Realtime Community | Unified Communications: Practical Pointers Archives

Xobni beta testing

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 | Permalink | Comments (0) |

Unified Communications in Realtime eJournal

I mentioned recently that we'd be launching our eJournal here in the Digital Library. While similar efforts are underway in each of the Realtime Communities, the premier edition of Unified Communications in Realtime is here here for your reading pleasure.

Unified Communications
in Realtime

Author: Ken Camp

Unified Communications in Realtime is a Realtime eJournal authored by Unified Communications expert and noted author Ken Camp. This online, monthly publication covers a variety of topics including fixed mobile convergence, video, wireless services, VoIP, collaboration tools and more.

In this first edition, we're talking about some issues around Fixed Mobile Convergence (FMC). This month we'll look at what lies ahead in FMC, some of the trends and tools that are gaining momentum, and we'll look at the future of mobile or casual computing as the technolgies mature. This months articles are:

Fixed Mobile Convergence: What Lies Ahead? By: Ken Camp - Today's range of mobile solutions really enables work any time and from anywhere. Learn more about Fixed Mobile Convergence and how it benefit your business.
Fixed Mobile Convergence: How Many Phones? By: Ken Camp - How many phones do you really need? The answer may depend on how you are using them.
Fixed Mobile Convergence: Mobile and Casual Computing By: Ken Camp - For many workers, personal tools and business tools blend together. Learn how FMC has given rise to the age of casual computing, and how this will keep workers connected and productive.

Each month, we'll watch for a series of news stories and blog posts that relate to the eJournal topic of the month. This month I'm watching for news and podcast opportunities with companies delivering FMC solutions. And I'll be paying close attention to the people at the VON conference next week to see if I can get any special podcasts or videos.

Next month, my partner Sheryl Breuker and I are writing a series of articles on video - for personal use, mobile use and business use.

This eJournal series is being promoted as part of the Reatimepublisher's Nexus - The Digital Library for IT Professionals.
While promotion on the Nexus site won't begin until next week, I'm
tipping readers of the site here off early to give you first peek

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

Kicking off Unified Communications in Realtime - Our New eJournal

We've begun a new series of publications here on the Realtime Unified Communications Community. This monthly eJournal - Unified Communications in Realtime -  will consist of three articles each month in PDF format that you can download and read at your leisure. I'll be writing some of the series. We'll also have other guest authors write pieces from time to time. I'll be inviting some of my colleagues to send pieces to me that I can help incorporate into the topic each month.

In this kickoff edition, we're talking about some issues around Fixed Mobile Convergence (FMC). This month we'll look at what lies ahead in FMC, some of the trends and tools that are gaining momentum, and we'll look at the future of mobile or casual computing as the technolgies mature. This months articles are:

Fixed Mobile Convergence: What Lies Ahead? By: Ken Camp - Today's range of mobile solutions really enables work any time and from anywhere. Learn more about Fixed Mobile Convergence and how it benefit your business.
Fixed Mobile Convergence: How Many Phones? By: Ken Camp - How many phones do you really need? The answer may depend on how you are using them.
Fixed Mobile Convergence: Mobile and Casual Computing By: Ken Camp - For many workers, personal tools and business tools blend together. Learn how FMC has given rise to the age of casual computing, and how this will keep workers connected and productive.

Each month, we'll watch for a series of news stories and blog posts that relate to the eJournal topic of the month. This month I'm watching for news and podcast opportunities with companies delivering FMC solutions. I'm working now to schedule a podcast briefing with Acme Packet who's bringing their new solution into play.

Next month, my partner Sheryl Breuker will join me in a series of articles on video.

This eJournal series is being promoted as part of the Reatimepublisher's Nexus - The Digital Library for IT Professionals. While promotion on the Nexus site won't begin until next week, I'm tipping readers of the site here off early to give you first peek

Realtime eJournal: Unified Communications in Realtime

Unified Communications

in Realtime

by: Ken Camp

Technorati Tags: Unified Communications in Realtime, unified communications, fixed mobile convergence, FMC, Ken Camp

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

Ready.Set.VoIP! Webinar Series - Part 3 coming soon

I've had the pleasure of working on a webinar series sponsored by NetIQ for the past few months. It's a four=part series. Two episodes are completed. The third will bre presented live at the end of this month. The earlier episodes were recorded and are available online here.

