The latest TMCnet article for my Service Provider Views column was posted today, and I hope you give it a read.
This article is the first of two on high level service provider themes that came out of eComm 2009 earlier this month. There is a lot to talk about that I think is relevant for service providers, and while the new world that's emerging in telecom poses all kinds of threats, I saw lots of opportunities at eComm.
A lot of ground was covered in three days there, and my intent is to provide a taste of what the possibilities look like for operators ready, willing and able to embrace what many are calling Telecom 2.0.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Calysto White Paper - Social Media and PR
Calysto is one of the PR firms I've been close to in this space since I began covering it in 2001. They've got a solid track record and do a great job updating us on the comings and goings of the industry through their client e-letter PR Vibes.
They just launched a white paper about the role social media can play in today's marketing and PR programs, and I wanted to help create some awareness about it. I reviewed this early on, and now it's a public document, which you can download from their website.
PR firms, especially indies, aren't known for their own thought leadership, and this is a pretty good example of an agency being proactive and sharing some best practices with the market. Social media is a huge unknown for everyone, and we all feel compelled to use it one way or another. PR firms and their clients all struggle with this, and nobody is ever quite sure about what tactics to use or how much to spend. However, PR firms are increasingly expected to know how to handle this space, and I'm sure it's one of the big questions companies have when hiring an agency.
So, it's great to see Calysto doing something about this and outlining their thinking on how social media can be incorporated into PR programs. Is this a pitch for business? Well, sure it is, and after reading this paper, you'll know exactly what kinds of programs and capabilities Calysto has to offer.
I'm ok with that, because I think most people will come away with some new ideas and answers to some basic questions they have about the value and impact social media can have on their business. A lot of you may be very immersed in social media, but I can guarantee you that a lot of people are not, and for that audience in particular, this white paper will serve a useful purpose.
Kudos to Laura Borgstede and her team, and I'm glad to see PR companies doing things like this. I know it's an important focus for Calysto, so hopefully this will be the beginning of something good that will help us all make sense of how social media and PR can best work together.
They just launched a white paper about the role social media can play in today's marketing and PR programs, and I wanted to help create some awareness about it. I reviewed this early on, and now it's a public document, which you can download from their website.
PR firms, especially indies, aren't known for their own thought leadership, and this is a pretty good example of an agency being proactive and sharing some best practices with the market. Social media is a huge unknown for everyone, and we all feel compelled to use it one way or another. PR firms and their clients all struggle with this, and nobody is ever quite sure about what tactics to use or how much to spend. However, PR firms are increasingly expected to know how to handle this space, and I'm sure it's one of the big questions companies have when hiring an agency.
So, it's great to see Calysto doing something about this and outlining their thinking on how social media can be incorporated into PR programs. Is this a pitch for business? Well, sure it is, and after reading this paper, you'll know exactly what kinds of programs and capabilities Calysto has to offer.
I'm ok with that, because I think most people will come away with some new ideas and answers to some basic questions they have about the value and impact social media can have on their business. A lot of you may be very immersed in social media, but I can guarantee you that a lot of people are not, and for that audience in particular, this white paper will serve a useful purpose.
Kudos to Laura Borgstede and her team, and I'm glad to see PR companies doing things like this. I know it's an important focus for Calysto, so hopefully this will be the beginning of something good that will help us all make sense of how social media and PR can best work together.
Monday, March 23, 2009
BroadSoft Launches Hosted Video with Tandberg
Can't help but notice there's a trend happening here. Last week I was briefed on this news before it came out, but wasn't able to blog about it until today. Nothing earth-shattering here, but definitely a continuation of a theme that I'm happy to see unfolding. On Friday, BroadSoft announced a partner solution with Tandberg for a hosted video communications offering for the SMB market. BroadSoft provides the hosted services platform via BroadWorks, and Tandberg provides the endpoint in the form of the E20 video phone.
