How To Reuse Old Phones With Cheap VoIP

June 29, 2011 by Nathan Miloszewski

Cheap is good.  Not having to buy new stuff is even better.

Take advantage of these two bastions of frugality by reading the highly informative series on how to use Google Voice by David Gewirtz at his Government Blog.Vintage_Rotary_Phone

Challenges of Cheap

In the Gewirtz installment, Google Voice: a cheapskate’s guide to cheap VoIP, it’s assumed you’ve said goodbye to a land line, are relying on a cell phone, and would like to continue using your old comfortably familiar land line handset.

Gewirtz first compares the OBi VoIP adapter versus Ooma proprietary technology and then how to bridge your Google Voice account with an OBiTALK account if you run with the OBi adapter.

Use Your Existing VoIP Adapters Too

I’d like to add that if you already have an existing VoIP adapter like the Linksys PAP2T or Linksys SPA2102 these can be used with Google Voice too by combining it with sipgate VoIP service that gives you a free phone number for one user.

Note:  As of April 3, 2011 Gizmo5 no longer works with Google Voice – the service has been discontinued.

(more…)

More from: Cloud Based VoIP Service from the CloudSpan Marketplace Nathan Miloszewski

Virtual Office Application for OnSip and Polycom IP Phones

June 28, 2011 by Nathan Miloszewski

Ars Technica’s “Ask Ars” feature answers a readers plea for help implementing a business VoIP service for his virtual home office.

Ars Technica explains their use of OnSIP plus Polycom IP phones with such exceptional conference call clarity they joke about “holding staff calls just to enjoy the experience.”  And when it comes to finding a a VoIP service provider, you’re in luck, there’s too many to choose from however:

The bad news is that finding a decent VoIP service for your startup or business is a lot like buying a new cellphone. There are lots of options to choose from, and with a myriad of add-ons and pricing plans, it can be difficult to tell them apart.

It’s Your Call

In this nicely detailed insight, Ask Ars provides a starting point and a few service comparisons to consider:

  • A PBX Primer:  In traditional offices a Private Branch Exchange (PBX) handles all incoming, outgoting, and internal calls.   Routing VoIP calls through the internet allows any employee with an online connection to become part of your internal, virtual PBX network.
  • OnSIP:  This popular service offers both virtual PBX and VoIP functionality with (3) pricing tiers for SoHo, Small Business, and Medium Business.
  • Aptela and 8×8:  Similar to OnSIP but different, these two calling packages are outlined.
  • Phonebooth:  A newer VoIP service from Bandwidth.com, this flat-rate montly fee service is examined.

Via Ars Technica

More from: Business VoIP Nathan Miloszewski

To Protect and Converge – Axis Police Car Offers Rugged Mobile Surveillance

by Nathan Miloszewski

The 2011 ISC West show featured Axis displaying the aggressive Dodge Charger police car outfitted with their rugged IP surveillance products. 

Designed for mobile video surveillance, the Axis M3114-R IP Camera was mounted on bumpers and throughout the car while the Axis Q8108-R network video recorder (NVR), purpose built for public and commercial transportation applications, provides a wireless video stream back to the command center.

Axis mobile surveillance demo at ISC West:

Axis Mobile Surveillance Police Charger in action on the street:

For more videos in action, check out the Axis Mobile Surveillance Police Charger page.

More from: Network Video Recorders Nathan Miloszewski

5 Reasons Surveillance In the Cloud Makes Sense

June 27, 2011 by Nathan Miloszewski

One huge advantage of an IP camera based surveillance system over their analog, coaxial cousins is vastly better image quality.

So why are so many analog cameras still in use? 

Dragging Surveillance Into the Digital Age

Matt Krebs at TechNewsWorld asks, “In a world where HDTVs, Blu-ray and 3D IMAX features dominate the entertainment landscape, how can video from surveillance cameras be so poor?”

Cost is always factor but the gradual shift to higher quality, full-featured IP cameras can also be attributed to surveillance systems that haven’t broken down yet.  Many systems still employ analog components that have not out-lived their usefulness on fully functioning infrastructure that was expensive to install.

