The VoIP Weblog

The VoIP Journey Continues Elsewhere...

Ted Wallingford — 2006-08-10T17:43:00+00:00

I just wanted to let all the readers of this blog know that Weblogs Inc. has rolled this blog into Download Squad--so you'll be able to read and comment on my VoIP-related posts there, as well as at my personal blog, Signal to Noise. So, farewell to "voipfan.com" and hello to my new readers and commenters at my new digs! Please come visit often. No further explanation needed: "Never explain--your friends do not need it and your enemies will not believe you anyway."

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VoIPSupply.com disappoints, again

Ted Wallingford — 2006-07-06T16:52:00+00:00

This is intended to help VoIPSupply.com get their act together. Since I normally don't go bashing my vendors when they make mistakes, this should be taken in the spirit of constructive criticism. In a nutshell, VoIPSupply.com doesn't understand customer service. Why do I make a public note of this? To save you the potential aggravation of dealing with a company who doesn't share my definition of customer service.

For example, why put a phone number on your web site if, when your customers call it, you just tell them to go back on your web site and fill out forms? GREAT service ethic there, let me tell you. You can have the prettiest web site in the world, a great domain name, and a ton of Polycom in stock, but if you can't add value, then why are you in the business to begin with? Compound that with an order entry system that belly-flops whenever you place an order that bills to one state and ships to another (happened to me twice with these guys), and the result ain't pretty.

Perhaps customer service is as alien to VoIP purveryors as it is to the Gas Company and the Mortgage Company.

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The Bill of Rights trumps Net Newt

Ted Wallingford — 2006-07-05T09:47:00+00:00

In his recent post ripping the purported conflict of interest that exists among conservative lobbies--gun owners and big business--who ostensibly support AND oppose legislated network neutrality, Russell Shaw has demonstrated one of the fallacies of the pro-net-neutrality crowd: misplaced priorities. I support some form of network neutrality measures, but the old addage "let's not get carried away" certainly applies. Take a look at Russ's writing and see what you think:

Seems like almost all the 11 Senators who voted against net neutrality are of a political stripe, and party, accurately perceived as being sensitive to the wishes of gun owners and conservative Christians.

So why didn't this big tent work? Easy. Because if I am a conservative Senator who is reflexively anti-regulation and pro-big business (i.e. carrier duopolists) while being say, pro-life and pro-gun, I know that gun owners and Christian Coalition members are not going to vote for my opponent out of disappointment I didn't vote for Net neutrality.

I know this because I know these people. They care about gun-owner rights, pro-life legislation, etc. far more than they do about Net Neutrality.

Now, in case you didn't read between the lines, here's the fallacy: Russ seems to be saying that network neutrality is arguably more important than religious freedom or personal liberty (ie. the first and second amendments to which he alluded), which are guaranteed protections against the government in the Constitution. How on earth Russ complain that conversative senators will never vote net neutrality because of these things? These issues are fundamental to personal freedom and make the entire issue of network neutrality appear tiny and insignificant.

Proportion. Priorities. Don't forget who you are and where you live. And to all my freedom-loving American friends, happy Independence Day (a day late).

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VoIP services giving traditional bells pause

Michael Sciannamea — 2006-07-03T09:37:00+00:00

Today's New York Times has an interesting story on the impact VoIP services have had on the traditional phone companies. Basically, VoIP services like Vonage and Packet8 are beginning to force the big phone companies to rethink their service offerings and, most importantly, bring their prices down.

As the story says, it'll be a while before the VoIP companies will have phone companies cowering in fear, but they are offering more services to keep their customers instead of seeing them walk away without a fight. The arrogance of the big phone companies is beginning to wear off, and true competition will emerge for voice services and eventually the consumer will win out.

Of course, if you think you're going to get all of these services for next to nothing, you would be wrong. However, if things keep progressing as they are now, you should be able to get more for your money, which is not a bad goal to have.

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Vonage intros portable phone

Michael Sciannamea — 2006-06-30T08:53:00+00:00

It looks like Vonage is getting into the portable VoIP phone marketplace with the introduction of their new V-Phone. According to the company, the phone can be activated by being plugged into any PC with a broadband intenet connection

The V-Phone is being aimed mostly at business users since it can potentially reduce voice communication costs including cellphone roaming charges. The phone comes loaded with Vonage Talk software and includes 250MB of memory that can be used to store files such as MP3s and digital photos. The device is priced at $39.99.

