Skype Fights to be Heard on Mobile Phones

NY Times

BARCELONA, Spain — Josh Silverman, the chief executive of Skype, the voice-over-Internet phone service, could tick off the names of mobile phone operators that block his company’s service.

But for Mr. Silverman, a 41-year-old Michigan native, it is quicker to name those that allow it, no strings attached.

“The two operators that have really embraced us are 3 in Europe and Verizon Wireless in the United States,” Mr. Silverman said Wednesday at the Mobile World Congress, the industry’s annual convention, in Barcelona. “But we are making progress, and operators are beginning to change their attitudes.”

In a world where network neutrality has become a rallying cry for advocates of an unfettered Internet, Skype, the pioneer in low-cost and even free online calls, has become a prime example of the limits of wireless freedom.

In the United States, Skype is blocked on mobile networks, and the service is available only on the Apple iPhone over Wi-Fi. AT&T, the exclusive American carrier for the iPhone, has said that it would allow Skype and voice-over-Internet-protocol services to operate on its 3G network, but Skype has not made an application available.

In Europe, Skype is carried by the company 3 in Britain, Ireland, Austria, Denmark, Italy and Sweden. But many other cellular operators still block its calls, prohibit their customers from downloading Skype’s software or outlaw the use of VoIP service in standard sales contracts.

Some carriers are imposing fees to undermine Skype’s attraction. In Germany, customers of T-Mobile can place calls using Skype, but only if they pay an extra 10 euros, or $13.60, a month. German customers of the Vodafone Group can use the service for an extra 5 euros a month.

However, the barriers to Skype and similar Internet calling services, like Google Voice, are coming under increasing scrutiny as the Internet goes mobile. By 2013, the number of Internet-ready mobile phones will surpass the number of computers in the world for the first time, according to Gartner, a research firm.

“Such practices illustrate how operators’ business models based on control and discrimination of data flows really harm competition as well as the fundamental freedom of communication allowed by Internet,” said Jérémie Zimmermann, the director of La Quadrature du Net, a group in Paris that opposes efforts to control public access to the Internet.

Most operators and network equipment makers still perceive Skype and other Internet phone call providers to be potential freeloaders, stealing their customers while they invest billions of dollars to build out and upgrade mobile networks.

“VoIP is a great technology, but it is not a game-changer,” said Ben Verwaayen, chief executive of Alcatel-Lucent, a network equipment maker. “If everything is free, then operators will not be able to survive. The battle is not about technology but the business model.”

In the United States, last July the Federal Communications Commission asked Apple to explain why it had not approved Google Voice, an application that lets callers circumvent mobile network calling charges, for the iPhone. Apple told the F.C.C. that it was studying Google’s application.

Carriers in the United States could have more difficulty blocking VoIP services as they introduce 4G data networks, faster than 3G. The F.C.C. imposed no-discrimination rules on buyers of 700-megahertz spectrum, which is being converted from analog television use to cellular data.

In Europe, the new commissioner for digital issues, Neelie Kroes, has indicated she might put pressure on wireless operators to allow VoIP services on their networks. In a hearing on Jan. 14 before a European Parliament committee, Ms. Kroes said blocking VoIP violated network neutrality.

“It is imperative that VoIP can be done,” Ms. Kroes said before the Industry, Research and Energy panel. “That is another way of using the same infrastructure. We have to act and force those owners. There must be another argument against it other than: ‘It is against the rules.’”

Getting access to mobile networks is critical for Skype. The seven-year-old company, based in Luxembourg, has more than 500 million registered users, and they now generate 12 percent of all international calls, according to the research firm TeleGeography.

Founded in 2003 by Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis, Skype initially impressed technophiles but has so far largely failed to live up to its commercial potential for business VoIP services. EBay paid $3.1 billion for Skype in 2005 but was unable to fit the service into its online auction business.

Last September, eBay sold control of Skype to a group of investors led by Silver Lake Partners, a Silicon Valley private equity firm, in a deal that valued Skype at $2.75 billion. EBay, which retained a 35 percent stake, said Skype made a $48 million profit in the third quarter of 2009 on $185 million in sales, the last results published before the company was sold.

Mr. Silverman, the former chief executive of Shopping.com, also owned by eBay, foresees regulators in the United States, Europe and elsewhere putting pressure on operators to permit VoIP services.

