Digium Switchvox Goes Mobile for Android

August 26, 2011 by Nathan Miloszewski

Digium, the Asterisk company, has added a Switchvox Mobile app to integrate their small to medium business (SMB) communications solutions for Android devices. 

This free app, available for download in the Android Market, now rounds out their mobile support that already include iPhone and Blackberry users. 

Switchvox product line director Tristan Barnum notes that there’s been some anticipation:

“With the wide adoption of the Switchvox Mobile features, users have been asking for Android integration and we are pleased to be offering it now.”

(more…)

Free Plantronics Headset – One Day Only

August 25, 2011 by Nathan Miloszewski

Plantronics is offering a Trade Up Promotion for one day only on September 1, 2011.

What’s the catch?

Mail in a used Jabra headset, working or not, and they’ll trade it up to a new Plantronics Blackwire 435 corded, over-the-ear headset designed for Unified Communications (UC).

Details

  • One day only – September 1st, 2011, while supplies last.
  • The application form, posted the day of at http://plantronics.rebateaccess.com/, must be completed.
  • The Jabra headset must be shipped by September 1, 2011, to the address provided by Plantronics, and must be received by Plantronics no later than September 9, 2011. You’re responsible for these shipping fees.
  • The traded-in Jabra headset does not have to be in working condition.
  • Plantronics will pay the shipping fees when shipping the Blackwire 435 headset to participants. 

Click here for a Blackwire 435 demo.

Next Generation SMB IP Phones from Grandstream

August 24, 2011 by Nathan Miloszewski

Wishing you could find some SIP-based IP phones for under $99?  Grandstream answers that call and can you do you one better.

The new Grandstream GXP1100 and GXP1105 entry level HD IP phones are being offered with a list price of $49 and $55, respectively.

If you value HD audio over everything else, these IP phones are for you as they provide neither multiple lines nor an LCD display.

GXP1100/1105 Applications & Features

Billed for small to medium businesses (SMB), lobbies, and hospitality applications the GXP1100 and GXP1105 series is only entry level for the features they don’t have but offer high performance in the features they do have.

There’s only one main difference between the two phones.  The GXP1105 includes POE functionality, thus the slightly higher price tag.  Other than that, with a single SIP account, both phones offer:

  • Up to 2 calls.
  • 4 programmable keys.
  • 7 dedicated functions keys.
  • Clear, HD audio with support for wideband audio.
  • Automated provisioning using TR-069 or AES encrypted XML configuration file, SRTP and TLS for advanced security protection, 802.1x for media access control.

Basic but Powerful

If you have no need for sophisticated multi-line phones with LCD displays, why pay for it?  Grandstream’s GXP1100/1105 series is basic but flexible, high quality, and highly affordable.

These Grandstream IP phones are slated to be available sometime in September 2011.

Hosted VoIP Service

August 23, 2011 by Nathan Miloszewski

Designed specifically for small to medium sized businesses, hosted VoIP solutions make a lot of sense and will save your business money.

Hosted and cloud VoIP services remove the burdens of upfront expenses and place the hardware and software responsibilities squarely on the service provider.

VoIP Supply now offers Hosted VoIP Service Quotes within minutes of filling out the simple form.  Just tell us the service you’re intersted in and the number of users or lines and you’re on your way to helping your business get more for less.

New Service or Changing Service

Whether you’re in need of Hosted VoIP service or looking to change from your current VoIP service provider, VoIP Supply works with the best VoIP service providers to give you competitive service quotes that can help you save big.

Benefits

  • Up to (5) VoIP service quotes from industry leading providers.
  • Service providers have been pre-screened and evaluated by VoIP Supply experts.
  • No obligation.

 

The Art of Stasi Surveillance

August 18, 2011 by Nathan Miloszewski

No, these aren’t images of ironically dressed hipsters culled from the pages of an Urban Outfitters catalog but rather the uncovered surveillance archives of the East German secret police, the Stasi.

Photographer Simon Menner’s dicovery and display of this archive is not meant to be humourous, it’s a reminder to the viewer of the overbearing nature of government agencies as Menner remarked to Reuters reporter Sarah Marsh:

“These were used during courses on how to dress up and blend into society,” the 33 year-old artist said. “They seem pretty absurd now, but it was meant seriously — this is evil stuff.”

Other photos revealed that Polaroids were used to document how an apartment was arranged before a search took place so that objects could be returned as found; leaving no trace that your privacy had been completely violated.

This display is meant to be a lasting reminder that the “art of disguise” has obviously advanced and will continually remain a part of our lives. Whether we know it or not.

Via NY Times Lens Blog / Reuters / Conscientious Extended

Polycom SoundStation Rebate up to $200

From now through September 30th, 2011 you can receive up to $200 with a mail-in rebate on select Polycom SoundStation conference phones when you buy from VoIP Supply, a Certified Polycom Channel Partner.

