As I’m flipping through pictures and leftovers from IT EXPO East 2012, I see Denwa has its phone handset stamped with “HD” with [...]]]>

One of the most interesting/subtle marketing moves Digium did on its phones is to put the phrase “HD voice” on the handset.  There aren’t a lot of people who do that right now.

As I’m flipping through pictures and leftovers from IT EXPO East 2012, I see Denwa has its phone handset stamped with “HD” with some waves flowing out of it, but that leaves some ambiguity as to what it means.  After all, there are people running around abusing the term “HD audio” in place of the (more proper) “HD voice.”

If memory serves, I’ve also seen the more stylized AudioCodes “HDVoIP” logo appear on some that company’s handsets/phones, but that gets into the whole trademark issue.

Hopefully more desktop IP phone manufacturers will take the simple expedient of putting “HD voice” onto handsets just to remind people the capability is there and available for use – instead of buried as a feature in a manual.

– Doug

Jeff Rodman, CTO and co-founder of Polycom, estimated that his company has shipped all total about three (3) million HD voice [...]]]>

Miami, FL and Washington DC – At the “HD Voice: Improving Voice Quality to Meet Demands of U.S. Customers” panel at IT EXPO East 2012, representatives from Polycom and Neutral Tandem revealed some numbers worth repeating.

Jeff Rodman, CTO and co-founder of Polycom, estimated that his company has shipped all total about three (3) million HD voice capable endpoints.  He was quick to emphasize that 1) The number included videoconferencing and telepresence suites and 2) Polycom is one of dozens of companies shipping HD voice capable phones for business and enterprise use.

Neutral Tandem now has 10 or more service providers exchanging HD voice calls across its network, said Sonit Mahey, Senior Director of Product Development, with a ball park figure of “millions” of minutes per month taking place.

Miami FL – General Telecom (www.gentel.net) has joined the hosted VoIP world, offering a “cost effective, scalable” private label hosted VoIP solution.  The white label VoIP solution supports G.722.

The white label VoIP program allows VARs, interconnects, ISPs, system integrations and “other non-traditional service providers” to sell hosted IP PBX and SIP services (Hmm, HD Voice [...]]]>

Miami FL – General Telecom (www.gentel.net) has joined the hosted VoIP world, offering a “cost effective, scalable” private label hosted VoIP solution.  The white label VoIP solution supports G.722.

The white label VoIP program allows VARs, interconnects, ISPs, system integrations and “other non-traditional service providers” to sell hosted IP PBX and SIP services (Hmm, HD Voice News voice?) under their own brand with a “simple, scalable, future proof solution.”

Features include branded customer and management portals, a nationwide footprint, DIDs, E-911, end user billing, comprehensive training and “superb” customer support, claims the press release.

GenTel joins the pack of service providers and even hardware manufacturers rushing to the sound of profits in hosted/cloud VoIP.   The balance between on-prem and hosted PBX is starting to shift, but will it snowball rapidly?

The KX-UT670 is certified as compatible with a bunch of different SIP-based platforms, including Asterisk, BroadSoft, and Metaswitch. Codecs supported include G.722, G.726.

Panasonic Product [...]]]>

Miami, FL – Panasonic (www.panasonic.com/sip) has rolled out a $499 7 inch color touch screen Android-based desk phone. But they say they can’t call it Android due to legal headaches with Google.

The KX-UT670 is certified as compatible with a bunch of different SIP-based platforms, including Asterisk, BroadSoft, and Metaswitch. Codecs supported include G.722, G.726.

Panasonic Product Manager Kim Murtaugh says the company is using the phrase “open source” operating system due to concerns that Google doesn’t like to see Android associated with anything other than mobile devices. But it is clear the underlying operating system is indeed Android 2.x once you go beyond the home screen and dive into the various menus.

It is not clear how easily stock Android applications can be brought into/ported over to the Panasonic phone. Digium CTO Mark Spencer indicated he’d like to find out in order to provide deeper customization with Asterisk.

Panasonic joins several other vendors already in the Android desktop space. Cloud Telecomputers is now shipping its Glass Android phone with an 8.9 inch widescreen color touch screen at a list price of $599 while DSP Group has demonstrated several OEM-style concepts for wireless home/consumer handsets utilizing Android.

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) wants phone companies “to rapidly adopt Internet Protocol (IP) throughout [...]]]>

Miami, FL – Canadian phone companies are taking efforts to interop very seriously after a January 19 regulatory ruling. The service providers are engaging in discussions on how to set up a national eNum registry as quickly as possible.

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) wants phone companies “to rapidly adopt Internet Protocol (IP) throughout their networks” it said in a press release announcing the January 19 policy. Canadian service providers are very supportive of the ruling and want to migrate from TDM to IP as quickly as possible.

One of the key points in the ruling is a requirement for large phone companies to provide an arrangement to transfer calls via IP to other carriers that request it within 6 months, assuming they already have the capability and arrangements in place with other providers.

Establishment of an eNum directory is expected to facilitate the use of IP and SIP based services, so carriers can establish SIP calling in a quick and seamless fashion.

1) The phone was designed and contracted solely by Digium — it is *not* a OEM/white label product.

