Skype/Verizon News - My Take

Tuesday's news about Skype and Verizon Wireless was a pretty big deal. I wasn't at MWC to see the press conference, and other things kept me from blogging about it until now, but I wanted to share my thoughts in some form. The uber bloggers have covered all the news angles by now, so let's not go there.

The next best thing is to write about the bigger picture, and I've done that in my latest Service Provider Views column, which is running now on TMCnet. So, if this story is still of interest to you - and it should be - you can read my take here, and by all means, you're welcome to keep the conversation going.

Service Provider Views - Why Life is getting harder, not easier

My latest Service Provider Views column is running now on TMCnet. Having just come back from the ITExpo, a few things struck me there that would work well for my next article. This would have been enough material, but on top of that, the last week or so has been full of news that pose new challenges and raise new questions for service providers. Not the least of which is the iPad launch, Jajah's acquisition by Telefonica, and the latest earnings news from AT&T and Verizon.

I could probably squeeze a few more columns out of this morass - and I just might do that - but for now, I've managed to hit the high points in today's column, and you can read that here.

Any way you look at it, January has had more than its share of news that impacts service providers, and could be an ominous way to kick start the new decade. I can't wait to see what February holds in store.

Google and China - What it means for telcos

This is the Google mega-story of the day, and I think it's a big one for all kinds of reasons. Have you ever seen a company get so much global attention over such a short period of time across so many unrelated businesses? That's a story unto itself, and the irony isn't lost on me when I think about their name.

Google's differences with the great firewall of China are all over the news, and I'm here with a bit of a different take. In my latest Service Provider Views column on TMCnet, I'm more concerned with what all this means for privacy and how that impacts service providers.

Up until recently, service providers were in a very different business than Google, but today that line sure is blurry. So, it seems to me that whatever challenges Google is facing - especially with China - is going to matter to service providers. Pretty fertile ground here, and I'm sure I'll be revisiting it soon.

You can read the article here, and I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Looking Ahead - 2010 Thoughts on Service Providers and Privacy

As per my last post, I have a lot of thoughts about what's transpired over the past decade in our space, as well as what might be in store for 2010. Since the future hasn't happened yet, I have a bit more poetic license to write about what's coming, and I plan to do that in the coming weeks.

For now, though, my latest Service Provier Views column on TMCnet will have to do. The column ran earlier this week, and you can read it here.

My premise is that the concept of a service provider is becoming quite fluid, and is being driven as much by Web 2.0 as much as conventional telephony. In many ways, I think Google is being more than disruptive and will have a lot to do with this evolution - whether we like it or not.

Most of this will not be news to you, but what I'm not hearing much about is the price we're paying along the way. Call me old school, but the efficiencies we're getting from targeted advertising, smart browsing, semantic web, etc. are being offset by the erosion of privacy and even our sense of personal identity.

Lots to explore here, and I hope you keep the dialog going, as I plan to write more about this in the New Year. Until then, Happy New Year, and we'll connect again in the next decade.

Service Provider Views - How can they provide value?

My latest Service Provider Views article is running now on TMCnet. I'm focusing on a big topic - how can service providers add value? - and am really setting the stage for an ongoing exploration of this theme in 2010. I think it's going to be big deal going forward, and am hoping you'll follow my musings.

This article was basically triggered by my impressions from recent analyst events, and how I see vendor solutions getting stronger and stronger. Combine this with what Google is doing now with their own handset, and it's getting harder to see where/how carriers can add real value. Of course there are lots of ways they can do this, and I'll speak to those in future articles. However, it seems to me like the vendors have most of the momentum right now, and that puts the pressure on operators to be more innovative.

As an aside, Canada is going through its own convulsions in the mobile market with the recent turn of events with Globalive. That's a whole topic unto itself, but I can't get into that right now. I've been speaking to the media about it, but haven't had time yet to write something.

Back to the main story - the article is posted now, and you can read it here. As always, comments are welcome!

Packet Island Interview, Part 2

Well, it's taken some time, but Part 2 of my Packet Island interview is running now on TMCnet. This is part of my bi-monthly Service Provider Views column, and continues the conversation I had with Praveen Kumar at BroadSoft Connections back in October. Part 1 of the interview ran last week, and now you can read the rest here.

As with Part 1, if you're interested in the challenges around multimedia QoS for hosted services, you'll find this a good read. And by all means, your comments are welcome.

Service Provider Views Article - Packet Island Interview

My two November Service Provider Views articles were based on a long interview I conducted with Praveen Kumar, CEO of Packet Island. They were recently acquired by BroadSoft, and I see that as a great addition to make their hosted offering more secure.

The interview isn't so much about the acquisition or what Packet Island is doing - rather, having met up with Praveen at the recent BroadSoft Connections event, I found it a great opportutnity for some first-hand learning about why QoS and QoE are so important, especially for a hosted offering to businesses.

The interview is broken up in Parts 1 and 2, and both were ready to go for publishing on TMCnet last week. Unfortunately with the short week and frantic schedule everyone seemed to be on - myself included - the articles are just coming out now. Part 1 ran yesterday, and having been in transit enroute to Adtran's event, this is my first chance to post. So, you can read the interview here, and am hoping Part 2 will be ready to go later today. I'll also be posting about Adtran as time allows, and from what I've seen so far, it should be a great event.