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Skype bumps Linux version, adds ALSA support

Ted Wallingford — 2006-06-28T09:40:00+00:00

According to Skype's PR people, a new beta version has been posted today that adds ALSA driver support to the Linux version of the program. This is important for users of outboard audio gear like USB microphones, which utilize the ALSA framework. In addition, Skype has added mood icons and a new getting started wizard (just what Linux users need).

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Here's a quarter; call someone who cares...

Ted Wallingford — 2006-06-26T18:59:00+00:00

Don't look now; Vonage stock was up a quarter today at nine bucks. Could this be the beginning of the big turnaround? Methinks not. But then again, a year ago at this time I was saying why NOT buy Vonage? Perhaps that's why I trust my stock portfolio to other, more informed people.

And speaking of a quarter, that's about how much the sales channel's support is worth when it comes to the F3000 phone from UT Starcom. There is NO documentation for this puppy, and despite my constant nagging of my distirbutor to put me in touch with somebody who actually CARES what I'm doing with their products, instead I've been getting a lot of useless sympathy.

OK, we see that you've identified problems with the phone, and we'd really like to help you. REALLY we would.

Remind me to add "crap QA support" as the ELEVENTH challenge to the VoIP revolution.

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Counterpoint: VoIP USF is Slippery Slope

Ted Wallingford — 2006-06-22T08:37:00+00:00

My Weblogs Inc. buddy Michael wrote the words "with good reason" in a post about the Universal Service Fund, and I just wanted to take a brief but opposing position on the USF. This fee, which was originally designed to tax the access lines of the cities in order to provide access for the rural areas, is supposed to apply to the LINES in service, not to the voice application itself. Otherwise, USF would have to be assessed on Yahoo Voice, Skype, Gizmo, and every other player that offers voice service--and for that matter, on long distance carriers, distributed PBX providers, and all kinds of the other firms that offer voice services without owning delivery lines. Still, it's being laid at the feet of Vonage and other phone replacement services because these are the services that MOST CLOSELY RESEMBLE the old-fashioned phone company. Still, the infrastructure isn't Vonage's; the delivery lines don't belong to Vonage. So why does Vonage get stuck with the bill?

Answer: Big Telecom has found a way to strongarm Vonage using the guise of good intentions, a la the USF.

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$24.99 a month VoIP service may be going bye-bye (for good reason)

Michael Sciannamea — 2006-06-22T05:40:00+00:00

OK, VoIP customers, the $24.99 a month party is just about over. A new FCC ruling is requiring that VoIP service providers, among others, will have to contribute to the $7 billion Universal Service Fund, which subsidizes phone service in low-income and high-cost areas and also helps schools and libraries get access to the internet. Usually these costs are passed on to customers as a line item on a monthly phone bill. (How many of us actually go through each and every charge on our phone bills anyway?) According to the FCC, the funs is about to experience a shortfall and, frankly, the VoIP customer base is increasing and it appears that they have to make up the slack.

In any event, if you're currently paying $24.99 (or any other amount) for your VoIP service, expect your monthly bill to go up about a dollar or two. This truly is not a big deal, but the TV and radio ads that feature the "magic" $24.99 a month slogan will have to be slightly modified.

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VoIP and E911 services still not a guarantee

Michael Sciannamea — 2006-06-21T14:52:00+00:00

Before I became a Vonage customer, I was very concerned about the E911 service issue. I had read all the stories about how some people had switched from a traditional landline service to VoIP and they couldn't get in touch with emergency services because E911 was not enabled. The issue definitely kept me from switching to a VoIP service for over a year because I kept thinking about the worst case scenario whereby I needed to call the police or an ambulance and my call wouldn't go through and something terrible would happen.

Of course, as time has gone on, VoIP users have been directed to register their name and address with their service providers. In addition, the FCC is requiring that all VoIP providers give location and callback number information to emergency personnel. In addition, if you're using VoIP services while away from home, then you are at another risk because there is no guarantee that your location can be tracked by emergency services. Who knows when this situation will be rectified, so it may be a good idea to have local police, fire, and ambulance numbers programmed into your phone, just in case.

It really is up to the user to make sure that their emergency contact information is correct and up-to-date. Some people, like myself, have kept one of their old traditional phone lines intact in case their broadband connection goes down and outgoing calls can't be placed from home. It's another way to insure that all your bases are covered, just in case.

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New efonica service launched

Michael Sciannamea — 2006-06-20T20:43:00+00:00

The new efonica service from Fusion Telecommunications is promising users that its features will allow them to place and receive calls from either a PC, landline phone, or cellphone over dialup or broadband connections.

