ABP announces its fourth annual reseller event, IP Sizzles 2007. IP Sizzles 2007 will give resellers a 360 degree view of the world of IP Communications. Formerly known as VoIP Sizzles, ABP's 2007 event "IP Sizzles" emphasizes VoIP is the biggest but just one of many killer applications. The top themes for IP Sizzles 2007 are "Making money with IP Communications" and "Mobility with Wireless VoIP" featuring WiFi, DECT and GSM. The focus is on world class IP Phones, WiFi products, SIP based IP cameras and paging, unified messaging, top of the line IP PBX solutions plus a range of value add telephony applications.

IP Sizzles' main program is an intense 2 day "full contact" event with keynotes, reseller round tables, vendor panels, workshops, presentations and exhibit hall. ABP's vendors will present their full breadth of VoIP & IP Communication solutions. IP Sizzles 2007 integrates several key industry vendors' reseller meetings and product launches. Some of IP Sizzles 2007 key and new sponsors are Aastra, Allworx, AudioCodes, ClearOne, Digium, Exinda, Hitachi-Cable, Intertex, Linksys, pbxnsip, Pirelli Broadband Solutions, and snom.

For more information visit www.abptech.com/ipsizzles

CosmoCom announced that industry pioneer Jeff Pulver will keynote its annual event, CosmoCommunity 2007, on Wednesday, May 30, 2007. Anticipating widespread global interest in Pulver’s remarks about the state of the industry, CosmoCom and Pulver will make the address available as a free live webcast using the latest internet video streaming technology. For more information, please visit http://www.cosmocommunity.com

CosmoCommunity brings together CosmoCom’s global ecosystem of customers, channels, service providers, technology partners, and implementation partners. This year’s theme, Consolidation 2.0, will explore the nature and business benefits of contact center consolidation as well as the technologies and business processes that support this important industry direction.

Empirix invites you to join Chad Hart Wednesday, May 23rd at 11:00 AM EDT for a practical and informative discussion on Testing for Real World VoIP Problem Scenarios.

VoIP networks are subject to a number of known issues that are just beginning to become relevant as VoIP reaches the mainstream. Some of the most common issues include:

• Mass calling events – when an atypically large number of users attempts to make calls within a specified time period, stressing the network beyond its planned utilization;
• Power outage restoration – a flood of registration messages occurs when power is restored after an outage;
• Peer network floods – peer networks can unintentionally overload other networks if interconnecting equipment is not configured properly; and
• Malicious attacks – hackers can mimic the above scenarios and cause a number of other nuisances and security breaches. Surprisingly, many Tier 1 carriers have already found themselves unprepared for these scenarios and as a result, they have experienced major outages and service degradation.

Technology Marketing Corporation has released the preliminary conference program and keynote schedule for its upcoming INTERNET TELEPHONY Conference & Expo West 2007. The conference and trade show is being held at the Los Angeles Convention Center in Los Angeles, Calif. September 10-12, 2007.

The entire program schedule can be viewed at the event’s Web site, http://www.itexpo.com.

This year’s expansive program features specific tracks focusing on the needs of Service Providers, Enterprises, Government Agencies, SMBs, and Resellers. Each educational track was hand-selected from hundreds of proposals submitted by IP communications experts around the world.

IPTV and AT&T U-verse watcher, Alan Weinkrantz, will be broadcasting a series of interviews from last week's VON Spring 2007 (Voice on the Net and Video on the Net) conference in San Jose.

What you will see this week on this blog are interviews with some very amazing, very talented, very creative, and very purposeful artists / businesspeople who are creating their own channels on the Web with on-going, serialized content.

Spring VON 2007 is just around the corner and there's sure to be lots of VoIP news coming out of the event. If you're lucky enough to be attending here's a panel event to check out on new VoIP services being unveiled.

TARGUSinfo co-founder and CEO Dr. George Moore is set to join a panel of senior executives at Spring VON 2007 who are inventing new ways for voice providers to generate revenue.

The panel, "Looking for New Revenue-Producing Services," includes executives from Yahoo!, Jangl CallWave and pulvermedia.

The session will debunk the fallacy that VoIP is just cheap voice technology. The truth is that VoIP is introducing many new applications that can generate significant revenue, even on the PSTN, including reverse 911, personalized dial tones and TARGUSinfo offerings like enhanced call detail, automated remarketing and "new mover" targeting.

• WHAT: "Looking for New Revenue Producing Services," a panel at Spring 2007 VON.
• WHEN: Thursday, March 22, 2007 1 p.m. to 2:15 p.m
• WHERE: San Jose Convention Center, 150 W. San Carlos St., San Jose, Calif., Room #A8.

Pulvermedia will be hosting a pre-Spring VON Webinar entitled, "Verizon vs. Vonage: Where does VoIP stand?" on Thursday, March 15th, at 1:00 PM EDT. This special Webinar will provide a preview to one of the many discussions that will take place next week at Spring VON in San Jose.

Thursday's Webinar will specifically discuss the recent court decision about VoIP, providing a backdrop for the pending injunction hearing. It will discuss who stands to benefit as a result of this recent decision, and it will examine what happens next for the VoIP industry as a whole. The discussion is expected to last approximately 40 minutes, covering the following topics:

• What is the scope of the patents at issue and what was decided?
• Is this a matter of competitive advantage, or does it raise anticompetitive concerns?
• What is the impact (if any) on other VoIP providers?
• What are the implications for regulators and legislatures, and what reaction should be anticipated from the VON community?