Smart Grid Portal Traffic - On Track for 1 Million Views

The October traffic stats for the Smart Grid portal are out now, and the trend remains very strong. October page views were just under 600,000, and unique visits were almost 200,000. Based on the growth to date, we're on track from 1 million page views and 400,000 unique visits by year end. Not bad for a venture that just started in July. This is a hot market for sure, and we're doing our best to be in the middle of it, and ultimately put on a successful event in January.

For more detail, I wrote a short article about the news today for the portal, and TMC issued a press release earlier as well.

Service Providers - Be Careful What You Wish For

I was at Supercomm last week, and came away with some distinct impressions about the challenges facing carriers, especially mobile operators. I've summarized those thoughts in my latest Service Provider Views column on TMCnet.

I've titled the article "Be Careful What You Wish For", and it was posted today on TMCnet. I hope you read it, and would love to hear your thoughts.

Why Skype For Business is Good for Carriers

In my last Service Provider Views column on TMCnet, I wrote about why I think Skype has a lot to offer carriers, and explored the idea of them trying to be a channel play to develop these partnerships. That column focused mainly on the mobility market, which plays well for both consumer and business subscribers.

I've followed that up with Part 2, this time focusing on the business market opportunity for Skype. This scenario is broader and offers more opportunities, and as Skype followers know, they've made some strong moves recently to make themselves more of a solution partner than a telephony adjunct. I think they have a lot to offer service providers, and if I've done my job, hopefully you'll reach the same conclusion. Have a read for yourself, and let me know what you think!

Why Skype Could Be Good News For Carriers

Last week I posted about Skype's keynote VON, given by their CSO, Christopher Dean. It was a pretty interesting talk, and it's clear that Skype is taking some big steps forward to serve the business market - not just by themselves, but in partnership with carriers.

It's an intriguing proposition, and I mentioned I'd write further about it in my Service Provider Views column. There's a fair bit to explore, and while putting this together, I decided to make it a 2 part writeup. So, Part 1 is running now on TMCnet, and you can read it here.

If you want to follow this to completion, I'll have Part 2 ready in early October, so watch for it then.

What Service Providers Can Learn From Utilities

My latest Service Provider Views article is posted now on TMCnet. With the above title, it's no surprise that they've featured the article on our Smart Grid portal, and you can read it here.

In short, my article talks about ways that service providers could apply Demand Response principles to their business. The ideas may not be that obvious, as the dynamics of the energy business are very different, but not entirely off the table.

I'm also doing this to show that utilities aren't the only ones who could stand to learn from others in the Smart Grid space - telcos have far greater competitive pressures, and should be willing to take good ideas from wherever they come.

August Media Roundup

August was a bit slower than July, but my focus was also shifted to Smart Grid as well as vacation time. All told, though, I managed a handful of citings for both IP comms and Smart Grid along with a few other things.

First, some Smart Grid citings. There were others, plus my own Smart Grid portal contributions, all of which you can peruse on the portal.

- "Smart Grid Consortium Ramps Up in New York"

- "Smart Grid Summit at ITEXPO to Address Telecom's Role in Expanding Smart Grid Space"

Then, some citings for IP comms:

- "Trouble Ahead for Microsoft Reponse Point?"

- "Three reasons you should consider the Twitter bandwagon. And one note of caution."

On TMCnet, I had my regular bi-monthly Service Provider Views columns:

- "4G Wireless Evolution - Fall 2009 4GWE Preview - Q&A with Carl Ford"

- "Smart Grid - What it Means for Service Providers"

For TechTarget, I did three Ask the Expert segments related to Unified Communications and VoIP (registration required - just takes a minute)

- "What is more cost efficient -- VoIP or an IP telephony system?"

- "What are some good ways to measure VoIP ROI?"

- "What are some best ways to save money on a VoIP deployment without losing too much quality?"

On the podcast front, I managed to participate in two segments run by UC Strategies:

- "UC Experts Discuss Google Voice"

- "UC Experts Discuss Cloud Computing and UC"

Finally, I did a White Paper for Tekelec on Telecom 2.0 that was published in August. It's available for download on their site, but if you can't get it, I have a soft copy.

- "Telecom 2.0: Guidelines for Service Provider Success"

Smart Grid - Where Service Providers Meet Utilities

My latest article for Service Provider Views is running now on TMCnet. Not surprisingly, the focus is Smart Grid. With the Smart Grid Summit being a week away, that's what's on my mind right now.

With this article, I'm adding another dimension to my focus on the service provider space. The Smart Grid Summit is all about where energy meets communications, and with every passing day, we're convinced this is going to be a major trend in 2010. If you're not there yet, this article is a good place to start, and as you'll see, TMC has published it on our Smart Grid portal, so hopefully it will serve as a jumping off point to explore all the other content we're putting up there.

With all this being so new, I'd love to hear your thoughts or suggestions, and if you're coming out to the IT Expo next week, I sure hope to see you there. The summit runs only on the Tuesday, and we're starting at 9am sharp.

Getting Hosted Services Right - BroadSoft, Microsoft and Chinook

My latest Service Provider Views column on TMCnet is running now, and if you're following the hosted space, especially for serving SMBs, I think you'll enjoy this column.

The focus is on a recent announcement about how BroadSoft, Microsoft and Chinook Hosting are working together on an integrated offering that delivers Unified Communciations on a turnkey basis for SMBs (enterprises too). Hosted is a great solution for SMBs, but it's remained a tough sell for a variety of reasons. I think this offering gets it right, and my article explores the reasons why. If you give it a read, I'd love to hear your thoughts.