If you're exploring VoIP services in your business environment, have already started a project that's not yet completed, or are just interested in learning more about what it takes to successfully implement a VoIP solution, please come join us.

Ready.Set.VoIP! Series Part 3 of 4: Automating Monitoring for Service Delivery
Converged communication technologies, such as Voice over IP, are becoming more and more the standard for businesses today. But assessing, deploying and maintaining the performance and availability of VoIP can be daunting as the systems are increasingly complex and voice communications remain critical.

In the ongoing "Ready.Set.VoIP." series, Ken Camp, noted author of IP Telephony Demystified, and Mark Slavens, NetIQ Corporate Sales Engineer for VoIP solutions, take you through management of the VoIP life cycle - from network assessment, pre-deployment and ongoing monitoring to reporting and future expansion plans.
n part three of the series, Ken and Mark will cover the importance of being proactive rather than reactive when operating Voice over IP on your network; this part will cover topics such as the

* Value of automated monitoring tools
* Complete knowledge of your environmen
* Ability to respond to changing network conditions
* Timely diagnosis and remediation of issues

Too often organizations deploy VoIP without fully knowing the impact of converging voice and data traffic on a shared network. Don't be left with dissatisfied users and system downtime. Whether you have already deployed or are just considering an implementation, listen to find out how a VoIP network assessment can benefit your enterprise.

Technorati Tags: Ready.Set.VoIP!, Ken Camp, NetIQ, webinar

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

Ready.Set.VoIP! Series Part 2 of 4: Pre-deployment - Strategy for Monitoring, Management and SLAs

In the ongoing Ready.Set.VoIP! series, Ken Camp, noted author of IP Telephony Demystified, and Mark Slavens, NetIQ Corporate SE for VoIP solutions, take you through management of the VoIP life cycle - from network assessment, pre-deployment and ongoing monitoring to reporting and future expansion plans.

In part two of the series, Ken and Mark will focus on critical management activities including:

* Defining monitoring policies
* Monitoring service quality
* Ongoing analysis and why it's important
* Meeting the end user's expectations defined in service level agreements

Too often organizations deploy VoIP without fully knowing the impact of converging voice and data traffic on a shared network. Don't be left with dissatisfied users and system downtime. Whether you have already deployed or are just considering an implementation, listen to find out how a VoIP network assessment can benefit your enterprise environment.

http://www.webex.com/web-seminars/enroll_event/665057450?sid=RTP0919

Technorati Tags: VoIP, webinar, NetIQ, Ken Camp

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

New Webinar Series from Realtime Unified Communications and NetIQ

We've been working behind the scenes at the Realtime Unified Communications Community with NetIQ in preparing a series of four webinars.

In this series, I'll be talking about some of the challenges of moving from the planning stages of VoIP deployment into the operational phase. Each brief talk will be followed with live product demonstrations by NetIQ showing their comprehensive suite of solutions.

The first episode of this four-part series will take place live on the web on Wednesday, August 29th, so you have plenty of time to sign up and come join us. I hope to see you there.

Ken

Ready. Set. VoIP.
The VoIP life cycle from Pilot to Production

In the "Ready.Set.VoIP." web seminar series, Ken Camp, noted author of IP Telephony Demystified, and Mark Slavens, NetIQ Corporate SE for VoIP solutions, will take you through management of the VoIP life cycle—from network assessment, pre-deployment and ongoing monitoring to reporting and future expansion plans.

In part one of the series, Ken and Mark will focus on network readiness assessments and how taking stock of your resources will help you:
Know your potential VoIP capabilities by provide a network inventory
Warn you of potential shortfalls and measures to upgrade your network
Set quality expectations for the network currently in place
Avoid project paralysis before the pilot program begins
Too often organizations deploy VoIP without fully knowing the impact of converging voice and data traffic on a shared network. Don't be left with dissatisfied users and system downtime. Whether you have already deployed or are just considering an implementation, listen to find out how a VoIP network assessment can benefit your enterprise environment.