“Truth and justice are on our side,” Mr. Silverman said. “We think it is a ridiculous argument to say these are ones and zeroes we like and these are ones and zeroes we do not like.”

In some quarters, resistance to Skype is waning. Operators like Belgacom in Belgium experiment with the service without fanfare, to see if it attracts and retains customers.

Skype’s deal with Verizon Wireless, the largest United States carrier, may also make the service more available. In exchange for access to its 3G network, Verizon attached many conditions to its agreement with Skype.

Skype users will have to buy voice and data plans from Verizon Wireless and also one of nine smartphones sold by the operator. Also, any Skype calls placed to United States residents who do not have Skype accounts will be deducted from the caller’s package of Verizon voice minutes.

Calls placed outside the United States and domestic calls to Skype users will be free.

“The Skype-Verizon announcement demonstrates that mobile operators are beginning to change their attitude,” said Dario Talmesio, an analyst at Informa Telecoms and Media, a research concern based in London. “However, the majority of mobile operators have yet to make a firm decision. Blocking VoIP is a short-sighted strategy.”

Mr. Silverman said Skype would never pay to win access to mobile networks. “Being a free service is core to our value proposition,” he said. “We see no plans to change that.”

AT and T Tells FCC It's Time To Cut The Cord

PC World

In response to a Notice of Inquiry released by the FCC to explore how to transition to a purely IP-based communications network, AT&T has declared that it's time to cut the cord. AT&T told the FCC that the death of landlines is a matter of when  , not if, and asked that a firm deadline be set for pulling the plug.

AT&T said in its response to the FCC that "with each passing day, more and more communications services migrate to broadband and IP-based services, leaving the public switched telephone network ("PSTN") and plain-old telephone service ("POTS") as relics of a by-gone era."

It also stated "It makes no sense to require service providers to operate and maintain two distinct networks when technology and consumer preferences have made one of them increasingly obsolete."

Moving to VoIP

Providers like Vonage have been delivering VoIP (Voice over IP) for consumers over broadband Internet connections for years. I should know, I was one of the charter members. I haven't had an actual POTS landline for at least five years.

While my local telephone providers wanted to nickel and dime me for "features" like caller ID and voicemail, Vonage has reliably provided all-inclusive service for $24.95 for as long as I can remember.

While Vonage is still a major player in the consumer VoIP market, just about every communications entity has joined in the game now. VoIP phones services are offered as a bundled service along with broadband Internet service, and digital cable TV by major players like Comcast, Verizon, and AT&T itself.

Transition to Mobile

The way wireless phone plans are set up now, it is hard to argue in favor of keeping both a mobile phone and a home phone--even a VoIP line. You can get unlimited minutes of talk time with all of the bells and whistles you can imagine--caller ID, call forwarding, etc. Many plans come with unlimited data, unlimited text messaging, and more. With all of that service in your hip pocket, do you really need a phone attached to your wall?

The number of U.S. households that have ditched the landline entirely in favor of relying solely on mobile phones doubled between 2006 and 2009. A quarter of U.S. households no longer have a landline of any kind, and that number will continue to grow.

No Dial Tone

One of the last remaining reasons for maintaining a standard POTS landline is the fact that in most cases the POTS line maintains a dial tone and the ability to make and receive calls during catastrophes and emergencies.

When Hurricane Ike hit here in the Houston area, there was no power for days, or even weeks in some areas. No power means no broadband Internet, which means business VoIP services like Vonage don't work. No power to cell towers means no bars on your cell signal and no wireless service.

Some broadband VoIP providers have solutions to address at least short-term power outages. AT&T provides its UVerse customers with a UPS (uninterruptable power supply) battery back-up that maintains power to the broadband router at least for a while.

Emergency services, and the ability to place 911 calls have also been an issue. With a POTS landline it is easy to match a phone number with a physical address, but with broadband VoIP call management you could be calling from around the corner or around the world and the 911 operators can't tell. There are solutions in place for 911 calls via broadband VoIP, but users who drop landlines entirely in favor of wireless phones may have issues getting timely emergency service.

Those are issues that will have to be worked out, though. The future marches on, and it is fair for AT&T and other traditional POTS providers to want to drop the obsolete, unprofitable technology and focus their resources on the universal broadband and IP communications of tomorrow.

