Most Want Something Other Then a PBX

August 11, 2008 by Garrett Smith

The title of this blog post might be the most profound thing I have ever read about Asterisk.

Courtesy of Alec Saunders, I got wind of this post by Jay Phillips that goes into detail in regards to some of the current limitations of the platform as it looks to move from the innovator phase to the early adopter phase. While Jay makes some valid points about making Asterisk easier for the mainstream programmer to build off of, therefore growing their developer base and business, the most profound piece of his post, and what will be lost on most “fringe” telephony folks is Jay’s statement that when it comes to Asterisk,

“most want something other than a PBX”

If there is anything that our 101 things you can do with Asterisk contest proved, it is that Asterisk is being used for things other than it’s original intent – a phone system, due to the fact that you are free to do whatever you want with it. Many argue that Asterisk won’t don’t this or can’t do that, but at the end of the day Asterisk is about more then open source, telephony, developers and ease of use:

It is about the idea of creating something.

Asterisk is powerful because it evokes the thinker, the visionary, the entrepreneur in all of us. Asterisk challenges us to do things we never before thought were possible. It was a catalyst of a whole new way of thinking about telephony and gave down to an entire industry now filled with many projects that compete, work with and improve Asterisk. Asterisk will never satisfy everyone’s needs. It will never be the end all be all of open source telephony, but no project will ever achieve that because most people want something other than a PBX and in order to achieve that you need more than just a piece of open source software.

VoIP Supply Named to the CRN 100

by Garrett Smith

Late in July we got word that VoIP Supply had been named to Everything Channel’s CRN 100 list of fastest growing solutions providers in the US. The award is based off of two things:

Ability to deliver multi-vendor IT solutions, cutting-edge technologies, close customer relationships, demonstrate strong sales philosophies and business-oriented IT consulting.
Sales revenue growth from 2005 to 2007

We have won quite a few awards centered around our growth, but this one is especially nice since it points out a fact that is lost on many within the industry – that we provide solutions, not just boxes.

Since our inception in 2004, many have been confused as to who VoIP Supply is and what it is that we actually do. Over the last four years we have continually redefined our model and rather than latch on to a canned definition of who we are, we chose to continue to focus on one thing – delivering everything you need for VoIP, which has lead to our ability to deliver custom solutions to a variety of customer verticals.

This quote from our CEO, Benjamin P. Sayers, sums it up pretty well:

“There has always been a perception that VoIP Supply is just another ‘box pusher’ due to our web based go-to-market strategy. VoIP Supply is continuing to grow at an aggressive rate by providing our customers with a wide variety of VoIP solutions, not just ‘boxes.’ Hopefully this award, along with our continued commitment to developing custom VoIP solutions to meet the ever changing needs of our customers, will eliminate this perception.”

If you have ever done business with us you know that we do much more than push boxes – hopefully this award and continued productization of our service offerings will allow others to see this side of us.

Spectralink Bundle Additions

August 8, 2008 by Garrett Smith

***Offering free ground shipping Aug 8^th – Aug 18^th 2008***

Announcing the newest addition to our voip inventory, Spectralink Bundles!These bundles incorporate the e340, h340, i640 and 8000 series.The Spectralink phones included in these bundles occupy a broad range of features from international use, swivel clips, battery packs, dual or single chargers, integrated TFTP client, push to talk, four programmable softkeys and extended talk time of up to 4 hours.One of the Spectralink’s more interesting attributes is the phones coupling of rugged and ergonomic design while maintaining its light weight.

