I appeared on Science Friday on NPR to talk shop with Ira Flatow about voice over IP. The twenty-minute podcast version is available here. Ira demonstrated that he really knows about VoIP--and this was fantastic. The media needs to get with the program. Just the other day, one of the local news programs was outright bashing VoIP telephony services in what sounded like a 3-minute commercial for the local Bell operator. So, kudos to NPR and Ira for treating the issue with fairness. Also, check out the excellent discussion on Net Neutrality that preceded my appearance on the program.
CMP Media to O'Reilly: Web 2.0 is OURS
CMP claims a right to exclusively use the term web 2.0, kind of like a trademark, and they've sent O'Reilly a cease and desist order regarding the matter. As usual, Russ has a great write-up on it, including scans of the letter itself. My take? Two words:
Puh Leeze.
Trademark law, I'm no expert. But I do know this. If you don't enforce your trademark rights early and often, you are going to lose in court. CMP doesn't have a chance here, because O'Reilly and everybody else have using this term for many, many months without so much as a peep (that I know of) from CMP. Sorry guys.
Puh Leeze.
Trademark law, I'm no expert. But I do know this. If you don't enforce your trademark rights early and often, you are going to lose in court. CMP doesn't have a chance here, because O'Reilly and everybody else have using this term for many, many months without so much as a peep (that I know of) from CMP. Sorry guys.
Awesome Bay Area VoIP startup seeking software engineer
A fantastic little Bay Area tech startup is launching a business plan that's absolutely ingenious, but I can't spill the beans right now! Let's just say that they are utilizing computerized telephony to revolutionize one of the most mundane annoyances of most folks' daily routine. And they are looking for a solid programmer, a LAMP suite software engineer who has some familiarity with Asterisk. Get in touch with the owner of the company by emailing cooper (at) coopersco.com . Good luck landing the job!
Where's the WiFi, people?
So far, I've gotten my hands on the WIP300 WiFi phone from Linksys and the F1000G from UTStarcomm. A few thoughts on these phones. First, the WIP300 has POP mail but this feature is basically worthless because it doesn't support pro-active retrieval of messages and doesn't have a ding to let you know when a message arrives. Sound quality is OK, and for phone-only situations should be fine. The color display is nifty but that's about it. This phone isn't hacker friendly and there's very little you can actually customize about it. Oh, yeah, and the documentation sucks, plain and simple. The F1000G phone from Starcomm, which Vonage has been hocking for some time, is an eyesore. Monochrome display and no extras at all. Don't waste your time unless you need only a basic WiFi endpoint.
Which brings me to my point. Where are all the supposed WiFi SIP phones? I count no less than a dozen just by trawling the first few pages of Google for "WiFi SIP phone". Now, supposedly, I'll be getting a UTStarcomm F3000 clamshell unit in a day or two, but I'll believe it when I see it. Apparently these things had a manufacturing problem and got delayed. Next is the D-Link DPH-540, much hyped on Engadget and other places. Problem is, at least until this moment, the thing is vaporware. Somebody from D-Link called me today but I didn't have a chance to call her back before she punched out for the day, so I should know something more about the existence (or non-existence) of this phone in a day or so. Stay tuned.
Which brings me to my point. Where are all the supposed WiFi SIP phones? I count no less than a dozen just by trawling the first few pages of Google for "WiFi SIP phone". Now, supposedly, I'll be getting a UTStarcomm F3000 clamshell unit in a day or two, but I'll believe it when I see it. Apparently these things had a manufacturing problem and got delayed. Next is the D-Link DPH-540, much hyped on Engadget and other places. Problem is, at least until this moment, the thing is vaporware. Somebody from D-Link called me today but I didn't have a chance to call her back before she punched out for the day, so I should know something more about the existence (or non-existence) of this phone in a day or so. Stay tuned.
Gizmo, Asterisk, and Jonny on the Spot
Today's Johnny-on-the-spot award goes to Dameon Welch-Abernathy, AKA Phone Boy. He's got some ripe deets on the introduction of Gizmo Project 2.0, which, among other things, supports registration with any SIP proxy/registrar. For the record, this is a GREAT move by SIPPhone, well ahead of the thinking of industry heavyweight Skype, which still doesn't allow for any form of "unlicensed" interop with any other systems. For crying out loud, how long is it going to take Skype to add a bloody SIP gateway to SkypeOUT? So kudos to Phoneboy for nabbing the story and doing a bit of interop testing himself with the new Gizmo.
VoIP on NPR this Friday
National Public Radio's Talk of the Nation will be devoting a segment of time to Voice over IP, this Friday, during the 3 o'clock hour (EST). I'll be joining the show's host, Ira Flatow, to talk about how the technology is benefting consumers and influencing politics and the telecommunications industry. Don't forget to tune in and listen! We'll be taking some listener calls, too.
CWA strike against Avaya?