I've been meaning to post this since Monday, but our new Smart Grid venture has taken priority big time the past few days! That's another story, and for some of you, it's a space you'll want to get closer to.

Google Wave - Good News or Bad News for Carriers?

My current Service Provider Views column on TMCnet is running now. I've had some exposure to Google Wave recently, and it sure has a lot of possibilities. I've taken a first cut at this in the column, especially in terms of what it could mean for service providers. There's a lot to consider, and I have some follow up pieces in mind for future columns, so this won't be the end of it.

It's very early days yet, but I'd love to hear your thoughts on Wave - so please give the column a read, and let me know.

June Media Roundup

This is the first month in a very long time I wasn't cited in any articles. I spoke with the media a few times, but these ended up being for longer features which won't run until July or later. On the other hand, I was busier than ever producing original content in June, and on the whole I feel it was a pretty productive month in terms of keeping my profile out there and contributing my ideas to the industry.

I'll start with the most visible activity - my SIP Trunking webinar with Mitel. That took place on Tuesday, and just over 1,000 people registered. If you missed it, the archived version will be ready any day now, and will be accessible for 90 days. All registrants will receive a copy of the slides from Mitel, along with a companion white paper that I'm wrapping up just now.

- SIP Trunking - More Than Just Cost Savings


Next - TechTarget. I'm a regular contributor to their Ask The Expert feature, and they recently engaged me for some more extensive work. The outputs were published in late June, consisting of a white paper and a podcast. To access these you need to register on their site, but this just takes a minute.

- eGuide/white paper: Connecting and Leveraging VoIP Islands

- podcast: The Benefits of VoIP Islands


My regular bi-monthly Service Provider Views columns ran on TMCnet:

- Q&A with Telanetix - Why Hosted Services are Gaining Adoption

- What Service Providers and Auto Makers Can Learn From Each Other

June also marked my debut column on The Mark - Canada's answer to the Huffington Post:

- On the Future of the Automobile (and Telecom, Too)

Finally, I was cited in a press release about an Advisory role I've taken on with a U.K. consultancy, MeDe8 Group Ltd. You'll be hearing and seeing more about this over the next few months.

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.

What Service Providers and Auto Makers Can Learn From Each Other

My latest Service Provider Views column is running now on TMCnet, and if you see parallels between telecom and the auto sector, you should find this a good read.

The article builds on an auto industry event I recently attended and subsequently wrote about for The Mark, a Web-based news/opinion portal. I've expanded my thinking in the TMCnet column, and you can read it here.

These two sectors have more in common than you might think, and both are at a crossroads for their respective futures. I think they have a lot to learn from each other, and hope you read the article to see why I feel that way. As always, your comments are welcome!

What Service Providers Can Learn From MetaSwitch

My current Service Provider Views column on TMCnet is running now. It's the third in my series of takeaways from last month's MetaSwitch Forum in terms of service provider implications. This time it's the company itself - MetaSwitch - who I think offers a pretty good template for doing the kind of things that service providers need to do to be competitive.

To understand why I say that, please read the article, which you can access here, and as always, I'd love to hear your thoughts.

What Service Providers Can Learn From CSI

What does a television show like CSI have to do with telecom?

Not much, really, but I recently got a chance to hear a keynote from Anthony Zuiker, the creator of the mega-popular CSI franchise. It's a great show, no doubt, but more importantly Anthony is very much part of how the experience of watching television is evolving. He calls it multi-platform story telling, and this is really about the overall entertainment experience which of course intersects big time with communications technologies, so here we are.

That's the topic of my latest Service Provider Views column that runs on TMCnet, and it's running live now. I think his ideas are very relevant for service providers, and once you read the column, I'd love to hear your thoughts.

April Media Roundup

April was a modest month in terms of media citings, but for the record, here's a summary of where I turned up. First, I was cited in a few articles...

- IT World Canada - Cisco's WebEx/security announcements

- Tech Media Reports - Skype's impact on Canada if they become independent

- BBC News - Any takers for Skype?


I was interviewed for a podcast with TechTarget about trends in SIP. We did a second podcast as well, but it won't run until May...

- TechTarget - 5 things you should know about SIP


Finally, my regular bi-monthly column for TMCnet, Service Provider Views...

- MetaSwitch Forum Takeaways - What Big Carriers can Learn from Small Carriers

- Innovation - It's Out There if You Look

Service Provider Views Article - Learning from Tier 3 Carriers

My latest Service Provider Views column is running now on TMCnet.

It's the first of a series I'm writing based on my learning from the MetaSwitch Forum, which I was involved with earlier this month.

This article is my take on what big carriers can learn from small carriers, and there were a lot of small carriers at the Forum. MetaSwitch has done a great job tapping into this market, and their customers are doing some pretty impressive things. I got some first hand exposure to this there, and my article provides some examples about how they're using IP communications to stay competitive in a difficult market. You can download the article here, and if this is your cup of tea, then I'm sure you'll like my next couple of articles which will continue on this theme.

Service Provider Views - Latest Column - Innovation

My latest Service Provider Views column is running now on TMCnet. This is my second column picking up on some key themes from eComm 2009, and the focus here in on innovation.

It's a nebulous term, but we all know it when we see it. There was a lot of great innovation on tap at eComm, and there's no shortage of opportunity for service providers willing to make this a core part of their modus operandi. My column looks at some promising examples being deployed today as well as some of the more futuristic possibilities that were so effectively demonstrated at eComm. It's a big topic, and hopefully I make the case that there's more to innovation than just making your network faster or smarter.