The table below identifies each bundle to its series:

	e340 Series	h340 Series	i640 Series	8020 Series		8030 Series
SpectraLink KPE211	x
SpectraLink KPE241	x
SpectraLink KPE251	x
SpectraLink KPE201	x
SpectraLink KPN241		x
SpectraLink KPN251		x
SpectraLink KPX211			x
SpectraLink KPX241			x
SpectraLink KPX251			x
SpectraLink CBS200				x
SpectraLink CBD200				x
SpectraLink CBS300					x
SpectraLink CBD300					x

Professor Plum in the Ballroom with the Rope: The Who, Where, and How of Mobile VoIP.

by Tom Costelloe

There has been a lot of debate lately regarding the new Speedo swimsuits worn by swimmers in the lead up to the Olympics. The suits have been designed to reduce drag, thus helping to increase speeds and reducing energy used by swimmers. As I write, at least forty world records have fallen and most likely more will fall in the weeks ahead. These broken records don’t mean much to me. If it wasn’t for a magazine at the mechanics during my oil change, I would never have been aware of the advances in swimsuit technology. In order for an advance in a technology to catch my attention it must make some positive effect on my life. I’d imagine most people are like this.

Mobile VoIP, as good as it may seem to you or me must offer something unique and groundbreaking to the general masses before it will become widely adopted. To increase consumer awareness, we have to look at the who, where and how of Mobile VoIP. Once we understand what sets Mobile VoIP, the potential for wider acceptance will increase. I am going to look at two examples; a residential or end user (myself) and a business (one of my customers).

(more…)

Vonage Pro Is Not Mobile VoIP

August 5, 2008 by Garrett Smith

A week or so ago Vonage launched a new set of pay for features called Vonage Pro. It was an interesting combination of “revolutionary” things such as a softphone client for a desktop or laptop, personalized ring tones, call recording and conference calling – you know all of the features business people have come to expect in a telecommunications solution. While I will save the rant on why this offering is less then awe inspiring, one thing that is really concerning is how people are touting VonagePro as some sort of mobile VoIP service when it isn’t.

Vonage Pro, while offering new features that are cutely packaged, foes enhance your ability to access Vonage service when on the go, but it is not Mobile VoIP as defined as the ability to access VoIP service via a cellular handset over a 3G or WiFi network. Vonage Pro is not Truphone, fring, EQO, or any of the dozen other Mobile VoIP services on the market. Vonage is a pretty smart marketing company – they love to leverage “buzz words” to drive an increase in subscribers, but unfortunately, they do a ton of damage through misinformation, even if it is indirect.

Asterisk Dial Plan Basics

by Arthur Miller

I was recently discussing an asterisk implementation at a 12 seat organization, and the customer had some concerns about using a more developed solution such as the Trixbox or Swithchvox products due to budgetary constraints.

He had a fair amount of Linux knowledge and had used asterisk on a limited basis at home. Because he was not completely foreign to the subject he was ready to tackle the project, but needed some additional preparation.

To aid him, I found this link, just posted a couple days ago on Youtube which gives information on setting up a dial plan:

Micro Communications Making Business Informal and Intimate

August 4, 2008 by Garrett Smith

Leave Your Tie At Home

Anyone who knows me can attest to the fact that I am not a suit and tie kind of guy – why get all dressed up just to sit in front of a computer all day, right?

Like my fashion taste, it seems that communication technology is becoming less formal each day, driven by advances in communications technology – especially those that emphasize “micro” communications. It might be hard for many to fathom that today’s business communications and relationships are built atop of communications platforms that just a few short years ago would be scoffed at by corporate types, but it is tough to deny the overall effectiveness of these new communications technologies.

Technology Is Making Business Conversations More Intimate

Technology such as SMS, distributed voice mail, Twitter and even a Facebook message has broken down the wall of formal business communications.

Last week Friday I was Tweeting with a prospective customer. This morning I received an SMS message from a vendor to set-up a meeting time. Today I will probably use both communications vehicles as a way to find new relationships and foster new ones. This was something that was not being done even a year or so ago – truly amazing how quickly things can change.

Intimate and Informal is More Effective?

In today’s “always-on” environment, we don’t have time for formalities – just give us what we need to know. The same technology that is making business less informal is also making communications more intimate and as a result much more effective. This is scary for many, but empowering for others.

So, as many fight to keep the formalities of business, resisting the changing nature of how we, as people, communicate, others are embracing these changes and in turn are realizing a whole new level of business relations – the type that builds long term friendships. Shouldn’t that not be the judge of whether a communications medium is effective in a business setting, after all Jeffery Gitomer always writes that, “people want to do business with their friends” and today’s emerging communications technologies allow you do that faster, easier and more effectively then their more formal predecessors.