Florida Hospital Deploys iPhones, VoIP To Nurses

Information Week

Sarasota Memorial Healthcare System, a hospital in Florida, plans to deploy iPhones to its nurses, to replace audible alarms and alerts, bringing peace and quiet-- and improved performance--to the healthcare provider.

"One of the biggest problems in any complex environment, particularly healthcare, is communication," CIO Denis Baker said. "It's a nightmare to get a hold of someone, even people on the same floor, as they go about their tasks."

So Baker's ears perked up when he was approached by Voalte about piloting a project. Voalte is a startup developing point-of-care communications using mobile technology. Its application uses iPods to send pages and alerts.

For the 60-day pilot, Sarasota Memorial handed out 25 iPod Touches to nurses on a single floor in June. The decision was made to use the iPod Touch because it's less expensive than the iPhone, does not require a cell-phone service contract, and basically has all the capabilities of the iPhone exclusive of phone functionality.

Also, the hospital wanted to move from text messaging to VoIP telephony, and it anticipated that the Touch would become VoIP-ready in its next version.

A major objective of the project was to reduce the amount of noise and inefficiency involved in calling nurses where they're needed, Baker said.

He explained, "If a patient is in bed and needs assistance with something -- they might be in pain -- they now push a button on the bedside, that goes to the nursing desk, and someone has to hunt down a nurse and make an overhead page. That's inefficient, because it doesn't go to the right person, and it also makes for too many overhead pages." At any given point in the hospital, you can hear an overhead page every three minutes. Noise is a huge complaint in any hospital -- equipment moving, staff conversations, and especially overhead pages. The noise prevents patients from getting the rest they need to heal.

On the floor where the iPods were deployed, the hospital reduced overhead pages from 172 in eight hours to 38. The 25 deployed iPods were receiving 4,000 messages per day. "Nurses were getting comment form patients on how quiet it was," Baker said.

After a successful conclusion to the pilot, hospital senior management early this month approved the deployment of 100 additional devices to a second nursing floor and the critical care environment. The hospital is also looking into giving devices to anesthesiologists for communications between the hospital's 26 emergency rooms.

For this phase of deployment, the hospital is using iPhones rather than iPods. They'd used iPods initially because they anticipated that the iPod would soon support VoIP, but that did not materialize, so the hospital is switching devices, Baker said.

Sarasota Memorial had prior experience with VoIP phones, and found dedicated VoIP handsets unsatisfactory. Dedicated VoIP phones lacked device management, so nurses could not check out a device at the beginning of a shift and check it back in again afterwards. The VoIP handsets are about the same price as iPhones, $500-$700, and they do less.

The Apple devices permit a greater level of physical security. When the hospital tried deploying VoIP handsets, they had no way of getting nurses to sign the devices in or out.

When the devices broke down or wore out due to normal wear and tear, nurses would simply abandon the devices. "People thought they'd have to pay for them. So they would use them, and if a device stopped working, they'd put it in a drawer and walk away, rather than give us an opportunity to have it repaired," Baker said. And the devices did wear out--battery clips broke, and they had to be taped together. "I can't say the device was designed for the long haul," He said. He declined to identify the brand of device that was used.

The iPods and iPhones, when not in use, live on a 12-bay charging station, under lock and key. A single individual is charged with making sure each nurse signs each device in and out again.

Another reason for choosing the iPhone is third-party application support. Sarasota Memorial eventually wants to roll out electronic medical records (EMR) apps and other enterprise e-health apps on the iPhone, Baker said.

Nurses are happy with the iPods, Baker said. The IT department asked nurses to judge the effectiveness of their current communications. Before deployment, they rated effectiveness at 2.5 out of a possible four. After using the iPods, the nurses rated communications at 3.4.

"Another key component was difficulty in figuring out who was taking care of patients on a busy nursing floor," he said. Nurses gauged their ability to find peers at 2.2 out of 4 before the iPod deployment, 3.4 afterward.

Some 84% of nurses said they would recommend the iPod app for wider adoption.

Upgrading from the iPod Touch to the iPhone was a little tricky, as the hospital plans to use VoIP over its internal Wi-Fi network, and isn't interested in a phone company service plan. Sarasota Memorial hadn't planned at first to switch to the iPhone. When they deployed the iPod Touch in the spring, they anticipated that the new model Touches released later this year would support VoIP. When the new iPods came out in early September without business VoIP services, it left ther hospital scrambling, and it turned to Voalte, the vendor that supplied the application, for help.

