MERA Systems, a forefront supplier of VoIP softswitches and session controllers, joined efforts with BlasterPhone LLC, one of the leading Brazil-based VoIP carriers, to improve traffic exchange between its ever growing clientele worldwide.

BlasterPhone, a USA-established international teleco, provides a full range of VoIP services including wholesale traffic termination. Committed to excellence in customer service, BlasterPhone needed a solid technology platform in order to improve traffic flow between its termination partners and customers in South America, USA, Europe and Asia.

VoIP, Inc., a leading provider of Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) communications solutions for service providers, resellers and consumers, announced that its carrier subsidiary, Volo Communications, has completed the initial phase of its nationwide network infrastructure service, with area expansion through the addition of locations in New York, Florida, Massachusetts and Georgia. The expansion will allow the Company to service over fifty million households and business subscriber lines in those areas.

Phone Buddy for Skype adds automatic telephone dialing to almost any windows application, using SKYPE VOIP telephony, including Microsoft CRM, Microsoft, Access, Microsoft Outlook, Goldmine, ACT, other CRM and Accounts packages etc.

It works simply by move the cursor to a phone number and press the Hot Key to activate "VOIP Phone Buddy for Skype" phone dialer. The VOIP Phone Buddy for Skype and Jajah dialer then looks at the phone number, where the cursor was previously, and formats the international country code automatically. If the phone number does not contain the international country code then the user can select the code from their own Favorite countries in the Phone Buddy. The system also provides redial and Quick dial (favorite phone numbers) facilities too.

Skype 2.0 for the Mac is now available to download from the company's website.

What’s new in Skype 2.0 for Mac

• Make video calls to anyone on Skype, no matter what kind of computer they are using.
• Say hello, smile, or even wave with anyone, anywhere in the world on Skype.
• Great quality video that just works.
• All for free of course.

Free to download and use

• Make free calls to anyone else on Skype, anywhere in the world.
• Chat with one person or have a group chat with up to 100 people at a time.
• Conference call with up to four people for free.
• Easily send files and photos to each other.

AstriCon 2006, the only conference dedicated to Asterisk, the industry’s first open source PBX, is set to take place October 24 through October 27, 2006 at the Westin Central Park in Dallas, Texas. In its third year, Asterisk developers and users meet at the AstriCon conference to gain insight from Asterisk case studies and hear the latest on innovative solutions.

“This year’s AstriCon conference in Dallas marks the conference’s third anniversary, which we view to be a success for the open source industry,” said Mark Spencer, creator of Asterisk and founder of Digium. “In the last three years, Asterisk has gained tremendous notoriety and we’ve seen our community and business growth explode. We are looking forward to celebrating many milestones at this year’s conference.”

Covergence, the leader in scaling and securing access to VoIP and other real-time services based on the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP), announced the availability of its secure SIP trunking solution for customers using Avaya’s IP telephony products. Delivered through its Eclipse family of SIP security solutions, Covergence's secure SIP trunking solution enables enterprises using Avaya's SIP Enablement Services (SES) to securely connect their Avaya Communication Manager (CM) platforms to an IP network. With the Covergence solution in place, enterprises can quickly and easily implement secure VoIP throughout their organizations, yielding significant cost savings, while protecting all user information through comprehensive application-level security to defend their VoIP service from attacks and intrusions, even over untrusted networks.

Vonage America Inc., a subsidiary of Vonage Holdings Corp., a leading broadband telephony provider, announced that its customers can now dial 511 from their Vonage phones, at no charge, to receive local traffic reports from their area 511 systems.

"Vonage is pleased to offer its customers the convenience of 511 dialing to speed up their commute," stated Michael Tribolet, president of Vonage America Inc. "This is just another example of Vonage answering its customer's needs."

When subscribers dial 511, their call is routed from Vonage's network to their local 511 Advanced Traveler Information Service (ATIS). 511 calls are routed locally based upon the address the customer registered for their 911 service.

Skype is offering 6 months free landline calls for its UK subscribers to UK landlines. Provided you buy a minimum of £10 Skype Credit.

So the deal isn't totally free, however it's a decent deal if you are currently using Skype credit for international calls, sending low-cost SMS messages, and a new ringtone to personalise your Skype..

