Industry Articles
WiFi/Cellular Convergence Standards to be Defined
By Erik Linask
Associate Editor
Article Online
Convergence is not a new idea ? but it may be the hottest topic around. How nice would it be to be able to have your mobile device switch seamlessly between your home WiFi network, your cellular network, and your WLAN connection at work. While technology is moving in that direction, there are certain issues that must be addressed first, regarding standards and compliance for such devices and the networks they switch between.
The Wi-Fi Alliance and CTIA ? The Wireless Association have partnered in the interest of developing and promoting certification programs for converged WiFi/mobile handsets. Together, the two organizations will develop test programs for overlapping aspects of converged WiFi/mobile phones. The formal alliance is a natural extension of ongoing collaborative efforts between the two since early 2005.
Initially, efforts will be focused on RF (radio frequency) performance mapping in a mixed network environment. Later, the groups intend to delve into other technology challenges of convergence, such as call handover between cellular and WiFi networks, cross-radio signal sensitivity, and battery life.
Converged handsets have already hit the consumer and business markets from several leading manufacturers. The devices offer a rich, dynamic wireless broadband experience and improved in-building coverage. They also allow carriers to allocate spectrum efficiently and provide differentiated services to subscribers. It is a market that is in its infancy, but is set to grow swiftly in the coming years.
As it does mature, more and more converged handsets will become available and carriers will be forced to support converged solutions. Consequently, collaboration between wireless and cellular industries becomes increasingly important in order to keep pace with and resolve technology issues that widespread adoption of convergence technology will uncover.
This effort by the Wi-Fi Alliance and CTIA represents a strong step towards ensuring that obstacles can be overcome with relative ease and speed. Testing and certification standards will ensure that converged handsets and networks are universally interoperable, paving the way for speedy adoption, fewer technical difficulties, and further advancement ? all of which are good for manufacturers, service providers, and customers alike.
Erik Linask is Associate Editor of INTERNET TELEPHONY. Most recently, he was Managing Editor at Global Custodian, an international securities services publication. To see more of his articles, please visit Erik Linask?s columnist page
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Microsoft Outlines Its Vision for the 'People Ready Business'
By Renee Boucher Ferguson
March 26, 2006
Article Online
News Analysis: At the Microsoft Convergence conference, officials will pound home the message that Microsoft is working to enable the "people ready business" by investing in all kinds of technology.
DALLAS?At its annual Microsoft Convergence conference here in Dallas this weekend (and into early next week), Microsoft officials will pound home the message that Microsoft is working to enable the "people ready business" by investing in all kinds of technology, from a unified communications platform that includes a voice infrastructure to composite application development capabilities.
"It's about breadth and depth and seamless activity across domains," said Jeff Raikes, group vice president of Microsoft's Information Worker Business, during his keynote address March 26.
"We've spent several billion on a wave products coming to market in the next 12 to 18 months."
Raikes gave the example of several areas Microsoft is investing in to bring home its vision for its Business Solutions applications division: business intelligence to pull insights that already exist in systems; search to help users quickly find information; mobility to work in different styles; customer relationship management and supplier relationship management to streamline processes; and in the infrastructure to support the technology developments.
All well and good goals, but when it came time for the members of the audience to ask questions during Raikes' keynote, they weren't asking about building composite applications or getting VOIP enabled.
Attendees at this year's conference are still, it seems, bogged down with the basics.
Allan, a user representing Unified Fruit Service, asked Raikes and former MBS head Doug Burgum (who joined Raikes on the stage for the Q&A session) what the purpose is of moving to a single product name?Dynamics?for Microsoft's four very separate ERP suites, and if that means the company is moving to a single code base for the products?a message Microsoft has been hammering on for the some time.
"Part of the purpose of going to a single name [is to leverage] the strength of Microsoft, to create an awareness of categories; with a global name we wanted to be able to talk about what we would provide," said Burgum.
"A lot of people aren't even aware that Microsoft offers business applications."