"Voalte asked us to go to AT&T, buy the phones, and cancel the cell phone plans. We said no to that, you need to come up with some easy way to supply the devices. Somehow they worked that out -- I have no idea how. Frankly, I don't care," Baker said.

Voalte declined to comment on how it managed to find de-activated iPhones for Sarasota Memorial.

Sarasota Memorial expects to get the new iPhones later this month, and to deploy them by December.

The project cost Sarasota Memorial about $300,000. While it has improved patient care and operating efficiency, the hospital is still working out metrics for financial savings resulting from the application, Baker said.

Voalte, the vendor, is a startup specializing in developing medical apps for the iPhone. The vision is to develop a single application for all types of alarms in hospitals and other healthcare providers, whether they're pages, or automatically generated by devices, with doctors and other caregivers able to check in to the application at the beginning of the shift and check it out at the end, said Trey Lauderdale, vice president of innovation and co-founder of the company.

Voalte plans to support the app on Google Android, the BlackBerry, Palm Pre and Windows Mobile.

Right now, a multitude of EMR and other health technology vendors are building iPhone apps, without coordinating all the different alarms and messages that they send. "You're going to end up with a toolbelt problem, a nurse carrying four or five pagers, a virtual toolbelt on the iPhone," Lauderdale said. Also, without coordination, more important alerts, where a patient's life is in danger, might get superseded by less important ones, because of the way iPhone handles notifications.

"We see ourselves providing VoIP, integration with the back-end PBX, and capability to enable caregivers to log in and log out of the device. We'll provide the infrastructure to work with other applications and vendors to make sure their communications with devices are orchestrated," Lauderdale said.

One limitation of the iPhone is that it doesn't support multitasking for third-party apps. Third-party apps shut down when you switch away from them, you can't leave them running in background. Voalte solves that problem by locating the application intelligence on the server, which sends out alerts using the iPhone's built-in push notification service. When the recipient clicks the button to view the notification, it calls up the local app.

Another limitation on the iPhone is its short battery life. Voalte now uses external battery packs, the Mophie Juice Pack.

In the next generation, Voalte is working with several vendors to develop an external battery pack made of anti-microbial resistance.

Doctors and nurses wipe down the devices with antibacterial wipes between shifts. The iPhone is great for infection protection because it has very few buttons and crevices for bacteria to hide in, Lauderdale said.

Since the notifications are just text-based, why not just use old-fashioned pagers? Lauderdale said they're unacceptable for several reasons. First, Voalte is looking to deploy VoIP call management on the devices for voice calls.

Still, most of the communications with nurses doesn't require voice, it's just small snippets of information that need to get passed to one operson or a team of people--"Please come to the nursing station," "need witness for meds in 305." "These lend themselves perfectly to text messaging," he said. Even there, the iPhone is better than pagers because the iPhone permits two-way communications.

Also, the iPhone apps permit using different ringtones for different-priority messages. "Nurses are constantly doing something," Lauderdale said. If they hear the tone for a low-priority message, they can get to it when they're ready; but if a nurse hears a tone for a critical message, the nurse can jump on it right away (if they're not already doing something else that's also critical). And nurses use notifications as a task list. When they finish something, they delete it from the list, and then look down the list of accumulated messages to see what needs to be done next.

The CEO of Voalte is Rob Campbell, who founded PowerPoint and sold it to Microsoft, and Filemaker, which is now owned by Apple.

Do VoIP Providers Have A Right To Block Calls?

From Business Week

Yesterday, the Federal Communications Commission sent a letter to Google, asking the search giant to explain how its Google Voice service works, how many people are using it, and how much money it makes — information Google has not disclosed publicly. The inquiry was launched a couple of weeks after AT&T sent a letter to the FCC, alleging that Google may be “systematically blocking telephone calls…. in certain rural communities.”

The inquiry raises a big question: Do providers of over-the-Web calling services have to complete all calls? As of today, such companies — called, in industry lingo, VoIP providers — aren’t considered to be telcos, though they often act as such. Some of them, such as Skype, don’t charge for many services. And these Web-calling outfits aren’t required to complete all calls. Gigi B. Sohn, president and co-founder of Public Knowledge, writes that the FCC “inquiry should be more far-reaching than this relatively isolated case. We learned recently that another VoIP provider, Speakeasy.com, reserved the right to block calls to rural areas.”

