Hotels and Asterisk

June 16, 2008 by Arthur Miller

Matthew Nickasch of NetworkWorld.com has written an interesting article about VoIP in the hotel industry.

Matthew notes (rightly) that albeit a little late, hotels are transitioning to VoIP because the cost of hardware has finally come down, and it has apparently become easier to implement changes to a large amount of extensions quickly.

At VoIP Supply, we have seen and worked on several initiatives to make deploying asterisk-based PBX’s easier to implement.

On a typical deployment we will use a Rhino Equipment FXS Channel bank, the Rhino Ceros IP PBX and Rhino Equipment Digital PCI card, along with Aastra analog phones. The magic is in the dial plan, and we can set a lot of that up ahead of time.

Women in VoIP: Vibrant VanDerHorst-Larson

June 13, 2008 by Garrett Smith

The next Woman in VoIP, Jennifer VanDerHorst-Larson, has over 10 years experience in the VoIP world and heads the controls as the CEO of Vibrant Technologies. Located in the Midwest, but selling worldwide, Vibrant provides consumers with quality used IT hardware and upgrades.

What is it like working as a woman in the VOIP world?

On a day to day basis, I don’t imagine being a woman in this industry is that much different than it is for a man. Individually, as CEO of Vibrant, I do have tendencies to communicate with my team and clients on a personal level…I often speak with every one of our 40 employees each day.

How did you become interested/introduced to VOIP?

Vibrant started out as a refurbished server reseller, and we would get these large lots of equipment from auctions and liquidations. We were increasingly coming across packages of Cisco routers, switches and telephony equipment, so we became more and more involved in trading networking and Telco hardware. We realized there was a big market in voice and networking and started to dedicate personnel to develop that market for us.

What are some of your networking/marketing methods?

I love to meet others in person at conferences and industry gatherings. Often the people you meet at these events may not have a direct business synergy with you but they have great insights and will link you up to new partners and clients.

How is it working with men in VOIP?

I enjoy working with the men in the industry. Of course I’m glad to see more and more women entering the VOIP world, but the men in the industry are great to work with. Successful people in IT sales have to possess a mix of intelligence, wit, toughness and integrity that it makes them such a great group to work with, no matter which gender they happen to be.

What do you see for the future of women in VOIP?

I hope to see more and more women take on a variety of roles from sales to technical positions, and of course more women heading up their own companies. Although currently male-dominated, women absolutely have the skills to thrive in this industry.

IPCS Word(s) of the Day: Motion Detection

by Garrett Smith

Motion Detection= Refers to the feature in some NVRs and DVRs to only record video if something in the image moves or changes. Therefore you don’t have to look through hours of stored video looking for something to happen. It also saves a lot of space on the hard drive, and allows you to record at a much lower frame rate when nothing is happening. When the system detects motion, the cameras can be kicked up to record at a higher frame rate (FPS).

Unified Communications becoming a "must" in today’s business world

June 12, 2008 by Garrett Smith

Blackberry provides necessary link

With the ever changing advancements in technology, virtually anyone can be reached at any given time or location in the world. Today’s business needs require this seamless method of communication. Communication could quite possibly be the most important and most crucial aspects to any organization. Communication on an inter-departmental basis, communication with your customers, patients, or colleagues, communication that is considered mission critical, the messages that NEED to meet their destinations, such as health care personnel, IT managers in times of network emergencies, and virtually any position that requires attention immediately.

I was recently reading an article on computerworld.com pertaining to Unified Communication and how the Blackberry can take this process one step further. Imagine your personal or work-related Blackberry cellular device completely tied in to your corporate phone system (PBX), and the Blackberry inhabits all of the features and characteristics of the corporate system–now that’s Unified Communications at its best.

Now the Blackberry can’t do this on its own and according to John Cox, intermingling with the RIM’s Mobile Voice System (MVS) is needed to allow this mobility and functionality to work correctly. More information on the MVS system and how it essentially links the Blackberry with your corporate PBX can be found here.

With the ongoing need and push for a more mobile workplace, the idea for Unified Communications will become a must in almost every business out there; no more missing an important call, missing VM, or “I couldn’t get a hold of you.” In the Computer World article, David Heit, director of software product management, who focuses on MVS, server software introduced in 2007 and based on a product acquired when RIM bought Ascendant Systems, demonstrates on his own BlackBerry, selecting a five-digit corporate extension at a desk in RIM’s Waterloo, Ontario, headquarters and presses a button to connect over AT&T’s Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution network. For the first time, the BlackBerry becomes, in effect, the user’s mobile desk phone, not just his mobile e-mail device.

New Resources for OpenSER Community!

by Garrett Smith

Prolific author and Brazilian OSS telephony jedi Flavio Goncalves emailed me this morning to let me know about some cool things he has been working on for fans of OpenSER.

First off, Flavio has penned a new book on OpenSER which is currently available through PackT Publishing. The book is titled Building Telephony Systems with OpenSER.

For those of you not familiar with OpenSER, head over to OpenSER.org OpenSER is an OSS project built off of SIP Express Router, and offers an alternative to Asterisk with an excellent feature set and growing community worldwide. OpenSER is known for its scalability and stability.