2) Manufacture of the phone is done in China by one of those usual [...]]]>

Miami, FL – A brief stop at the Digium (www.digium.com) booth at IT EXPO East revealed the following tidbits on the new family of IP phones–

1) The phone was designed and contracted solely by Digium — it is *not* a OEM/white label product.

2) Manufacture of the phone is done in China by one of those usual manufacturing suspects.

3) At the core, there’s a Broadcom MIPS-based CPU.

4) Digium went into the phone business because they said they couldn’t get enough customization out of existing IP phones. OEM-ing/white labeling someone else’s product didn’t make sense because they couldn’t make money and get the features they wanted.

Digium is getting a lot spin along with a good measure of WTF by rolling out its own IP phones; three to be exact, [...]]]>

Miami, FL – There are at least three vendors touting new IP phones or software/firmware upgrades to their phones here at IT Expo. I thought we were done with handsets already?

Digium is getting a lot spin along with a good measure of WTF by rolling out its own IP phones; three to be exact, all Java-programmable, all designed to be highly customizable with Asterisk and the Switchvox counterpart. It’s not “just XML” but phones that can have their core features accessed via Java.

Earlier this week, Panasonic announced it is introducing the first “open source programmable” phone or some such, a Linux-based model with Java. Interesting timing. Do brilliant minds think alike? Or is Digium OEM-ing from Panasonic?

And to top it all off, VTech wants to talk about its new firmware/code load for the line of SMB hardware it makes for AT&T.

For Digium, one working theory posted by @SteelyGlint is that the Asterisk company needs to make some more cash from hardware to make up for the decline in telephone card sales. Mmm, I can buy that, sorta.

Panasonic is following an evolutionary path, so a Java-programmable phone makes sense (even if they aren’t OEMing it on the side to Digium).

Will talk to VTech this evening and see what its latest brag is.

The net-net here is IP phones are still moving foward.

- Doug.

In the company’s press release, Digium says the new family of phones are the first engineered to “fully leverage the power of [...]]]>

IT EXPO East 2012, Miami – Digium (www.digium.com) has rolled out the “World’s First Phones Designed for Asterisk.” There’s a trio of new IP handsets. All of them support G.722 out of the box.

In the company’s press release, Digium says the new family of phones are the first engineered to “fully leverage the power of Asterisk… and Switchvox.”

The phones include an app engine with a JavaScript API (Hmm, just like Panasonic’s recently announced phones…) to let programmers create custom apps to run on the phones. Programmers can access core phone features directly; this isn’t XML.

From the press release, the phone models are –

· D40—An entry-level HD IP phone with 2-line keys. This is Digium’s best value phone, designed for any employee in the company.
· D50—A mid-level HD IP phone with 4-line keys and 10 rapid dial/busy lamp field (BLF) keys with an easy to print paper label strip for the user’s most important contacts. This model is perfect for users who spend a lot of time on the phone.
· D70—An executive-level HD IP phone with 6-line keys and 10 rapid dial/BLF keys and real-time status information displayed on an additional LCD screen, allowing users to quickly navigate through up to 100 of their most important contacts. Designed for administrators or executives, the D70 offers top-of-the-line features.

General availability is April 2012 with MSRP of: D70 – $279, D50 – $179 and the D40 – $129.

It is interesting Digium is getting into the hardware arena more deeply. Anyone and everyone are making IP phones these days. It is also worth speculating if Digium’s thrust into IP phones mirror’s last year’s split between Digium and snom, where snom rolled out its own SMB IP PBX software and appliances.

The phone uses distinct components, including a speaker, dial pad, and a variety of microphones. It can support a lapel microphone for a single person; an omnidirectional tabletop microphone that can [...]]]>

Revolabs has announced the Revolabs FLX(TM) VoIP, the first wireless conference phone designed for VoIP. The SIP phone includes wireless operation and integrated Bluetooth.

The phone uses distinct components, including a speaker, dial pad, and a variety of microphones. It can support a lapel microphone for a single person; an omnidirectional tabletop microphone that can capture the sound of six to 10 participants; and a directional tabletop microphone to enable audio capture from two to three people.

Users can also connect speakers and microphones to Bluetooth-enabled mobile phones or computers using the FLX’s Bluetooth. The phone also supports 128-bit encryption and should be available worldwide this month.

Regrettably, the online literature doesn’t talk about what HD voice/wideband voice codecs the hardware supports.

In today’s press release, Swisscom says it has the best UMTS coverage in Switzerland (93 percent) so customers can make HD voice calls “almost anywhere.” Customers need to have [...]]]>

Swisscom (www.swisscom.com) has announced it will turn up HD voice on February 1, 2012. It joins Orange Switzerland in offering mobile HD voice service in the country.

In today’s press release, Swisscom says it has the best UMTS coverage in Switzerland (93 percent) so customers can make HD voice calls “almost anywhere.” Customers need to have a Swisscom Natel subscription or prepaid plan and an HD voice capable mobile phone. Handsets currently supported include the Nokia Lumia 800, HTC Sensation XL and Sony Ericsson Xperia arc S.

As is the standard practice across Europe and around the world, there is no extra charge for HD voice calls.

Orange Switzerland launched HD voice in the country last year after an extensive warm-up marketing campaign. The company will now have to change its website in two areas; it no longer is the “only” carrier offering HD voice in Switzerland and it is no longer owned by France Telecom. The company was sold to Apax Partners of London for around $2.1 billion late in 2011.