VoIP Week in Review from TMCnet

By Johanne Torres

TMCnet Contributing Editor

 

This week, the VoIP Minute Watch brought you news from Vonage, Oracle (News - Alert), TCS, BroadSoft (News - Alert) and Alcatel (News - Alert).

 

Vonage and Motorola (News - Alert) announced on Monday the introduction of a new co-branded VoIP adaptor with router, the Motorola VT2142.

 

Specifically, the device single is a port router equipped with a 2-line telephone adaptor, configured with Vonage's service. The Motorola VT2142 will be available online, at no cost, thanks to a $49.99 instant rebate. (Customers will be charged a $9.95 shipping and handling fee and a $29.99 activation fee). The companies plan to soon also offer the product in retail stores.

 

The VoIP service provider is moving pretty quickly to achieve 100 percent VoIP E911 coverage. The company announced on Tuesday that over 90 percent of its subscriber lines are now equipped with E911 service, a feature that associates a physical address with the calling party's telephone number automatically.

 

Vonage announced Friday a special Vonage phone service offer for HP and Compaq consumer PC customers in the U.S. and Canada. The deal will have HP and Compaq consumer desktop and notebook PCs in the U.S. and Canada be pre-packaged with a Vonage brochure or an interactive CD-ROM in the PC box explaining details about the service. The brochure, which outlines the benefits of Vonage service, will include integrated communications services, a suite of features, and contact management. This will enable customers to sign-up via their computer desktop or contact a toll-free number to receive the special offer for Vonage service.

 

Vonage Canada also announced this week its marketing deal with BelAirTravel.com. The companies will be running a promotion that will allow consumers to receive three free months of Vonage Premium Unlimited phone service when they visit BelAirTravel.com to book their winter vacation. The special promotion will run until November 30th.

 

Oracle Virtual PBX (News - Alert) was introduced on Monday by Oracle. The new service will be part of the company's Oracle Service Delivery Platform (Oracle SDP). The platform, to be deployed by operators and service providers, supports SIP, SIP Servlets, and Parlay/Parlay X. The Oracle SDP enables the development of network-centric services and their portability across IMS-enabled and VoIP networks.

 

The Oracle Virtual PBX will be delivered as an operator-hosted PBX service. The service features Queues and Attendant functionality, Hunting Groups and Auto attendants. Oracle Virtual PBX can be implemented using standard J2EE and Web technologies.

 

TeleCommunication Systems (TCS) announced Tuesday that it was awarded yet another location-related patent. This is the company's 13th patent awarded by U.S. Patent and Trademark Office relating to location technology. The new patent is number 7,113,128 titled "Culled Ephemeris Information for Quick, Accurate Assisted Locating Satellite Location Determination for Cell Site Antennas."

 

Specifically, the company's invention would improve the process of "providing a location fix to a GPS-enabled handset," noted TCS' news release. The invention also "provides for the prioritized grouping of satellites for a specific reference point that enables the selection of the best group with which to communicate for determining the device's precise location."

 

VoIP application software provider BroadSoft introduced its BroadWorks VoIP application platform in Bangladesh this week. The IMS-compliant BroadWorks platform seems to be a good choice for the more rural and remote sections of Bangladesh, where telecom services are not always available. The platform features include hosted PBX, Business Trunking, Mobile PBX and Call Center.

 

Alcatel announced this week that it signed an agreement with ATD Quart Monde, a world anti-poverty organization, and Data Telecom Service (DTS), an Internet service provider, to supply broadband Internet access to the deprived people of Antananarivo in Madagascar.

 

Alcatel will help establish IT discovery and training programs for people between the ages of 16 and 25 years old in disadvantaged areas. Once the first twenty young people are trained, they will be directed to train the rest of the group. Through the partnership, Alcatel will provide telecom equipment free of charge (a WiMAX station and associated terminals), and will help to set up and run the project.

 

Alcatel announced Thursday that it was tapped by the Wansbeck District Council in the North East of England to deploy the company's IP network in order to beef up community safety through CCTV surveillance. Alcatel joined forces with business partner Rapier Systems to install the system. The service will also include free VoIP-based internal calling for Wansbeck's 500 employees.

 

There you have it folks, another exciting week in the VoIP industry! Stay tuned and read the VoIP Minute Watch for the latest news…

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Johanne Torres is contributing editor for TMCnet and INTERNET TELEPHONY magazine. To see more articles by Johanne Torres, please visit her columnist page.