The report surveys 10 companies “to Watch” and compares 16 cloud solutions in a matrix to clarify strengths and weaknesses.

A complete description of the report [...]]]>

Want to know more about SMB video conferencing? Robert Poe has just released a 31 or 32 page report “SMB Video Conferencing: Getting Beyond Clouds & Interoperability.”

The report surveys 10 companies “to Watch” and compares 16 cloud solutions in a matrix to clarify strengths and weaknesses.

A complete description of the report can be found here.  You can get your hands on a copy for $299.

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 [...]]]>

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. 

In “Phase 1,” Avaya customers will have “access” to Skype Connect, so anyone running a SIP-based IP PBX will be able [...]]]>

Avaya (www.avaya.com) and Skype (www.skype.com) announced much big love and a strategic partnership today.  But the meat of the agreement won’t be implemented until the second half of 2011. And it’s not exclusive.

In “Phase 1,” Avaya customers will have “access” to Skype Connect, so anyone running a SIP-based IP PBX will be able to exchange voice-based calls – but not SILK-quality calls.

Enterprises will have to sign up directly with Skype or a Skype Connect account and pre-pay for minutes since that’s how calls traversing between the SIP universe and the Skype universe are billed. (And seriously, how old school telco is that?)

Neither side would talk about compensation around Skype Connect minutes, but Avaya Senior VP/President Alan Baratz said they’re paying Skype for tech support in implementing the SILK codec and other technology.

Further out there, in the “second half of 2011” is a promise of fully integrated functionality between Skype clients and Avaya IP-based technology, including the whole UC enchilada of presence, messaging, voice, and video.  Avaya will wrap “enterprise level control and management” around the Skype application services.

Judging from the some of the comments given by both Baratz and Skype Enterprise GM/President David Gurlé, both sides are still in process of mapping out what would and wouldn’t be supported… which makes me wonder about hitting the “second half” of 2011, unless that means making a release date announcement for support to come out in 2012…

Two years ago, Digium (www.digium.com) and Skype announced a similar love-in/work-together integration agreement and it took almost a year to get what ultimately evolved into Skype Connect to properly work with Asterisk. 

The agreement makes Polycom a member of Microsoft’s “key strategic global alliance” for UC; both sides will invest in product development, sales, and marketing.

Polycom will develop a broad [...]]]>

Polycom (www.polycom.com) and Microsoft (www.microsoft.com) have declared their love, er a “global strategic agreement” for developing and marketing “integrated,” standards-based unified communications (UC) solutions.

The agreement makes Polycom a member of Microsoft’s “key strategic global alliance” for UC; both sides will invest in product development, sales, and marketing.

Polycom will develop a broad base of solutions for Microsoft Communications Server “14” and beyond, including lots of new Polycom CX series endpoints featuring HD voice and video, new room-based video systems designed for direct integration with MCS “14” and additional interoperable solutions between Polycom’s existing and future video conferencing solutions.

The biggest hoot out of this announcement is seeing a quote from Microsoft Corporate VP Gurdeep Singh Pall, the go-to guy when it comes to Microsoft’s telephony products. Two years ago at VoiceCon Orlando, he poo-poo’ed the traditional desktop handset, waiving around a cheap $300 netbook and saying one didn’t need all that dedicated hardware.

Today, Pall is singing the praises of one of the biggest phone guys in the business. “Microsoft and Polycom are committed to a roadmap that will deliver interoperable UC solutions with choice and innovation in video conferencing and customer devices that will help transform enterprise communication,” Pall said in a press release.

It’s a VERY different tune from “We don’t need no stinkin’ desktop phones.” Now Microsoft is the new BFF with the best desktop phone and videoconferencing company. Guess they figured out they can’t do everything standalone, especially when it comes to telepresence. Either that or the Acer netbook died…

The latest version of the VoIP soft client includes support for multiple accounts. Users can select on-the-fly which account to use for voice, IM and HD video calling, regardless of the type of network (wired or wireless) in use. Bria 3.1 also includes [...]]]>

CounterPath (www.counterpath.com) has released Bria 3.1 for the Mac and Windows.

The latest version of the VoIP soft client includes support for multiple accounts. Users can select on-the-fly which account to use for voice, IM and HD video calling, regardless of the type of network (wired or wireless) in use. Bria 3.1 also includes an enhanced user interface for a better experience, including supporting expanded conferencing features and server-based conference calling using Bria’s native contact list and call manager.

Other new features include a deskphone mode for using Bria to control the base functions of a desktop handset; SMS support for custom builds; user-configurable favorites lists; additional call management options, including call hold collapse and streamlined steps for tasks such as conferencing and transferring calls; bandwidth-saving features, including the ability to select from three levels of performance and codecs depending on a PC’s capability to display video; improved USB HID support and additional languages supported in the Windows version.

Other companies signing up for the effort include Acme Packet, Aspect, AudioCodes, Broadcom, BroadSoft, Brocade, [...]]]>

HP, Juniper Networks, Microsoft, Logitech/LifeSize and Polycom have formed the Unified Communications Interoperability Forum (UCIF). The organization (www.ucif.org) “seeks to unify” the fragmented UC ecosystem by enabling standards-based inter-vendor UC communications interoperability – i.e. what enterprise customers really want.

Other companies signing up for the effort include Acme Packet, Aspect, AudioCodes, Broadcom, BroadSoft, Brocade, ClearOne, Jabra, Plantronics, RADVISION, Siemens Enterprise Communications, and Teliris.

Hmm, doesn’t seem like Cisco has shown up yet….

UCIF says it is the first and only entity working across all UC “modalities” to deliver interoperability based on existing standards. UCIF-certified products are being touted to help reduce implementation risk and complexity, thereby helping to grow the worldwide market.

The organization will identify common customer usage scenarios and throw, er leverage existing industry standards to resolve interop issues. UCIF will also develop verifiable interoperability testing and certification of UC products.

Interesting, the forum is placing its initial focus on video and telepresence solutions. “Guided by customer feedback” (i.e. people have complained loudly), the forum will place specific emphasis on signaling planes, video codecs and protocols, endpoint configurations, and firewall traversal technologies, thereby facilitating broader video adoption and communication across multiple organizations and between platforms.

LifeSize has been targeting its high-end HD video telepresence and videoconferencing solutions squarely into the enterprise space, undercutting the likes of [...]]]>

Logitech, best known for its PC add-ons such as keyboards, mice, and *ding*ding* video cameras, has gone upscale, purchasing videoconferencing hardware firm LifeSize for $405 million.  Does it make sense? Time will tell.

LifeSize has been targeting its high-end HD video telepresence and videoconferencing solutions squarely into the enterprise space, undercutting the likes of Cisco, Polycom and TANDBERG.  In addition, it has a range of personal office/teleworker and SMB solutions for HD 720p video to complement its higher-end gear.

With the onset of the recession, Austin-based LifeSize has faced stiffer competition in the telepresence arena in the likes of HP, Siemens, and IBM.   The combination of Logitech (deeper pockets, bigger marketing) and LifeSize will be interesting to watch.

Last year, Logitech bought SightSpeed,  a multi-party videoconferencing/video chat services company with some long-distance VoIP services thrown in, so the company’s expansion into the higher-end video solutions and the enterprise space shouldn’t be a total surprise.   Be interesting to see if there are synergies to leverage between the SIP-based SightSpeed division and LifeSize in terms of offering a one-stop shop of services and high-end hardware.

Regardless of the success/failure of the purchase, the further consolidation of the high-end videoconferencing world is likely to stimulate further twittering on the future of Polycom… something I’m going to have to ponder over at HD Voice News later today.