VoIP Tech Chat

Patrick and Fred Chat… sometimes about VoIP

Archive for the ‘business’ tag

Maybe we could all be a little more neanderthalish?

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Our Hero

Our Hero

Early humans found hollowed out rocks to turn into homes, originating the term “Cave men”. 1 This constraint made community difficult, so humans advanced to creating homes from natural materials, such as wood. Primitive homes were modeled on the cave, with nothing but some closed walls and an uncovered opening. Thousands of years of evolution lead us to create doors that open, close, and lock, and windows that allow us to see out and in, then glass to keep what’s out out and what’s in in, then curtains to cover what’s both out and in. In the end, we have the same caves we had before, with our darkness and privacy. Read the rest of this entry »

Written by patrick

May 12th, 2010 at 1:41 pm

‘Tis the Season to be Scammin’

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This year marks the second decennial census since widespread use of the internet began in the 1990′s. The bulk of census activity takes place during the time when people are traditionally preparing taxes and vying for an infusion of cash  from their tax return.  The evil peoples of the interwebs will be out in force to take advantage of  the under-informed.

Keep these simple rules in mind:
Read the rest of this entry »

Written by patrick

March 18th, 2010 at 10:06 am

Verizon Announces SMB VoIP Package

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Verizon recently issued a press release where they introduced two new “packages” aimed to help small to medium sized businesses through “rough economic times.” Although the packages are detailed and named in the press release (reprinted below), the release and website are a little lacking for information regarding costs and fees. If Verizon will be making it easier (and cost effective) to get SIP Trunks to end users, this may open a great window for PBX systems such as Asterisk, SwitchVox, FreeSWITCH, and more.

The press release follows:

Small and Medium-Sized Business Options Are Focus of Verizon Global Wholesale Offers

Voice Over IP and Powerful Internet Access Packages Bolster Business Success In Rough Economic Times

March 15, 2010

NEW YORK – At a time when small and medium-sized businesses look for every technological advantage to help them continue as the fundamental economic growth engine in the U.S., Verizon is providing support with three new voice-over-IP and Internet packages available through the Verizon Global Wholesale division. Read the rest of this entry »

Written by Fred

March 15th, 2010 at 1:42 pm

Posted in VoIP,tech

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A2DDA Blocks Asterisk Parking Data

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Note: There’s an intro, the DDA response, and Fred’s response in this article. Jump to the end to read Fred’s response.

A few months back, we posted a nice little article on using Asterisk to get Parking Space Availability from Ann Arbor garages. The response from the VoIP community was fantastic! We received great comments and feedback from people like Jason Goecke, Dug Song, Dave Michels, Evan Cooke, and more! People not only responded, they even showed different ways of providing access to this information. And everyone shared their work in an open forum — truly a great example of open source coding inspiring innovation (albeit with Parking Spaces).

Even better was the local response in Ann Arbor. Edward Vielmetti and Fred Posner were interviewed in the local papers, appeared on a radio show, and even rode the teeter totter. Everyone loved the idea of being able to check on parking space availability… everyone except for the DDA (insert scary music).

The DDA (Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority), funded by tax dollars,  “provides a diversity of transportation and parking options to meet downtown’s [Ann Arbor’s] ever-changing needs.” The DDA does not like us making information of parking spaces available to the public via phone. Instead, the DDA wants to control this information. Seriously, they want to control parking space availability information.

Tyler Erickson helped Edward Vielmetti and Fred make this project even more fascinating by tracking parking space availability over time. The plan was to provide predictability of availability. For example, “We’re sorry, the lot at 4th and Washington is currently filled, we predict the parking lot will be available in 7 minutes. Press 1 to be notified…”

Wouldn’t that be neat? We thought so… The DDA’s response was to block Tyler’s access. Of course, since it was using Google Apps, it blocked Google, but that’s another story. We inquired as to why this blockage occurred and… well enter Susan Pollay. Susan Pollay is Executive Director of the DDA. She told us (and remember, this is a tax funded organization): Read the rest of this entry »

Written by Fred

March 12th, 2009 at 6:03 pm

VoIP Application Provider Broadsoft Acquires Sylantro Systems

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small-broadsoft_logo_2c33Broadsoft announced the acquisition of competing company Sylantro Systems. In a press release shortly before the New Year, Broadsoft states:

“Sylantro has been a strong competitor of BroadSoft for 10 years. This acquisition further advances our market and innovative leadership position.”

Broadsoft provides VoIP application software, including the “flagship” BroadWorks platform. Marketing as Carrier Grade, Broadsoft provides a license based VoIP platform for many telecommunication carriers; with a list available at their website (broadsoft.com). Sylantro Systems also provides VoIP software to many carriers including AT&T and Quest. Their website is located at sylantro.com.

Payment terms and personnel were not discussed in the release; although Broadsoft did announce that it intends to support the Sylantro platform through direct sales and authorized partners.

