VoIP Vendors
- VoIP vendors slam Cisco
Vendors who claim to be able to deliver end-to-end multi-service LAN solutions supporting every communications requirement are misleading enterprise customers, according to industry insiders. Multi-service LANs incorporate all the different elements of a company?s network infrastructure, from voice and data to fixed and wireless. Many large equipment vendors, most notably Cisco, are trying hard to convince customers that they can deliver all of these in one package. Cisco is saying that if you want to build a multi-service LAN which is safe, secure and efficient, you need to do no more than buy it from us, because we work in the service provider space as well,? said Jeremiah Caron, an analyst with Current Analysis. ?The arrogance of vendors that think they can be single-source suppliers for every one of a customer?s needs is quite stupendous.
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Microsoft Buys VoIP Vendor
There are some indicators that, upon their arrival, show things are maturing and progressing towards full acceptance. The announcement last week by Microsoft Corporation of the acquisition of an organisation well regarded in the Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) space clearly signals that VoIP is now well set on its way to maturity. Microsoft has been quietly adding to its VoIP capabilities for some time now, especially in its MSN Messenger Internet service. MSN already offers the ability for its users to communicate verbally with others that are making use of Messenger or to send 30-second voice messages. Indeed, the last release of Messenger in May this year also witnessed the introduction of Video capabilities. However, all of these facilities were confined to PC-to-PC communications. The addition of Teleo brings the ability to link these VoIP calls to non-PC based systems.
- VoIP
Vendor Coverage Show
There will be no shortage of VoIP PBXs, phones and gateways on display at this week's VoiceCon conference, but such infrastructure components could get overshadowed by a slew of announcements about new management tools for converged networks. The conference, which takes place in Orlando, will showcase VoIP plans by companies such as Bank of America, Delta Air Lines and Lehman Brothers. Cisco and Nortel executives will face off in a debate, and 103 exhibitors will pitch their wares before a crowd that show organizers estimate will hit 4,500, up 25% from last year. According to a Computing Technology Industry Association survey of 500 businesses, more than half of those planning phone system upgrades this year are considering converged systems, either hybrid or pure-IP platforms. Either way experts advise potential VoIP customers to invest in tools they can use to ready their data networks to transport voice and later troubleshoot the converged networks when problems arise.
- VoIP
Vendor Comparing
For many companies, the tough decision isn't whether to use IP telephony or not - it's which vendor to choose. There may be considerations of current voice or data vendors already at use in an organization, and each vendor provides a different set of features and management tools. With all of the variables involved, the choice may seem daunting. To help simplify this task, we've collected some of Carrie Higbie's tips and tricks for vendor selection, garnered from her "Ask-the-Expert" section. Carrie regularly answers your questions on the topic of "Preparing your network for VoIP." At the bottom of this page, we've included links to her answers about comparing VoIP vendors for further information.
- VoIP Vendors skech industry
The Internet Telephony Conference, held this week in Los Angeles, featured pleas for open standards, cries for better enterprise targeting and a good dose of unsubstantiated rumor. And that was just in one panel discussion. The group of representatives of eight major VoIP vendors generally agreed on what the future of VoIP needs to look like. But they also gave a rare insight into their shifting, competitive landscape. An audience member posed the question: ?What changes in the market will happen with VoIP if Google Inc takes over the Internet? ?The dark view is we?ll be forced to watch ads for free VoIP,? said panelist Chalan Aras, VP of marketing at Californian VoIP equipment vendor Ditech Communications Corp.
- VOIP Vendor's Stock Tanks
The company, which acquired bankrupt softswitch vendor Clarent Corp. early in 2003 (see Softswitch Vendor Dodges Bullet and Verso Closes Clarent Acquisition), had been expecting revenues for the fourth quarter of $19 million to $20 million, but now estimates they will be between $14.5 million and $15.5 million. This will result in negative EBITDA and a greater loss per share. The vendor's share price fell to $1.97, down 41 percent from yesterday's close of $3.32. This values the company at $236 million, compared with a market capitalization of $398 million when the market closed Wednesday. Verso's share price hit a 12-month low of $0.35 at about the time it closed the Clarent acquisition.
- VoIP Vendors Move Mainstream
VoIP vendors are moving to make the technology truly mainstream by tackling interoperability and management problems and by creating more appealing, customizable applications. We spend a lot of time talking about technology,? says Thom Baker, product line manager at Nortel Networks. ?We?re trying to take this to the next level and target the consumer, to give them choices of applications and devices. That?s what it?s going to take to realize the promise of IP technology. In line with that thinking, Nortel has launched a global initiative to jumpstart mass market adoption of SIP-based multimedia by making it easy for device manufacturers and other vendors to interoperate with its Multimedia Communication Server (MCS) 5100 and 5200 products. It hopes to add at least 40 vendors to its roster of certified compatible manufacturers.
- VoIP vendors in flux
Equipment vendors are rapidly shuffling positions within the carrier voice-over-IP market--the fastest-growing segment in telecom gear, according to a research note issued today by Merrill Lynch citing data from Synergy Research. While the carrier VoIP market grew 10% sequentially in the third quarter--and 58% from a year earlier--to $410 million, vendors made some surprising shifts in market share, the note said. While Sonus and Tekelec surrendered some market share in the third quarter, Siemens and Cisco Systems both gained ground by focusing on cable operators, second- and third-tier carriers and hosted VoIP services, Merrill Lynch said. Nortel held on to the market?s top slot but saw its share erode as top-tier carriers focused more on fiber access and DSL build outs. Nortel claimed just 17% of the market in the third quarter, down sharply from the 29% share it held in last year?s fourth quarter.
- VoIP vendors pass SIP
Test
The open SIP interoperability event was held at Miercom's test facility in New Jersey. A dozen vendors (including RADCom, which provided test equipment) offering 18 products participated. Vendors were asked to prove basic interoperability with two reference products - Pingtel's xpressa SIP phones, acting as SIP user agents, and the dynamicsoft Session Management Suite (SMS), a SIP proxy server. A SIP user agent is a SIP-enabled end-user device, which could be a phone, a PC, a cell phone or a unified messaging system. SIP supports setting up and tearing down media sessions between user agents, such as "invite" and "ack".