Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Last call for SIP Today's SIP Trunking Webinar - 1pm EST
One last reminder for today's SIP Trunking webinar that I'm doing with Mitel. It's not too late to register, and if you can't make it, there will be an archive available a day or so from now, and will remain on their site for 90 days. The archive link is the same as the one you'd use to register, so it's real easy to do. Either way, the link is here, and I hope you can join us - 1pm EST.
Q&A with Telanetix - a Different Kind of Service Provider
My latest Service Provider Views column is running now on TMCnet. This time my focus is on Telanetix, a pretty interesting hybrid that's doing just fine servicing SMBs with IP telephony and beyond.
The article is based on a Q&A I did with their CEO/Chairman, Doug Johnson, and has two main themes. First is the overall trend toward hosted services, and second is what makes Telanetix's approach different as well as effective.
In the spirit of my column, I'm focusing on Telanetix as an example of a new/different kind of service provider, and with today's technology, showing how they can compete very nicely against the incumbents. This is just one of many ways the status quo is changing in the service provider space, and to learn more, please give my article a read.
The article is based on a Q&A I did with their CEO/Chairman, Doug Johnson, and has two main themes. First is the overall trend toward hosted services, and second is what makes Telanetix's approach different as well as effective.
In the spirit of my column, I'm focusing on Telanetix as an example of a new/different kind of service provider, and with today's technology, showing how they can compete very nicely against the incumbents. This is just one of many ways the status quo is changing in the service provider space, and to learn more, please give my article a read.
Monday, June 29, 2009
Updated Affiliation with Unified Communications Strategies
I've been an occasional contributor to the Unified Communications Strategies portal for quite some time, and there's definitely a great group of people behind it. This is mainly the product of Jim Burton, but it's grown well beyond that, and invariably my path crosses with at least one UCS consultant at industry events. My last event was Mitel, and I got to spend time there with Blair Pleasant, who works closely with Jim expanding UCS into a true destination portal for all things UC.
Since so much of my work these days touches on UC, it's a good time to get close to their group, and that has now taken the form of me being classed as a UC Expert. As the link will show you, this puts me in pretty good company, among people I see regularly and whose views I definitely trust.
As this relationship takes shape, expect to see some exclusive contributions from me on the portal, and I hope to participate in upcoming events such as webinars or podcasts, so stay tuned. And most important of all, if you follow UC, you should bookmark UCS now and make sure to visit often! Hopefully I've given you another reason to do so.
Since so much of my work these days touches on UC, it's a good time to get close to their group, and that has now taken the form of me being classed as a UC Expert. As the link will show you, this puts me in pretty good company, among people I see regularly and whose views I definitely trust.
As this relationship takes shape, expect to see some exclusive contributions from me on the portal, and I hope to participate in upcoming events such as webinars or podcasts, so stay tuned. And most important of all, if you follow UC, you should bookmark UCS now and make sure to visit often! Hopefully I've given you another reason to do so.
Friday, June 26, 2009
Reminder - SIP Trunking Webinar w/Mitel on June 30
Just a reminder that my SIP Trunking webinar with Mitel is next Tuesday at 1pm, EST. This is part of Mitel's Discovery Series, and registrations so far have been very, very strong. There's obviously a lot of interest in SIP Trunking, and we're looking forward to a very engaging session.
You can read more about the topic here, as well as register for the webinar. Hope you can join us.
You can read more about the topic here, as well as register for the webinar. Hope you can join us.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Ecomm Updates/Lee speaks on Skype and telecom
Phil Wolff of Skype Journal posted a thought-provoking interview with Lee Dryburgh, and this as good a time as any to report a few updates around Lee's event, eComm.
First, the interview. It starts from SJ's perspective - Skype - and what its future may hold if it breaks away from eBay. This is a good jumping-off point for Phil to engage Lee about Skype's impact on telecom and where the world goes from here. Lee has some very particular ideas about the future of telcos, and the main takeaway for me was the distinction between attention and intention. Before Skype, telephony was all about attention - getting people's attention - and in Lee's mind, telcos do a very bad job of this. In other words, the phone is not very efficient at getting people's attention when you want it - most calls end up in voice mail, on hold, getting transferred, endless IVR options, etc.
Why? Because the PSTN lacks any form of intelligence - the kind that comes with software-based communications tools like Skype or Google. That's where intention comes along. 2.0-style applications can gather intelligence about end users and make crude deductions about behaviors and preferences. We're still very early stage here, but this is what long tail economics is about, and it's pretty easy to see how even simple Presence features make communications more efficient than conventional telephony.
Lee is basically saying we're at the cusp of "phase two" of telecom's evolution, and it builds on what Skype has started. Android will be a pretty good barometer of Lee's vision, and he foresees a world where some legacy telcos will survive, but many will not. I'm not so sure about that, but there's no doubt we'll be seeing some big time disruption in the next few years, and that of course, is what eComm is all about.