* Register Now

Technorati Tags: NetIQ, webinar, live events, partical pointers, Ken Camp

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

Simicomm Releases Beta of 15 Minute VoIP System

Here's an area that I think is hot and under-represented - VoIP simplification. For the SMB market, simplifying VoIP installation and setup will always be a winning proposition. Nice to see someone taking that issue head-on.

Simicomm Releases Beta of 15 Minute VoIP System
Tech Challenged SMBs Offered No Hassle, Full Featured VoIP Phone System

Madison, WI – July 31, 2007 – Born to remove the complexity of VoIP solutions, Simicomm(TM) today announced EasySpeak PBX, a software-based phone management system. This complete plug-and-play VoIP PBX provides a low-cost alternative to small to medium businesses. The EasySpeak software can be completely installed, including fully automated phone configuration, in only 15 minutes!

The solution is designed for enterprises without the technical abilities to implement or maintain phone systems. It provides resellers with a low cost, reliable solution for companies looking to migrate slowly into a VoIP infrastructure. Based on the AsteriskB open source PBX, EasySpeak works with both VoIP and analog phones. A novice-tested, web-based toolbox enables simple configuration and management.

"We recognize there are many solutions targeting small businesses,” noted Dennis Barnum, CEO of Simicomm. "Our goal was to create something that removes the complexity for a non-technical audience and make it affordable.”

EasySpeak PBX (300 MB file) is downloaded from www.simicomm.com, and burned to a CD. The CD is loaded onto a (dedicated) server, which will run through the installation steps automatically. Just plug the phones and Internet into the Ethernet ports (1 and 0 respectively) and you're ready to go. To use analog phones, a line card (i.e. Digiuma analog telephony devices) is required. Telephones will automatically register and be assigned extensions in the order they are connected. Changing of extensions and management of other features can be made by logging into the web-based toolbox.

EasySpeak PBX contains the features of the high-end solutions, including: Auto Attendant, Web Access to Voicemail, Music-on-Hold, Blind Transfer, T-38 Fax support, Call Forward/Forward on Busy, Call Parking, Call Queuing, Call Routing (DID & ANI), Call Transfer, Call Waiting, Caller ID, Caller ID Blocking, Caller ID on Call Waiting, Roaming Extensions, Assisted Transfer, Three-way Calling and high-end Voicemail functionality.

A free 14-day trial of EasySpeak is available through www.simicomm.com for a limited time.

About Simicomm
Simicomm is a telecommunications software company focused on providing hassle free VoIP solutions for small and medium sized businesses. Based in Madison, Wisconsin, Simicomm is the creator of the EasySpeak 15-minute VoIP phone system. Please visit www.simicomm.com for additional information.

Technorati Tags: Simicomm, 15 Minute VoIP, VoIP

Posted by Ken Camp | Permalink | Comments (1) |

CT Labs Evaluates Sonus Networks' Network Border Switch

Regular readers and listeners will recall my conversation with Michael Rubin at Sonus Networks. Sonus is one of the unified communications thought leaders whose roots run deeper than most in this industry. They're one of the reasons the industry exists.

In the latest update on Sonus Networks' Network Border Switch (NBS), Sonus reported the results of its recent round of testing by CT Labs, establishing itself as one of the most comprehensive security solutions on the market today by providing carrier-class security features that help network operators maintain the integrity of their network.

Along with increased demand for security, the proliferation of IP networks has also cast peering capabilities into greater importance, as significant efficiencies can be gained by peering at a VoIP level rather than through costly conversions between IP and legacy circuit switching. The CT Labs verified the NBS' ability to deliver a unique solution that combines session control, PSTN gateway services, and security into a single, high performance, carrier-class system. CT Labs (http://www.ct-labs.com/) is a full service testing and analysis laboratory with a focus on converged communications and Next-Generation network products.

I'll be reviewing this report shortly and report back here on CT Labs findings.