Apparently, some customers aren't aware yet of Microsoft's basic premise of Dynamics?moving to a single code base that enables roles-based computing.
"[The name change] does signify that we have an end point out in the future, where we are going to move to a common point," said Burgum.
"Whatever product you are on today, you keep doing the upgrades and you will end up at a converged product down the road."
Microsoft began talking about converging its separate ERP suites?Great Plains (GP under the Dynamics brand), Navision (NAV), Axapta (AX) and Solomon (SL), along with CRM?a few years back when it introduced the concept under the code name Project Green.
Then, last year at this conference, Microsoft officials reworked Green's fundamental concepts of Green and renamed the effort Dynamics, which breaks down into two separate development waves.
The first wave, which Microsoft is firmly ensconced in now and extends through 2007, looks to develop a common user interface across the suites and begin the integration of products based on role-based experiences.
The applications will also be integrated with SQL Server Reporting and Office, for business intelligence capabilities in a familiar environment.
"We're halfway through that," said Raikes. "We've shipped CRM 3.0 and GP 8 and [the next version of] SL. Within the next year we'll ship GP 10 and SL 7."
Raikes said Microsoft is also well into the development of wave 2 that extends into 2008 "and beyond" (two major delays?Microsoft Vista and Microsoft Office?were announced this week; it's still up in the air as to whether those delays will effect Dynamics in the future).
Wave 2 includes making the core business logic of the applications model driven, so that the user interface will be reflected in a business process, and continued work on the role-based activity development.
All that innovation aside, customers still have elemental requests.
One woman stood up and said: "We have 37 companies on GP, next week we'll have 38, then 39. We need a headquarters function that will let us sit on top and let us consolidate things?.when a vendor calls, we have to go into every company to find them," she said.
"Put that on your to-do list to make GP more scalable."
Another customer from Global Quality Corp in Cincinnati wanted to know if he should continue to invest in GP's tool kits, given the changes expected with Dynamics.
"We'll support [the tool kits] through 2013, so if you think that's a time frame to invest?there will be enhancements moving forward," said Burgum.
"But the Web services we're shipping in GP, you can be confident they will be supported for a long time moving forward."
Finally, a man stood up?apparently a Microsoft partner?and asked the question that's been on a lot of people's minds: Can Microsoft compete in the world of Software as a Service given development issues, as some pundits suggest?
"That's what those guys want you to think," said Burgum. "It's bunk. Those guys like to say software is dead [on demand leader Salesforce.com's motto], but there is no reason Microsoft can't do both, and we will do both. We'll give [users] the ability to choose. If you want to run CRM on-site, that's great. And if you want to run CRM in the cloud, that's great."
Burgum said that while some of the players out there "want you to think otherwise, we have another vision."
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Test Shows VoIP Call Quality Can Improve with SSL VPN Links
By Joel Snyder, Network World, 02/20/06
Article Online
Six Things You Need to Know About VoIP
Think you know VoIP? Think again. There are plenty of myths and misunderstanding out there. We talk to 30 experts who tell you exactly what you need to know.
By J. W. Olsen,
1:07 PM EDT Mon. Apr. 10, 2006
Do you think you know VoIP? Think again. There are plenty of myths and misunderstandings about the technology making the rounds. To help separate the truth from facts, we contacted more than 30 experts, and asked them to dispel the most common myths, and give you the straight truth. Here's what they told us.
Is VoIP just about voice?
The clear consensus of our experts is that the future of VoIP is more about a broad, new landscape that brings messaging, services, and apps to the desktop than simply about voice. Phil Edholm, VP of network architecture for Nortel Networks' Optical Ethernet and Enterprise Product Portfolio business units, suggests that an appropriate term for this converged networking is IP Multimedia.
