I've known about this announcement for a week or two, but couldn't really talk about it until this week. BT is one of the most forward-thinking services providers on the planet. Siemens is one of the real thought leaders in technology advancement. I believe this partnering will deliver some truly new and advanced service delivery offerings to their combined customers.

BT and Siemens to Deliver One-Stop Converged Communications Solution

Worldwide Relationship Brings Enterprises Centralized, Converged IP Communications

LONDON, UK and BOCA RATON, Fla. -- May 6, 2008 -- BT, one of the world's leading providers of networked IT services, and Siemens Enterprise Communications, one of the world's leading suppliers of Open Communications software and services for enterprises, have entered into a global sales agreement to offer a converged communications solution for large multinational enterprises. The solution aims at helping those enterprises reduce costs, remove complexity and risk, improve collaboration and enhance business processes. It achieves that by leveraging existing investments in currently separate voice and data infrastructures and offering a compelling transition path to a centrally managed IP-based communications platform.

The BT and Siemens converged communications solution enables enterprises to consolidate and converge their voice and data communications at their own pace, one site at a time if so required. They are able to migrate from an existing multi-technology environment to a centrally managed converged communications platform upon deployment. The solution offers a single service level agreement as well as a flexible pricing model with a single point of contact for end-to-end managed services.

This solution combines Siemens OpenScape* suite of communications software applications and OpenScale* services with BT's world class MPLS network.

The BT-Siemens relationship grew out of their shared experiences while handling several mutual engagements with major customers. This proven approach - deployed to thousands of users in industries ranging from finance to manufacturing - can help large enterprise CIOs solve one of the toughest IT challenges they face today.

"The dilemma for CIOs is that the demands of maintaining their existing IT infrastructures command so much of their budgets that little is left for true innovation," said Wu Zhou, Senior Analyst, IDC. "So while many if not most CIOs now recognize the clear advantages of IP-based converged communications, they cannot see how to get there without a lot of cost and complexity that can adversely impact the business."

The complementary portfolios of BT and Siemens Enterprise Communications are ideally suited to deliver a complete range of solutions and services including voice, data, telephony, mobility and collaboration applications.

"Through mergers and acquisitions, many of our customers have accumulated complex, usually multi-vendor voice and data infrastructures," said Chris Ainslie, vice president, systems integrators and channel partners, BT. "Our agreement with Siemens offers them a way to leverage their significant legacy investments while opening doors for greater collaboration, and better execution."

"This relationship provides a vehicle for large national and multi-national corporations as well as for large public organizations to implement sophisticated converged solutions globally," said Gerhard Otterbach, Chief Market Operations Officer (CMO) and Member of the Board at Siemens Enterprise Communications "It removes the complexity of separate vendor relationships in each country to manage the billing, customer service and technology integration challenges associated with a large-scale deployment while, at the same time, maintaining the value of their existing investment."

About BT
BT is one of the world's leading providers of communications solutions and services operating in 170 countries. Its principal activities include networked IT services; local, national and international telecommunications services; higher-value broadband and internet products and services and converged fixed/mobile products and services. BT consists principally of four lines of business: BT Global Services, Openreach, BT Retail and BT Wholesale.

In the year ended 31 March 2007, BT Group plc's revenue was £20,223 million with profit before taxation of £2,484 million.

British Telecommunications plc (BT) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of BT Group and encompasses virtually all businesses and assets of the BT Group. BT Group plc is listed on stock exchanges in London and New York.

For more information, visit www.bt.com/aboutbt

About Siemens
Siemens AG (NYSE:SI) is one of the largest global electronics and engineering companies with reported worldwide sales of $107.4 billion in 2006. Founded 160 years ago, the company is a leader in the areas of Medical, Power, Automation and Control, Transportation, Information and Communications, Lighting, Building Technologies, Water Technologies and Services and Home Appliances. With its U.S. corporate headquarters in New York City, Siemens in the USA has sales of $21.4 billion and employs approximately 70,000 people throughout all 50 states and Puerto Rico. Eleven of Siemens' worldwide businesses are based in the United States. With its global headquarters in Munich, Siemens AG and its subsidiaries employ 480,000 people in 190 countries. For more information on Siemens in the United States: www.usa.siemens.com.