According to the company, the offering also features voicemail and the ability to call both landline and mobile subscribers in at least 46 countries. Because efonica is based on the SIP protocol, users will not have to use a PC and can just purchase standard telephone equipment.

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Yahoo Messenger w/Voice Opens to Developers

Ted Wallingford — 2006-06-19T21:15:00+00:00

Three great bits of information for you. First, Yahoo is opening (somewhat) its I.M. and voice applications platform based around Yahoo Messenger with Voice to application developers. C++, JavaScript, AJAX, and ActiveX are all supported frameworks for the fruit of your API labor. The extensions you'll create are known as "plug ins". However, the "plug ins" that you can apparently develop might bear some resemblance to the following plug ins, available now:

In the beta version, a suite of third-party plug-ins will be available for Amazon.com, AmericanGreetings.com, Coupons, Inc., eBay, HedgeStreet, Inc., Jeteye, NewsGator Technologies Inc., Pando Networks Inc., 30Boxes, as well as plug-ins from Yahoo!'s leading Web services including Yahoo! Answers, Calendar, Finance, Music, News, Sports, 360°.

This can mean one of two things--either Yahoo Widgets (Konfabulator) has gone full circle in Yahoo's programming department, OR the failed I.M. robots idea got carried over from AIM (actually AIM I.M. bots are really a carryover from IRC's heyday, but whatever).

Also new is a 1 GIGABYTE file transfer limit (YAY!) and sound effects (YAWN). Still apparently missing from Yahoo's consciousness is Mac OS X sensibilty. I really don't believe Yahoo has any desire to deliver on the Mac client they've been unofficially promising for the last several years.

Here's Yahoo's Dev Site.

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Verizon sues Vonage over patent infringement on VoIP technology

Michael Sciannamea — 2006-06-19T20:06:00+00:00

Why isn't this a surprise? Verizon Communications is suing Vonage for infringing on several of Verizon's patents over the technology that makes VoIP calls happen. In an otherwise run-of-the-mill patent infringement suit, a twist in the case is that Verizon IS NOT asking the Federal District Court in the Eastern District of Virginia (where the suit was filed) to put an immediate stop to Vonage's operations. However, of course, if (and a very BIG if) Verizon prevails in the litigation, they will ask the court to place a cease-and-desist order on Vonage.

Obviously, Vonage has been having its share of troubles lately, including their IPO dropping like a rock over the last few days. However, it remains to be seen if this lawsuit has any true merit, or if this is another case of a big telco trying to put the kibosh on advancing technology, as has been witnessed in the growth of municipal WiFi networks.

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Best Buy for Business? Oh, this can't be good...

Ted Wallingford — 2006-06-16T17:37:00+00:00

So I check my postal mail today, and what do I find: an advertisement for Best Buy for Business, a catalog order-by-mail scheme that uses the Best Buy logo and appears to bear all the markings of CDW or Insight. Heavy discounts. Glossy pages. No-haggle pricing.

Does this mean that, judging by Best Buy's track record, we can expect to have our customer service questions taken by snotty high school kids who don't have half a clue about the products in question? I have such a hard time just getting an equivocal answer from the people that work at Best Buy. Are the Geek Squad geeks (who have maybe two thirds of a clue) really going to steer your small business into IP telephony, as the advertisement indicates? Doubtful... Being a Geek Squad ensign is how college kids spend their summers, and how community college kids spend their winters.

Anybody order from Best Buy for Business yet? Give me comment and let me know your experience.

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VoIP Think Tank #2 Podcast Online

Ted Wallingford — 2006-06-06T22:32:00+00:00

Andy Abramson, Ken Camp, Martin Geddes, Alec Saunders, Dameon Welch Abernathy and myself had a great chat yesterday, and Ken put the podcast on iTunes. Go check it out! Here's what we blabbed about:

- The conundrum of network neutrality. Lots of questions, lots of ideas, and almost no answers. Seems to be par for the course at this point.
- Enterprise attitudes toward unified communications. Why are companies still dissing VoIP?
- The media para-marketing hype surrounding "Spit" and other almost-threats to VoIP.

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The VoIP job of your dreams

Ted Wallingford — 2006-06-06T22:31:00+00:00

Reply to: jobs@sparkparking.com

Spark Parking http://www.sparkparking.com is working hard to "Make Parking Make Sense". We are applying wireless sensor technology and mobile phone interfaces to solve many of the problems in parking - and if you live in San Francisco like we do, you know that parking has lots of problems that need solving!

