VOIPfeed

Linux-based VoIP Application Cluster

ZDNet is reporting VoX Communications has released the first-ever Linux-based server cluster. I wonder if Asterisk is in their mix...

<a href="http://blogs.zdnet.com/ip-telephony/?p=460" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link: First-ever Linux-based VoIP server cluster eyed"> First-ever Linux-based VoIP server cluster eyed</a> by <a href="http://zdnet.com">ZDNet</a>'s Russell Shaw -- Wholesale and retail VoIP service provider VoX Communications says it has deployed what it believes to be the first-ever VoIP application server cluster technology based on the Linux operating system.  The initial deployment is in metro Orlando, Fla., and can support up to 10,000 subscribers. The company, however, believes that by additing additional server clusters to [...]

Cisco Buys Sipura via Linksys

Via their subsidiary Linksys, Cisco Systems has purchased Sipura Technology. Sipura Technology specializes in VoIP technology and end-user equipment. Their products are used my many VoIP providers, as well as in PC-based VoIP PBX solutions such as Asterisk.

Cisco, who already provides end-user equipment to, top provider, Vonage, is certainly claiming their stake in the VoIP CPE market with this acquisition.

Read more.

Will Open-Source Asterisk revolutionize the PBX marketplace?

Over the past few years Asterisk, the open-souce, IP-based, pbx for Linux has been creating a stir. With Asterisk, one can build an enterprise pbx system for a fraction of the cost of an equivalent Lucent or Nortel solution. The fact that it is open-source carries the same complaints/concerns of any other open-source solution (Apache, mySQL). Fortunately there are an increasing number of business which support Asterisk.

I could go on, but The Register has summed it up quite nicely.

VOIP Blocking - Vonage speaks out

In a recent FCC decision, Madison River Communications, a broadband company out of North Carolina, was fined for restricting Vonage service to its users. At VON 2005, Vonage CEO, Jeffrey Citron said, "traditional carriers can't afford to compete all-out with Vonage and other VoIP upstarts despite having greater resources."  The fear is that those carriers (essentially those who  own or run the broadband networks) will restrict, or make it difficult, for the Vonages of the world to conduct business.

Citron contends that there is a larger issue at stake.

"I think it's a technical issue that extrapolates itself into a First Amendment issue," Citron said. Service providers that own infrastructure and deliver content or services over it now have the capability to look into the packets going to and from a customer's connection and determine what kind of service they are using and even the content of those packets, he said. It is technically possible for network operators to read e-mail, block e-mail messages based on content, and limit access to Web sites, Citron said.

Read more...

Next Up: WiFi/Wireless VoIP

In a nutshell, wherever you have a fast enough Internet connection you can use VoIP.  Companies such as Skype already offer VoIP communications from your desktop PC, laptop, or PDA. Mobile workers are enjoying the fact that they can make and receive phone calls on the road.  Since their phone number doesn't change, users can be in a completely different country and the caller would never know it.

Now, as wireless networks pervade the home and business, be on the lookout for VOIP-enabled, wireless devices. VOIP users with wireless-enabled laptops and PDAs already enjoy the freedom and benefits of having wireless VoIP devices. For example, one can be sitting in Bryant Park (NYC), using the free wireless connection, making and receiving VOIP calls.

Naturally, manufacturers are looking to combine existing cellular technologies with WiFi VOIP. Why not just make WiFi VOIP phones? Read this article for a great explanation. Basically it illustrates how a WiFi-only, VoIP phone is a one-trick pony. Without a WiFi connection it is just a cordless phone away from its base. Last week, Skype Technologies and i-mate announced their plans to preload Skype software on i-mate devices already capable of using both cellular and WiFi technologies. While that kind of duality sounds great for businesses and end-users, I have a feeling that wireless companies here in the US will have some issues when it comes to carrying a phone which can essentially decrease cellular usage (therefore decreased billing). However, if the user demands it, I'm sure the accounting, finance and marketing people will find a way for users to pay a premium.

Via
Tom Keating - VoIP info blog
Digital Home Canada - Skype and i-mate
emarketer - report on Wireless VoIP (available to public until 2/17/05, grrr.)

Full-Screen Thin-Client VOIP Phones

A recent Slashdot article highlights an IP phone, which has a 640x480 full-color screen, which runs Linux (modified), and as a result windowed applications. These were originally equipment from an AT&T Labs Cambridge project. The project page has pictures and technical documents of the six-year old phone.

At Slashdot the discussion was heavy (as usual). In fact, one of the engineers who works on the project commented:

But they're more than prototypes, the phones work really well even six years after being built (mainly due to their thin-client architecture, as only the servers need to be upgraded to run more complex services, not the edge phone hardware).