.com) enabling video chat within the Facebook environment.  I think the embedded video message part is the most intriguing feature of this announcement since Facebook loads itself to asynchronous-ness communication.   How it all plays out on the mobile environment will be interesting.

I suspect the Facebook announcement was the last of the group and we won’t hear any Big Deals for a while, given that Skype now has to finish being consumed by Microsoft.

If it’s September, it must be IT EXPO West.  In Austin this year – a refreshing change from the LA/Miami circuit – from September 13 through 15.   Austin is a great [...]]]>

In August,I expect to make a day trip down to Dallas for the Gigaset love-in. Probably drive them nuts with HD voice questions.

If it’s September, it must be IT EXPO West.  In Austin this year – a refreshing change from the LA/Miami circuit – from September 13 through 15.   Austin is a great city, so I’m looking forward to the scenery.

In October, I’m trying to pin down dates for Metaswitch Forum 2011.    The event will be at the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada , October 3-6, but the nice part about a mid-week event in Vegas is decent hotel rooms within walking distance. I’ll probably be footsore at the end of the day, but what the heck… or worse yet, I’ll rent a car and run up my carbon footprint.

The company opened up a regional office in Singapore at the beginning of June, complementing its existing operations in [...]]]>

At the company’s annual user meeting, Metaswitch said it was going to expand around the globe.  Over June, the company made a series of announcements to underline its expanded role in the Asia Pacific region.

The company opened up a regional office in Singapore at the beginning of June, complementing its existing operations in Australia, Guam and Hong Kong, along with “partner activities” in several other countries in the regions.  Metaswitch says it has customers in eight countries in the area, so the regional office will service as a training center for partners and customers.

At CommunicAsia2011, Metaswitch announced Chunghwa Telecom would deploy the Metaswitch Service Broker to deliver services across both its legacy and IMS networks on a single platform.  Subscribers will get services on any network at the same time without compromising IMS capabilities.

In addition, Metaswitch announced customer wins in Australia and the Philippines.   CallStream Communications, a new Australian telecommunications company formed by Telco Consolidators Group, will launch Metaswitch Hosted Business Services to small and medium-sized businesses across the country. 

In partnership with Pastels Inc, Metaswitch now has four customers in the Philippines.  New additions announced are General Telephone and Irga Telephone, family-owned incumbent operators that are modernizing their networks and will offer next-generation services to their subscribers.

The service is “made possible” through cloud computing technology – whatever that means these days – and is managed by M5, who stores and [...]]]>

Speaking of VoIP recording, hosted business VoIP provider M5 Networks (www.m5.net) has announced M5 Replay, adding the ability for customers to record and retrieve recorded calls through a web interface.

The service is “made possible” through cloud computing technology – whatever that means these days – and is managed by M5, who stores and handles all the data involved.  Recording can be customized for any number of a business clients’ employees.  Basic features include searching through recorded calls by caller name, phone number, time of call, date, or call duration, among other attributes.

Customers can choose three modes for recording.  Full-time recording continually records each employee’s phone calls and enables recordings to be paused from their desk phone.  Employee-initiated recording is controlled directly from each employee’s desk.  Look back recording offers employees the ability to record a call in progress from when it was initiated.   

Needless to say, recording calls can have certain legal implications, so the customer needs to make sure they are following all applicable local, state, and federal laws.

Since Grandstream sells SIP phones, SIP Print’s call recording systems plug right into Grandstream’s customer base.

SIP Print will record up to 200 seats per [...]]]>

SIP Print (www.sipprint.com) and Grandstream Networks (www.grandstream.com) have teamed up to sell SIP Print’s SIP-based call recording and monitoring service to Grandstream customers.  Yes, it’s a reseller deal.

Since Grandstream sells SIP phones, SIP Print’s call recording systems plug right into Grandstream’s customer base.

SIP Print will record up to 200 seats per system, and you can cluster multiple systems for unlimited seats. 

The solution includes unlimited local and long distance calling, web conferencing with video, Internet fax *sigh*, call recording and “more.”  It’s a hosted [...]]]>

SMB business service provider 8×8 (www.8×8.com) – cuz if you’re offering more than phone, you’re more than an ITSP – has launched Virtual Office Solo service for $7.99 per month. 

The solution includes unlimited local and long distance calling, web conferencing with video, Internet fax *sigh*, call recording and “more.”  It’s a hosted (i.e., cloud) service, and includes free Virtual Office apps for iPhone and Android for call management/call handling and caller ID display; access to Virtual Meeting video web conferencing for up to 15 peeps; a UC-style inbox with inbound call log, voicemail, and faxes received, plus history tab that tracks meeting appointments and even chat records.

Installation takes “less than two minutes,” says 8×8.

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 [...]]]>

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.