AccessLine Communications completed a multi-year migration of its telecommunications network to the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) standard. Through leveraging its highly flexible SBC technology and sophisticated internal signaling, AccessLine can normalize complex SIP interoperation nuances and offer unified access to multiple VoIP domains via a single interconnection with AccessLine. The company is one of the first nationwide VoIP application service providers to invest in – and complete – nationwide network support for the SIP standard.

Fonality announced it is arming resellers with new telephony products, programs and margins to address 50 to 500 seat middle market customers. Fonality introduced its new, tiered reseller certification and training programs, which provide data and telephony resellers with enhanced readiness and expanded support for selling PBXtra, the company’s award winning IP-PBX phone system. For the first time, Fonality is delivering resellers higher profit margins, and the ability to provision IP phones and move phone licenses. These new programs combined with Fonality’s new middle market products, PBXtra Professional Edition IP-PBX and HUD (Heads-Up Display) Team application, equip resellers with everything they need to deliver higher margin, open source phone systems to the middle market.

RingCentral announces that numerous small online retailers, including eBay PowerSellers, are using RingCentral’s suite of on-demand telecommunications services to gain a competitive edge against traditional retail giants this holiday season. RingCentral’s feature-rich capabilities, including click-to-call and customized voicemail greetings with auto-attendants, enable small online merchants to provide online shoppers with a toll free number and a more personalized and informative shopping experience. Powered by RingCentral, small online retailers are well-poised to significantly maximize holiday sales and bolster customer loyalty.

Ecotronics Ventures announced the beta launch of the mobile version of their leading VoIP client software, Kapanga Softphone.

The 30-day trial beta can be downloaded for free from Kapanga Softphone's website. Once installed, Kapanga Mobile users can establish simultaneous voice and video communications through a software PBX or VoIP provider using the mobile device's 802.11 Wifi connection. Kapanga Mobile can also communicate directly to another SIP client device. Supported codecs include G.711, G.729 and AMR for voice and H.263, H.263+ and H.264 for video.

I always love reading and hearing audio clipets of customer service rep's talking to customers. Here's a new one thanks to Verizon and George Vaccaro.

Here's an excerpt of his blog and you can read more at the link above along with hearing the audio conversation.

I have a Verizon unlimited data plan in the U.S. and recently crossed the border to Canada. Pior to crossing the border I called customer service to find out what rates I'd be paying for voice and data. The data rate I was quoted was ".002 cents per kilobyte."

I was surprised at the rate so I confirmed it with the representative I spoke to, and she confirmed it "point zero zero two cents per kilobyte." I asked her to note that in my account.

Subscribers to VoIP services grew 18 percent to 8.2 million users in the third quarter. However the overall growth rate slowed for a second straight quarter this year, according to TeleGeography research firm.

VoIP revenues are up two and a half times to $732 million across the U.S., compared to a year-ago level of $298 million.

Vonage remains the largest provider of VoIP with 1.95 million subscribers, followed by Time Warner, ComCast, and Cablevision.

Predictions have the market growth projected at 1.5 million new subscriptions in the fourth quarter to round out the year with 9.7 million or nearly 8.7 percent of all U.S. households. Revenues for 2005 are expected around $2.6 billion for this year, which is up from 2005's total of just over $1 billion.

The Indian Times reports, Illegal Web calls face being axed.

Claiming, "companies must furnish the names of authorised service providers from whom bandwidth and internet telephony minutes have been taken. The companies will also have to give an undertaking that they will not use the services of unlicensed foreign service providers such as Net2Phone, Vonage, Dialpad, Impetus, Novanet, Euros, Skype and Yahoo."

Skype being a factor in disrupting the level-playing field and contributing to a revenue loss to the Indian government as they did not pay the 12% service tax and a 6% revenue share on internet telephony.

Research from LearningGuide Solutions suggests up to "Eighty percent to use VoIP telephones."

"The poll, conducted between June and October 2006, surveyed the intentions of visitors to its web site, and found that 30% were already using IP telephones, 34% intended to in the next twelve months, 16% were considering it and 20% had no plans for IP telephones."

What are your thoughts on the article and poll? Give me some feedback as to where you or your company currently stand.