Technorati Tags: Sonus Network, CT Labs, security, Infosec, VoIP security, VoIP, unified communications

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

Upcoming Webinar - “Network Tsunami: The Coming Wave of Video, Audio and Rich Media that will Wash Away your Corporate Network in 2008 (And How to Survive It)”

I've recently been invited by my esteemed colleagues at ITManagement.com to join in with Dan DeBacker from the CTO office of Nortel to present a webinar on video, audio, rich media and the impact it will have on the enterprise.

My piece will be to help set the stage for the future:

What it is
How it comes about
Why it is important
What some of the possible options are

Here's an overview -

Network Tsunami: The Coming Wave of Video, Audio and Rich Media that will Wash Away your Corporate Network in 2008 (And How to Survive It)
Date: Thursday, August 23, 2007
Time: 1PM PST

The latest generation of highly interactive applications and rich consumer content is already causing problems for corporate networks. Video blogs (vlogs), hosted business applications, YouTube, ever-larger presentations attached to emails and videoconferencing are starting to clog up corporate IP networks designed for simple data exchange. This will only get worse as rich media become part of more business communications.

Rich media not only increase the need for bandwidth, but force new thinking about latency and massive storage and new kinds of security threats. How will your existing data network manage huge video files, time-sensitive VoIP, unlicensed music sharing, sound-annotated spreadsheets and highly interactive CRM running on distant servers? Learn about how the coming wave of interactivity and rich media will force changes on your network infrastructure.

Join ITManagement.com and Nortel Networks on August 23, 2007 at 1:00 p.m. as networking technology expert Dan DeBacker shares his knowledge of rich media and their effects on corporate networks, including strategies for avoiding catastrophe. He will address major – but manageable – risks that enterprises will encounter with the newest generation of media-enhanced applications.
Attendees to this webcast will learn about:
New kinds of rich, interactive media
Challenges these present to traditionally architected corporate networks
How to mitigate risk to your mission-critical business applications

I don't have the link to register yet, but I'll keep you posted here and invite you all to come join us.

Technorati Tags: Video, Audio, rich media, unified communications, ITManagement.com, Nortel, webinar

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

Skype on the Nokia N800

Those of us who use the N800 have been consistently impressed with the Gtalk and Gizmo clients for VoIP. But now there's also Skype. An easy installer comes ready to run on the latest firmware upgrade.

Gtalk works great, but it's a smaller network offers limited use. It's a great IM tool for N800 users, but its penetration into the user community is somewhat limited. Gizmo has greater penetration and the huge advantage of being a real SIP solution. VoIP junkies like myself really love Gizmo, and it works great on the N800.

But Skype still represents a huge user base that lives inside the walled garden of Skype's non-interoperable protocol. Skype has done a dismal job of penetrating into the mobile handset space. Most of us don't believe they've tried. But with this latest firmware release putting Skype on the N800, anywhere there's WiFi, there's a variety of VoIP, including Skype.

For anyone who's used Skype on a PC, the interface and setup is clean, intuitive and simple.

Here's the main screen once you start Skype running.

While there are slight differences in the screens because of the N800 form factor, it walks and talks and looks just like Skype.

When you're in a call, the screen is very basic. No information is really needed with a one-to-one call in progress.

If you have SkypeOut credits and want to dial out to a PSTN number, you get a simple dialpad interface shown here.

The history tab brings up all history info just like the PC-based client,

And there's a full set of configuration screens,

And, adding contacts is as simple as it ever was.

Those of you who know me know I've struggled finding relevance in Skype for my own use. After many years of loyal use, I uninstalled it and quit using it. I'm not convinced it's fully relevant to my needs. I'm confident I can do just fine without out it. Yet, being able to stay in touch easily via Skype on the N800 was enough to make me eat my words and come back to the fringes of Skype at the very least.

In part, this is driven by my keen interest in social networks and the tools we use to manage them. And one thing we all notice is that we use the tools our friends use, not always because we like them or need them, but because they're where our friends are. As walled gardens go, Skype still keeps some of my friends and colleagues behind a wall that Gtalk and Gizmo can't yet penetrate. I hate that, yet Skype on the N800 gives me a tool to keep in touch.