The Do’s and Dont’s of IVR Apps

by Tom Costelloe

It is often not until something is pointed out to me that I notice it in abundance. Take, for example, a particular “tag” or signature used by graffiti artists. My wife pointed out the side of a mailbox as we were going for a walk the other night. She commented on how she’d noticed it around the neighborhood. Personally I had seen that many signs, mailboxes, and buildings had been tagged. However, I hadn’t noticed any particular tag over the other. Now I noticed this tag, pointed out to me by my wife, virtually everywhere even if I am not looking for it.

Every day I deal with IVR applications, menus and voice prompts; whether for work trying to contact a customer, or in my own life trying to order food. It wasn’t until a conversation I had early last week when uncovering some of the mistakes people make, that I really started paying attention to what I was and was not hearing. There are many simple mistakes which people regularly make when trying to record their own prompts. A couple examples of what I came across include:

Quality: In many cases this is a client’s first impression of your company and its products and services. What are they hearing? What is their reaction? Take a minute to call into your own business and ask yourself, “Is what I want my customers to hear?”
Consistency: Is the same voice throughout the prompt? Is a similar tone of voice maintained? Does the voice quality switch between supplied prompts and recorded prompts? For example, you may have recorded an upbeat greeting–do you have or should you have the same tone for every prompt?
Order: Decide the order of information provided; will the name be given first, or the phone extension? I suggest that you let people know who it is before you say how to get to them. Something like: “For our customer service department, please press 1”.
Length: Don’t try to get out as much information as you can in the first 15 seconds. Only provide what you need to; there is a good chance that the important information might not be retained if the message contains too much information.
On Hold: If a client is willing to wait to talk to a live person, it is a good idea to inform them of some of the services your organization offers or recent achievements while they listen to music. If a client must be placed on hold, it is better to have them listen to something rather that nothing at all.

This may seem straight forward and simple, but if you pay careful attention, the next time you make a phone call and are placed on hold, you may be surprised by what you hear. All is not lost; there are plenty of options out there.

In regards to your business phone system one option is to take the time to individually record and replace every prompt with custom prompts. While it may be a bit time consuming, the end-product will be worthwhile. The other option is to purchase pre-recorded prompts combined with a smaller number of custom prompts. There are packages offering replacements for all standard prompts used within many different phone systems. Additionally custom prompts may be created for your greeting, menus and messages on hold. Custom prompts are recorded by the same person to complete the package. You’ve taken the time to design and layout out an IVR that covers every possible option a customer could want. Comparing the voice prompts within your phone system to a “tag” as I mentioned previously: Why go out with a can of spray paint for a few key words when you can have someone paint you a mural?

More on MagicJack

August 2, 2008 by Garrett Smith

Rich Tehrani, Editor in Chief at TMC and prolific VoIP industry writer, penned a recent post with some thoughts on MagicJack, current industry media darling and scourge of ITSPs everywhere.

Tehrani gives MagicJack high marks for their marketing campaign and product branding. I agree, they have done a good job of getting the word out about their service.

Rich also gives MagicJack props for letting their freak flag fly, daring to include mention of the technology gears behind their service and not hiding in the closet from an often VoIPoPhobic consumer audience. Heck they even modded the USB stick ATA so you can see the board, chips and circuits inside.

So I’m reading Rich’s post and nodding in agreement right up until the end, when he remarks:

I suspect we will see more companies doing similar things and packaging their products in a like fashion and switching to pricing plans that are very close to this offer.

I disagree here. One fact missing from the analysis of MagicJack is that their business model is built off the idea of subsidizing their service delivery costs by borrowing a monetization strategy that is the foundation of most web services…..ADVERTISING!

Rob Beschizza at BoingBoing Gadgets peeks behind the curtain and sees that the devil is in the details, and that privacy advocates are not likely to be signing up for MagicJack anytime soon.

