Video conferencing was a lot more interesting to watch in 2011 than was VoIP. It wasn't that nothing happened in VoIP during the year. It was just that a lot more happened in video conferencing. This was especially true in the SMB space. Early summer saw a slew of significant announcements from vendors and providers. These announcements figured prominently in the VoIP Evolution report "SMB Video Conferencing: Getting Beyond Clouds & Interoperability."
Continue reading "The Top 10 VoIP & Video Conferencing Developments of 2011" »
Dec 30, 2011 7:06:51 PM
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3G,
Android,
BT,
Cellular,
Cellular data,
Cisco,
Cloud communications,
Cloud-based video conferencing,
Disruption,
Disruptive technologies,
Facebook,
Google,
Google Voice,
H.264 SVC,
Internet telephony,
Internet voice,
iPad,
iPhone,
LTE,
Lync,
Microsoft,
Microsoft Lync,
Mobile,
Mobile data,
Mobile video conferencing,
Mobile VoIP,
Polycom,
Rebtel,
Ribbit,
Skype,
SMB video conferencing,
SMBs,
Social networks,
Telepresence,
Transcription,
Unified communications,
Verizon Wireless,
Video calling,
Video chat,
Video communication,
Video conferencing,
Vidyo,
VidyoRouter,
VoLTE,
Wi-Fi,
ūmi
After starting as the year of HD voice, 2010 ended as the year of video communication. Video in fact became so prominent that it earned a place in the title of this list. Announcements about new video communication products and services were so numerous they became routine. As the year progressed, it became clear that video conferencing/calling was no longer a luxury for the corporate and government elite, but was well on the way to becoming a commodity for the masses. Ordinary individuals will soon be making video calls with little more thought than they now give to picking up a telephone. Making that happen, however, will be a complex challenge for vendors and service providers.
A variety of other factors shaped voice and visual communication during the year. Chief among these were developments in mobile VoIP and video calling, along with an acceleration of the move to cloud-based voice services. Politics and the weather played unusually high-profile roles as well. So did the negative: Unlike last year, not all the important developments were advances – some were downright problematic. But even the negative developments had some constructive aspects. Skype of course figured prominently in many of the developments. So pervasive was the influence of the Internet VoIP pioneer that it seemed that the corporate slogan of "Skype Everywhere" applied to its appearances in headlines as well.
Continue reading "The Top 25 VoIP and Video Developments of 2010" »
Dec 31, 2010 11:45:00 AM
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Android,
Apple,
Avaya,
BT,
Caller ID,
China,
Cisco,
FaceTime,
FCC,
Fonality,
fring,
fringOut,
Google,
Google Voice,
Grandstream,
HD voice,
IBM,
IP5280,
iPad,
iPhone,
LG,
Lync,
magicJack,
magicTalk,
Microsoft,
Microsoft Lync,
Microsoft OCS,
Mingleverse,
Network neutrality,
ooVoo,
Panasonic,
Samsung,
SBCs,
Session Border Controllers,
Skype,
SkypeOut,
Tango,
Telepresence,
Tokbox,
UCIF,
Unified communications,
Viber,
ViPR,
ViVu,
XConnect
Verizon Wireless was for a long time the most conservative U.S. carrier. It did everything it could to keep even mildly disruptive applications and services off of its network and handsets. In the last year, though, it has claimed to be changing, saying it planned to make its network as open as possible. In October it said it would introduce two handsets running the Google-developed Android operating system, and with Google Voice installed. It subsequently announced a deal with Google to jointly develop and sell products, including such Android-based devices. Now it appears set to announce a deal with Skype.
Continue reading "Will Skype Soon Be On Verizon Wireless?" »
Feb 12, 2010 3:35:28 PM
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3G,
Android,
AT&T,
Cellular,
Cellular data,
Cellular rates,
Google,
Google Voice,
iPhone,
iSkoot,
Mobile,
Mobile data,
Mobile VoIP,
Mobile World Congress,
Skype,
Verizon,
Verizon Wireless,
Wireless
When fring and iCall announced recently that they were introducing iPhone 3G VoIP calling apps, it seemed a turning point for mobile VoIP. The apps, which recent changes in the Apple SDK made possible, made it clear that there's no turning back: VoIP over cellular data connections will soon become commonplace. What was less obvious was that, at this point, 3G VoIP won't have major impact, at least in the U.S. That's because under existing major mobile pricing plans, it won't produce significant savings for most users.
