VoIP

VoIP Now Available for iPhone

April 16th, 2008 • ikailo • 0 comments • Related • Filed Under

Get ready for free VoIP calls on your iPhone. An Israeli company called Fring announced today that it started publicly testing an application for the iPhone called Fring which allows users to make and receive calls using voice over IP technology. In case there’s any sort of misconception here, Fring bypasses any cellphone carrier and relies solely on an Internet connection to make a call.

But here’s the surprise. Fring allows users to make VoIP calls over 3G or EDGE connections, which is a huge deal. With Fring, all customers need would be a data subscription with their carrier (in case of the U.S., AT&T) and begin making those free calls. According to Fring, the application will dynamically adjust audio quality depending on the type of connection it detects.

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Source: Tom’s Guide

Business VoIP Conference Calling Redefined

April 8th, 2008 • ikailo • 0 comments • Related • Filed Under

Polycom has redefined conference calling yet again. The SoundStation® IP 7000 and IP 6000 offer groundbreaking Polycom features including Polycom HD Voice(TM) technology and a sleek new design.

In a recent VoIP study, Synergy Research reported that more than 73 percent of new telephony lines are expected to be IP this year, and IDC is forecasting 30 percent growth in VoIP desktop hardware over 2007. Following this trend, the new SoundStation IP 7000 and SoundStation IP 6000 expand Polycom’s IP conference phone portfolio and are the first conference phones developed to integrate open Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) with Polycom HD Voice. Combined with HD Voice and Polycom’s patented Acoustic Clarity Technology, these phones offer unrivaled clarity for breakthrough voice quality and more productive conference calls

The SoundStation IP 7000 introduces a new, sleek design that redefines the look and feel and performance of the traditional conference phones. Features include:

  • The industry’s first up to 22 kHz CD-quality HD Voice for lifelike clarity and intelligibility.
  • Large high resolution display and processing power for IP applications, transforming the conference phone into an applications platform for the conference room. Includes LDAP corporate directory access, three-way visual conferencing in HD Voice and an open XHTML micro-browser for third-party application development and integration. The conferencing application enables users to see the names of the participants and add, delete, mute or place individual callers on hold during the call.
  • Multi-unit connectivity with the ability to “daisy-chain” two units, offering greater microphone pickup, louder volume, and multiple call control points within one conference room.
  • 20-foot (6-meter) microphone pickup range to hear participants in all corners of the conference room. Even greater coverage is available through optional expansion microphones.
  • Seamless integration with Polycom HDX high definition visual communications systems is expected later this year — making launching a high definition video conference as easy as dialing a conference phone.
  • Power over Ethernet connectivity(1) to reduce cable clutter in conference rooms.

The Polycom SoundStation IP 7000 is available today through Polycom’s certified channel partners starting at a list price of U.S. $1,299. The Polycom SoundStation IP 6000 will also be available through Polycom’s certified channel partners later this quarter starting at a list price of U.S. $899. For more information, visit www.polycom.com/go/soundstation_ip.

VoIP vs. the Recession

March 26th, 2008 • ikailo • 0 comments • Related • Filed Under

What will happen to the VoIP industry during a recession?

John Edwards makes his predictions - with arguments for both sides of the story. Here’s an excerpt:

When businesses are pinched by falling revenues, they often respond by scaling back expansion plans, curtailing new initiatives and cutting back on purchases. This could be bad news for VoIP equipment makers — the vendors who build everything from servers to gateways to phones — as more businesses cancel orders, switch to products with less power or fewer features or simply never place orders. Software vendors will also likely feel the pinch as fewer businesses purchase their offerings.

While cold logic dictates that a recession should be universally distressful, there’s also good reason to believe that the VoIP industry may not be hurt as much as many other businesses. VoIP’s big draw is, and always has been, that it is cheaper than traditional telephony. So it stands to reason that as more businesses look to cut their telecom costs, many will decide to make the switch to VoIP. In fact, a recession could turn out to be VoIP’s golden moment, as more enterprises dump costly, aging telephone systems in order to take advantage of VoIP’s cost-saving potential and technological flexibility.