Like other experts, Doug Fink, VP of IP communications for Calence, notes that SIP and presence likely will lead the way, with multichannel requests such as email and the Web looking more and more like real-time requests. Greg Welch, president and CEO of GlobalTouch Telecom, points to VoIP services and applications that listen to an e-mail on a handheld device or forwards voicemail as an email attachment. Telephone, fax, e-mail, and video conferencing no longer are fixed to locations. "Click a contact in Outlook or say a name to locate that person no matter where or on what device," adds Welch.
Jon Doyle of CommuniGate Systems chimes in with the convergence charge: "Call my email address? The long-term view is for users to have one data and voice address for all [IP-based] interactions." Meanwhile, Ray Prescott, CEO of VoxBox World Telecom, says that PDAs soon will have the same functionality as cellular in a WiFi hot spot through VoIP.
Does VoIP provide quality conversations?
The jury is still out on the question of VoIP quality compared to traditional phone systems. Mike Grieb, project manager for Technisource, says VoIP got a bad reputation largely from poorly engineered data networks when introduced, but adds that, properly engineered, VoIP is equal to or better than toll-quality voice. Grieb notes that the most common voice encoding scheme, G.711, is designed to be exactly equal to the public voice network in terms of quality, with a frequency spectrum of 300-3000hz.
As Grieb points out, while voice doesn't require much bandwidth, it requires error-free delivery. Networks designed to work well for data can tolerate occasional errors, but those errors may manifest themselves as pops, static, or worse in voice transmissions. Grieb further observes that the average Internet connection often has 2-5 seconds or more of delay to compensate for best-effort transmission. The problem comes when you want interactive audio. Imagine, suggests Grieb, having a discussion and you must wait for 5 seconds before responding. Too late, the other party has started again.
Eric Bear, VP of product management and global business development at Viola Networks, comments on a common VoIP complaint: "VoIP sometimes makes you hear things twice, makes you hear things twice. VoIP does not create the echo. Point your screwdriver at the PSTN equipment. VoIP can actually offer richer sound quality."
How secure is VoIP?
Our experts mostly concur that VoIP security isn't yet where we need it. Andrew Graydon, chair of the Security Requirements Committee of the Voice over Internet Protocol Security Alliance and CTO of BorderWare, observes that traditional firewalls don't protect VoIP calls due to the dynamic nature of real-time SIP communications. "Voice traffic raises technology challenges because voice packets must be encrypted and traverse a firewall without undue latency." Graydon adds that network threats are becoming more common. A VoIP attack could bring down an entire network. "Security problems include voicemail spam, identity theft, impersonation, session eavesdropping, voicemail bombing, hijacking, and redirection."
Grieb adds that a hacker who can access your data stream can decode the voice protocol. The good news is that whatever is deployed for data security also is applicable to voice packets.
How does VoIP affect network bandwidth?
The experts diverge about the effects of VoIP on bandwidth, though most express significant concerns. Bear observes frustration when he says, "Bandwidth, bandwidth everywhere, and I still can't make a call. Capacity isn't enough for voice; configuration and connectivity must be considered." Michael Mullaley, director of enterprise marketing at Ciena Corporation, adds that when VoIP traffic exceeds 100 gigs per day, an IP-routed WAN begins to drop packets, which easily can exceed the capacity of even mid-sized businesses. Telemarketing spam, phishing attacks, and other nasties can consume more network bandwidth than traditional messaging threats and can slow down network performance, says Graydon.
Advantages of VoIP come from a network infrastructure that carries both voice and traditional data traffic, but that can lead to potential contention for bandwidth and performance degradation, such as jitter and delay due to congestion, say experts such as Myles Falvella, director of product manufacturing and corporate communications for TelCove.
Meanwhile, Grieb observes that voice bandwidth is "very thin," with the most common encoding schemes requiring about 100kbs per conversation at most. Compared to even a 10Mbs connection to the desktop, that represents 0.1 of a percent of the bandwidth. But he argues that "the trick is to not let too many conversations on the network." In legacy voice, this is not a problem because of a finite number of lines off the network. If you need an outside line and all of them are used, you get a busy tone. The VoIP limited bandwidth segments must be engineered to do the same thing. If you need 60% of your bandwidth for data, then when 40% of bandwidth is used for voice, you must refuse the call attempt.
