I'm excited to hear Microsoft Corp. is expected to make Windows Live Messenger instant-messaging service available to beta testers this week. Testers report that invitations were sent out from Microsoft for the selected beta testers. It has been said Microsoft will be including additional VoIP capabilities in the first Windows Live Messenger release. Sources report Windows Live Messenger users will have the capability to place calls both domestic and internationally from PC-to-Telephone with incredibly low rates. Microsoft will deliver this in conjunction with MCI Inc. sources said, "MCI will then sell users blocks of VoIP time".

Sandra Gittlen, has an article explaining the many meanings of Mobil VoIP. This article helps clarify where Mobil VoIP is today and in a sense where it is going in the future.

BT Group Plc, the former UK telecoms incumbent has fired yet another shot at Skype. BT first launched its attack on Skype back in late September, when it slashed its rates for VoIP calls to international destinations. The carrier has recognized the threat posed by Skype, Vonage, AOL, Microsoft, and now Yahoo who have all moved to undercut each others prices.

BT's Broadband Talk package's price has been cut in half and allows customers to use a normal telephone, rather than a PC. The price for evening and weekend calls is now $3.51 per month or $12.28 a month for anytime calls.

Vonage Marketing, a subsidiary of Vonage Holdings Corp., a leading broadband telephony provider, announced that throughout the Christmas season children will be able to dial *101 from a Vonage line and hear a recording from Santa Claus. After hearing the recorded message, they will be able to leave Santa a message and tell him what they want for Christmas.

Mainboard-listed MediaRing Limited is one of only a handful of Singapore companies that won at this year's Deloitte Technology Fast Asia Pacific 500 award. Achieving an impressive 149% revenue growth over a three-year period, MediaRing was ranked Number 6 among the eight winning Singapore companies and Number 367 in Asia Pacific. MediaRing received its award at a high profile award ceremony held in Hong Kong on 8 December 2005.

MediaLive International, Inc., producer of Interop, announced that Michael R. Bloomberg, Mayor of the City of New York, has proclaimed Monday, December 12 - Friday, December 16 "Interop Week" in New York City. Interop New York will take place beginning today through Friday, December 16 at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center.

"Modern technology is fundamentally changing the way we live, and MediaLive International, Inc. is leading the push to integrate the latest developments into everyday life," said Mayor Michael Bloomberg. "It is a pleasure to welcome Interop to New York City. The conference's focus on innovation reflects our citywide commitment to progress on all fronts, whether it is social, cultural, or technological."

BellSouth and 8x8 announced the signing of a private label agreement to provide technology, integration and operational services for BellSouth Digital Phone Service.

"With the introduction of BellSouth Digital Phone Service, we are broadening our portfolio of consumer services," said Martin Chandler, Vice President - Product Management for BellSouth. "This new service is another example of our commitment to providing customers with the greatest choice when it comes to their communications and entertainment services."

SMS@ctive Technologies Corp. announces that it is preparing a plan to open an office in Beijing, People's Republic of China, during the second quarter of 2006.

Currently, SMS@ctive is being represented by our resident Vice President (Operations) in Beijing and it will be the primary task of our Vice President to be the head of the technical team in conjunction with other lead technical personnel to oversee the entire carrier grade implementation. The new team will be the focusing on SMS@ctive's participation in the joint venture company (under negotiation) which will commercially implement and market a suite of VOIP and wireless products including the SMS T-Bar.

BellSouth announced that it has expanded support of advanced enterprise voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) applications to include rich media conferencing and has achieved the Rich Media Communications Advanced Technology Provider status from Cisco Systems.

This ATP designation is by invitation only and recognizes BellSouth for its ability to provide the core knowledge and skills required to successfully deploy Cisco RMC solutions designed for high-end mid market and enterprise customers.

AirGATE Technologies, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of the X-Change Corporation, has developed a VoIP add-on module for telephones in correctional facilities. Inmates make over 1,000,000 collect phone calls per day, and VoIP can provide greater efficiency and reduce costs.

Existing inmate telephones are not equipped with VoIP capability. Replacing the phones completely with VoIP enabled phone sets can be costly. AirGATE provides a cost effective way to upgrade these installed phones with VoIP modules. These modules come in two different versions: wired and wireless. Both of these modules are add-on units. The wired module requires power-over-Ethernet and the wireless module requires a power line capable of providing voltage and current to the units. The VoIP enabled telephones allow calls to be routed over local area networks and the Internet.

Acme Packet, the leader in session border control solutions, today announced TeleCommunication Systems, Inc., a leading provider of mission critical wireless communications, is using Acme Packet's Net-Net session border controllers (SBCs) to securely deliver its VoIP E9-1-1 location information routing and delivery solution.

The Acme Packet solution securely connects managed VoIP providers to TCS' Internet Protocol (IP) network using numerous features from Acme Packet Net-SAFE, the industry's most comprehensive security framework for SBCs. Access control, topology hiding and DoS protection against both signaling and media attacks and overloads are some of the specific features used to protect TCS' E9-1-1 service infrastructure.

Frost & Sullivan's recent analysis, North American VoIP End Points Market, selected Viseon, Inc. as the recipient of the 2005 Frost & Sullivan Excellence in Technology Award for its development of the VisiFone II digital multimedia telephone, a low-cost broadband device that offers two-way live video communications as well as other features that were until now, unavailable on home or office telephones.

Viseon designs and markets the VisiFone II digital multimedia telephone to VoIP providers such as cable companies, regional bell operating companies and others that offer packet-based telecommunications for use by consumers. The VisiFone II offers 30-frames-per-second video and CD-quality video.

VoiceCon, produced by MediaLive International, Inc., announced the featured presentation and keynotes for VoiceCon Spring 2006, a lineup that includes John Chambers, President and CEO, Cisco Systems; Don Peterson, Chairman and CEO, Avaya; Patrick Morin, Managing Director, Enterprise Technology Services, American Airlines; and George Surdu, Director, Information Technology Services, Ford Motor Company. VoiceCon Spring 2006 will be held March 6-9 at the Gaylord Palms Hotel in Orlando, FL. Registration for the event is now open at www.voicecon.com/spring/registration.

Broadview Networks, a leading facilities-based communications provider in the Northeast, announced that it has been named a winner of a "VoIP Service Provider Award" by Technology Marketing Corporation (TMC)'s INTERNET TELEPHONY Magazine. With an extensive feature set and intuitive customer self-administration web portal, Broadview's Broadspeed Office Suite sets the standard in functionality, service quality and support for small and medium-sized enterprise customers.

"We are honored to receive recognition for our Broadspeed Office Suite service from a well regarded industry source such as INTERNET TELEPHONY," said Ken Shulman, chief technology officer and chief information officer of Broadview Networks. "Our patented operational systems and processes, coupled with our extensive facilities-based Integrated Voice and Data product offerings and leading-edge VoIP service platform, enable us to provide a unique service quality guarantee on our network."

NexTone Communications, the leader in distributed and intelligent session management solutions for VoIP and other real-time IP services, announced the company has been named one of IT Week's Top 50 Technology Innovators of 2005. NexTone received the award based on its successful session management technology deployments for customers worldwide.

NexTone's session management technology delivers scalable control of real-time IP services such as VoIP and other digital media applications including instant messaging, chat, and video across the IP network. NexTone is the leading supplier of session management solutions with more than 370 carrier and enterprise customers worldwide. These NexTone-based production networks carry over 50 percent of all long-distance VoIP traffic in the world.