That may now change with surveillance in the Cloud.

Hosted Video Partnership 

Krebs explains that, “As with other virtualized services, a hosted video surveillance platform allows users to leverage the power and cost-effectiveness of cloud services by eliminating the need for on-site storage and maintenance.” 

In his article Reeling Video Surveillance Into the Digital Age he outlines these five reasons why cloud services are changing the surveillance industry:

  1. Hosted Video Is Finally Secure Enough
  2. Hosted Video Is Surprisingly Easy to Use and Affordable
  3. Hosted Video Offers More Benefits Than On-Premises Systems
  4. Hosted Video Works for Large and Small Businesses
  5. Hosted Video Works With Functioning Analog Systems

Converging analog cameras to an IP-based system can still be easily accomplished with video servers but surveillance in the Cloud opens up new possibilities for those still hesitant to upgrade their surveillance systems.

 

More from: IP Camera Features Nathan Miloszewski

Share Your snom Success Stories and Win Phones, iPad

by Nathan Miloszewski

Up until July 1st, 2011 snom is asking its user base to participate in a survey. In exchange you’ll have a chance to win:

In addition to all snom users they’re also specifically looking for users of the snom ONE IP PBX Yellow, snom ONE IP PBX Blue , or the snom ONE plus IP PBX appliance, in conjunction with snom phones.

Via TMCnet

More from: Announcements Nathan Miloszewski

Pretty Good VoIP Security at ClueCon Roundtable Event

by Nathan Miloszewski

The annual telephony user and developer conference ClueCon is putting a focus on VoIP security next month with a VoIP Security Roundtable that welcomes none other than email encryption pioneer, internet hero, and PGP creator  Philip R. Zimmermann.

Zimmermann created PGP (Pretty Good Privacy) as an email encryption software package to ensure that your private matters stay private.  Distribution of his high strength software overseas violated US cryptographic export laws at the time resulting in a criminal investigation by the US government.

Charges were eventually dropped and cryptography export policies were relaxed.  Since then Zimmermann has been working on Zfone, a VoIP encryption protocol that aims to bring the same level of PGP’s email security to internet phone calls.

PC World named Zimmermann one of its Top 50 Tech Visionaries and is a continuous advocate for telecommunication privacy and security.  To hear his insights on the VoIP Security Roundtable, register for the ClueCon Open Source Telephony Developer Conference running from August 9-11, 2011 in downtown Chicago, IL at the Sofitel Hotel.

More from: Announcements Nathan Miloszewski

Top 3 Features of Netgear Switches

June 23, 2011 by Nathan Miloszewski

Quickly,what are the Top 3 most desirable features you seek when moving large files from computer to computer?

1.  Speed

2.  Ease

3.  Affordability

Maybe the third one isn’t a feature so much as a benefit but those are the advantages of  Netgear Switches for your home or small office.

Data Transfer is Boring, Make it Snappy

Transferring large files via network switches in your home or small business network is a snooze.  This routine exercise won’t even cross your mind unless you’re angry that it’s not working right. No need to worry with Netgear’s out of sight, out of mind switches that offer:

  • Gigabit speed, auto-sensing ports.
  • Simple set up that requires no software installation.
  • Fanless design for noiseless operation.

3 Options

Netgear offers your choice of Managed, Unmanaged, and Smart switches to meet your needs.  Here’s the breakdown:

(more…)

More from: Small Business VoIP Nathan Miloszewski

QNAP Next Generation NVR’s

June 22, 2011 by Nathan Miloszewski

We’ve updated the QNAP line of network video recorders for IP surveillance video storage and playback.

Popular models of discontinued QNAP NVR Surveillance Recorders have been replaced with new generation models powered by the latest Intel Atom processors such as the affordable VS-2004L (4-channel) and the VS-2008L (8-channel) consumer-ready standalone systems.

Mobile Viewing App

QNAP VS-2004L
QNAP updates include a mobile viewing app that keeps an eye on your IP cameras remotely via iPhone, iPad, or a Windows PDA with instant alerts sent to your mobile device should an event occur.