We are an early stage company, with startup funding in place, paying customers, and a bright future ahead! You'll be getting in "on the ground floor" and will be rewarded accordingly. Our compensation package is flexible (and will include some equity), so we can work out the terms that work for us both. We can even consider less than full time, if that is what makes us happy.

You'll be continuing the development of our LAMP-based parking monitoring, reporting, and transacting platform. Don't worry, we've got a great sensor team, so low-level hardware expertise is not a requirement, but it would score you bonus points! You will, however, be our lead technical person, which means that in addition to architecting, coding, and testing, you'll need to occasionally do some internal IT support (on our all Mac and Linux systems) and generally pitch in around the office. You'll help plan our IT infrastructure expansion, you'll manage our servers, and you'll work with management to let us know when it is time to add capabilities to the engineering team (which could include you managing some overseas engineers). If you don't know how to do something, we expect that you'll be both able and excited to teach yourself how!

You'll be working directly with our very hands-on serial entrepreneur CEO / Sales Director (who is pretty damn geeky, but can't actually code), our Finance and Marketing folks, and our future hires as we grow the team in the coming months and years. We all work in a two-room office, but we have some flexibility about where you actually do your work (partial telecommuting is OK). Everyone is expected to contribute to the discussion of major business concerns, and the best ideas will prevail, no matter their source. Basically, we all pitch in to making Spark Parking a huge success! The ideal person for this team will be smart, passionate and entrepreneurial in spirit.

Ideally you'll already know:
- PHP
- MySQL
- Linux/Unix
- Javascript/AJAX
- CVS/SVN
- SOAP/REST
- HTML/CSS
- XML

You'd be perfect if you dream about:
- OOP
- MVC

Bonus points if you know:
- VXML
- VoIP
- Asterisk
- Java
- Propel
- Smarty
- SMS (yeah - text messaging!)

More reasons you should come work with Spark Parking:
- Our Mission district office in San Francisco - two blocks from BART, with lots of great restaurants (and bars for after work) nearby
- A nice Mac or Linux box (how about a new MacBook?!) with a big screen for you to work on in the office
- While you love coding, you need a job that lets you get into all sorts of software, architecture, integration, and support challenges - that's what you'll get at Spark Parking
- You might be able to bring your dog to work - as long as you'll let the CEO take it for a walk in the afternoons
- You'll be fixing parking - and thus an absolute super-hero to all your friends
- Super-flexible working environment - you can set your own hours, your own dress code, and your own holidays

Sorry, we do have a few restrictions:
* Must live in the SF Bay Area, hopefully in SF
* Must not require visa sponsorship
* We won't pay any referral fees

If you are the right person for the job, please send a cover letter and resume to the address above, with the phrase "I Love LAMP" in the subject line. Please tell us about the best application/platform you've engineered. Tell us what technologies you used, and what role you played in the architecture and implementation. If you can, please share URLs of applications you've worked on. Also, we'd love to know about your startup experience(s), both good and bad, so we can do what we can to make this one great!

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VoIP and Alarm Systems

Ted Wallingford — 2006-06-06T22:26:00+00:00

When it comes to VoIP, there are two issues related to burglary alarm systems. The first is that alarm monitoring itself is moving to IP. This eliminates the need for a POTS line or dry pair for monitoring. Over time, alarm systems will use IP as the new standard for communicating with the monitoring station. So the monitoring mechanism will become the Internet, not a phone line from Ma Bell.

The second issue relates to power. The power required to keep an alarm brain running, 12 volts on a lead acid battery usually, is quite similar to the kind of power required to backup an IP router and cable/dsl modem. In fact, some customer premise devices only require 9 volts on low current, so the possibility of equipping a cable modem with a very inexpensive DC backup is quite good. For now, however, I advise most people to invest in some kind of UPS (uninterruptable power supply) for their cable modem and broadband router.

Finally, most VoIP telephone service providers are incapable of providing reliable alarm notification service because the modem in the alarm system doesn't communicate well over the VoIP link. It is for the same reason that FAX machines can't be used to transmit reliably over VoIP links. This is why alarm systems and FAX applications will themselves transition to IP based solutions within several years. Look for the manufacturers your alarm system firm represents to begin offering IP-based monitoring solutions.

Also, check out some IP-based alarm system monitoring firms and equipment vendors that already have this capability:

UHS
NextAlarm
Alarm.com

Some of the implications are covered in my book, Switching to VoIP.