About Siemens Enterprise Communications
Siemens Enterprise Communications GmbH & Co. KG is one of the world's leading suppliers of Unified Communications technologies. The company's unique Open Communications approach to providing software, solutions and services for enterprises of all sizes enables business processes to be more productive, faster and more secure - with any device, network or information technology infrastructure. The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Siemens AG with global headquarters in Munich.

For more information about Siemens Enterprise Communications GmbH & Co. KG, visit: http://www.siemens.com/open

*The OpenScape Unified Communication (UC) suite of applications operate in multi-vendor environments and integrate with complementary offerings from a variety of industry players. The OpenScale professional and managed services portfolio provides a global service infrastructure and delivers software based, UC services.

Note: OpenScale is a trademark, and Siemens, OpenScape, and HiPath are registered trademarks of Siemens AG or its subsidiaries and affiliates. All other company, brand, product and service names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.

This release contains forward-looking statements based on beliefs of Siemens management. The words "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "forecast," "expect," "intend," "plan," "should," and "project" are used to identify forward-looking statements. Such statements reflect the company's current views with respect to future events and are subject to risks and uncertainties. Many factors could cause the actual results to be materially different, including, among others, changes in general economic and business conditions, changes in currency exchange rates and interest rates, introduction of competing products, lack of acceptance of new products or services and changes in business strategy. Actual results may vary materially from those projected here. Siemens does not intend or assume any obligation to update these forward-looking statements.
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Posted by Ken Camp | News and Trends, VoIP | Permalink | Comments (0)

Alcatel-Lucent Certifies OmniPCX Enterprise Application with Mediatrix Analog Gateways

Sherbrooke, QUEBEC, May 7, 2008 - Mediatrix Telecom, the leader in Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) access devices, gateways and branch connectivity, today announced that the Mediatrix 4100 and 2102 VoIP gateways have passed Alcatel-Lucent's interoperability tests and have received certification with Alcatel-Lucent's OmniPCX Enterprise communications platform.

The Alcatel-Lucent OmniPCX Enterprise is an integrated, interactive communications solution for medium-sized businesses and large corporations. The solution combines traditional telephone functions with support for Internet-based telephony and multimedia communication.

"Mediatrix now provides a certified solution for companies deploying Alcatel-Lucent OmniPCX Enterprise communication platforms," explained Andres Torres, PLM Manager for Mediatrix Telecom. "Customers will find in Mediatrix Analog Gateways the perfect match for performance, interoperability and security requirements in a VoIP solution."

Mediatrix Analog Products

• Mediatrix 2102: 2 analog FXS ports
• Mediatrix 4104: 4 analog FXS ports
• Mediatrix 4108: 8 analog FXS ports
• Mediatrix 4116: 16 analog FXS ports
• Mediatrix 4124: 24 analog FXS ports

The Mediatrix 4100 series provides a highly scalable and cost-effective analog solution for the Alcatel-Lucent OmniPCX Enterprise platform. It can be deployed in remote offices to provide analog connectivity for analog phones, faxes, and legacy key systems.

SOHO users can also make use of the Mediatrix 2102. It seamlessly integrates into the customer's existing home network, providing up to two analog lines for phone and fax machines linked to the headquarters' OXE.

About Alcatel-Lucent OmniPCX
The Alcatel-Lucent OmniPCX Enterprise is an integrated, interactive communications solution for medium-sized businesses and large corporations. The solution combines traditional telephone functions with support for Internet-based telephony and multimedia communication.

The OmniPCX Enterprise provides a suite of unified communication applications, including a Web softphone, along with unified messaging and personal assistant applications. Based on a single software platform, the OmniPCX Enterprise is compatible with multiple operating systems, provides powerful communications servers and features an independent infrastructure.

About Mediatrix Telecom
Mediatrix develops and markets advanced VoIP access devices, gateways, routers and value-added software enhancements for the enterprise, SOHO, and residential markets. Its products provide an ideal migration path for end users wishing to protect their current CPE investment (analog/digital phones, fax machines, PBX and Key Systems) while migrating to a converged IP network. Mediatrix products and solutions are widely interoperable and have received commercial endorsement from some of the world's leading manufacturers of telecommunications equipment as well as from large telecommunication carriers. Mediatrix is a wholly owned Division of Media5 Corporation, a high technology company based in the Montreal area, in Canada. Media5 Corporation also owns M5T, a software provider focused on delivering the latest in SIP software technologies and security solutions to companies developing applications for real-time multimedia communications over IP. Mediatrix has corporate offices in the Sherbrooke area, in Canada and regional offices in the United States and Europe. For more information, please visit www.mediatrix.com.

