Skype Group Video Calls Brings Video Conferencing to Everyone

May 13, 2010 by Garrett Smith

Earlier today Skype announced their version 5.0 BETA.

There’s a number of improvements and new features. They are all of value, but perhaps the most important and intriguing feature release is group video calling.

The highly demanded and anticipated group video calling feature allows Skype users to conduct a Skype video call with up to five other Skype users.

That’s right – five way video conferencing. For free.

All you need is a Skype Web camera, a Skype account and some Skype buddies.

For years video conferencing technology has been out of the reach of small companies. With version 5.0, Skype has enable millions to start leveraging video conferencing to increase productivity, efficiency and even lower costs.

Small businesses no longer need to outlay thousands of dollars to enjoy basic video conferencing if they don’t need to. This is a huge win for Skype and users of the service.

Now this feature release doesn’t signal the end for existing video conferencing providers. If anything it will only further increased interest and use of the technology.

And as interest and usage increases, so to does demand for more advanced and feature rich video conferencing options. This makes the announcement a win for just about everyone.

Oh and we’ll get back to VoIP tomorrow. Promise.

Advantages of Video Conferencing

May 11, 2010 by Joe Shanahan

Video conferencing is a very popular and rapidly growing technology due to the many advantages and cost savings it can provide to both large and small businesses and organizations of all types.

Business meetings, educational training, medical procedures and collaboration, stockholder meetings, distance learning, surveillance and military operations are just a few of the many different environments where video conferencing is used on a daily basis.

The Main Advantages of Video Conferencing

Cost Savings

The most obvious advantage of utilizing video conferencing is the reduction of travel costs that is realized when face to face meetings are conducted via video rather than in person. Cutting travel expenses is an excellent way for a company to help the bottom line while keeping the same level of service to customers and business associates that they are accustomed to.
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Video Conferencing Solutions Now Available at VoIP Supply

May 10, 2010 by Garrett Smith

If you don’t know it already or can’t tell from my posts I talk a lot.

More precisely I communicate a lot.

From face-to-face meetings, phone calls, emails and text messages more than half of my waking hours are spent communicating.

And recently, I’ve added a new hammer to my communications tool box – Video conferencing.

Whether I’m leveraging the Polycom HDX 8002 video conferencing system in our training room or desktop video calling using Skype and a web camera, video conferencing has helped me become a more efficient and profitable employee.

I no longer have to travel to EVERY meeting. I can foster better relationships and collaboration with the Manufacturers we represent. And I can now tell when someone’s snoozing on a call 🙂

Now you can too.

I was supposed to keep this quiet until Wednesday, but I can’t keep quiet any longer. Video conferencing equipment is now available at VoIP Supply.

Look for more on video conferencing solutions from the likes of Polycom, FREETALK, Grandstream and others over the coming weeks as VoIP Supply brings together voice and video for the first time.

In the mean time, check out the following articles to get you primed for what’s to come:

Cisco IP Phone Headsets

May 3, 2010 by Garrett Smith

So you have put the research into it, tried out a demo unit, and finally you have decided on Cisco IP Phones for your VoIP deployment.

Selecting a headset for a Cisco Phone

In most cases the headset to use with your new VoIP phone is a hasty afterthought. VoIP Supply has done the research for you on headsets so you can decide quickly and with confidence which headsets are your best bet to use with your new Cisco IP phone.
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New Hours of Operation

by Garrett Smith

In addition to Canadian expansion, VoIP Supply is also expanding our hours of operation to meet the needs of west coast customers.

Starting today VoIP Supply’s new hours of operation are 8:3am until 9pm EST Monday through Friday. During this time live sales and service associates will be available to answer your questions, service your account and process your orders.

For more information, please call 800.398.8647 or email [email protected].

VoIP Supply Invades Foreign Soil

by Garrett Smith

voip_supply_canada

If you’ve followed the VoIP Insider or VoIP Supply for any length of time you will know that for years we’ve been servicing a worldwide customer base. While the United States is our primary market, we’ve always had a strong presence within North America, especially in Canada.

Over the years we’ve kept a close on eye on the Canadian market place through our Canadian VoIP Store and over the last few months we’ve made a number of investments to bolster our ability to service the Canadian market.

In addition to a revamp of our Canadian website, today we’re happy to announce that VoIP Supply now has a physical presence in Canada. Starting soon orders placed through VoIPSupply.com or CanadianVoIPStore.com will ship from our Canada location.