There’s another aspect to this inquiry, of course: AT&T and its supporters are firing back at Google after being grilled by the FCC over delays in approving Google Voice mobile app. On Oct. 6, AT&T announced that it will abolish its old practices and allow Web-calling applications onto its wireless network. It’s unclear whether, under AT&T’s definition, Google Voice qualifies as such an app.

In either case, “today’s letter, although over a relatively minor aspect of a relatively minor service, raises an issue of far greater magnitude: the scope of the agency’s regulatory authority, and the continued erosion of lines dividing regulated and unregulated services as the Internet ecosystem continues to multiply and divide,” Stifel Nicolaus analyst Rebecca Arbogast wrote in an Oct. 9 note.

Is Hosted VoIP Ready For Enterprise Customers?

Story from TMC Net

Hosted VoIP solutions fall broadly into two categories:

a) Basic (SIP) trunking with minimal features

b) Full-featured hosted PBX phone systems or hosted Centrex.

According to AMI Partners, these services have grown quite significantly over the past few years with the number of seats deployed increasing from 394,000 seats in 2006 to 3,000,000 seats by 2010. However, virtually all of these seats are deployed in small or medium sized businesses. To a large extent, enterprise customers have not adopted hosted VoIP services. Why is this, and is the time right for them to do so now?

There are a number of reasons why larger enterprise customers have not adopted hosted VoIP to the same extent as the SMBs. First, there is an inherent inertia inside a large business driven by the mindset that only PSTN trunks can provide the kind of quality and reliability demanded by the users (and most importantly the CEO). The fear of the unknown and resistance to change is palpable; no one is going to get fired for installing a new AT&T PRI trunk, but they might get fired if they install a new (unknown and scary) hosted VoIP service! Secondly there are some genuine concerns about the real availability of the services, the end to end QOS and even the viability of some of the new service providers.

So, has the time come for enterprise to move to hosted business VoIP services?

Clearly, times have changed from just a year ago. We are in the depths of a deep, worldwide recession and almost all businesses, especially large enterprises, are feeling significant pain. No longer can they accept the status quo; they must look for ways to cut costs and become more efficient. For hosted VoIP providers, this is an opportunity that had not previously been afforded. But just cutting costs is not going to win an enterprise contract as the genuine concerns outlined above must be addressed. Let’s look at these in more detail:

a) Scalability. Is the system scalable for large enterprise? How can this be shown? Are simulated results good enough or is an enterprise deployment needed before you can win one (chicken and the egg problem)?
b) Availability and reliability. Does an enterprise really need five 9’s? Is four 9’s sufficient based upon the reduced costs and the ability to route calls elsewhere in the instance of an IP network failure issue, for example?

c) Manageability. Is the system manageable for many thousands of extensions? For example, the interface to manage 100 extensions may not be adequate for managing 10,000 extensions.
d) Quality. Most enterprises are probably not going to rely on a single IP connection for both voice and data (though with the availability of MPLS circuits and guarantees of QOS from the access provider and the VoIP service provider, there is certainly no reason not to finally merge the two), so the VoIP service provider needs to guarantee some level of QOS based upon a Layer 2 or private peered arrangement with the access provider (assuming they are not one and the same). Voice quality can actually be improved over the PSTN with the deployment of wide-band codecs or “HD voice” as it is sometimes referred to.

e) Security. Are security-conscious enterprises going to allow un-encrypted voice over a public Internet phone system? Probably not, so a plan for encrypted authentication and encrypted voice will likely be needed in any enterprise proposal.
f) Viability. Is a $100B (or maybe $10B nowadays) enterprise going to trust its mission critical phone services to an unprofitable, cash poor service provider? Any smaller service provider will have to make a case that it is just as viable (or even more so) as the customer’s previous vendors. With the recent bankruptcy of Nortel, perhaps this case isn’t so hard to make?