Posted by Ken Camp | News and Trends, VoIP | Permalink | Comments (0)

I got a note from my good friend Pat Phelan, CEO at Cubic Telecom, yesterday afternoon while out running an errand about a new service called Twitterfone. You can see the press release down below. It isn't VoIP, but this is a really fascinating example of where voice services are heading.

Please bear in mind that I was out in mobile mode, with only my Blackberry, so all I'd actually seen initially was the flurry of chatter on Twitter about Twitterfone and the expected flurry of test posts as people try it out. Sheryl and I got invitations to join the beta, but weren't back at the office until last night to actually get that done. For those of you who follow me at all, you know I'm an avid Twitter user, and have been since it was Twttr, long before it caught the wave of popularity. Sheryl and I use Twitter as part of our work at Stardust Global Ventures, and it's an integral part of our daily life.

When I started using Twitter, it was SMS only, so it required a mobile phone to use. Now it seems to have come full circle, as Twitterfone enables people to use their mobile phone rather than the browser/ Huh? Yep/ The difference is that you can now phone in a message and have it post rather than key in an SMS text message. It also posts a short URL that links to your recorded audio.

Like a great many people, I use Twitter almost entirely via mobile on my Blackberry, and I like the raw simplicity of the SMS interface. I find many add-on tools make Twitter more complex and are something of a nuisance. The web interface enhancements seem to wipe out the simple elegance of Twitter with undue complexity. But adding voice to the mix is a very different enhancement and opens new vistas in human-to-network resource interaction.

I'm not sure the concept bedazzles me initially, but it's interesting. I've played with SpinVOX and Utterz in the past. Both can do a similar type of thing - variations on a theme. Both of those implementations work pretty poorly in my experience. Speech recognition software however is improving at a rapid rate and if Twitterfone can do speech to text conversion cleanly, there could be some real value. Given the global audience on Twitter, the language and pronunciation variations could prove challenging.

That challenge was on my mind while I out in mobile mode, only on my Blackberry. That's when I got this message via Twitter on my mobile -


To be fair, it's the only one of those I saw, but very few of the people I follow on Twitter are using Twitterfone so far. I know it's in invite-only beta mode, so I expect some glitches.

This morning I tried it out myself for the first time. Here's what Twitterfone posted. If you click the graphic, you can hear what I said.



Twitterfone did a reasonable, but not quite perfect job of speech-to-text conversion.

Given that both Twitter and Twitterfone are free services, and Twitter has proven time and again that it's not entirely reliable, they make an interesting match for social networking tools. Now it's pretty easy to make a phone call and post to Twitter. You can actually speak a three minute message and the beginning will post to Twitter (140 character limit). People who want to hear the whole message can click through on the web to do so. On my Blackberry, I can click through and read the transcribed text, but not play the audio.

Being able to post to Twitter via a phone call somewhat troubles me as much as it intrigues me. The stream of Twitter messages is filled with useless drivel as it is. I'm as guilty as the next of posting useless information that's only noise to the world at large. Now we all have an easier way to post as we drive or are otherwise occupied. That's a mixed blessing.

I know two of the founding investors, both friends I think highly of. I'm really curious what their long range plans are. Is this for publicity or do they envision a monetization scheme that enables monetization. So far Twitter doesn't have any monetization mechanism, so now we have another free service enhancing a free service. I'm not sure where the survivability might be. It seems potentially rather tenuous. But Pat and Florian are very bright guys with a great handle on the business, so I'm interested in what their vision is.

Pat and Florian, how about a podcast briefing on here?

Twitterfone inaugurates voice-to-Twitter service

• Allows anyone to send updates to Twitter by calling a number
• Voice is automatically transcribed to text

Twitterfone www.twitterfone.com - an Internationally backed voice to text message service launched today in the US, UK and Ireland.

Twitterfone voice-enables Twitter, a text message rebroadcast service and the hottest social networking service at the moment. With Twitterfone, people can dictate text messages via their mobile to be sent out to everyone on their Twitter social network.

Twitterfone investor and Cubic Telecom President Pat Phelan stated "Right now the million active users of Twitter use cell phones or computers to send and receive short bursts of texts to each other. Millions of messages each day are sent like this but while Twitter is one of the truly mobile social networks out there, there are times when users on the move cannot stop what they are doing to key in a message.