You can read the column here, and as always, your comments are welcome.

March Media Roundup

I had a pretty nice mix of media involvement in March, including some A-list sources, namely the BBC, Wired Online and the Wall Street Journal. Can never get too much of that, and I hope they call again soon! Let's start there, and move on to the rest.

BBC - Google Voice launch

Wired Online - Google Voice launch

Wall Street Journal - coverage of my Voice 2.0 panel at eComm 2009


The Google Voice story had global coverage of course, and I turned up in a couple of these. I have no idea how this happens, but the Web does work in strange ways. As long as they spell my name right, I'm happy...

Negocias - Portuguese financial sector journal

Nikkei Net PC Online - Japanese coverage


Elsewhere in the English language press...

ITWorld Canada - Assessing the new CEO at Rogers

Tech Media Reports - Bell's acquisition of The Source (subscription required, but soft copy available)

Internet Telephony - IT Expo Industry Outlook Roundup


On TMCnet, my bi-monthly Service Provider Views columns ran:

Surviving in the New World of Telecom, Part 1

4G Focus ? Interview with Crossfire Media


Going back to eComm, Mobivox announced the launch CRM over Voice, which included a White Paper that I was commissioned to write:

CRM over Voice press release, plus link to download White Paper


Finally, last week marked the launch of Canadian Blogging Idol. It's a fun contest being run by ITWorld Canada, and I've been brought into the mix to blog.

I've had a few posts so far, but it's too early to tell how I'm doing. Stay tuned - and don't forget to vote!

Service Provider Views - Surviving in the New World of Telecom

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.

February Media Roundup

I'm later than usual getting this monthly roundup post done, thanks largely to eComm keeping me so busy last week. February was light in terms of press coverage, but I was quite active with the launch of 2 white papers and an industry study - 1 of which is cited in this post, and another will be cited in my March roundup.

On the press front, I have just two items to steer you to:

- Tech Media Reports - Mobivox's Talk-Out customer announcement (subscription required, but I have a soft copy)

- Calysto PR Vibes - IT Expo roundup (posted on Rich Tehrani's blog)

Technically, I can point you to a third citing, but it's actually a mis-attribution. I'm really doing this to illustrate the lighter side of the blogosphere, as I'm sure it happens all the time. I have no idea who these people are, where they got this quote from, or why/how the attributed it to me! This is either sloppy blogging (I'm hesitant to call it journalism), or a really botched job of stealing content from other sources.

- Live Journal - Skype's video calling for the Mac


Regarding those launches, one had a press release last month that cited me:

- Jajah - launch at Mobile World Congress of their 2009 Telecom Industry Issues Index - you're welcome to download the report from my website

On TMCnet, my bi-monthly Service Provider Views columns ran, both of which built on the SIP Trunking seminars I presented during the IT Expo in early February:

- SIP Trunking ? the 6 Cs of Communications Evolution

- SIP Trunking - What's in it for Service Providers?

Finally, I wrote an Ask the Expert response for Tech Target's Unified Communications portal. You need a membership to access the content, but it's free and just takes a minute. I'm about to start doing a few more things with them, so look for more contributions from me there soon.

- What is the future of VoIP in the remote emerging telecom markets?

Service Provider Views - 4G Outlook with Crossfire Media

My latest Service Provider Views column is running now on TMCnet. For this article, I've focused on one of the strong themes that came out of the IT Expo last month - wireless. Under the Crossfire Media umbrella, Carl Ford and Scott Kargman launched 4G Wireless Evolution at the conference, and by all counts, it was a successful debut.

To keep that momentum going, I recently interviewed Scott and Carl, not just about their thinking behind 4GWE, but also their overall outlook for wireless and operator migration to 4G. You can read the Q&A here, and hopefully, their thoughts will set the stage for a larger event next time around.

Service Provider Views - SIP Trunking, Part 2

My latest Service Provider Views column is now running on TMCnet.

This article focuses on the "6C's of Communications Evolution" that I talked about at Ingate's SIP Trunking session during the IT Expo earlier this month. It's also a follow up to my last column that explored the benefits of SIP Trunking for service providers.

You can read the article here, and as always, I welcome your thoughts or comments.

Service Provider Views - the case for SIP Trunking

My latest Service Provider Views column is running now on TMCnet. The focus is on the benefits of SIP Trunking for service providers, and builds on the presentations I gave at TMC's IT Expo during Ingate's SIP Trunking sessions. Given how well the sessions were attended, I thought a follow-on article would be of interest to those who weren't there. I could probably produce a few more articles on these themes, and I'll leave that for you to decide.

You can start by reading today's article. If you like what you see, and want me to explore some other SIP Trunking themes from my presentations, please let me know, and I can do that in future columns.

My Interview with Polycom's Jeff Rodman

Aside from being a co-founder of Polycom and CTO of their Voice Communications Solutions division, Jeff Rodman is often referred to as the "father of HD voice". That's a pretty strong calling card, and I recently had a chance to conduct an interview with him about HD voice and the overall direction he's seeing for voice in the IP telephony space.

At TMC's IT Expo earlier this month, I gave a couple of presentations on SIP Trunking, so I've been quite attuned recently to how well these two ideas fit together. When service providers offer SIP Trunking, the enterprise gets the benefit of end-to-end IP, and one of those benefits is support for HD and wideband codecs. In this environment, VoIP can live up to its potential of not just being on par with TDM, but actually being superior. That may sound hard to believe (no pun intended), but if you've heard the difference between HD and narrowband voice, you'll know exactly what I'm talking about.