In conclusion, the time is ripe for service providers with products and services that can meet the criteria described above to market to enterprise customers. In all likelihood, SIP trunking will make the first inroads, as this is the least disruptive to the enterprise and any installation can be quickly reversed if problems are encountered. But enterprise is also ready for penetration by hosted PBX and hosted IP Centrex, especially if they have not already invested in an enterprise IP-PBX or are looking for integration with multiple smaller branch offices. The cloud of recession could indeed have a silver lining for our industry. IT

AT&T And Apple Handcuffing Skype Users

Story from PC World

If you've been an InfoWorld reader for more than two years or so, you no doubt remember that we used to be a magazine. Now we're online-only and doing rather well, thank you. But it's been a wrenching change, and many other publications, particularly newspapers, have not done nearly as well.

The Internet is a source of what historian Joseph Schumpeter called creative destruction, bringing with it enormous benefits along with the collapse of old business models. And now that wireless technology is well on the road to convergence with the Internet, even more business models are being challenged. Indeed, the technology itself is being pushed as consumers and businesses demand ever more complex services.

Which brings us to the latest episode of this story: Skype versus AT&T and Apple, a duopoly I like to call Ma iPhone. Since Skype put its app on the App Store, more than 2 million downloads have been recorded because people want to make cheap Skype calls with their iPhones. Go right ahead, says Ma iPhone, but you can only make those calls via Wi-Fi, not 3G.

Apple implemented the policy at AT&T's behest.

The high-speed Skype internet phone ban has touched off a wave of protests, including calls for Congress and the FCC to get involved, if not directly, via regulation that would clarify the issue of Net neutrality and wireless services once and for all. It's an important debate that speaks to issues that we in the IT community should be thinking about.

As you may have guessed, I'm on the side of the consumer. I don't buy Ma iPhone's arguments that it can't afford to give Skype, which it considers a competitor, a leg up. And I don't believe the claim made by pro-corporate bloggers that the iSkype would be a bandwidth-hogging problem child.

Just whose network is it?

Ma iPhone's argument was well summed up during an interview with USA Today. Jim Cicconi, AT&T's top public policy executive, says AT&T has "every right" not to promote the services of a wireless rival. "We absolutely expect our vendors" -- Apple, in this case -- "not to facilitate the services of our competitors," he says. "Skype is a competitor, just like Verizon or Sprint or T-Mobile," he says, adding, Skype "has no obligation to market AT&T services. Why should the reverse be true?"

On the surface, the argument has some appeal. Why help a competitor? But we're not talking about a widget maker. There is a well-established set of legal and regulatory principles regulating telecommunications networks. They must be open. AT&T can't pick and choose what services customers can use on their landlines. And it appears that the law also leans in the direction of opening the less-regulated wireless networks. "Telecommunications networks are there to provide access for everybody. If not, they [the carriers] are breaking the bargain inherent to communications," says Chris Riley, policy counsel of Free Press, a nonpartisian advocacy group that is pushing the FCC to act.

"Wireless broadband networks cannot become a safe haven for discrimination," he says. "The Internet in your pocket should be just as free and open as the Internet in your home. The FCC must make it crystal clear that a closed Internet will not be tolerated on any platform."

AT&T argues that it can't afford to deliver services to a competitor. I don't believe it. There's a lot more money to be made selling wireless services than there is in the moribund landline business. Just as InfoWorld had to change its model to live in the age of digital publishing, AT&T has to accept that its business model has to change. Like it or not, the old ways of doing business no longer work.

There's plenty of bandwidth

Riley, who sports a doctorate in computer science as well as a law degree, makes short work of the argument that Skype calls will slow down the network. "VoIP calls are low-latency, but also relatively low in bandwidth usage," he says. Indeed, AT&T, unlike some in the blogosphere, doesn't even make that bandwidth argument about Skype. But it has made the bandwidth argument about streaming video services. Several weeks ago, AT&T briefly changed its terms of service to ban certain third-party streaming video from the iPhone. It quickly backed off that position, but it's worth noting that -- while claiming streaming movies, television programs, and so on would clog the network -- the company continued to offer similar services over the same network. It even has a YouTube button on the iPhone, notes Riley. "AT&T wants to have its cake and eat it, too," he says.

I don't mean to argue that the bandwidth is unlimited. There are real issues here, and I'd encourage you to read a special report InfoWorld published on the subject late last year. Still, I think Ma iPhone is way off base in its treatment of Skype, and I urge you to defend the principle of Net neutrality, whether it be wired or wireless. But don't do so in a knee-jerk way: The destruction of business models by new technology is of great importance to those of us who make our living in media and information technology, and I'd urge you to give it real thought.

