VOIP and SIP News

Telstra, the Australian telecommunications company will help small business migrate to VoIP by investing $600 million in a Quality-of-Service upgrade.

The company says the Quality-of-Service upgrade is vital to offer the standard of reliability and service that customers should expect.

1600 exchanges in Australian capital cities will benefit from the five year IP telephony project. By using the $120 per month Digital Business package they can make cheap VoIP calls over their Telstra ADSL2+ connection.

The ADSL2+ connection will be made with a Cisco Router and a Cisco digital phone and all standard call costs are included.

That means 90% of Australian businesses will have cheap VoIP calls by September 2011. After the initial set-up fee businesses on average will save up to $2400 dollars per year on calls and communications.

Two of the main players in the deal were the Telco CEO David Thodey and the Federal Minister for Small Business in Australia, Nick Sherry.

Mr Thodey said: "Often people say they want a cheaper price but what they are really saying is that they want more functionality at an affordable price. [Our cost savings] equate to more than a billion dollars annually across the Australian economy."

The Telstra package includes unlimited access to a MessageBank, Voice2Email messaging and a domain name if you want to set up a website.

There is also Microsoft Exchange Online so that people can access their calendar and emails even if they are not in the office. For an additional $15 per month it is possible to get the internet connections and voice connections automatically switched over to the Telstra NextG network as a backup for the ADSL connection.

The service will also be ready for use when the Australian National Broadband Network is rolled out.

Australian smartphone users can look forward to widely available Voice over Internet Protocol on their Android device now that the National Broadband Network is nearing completion.

Compnaies which are looking to take advantage of the faster internet speeds include iiNet, an Internet Service Provider based in Perth, Western Australia.

The company has said that it is thinking outside of the box to bring fast VoIP to Android users. They have tasked their consumer products division
iiNet Labs to create enticing broadband-related products.

The iiNet technical sales manager, Simon Watt, said: “There is no reason why we cannot launch handsets that run Android OS as so many people are developing apps for Android right now."

Products include the iiNet BoB which will be released in April and run on Android 2.0 or above. It is an aggregated router, modem and phone device with dual VoIP capabalities (to support two phone numbers from different providers)and a colour screen.

iiNet will also release an IP security solution which uses IP camera systems for home security in the middle of 2011.

Watt explained: “If it is broadband related and people want to buy it then we will develop it. The sky is the limit.”

Australia is issuing certain phone codes to VoIP numbers under the guidance of the communications regulator ACMA.

The legislation will allow area codes such as 02 and 03 to be issued to outbound VoIP services, while there will be implications for customers who do not assign geographical codes to their VoIP numbers.

Providers must warn clients that it could lead to them paying more money, as many people use VoIP because it is so cost effective.

An ACMA spokesman said: "VoIP customers who have been issued geographic numbers may also have difficulty porting the number to another carriage service provider."

An alternative is to take the nomadic area code which starts with 0550 and VoIP providers have already been issued with thousands of nomadic numbers.

The ACMA acting chairman, Richard Bean, said: "These amendments represent an important step in regulatory transition to converged services such as VoIP."

The ACMA will follow the 2010 public consultation on geographic number amendments with three more discussion papers in the near future.

The Treasury of the Australian Government is to bring in a voice over internet protocol (VoIP) system in place of its old private automatic branch exchange (PABX).

To make the Treasury offices more efficient the upgrade will include a number of unified communications benefits such as video conferencing, instant messaging and telepresence. These are all expected to be cost saving solutions.

VoIP will be offered with the help of 1300 standard user handsets, 300 expansion modules, 20 wall mount handsets and 20 meeting room handsets.

The new phone system will provide increased support for the high volume of inbound calls that the Treasury recieves.

Treasury documents stated: “The proposed software console will meet the requirements for directory searching, accepting and dispatching calls, call queuing and reporting.”

Microsoft Exchange 2010 will also be installed at the same time as the upgrade is part of a wider unified communication strategy by the Federal Government.

In November 2010, the Attorney-General offices of the Western Australian government received enterprise IP telephony services.

VoIP will be the next big thing in Australian telecommunications, but not until the speed of braodband catches up with the technology.

So says the senior national marketing executive for Uniden, Brad Hales,
in response to a new Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) report.

The report discusses telecommunications and media plans in regard to the the new digital economy.

It states: “Increasingly generous data allowances are being offered to consumers. These include internet and VoIP bundling as telecommunication providers compete for new business in the rapidly changing digital world."

Current.com.au asked Mr Hales how the mobile and smartphone industry was being affected.

He said his company was intently watching the evolution of digital communication.

“VoIP will be the next big thing in telecommunications but this is still a couple of years off," Mr Hales explained.

“As a company we have supporting products and are waiting to see what will happen, but at the moment the Australian infrastructure to support VoIP is not up to speed.

"VoIP will take off when the National Broadband infrastructure is rolled out and Australia’s internet speeds are acceptable compared with worldwide standards.

Uniden research suggests VoIP uptake is being hampered by poor voice clarity and a lack of reliability. VoIP must first offer reliable, high-quality calls in order to compete with traditional fixed line services.

The city of Brisbane in Australia will get greater Voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) capabilities thanks to new fibre optic cables.

Constructionof the fibre-optic network will start at the beginning of 2011, with half a million set to be rolled over the next four years.


VoIP allows anyone with a fast Internet connection to make low-cost or free calls between computers,or even from computers to landlines.The most well-known worldwide VoIP provider is Skype.

The broadband specialist, Fibre-optic i3 Group, has signed a deal with the City Council to bring broadband to Brisbane. Cables laid underground alongside the sewer system will allow a super-fast Internet connection which is perfect for VoIP.

However VoIP will not be only technology to benefit because download speeds will be up to 100Mbps, giving users many options.
The Brisbane fibre-optic network will be in addition to the state-wide National Broadband Network (NBN).

The Brisbane Lord Mayor Campbell Newman said: "We  have no disagreement with the National Broadband Network . But as the Mayor of Brisbane with the best interests of our 1 million residents I want them to get this broadband service and this infrastructure as soon as possible."