VOIP and SIP News

Companies continued to upgrade their communications networks to VoIP solutions in 2010, seeing it as an important part of their business future.

And despite the high demand prices have stayed low, according to a Fiercevoip contributor.

VoIP growth has been at its highest levels since 2008. Mike Dolan explained that this was unsurprising as many SME's and SMB's view VoIP as "mission critical".

80% of businesses with 1,000 or more employees are now using at least one cloud computing service.

He stated: "With 2010 being such a strong year for IP communications, I am sure we are all looking forward to what 2011 will bring."

In addition the technology is proving attractive to individual consumers.

But some parts of the world are still proving resistant to VoIP.

At the beginning of the year the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority opened the door to VoIP in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), but companies such as Skype are still not offering their full service there.

Rouzbeh Pasha, the Skype Middle East director, said:"Skype is not in discussions with the UAE's TRA.

"Generally speaking, we're always excited when people use Skype regardless of where they are."

Skype connects people from all around the world through video and voice calls via multiple mobile devices.

Since Skype went down just before Christmas, the Voice over Internet Protocol service will be nervously looking over its shoulders at other competitors.

Skype went down for a whole day due to a server outage on December 22, and it is not the first time that it has happened.

It is bad news for the company which is trying to get an Initial Public Offering as it plans to attract more revenue, especially business custom.

The Skype competitors include the VoIP service Fring, which Skype has already blocked in the past to try and limit its threat.

Fring offers low cost VoIP calls and their VoIP app on Android has proved very popular. Fring was one of the first companies to allow mobile video calls via 3G and wi-fi to other Fring users.

Many people with a gmail account will also have access to Google Voice, and the call phones feature has many benefits including easily access to your entire contact system and call forwarding.

Another new service is not too appealing given that you have to listen to some ads before you use it. Nevertheless Freephone2phone allows 10 minutes of free international calls, which is a great deal.

Skype 3G went live in May as one of a number of Mobile VoIP apps created for smartphones. In October it was released for Android via wi-fi.

Lifehacker has just produced a useful guide to making VoIP calls on the Android 2.3 smartphone, an OS otherwise known as Gingerbread.

The service uses SIP trunking and Voice over Internet Protocol and works without the use of any 3rd party apps. Therefore you can make low cost calls over your own data network.

Commenters had a few things to say. For instance Gingerbread appears to offer calls to/from other SIP accounts without ringing the actual phone numbers. Therefore you can only make calls to other SIP accounts not to landlines via that SIP account.

Another said that Droid X did not have the right features for this to work. Yet more people wanted to know if the VoIP calls were compatible with Google Voice.

3CX, the award winning phone system for Windows, will run New Year Partner Training sessions in Greece.

They will be held in conjunction with Share Sectron which is a 3CX distribution partner in Greece.

The two day seminar will take place from January 7 to January 9 at the Pelion Resort in Portaria.

All registered 3CX Partners are invited to join Sectron for free training on the 3CX Phone System.

However the event can only hold 20 attendees so you are advised to book early as it is likely to be popular.

The schedule for the event is:

07-11-2011
19:00 – 19:15: Welcome and Introduction
19:15 – 19:30: 3CX IP PBX for Windows: Why?
19:30 – 20:30: Successful selling of 3CX Phone Systems

08-11-2011
09:00 – 09:30: Overview of 3CX Administration System – V9
09:30 – 10:30: Setup 3cx PBX server
10:30 – 11:00: Coffee Break
11:00 – 12:30: Setup Hardware Phones and Patton Gateways
12:30 – 13:30: Lunch Break
13:30 – 14:30: 3CX User Portal, 3CX Phone & 3CX Assistant Overview
14:30 – 16:00: Setup 3cx Hotel module

09-11-2011
09:00 – 10:30: 3CX Installation Troubleshooting Practical Training
10:30 – 11:00: Coffee Break
11:00 – 13:00: Sip Server and DNS services
13:00 – 14:00: Lunch Break

Voice communications are set to move into the cloud with the assistance of 4G.

That is because a single standard for LTE voice has now been agreed for 4G.

Therefore there is more incentive for carriers to invest in wireless services in the future. Along with the wireless service WiMax, carriers can make an investment in IMS.

According to the director of Broadsoft, David Walters, the communications market is changing with a proliferation of 'VoIP application servers that sit in carrier networks, leveraging SIP trunks to serve enterprises and SMBs.'

However those characteristics may now be taken into the cloud. Voice will become more and more like another IT service which can be purchased.

Mr Walters explained: "This provides a big opportunity to help value-added resellers package voice services in the cloud, creating a crisp business model in the process."

The upshot is a world where customers can gain PBX functionality for their mobile phones.

Claims by Tribair that it will create the world's largest Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) community demand that we stand up and take notice.

From its base in Canada, this recently launched company is creating a global network of VOIP hotspots where members turn their WiFi connection into shared hubs.

Therefore Tribair aims to be more than just a service provider.

The CEO of Tribair, Eric Reiher, said: "We want to make communications a rewarding experience, both socially and financially. Tribair leverages the network effects inherent in phone conversation to build a user contact base."

He add: "Smartphones are feature rich but the costs of multimedia messages, roaming or long distance is punishing. On the other hand Tribair can save you money."

Hotspot owners can actually make revenue from their VoIP hub via the long distance calls of other users. Calls are made using WiFi or 3G.

With one fifth of the revenue up for grabs, this is a revolutionary, decentralized concept.

It works by use of an app which is available on various smartphones including the Android and the iPhone.

Once you have downloaded the app there is a starter credit of 25 cents, and astonishingly this could get you a 17 minute call to more than 50 countries worldwide.

These smartphone rates claim to be 45 per cent cheaper than Skype.

All you have to do is open the WiFi router and the application automatically displays worldwide Tribair free WiFi networks.

Calls between members use only data, not airtime, which means savings on and roaming charges.

Many dedicated VoIP users have been wondering whether they will get a faster service and better quality of call over 4G next year.

Yet the handset and application developers have been slow to act, partly because no final standard for VoIP over 4G has yet been defined.

Right now 4G is being used for data channels on dual mode devices as well as faster mobile Internet connections.

However good news is at hand and before the New Year a number of companies will expand into 4G and unified communications.

They include the Verizon Wireless LTE network and Clearwire with 120 million people taking advantage of it is WiMax network.

One of the big developments of 2010 is that SIP trunking is now ubiquitous and this is offered cheaply as part of many VoIP services. It is also a main part of the VoIP portfolio offered by cable companies.