Ensuring VoIP E911 Quality

Story from TMCNet

Despite the Federal mandate that all VoIP providers provide E911 services to their subscribers — as one would only deem reasonable, given the fundamental theory that VoIP is superior to PSTN voice services, thanks to its cost savings and features — the application is not as easy as one might think. Perhaps the most widely publicized E911 failure happened last year in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, where a service provider routed an emergency call to a family’s previous residence in Mississauga, Ontario, resulting in a fatal delay in the proper dispatch of emergency personnel.


At its heart, according to Firdaus Aryana, product manager, VoIP Technologies, at TCS (Telecommunication Systems), E911 really boils down to call routing, which is one of the areas in which Aryana says TCS excels, routing VoIP calls to the appropriate PSAPs.


When I spoke to Aryana at NTCS’ Cable Show in Washington, D.C., he explained that, regardless of the VoIP provider, TCS does ensures its part in the process is flawless, not only using proven routing technology, but also verifying that both routing and location information is available.


TCS pushes GIS and provisioning data to the providers, using multiple data sets from GIS data providers to create a superset, ensuring greater accuracy when comparing with the available data from the providers and their subscribers.


Aryana conceded that the single greatest challenge still remains subscriber data input when moving between locations with their IP phones, and even the most effective routing and management systems cannot overcome incorrect data.


“Our GIS data is updates as updated as providers update their databases, but our data can only be as good as what the user provides,” he noted.


One of the ways TCS helps ensure subscriber data accuracy is through its VoIP Verify service, which provides, as its name suggests, verification of E911 routing availability immediately upon provisioning. By dialing 9-3-3 (or some other designated 911 variant in most cases), the subscriber hears a recorded message explaining the availability of E911 services and routing availability, including the subscriber’s location. The idea is to provide a semi-automated — the subscriber still has to initiate the verification call — process to increase the quality if data used to route call and dispatch first responders.


Another recent development is the availability of TCS’ VoIP Blotter — a map that shows the precise location of all E911 calls routed through a system, from a national level all the way down to a street-level view for local providers. The graphical depiction not only can help track emergency calls in any area, but also could be used to help verify location, if necessary.


In addition to its work with current ITSPs, including cablecos, WiFi (News - Alert) positioning provider Skyhook Wireless, and vehicle positioning service OnStar, TCS is ready to assist nearly any wireless provider — including WiMAX providers WiFi hotspot operators, with their E911 capabilities. In fact, Aryana says the software platform is ready for nearly any VoIP service implementation:

Business VoIP Services
Hosted Call Centers
Hosted PBX Phone Systems
Internet Phone

The idea, explains Aryana, is that TCS’ software platform has been designed to stay ahead of the curve, so that the routing capabilities are available as providers roll out services, with a single routing engine capable of handling all communications, including SMS messages sent to E911 dispatch centers from business VoIP services. In fact, he says that TCS handles more emergency-related SMS messages than any other E911 provider, and has focused on that capability, with the understanding that there may be many circumstances where callers are unable to speak, but can text message.


Ultimately, Aryana says that TCS is built to accommodate all forms of emergency calls, noting that, “a platform should be flexible enough to adapt and meet different needs.”

eBay Woos Businesses With Skype

As Originally Posted at San Francisco Business Times

EBay Inc.'s Internet calling unit Skype unveiled software on Monday that works on corporate telephone systems.

Skype for SIP lets workers make calls using their regular office phones instead of having to plug a headset into a computer.

SIP is the acronym for Session Initiation Protocol, a voice over Internet protocol used on many business telephony networks.

The charge for calls made to cell phones and landlines will be 2.1 cents per minute, but there will be no charge for calls made from computers to other Skype networks. The beta version is available today and the product will be fully launched later this year.

About 35 percent of its customers already use the service for business purposes, Skype said.

Skype, headquartered in Luxemburg, was acquired by San Jose-based EBay in 2005 and has been one of the best known voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) systems on the market (San Jose Business Lawyer). Speculation about its future as an eBay (NASDAQ:EBAY) picked up last week, however, when Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) announced an expanded version of a phone service previously known as GrandCentral.

Skype President Josh Silverman said at an analyst event last week that the unit had posted $550 million in sales in 2008 and would more than double that to more than $1 billion in 2011.