Written by Fred

December 31st, 2008 at 5:06 am

Posted in VoIP

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Microsoft SQL Security Warning Issued

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Microsoft SQL Server

Microsoft SQL Server

Microsoft announced a new security vulnerability affecting almost the entire Microsoft SQL Server product line. The warning verifies a vulnerability allowing remote code execution on systems running:

  • Microsoft SQL Server 2000
  • Microsoft SQL Server 2005
  • Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Express Edition
  • Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Desktop Engine (MSDE 2000)
  • Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Desktop Engine (WMSDE)
  • and Windows Internal Database (WYukon)

Note: Systems with Microsoft SQL Server 7.0 Service Pack 4, Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 3, and Microsoft SQL Server 2008 are not affected by this vulnerability.
Read the rest of this entry »

Written by Fred

December 23rd, 2008 at 12:04 am

Sun Restructures, Lays off 6000

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Sun Microsystems Inc., (NASDAQ: JAVA) announced today a “series of changes” in response to the changing economic climate. You have to love their NASDAQ ticker name, don’t you?

In order to “accelerate the introduction of compelling open source innovations,” Sun will be restructuring the company into new business groups:

  • Application Platform Software (JAVA, MySQL, etc.)
  • Systems Platforms (Solaris Virtualization, Open Storage, etc.)
  • Cloud Computing & Developer Platforms (StarOffice, NetBeans, etc.)

The restructuring aims to remove costs by 700 – 800 million dollars each year. Of course, there is also a human price tag — a reduction of 15 – 18% of the workforce (about 5000 – 6000 employees).

Sun provides popular open source software and promotes itself as a leader in the open source community. Popular Free, OpenSource Sun products include:

Written by Fred

November 14th, 2008 at 9:29 am

Posted in random chat

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New VoIP Phone – snom 820

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snom introduced a new VoIP phone recently, the snom 820. We’re always excited to see new VoIP telephones enter the SIP market, especially ones that easily integrate with Asterisk and multiple VoIP solutions. And with built in WiFi, this phone looks to be a great addition to any deployment.

snom markets the 820 as reflecting “the 8 experience:”

The snom 820 is a new step in combining high class telephony with an extraordinary design. The snom 820 is the beginning of a superior line of business VoIP phones. It´s extraordinary elegance and performance combines both: latest technology and well known snom features. The snom 820 is an amazing experience for everybody who is used to the basic world of telephony.

The telephone boasts an impressive array of features such as:

Pricing seems to range from $375.00 – $500.00.

New VoIP SIP Phone - snom 820

Written by Fred

November 11th, 2008 at 11:58 am

Posted in VoIP,tech

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Circuit City Files for Bankruptcy

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Within a week of announcing store closures, Circuit City has now filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Cnet.com reports the store recently negotiated a 1.1 billion “debtor-in-possession revolving credit” to assist with working capital for the chain.

After closing 150 stores and providing massive lay-offs, the bankruptcy was almost a certainty.

Written by Fred

November 10th, 2008 at 9:56 am

Posted in tech

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VoIP Supply adds Microsoft Response Point VoIP systems

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Microsoft Response Point is the Microsoft version of VoIP. Do you sense a bit of sarcasm? Honestly, we don’t know. We will not use this post to feed the Microsoft vs. Linux debate. Instead we will use a “historical perspective” to explain our position and then move on…

Start Historical Perspective

The vast majority of VoIP solutions are built on top of a linux operating system. This translates to the stereotype of a rather large, geeky individual (have you seen the photo of Patrick and Fred?), installing the VoIP system, configuring phones, drinking caffeine, cursing at users, reconfiguring phones, talking about comic books, drinking more caffeine, and then working more on the VoIP system. When finished, the end result is generally a very stable and well run system. A system that works so well, that people are willing to listen to Fred and Patrick  (uh… we mean our geeky friend) talk about comic books; simply because the phone system (and network) run so well.

Enter Microsoft. Microsoft tries (and sometimes succeeds) in making products that a non-geek can implement. Through graphical user interfaces (GUIs), they allow the Microsoft user to point, click, and essentially “program” their needs into the Microsoft solution. For small businesses, without a geek on hand (or time on hand), the Microsoft solution can sometimes handle all of their needs and provide an excellent solution.

Yes… geeks are divided. Some geeks hate Microsoft as if Microsoft were the Space 1999 to their Star Trek. Other geeks, have evolved into more tolerant creatures; agreeing to disagree and live together with nice TCP/IP connected handshake. Sure, if you have a custom situation and wish to code a phone system to work specifically as you wish, you’re going to want to talk to some geeks. If you’re a small business, with let’s say 50 or less phones, and want a phone system for your office, Microsoft Response Point may be very helpful and also save you some money.

End Historical Perspective

Recently, VoIP Supply announced they will be offering the complete line of Microsoft Response Point small business VoIP phone systems from Aastra, D-Link, and Quanta. VoIP Supply even has a nice page for it on their website: http://www.voipsupply.com/phone-systems/response-point.

If you know an office looking for a simple, easy-to-use small business phone system, have them talk with the folks at VoIP Supply and see if the Microsoft Response Point system is a good fit.

As for us? We’re ready to talk about The Avengers movie coming out in less than 2 years.

Written by Fred

November 5th, 2008 at 2:37 pm