How's that for a clever segue into the rest of this post? Speaking of eComm... there are a couple of timely updates that follow nicely on Lee's ideas. First, as an Advisor to eComm 2009, I've been part of some back and forth about the best URL to use for eComm. Based on what's out there, it was very recently decided to use a new URL going forward: www.ecomm.ec. Yes, I know it looks a bit odd, but eComm is a pretty unique type of conference, so why not have an unusual Internet handle? Now you know. So, update your bookmarks - here's the new address for eComm.
As you can see, the logo and event name have been updated, and you can also catch up on how the fall event is coming along. It will be in Amsterdam this Fall, and marks eComm's debut in Europe.
Finally, turning the page back the March eComm in San Jose - believe it or not, but Lee is still posting videos and presentations to the eComm blog. This is definitely worth making noise about, since there were so many good presentations. As recently as this Tuesday, Lee has added content, so if eComm 2009 fell off your radar the day after the event, spend some time on the blog. Whether you missed the event or wanted to revisit some sessions, there's lots there to explore. So, kudos to Lee for investing all this after-the-fact time to keep the content, ideas and spirit of eComm fresh.
First, the interview. It starts from SJ's perspective - Skype - and what its future may hold if it breaks away from eBay. This is a good jumping-off point for Phil to engage Lee about Skype's impact on telecom and where the world goes from here. Lee has some very particular ideas about the future of telcos, and the main takeaway for me was the distinction between attention and intention. Before Skype, telephony was all about attention - getting people's attention - and in Lee's mind, telcos do a very bad job of this. In other words, the phone is not very efficient at getting people's attention when you want it - most calls end up in voice mail, on hold, getting transferred, endless IVR options, etc.
Why? Because the PSTN lacks any form of intelligence - the kind that comes with software-based communications tools like Skype or Google. That's where intention comes along. 2.0-style applications can gather intelligence about end users and make crude deductions about behaviors and preferences. We're still very early stage here, but this is what long tail economics is about, and it's pretty easy to see how even simple Presence features make communications more efficient than conventional telephony.
Lee is basically saying we're at the cusp of "phase two" of telecom's evolution, and it builds on what Skype has started. Android will be a pretty good barometer of Lee's vision, and he foresees a world where some legacy telcos will survive, but many will not. I'm not so sure about that, but there's no doubt we'll be seeing some big time disruption in the next few years, and that of course, is what eComm is all about.
How's that for a clever segue into the rest of this post? Speaking of eComm... there are a couple of timely updates that follow nicely on Lee's ideas. First, as an Advisor to eComm 2009, I've been part of some back and forth about the best URL to use for eComm. Based on what's out there, it was very recently decided to use a new URL going forward: www.ecomm.ec. Yes, I know it looks a bit odd, but eComm is a pretty unique type of conference, so why not have an unusual Internet handle? Now you know. So, update your bookmarks - here's the new address for eComm.
As you can see, the logo and event name have been updated, and you can also catch up on how the fall event is coming along. It will be in Amsterdam this Fall, and marks eComm's debut in Europe.
Finally, turning the page back the March eComm in San Jose - believe it or not, but Lee is still posting videos and presentations to the eComm blog. This is definitely worth making noise about, since there were so many good presentations. As recently as this Tuesday, Lee has added content, so if eComm 2009 fell off your radar the day after the event, spend some time on the blog. Whether you missed the event or wanted to revisit some sessions, there's lots there to explore. So, kudos to Lee for investing all this after-the-fact time to keep the content, ideas and spirit of eComm fresh.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Numbers That Spell Traction - 1 billion, 750,000 and 30
I get a lot of press releases, but don't post about them very often, as I'm not a journalist looking for news stories. As an analyst, what I do look for, though, are trends - and sometimes I come across a few unrelated items that collectively tell me something. I may see these individually, scan them and make a mental note - but there's nothing that really jumps out for blogging.
Yesterday, three such items crossed my path. All were interesting, but nothing that I felt compelled to blog about. After seeing the third item, though, I noticed a few patterns that told me a broader story, so here we are. That's what analysts do, and that's why I blog. So - three announcements, three companies (four actually), three storylines, and one nice trend. Here are the storylines...
Jajah - I'll start with them, since their number is the biggest, and we all know how much people - esp the media - love numbers. At 5am today, they announced the completion of their 1 billionth call (is that a word?). I don't know about you, but a billion is still a big number for me. We're not talking minutes here - we're talking calls connected over the various Jajah platforms around the world.
Voxbone/Nimbuzz - this is a twofer announcement between companies that now have a good reason to be working together. I got word of this from Voxbone yesterday, who announced that Nimbuzz has selected to provide local inbound numbers for mobile callers. Both companies are leading the way for mobile VoIP, and together they have some pretty attractive disruption for the incumbents. Each has their own story to tell, but basically Nimbuzz is growing real fast - 750,000 new signups per month - as claimed in the press release, so this is not a small thing. I've been closer to Voxbone, who has made their own mark with iNum and local inbound numbers world-wide.
Together, they now have a mobile VoIP solution that's not built around WiFi - or 3G for that matter. Users of Nimbuzz would now be contacted when outside of these networks and given the option for Nimbuzz to make a call over their IP network for much less than the cost of a conventional cellular call. Sooner or later you just knew something like this would come along, and has the right combination of saving money, being very accessible and easy to use. What's not to like - unless you're an incumbent mobile operator?
