AT&T is now extending voice-over-IP services to enterprise VPN customers. The carrier's VOIP portfolio is designed to be compatible with various IP-PBX systems, including Microsoft's. - Customers of AT amp;T's VPN can now take advantage of voice-over-IP services over the network cloud, according to the carrier. The converged offering, AT amp;T announced Aug. 24, will enable customers to consolidate voice and data networks, reduce equipment and maintenance costs, and ultimately...

Vonage introduces an app that lets Facebook friends place free calls to each other over WiFi or 3G/4G networks using Apple iPhones, iPod Touches or Android smartphones. - Voice-over-IP provider Vonage is giving Facebook a voice, announcing Aug. 4 the availability of an application that lets owners of iPhones, iPod Touches and Android-running smartphones place free calls to Facebook quot;friends. quot; Free to use and download it's available in the Android Market...

Skype's VOIP software will now run on Sony Ericsson's Satio, Vivaz and Vivaz Pro smartphones, which use the latest version of the Symbian mobile operating system. Skype is making a push to get its software onto more devices, from traditional PCs to mobile devices to consumer electronics such as HD televisions. - Skype is continuing to expand the reach of its video conferencing technology, pushing Skype software deeper into the mobile space. The VOIP (voice over IP) company June 15 announced that it is putting its Skype application on three Sony Ericsson smartphones that run the latest Symbian mobile o...

Microsoft is discontinuing its Response Point phone system software, which businesses of up to 50 people could use to manage a complex phone system and make calls via VOIP. Microsoft says the shutdown is due to slow sales. Originally launched in 2007, Response Point offered services such as after-hours receptionist settings, and hardware was sold through Microsoft's OEM partners. Microsoft will discontinue sales, support and development on Aug. 31, but businesses will be able to use the system past that point, per their purchaser agreements. - Microsoft has made what it called the quot;tough decision quot; to terminate its Response Point phone system software, which used voice over IP to save small and midsize businesses money on their communications bills. Although Microsoft marketed the product as an ideal way for businesses of up t...

Truphone joins Citrix Systems and Cisco Systems in moving quickly to make voice applications for the iPad that allow users to take a virtual office with them anywhere they go by providing secure access to their corporate applications and documents. - Global mobile operator Truphone is adding voice over IP to the iPad applications that give users to the ability to make voice calls. Truphone's application turns Apple's tablet PC into quot;a mobile phone that offers free or low-cost international calls, as well as advanced instant messaging f...

iCall announces that Apple has changed its developer SDK and VOIP calls over cellular networks can now be placed on the iPhone, iPod Touch and, theoretically, the iPad.
- The iPad wasn't the only Apple news to emerge on Jan. 27. iCall, a privately held VOIP (voice over IP) calling company, announced on the same day that Apple had updated its SDK (software development kit) to allow VOIP calls over cellular networks, and that iCall's eponymous application was ...

eBay settles lawsuits with Joltid and Joost in a $1.9 billion deal that gives Skype ownership over all software previously licensed from Joltid and paves the way for a group of investors to acquire the majority of the company. Joltid and Skype founders Niklas Zennström and Janus Friis, who had earlier tried to buy Skype back from eBay, will join the investor group, contributing Joltid software and making a capital investment in exchange for a 14 percent stake in Skype. Silver Lake and fellow investors Andreessen Horowitz and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board will grab 56 percent of Skype, with eBay retaining the remaining 30 percent.
- The future of voice-over-IP service Skype looks bright again for its more than 500 million users. eBay Nov. 6 said it has settled lawsuits with Joltid and Joost in a $1.9 billion deal that gives Skype ownership over all software previously licensed from Joltid and paves the way for a group of in...

Coms has been selected to supply HelpAge International with a Hosted VoIP telephone system that is saving this leading charity in excess of 25% of its monthly telecommunications budget. HelpAge International, which operates through partners in over 75 countries, sought proposals from traditional and Voice over IP (VoIP) telephone system providers, to ensure that the system it purchased would …

HERZLIA, Israel—-VocalTec Communications Ltd. , a global provider of carrier-class multimedia and voice-over-IP solutions for communication service providers, announced today that Far East Telecom , a regional incumbent service provider and part of the SvyazInvest group, has selected VocalTec as the provider for its core Class-5 and Class-4 VoIP network.

As part of its Patent Busting Project, the Electronic Frontier Foundation claims it has discovered a prior patent and published reference material that should invalidate a patent granted to Acceris for implementing VOIP using analog telephones as endpoints.
- The Electronic Frontier Foundation announced Oct. 14 that it is asking the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to invalidate a patent granted to Acceris for quot;hardware, software and processes for implementing VOIP [voice over IP] using analog telephones as endpoints. quot; The EFF claimed the pa...

AT T is now allowing iPhone users to place VOIP calls over its wireless network, instead of just Wi-Fi. Will the move jam up an already busy network and force Apple and Google to play nice?
- AT amp;Ts Oct. 5 policy reversal offers something of a Catch-22. While VOIP (voice over IP) applications on the iPhone were previously only possible over Wi-Fi, AT amp;T announced it had taken steps to enable VOIP applications on the iPhone to run on its wireless network. “iPhone is an...

Nortel Networks, which is selling off parts of its business as it tries to rebound after filing for bankruptcy earlier this year, was the top VOIP vendor in the second quarter, according to analyst firm DellOro Group. Smaller vendors also gained share, while some larger companies, including Huawei and Nokia Siemens, lost share. Overall, revenue in the VOIP space grew 7 percent from the first quarter.
- Nortel Networks, which has spent much of the year selling off portions of its business, regained its position at the top of a resurgent voice over IP market in the second quarter, according to analyst firm DellOro Group. According to a DellOro Group report issued Sept. 9, Nortel stood atop a VO...

BNC provides Voice Over IP (VoIP) an internet phone solution. BNC Voice is a company that prides itself on its hassle free telcom and telephony services — that is using your phone through your high speed internet connection.

Being at the right place at the right time can either be the result of visionary foresight and meticulous planning – or a fortuitous turn of events. If you live in Miami, then you are the beneficiary of a fortuitous turn of events given that IT Expo/ Digium Asterisk World is being held in your fair city beginning next Monday. For the rest of us, given that half the country is currently being blanketed by ice and snow, a little meticulous planning to make our way to sunny south Florida for the show seems very worthwhile. Plus, who could object to a brief reprieve from winter?

IT Expo/ Digium Asterisk World is the perfect venue to better understand why open source telephony is a technology that is at the right place at the right time. Underlying weakness in the economy is forcing end-users to conservatively allocate each and every dollar spent. Voice over IP is a technology that offers a demonstratable return on investment and is predicted to surpass traditional telephony in the number of lines installed this year. Couple the movement to VoIP with the increasing adoption of open source as a lower cost alternative to traditional proprietary solutions – and you get Asterisk.

We’d like to think that Asterisk emerged as the world’s leading open source telephony platform due to visionary foresight and meticulous planning; however, it’s really more of a fortuitous turn of events. Who, ten years ago at the time Asterisk was begun, would have predicted today’s simultaneous intersection of high level trends that are now driving the adoption of Asterisk - namely, VoIP, open source, and a struggling economy? As a result, the numbers associated with Asterisk adoption are truly amazing. I’ll be talking about these Asterisk adoption statistics along with more detailed information on the industry and economic trends mentioned here during my keynote address at IT Expo/Digium Asterisk World. Please join me at 10:30 on Tuesday in room B217/218 for the address. Hope to see you then – and don’t forget to pack your flip flops!