The Communications Workers of America, a labor union who provides solidarity for around a thousand of Avaya's field and central operations support employees, is rattling the strike saber. Regardless of the reasoning for worker dissatisfaction and the actual outcome of such a strike, if it occurs, my concern regarding labor unions, the telecomm industry, and VoIP revolves around the concept of labor as a consumable product (or service). The question I pose is this: can the next-gen telecomm industry support union labor?
Picture this. When you go to purchase a car, you hit your local car dealer, check out his prices and the value proposition of that shiny Ford or Toyota, and then go to the other dealer to compare. The product being purveyed by the car dealers is something for which you have total consumer freedom to investigate. You can choose from among a palette of products--cars that is--which compete for your mindshare by implementing different looks, different paintjobs, different safety features, different fuel economies, and different prices. These differentiating factors are what establish the value element of your purcashing decision, and the product you end up with is ultimately the best product you personally can get based on your desires. If you like to drive fast, you get a Vette. If you like to drive slow, you get a Cobalt. And you get what best meets your unique set of parameters for purcashing the product.
Most industries work this way in our free market economy. Consumer choice is embeded at many layers in the production channel. The car makers have a choice from whom they consume their seatbelt buckles and engine components. The dealers have a choice which car makers from whom they consume inventory. The distribution and logistics people choose which manufacturers they deal with--and which carriers. Ultimately, consumption is a highly organic, very freedom-centric factor in the great supply chain equation.
But freedom doesn't apply to the consumption of labor. Well, not union labor anyway. If you're Avaya, then you're dealing with the CWA for the two or three or four disciplines of labor which they represent. You're dealing with the CWA period. That's who you consume your field support labor from.
Don't forget that labor has to be produced--just like that car at the dealer lot. Labor is produced--sometimes competitively and sometimes not. In a non-union environment, labor is produced competitively. Applicants for a particular position (the suppliers of the labor) compete with others for perceived value, just like cars in a dealer lot. But union labor isn't purveyed in a competitive fashion.
So why aren't there competing labor unions? Organizations that provide labor that is pitched as "better" than the labor produced by other unions.
Wait a minute--these organizations do exist. But they aren't unions. They're called recruiting agencies.
Picture this. When you go to purchase a car, you hit your local car dealer, check out his prices and the value proposition of that shiny Ford or Toyota, and then go to the other dealer to compare. The product being purveyed by the car dealers is something for which you have total consumer freedom to investigate. You can choose from among a palette of products--cars that is--which compete for your mindshare by implementing different looks, different paintjobs, different safety features, different fuel economies, and different prices. These differentiating factors are what establish the value element of your purcashing decision, and the product you end up with is ultimately the best product you personally can get based on your desires. If you like to drive fast, you get a Vette. If you like to drive slow, you get a Cobalt. And you get what best meets your unique set of parameters for purcashing the product.
Most industries work this way in our free market economy. Consumer choice is embeded at many layers in the production channel. The car makers have a choice from whom they consume their seatbelt buckles and engine components. The dealers have a choice which car makers from whom they consume inventory. The distribution and logistics people choose which manufacturers they deal with--and which carriers. Ultimately, consumption is a highly organic, very freedom-centric factor in the great supply chain equation.
But freedom doesn't apply to the consumption of labor. Well, not union labor anyway. If you're Avaya, then you're dealing with the CWA for the two or three or four disciplines of labor which they represent. You're dealing with the CWA period. That's who you consume your field support labor from.
Don't forget that labor has to be produced--just like that car at the dealer lot. Labor is produced--sometimes competitively and sometimes not. In a non-union environment, labor is produced competitively. Applicants for a particular position (the suppliers of the labor) compete with others for perceived value, just like cars in a dealer lot. But union labor isn't purveyed in a competitive fashion.
So why aren't there competing labor unions? Organizations that provide labor that is pitched as "better" than the labor produced by other unions.
Wait a minute--these organizations do exist. But they aren't unions. They're called recruiting agencies.
Strong congressional words on net neutrality
Yesterday Congressman Sensenbrener of Wisonsin introduced draft legislation in the Judiciary Subcommittee. This bill would make it illegal for broadband network carriers to favor one service provider over another. This is significant to voice over IP, because several carriers have already come out with hostile words against companies like Vonage and Skype who utilize their broadband infrastructure for service delivery. BellSouth CEO Ed Whiteacre said several months ago that he felt Google should have to pay Bellsouth for the use of its network, despite the fact that Bellsouth's customers are already paying. The problem is, if large carriers are able to assess extra fees to content providers, it will give the carriers themselves an advantage in the content business, something they're horrible at, and marginalize consumer freedom.
There are other bills floating around on the Hill dealing with this issue, too. The Senate version of a similar bill has alreay been defeated but its main components are percolating again in the form of amendment to the so-called "phone company TV" bill. Specifically, this bill would enable jurisdictions for phone carriers to begin selling television service, most likely using a combination of traditional digital services and IP-based delivery schemes such as Microsoft's IPTV platform. The amendment introduced would fight the natural progression of this legislation into out-and-out discrimination against content providers. News.com has a good write-up of the action at the Capitol.