Special Limited-Time Rebate Offer

Receive a rebate of up to $200 for every new Polycom SoundStation conference phone purchased from VoIP Supply on new products purchased from August 15 through September 30, 2011.

How It Works

  • Step 1:  Purchase a new qualified Polycom conference phone between August 15 and September 30, 2011.
  • Step 2:  Submit completed Conference Phone Rebate Claim Form, proof of purchase, and customer invoice or receipt via mail, fax or e-mail as directed on the claim form. All claim forms must be submitted within 30 days of purchase.
  • Step 3:  Polycom will issue a rebate check directly to you within 6 weeks of receiving qualified and verifiedPolycom IP 7000 claims.

Eligible Phones

Click here for the Polycom Conference Phone Rebate Claim Form.

SoundStation Information

For more information on Polycom Soundstation conference phones, check out:

Sony IP Camera Debuts for Radiology Market

August 17, 2011 by Nathan Miloszewski

Strapping an indoor dome IP camera to a IV stand and calling it a medical device for radiologists only works if you’re Sony.

It’s also not just any old IP camera or portable stand.  Sony is using its SNC-RH124 dual streaming, HD, 360 degree rapid dome IP camera that incorporates state-of-the-art image-enhancement technologies in a compact body including 10x zoom that allow users to capture clear and bright images in challenging environments.

MD2GO Rolling Medical Stand

Coupled with the SNC-RH124 is Sony’s MD2GO rolling stand specifically designed for medical applications that forms a remote HD IP camera system.

The Sony MD2GO system has just been introduced to the radiology field at the Annual Meeting of the Association for Medical Imaging Management (AHRA) this week:

“The system is designed to enable HD Video communication between remote parties including multiple radiologists, radiologists and referring physicians, or even with radiologists and their patients. By simply using a PC and Microsoft Internet Explorer®, the radiologist can view the other party in HD video and have a two-way audio conversation from virtually anywhere at any time.”

New World of Applications

It’s intertesting to note that we’ve billed this Sony IP camera as capable of opening up a “whole new world of video security applications” for it’s great picture quality, wide monitoring area, and responsive pan and tilt functions.  Now, it’s been opened up to the medical world.

So if it feels like you’re being spied on the next time you have a procedure done, maybe you are, and that’s fine by me.  Sony claims the MD2GO has already been successful in surgery applications.   It’s great to see IP cameras aiding the advancement of medical science with effective involvement of remote expert physicians,  helping to teach next generation med students, or post-procedure patient monitoring.

Via DOTmed News

Google+ Home Surveillance

August 16, 2011 by Nathan Miloszewski

If you’re fabulous enough to have received an intive to the exclusive Google+, the latest social media splash, you might also like to know that their Hangouts feature offers an easy way to set up simple home surveillance monitoring.

Google+ Hangouts offers face-to-face video chats with several of your friends at the same time.  But what if you were just using two of your own personal accounts with one of the account’s webcam trained on an area of interest? 

That’s what a Lifehacker reader did and explained the process and results of using Google+ Hangouts with a webcam to keep watch over your house:

You can use Google Hangouts as an on demand remote camera viewer. First, create a second Google Account, and put the alternate account in its own circle. Then, start a hangout with just that circle. When you want to checkup on how everything’s going along in your house, you can just join the hangout with your alternate account, and you should see what’s happening. Of course, for more complicated and long term camera solutions, you would need some specific software. This is just a no additional software approach to quickly checking up on your house while you are away.

Lifehacker tester Whitson Gordon notes that this will work even with the screensaver on, just be sure to turn the computer’s “Sleep” function off if you want continual surveillance access.

Via Lifehacker

Unified Communications Not Just For Saving Money Anymore

VoIP Supply’s CMO Garrett Smith shared his thoughts recently with TMC’s CEO Rich Tehrani about how recent trends are affecting VoIP equipment. 

Smith will be speaking at next month’s ITEXPO about the benefits of unified communictions for business and explained to Tehrani why it’s important

“Most organizations used to think of IP based communications as a way to save money, but today it’s really more about what IP/unified communications can enable from an efficiency and productivity standpoint.

Properly integrating and deploying unified communications is still a hurdle for some, but the potential benefits that come from leveraging it definitely justify the costs.”

The Cell Phone Effect & Disruptive Forces

In the last few years the applications for VoIP technology have evolved while the VoIP hardware has remained relatively unchanged.  There’s now a growing demand for mobile VoIP solutions that’s isn’t just limited to road warriors and international callers.  Smith calls this the “cell phone effect,” whereby intra-office users feel the need to be constantly connected. 

Read Carrie Schmelkin’s full transcript of the interview, VoIP Equipment Leader VoIP Supply Readies for ITEXPO, for more on the rising mobile VoIP demand and why hosted and cloud-based communication services are the next disruptive force in technology.

Don’t forget to catch Garrett Smith as he makes the business case for VoIP and UC at the ITEXPO next month on September 14, 2011.

Via TMCnet

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