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.

The software-only IP PBX is available immediately through snom distributors and VARs and comes in three flavors. A free [...]]]>

Snom (www.snom.com) has gone official with its IP PBX offering. “Tightly integrated” with the company’s desktop IP phones, snom ONE’s introduction is likely to make its resellers happy and perhaps Digium (www.digium.com) a little annoyed.

The software-only IP PBX is available immediately through snom distributors and VARs and comes in three flavors. A free downloadable version is available for up to 10 extensions; snom ONE yellow handles up to 20 extensions while snom ONE blue has an “unlimited” number of extensions and multi-tenant capabilities for up to five companies.

All versions offer a full feature set, including hunt and ACD groups, mailbox, auto attendant, conference rooms and paging, and are designed to take full advantage of the hardware features of snom’s suite of desktop phones and endpoints. snom ONE blue also allows up to five separate corporate tenants, supporting multiple organizations to operate using a single IP PBX.

Other features include what you’d expect from an IP PBX with simultaneous ringing of desktop and cell phone, multiple extension aliases, centralized address book, hot desking, voice mail, shared line emulation and a web interface for provisioning and management. The snom ONE is compatible with Windows, Linux and Mac environments and is equipped with robust web security through HTTPS and call security through TLS and SRTP. snom ONE supports mixed IPv4/IPv6 LAN and WAN environments and comes with an automatic blacklisting feature that makes it possible to expose public IP addresses.

Up until recently, snom was pretty tight with Digium.  Rolling out a “free” PBX at the low-end (under 10 users) and an unlimited turn-key version capable of running run multi-tenant suggests snom and its resellers aren’t seeing the sort of support and features out of Asterisk they need.

Where the Business Week “gets it”–

1) Google’s ubiqulity and many [...]]]>

As I noted last week, Google Voice is going to make life difficult for Skype — not traditional carriers.  Business Week seems to be in line with my general thinking in a piece out this morning — but gets confused on the details.

Where the Business Week “gets it”–

1) Google’s ubiqulity and many many linked-together apps will drag Google Voice into the picture

2) Google will compete with Skype for SMB dollars and long distance dialing dollars.
Where Business Week doesn’t get it–

1) Implying that Google Voice will be more than a SMB alternative to replace Cisco and Microsoft offerings. NOT.  SMB hosted is different than the larger enterprise offerings that Cisco and Microsoft have out.

2) Implying that GV – a FMC-esque app if you have multiple numbers all over the place — challenges Truphone and Jajah’s revenue  in the mobile VoIP space. Truphone has the whole SIM card play so I think they’re OK.  Jajah runs VoIP calling for other companies, so I don’t see them taking a big hit here…

Whispers of Response Point’s demise started out from an anonymous post on a blog tracking Microsoft [...]]]>

When the axe came down at Microsoft last week, the Response Point small business phone team took a hit. How fatal it is to the business and new product releases is up for debate amongst the peanut gallery.

Whispers of Response Point’s demise started out from an anonymous post on a blog tracking Microsoft layoffs saying that the entire Response Point team had been “canned.”  Microsoft begs to differ and ZDNet quotes a company spokesperson saying—

• Microsoft continues to support Response Point version 1.0. and current OEMs, service providers and resellers that are selling it. Customers will continue to be supported through their OEMs.
• Microsoft will continue to promote the product online and spotlight compatible 3rd party services and add-on products.
• The Response Point team has not been moved to another division and
• The team is evaluating the strategy for the next version of the product and will continue to investigate the opportunity in the small business market.

Response Point has been kicking around since October 2007 and the IP PBX is targeted at SMBs with one to 50 phones.  SP2 — the latest release — included support for basic call queuing, better SIP trunking, and, VPN support, an automated night receptionist scheduler, and URL/HTML customization for web 2.0/mash-up style creations.

Around IT Expo in February, the Response Point “team” numbered a lean-mean 35 members. No indications on how many people got the axe last week or how many remain.

Shoutout to Bill Miller for the Tweet
Sources: Microsoft Response Point blog and ZDNet’s blog.