As always, VoIP Tech Chat can be accessed from:

• Voip Tech Chat (download mp3)
• iTunes
• And, thanks to popular request, you can also stream the chat by pressing the play button below
  Download audio file (080822_01.mp3)
  

Have thoughts? We’d love to hear from you.

• FEMA budget for 2008? 5.8 billion dollars
• 400 International Calls? $12,000.00
• Hacking the Department of Homeland Security? Priceless

Using a 15 year old technique (that they wouldn’t describe in detail), the hacker made 400 calls were made to countries such as Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, India and Yemen. Even better, the Department of Homeland Security and FEMA didn’t notice the charges or calls. Sprint did. Sprint noticed the long distance charges and stopped future calls.

We don’t know what surprises us more… the fact that Homeland Security was hacked using methods more than a decade old, the fact that the government didn’t notice $12,000.00 in unauthorized calls, or the fact that the Department of Homeland Security didn’t notice calls to Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia made from within it’s own department.

Assuming we don’t get audited in the very near future, we look forward to our next Podcast. Oh wait. Patrick, is that an IRS van headed your way?

Here’s more from the traditional press:

• Business Week
• Yahoo! News

The FTC (Federal Trade Commission), established initially to “bust the trusts” and stamp out unfair competition, evolved into a modern day version of “We’re from the government. We’re here to help.” With a tag-line of “Protecting America’s Consumers” today’s FTC investigates advertising claims, marketing practices, marketplace competition, and well, generally looks at anything dealing under the commerce umbrella. With the creation of federal “Do Not Call” lists, the FTC established itself as the main enforcer of telemarketers; quickly creating many regulations and rules governing the practice of phone solicitation.

Interestingly, consumers do not receive individualized complaint protection. The FTC specifically does not resolve individual consumer complaints. Instead, the FTC collects complaints about companies, business practices, etc. and investigations result from the numerous complaints received.

Prerecorded Calls

First, let’s discuss prerecorded calls. Prerecorded calls occur when a caller receives a prerecorded message rather than talking to a live person. Examples could be something along the lines of “Hello Patrick and Fred. Because you are such amazing customers, I have a very special offer for you to save big big money. If you want to save big big money press one now. If you don’t want to save big big money hang up.”

From complaints received, the FTC rendered an opinion stating that consumers, who already do not like receiving unsolicited telephone calls, dislike prerecorded calls even more. We truly hope that the FTC and NASA hire from very different applicant pools. Anyway, the rocket scientists at the FTC used more than 13,000 complaints and comments during a “proposal” period to create the following rules:

• Prerecorded sales calls are prohibited unless explicit permission has been obtained
• Permission for prerecorded sales calls can be obtained electronically
• When permission is obtained, calls must have an opt-out mechanism
• Healthcare messages are exempt
• Charitable calls are exempt, however, must provide an opt-out mechanism
• Prerecorded calls must ring for 15 seconds before treating the call as unanswered
• Prerecorded messages must start within 2 seconds of answering
• Prerecorded calls must disclose that the recipient can be placed on the do not call list at anytime during the message
• 97% of all calls where a person requests to speak to a live person must be answered by an actual live person within 2 seconds

And when do these regulations go into effect? September 2009.

Fear not our friends. Education and blogging have come together. And with the assistance of You Tube, we present the Cable Wrapping master and his lessons of VoIP Telephone Adapter Cord love. Ok, well he’s using speaker wire… but still. Enjoy.

Cable Wrapping - Make VoIP easier

As always, VoIP Tech Chat can be accessed from:

• Voip Tech Chat (download mp3)
• iTunes
• And, thanks to popular request, you can also stream the chat by pressing the play button below
  Download audio file (080815_01.mp3)
  

Have thoughts? We’d love to hear from you.

As always, VoIP Tech Chat can be accessed from:

• Voip Tech Chat (download mp3)
• iTunes
• And, thanks to popular request, you can also stream the chat by pressing the play button below
  Download audio file (080807_01.mp3)
  

• Asterisk is free, open source software provided under the GNU General Public License (GPL). Asterisk is the most popular open source software available, with the Asterisk Community being the top influencer in VoIP.
• Digium®, Inc., the Asterisk company, is the original creator and primary developer of Asterisk, the industry’s first open source telephony platform. Digium provides quality hardware and software products, including AsteriskNOW™, the complete open source software appliance; Asterisk Business Edition™, the professional-grade version of Asterisk; the AA50, the Asterisk Appliance™ hardware-based telephony solution; and Switchvox, a complete turn-key IP PBX solution, to enterprises and telecommunications providers worldwide. Digium also offers a full range of professional services, including consulting, technical support, and custom software development. All of Digium’s commercially offered products come with the Exceptional Satisfaction Program™ (ESP), the only 100% customer satisfaction guarantee in the open source telephony world today.
• iLocus conducts Business-to-Business (B2B) market research i.e. market data concerning products/services that are traded between two businesses.

The launch of Packet 8’s business trunking service helped the company gain more than 1,000 new business customers (they now have approximately 12,000 business clients).

As always, VoIP Tech Chat can be accessed from:

• Voip Tech Chat (download mp3)
• iTunes
• And, thanks to popular request, you can also stream the chat by pressing the play button below
  Download audio file (080731_01.mp3)
  

Why free? It’s just how Digium rolls. They really take that GPL open source to heart.

Asterisk is free, open source software provided under the GNU General Public License (GPL). Asterisk is the most popular open source software available, with the Asterisk Community being the top influencer in VoIP.

For more information, please check out:

• Asterisk.org
• Digium, Inc.