Twitterfone improves upon Twitter by allowing us to make a voice call which is turned into text and sent out to our network of friends. This only costs the price of a local call, no matter how many it is sent to. With hands-free kits common in cars it now means we can text each other without taking our eyes off the road and our hands off the wheel."

How Twitter works:
Once people sign up to Twitter, they can subscribe to receive updates of users and receive them via the web or a text message. Web gurus Jason Calacanis and Robert Scoble have over 20,000 subscribers each and even the Los Angeles Fire Department and the English Government are now sending out text updates to people via their Twitter account.

An alliance of international high-tech and telecom companies provide the technology platform behind Twitterfone. Geneva-based VOX telecom provides calls routing, Redwood City, California-based Zong powers mobile enrollment and transactions, MAXroam powers the telephony intelligence system and Dublin firm Dial2Do supplies the core speech recognition which is at the heart of Twitterfone. Dial2Do CEO Ivan MacDonald stated

"We've been involved in the space where the phone system meets the web for a long time now, and naturally we've been fascinated by the rise of Twitter. Increasingly, we'll see "web 2.0" services that people use primarily from their phones. Projections are that mobiles will become the dominant way of accessing the Internet, and a lot of this will be done via voice interfaces. We are very pleased to see Dial2Do add even more value to an already extraordinary service."

Phelan added "We built this because we are all avid users of Twitter and have made some excellent business connections and friendships from it. We decided to see what we could contribute to the service and with our telecoms backgrounds the Twitterfone idea fitted perfectly".

Twitterfone is in invite beta at the moment meaning that only those that have been sent invites can join up. There will be regular releases of invites and Twitterfone says they have planned for a million sign-ups over the next year.

Twitterfone inc is a privately owned corporation

Twitterfone investors are Pat Phelan, David Marcus, Florian Seroussi, Sean O Sullivan and Ivan MacDonald.

Posted by Ken Camp | Unified Communications | Permalink | Comments (0)

There's an interesting story making the rounds this morning, with some opposing views already being expressed.

Om Malik posted his findings and thoughts on an idea that's been gaining traction for a while in the dark hallways of the traditional telco world.

Global Telcos Plotting a Skype Rival?
AT&T, in conjunction with some 10-15 incumbent telecom carriers -- British Telecom, Deutsche Telecom and NTT among them -- is plotting to launch a Skype competitor, according to a research report issued this morning by ThinkEquity analyst Anton Wahlman.

This is Wahlman's theory for now, but his track record is full of theories that have eventually been proven right. For instance, he once issued a report that outlined 16 reasons why Cisco should buy Scientific Atlanta -- which the networking giant went on to do, for $6.9 billion. For that reason alone, I put in a call to AT&T to get the lowdown, but all they would offer was the boilerplate phrase, "We can't comment on this type of speculation."

Anyway, back to the Skype competitor! Essentially what Wahlman is saying is that incumbents are going to offer a VoIP client that will work on the incumbent broadband/3G wireless pipe, and will use a backend platform that will allow folks to make free voice calls to anyone who's logged into it.
[Read Om's full post]

What I really looked for was Om's assessment of this whole idea. Here's what he said that really mattered most.

In the past, carriers have
merely taken half-measures to address the voice-for-free problem. So this is radical new thinking: If voice is a losing business, why shouldn't the carriers cannibalize it themselves, then sell other services, including video? As Wahlman noted, "Robust data connection is the most valuable service the carriers sell."

Amen to that. I just find it hard to believe that the dinosaurs are finally getting jiggy with this new way of thinking.

Several other notable bloggers who really understand the communications space have weighed in.

Tom Keating - Telcos Join Forces to Battle Skype?
Erik Lagerway - 3G Skype Killer - Action or Words?
Jim Courtney - Much Ado About Nothing....

While opinions do vary, I think Jim summed it up best, although, I agree with Jim for different reasons that he articulates. Here's what Jim said -

But, for all this saber rattling, isn't there a much simpler solution that would get the telcos into the P2P voice space much faster, especially since the basic innovation is already in place (and probably protected under intellectual property registrations)? Maybe the telcos should simply license Skype's technology.
Nah, but that would cut out the intellectual property and litigation lawyers' fees and investment bankers' commissions that would come from having new players in the P2P voice game. (And maybe even take away the need for research reports.)