Back in August, Polycom announced the availability of their royalty-free wideband codec, Siren 7 (as in 7 kHz), and have been a leading proponent of bringing HD audio into the everyday audioconferencing experience. Wearing my TMC hat for a moment, I should add that Polycom sponsors a portal devoted to HD audio on TMCnet. It's a great resource, and Jeff Rodman serves as the resident Ask-the-Expert resource.

Well, before you run off to their portal, you should spend some time with me, since I have Jeff right here - in prose, anyway. Below is my interview with Jeff, and if this doesn't convince you that HD is a great value-add, I'm not sure what will. Enjoy...


Q: Let?s start at a high level and talk about how voice communications is evolving in today?s enterprise. Voice is no longer the domain of the PBX and we have more ways to talk than ever before. What does this mean for our expectations of the end user experience?

A: With workforces becoming more dispersed, enterprises are depending more and more on voice communications to keep their critical activities closely linked. We don?t always have time to send a confirming e-mail or text, so agreeing to a meeting at 2:15 can turn into a significant problem when the other person heard 2:50; and yet, if you just say these two numbers to yourself, you can hear how they could be easily confused over a conventional phone connection. That?s where technologies such as HD Voice make the difference: because with this extended audio bandwidth, you can carry the full range of human speech, significantly decreasing the possibilities for miscommunications.

People are talking business at homes, in their offices, and on the road; background noise is ubiquitous, speakerphone get used in reverberant rooms, and sometimes it seems that every second person you talk to has an accent different than your own. In any of these scenarios, having the whole speech signal, instead of the one-fourth of it that conventional phones carry, makes a big difference. Which makes sense; our ears are designed to listen to the whole voice, not a small part of it.

Another thing is that although it?s always been essential, talk has become a part of a richer communication experience. Over multiple connections, we have access to tools for text, email, graphics exchange, high definition video, even real-time photo sharing. We expect to have realistic voice as well.

Q: As end users have more choices for communicating, how does this impact vendors like Polycom in terms of product development? Is it more important to focus on the underlying technologies and standards or the applications for end users?

A: Polycom remains focused on providing the best human communications, so we?re excited by the opportunity to deliver a richer communication experience to a growing variety of users and applications. As you say, end users have more choices, but to us here at Polycom, having more choices means that we have a deeper toolbox we can draw from to build those solutions. Telephony has burst forth as an IP butterfly after being a POTS caterpillar for fifty years; this is a really exciting time to us.

To your other question, the degree to which one should be interested in the technology itself really depends on who is looking at this. For the end user, it?s the experience that is important, within the context of their application, not the technology. A user should not need to be concerned with the underlying technologies; even the profound improvement of HD Voice, when compared with conventional narrowband audio, should just be transparently available to the end user.

Along those lines, we believe in providing a comprehensive communications experience that enables users not only to communicate in HD Voice, but also to take advantage of applications on their desktop phones in order to maximize productivity. To that end, we have enabled our phones to run applications that allow them to conduct business more efficiently by accessing critical data on their phones ? for example, the corporate telephone directory ? and to easily and intuitively manage conference calls as well as record voice conversations ? all right on their phone.

For any organization, though, it?s the technologies and standards that make their jobs easier. Open Unified Communications means adherence to open standards to ensure a scalable and maintainable system architecture, and organizations wants to be sure that they?re also using innovative, reliable, and economical technologies as the basis for their solutions. For this reason, Polycom is an active participant in standards bodies such as the ITU, IEEE and Wi-Fi Alliance. We realize that in the end, the organization still needs to keep the users in mind. Technology and open standards are just the means to that end, serving the users, and this is true for both us as developers and manufacturers, and for the organizations that support and leverage their most valuable asset, their users.

Q: Wireless is becoming much more central for enterprise communications and a driver for this evolution process away from the traditional PBX. What trends are you seeing here, and where do you see wireless adding the most value for enterprises?

A: Enterprise wireless is becoming mainstream now that we?ve reached a mature stage with the technology and standards. Wi-Fi is already being deployed in a host of enterprise environments where mobile voice and data access is critical for key employees. Wi-Fi networks are secure and reliable enough for any enterprise application, and are a perfect complement to VoIP technology. Many of the early deployments of Wi-Fi in office environments were done only to support wireless data access, but today enterprises are planning their wireless infrastructure investments for both voice and data use.

The greatest value of a converged enterprise wireless solution is in improving employee productivity through better mobility and responsiveness. There are many more benefits to be realized as new applications and unified communication become integrated into the wired and wireless enterprise.

Q: Before focusing directly on the topic of wideband codecs, I?d like to hear your thoughts on what you?re seeing in the market in terms the disparities in quality between landline and mobile telephony. How much of an issue is this for enterprises, and how much are they looking to vendors like Polycom for solutions?

A: There?s a big difference in experience between wired and unwired telephony in the great uncontrolled outdoors, versus in a well-managed enterprise environment. Enterprises can make Wi-Fi network investments to meet their own requirements for call quality and capacity rather than relying on whatever wireless service providers have to offer. Deploying Wi-Fi can be much more cost effective over paying monthly airtime for a broadband data service that might have limited coverage and capacity. And as we all know, the cellphone remains the least reliable and poorest sounding telephone connection we can make, but its exceptional versatility still makes us love it.

