VoIP Evolution

Ooma Office to Bring Business Telephony to Very Small Companies

At VoIP News: 

http://www.voip-news.com/articles/voip-blog/ooma-office-to-bring-business-telephony-to-very-small-companies-55609

 

VoIP Evolution Publishes Guide to Choosing Cloud-Based Video Conferencing

Cloud-based video conferencing represents one of the greatest advances in small to medium-size business communication in years. It gives smaller companies a powerful means of communicating that was formerly available only to large enterprises. But the available services are far from consistently useful. They come with a large variety of approaches, capabilities and features. At the same time, SMBs come in a larger variety of forms and structures than larger companies. Thus, for smaller companies choosing the right cloud video conferencing service to meet one's specific needs can be tricky.

ScienceLogic Lightens Video Conferencing's Burden on IT Departments

There's no question that video conferencing is well on its way to becoming a routine business tool. It is already common in enterprises, thanks in large part to Cisco's success in pushing high-end telepresence systems into the largest organizations. But it's also growing rapidly among SMBs, largely due to the increasing availability of affordable cloud-based services. And for companies of any size, all signs point to more of the same. Case in point: A new advance by ScienceLogic Inc. has serious potential to accelerate both enterprise and SMB use.

The Top 10 VoIP & Video Conferencing Developments of 2011

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."

Cisco's Cloud TelePresence Move Complicates SMB Video Conferencing Choices

Cisco's recently introduced cloud TelePresence offering considerably complicates life for small to medium-size businesses (SMBs) shopping for video conferencing solutions. On one hand, it adds an impressive new option to the list of available products. On the other, it increases the number of questions companies must answer before making their purchasing decisions. In short, while the introduction broadens the range of choices for SMBs looking to use video conferencing on a regular basis, it also makes their decision-making process more difficult.

VoIP Evolution Report Dispels SMB Video Conferencing Hype

Serious excitement surrounds the SMB (small to medium-size business) video conferencing space these days. In June and July alone, no fewer than eight companies – 8x8, Blue Jeans Network, BroadSoft, InFocus, LifeSize, Polycom, Telesphere and Vidtel – announced new hardware, services, tie-ups or some combination thereof. All of the announcements represented significant investments of time, effort and resources. And together, they indicated a widespread optimism that the market is about to take off.

Even in pre-takeoff mode, though, the market has already spawned a hefty body of conventional wisdom. Most of it takes the form of ardent convictions surrounding clouds and interoperability. One of these is the belief that cloud solutions are the ideal way to meet almost every SMB video conferencing need. A related one is faith that providing interoperability is the surest route to success for cloud providers. A new VoIP Evolution report, SMB Video Conferencing: Getting Beyond Clouds & Interoperability, both explains why it's necessary to get beyond such conventional wisdom, and provides a method for doing so.

The Top 25 VoIP Advances of 2009

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.

Phone.com Introduces Hosted HD VoIP Service

HD (high-definition) voice is getting increasing attention from both users and providers of business VoIP services. It offers a number of advantages over standard voice calling, especially in business situations. It makes calls less fatiguing, and different accents easier to understand. Until now, though, smaller businesses have had trouble taking advantage of the technology. To fill the gap, Phone.com has just added HD voice capability to its hosted phone service for SMBs.

Cisco Tandberg Buy Raises Questions About SMB Video Conferencing

Big IP communication vendors have talked the SMB (small to medium-size business) talk for some time. Almost all have said at one time or another they want to bring big-company communication capabilities to small companies. Bringing video conferencing, formerly a high-end enterprise solution, to the low-end market is a perfect way to do so. Thus Cisco's announced acquisition of Tandberg would seem to be a case of walking the walk. Tandberg makes low-end video calling equipment costing a few thousands of dollars, in contrast to Cisco's telepresence systems going for hundreds of thousands. In theory, the move could make video conferencing a common tool SMB tool. But questions remain as to whether that will really happen.