For all its faults on the business and operations side, the Skype ecosystem's technology is simply too far advanced for anyone to play catch-up with any long term success. Look at aspects such as Skype's current research and development on voice and video technology (if you haven't installed Skype 3.8 for Windows, do it now) as well as the experience garnered in pioneering communications enhanced business processes by both Skype and its partners.

Yes, all the telcos' efforts are "much ado about nothing" -- especially when it comes to voice revenues. (Hat tip to William Shakespeare)

Saber rattling, yes. Absolutely. The telcos are hearing the message of Alec Saunders' Voice 2.0 Manifesto. But it's too little too late. The legacy telecom business is in a very slow death spiral. Some of the old incumbents will reinvent themselves in time to survive. Some will die a painful, ugly death. Voice services have changed forever, and will continue to change. They'll change and evolve more rapidly next year than last year. The speed of innovation and change is increasing.

The legacy telco industry isn't speedy. Hasn't been innovative in years. Is still trying to learn competition in the US after years of governmental sponsored monopoly. Divestiture of the old Bell System was 24 years ago, yet the industry is, in many ways, just reaching 1990 in their cultural evolution.

On the other hand, I don't fully agree with Jim. While he's right about Skype from a technological standpoint, I don't think the faults on the business and operations side can be offset. Sure they do great voice and video technology, but Skype sucks at customer service. That's pretty widely known. And the eBay management team has proven their track record. So while the Skype technology innovators continue to improve, the business side continues to degrade.

Remember that the telecom industry wasn't built on the newest an most innovative technologies. Not for the last 50 years. Truly. The last really big innovation the big telcos delivered to customers was touch tone dialing, and that was just over 50 years ago. Everything else has been me too improvements built on the back of innovative small entrepreneurs. But the customer base, and huge revenue stream was built on the business and operations side of the equation. Skype's business and operations side can't handle the weight of the PSTN customer base. Not even close.

I think the real answer lies somewhere just across the horizon. Somewhere we can't quite see today. But it isn't coming from the legacy telcos and it isn't coming from Skype. They're both too ripe for disruption from unexpected quarters.

What we'll see is incremental, steady improvement from Skype, who's now become and incumbent. That's why they're ripe for disruption. And from the telcos? Marketing speak. Doubletalk. The spin doctors will spin their inability to deliver.

Posted by Ken Camp | VoIP | Permalink | Comments (0)

We're all moved and have network connectivity re-established. Should be all ready to roll again this week. Thanks everyone for your notes and good thoughts while the move was underway.

Posted by Ken Camp | | Permalink | Comments (0)

I've been watching Zobni closely ever since my friend Jeff Bonforte took the reins as their CEO in February. I've been waiting for a peek at how Xobni will turn Outlook from a pain into a really productive and useful tool.

Today I finally got the email telling me I've got an invitation to join their invite-only beta testing. I immediately went to the download install and set up, and I have to szy they've done a dazzling job and Outlook suddenly seems...well...useful.

I'll keep testing and playing, but so far, given my use of MS Outlook dating back over ten years, this is the best add-on I've seen. LookOut as a search add-on is the only other one that I found exciting, and since Microsoft bought them, that tool died. Crushed out of existence by aquisition, a phenomenon not unheard of in the industry.

Keep your eyes out for Xobni. I know I'll keep testing and be using it. Consider me impressed.

Posted by Ken Camp | Practical Pointers | Permalink | Comments (0)

I got the press release below about Inova Solutions offering yesterday afternoon. How colleges and universities (really any campus residence environment) alerts its community is an important aspect of public safety that's easily overlooked. It really highlights some key issues surrounding public safety and emergency notification solutions.

As part of a webinar yesterday, I was also involved in another view on notification and alerts, reaching far more broadly than public safety. When we think about notifications and alerts there are a number of types of notifications that are crying out for a better solution than email. Email isn't timely and doesn't match the urgency of the need to information sharing.

• Urgent weather alerts (storm, fire, evacuation)
• Traffic alerting (accidents and congestion)
  
• Travel delays (airport closure, flight problems)
• Service problems
• Networks
• Cable TV
• Telephone
• Utilities
• Stock alerts
• Business news

It's a field that's wide open to new service offerings.