What are some of VoIP's installation and implementation issues?
More than any other subject, our experts expressed views about the installation and implementation of VoIP. Eileen Haggerty, director of solutions marketing at NetScout Systems, emphasizes that managing VoIP rollouts should include a predeployment network audit of applications and their priority. She adds that your existing WAN infrastructure may not support VoIP services the way you need it to do and you should consider WAN technologies, such as MPLS, designed to handle multimedia traffic according to priority levels.
Matt Sines, COO of Fonix Teleco, observes that some IT contractors block some SIP ports and FTP traffic in the name of securing a LAN. Customer configurations must be tested prior to installation. "Who knew Tivo didn't interface well to VoIP?"
Viola Networks' Bear notes that, "while IP PBX vendors have done a great job building feature parity into IP PBXs, they aren't fully there yet. VoIP is functionally richer." Jorge Blanco, VP of strategic marketing for Avaya, expands that point. "Enterprise survivability can be better supported today by IP telephony than by traditional PBXs. VoIP implementations can give you a more survivable infrastructure for the distributed nature of today's businesses. If you had two locations supporting communications and B drops out, B would be lost. Under VoIP, B can remain running since it can reregister to location A."
Latency-related issues of course are a key VoIP issue. NetQoS CEO Joel Trammell says that "the number one killer of voice traffic is network latency and jitter. Latency, jitter, and packet loss causes poor audio quality and dropped calls. Latency caused by overloaded call managers or network congestion can be a major cause of poor VoIP performance." According to a VoIP network best practices list provided by Network Instruments, metrics to assess VoIP call quality include jitter, MOS, R-Factor, gap density, burst density, quality of service prioritization, and compression techniques. That list encourages you to consider whether you're mostly concerned about monitoring VoIP traffic locally, over WAN links, or both, and placing your analysis tools to ensure optimal visibility of VoIP communications. The list also suggests that "if jitter becomes a problem, look at the big picture. If there is a correlation between jitter and bandwidth usage, the problem is overall network usage. If there is not a direct correlation, then excessive jitter may require further investigation."
Are the promises of cost savings real?
Our experts offer varying thoughts about cost savings through VoIP. Some argue that cost savings are significant and reduced deployment expenses are resulting in mainstream VoIP deployment.
On the other hand, deployment savings may not be all they seem at first glance. Be sure to consider hardware, training, and other costs. Jeff Lewis, BellSouth's director of advanced voice services, says that the average costs of enterprise VoIP implementation are nearly $1,000 per user.
Two experts offer concluding sagely advice. Greg Brahier, VP of marketing at Virtual PBX, a hosted PBX firm, notes that "as businesses demand more services and federal regulations kick in, VoIP pricing won't be so attractive." And Sun Microsystems' VoIP lead Ronald Lott reminds us that, as with so many technologies, VoIP won't get cheaper, but better.
J.W. Olsen has been a full-time author, editor, and freelance book project manager with more than 1000 editorial credits for IT publishers since 1990, and has provided computer, Web site, and editorial services to other clients since 1985. He welcomes feedback via the e-mail response form at www.jwolsen.com.
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Are Designer Phone Companies the Future?
By Charlotte Wolter
Article Online
If pundits are right, communications is no longer a standalone business. It?s a service that is offered alongside another business, such as entertainment or retail. In this futurist view, any business can provide communications services as a way to engage customers with the companies? products or services in a more intimate way, up to and including on-demand purchases.
This phenomenon already is happening in the wireless world, which is no stranger to big brands like ESPN and Disney becoming mobile virtual network operators as a way to deliver their content to die-hard fans? wireless devices as well as earn some money for the airtime traffic.