It's a good way for both companies to extend market reach. Tandberg has a full line of video, ranging from the E20 desk phone to the immersive MXP telepresence and HD solutions. They also have Movi, a PC-based video application, but that's not tied in with the BroadSoft news (but it's coming). The hosted service allows Tandberg to ride a more complete offering to market, and opens the door for businesses to scale up from desktop video to the larger systems. They're fighting Polycom every step of the way, and they need partnerships like this to get beyond being just a hardware or endpoint solution.
BroadSoft gets more market traction by adding another top tier video partner to their stable. They already partner with LifeSize and Polycom, and last week had a nice announcement with the latter for their VVX1500 media phone.
Taking this back a step or two, the BroadSoft/Tandberg news comes on the heels of Vidtel's announcement last week about their entry into the SMB video telephony market - which BroadSoft had a hand in. And going back a bit further, desktop video pioneer SightSpeed was acquired by Logitech in November.
Sure looks like a trend to me, and I have no doubt we'll be hearing more news on the video telephony front from both startups and majors in due time. Overall, the timing definitely seems right - video technology is good enough now, bandwidth is affordable, people are more accepting of video, and we now have affordable, practical solutions.
No doubt video can be a great proxy for traveling to meetings, and SMBs will be very receptive to saving money. The only hitch is that you need to spend some money to save this money. The Tandberg phones won't be cheap, so the VARs and service providers pitching hosted video will have to be creative. This is a very cost-conscious market, and I'd have to say that the marketing angle will be every bit as important as the technology story. I think that's largely true for most IP communications offerings, but particularly here where you need the hardware to make it work.
It's a good way for both companies to extend market reach. Tandberg has a full line of video, ranging from the E20 desk phone to the immersive MXP telepresence and HD solutions. They also have Movi, a PC-based video application, but that's not tied in with the BroadSoft news (but it's coming). The hosted service allows Tandberg to ride a more complete offering to market, and opens the door for businesses to scale up from desktop video to the larger systems. They're fighting Polycom every step of the way, and they need partnerships like this to get beyond being just a hardware or endpoint solution.
BroadSoft gets more market traction by adding another top tier video partner to their stable. They already partner with LifeSize and Polycom, and last week had a nice announcement with the latter for their VVX1500 media phone.
Taking this back a step or two, the BroadSoft/Tandberg news comes on the heels of Vidtel's announcement last week about their entry into the SMB video telephony market - which BroadSoft had a hand in. And going back a bit further, desktop video pioneer SightSpeed was acquired by Logitech in November.
Sure looks like a trend to me, and I have no doubt we'll be hearing more news on the video telephony front from both startups and majors in due time. Overall, the timing definitely seems right - video technology is good enough now, bandwidth is affordable, people are more accepting of video, and we now have affordable, practical solutions.
No doubt video can be a great proxy for traveling to meetings, and SMBs will be very receptive to saving money. The only hitch is that you need to spend some money to save this money. The Tandberg phones won't be cheap, so the VARs and service providers pitching hosted video will have to be creative. This is a very cost-conscious market, and I'd have to say that the marketing angle will be every bit as important as the technology story. I think that's largely true for most IP communications offerings, but particularly here where you need the hardware to make it work.
Friday, March 20, 2009
VoIP-News Webinar Now Archived
The VoIP-News webinar I presented on the other day drew a lot of interest - a couple of hundred - and we certainly could have gone on beyond the hour we had.
If you missed it, or had to drop out early, the archive is now available - just follow the link here - and once you register there, you'll have access to the replay.
To give you a flavor of who we had on the call, here are the results of a poll question of the audience:
Are you planning to deploy a VoIP system in your organization?
Already have a VoIP system 35.8%
In process of implementing a VoIP solution 3.7%
Planning to implement VoIP 11.0%
Evaluating VoIP 23.9%
No plans to implement VoIP 25.7%
It's pretty much what I'd expect - some have VoIP, some have no plans, and some are looking into it. Overall, though, 3 out of 4 have VoIP on their radar, and that's the news that I'm looking to hear.