Flavio is also affiliated with Voice-System.ro, whom are offering an OpenSER bootcamp in Miami, FL July 7-11.

Details regarding the training from the Voice System website:

OpenSER bootcamp – 7-11 July, 2008 – Miami, Florida, USA (full description)

First specific training for OpenSER, 100% dedicated to OpenSER.

Maximum efficiency course – 5 days, 40 hours of training

Best knowledge transfer – Instructors with many years of OpenSER background (see our instructors)

Hands-on labs to back-up the theoretical knowledge

Learn and get certified as an OpenSER administrator

Comprehensive course materials – books, DVDS, T-shirts, IP Phone

The OpenSER Bootcamp is a full 5 days (40 hours) of intensive training providing in depth coverage of OpenSER Installation, configuration and administration. The students will learn how to download, compile and install OpenSER. After the installation, you will start to learn how to configure and operate OpenSER, how to deal with the most demanded functionalities, all, in the most professional way.

Instructors:
Bogdan-Andrei Iancu – OpenSER co-founder (board member) and main developer, with more than 7 years of SER/OpenSER behind. Also CEO of Voice System, an “know-how” OpenSER company.

Flávio E. Goncalves de Andrade - CEO of V.Office Networks, writer of the book “Building Telephony Systems with OpenSER”. Comprehensive knowledge in OpenSER operation and valuable experience in running VoIP courses and certifications.

Prices:
Course: 3000 USD per person (lunches included)
Certification: 230 USD per person

Registration:
Email: [email protected]

IPCS Word(s) of the Day: MPEG4

by Garrett Smith

MPEG4 = MPEG4 is a newer codec and supports 3D content, low bit rate encoding, and support for Digital Rights Management, which controls the use of copyrighted digital work. MPEG4 is used for web-streaming media, broadcast television, videophones, and CD distribution. MPEG4 is widely used in video surveillance, and has recently been improved to the AVC standard. As the two formats, MJPEG and MPEG4, usually target different applications, MPEG4 is not expected to replace MJPEG. MJPEG is recommended for surveillance applications and recording, thanks to its ease of use, wide compatibility and high image quality. MPEG4 is recommended for live viewing and for applications where bandwidth and storage limitations are important factors.

Free Shipping on Sangoma Products

June 11, 2008 by Garrett Smith

Our latest promotion features free shipping on quite a few Sangoma products. Some of the products can be found here:

The exact products with free ground shipping are:

A101
A101D
A102
A102D
A104
A104D
A108
A108D

With the cost of gas skyrocketing, and delivery costs going up every day, why not take advantage of this free shipping promotion?!

Where Do All the iPhones Go?

by Garrett Smith

iPhone

image courtesy of apple.com

I’m kinda tired of hearing about the shiny, new iPhone. Granted, it is an incredible piece of technology, and will probably further revolutionize the way we utilize mobile services, much like the first iPhone did.

But, honestly? I’m kind of tired of technological waste.

Think about it. Where are all the year-old iPhones going to go when gadget ghurus decide they want the latest version? Who is going to buy them? Especially in this economy.

For companies that claim to be eco-conscious, Apple seems to be more worried about the green in its pocket, than green living.

What is Apple planning to do with all of the old, outdated iPhones? I hope they have some sort of recycling plan. They could make a cool art exhibit, utilizing some kind of structure-sculpture base. Probably not the best doggy chew-toy.

I’m all about technological innovation (I DO work for a technology company), but it seems as though we live in this fast-paced, throwaway society, where something that was worth $500 only a year ago, now has devalued immensely. We need to take some responsibility. What about a trade-in program, where you get $50 off a new iPhone? The parts can then be recycled to create the next generation of iPhones, instead of using new resources.

Maybe I will buy one for nostalgia sake, and in 10 years it will be worth something. Maybe I can sell it to a museum.

What are your ideas for recycling the old iPhones, even if you don’t plan on getting a new one?

More from: Mobile VoIP Garrett Smith iPhone

IPCS Word of the Day: Megapixel

by Garrett Smith

Megapixel = A unit equal to one million pixels. The higher the resolution, the more pixels in an image and therefore the greater the image quality.

Gas Station Security with IP Cameras

June 10, 2008 by Garrett Smith

IP Cameras catch thieves at gas station pumps.

It’s important to watch what happens in the video. It is not what you would expect. For all of those gas station owners there are many advantages offered by IP camera surveillance technologies. Not only do they ensure the protection of your investment but they protect your customers. Because in the end that is all that you have…your customers. If they are not happy, and at a minimum–safe, then there is no way that they will return to your business.

Hotels and Asterisk

Women in VoIP: Vibrant VanDerHorst-Larson

IPCS Word(s) of the Day: Motion Detection

Unified Communications becoming a "must" in today’s business world

Blackberry provides necessary link

New Resources for OpenSER Community!

IPCS Word(s) of the Day: MPEG4

Free Shipping on Sangoma Products

Where Do All the iPhones Go?

IPCS Word of the Day: Megapixel

Gas Station Security with IP Cameras

IP Cameras catch thieves at gas station pumps.

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