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Hands on with the new UTStarcom WiFi Phone

Ted Wallingford — 2006-05-31T22:24:00+00:00

Well, it's been a long time in coming, but I am finally evaluating the F3000 phone from UTStarcom. A project I'm doing for Best Technology has me looking at all sorts of WiFi phones, and the F3000 was thought to be the creme de la creme, that is, until I actually got it and started working with it. Here's what I don't like about it:

- The first digit of a dialed number is often inexplicably missed as the phone transitions to its "dial screen"
- The (apparently battery-preservation related) power features on the WiFi radio seem to yield some startup problems for the RTP stream, and initial audio seems to be garbled sometimes.
- The range is lower than even the minimal range of Linksys's WIP300 phone.
- Annoying startup and shutdown jingles. When are phone makers going to realize that these jingles are a complete and utter waste of my time an annoyance, to boot?
- Poorly designed networking options menu causes every entry that begins with "register" to just say "register", concealing the rest of the option name, ie. "register server", "register port", and so on. So it's hard to tell which option you're actually modifying.
- Phone mysteriously becomes unregistered from the SIP registrar after certain SIP methods. Not sure of the pattern yet.

Here's what I do like about it:

- Obvious TFTP support (where is this on the WIP300?)
- Customizable ringtones and graphics via software upload
- Network-updateable firmware
- Nice pretty color screen.

I'll get back to you when I've putzed with this phone some more.

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The new generation of car parking

Ted Wallingford — 2006-05-31T18:29:00+00:00

The other day I had the pleasure of speaking with Cooper Marcus, the brain behind Spark Parking, which promises to revolutionize the way parking systems are managed, saving you and the parking operator time and aggravation, and increasing revenues for the parking operator. So how does it work?

Well, basically, you park your car in a space and then dial into the phone number of the Spark Parking System, which identifies you and measures the length of your parking stay using an infrared sensor embedded in the parking meter. At the heart of Spark Parking is a soft-based interactive voice response system. No more fumbling for change or running out to feed the meter. All you need is a cell phone to "log your car in" to the parking space. Very cool stuff. Check it out here.

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Dell to hock Skype

Ted Wallingford — 2006-05-31T18:23:00+00:00

According to a press release I received today from Skype, Dell will be bundling Skype with its XPS notebooks, the same notebooks which alread include a built-in broadband access radio and also a built-in webcam for video-conferencing (gee, hasn't Apple been all over that action for a whlie now?). So, fire up your wireless broadband and crank out the Skype calls on yout Dell laptop, if Dell is what you like.

SKYPE TEAMS UP WITH DELL TO MAKE INTERNET CALLING EVEN EASIER

New Dell XPS Mobile Systems can be configured with Skype; Free Internet Voice and Video Calling with Other Skype Users

LUXEMBOURG, May 31, 2006 -Skype and Dell have teamed up to make it easy to stay in touch. Today, Skype, the global Internet communications company, announced an agreement with Dell, the world's largest maker of personal computers, to ship Skype[TM] software with new Dell[TM] XPS[TM] mobile systems - the XPS M1210 and XPS M2010.

The agreement will allow Dell to provide its customers with easy access to Skype's voice and video Internet calling software. Dell will be able to pre-load Skype on the XPS 2010, a unique mobile entertainment system featuring a 20.1-inch high-definition display with integrated webcam. The XPS 1210 can be configured with Skype as part of an optional audio-video communications package that also includes an integrated rotating webcam, noise-isolation earbuds and mobile broadband capability.

"As the leading notebook supplier, Dell is committed to delivering cutting-edge technology that provides voice and video connectivity virtually anywhere," said Brett Faulk, worldwide marketing director, consumer notebooks. "Teaming with Skype, the trend setter in Internet communications, will provide our customers the very best experience when reaching out and staying in touch with friends and family around the world."

"Dell customers will be able to experience the benefits of Skype, optimized for their computing environment. This gives Dell customers a simple way to use the Internet to talk to their friends and family from home, in the office or on-the-go," said Don Albert, Director of Business Development, Skype North America. "Dell represents a new distribution channel for Skype. New products from Dell will complement the breadth of hardware designed for the convenience of Skype callers."

With Skype, customers can talk for as long as they like with other Skype customers across the world without worrying about the cost or the distance of the call. Unveiled today, the Dell XPS M1210 and M2010 are available immediately worldwide.

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