Feb 25, 2009
Mobile IM Solution from Antenna Software
Known as AMP IM, a cross-platform, mobile instant messaging (IM) solution has been introduced by Antenna Software, a privately held mobile enterprise solutions provider in North America. AMP IM provides features such as multi-device support, auditing and compliance, central administration, presence indicators and group chats, and security.
Feb 24, 2009
Digium adds UC Features to its IP PBX
Digium, the creator and primary developer of Asterisk®, the industry's first open source telephony platform, has released
Switchvox SMB Release 4.0, an IP PBX designed for small- to mid-sized businesses (SMBs). The new release adds several unified communications capabilities for SMBs. T
he new features focus on multi-media communication across an IP network which facilitates collaboration and the ability to reach others quickly and efficiently. New functionality includes fax integration, instant messaging and presence status information across networked Switchvox PBXs (previously, presence information was visible only to end-users connected to the same Switchvox PBX). A user’s presence status on the Switchvox SMB system reveals whether or not the user is on the telephone, but also displays the user’s instant messaging status (away, available, busy, etc.).
Despite Financial Difficulties Nortel Continues to Enhance Products
Nortel recently announced a new Unified Communications option to its Business Communications Manager (BCM) portfolio of IP telephony systems. A feature called Message Forwarding sends an e-mail notification of a voice or fax message to a user’s device such as PDA or PC e-mail client. Optionally, a compressed .WAV file can be attached and forwarded, so the user can play the voice message or display the fax message on the destination device.
Terremark to Provide Cloud Computing Platform for USA.gov
Terremark a provider of managed solutions including managed hosting, colocation, network and security services is to provide the enterprise cloud platform to power the US government's official web portal.
Feb 19, 2009
London Hospitals Connected Via Software-based Video Conferencing
A network of 11 London hospitals is using an IOCOM software solution to provide its multidisciplinary teams that consult on the assessment and treatment of cancer patients with the capability to collaborate with multiple streams of diagnostic images simultaneously. Solutions such as those from Polycom and Tandberg solutions were considered to be designed specifically for business meetings with a single Powerpoint presentation and did not meet their need to display multiple images. IOCOM Integration Communications, based in Chicago, develops, markets and supports enterprise collaboration software and solutions.
Feb 18, 2009
LifeSize Communications Projects Strong Growth
LifeSize Communications Inc, a privately-held firm in Austin Texas with about 270 employees, claims that its 2008 sales grew by 150% but without disclosing any actual sales figures. The company concentrates on low-cost video conferenicing products starting at about US$5,000. It sees itscompetition as Tandberg, Polycom and Cisco.
Feb 12, 2009
Latest Version of Microsoft OCS RS2 has New UC Features
New features of Microsoft OCS RS2 include: Advanced group call forwarding, Instant Message forwarding, Conference call hosting, One-click screen sharing, Improved application integration and APIs, Better call center routing rules, Agent presence, Conference attendant console and
Single number calling. Many industry experts agree that while OCS is a good complementary communications tool, it is still not ready to replace the corporate PBX. Also some consider that the strong points of OCS make it ideal for the SMB market but that larger enterprises might need a more robust system and is not up to par with offerings from more entrenched vendors such as Cisco and Avaya. However, the Microsoft release is only its second iteration.
Feb 11, 2009
Apptix Offers New Services for SMBs
Apptix has announced that it has launched a series of new services which include multimedia Web conferencing and secure instant messaging using Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007. Apptix is a provider of hosted Microsoft Exchange email, VoIP phone service, and SharePoint collaboration services based in Herndon, Va. The company also added hosted Virtual Private Servers and an Online Presence solution.
Daimler Trucks Division's Management Standardizes on Polycom Video Conferencing
Daimler Trucks believes Polycom's video conferencing solution will improve the efficiency, productivity and effectiveness of its executives whilst reducing the number of international trips.
Feb 10. 2009
LightEdge launches Hosted Unified Communications Service for SMBs
LightEdge, Microsoft and BroadSoft jointly announced a Hosted Unified Communications service including Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 integrated with BroadSoft's Hosted PBX telephony service . It is a new service based on BroadSoft’s BroadWorks® Voice-over-IP (VoIP) application platform and Microsoft Solution for Hosted Messaging and Collaboration. The solution provides one platform for voice, e-mail, instant messaging and calendaring, allowing a user to work anywhere and collaborate in real time. LightEdge Solutions is a hosted service provider focused on the needs of small and medium sized businesses.
Feb 5, 2009
Telepresence Market Growing
Gartner says that High-Definition based video meeting services will replace 2.1 million airline seats annually over the next three years which translates into taking away $3.5 billion from the airline industry in airline tickets alone.
ABI Research said the entire telepresence market for related equipment, network services and managed services esyimated to be worth $126 miilion in 2007, would grow to nearly $2.5 billion in 5 years.
Erika Schroeder, senior marketing manager of Cisco Telepresence says most telepresence systems pay for themselves within a year. Cisco began shipping in Dec 2006, had 100 customers a year later and 250 by December 2008. Cisco is at the high end of the spectrum with typical configurations reportedly running about $300, 000. Cisco has also aimed for the telecommuter and mid-size business range.
Feb 2, 2009
Polycom Broadens Video Conferencing Options for SMBs
Polycom announced the launch of the QDX 6000 video conferencing system which delivers high quality DVD resolution video and CD quality audio, even at very low bandwidth. It has a list price of $3,999.
Apple Hints at Video Conferencing for Future iPhone
Information Week has reportedly spotted a few references in an Apple patent to a video conferencing application and a digital video camera application.