Choice of Hard Drives

On all QNAP NVR’s with multiple hard drive bays IP Camera Supply offers your choice of:

  • No hard drives.
  • 1 TB hard drives.
  • 2 TB hard drives.
  • Any combination of the above.

Total Package

“QNAP surveillance systems are a comprehensive standalone solution for recording, storing, and viewing surveillance video,” said Garrett Smith, Chief Marketing Officer at IP Camera Supply.  “QNAP NVR’s are so simple to set-up and use it’s no wonder our customer look to them first and we’re excited to offer these new, more powerful editions.”

Need help making a choice?  Check out the Guide to Selecting to Network Video Recorders.

More from: Network Video Recorders Nathan Miloszewski

QNAP Next Generation NVR’s

by Nathan Miloszewski

We’ve updated the QNAP line of network video recorders for IP surveillance video storage and playback.

Popular models of discontinued QNAP NVR Surveillance Recorders have been replaced with new generation models powered by the latest Intel Atom processors such as the affordable VS-2004L (4-channel) and the VS-2008L (8-channel) consumer-ready standalone systems.

Mobile Viewing AppQNAP VS-2004L

QNAP updates include a mobile viewing app that keeps an eye on your IP cameras remotely via iPhone, iPad, or a Windows PDA with instant alerts sent to your mobile device should an event occur.

Choice of Hard Drives

On all QNAP NVR’s with multiple hard drive bays IP Camera Supply offers your choice of:

  • No hard drives.
  • 1 TB hard drives.
  • 2 TB hard drives.
  • Any combination of the above.

Total Package

“QNAP surveillance systems are a comprehensive standalone solution for recording, storing, and viewing surveillance video,” said Garrett Smith, Chief Marketing Officer at IP Camera Supply.  “QNAP NVR’s are so simple to set-up and use it’s no wonder our customer look to them first and we’re excited to offer these new, more powerful editions.”

Need help making a choice?  Check out the Guide to Selecting to Network Video Recorders.

 

More from: Network Video Recorders Nathan Miloszewski

Cisco loves giving away money!

June 21, 2011 by Christina Smith

When you hear the word ‘Cisco’ you may think Fortune 100 company, large enterprises, expensive equipment, trusted namebrand… But did you know that Cisco also loves to give away money???

It’s true.  Cisco is always running great programs to help make their equipment more affordable so that everyone can afford to be running an efficient and trustworthy network.

The trick is to be in the know and we at VoIP Supply would like to let you know about some great Cisco opportunities to save money and even earn money this summer from Cisco!

Get 5 for the price of 4

Cisco is running fantastic specials, basically a buy 4 get the 5th free, on their three most popular IP Phones and switches!

If you are going to be buying the equipment anyway, make sure you are buying it right!  When you add any increment of 5 of these phones or switches to your cart on www.voipsupply.com, the 5th unit will be discounted off your cart automatically.

Keep this in mind if you were planning on just buying 4 of something.  Below is the complete list of items we are offering 5 for the price of 4 on! Hurry, this promotion expires July 31st!
(more…)

More from: VoIP News Christina Smith

  • Featured Posts

    VoIP Fulfillment by VoIP Supply: Same-Day Turnaround and High-Quality Output

    Take Action: The End of Copper POTS Lines is Near! (Replacement Options Included)

    *Comparison Chart* Introducing Fanvil’s V Series IP Phones

  • Popular Posts

    5 FREE SIP Softphones and affordable deskphone options

    What's my IP Camera's Default Password?

    FXS and FXO – You should be in the know…

    How To: Upload Firmware to a Polycom Unit

    Tech Tip: Converting a Cisco IP Phone from SCCP (Skinny) to SIP Firmware

    Setting up an Audiocodes MP-114/118 FXO with Asterisk and FreeSwitch

    Setting Up an AudioCodes MP1xx FXS With Asterisk

    3CX Versus Asterisk

    SIP for magicjack

    Bluetooth Headsets for Polycom VVX 500

    5 Reasons Why You Should Sell The Poly (Plantronics) Headsets – Webinar Recap


  • Read Our Feed

  • Latest

  • VoIP Post Categories

  • Archives