Continue reading "Why 3G VoIP Is No Big Deal – For Now" »
Feb 1, 2010 9:59:42 AM
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3G,
Apple,
AT&T,
Cellular,
Cellular rates,
fring,
iCall,
iPad,
iPhone,
Mobile,
Mobile VoIP,
Skype
There were more advances than true innovations in the VoIP world in 2009. That's because some of the most important developments had more to do with commercial and political maneuvers than with technical creativity. Still, such maneuvers often helped spread the benefits of VoIP as much as did technical innovation. And collectively, the advances brought some already-evident trends into clearer focus. A key such trend is the increasing integration of voice with other applications and services. Another is the intensifying interest in HD voice. A third is the growing interconnection of VoIP services, in part in response to the possibilities that end-to-end HD voice offers. With such trends as background, here, in no particular order, are our top 25 VoIP advances of 2009.
Continue reading "The Top 25 VoIP Advances of 2009" »
Dec 29, 2009 1:50:19 PM
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Android,
AT&T,
Call centers,
Cellular,
Cloud telephony,
Collaboration,
Conference calling,
Dashboards,
ENUM,
FCC,
Gizmo5,
Google,
Google Voice,
Google Wave,
GSMA,
HD voice,
Hosted,
Hosted IP PBX,
Hosted telephony platforms,
Hosted VoIP,
Ifbyphone,
Internet video,
Internet voice,
iNums,
IP PBX,
iPhone,
ITU,
Jaduka,
Junction Networks,
Mobile VoIP,
my1voice,
OnSIP,
Phone.com,
PSTN,
Ribbit,
Ribbit Mobile,
Seven Scale,
SIP,
Skype,
Speech recognition,
Speech to text,
Symbian,
Transcription,
Verizon Wireless,
Video conferencing,
Virtual receptionist,
Voice mail,
Voxbone,
Wireless,
XConnect
More than eight years after signing up its first residential phone customer, Vonage is finally becoming a real VoIP company. Despite being the name most associated in the public mind with VoIP, Vonage actually has spent most of its time pretending to be a conventional phone company. It offered little that AT&T didn't, except a slightly lower price. Recently, however, it has belatedly begun adding other ways to use its service which take advantage of VoIP's unique capabilities. The latest additions are applications for iPhone and BlackBerry phones.
Continue reading "Vonage iPhone, BlackBerry Mobile VoIP Apps: Better Late Than Never?" »
Oct 5, 2009 12:53:09 PM
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8x8,
AT&T,
Blackberry,
Cellular,
Cellular rates,
iPhone,
Mobile VoIP,
Truphone,
Vonage,
Wi-Fi
A mobile phone's built-in address book has limited usefulness. For instance, it only allows users to call people whose numbers they've already entered – which means people they know well. Directory assistance, on the other hand, is about reaching people or establishments one knows almost nothing about. But there's no easy way to deal with the vast territory in between – to reach people one knows only casually, or to learn more about people and companies one knows almost nothing about. San Francisco-based CallSpark, which presented at the recent DEMO conference, is trying to fill that gap.
Continue reading "CallSpark Offers Mobile Calling Search Engine" »
Sep 28, 2009 8:24:40 PM
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Android,
Blackberry,
CallSpark,
DEMO,
Facebook,
Geolocation,
iPhone,
LinkedIn,
Location-based services,
Mobile,
PalmPre,
Twitter
One of the more elusive dreams of emerging VoIP services is integration with social networks. The idea is compelling: if tens or hundreds of millions of people make calls to their social network "friends," someone will be able make a lot of money from it. So far, though, no one has had much success in appealing to such users. A startup that presented at the recent DEMO conference is trying to change that. OrganIP, run by France-based Digitrad, is trying to turn social networks into giant phone books.
Continue reading "OrganIP Turns Social Networks Into Phone Books" »
Sep 27, 2009 7:49:07 PM
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Android,
Assigned local numbers,
Blackberry,
Facebook,
iPhone,
MSN,
OrganIP,
PalmPre,
Social networks,
Symbian,
Temporary local numbers,
Wi-Fi,
Windows Mobile
It's clear that the FCC's emphasis has changed
dramatically under President Obama. Most notably, the agency has become a lot
more serious about increasing openness and competition in the telecommunications
industry. One part of its effort is a strong push for network neutrality in
general – that is, for mandating that Internet providers treat all traffic
equally, to legally prevent them from blocking or degrading services that
compete with theirs. Another part is a focus on the mobile communications
business in particular. VoIP will be central to that part of the effort.
Continue reading "VoIP Central to FCC Wireless Inquiries Under Obama" »
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