Now, VoIP is making it even easier for companies big and small and even nonprofits to start their own private-label phone companies. The global market for VoIP services was 16 million in 2005, and is expected to grow to more than 55 million in 2009, says In-Stat, noting that new entrants including Google and eBay Inc. will play significant roles in driving growth.
While these designer phone companies are giving incumbents reason for pause, enabling them is another distribution channel for wholesalers that have facilities but lack the branding to gain quick traction with customers. VoIP services can be purchased, repackaged, rebranded and sold with ease by a third party that may not have ever seen a Class 5 switch or a data center. And wholesalers can offer the required interconnections to the PSTN.
Google is the poster child for the custom phone company. The online giant has not only launched voice services in connection with its IM services, but also is looking to incorporate voice into its primary business: Web search and advertising. Google said it is trialing click-to-talk so that users can click on a phone number in a search result or in an advertisement, and be connected with that business. The early trial apparently involves services from VoIP Inc., although both companies have been reluctant to talk details of any kind. In this case, Google appears not to have deployed much infrastructure of its own, but rather intends to support the service using VoIP Inc.?s, or another wholesaler?s, infrastructure. If such a service is deployed fully it will need extensive support, such as VoIP interconnection to the PSTN and SIP servers.
?The portals of the world ? Yahoo!, Google, eBay ? they will not charge for voice but will use it for other things,? says Hank Carabelli, CEO, Pac-West Telecomm, a service provider that fancies itself an enabler for custom phone companies.
Carabelli says other businesses could add voice in nontraditional ways. For example, as automobiles add communications capabilities with cellular and/or Wi-Fi links in vehicles, manufacturers could offer voice services with cars. Further, they could collect data on car performance and use VoIP to automatically notify customers about maintenance, new features or even recalls.
He also believes large companies may want to ?offer voice to their downstream suppliers, something like voice extranets.? The advantage is that such services could be an adjunct to existing data extranets, which many companies already use. Adding VoIP to a data infrastructure that already functions at a high level is not onerous.
Pac-West also has explored adding voice for an online dating service that may add voice capability to its Web site. Rather than leaving the site to call a prospective date, members could click on a link to call that person directly from the Web site. The members of the Web site would be able to control who has permission to call, even screening out individual callers, if they wish.
One company already planning to link its customers with VoIP is eBay. With its purchase of Skype, the online retailer not only picked up an international telephone service with millions of users, it also acquired technology that it can use in unique ways. eBay CEO Meg Whitman has articulated uses, such as providing clickto- call links for sellers, so prospective buyers can call them easily to ask questions, ostensibly speeding trades.
The combo opens up new lines of business for eBay. For example, ecommerce communications could be monetized on a pay-per-call basis through Skype. Pay-per-call communications would enable eBay to charge for leadgeneration services for professional services, travel agencies, auto dealers and real estate agents.
This kind of PC-to-PC service might be used sparsely early on simply because consumers are not used to using the Internet to make phone calls, and many don?t have headsets or USB phones that would make the experience more like making a traditional phone call. Offering a more PSTN-like service, then, could transform these offers. Already, Skype has a service, SkypeOut, which enables PC callers to reach PSTN phones and Skype In, which provides phone numbers to Skype users.
Similarly, MCI Inc. (now Verizon) is helping enable MSN?s PC-to-phone service and likely also a phone-to-PC service. The new service, called Windows Live Messenger, will provide PC-to-phone calling. Microsoft also might be planning to provide users with incoming phone numbers, to enable users to receive calls from the PSTN. The MCI announcement described a beta testing period 2.3 cents per minute to select countries and a full launch in 2006 with calling to more than 220 countries.
VoIP wholesalers are touting capabilities to enable PSTN interconnection and revenue generation from connectivity. In January, Pac-West, for example, announced an agreement to bundle VeriSign Inc.?s signaling and database services with its network to create a VoIP service bureau that features LNP, E911, director listing, customer ordering and service interfaces. XO Communications Inc. also recently teamed with NeuStar for similar functionality in its markets.
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