However, this distinction disappears when we compare wired and enterprise-grade Wi-Fi phones, because Wi-Fi telephony in the enterprise delivers both high reliability and high quality - within the enterprise, you don?t have to surrender a dependable high-quality connection for mobility. Audio quality via Wi-Fi technology is robust and reliable when properly deployed within an enterprise setting, and even HD Voice can be carried over wireless links. It?s not only Wi-Fi, either; we expect to see audio bandwidth through cellphones improving over the next several years, driven by user demand and the availability of higher-fidelity devices, and enabled by high-efficiency wideband codecs such as G.722.2.

Q: As voice becomes integrated more and more with other workplace applications, the underlying technologies face new challenges. What do you see as the main challenges here and how well are they being addressed?

A: In the early days of VoIP, we experienced problems with jitter and packet loss, as enterprise networks were just beginning to understand the difference between conventional data and real-time media streams. Today however, those issues are well understood. With most enterprise IP networks having already moved from 10Mbps to 100 or 1000Mbps, and with best practices for VoIP being broadly disseminated, transitioning business telephony from dedicated analog or digital lines to a VoIP network is typically a fast and reliable process. This is fortunate, because business processes are taking advantage of the ability to link voice, video, and data in different ways.

The integrated address book on a desktop phone is one good example of bringing together two disparate forms of data via open standards, conveniently bridging two needs and two networks with one application, and on-screen conference call management is a good example of how the unified network can simultaneously manage, monitor, and document real-time, multi-participant collaboration.

Q: As communications technologies evolve, would you say that the real-time nature of voice is its strongest attribute, or are there other elements that are now more important such voice quality or a sense of social intimacy?

A: A good, fast back-and-forth discussion with someone quickly demonstrates how the immediacy of voice is still essential, but the transition to HD Voice within VoIP means that we can now hear the person as if they are in the same rooms as we are: their identity is clear, their words are unblurred. Whether hearing them accurately or being able to tell which person is speaking is more important probably depends on the nature of each particular interchange, but I think that with HD Voice over a real-time connection, we?re finally delivering the genuine and vivid speech experience that some of us have dreamed about providing for many years.

Q: I?d like to focus now on voice quality, and High Definition in particular. Most of the early challenges around the quality of VoIP have been addressed, but we?re not at the point yet where it can truly deliver a superior experience to TDM on a widespread scale. What are the key technologies that can enable this experience, especially around wideband codecs, and what can the market expect to see in the near future?

A: The big step up in sound quality is moving to HD Voice at 7 kHz. This captures an important part of the human voice, a whole range that?s missing in analog 3 kHz telephony. And it goes beyond that, too; on the other end, normal telephony doesn?t send much below 300 Hz, yet the human voice communicates below 100 Hz. These low frequencies convey presence, the feeling of ?yeah, that person really feels like they?re here.? Three modern standard codecs are available today that can carry this whole range, G.722, G.722.1 (Siren7), and G.722.2 (AMR-WB), which give excellent sound quality while allowing a range of choices to fit each application. G.722 is already very common in VoIP endpoints from some manufacturers, and we will be seeing adoption of the others as lower bit rate and cellphone HD Voice compatibility become more popular.

One thing that is often misunderstood is how much data bandwidth is needed by wideband audio. Wideband codecs don?t actually need any higher data rates than G.711, and some are significantly less: G.722.1?s rate is half that of G.711, G.722.2 is a quarter. This efficiency is possible because these more recent algorithms can run economically on today?s in-phone processors, which was not the case ten years ago. That?s part of your question, I think: processors, microphones, speakers, and the network itself have all evolved to the point that end-to-end HD Voice is not significantly more of a burden than narrowband.

Demonstrating this point, many vendors today are shipping wideband VoIP phones, using the popular G.722 codec for 7 kHz audio. At this point, G.722 is the language that all wideband systems can speak, and we expect that to continue growing in popularity. However, we also expect to see growing deployment of the other codecs as well, and some phones will ship with all three of the ?seven twenty-twos.? The challenge until now has been the ability of service providers to offer wideband telephony across their entire network. The good news is that more and more of our partners are doing just that, and we believe the benefits of wideband can soon be realized by the masses.

Q: What enterprise applications do you see having the most appeal and value for HD VoIP? How do you compare the appeal across various end user environments, and where do you see it bringing the most value ? specifically, the desktop screen, the desk phone, the mobile phone, audio conferencing and video conferencing.

A: Because so much of our communication is voice communications, the ability of HD VoIP to make speech substantially clearer and more accurate is pervasive - any application in which one person is talking to another is tangibly benefited by the improved clarity of HD VoIP. Some of the places where this has the strongest effect are those where facts are being discussed (on conventional phone connections without HD Voice, there?s almost no audible difference between ?sixty million? and ?sixteen million?), or where people are dealing with accents or hands-free phones, such as in audio conferences.

HD Voice can compensate for a lot of the degradation that noise and room acoustics add in conference groups, and it can also greatly help understand someone who talks with a different accent than your own. Additionally, since listening is less fatiguing with HD Voice, phone meetings in all environments tend to remain more focused and productive.

And while much of this may sound theoretical, we?ve heard it firsthand from some of our customers ? how much easier it is to do business with HD Voice. For example, one customer headquartered in Japan with offices around the globe, told us they communicate far more effectively now that they?re using HD Voice. Accents are that much easier to understand.

Q: How well do enterprises understand the notion of CEBP ? communications enabled business processes? Is it in line with how vendors such as Polycom see it, and how well can CEBP deliver on its value proposition?