From MagicJack’s EULA (End User Licensing Agreement):

“You also understand and agree that use of the magicJack device and Software will include advertisements and that these advertisements are necessary for the magicJack device to work … Our computers may analyze the phone numbers you call in order to improve the relevance of the ads”
…
Any claims, legal proceeding or litigation arising in connection with the magicJack device or Software will be resolved by binding arbitration … in Palm Beach, Florida.

Hmmmm…..”Our computers may analyze the phone numbers you call in order to improve the relevance of the ads”….

Does that allude to geo-targeting of local advertisements based upon area codes dialed? Or something more sinister like packet sniffing and keyword targeting based on actual conversation snippets from private phone calls?

I don’t buy the notion of consumers buying into ad supported phone service at a massive level, creating a trend that would shape the overall industry. That’s just my opinion, and I may be called out for it in the future and I’m willing to take the heat for it.

I wrote about using MagicJack to emulate POTS service with an IP PBX last year. At least one of our readers was working on gaining access to MagicJack’s SIP proxy in order to bypass the need for their USB dongle.

FreeSwitch and SipXecs and Second Generation IP PBX

July 31, 2008 by Garrett Smith

There’s a new generation and it won’t be denied. I have previously blogged on the exciting new FreeSwitch 1.0 release. I predicted it wouldn’t be long before others in the industry started seeing its worth and started making applications for it. Well, one major trend seems to be that the folks over at SipX Foundry, who make the very nice SipXecs, are a bit smitten with FreeSwitch, and what it can do for them. They’ve just created a conference server solution and next in line are an IVR and hints about a voicemail system based on FreeSwitch. They now have that feature/application server that they needed to complete their system. I expect to see the SipXecs project to use FreeSwitch more often.

Asterisk is starting to look like a first generation IP PBX. It is apparent now that its dominance in the FOSS VoIP market may be seeing its first real challenges by real players. Asterisk is going to have to start from scratch. They wouldn’t listen to their community, and may now pay the price for that hubris. Can they fix an inherently flawed design? Time will tell.

When I started with Asterisk, the learning curve was awfully steep. I didn’t know that much about telephony, and when I started with FreeSwitch I had to learn an entire new syntax and way of doing things (see -> steep learning curve). A lot of the people that are hanging on to Asterisk are doing so because they really don’t want to have to relearn something all over again. They are comfortable. Others have gained status in a community and don’t relish the idea of having to start at the bottom of the food chain again as noobs. They are comfortable. Asterisk gave me my start with VoIP, and I will always have place for it in my heart. But, I also realize that times and technology change, and so must I. Asterisk isn’t going anywhere anytime soon, but the writing is on the wall, and it reads “Niche Player.”

We here at VoIP Supply will have to react as the market changes or face the very real possibility that our competitors will do so first, and become the market leaders in doing so. To date, VoIP penetration has been limited by scalability. With new systems offering greater capacity the opportunity for growth is certainly there. The enterprise market that was previously cautious regarding VoIP may be a bit more open now. My point is not knocking Asterisk, simply categorizing it for what it is, a decent solution for the SMB/SOHO market. But, as my boss put it: “given the choice between a Mercedes and a Ford for the same price, I’ll take the Mercedes.” Others may feel the same.

UPDATE: The FreeSwitch group is getting ready to release version 1.0.1 soon that will improve the code’s stability and add Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) and Text To Speech (TTS) to the code.

A little background on what others think of SipXecs is also in order. From the hyper-connected enterprise blog on TMCNet: “Asterisk may be older but sipXecs is better” (a Nortel Guy).

Most Want Something Other Then a PBX

VoIP Supply Named to the CRN 100

Spectralink Bundle Additions

Professor Plum in the Ballroom with the Rope: The Who, Where, and How of Mobile VoIP.

Vonage Pro Is Not Mobile VoIP

Asterisk Dial Plan Basics

Micro Communications Making Business Informal and Intimate

Leave Your Tie At Home

Technology Is Making Business Conversations More Intimate

Intimate and Informal is More Effective?

The Do’s and Dont’s of IVR Apps

More on MagicJack

FreeSwitch and SipXecs and Second Generation IP PBX

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