TRAGEDIES & PUBLIC SAFETY ISSUES DRIVE LEGISLATION, NEED FOR EMERGENCY NOTIFICATION SYSTEMS ON COLLEGE CAMPUSES AND PUBLIC AREAS

DEMAND GROWS FOR INOVA SOLUTIONS' FLEXIBLE DISPLAYS

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA, April 29, 2008 -- As tragedies and public safety issues become more apparent, so has legislation to implement mass notification systems on campuses and public areas. For example, the state of Virginia recently passed legislation requiring colleges and universities to establish "comprehensive, prompt and reliable" first-warning and notification plans by January 1, 2009. While other states are considering similar legislation, many campuses are proactively developing emergency mass notification systems to protect their staff and student populations. The process can be complex.

"Comprehensive notification systems rely on multiple technologies to deliver time-sensitive critical information. Because campuses and public spaces need to make different decisions based on their size, location and layout, warning and notification systems will vary," explained Gerry Gorman, Vice President at Inova Solutions, a leading provider of real-time visual displays. "All of these systems need to include a combination of visible and audible messaging to address the specific needs of students and staff in various locations."

Considerations When Choosing Emergency Mass Notification Systems
Inova Solutions recommends that campuses make the following considerations when developing a mass notification system:

• Use multiple technologies to deliver emergency messages, such as SMS/Email, Public Address and Visual Messaging. (Students often do not read text/email messages in real time. Plus, they may be required to turn off cell phones in class, and large buildings often reduce cell phone coverage.)
• Coordinate public address and textual messaging systems for optimal reach, especially for large congregation spaces like student unions, cafeterias and lecture halls to: a) minimize the impact of noise often accompanying a crisis and b) support the disabled population as required under the ADA.
• For visual displays, LED is better than LCD screens to deliver crisp clear messages to large areas.
• LEDs are brighter and can be read easily at +100 feet, even through smoke and dust. (LCDs have up to 20-foot viewing range.)
• LED displays are more durable, with an expected life of 10 years, three time longer than LCDs.
• LED displays consume far less power that LCDs and ethernet-powered displays can use redundant network power to survive outages.

The Benefits of Ethernet-Powered Displays
Inova Solutions has developed the first Power-over-Ethernet (PoE) displays that are highly flexible, networked and centrally managed, and have impressive viewing capacity. The demand for Inova's full line of networked displays and clocks, OnTrackTM and OnTimeTM, has increased significantly in the past year.

PoE devices are easy to install and maintain, and are extremely energy efficient. In fact, PoE-powered displays and clocks can save up to 75% in energy costs compared to AC-powered displays, without sacrificing brightness. The flexibility factor is huge: because there is no need for an AC outlet, the devices can be placed almost anywhere.

"Organizations that need to communicate quickly with dispersed communities in public access areas such as college campuses, K-12 schools, hospitals, mass transit facilities, utility companies, and more, are looking for affordable solutions to keep people safe," said Gorman. "PoE devices are an economical, flexible and environmentally friendly source of power that enables emergency messaging to be managed centrally and remotely."

About Inova Solutions
Founded in 1984, Inova Solutions is a global provider of real-time visual communications that help inbound and outbound call centers, public transit systems, schools, manufacturers and others instantly communicate vital information. Keywords include: call center reporting, metrics, statistics, dashboard, wallboard, reader board, digital signage. For details, visit www.inovasolutions.com.
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Posted by Ken Camp | News and Trends | Permalink | Comments (1)

My good friend Alec Saunders posted about AOL's latest announcement this morning.

AOL announces AOL OpenVoice API. CAVEAT DEVELOPER.

AOL announced Tuesday that it has opened the API to AIM Call Out, a move designed to let programmers more easily build products that tap into AIM for making calls over the net. The API is freely available, and applications built with it can let people call using AOL's network to bypass the ordinary telephony infrastructure.
[Read Alec's full post]

Alec's story of pain at the hands of AOL isn't a lone one. It was far wider reaching than the three early adopters he mentioned.

There are two issues here. One is the issue Alec raises about the issue of trust and whether developers should trust AOL not to abuse their efforts and investment of time/money/resources once again. My knee-jerk reaction to that is simply no. Woe be to the developer who puts their eggs in the AOL basket.

On the flip side is the announcement itself. If you want to, you can now use a SIP phone to make outbound calls via AOL services at a higher than normal rate. Yep, you can make VoIP calls and get to pay extra for the pleasure thanks to AOL.

It's too little. It's too late. It's me too. And not done with an apology for being woefully behind the times, but with the pride in belief that they've innovated.

AOL truly needs to be walloped with a clue by four, and this story highlights their shortcomings and failures.

Posted by Ken Camp | News and Trends, VoIP | Permalink | Comments (0)