This will allow Canadian customers to purchase product in Canadian dollars, avoid shipping delays and customs fees all of which should make purchasing VoIP equipment easier and less expensive.

Migrating to VoIP using a gateway

April 28, 2010 by Brian Hyrek

More and more companies have begun considering a new phone system. Chances are you are looking into one too.

Since the last time you’ve looked into a phone system, though, a lot has changed. Today you have more choice than ever.

Despite the choice and after dragging a fine-tooth over the feature sets and costs savings of VoIP vs. Analog phone systems, you’ll likely find that moving your phone system to VoIP is a conclusive no-brainer.

But that doesn’t mean that the PSTN isn’t useful, nor does it mean that you necessarily have to completely replace your existing phone system – thanks to VoIP Gateways.
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Benefiting from VoIP – Hosted or Premise?

April 22, 2010 by Arthur Miller

A lot of businesses these days find themselves faced with tightening budgets and outdated phone systems deployed 10 or more years ago. I speak with these types of businesses everyday; owners or IT administrators looking at exploring whether or not a VoIP system is a good fit for their organization and how to approach putting a system together or approaching a service provider.

While hybrid solutions exist and the use of a VoIP gateway can allow many companies to deploy VoIP using their existing infrastructure, most people I speak with these days are interested completely replacing their existing phone system.

For this there are two ways to approach this project:

Hosted VoIP Phone Service
Premise VoIP Phone Systems

Each of these solutions bring with them benefits. How substantial these benefits are to you, will of course depend on your situation.
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Metaswitch Forum 2010 upcoming 5/17 -5/20

April 21, 2010 by Garrett Smith

At Aastra we spend a lot of time and money on inter-opt testing with the leading SIP Call Control platforms; whether those platforms are premised based or hosted. One of our key relationships is with Metawitch.

For those who do not know Metaswitch they are a UK based company with a large base of USA customers. They focus on products sold to Carriers which include a “broad range of telephony application server and switching products which are building out next-generation voice networks, modernizing legacy voice networks or deploying new voice applications”.

They sell soft switch technology and within that product sector have a solution called MetaSphere which among other things provides a Hosted PBX (or Hosted VoIP) solution set. Within this product sector their biggest competitor would probably be Broadsoft.
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Polycom IP 5000 – First Impressions

by Garrett Smith

Polycom_SoundStation_IP_5000
The Polycom IP 5000 first hit test benches across North America earlier this month. Based off of initial usage and basic testing, the following first impressions are given. Look for a more formal review in the coming days.

Earlier this month Polycom announced the release of their latest conference phone the SoundStation IP 5000.

Now that the IP 5000 is in stock and shipping across North America it’s a product that is definitely worth taking time to look at.

The Polycom IP 5000 is a SIP based VoIP conference phone that extends Polycom’s world class SoundStation product line down into the smallest of businesses.Following in the rich history of other Polycom SoundStation conferencing units, the IP 5000 comes ready for business in an updated starfish design and with Polycom’s patented Acoustic Clarity technology.

Featuring room filling audio thanks to Polycom’s HD Voice and a price point of just $399.99, the Polycom IP 5000 blends future proof technology and affordability perfectly.

In using the Polycom IP 5000 you’ll find that with it’s vibrant LCD screen, soft button key pad and intuitive feature set the SoundStation IP 5000 looks, feels and performs every bit of a conference phone priced at hundreds more. Plus you can use the Polycom IP 5000 with just about any SIP based VoIP system or service which makes integration and set-up very straight forward.

Best yet the IP 5000 can be powered via Ethernet or AC power giving you flexibility when it comes to powering this efficient conferencing unit.

All of this makes the Polycom IP 5000 the right choice when it comes to voice conferencing for small businesses and larger companies with smaller conference rooms or private offices.

For more technical information click on over to the product page and or stay tuned for our official review.

Skype Group Video Calls Brings Video Conferencing to Everyone

Advantages of Video Conferencing

The Main Advantages of Video Conferencing

Cost Savings

Video Conferencing Solutions Now Available at VoIP Supply

Cisco IP Phone Headsets

Selecting a headset for a Cisco Phone

New Hours of Operation

VoIP Supply Invades Foreign Soil

Migrating to VoIP using a gateway

Benefiting from VoIP – Hosted or Premise?

Metaswitch Forum 2010 upcoming 5/17 -5/20

Polycom IP 5000 – First Impressions

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