If you missed it, or had to drop out early, the archive is now available - just follow the link here - and once you register there, you'll have access to the replay.
To give you a flavor of who we had on the call, here are the results of a poll question of the audience:
Are you planning to deploy a VoIP system in your organization?
Already have a VoIP system 35.8%
In process of implementing a VoIP solution 3.7%
Planning to implement VoIP 11.0%
Evaluating VoIP 23.9%
No plans to implement VoIP 25.7%
It's pretty much what I'd expect - some have VoIP, some have no plans, and some are looking into it. Overall, though, 3 out of 4 have VoIP on their radar, and that's the news that I'm looking to hear.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
MyAlltop - Personal Websites Now Launched - I Got Mine
Am sure Guy Kawasaki will be familiar to many of you, and last year he launched an interesting blogging venture called Alltop. It's best described as a digital magazine rack, where you can quickly scan the latest post headlines from the top blogs on a particular topic.
Alltop covers a whole range of topics beyond tech. There are lots of lifestyle categories, and I find some of these just as interesting as the tech stuff. One of the tech categories is VoIP, and I'm glad to say that my blog is included there.
Yesterday, Alltop launched the next iteration of Alltop - MyAlltop. In the spirit of social networking and personal portals, each Alltop contributor can now have their own webpage where we round up our own personal favorite blogs from across the spectrum of blogs covered by Alltop. I've only explored a fraction of all the Alltop blogs, but I've listed my favorites, and you can see them on my personalized Alltop webpage. It's mostly VoIP and telecom, but I have some Red Sox and Judaica, and others will come over time. There's also a Facebook link, so if you're in my group of contacts, you'll be hearing about MyAlltop there.
So, if you want to know what I'm reading and following, MyAlltop is one way to stay connected.
Alltop covers a whole range of topics beyond tech. There are lots of lifestyle categories, and I find some of these just as interesting as the tech stuff. One of the tech categories is VoIP, and I'm glad to say that my blog is included there.
Yesterday, Alltop launched the next iteration of Alltop - MyAlltop. In the spirit of social networking and personal portals, each Alltop contributor can now have their own webpage where we round up our own personal favorite blogs from across the spectrum of blogs covered by Alltop. I've only explored a fraction of all the Alltop blogs, but I've listed my favorites, and you can see them on my personalized Alltop webpage. It's mostly VoIP and telecom, but I have some Red Sox and Judaica, and others will come over time. There's also a Facebook link, so if you're in my group of contacts, you'll be hearing about MyAlltop there.
So, if you want to know what I'm reading and following, MyAlltop is one way to stay connected.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Reminder - VoIP News Webinar is Tomorrow
One more shout-out to register for the webinar I'll be participating in tomorrow. I'm the lead presenter for a webinar hosted by VoIP News and sponsored by Qwest. We'll be talking about strategies enterprises can follow to get the most out of their communications investments and technologies during a recession. It's a popular topic right now, and I'm looking forward to being part of this.
You can get more details from my recent post about this, as well as how you can sign up and listen in. Hope you can join us!
You can get more details from my recent post about this, as well as how you can sign up and listen in. Hope you can join us!
Monday, March 16, 2009
Amazon Kindle Users - You Can Now Subscribe to my Blog
Here's something new that I'm pretty excited about. Amazon Kindle readers can now subscribe to my blog. If I was out and about more frequently I'd use Kindle, but regardless, I think it's great technology and can see where it has a lot of value.
The process to subscribe seems pretty straightforward, and for a measly 99 cents a month, you can truly have my blog on the go! If you're in that crowd, I'd love to see you subscribe, and then hear how you find the experience.
I still have a small bug to work out for getting the badge properly coded, but you can certainly sign up now directly on the Amazon website. Just open this link, and you can see my blog in the Kindle Store and you're 1 click away from being getting this on your Kindle. Ready...go...
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