A: With the globally competitive business environment, companies are constantly seeking to improve productivity of their workforce. Businesses are just getting exposed to the CEBP concept in a broad sense. However, they actually have applied CEPB to niche applications for a long time. The simple act of paging a doctor to come back to the office is a CEBP that?s been around for more than 20 years!

What?s new is that the power of the Internet, with data and decision making in network based applications, is converging with the richness and ubiquitous presence of next generation communications devices to make CEBP more effective, and applicable in broader contexts.

The success of CEBP is going to be driven by melding the underlying objectives of a business process (for example- ?improve patient response?) with the capabilities of the technology to define a new business process that achieves the objectives in a different, more optimal way, using communications devices. This is where having a broad set of solution partners in the actual business areas is enabling Polycom to deliver significant value around CEBP.

Q: Where do you see HD VoIP having the most impact for supporting CEBP going forward?

A: HD Voice has an essential role whenever voice is used as the information exchange medium in a business process. While written media like text and email are usually clear, it?s not hard to confuse, for example, ?FCC? with ?SEC? when spoken in a conventional phone message. Many business processes don?t easily make allowances for errors and repeats, so the consequences can be severe. Any time information transfer via human speech is an important part of a business flow, HD Voice should be seriously considered to increase efficiency, improve speed, and reduce mistakes.

Q: What?s the best thing that could happen now to accelerate the adoption or demand for HD VoIP?

A: With increased business focus on distributed workforces and travel reduction, HD Voice plays a big role in keeping businesses well connected because it restores the ?like being there? quality to informal conversations and formal discussions. We?re at an interesting point in the evolution of HD Voice. Compatible, standards-based technology exists, is openly available, and it is being deployed in numerous endpoints, service providers and networks, but full end-to-end connectivity is still building within the cloud. As vendors and service providers hear that their customers want HD Voice, they are accelerating its incorporation in their offerings; one way to help this happen is to just let your provider know that you want HD Voice.

Q: As a vendor, what?s the most important message about voice communications you?d like to see enterprises take away from our interview?

A: I think nobody?s going to argue that voice is a serious business communications tool, so the important things to remember are that HD Voice brings a major improvement in the quality and efficiency of this tool, and that HD Voice is cost-effective, reliable and interoperable, compatible with your VoIP network, and is available today. The bottom line is that we experience high definition audio and video in our daily lives, and we EXPECT it in our homes when we watch TV or listen to music, in entertainment venues such as sporting events, movie theatres, etc., and on the go with iPods, satellite radio, etc. So why not expect an HD experience at work?

Everyone agrees the HD experience is superior. I think now it?s just a matter of the workplace catching up technologically with our lives outside the office. And this is a change in and of itself. It used to be that the newest, best technologies were only available at work. As a younger workforce enters the business world, this will change, and we?re very excited to be there to see and hear about these changes as they occur ? all in HD, of course.

On the applications front, we?re also seeing some uptake and tremendous opportunity in the marketplace. If you look at how we use our mobile phones today, they are far more than voice devices. We use them for SMS, Web browsing and email. Polycom realizes that end users want their phones to offer more than just voice, and we?re making sure we offer that today with additional productivity enhancing apps coming soon. In the end, we just want to make it easier and faster for our customers to get the job done.

TMC IT Expo Momentum Building

I'll be plenty busy at TMC's IT Expo in about 10 days time, and have been posting fairly regularly about what I'll be up to. This is a short post to update on some recent coverage on TMCnet, some of which will tell you more about what you can expect to see from me at the Expo.

- Yesterday, Rich Tehrani ran a spotlight feature about my views on the IP comms space as well as some predictions for 2009. Thanks Rich!

- Yesterday, Rich also published a list of thought leaders for his readers to come meet at the Expo, and it was nice see him include me there. I'm really glad he's doing this, as there will be lots of smart people at the conference from all ends of the market - analysts, vendors, service providers, PR, etc. - and we all know that the best part of these events is the time we spend talking to each other and learning from each other. I know I'll be seeking out a few of those people on his list.

- Also yesterday, TMC's Erik Linask wrote a piece about 4G. It was nice to see him cite my latest TMCnet column there, but more importantly, he's drawing attention - as I am doing here - to the 4G Wireless Evolution conference, which is co-located at the IT Expo. This event warrants its own attention, and not just because 4G is a big deal for the entire mobile sector. It also marks the debut of Carl Ford and Scott Kargman in the conference space following the demise of VON. I'm not alone in being very happy to see this happen, and am looking forward to dropping in on their sessions as time allows.

- To round this post out, last week, TMC's Greg Galitzine ran a Q&A piece with me about the SIP Trunking sessions that take place during the Expo. That will be one of my main involvements there, and if you're interested in SIP Trunking, this should be high up on your list at the show.

Is VoIP Dead? The Sequel - My Latest TMC Article

For some of you, this issue is dead and gone, and beaten to death. Maybe so, but I still believe the flavor of VoIP that I'm seeing a lot of is very much alive and kicking in 2009. Some of this may just be arguing semantics, but the dialog that flowed from my last TMCnet article back on December 29 sure was interesting, and I've since felt obliged to follow this up and clarify things.

My latest Service Provider Views article ran today on TMCnet, and all that's left for me to do here is steer you to the link.

Give it a read, and tell me whether this changes your thinking or not. My position hasn't changed, and in fact, I've updated it with some developments that have come since my last article. Let's see where this goes...

TMC IT Expo Updates

TMC's ITExpo East 2009 event is quickly approaching, and I wanted to provide some updates.