Australia's largest business trade show will play host to a number of internationally acclaimed business leaders in 2007. CeBIT Australia, to be held in Sydney's Darling Harbour from May 1-3, will feature keynotes and speakers from some of the worlds leading minds:

• Google, USA: Dave Girouard, Vice President & General Manager of Enterprise,
• Mozilla Corporation USA: Ms. Mitchell Baker; President
• IBM Corporation, USA: Mary Ann Fisher, Linux Program Executive, Public Sector,
• Sun Microsystems, USA: Simon Phipps, Chief Open Source Officer
• Digium, USA: Mark Spencer, Chairman & CTO
• Salesforce.com, USA, Jim Steele , Worldwide President
• From Germany: Christian Wullf Minister-President of Lower Saxony
• From Sweden: Professor Hans Rosling , Professor of International Health;
• From Israel: Dr Isaac Shariv , former CEO, Yeda Research and Development Co.

Fusion will showcase its Efonica VoIP products and services at this year's CeBIT from March 15th - 21st in Hannover, Germany.

CeBIT is the world's largest trade fair showcasing digital IT and telecommunications solutions for home and work environments. Fusion will be demonstrating its full suite of Efonica VoIP services, including retail and corporate focused VoIP solutions to CeBIT's key target groups representing the industry, wholesale and retail sectors, banks, and government agencies.

"Fusion is excited to bring its revolutionary Efonica VoIP products and services to CeBIT this year. We believe the visibility and business possibilities presented at CeBIT represent significant opportunities for Fusion to build our network of partners and broaden our retail distribution network for Efonica's premium VoIP products," said Matthew Rosen, President and CEO of Fusion.

13 & 14 March 2007
New York Palace Hotel, Budapest

VoIP has entered mainstream telecommunications technology and with global VoIP subscribers rocketing to over 23 million in 2006, now is the time to turn your eye to the latest developments and challenges.

Taking place in Budapest in March, the 8th Annual Global VoIP Strategies conference is the only event which covers a full range of up-to-the-minute issues including:

Digium the Asterisk company, has more than doubled its presence at Spring VON, through the addition of new exhibiting partners, and the creation of the Digium Theatre on the VON show floor. As a result, the Asterisk Pavilion now occupies 5,000 sq. feet of exhibit space, representing the largest single entity in the VON Expo.

More than a dozen Asterisk partners are showcasing their wares in the Asterisk Pavilion, including: Aspect Software; Intel Corporation; LumenVox; Switchvox; TransNexus; VoicePulse; Polycom; Simple Signal; and others.

CMP Technology announces the VoiceCon Spring 2007 keynotes. The lineup includes top executives from leading suppliers -- Louis D'Ambrosio, President and CEO, Avaya; Charles H. Giancarlo, Senior Vice President and Chief Development Officer, Cisco Systems, and President, Cisco-Linksys, LLC; Mike S. Zafirovski, President and CEO, Nortel; and Jeff Raikes, President, Microsoft Business Division -- along with senior IT executives who are leading their companies' initiatives in IP Telephony and converged networks -- Alok Kapoor, Managing Director, Merrill Lynch Global Private Client Technology; and Johan Krebbers, Group IT Architect, Royal Dutch Shell. VoiceCon Spring 2007 (www.voiceconspring.com) will be held March 5-8 at the Gaylord Palms Hotel in Orlando.

"The enterprise IP Telephony market has tremendous momentum and is evolving toward Convergence and Unified Communications," said Fred Knight, VoiceCon General Manager. "The keynote speakers at VoiceCon Spring 2007 are leading their companies and the industry toward a new framework for enterprise communications, so VoiceCon attendees will receive a first-hand look at where the market is headed next."

The Forrester Research Group predicts that nearly 5 million U.S. households will have VoIP phone service by the end of 2006.

With this technology evolution, it has become apparent that the African continent needs to make a change and keep abreast of these technologies for the betterment of African businesses. There is no better place to execute this than at VoIP World Africa 2007 which will take place from 2- 4 May 2007 at The Michelangelo Hotel, Johannesburg, South Africa. It is the common industry meeting place where new technologies can be discussed, contacts can be made, experiences shared and alliances forged.

3GSM World Congress 2007 in Barcelona, Spain is nearly here. I'm already receiving press releases about some VoIP news that will be coming out of the event.

Meucci Solutions is launching its new Voice over IP Business Monitoring Service at the 3GSM World Congress in Barcelona. This is the response by Meucci Solutions to rising demand from mobile operators for a clear picture of the VoIP traffic over their networks. The VoIP Business Monitoring Service gives the operator a complete analysis of the VoIP traffic. Meucci Solutions also measures the quality of the calls made. This information is crucial for operators when making strategic decisions about VoIP. Read more here.

StrikeIron announced the first ever Telephony Mashup Contest to take place during the O’Reilly Emerging Telephony Conference. This new contest provides a stage for developers to demonstrate their creative skills using emerging telephony technologies such as VoiceXML, SIP phones, VoIP, hosted PBX & IVR services, and Web Services. In addition to StrikeIron and O’Reilly, Tellme Networks, Inc. and Sylantro are sponsoring this contest with $3,000 of prizes to winning entries. For more on this contest, please visit www.strikeiron.com/developers/contest.aspx.

A telephony mashup is a voice, Web, or mobile application (VoiceXML, PBX, IVR, VOIP, SMS, Text Messaging, etc.) that combines content from more than one source to create a new user experience. Qualifying entries must demonstrate how an application can use one or more sources of content in an inventive way to benefit users. Any application that combines content with telephony services (ex: VOIP, SMS, Text Messaging, PBX, IVR) to create a mashup is qualified for submission.