Another Cisco Shot Across Microsoft's Bow

Posted by Eric Krapf | Jan 5, 2009

Via GigaOm, Cisco seems to be adding another piece to its email- and specifically Outlook-integration strategy, by investing in a startup called Xobni.

READ POST | Comment on this blog entry

Microsoft: Gurdeep's UC Predictions

Posted by Eric Krapf | Jan 5, 2009

The WagEd PR folks sent over this list of 10 predictions for UC in 2009, from Gurdeep Singh Pall, who heads Microsoft's UC group:

Ten Predictions for UC in 2009

Two years ago, most people had never heard of unified communications. Today, as the combination of cost savings and productivity improvements that UC solutions can deliver has become clear, adoption of UC technologies and approaches has moved to the top of the list of IT priorities for many companies. Forrester Research recently found that more than four out of five enterprises in North America and Europe were deploying or piloting UC solutions.

READ POST | Comment on this blog entry

Do I Want Quality of Service (QoS) or Class of Service (CoS)?

Posted by John Bartlett, NetForecast | Jan 5, 2009

We always talk about implementing Quality of Service (QoS) to support voice or video, but the most prominently used approach is DiffServ, which is really a Class of Service (CoS) mechanism. What is going on here? What is the difference, and what do I really need to make my voice and video conferencing behave well?

READ POST | Comment on this blog entry

VOIP is Dead; Long Live VOIP

Posted by Irwin Lazar, Nemertes Research | Jan 5, 2009

"VOIP is DEAD" rang out from the blogosphere shortly before the clock struck midnight on December 31st, signaling the end of one year and the start of another. The call was led by Alec Saunders and Om Malik arguing that VOIP as a vision of radically transforming communications is dead, that instead we've basically replaced the PSTN with an IP-based clone. (See more reaction on my fellow VoiceCon panelist Dan York's blog here).

READ POST | Comments(1)

VoicePHP: More Web-Voice Apps

Posted by Eric Krapf | Jan 5, 2009

Om Malik has a post about an Indian startup that's promoting VoicePHP, which it's pushing as a way to integrate voice with Web apps that's simpler than VoiceXML, which would be the current default choice. There's some discussion in the comments about which is better for accomplishing the integration, VoiceXML or VoicePHP, but one commenter cuts to the heart of the matter:

READ POST | Comment on this blog entry

Wishes for the "Smart" Contact Center

Posted by Eric Krapf | Jan 5, 2009

Here's some thoughts from Sorrell Slaymaker, a reader and a consultant with a background in IT for the health care industry.

READ POST | Comment on this blog entry

ADTRAN's Secret Sauce

Posted by Matt Brunk, Telecomworx | Jan 4, 2009

The Bear hasn't struck ADTRAN as hard, and I'd argue that the Bull is leaning more towards ADTRAN. Here's why.

READ POST | Comment on this blog entry

New Year's Resolutions for UC

Posted by Marty Parker, UniComm Cnslt'g/UC Strategies.com | Jan 2, 2009

It's time to think about our resolutions for the New Year. I expect we all have one or two in common, like taking better care of ourselves, breaking long-standing and nasty habits and spending more time with our friends and loved ones.

READ POST | Comment on this blog entry

The Return of All-in-One UC

Posted by Brian Riggs, Current Analysis | Dec 31, 2008

When Nortel and Microsoft announced their Innovative Communications Alliance a couple years back and then the Converged Office solution that combines Communications Server PBXs with Office Communications Server 2007, I kind of wrote off Nortel's MCS 5100 platform. I know the company never said it was abandoning this granddaddy of unified communications solutions, but I figured most marketing and sales emphasis would be around solutions stemming from the Microsoft relationship.

READ POST | Comments(1)

2008 in Review and What to Expect in 2009

Posted by Hank Levine & Jim Blaszak, "LB3Law" | Dec 30, 2008

In 2008, businesses procured inter-city telecommunications services from an already highly concentrated, but in some cases very competitive, industry. We don't expect major changes to the telecom industry structure in 2009. Change in the party controlling the White House and the U.S. Justice Department may, however, preclude further significant industry consolidation in 2009.

READ POST | Comments(1)

Wishes for the "Smart" Contact Center

Posted by Eric Krapf| Jan 5, 2009

Here's some thoughts from Sorrell Slaymaker, a reader and a consultant with a background in IT for the health care industry.

READ POST | Comment on this blog entry

2008 in Review and What to Expect in 2009

Posted by | Dec 30, 2008

In 2008, businesses procured inter-city telecommunications services from an already highly concentrated, but in some cases very competitive, industry. We don't expect major changes to the telecom industry structure in 2009. Change in the party controlling the White House and the U.S. Justice Department may, however, preclude further significant i ...

READ POST | Comment on this blog entry