First, I wanted to mention a nice gesture TMC is doing to help out those who been recently impacted by our weak economy. Rich Tehrani posted about this last week, and it's worth repeating here. TMC is offering free conference passes to industry people who are recently out of work. If this speaks to you or someone you know, please have a look at Rich's post for the details. Nicely done, TMC!

On my front, I'll be quite busy at the Expo. First off, I'll be moderating two sessions:

- Service Provider IP Telephony: Considerations

- Driving Benefits Through Analytics


I'm also going to be wearing my TMC hat as part of TMC Editor Week. I've been invited to join their Editorial team to participate in briefings with IT Expo participants. It's a great idea - sort of a "meet the press" thing, where TMC avails its roster of Editors and contributors like me to participants looking for our views on the market, their company, etc. These briefings are being organized by TMC, so it's not an open invitation. However, if you come by the Press Room, and see me at a table in the area dedicated to TMC Editor Week, at least you'll know why.


Switching hats now, I'll also be presenting two segments during Ingate's "back by popular demand" SIP Trunking Sessions:

- Technology Survival Roadmap - SIP Trunking and Beyond

- Just for Carriers: SIP Trunk Intensive Workshop

The sesssions are free, and you can register to attend here. Ingate and TMC have worked hard to build this up into a very popular draw at the IT Expo, and I'm really looking forward to being part of it. You can also read more about it in the press release that just went out this morning.

Finally, on Tuesday morning, I'll be hosting a business breakfast sponsored by the Canada/Ontario delegation that is showcasing Ontario tech companies at the IT Expo. Attendees will get to meet representatives from the following companies: SVKSoftware, Pronexus, Industry Dynamics, Macadamian, Ingenius, OmniWare, ObjectWorld, Jazinga, Phybridge, Callture, Vision Max and Sigma Systems.

Attendance is limited and is on an RSVP basis. The breakfast is primarily targeted at South Florida companies looking to do business with Ontario tech companies, especially those in the delegation. For more information, drop me a line, and I can send you an invitation. You can reach me at: jon@jarnoldassociates.com

December 2008 Media Roundup

Am a few days late getting this out, but as usual, I'm doing a brief recap of where I turned up in the media last month.

First, some citings in various stories covered by the media...

- BroadSoft's acquisition of Sylantro - Telephony Online

- Nortel's prospects - The Readerboard, and TMCnet

- SMB IP telephony options - Financial Post

- Avaya Canada's 2009 roadmap - ITBusiness.ca

Switching gears to other media, I was also featured in a national TV interview, an in-depth podcast, and a press release:

- Wireless substitution trends in Canada - CBC TV News, Toronto

- Social media in the enterprise - podcast with Socialcast CEO Tim Young, Business Trends Quarterly

- Orasi Software's partnership with HP - press release

I was also busy on the writing front, with my regular Service Provider Views columns for TMCnet, and some Ask the Expert commentaries for TechTarget:

- VoIP in 2008 - 'I'm Not Dead' - TMCnet

- Microsoft and Service Providers Part 2: Progress Interrupted But Not Stopped - TMCnet

For TechTarget, registration is required to read the full text, but it just takes a minute.

- 2009 VoIP Outlook, Unified Communications Ask the Expert

- Green Advantages of VoIP over PBXs, Unified Communications Ask the Expert


Finally, TechTarget recently published its Top 20 Unified Communications/IP Telephony Ask the Expert Answers of 2008. Am happy to report that 5 of the top 20 responses for 2008 were mine:

- Can I keep my PBX while migrating to VoIP?

- Can I configure mobile VoIP on my company smartphone?

- Is the iPhone a good choice for my business?

- Configuring a cost-effective VoIP network for overseas calls

- How will employee desktop video use affect our network?

My Take on 2008 - VoIP's Not Dead Yet

Everyone's doing their year-end review thing now, and in true fashion, I'm late to the party. All the mainstream pubs did their thing last week - year in review, top 10 stories, 2009 predictions, etc. I'm not a news guy, so I don't have much to add there, so I don't bother. Besides, I have to make a living doing these things, so I'm not going to spend all day blogging about where I think things are going.

However, I do have a few things coming this week. I have a year-in-photos review in the works so you'll know where I've been in 2008, and this has a lot to do with what I'm seeing in the IP communications space for 2009.

I've also just published my latest Service Provider Views article, and that will serve as a pretty good proxy for my contribution to the year that was. If you're a Monty Python fan, I think you'll like it. More importantly, if VoIP is in your lexicon, you should find this of interest.

Basically, I think VoIP is going to be huge in 2009, but not for reasons you may think. I'm trying to draw attention to smart companies doing cool things, like Voxbone, Fonolo, Jazinga, Vayyoo, Phone.com, Calliflower, Mobivox, Jajah, Vidtel and Truphone. They're taking VoIP to the next level, and if you're not watching them now, you better be in 2009.

The article went live on TMCnet this morning, and fellow blogger Andy Abramson has posted a nice piece about it already. Would love to hear your thoughts!

Service Provider Views - Microsoft and the Telcos, Part 2

My latest Service Provider Views column on TMCnet is now running. This article continues the theme from my previous article which explores why I believe Microsoft and service providers need each other.

Things got a bit complicated while writing Part 2, given Microsoft's recent announcement they are abandoning their Connected Services Framework initiative. That certainly changes the equation, but I still contend there's an important symbiotic relationship for both parties.

You'll just have to read it for yourself and let me know if I'm on or off target!