This week Tim Beyers breaks down iSkoot in his, "Baby Breaker Birth Announcements" and discusses the unstoppable wave that VoIP is riding.

"First up this week is iSkoot, which has created software that puts Skype on a mobile phone. That way, the company says, you can call your buddy list from anywhere. No PC, no broadband line, no cables, no infrastructure -- save for a handset, of course."

Skype announces it will offer the "Skype End-of-Year Bundle Pack” a combination of the VoIP service provider’s products and services right in time for the holiday season.

The VoIP service provider announced that it is also offering the new NETGEAR SPH101 and Belkin WiFi Phone for Skype phones on its online store.

There has been a lot of buzz lately about Skype for its partnership with iSkoot and 3. Originally set to launch on December 15th, the Skype-enabled X-Series handsets from 3 actually launched in UK last Friday, also in time for the holidays. The devices, which use the iSkootMobile software, are currently available in 3’s UK stores, and also in 3’s other markets around the world beginning early 2007.

CEOcast conducted an interview with Anthony J. Cataldo, VoIP, Inc.'s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. In the interview, Mr. Cataldo discloses, for the first time publicly, that the Company’s network and incorporated technology is currently being deployed by Google, Inc. in its online advertising product `Click-to-call', which was launched yesterday in India. The product allows users to call directly to an advertiser on Google search pages. `Click-to-call' ads allow users to speak directly to an advertiser they find on a Google search results page over the phone utilizing VoIP’s technology. VoIP receives an undisclosed fee each time it connects a call between the consumer and advertiser.

Collax announced expanded bandwidth management of the Collax Security Gateway. The UTM solution in Version 4.0.10 prioritizes and guarantees bandwidths in Virtual Private Networks; giving Voice-over-IP (VoIP), and other critical business applications such as ERP systems, priority in the VPN tunnel.

The Collax Security Gateway 4.0.10 offers all the premises to enable VoIP in company networks. The Tagged-VLAN technology (according to 802.1q) ensures that data packages are separated from voice packages thereby guaranteeing the security of internet telephony. The SIP-based Voice-Traffic is analyzed via Stateful Inspection. Combined with Traffic Shaping, these technologies ensure that the voice packages are filtered at the right part of the gateways and are offered priority in the VPN tunnel, before any other data streams. Thus a superior quality of real time voice transfer across data networks is achieved without downtime.

Transcend Communications has implemented a nine-site install of ShoreTel IP Telephony Systems with Shakopee Public Schools located in Shakopee, Minnesota.

"The ShoreTel VoIP System met our specifications having the features along with the functionality to meet the needs of our K-12 Institution," said Wade Phillips, Director of Technology, Shakopee Schools. "Adding two buildings and having an outdated system is what led to the migration of the ShoreTel System. This was a rather aggressive project consisting of nine locations. The Transcend team laid out a systematic process from start to finish and followed through with the plan, providing us one virtual phone system to manage all nine locations," said Phillips.

Acme Packet announced that Wind Telecomunicazioni has deployed the Net-Net session border controllers to support its new residential VoIP offering. Wind’s VoIP service promises a unique, user-friendly consumer experience and will be available to potentially 80% of Italy’s population. The Net-Net SBCs are elements of an Alcatel-Lucent triple-play deployment and IP network transformation program announced in October 2006.

Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about technology, multimedia, and digital entertainment each week for Engadget.com. This week Ross Rubin writes, "Switched On: Pretty fly for the WiFi" a review comparing Sony's Mylo vs. Nokia's 770 internet tablet.

"Neither Sony nor Nokia have Microsoft at the top of their buddy lists, and their product lines don't contain much overlap; but the Japanese electronics giant enlisted the help of Nokia's longtime Scandinavian rival Ericsson when it made its serious push into the mobile phone space. Hence, it's easy to see how convergence often makes for strange competitors, and this year Sony's latest stab at it came in the form of the Mylo, which entered the WiFi-enabled portable connected media device alongside an updated software suite for Nokia's 770 internet tablet. While, on their surface, the products have many similar capabilities and share a price of $349, their form and philosophy are strikingly different."

You can read the full review at "Switched On: Pretty fly for the WiFi", keep up the great work Ross.