Alcatel-Lucent Equips UWE with VoIP


Voice over Internet Protocol is the ideal way for an educational institution to lower costs with cheap internet calling and also organise all their communications.

That is why The University of West England (UWE) has turned to Alcatel-Lucent for an IP telephony solution.

The proposed dual IP/TDM environment will allow UWE to connect their seven campuses with easy to manage contact centres that encompass communications for 4,000 users.

Among them the Bristol based campus of UWE will deploy the Alcatel-Lucent OmniPCX Enterprise IP-PBX phone system VoIP solution which is supported by the Alcatel-Lucent OmniVista network management platform. Touch handsets with IP call features will be used for cheap and efficient communications.

The overall project is carried out by the Alcatel-Lucent Business Partner South West Communications Group to deliver IP-based voice and collaboration. When it is completed there can be multiple DECT handset users on a single site.

3CX Interoperable with OpenID


3CX, the maker of the 3CX phone system for Windows, has now successfully been tested as interoperable with Paris based VoIP service provider OPenID.

That means that SMBs in Paris will be able to get even more benefits in the sphere of high quality IP telephony and low cost business calls as part of an integrated solution.

The Ceo of OpenID, Laurent Silvestri, said: “During the last few years our team has been strongly supportive of the French 3CX community, especially providing strong sales and technical support to the resellers.

"The OpenIP/3CX interoperability offers a great range of economical, Broadband Internet packages and unlimited Full-IP Voice plans to 3CX Phone Systems architectures. Therefore it will be extremely profitable to this community.”

OpenIP is a 3CX Supported SIP Trunk provider. 3CX has won Windows Server Certification and multiple awards including the Best Buy Award by Computer Shopper Magazine and the Windowsnetworking.com Gold Award.

VoIP Driven by MSBGs


The sales of Multi-service Business Gateways (MSBGs) are taking off in conjunction with the massive popularity of VoIP business phone systems and other unified communications products.

In fact research firm In-Stat predicts that 1.8 million MSBGs will be sold by the year 2015 alone. That is because of the popularity of hosted software solutions and the need to centralise data.

They have become essential to SMBs which want to have a secure analogue voice interface which allows data routing, and which can be used together with VoIP hardware.

Because of that there is a need for MSBGs to offer unified communications. In Stat calculates that that applies to 27% of competitive opportunities.

Norm Bogen, the vp of research at In-Stat, said; "The trend for MSBGs is driven by cost savings. Branch offices and SMBs are able to consolidate multiple services into an MSBG. Companies can use them to cut costs by needing less infrastructure on site."

T-Mobile Terminates Bobsled VoIP Over Facebook Concerns


The telecommunications company T-Mobile has suspended its Bobsled VoIP service because users did not realise that it was a separate entity from Facebook.

That means that only a week after launching the free VoIP app which is Facebook based, T-Mobile is having to rethink its VoIP social network strategy.

The company released a statement to say: "We are voluntarily and temporarily suspending the Bobsled service.

“In the meantime we will work with our partners at Facebook to address their design questions, including working to ensure that the Bobsled experience is clearly differentiated and is not mistaken for a Facebook created property. We apologize to our customers for this temporary disruption in service."

The friend-to-friend chatting service was aimed to cater to the 88% of Facebook users who have indicated that they want a Facebook voice chat service on-site. However Facebook has said that the app violates Facebook policies so it is back to the drawing board.

While VoIP services often need minor adjustments after release, if there is a policy violation then it is normal practice to temporarily suspend the product until the issue is resolved.

The initial release of the T-Mobile app surprised many in the industry but the idea of being able to call other Facebook users, and if necessary leave them voice messages which are transcribed onto the ‘wall’, is a good one. T-Mobile, which will soon be part of AT&T, also has future plans to release a video chat service.