There are other bills floating around on the Hill dealing with this issue, too. The Senate version of a similar bill has alreay been defeated but its main components are percolating again in the form of amendment to the so-called "phone company TV" bill. Specifically, this bill would enable jurisdictions for phone carriers to begin selling television service, most likely using a combination of traditional digital services and IP-based delivery schemes such as Microsoft's IPTV platform. The amendment introduced would fight the natural progression of this legislation into out-and-out discrimination against content providers. News.com has a good write-up of the action at the Capitol.
Ever have a Skype I.M show up WEEKS later?
A funny thing happened to me today. A Skype text message popped up on my screen almost two weeks after the date the person sent it to me. This despite the fact that I've been logged on to Skype the lion's share of that time. Has this ever happened to you?
Big advances in store for Sightspeed
Sightspeed may well be the best kept secret in desktop VoIP applications. Sure, you've tried Skype, Gizmo, and maybe even iChat if you're a Mac user. But have you looked at Sightspeed yet? This application has some truly unique features--like remote pan/tilt/zoom controls--and I have it on good authority that Sightspeed is about to get a whole lot better in its 5.0 release, coming up in the next month or so.
So what's new? How about phone-to-PC calling with 800 number support. Skype's not offering the 800 support yet. Also, Sightspeed is adding a new development framework, SOAP-based and cross-platform, which is geared at developer "partners". Sightspeed is also adding Plaxo contact importing, a nice bone for users of the excellent contact management service.
The 5.0 beta isn't posted yet, but is expected soon. In the meantime, check out Sightspeed and don't forget to watch the video blogs of the amazing "Sightspeed Guy".
So what's new? How about phone-to-PC calling with 800 number support. Skype's not offering the 800 support yet. Also, Sightspeed is adding a new development framework, SOAP-based and cross-platform, which is geared at developer "partners". Sightspeed is also adding Plaxo contact importing, a nice bone for users of the excellent contact management service.
The 5.0 beta isn't posted yet, but is expected soon. In the meantime, check out Sightspeed and don't forget to watch the video blogs of the amazing "Sightspeed Guy".
Skype Mac client goes universal (again)
Since the original universal binary release of Skype was pulled due to quality problems, it appears Skype has once again taken the Intel Mac leap, this time offering a universal binary that should be free and clear of problems. Macworld has the story.
Phlink Vs. Phone Valet, Round 2 (ding ding ding)
Phlink and Phone Valet, two awesome telephony management tools for the Mac, recently revved to versions 3 and 4, respectively. While Phone Valet is decidedly more mature and geared at business users, the unique value of these two message-recording phone-dialing Swiss Army knives of telephony automation just keeps improving! Here are my Macworld Magazine reviews of Phlink and Phone Valet. Who's the king of Mac telephony? YOU be the judge.
- Macworld review of Phlink
- Macworld review of Phone Valet
Non-VoIP: Warcraft Movie to hit theaters
Yes, you heard it here first. Or maybe you didn't. Those of us who already spend far too much time away from the more profitable aspects of our lives in order to slay dragons and mine Thorium are in for a real treat. (Well, I have been too busy with real work to spend much time in Warcraft mode, as my recent VoIP blogging frequency will attest!) The company behind Superman Returns and Batman Begins has announced that it will bring Warcraft to the big screen. All I can say is, COOL.
Hacking the Linksys WIP300
Working on a project, I have been goofing around with a pair of Linksys WIP300 WiFi SIP phones. This is my first hands-on experience with these units, so I thought I would pass along my thoughts. This is a pretty cool piece of gear, first off. It seems to work very well with Asterisk. The large color display is similar to that of a cell phone, and the built-in configuration menus are easy to navigate. The sound is excellent using G.711 codec. Haven't tried G.729 yet as I don't have a working G.729 on my Mac Mini, which is my Asterisk box, and I haven't tried direct phone-to-phone calling. With a basic Soho access point, I was able to walk a few hundred feet away before I had any difficulty hearing my wife on the other end of the call. The battery cover slips off too easily, and, though the phone provides a web interface, I haven't yet figured out how to modify the pre-set selection of wallpaper images and ring tones. I figured tftp would be supported, but haven't discovered a tftp server setting. And I can't figure out how to actually transfer files to the phone. I portscanned it with nmap but that didn't uncover any open ports. Oddly, the web port didn't even show up. So that's the skinny on the WIP300 so far.
Please welcome the VoIP Think Tank Podcast
Ken Camp has posted the first VoIP
Think Tank roundtable podcast, featuring several of the brightest thinkers in the unified communications industry.
Topics covered include E911 compliance, security, and cultural adaptation to VoIP. Go check it out here, and don't
forget to subscribe it to your iTunes podcast library, as we'll be publishing more podcasts soon.
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