Calliflower - last but not least, here's where the number 30 comes in. I've written about Iotum's Calliflower conferencing platform before, and clearly they're on to a good thing. Yesterday they announced Calliflower is now available in 30 countries (and 100 cities). Aside from having more of a 2.0 look and feel than other conferencing platforms, Calliflower's main point of disruption is their flat rate pricing model. Taking advantage of low cost IP-based transport, they've made conferencing affordable for a broader range of the market, which plays especially well in countries where telecom rates and tariffs are still quite high. Again, what's not to like, especially from a home-grown Canadian company. And just to make sure you truly understand what makes their model so attractive - esp compared against "free" conferencing services, Alec Saunders - their CEO - does a great job explaining this in a recent blog post.
There you go - 1 billion, 750,000 and 30. Huge orders of magnitude between any of these, but they're all big in their own way. Each story is different, but they all support the same conclusions - voice is alive and well, VoIP is alive and well (anybody want to pick that thread up again?), innovation is alive and well, and small companies with funny names can still be very disruptive in the name of progress. That's worth posting about, don't you think?
Yesterday, three such items crossed my path. All were interesting, but nothing that I felt compelled to blog about. After seeing the third item, though, I noticed a few patterns that told me a broader story, so here we are. That's what analysts do, and that's why I blog. So - three announcements, three companies (four actually), three storylines, and one nice trend. Here are the storylines...
Jajah - I'll start with them, since their number is the biggest, and we all know how much people - esp the media - love numbers. At 5am today, they announced the completion of their 1 billionth call (is that a word?). I don't know about you, but a billion is still a big number for me. We're not talking minutes here - we're talking calls connected over the various Jajah platforms around the world.
Voxbone/Nimbuzz - this is a twofer announcement between companies that now have a good reason to be working together. I got word of this from Voxbone yesterday, who announced that Nimbuzz has selected to provide local inbound numbers for mobile callers. Both companies are leading the way for mobile VoIP, and together they have some pretty attractive disruption for the incumbents. Each has their own story to tell, but basically Nimbuzz is growing real fast - 750,000 new signups per month - as claimed in the press release, so this is not a small thing. I've been closer to Voxbone, who has made their own mark with iNum and local inbound numbers world-wide.
Together, they now have a mobile VoIP solution that's not built around WiFi - or 3G for that matter. Users of Nimbuzz would now be contacted when outside of these networks and given the option for Nimbuzz to make a call over their IP network for much less than the cost of a conventional cellular call. Sooner or later you just knew something like this would come along, and has the right combination of saving money, being very accessible and easy to use. What's not to like - unless you're an incumbent mobile operator?
Calliflower - last but not least, here's where the number 30 comes in. I've written about Iotum's Calliflower conferencing platform before, and clearly they're on to a good thing. Yesterday they announced Calliflower is now available in 30 countries (and 100 cities). Aside from having more of a 2.0 look and feel than other conferencing platforms, Calliflower's main point of disruption is their flat rate pricing model. Taking advantage of low cost IP-based transport, they've made conferencing affordable for a broader range of the market, which plays especially well in countries where telecom rates and tariffs are still quite high. Again, what's not to like, especially from a home-grown Canadian company. And just to make sure you truly understand what makes their model so attractive - esp compared against "free" conferencing services, Alec Saunders - their CEO - does a great job explaining this in a recent blog post.
There you go - 1 billion, 750,000 and 30. Huge orders of magnitude between any of these, but they're all big in their own way. Each story is different, but they all support the same conclusions - voice is alive and well, VoIP is alive and well (anybody want to pick that thread up again?), innovation is alive and well, and small companies with funny names can still be very disruptive in the name of progress. That's worth posting about, don't you think?
Monday, June 22, 2009
Connecting and Leveraging VoIP Islands - New Content on TechTarget
I've been a regular contributor to TechTarget's Ask The Expert series on their Unified Communications portal for some time. These are usually short responses to questions that require much greater explanation, but since it's basically free advice, that's what you get.
TechTarget recently approached me about doing a more in-depth analysis on a topic that's getting a lot if interest from their readers - VoIP islands. This term has been around for a while, and with the recent advent of SIP Trunking, it's become more topical. We did this in two pieces - a three-part written narrative and a companion podcast.
It's taken some time, but everything is finally published now and I have the green light to post. So, if you're interested in how VoIP islands and SIP Trunking are connected, I welcome you to read the eGuide and listen to the podcast. You may need to register with TechTarget first, but that just takes a moment. And if you have a chance, please let me know what you think.
TechTarget recently approached me about doing a more in-depth analysis on a topic that's getting a lot if interest from their readers - VoIP islands. This term has been around for a while, and with the recent advent of SIP Trunking, it's become more topical. We did this in two pieces - a three-part written narrative and a companion podcast.
It's taken some time, but everything is finally published now and I have the green light to post. So, if you're interested in how VoIP islands and SIP Trunking are connected, I welcome you to read the eGuide and listen to the podcast. You may need to register with TechTarget first, but that just takes a moment. And if you have a chance, please let me know what you think.
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