The deal is "unlimited calls to UK landlines for 6 months at £1.66 per month, which is a bargin if you call a lot of people.

How long will the promotion last?

You can claim your free calls until 31st December 2006. This means that if you are a UK user and you buy Skype Credit before 31st December, you can make free calls to UK landlines for six months starting from the activation date of your free calls.

Skype is gambling that you'll become hooked as millions of others have on calling all your friends on their old-fashioned telephones and continue to pay for the service after your free trial expires.

VoIP, Inc., a leading provider of Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) communications solutions for service providers, resellers and consumers, announced today that it has completed the first phase of its restructuring, streamlining operations, reducing its overall level of indebtedness and raising additional capital. The initiatives are expected to improve the Company's balance sheet and enhance operating results. The Company will continue to pursue initiatives to increase efficiency.

"Orange and Microsoft have struck a deal under which Orange's 135 million European cellphone customers will be able to exchange instant messages with the 240 million Windows Live Messenger IM users around the world."

The service is accessible from either an Orange mobile or PC and provides customers with all of Oranges portal services. These services include: email, blog, ring tones, logos and access to the Windows Live services. The Orange PC application also provides PC-to-PC free VoIP calls, video calls and send SMS.

Wizzard Software is excited to announce that WizzTones, Wizzard Software’s premiere software application for Skype, has become Skype Certified through a worldwide co-marketing and licensing agreement.

WizzTones is a unique software product designed specifically for use with Skype, one of the leading applications in global Internet communications. WizzTones provides Skype customers with a fun, inventive and resourceful way to manage their Skype contacts list. With WizzTones, customers can assign each individual on their Skype contacts list a personalized ring tone, giving them the freedom to walk away from the computer but still be able to identify just who is trying to get in touch with them.

“We are delighted to enter this new relationship with Skype,” said Danielle Lewis, marketing director for Wizzard Software. “This agreement will allow us to broaden our global reach and bring WizzTones to even more Skype users throughout the world.”

D-Link, the end-to-end networking solutions provider for consumers and business, is now shipping its most powerful home networking routers and adapters yet using the latest Draft 802.11n wireless technology.

The D-Link Xtreme N Gigabit Router (DIR-655) and its accompanying Xtreme N desktop and notebook adapters (DWA-552 and DWA-652, respectively) are designed for consumers, small businesses and gamers who demand the highest performance possible from their wireless networks. The Xtreme N family is designed for larger homes and offices with high-speed Internet using multiple PCs, game consoles and other digital home devices such as streaming media adapters.

These two headsets were put to the test by Yuval Kossovsky of Computerworld for several days. Both had different prices, styles, and most importantly comfort levels.

The Cardo Wireless Scala 700:

• List price: $69.95, $40 or so at Amazon.com
• Size: 1.5 inches and about 30% smaller than the 500
• Parts: BT headset, ear loop, charger, USB charging cable, and a carrying case that also has a belt loop
• Five-hour charge, the Scala 700 yields six hours of talk time and at least three days of idle

Now you may be asking yourself, "Femto-what? And who was the marketing genius behind that name?" While I can't answer the second question, I can help shed some light on the first. Femtocells are small cellular access points for indoor residential or commericial environments. The Femtocells are a combination of WiFI and cell and will use your broadband network to help get signals where access would otherwise be limited or not at all.

The access points will allow your phone to offload traffic through your broadband connection and offer cellular carriers the opportunity to address fixed mobile convergence markets with a highly attractive and efficient solution.

According to ABI Research, by 2011 the worldwide market for femtocell products is expected to reach nearly 19 million units per annum. An interesting factor that is often overlooked when considering the femtocell market is that of functionality. Initial offerings are likely to be simple affairs that rely on Ethernet connections to existing ADSL gateways.

Vonage America Inc., a subsidiary of Vonage Holdings Corp., a leading Internet telephony provider, announced that over 91% of its U.S. subscriber lines are now equipped with Enhanced 911 (E911) service -- a feature that automatically associates a physical address with the calling party's telephone number.

In less than 30 days, Vonage has equipped an additional 80 locally-run emergency call centers across the U.S. with E911 -- bringing the total number of calling centers with emergency 911 service to over 5900.