Vonage has announced the launch of Vonage Pro(SM), a first-of-its-kind digital voice offering featuring five innovative components that keep you connected to your home life while on the go, including the ability for customers to use their home phone number virtually anywhere they have access to a high speed Internet connection. Vonage Pro is the next step in the MyVonage(TM) product strategy, which is focused on developing products and services based on the requests of customers who have a wide variety of lifestyles and communication needs.

Vonage Pro features five components that specifically accommodate the lifestyle of “prosumers,” or professional consumers who are comfortable with and understand the benefits of using technology to improve their personal and professional lives.

Announced recently, the $35-a-month service can also automatically transcribe voice mails to e-mail or SMS text. Customers can read, store, search, and respond to voice mail messages on their PCs or smartphones with the service.

Incoming Vonage Pro calls ring at both the customer’s home number and at a companion number chosen by the customer. The Vonage Companion feature is provided by mobile VoIP software company CounterPath. Customers can initiate outgoing calls on both phones simultaneously.

Here are the main features of the service:

• The offering includes a next generation Vonage SoftPhone client, Vonage Companion, that allows the residential or home office user to access their home number from any desktop or laptop PC connected to a high speed Internet connection, enabling them to communicate as if they are at home.
• Incoming calls ring both the customer’s home phone and their Companion, and customers can make outgoing calls on both devices simultaneously — essentially providing a second phone line.
• Vonage Companion also offers customer requested features such as selective call block, conference calling, personalized ringtones and call recording.
• Customers can use their PC’s built-in microphone and speakers or plug in a headset with microphone to make and receive calls.
• Vonage Companion automatically synchronizes with Vonage Contact Center(TM)*
• Home office users will never miss an important call when away on vacation or on a business trip.

Patrick Monaghan, Senior Analyst in Consumer Research at Yankee Group said:

“In a competitive communications landscape, VoIP services need to differentiate themselves on more than price, advanced, flexible features that allow consumers to communicate anywhere will continue to grab market share.”

Haenggi, Vonage chief marketing officer, in a statement said:

“Vonage Pro is the VoIP offering that (consumers) have been asking for to help them stay connected while on the go”.

Seven leading providers of Voice over IP (VOIP) services received 2008 PilotHouse Awards from Nemertes Research, based entirely on ratings from hundreds of IT executives.The annual Nemertes PilotHouse Awards for Unified Communications & Collaboration conferred for the fifth year running deemed ShoreTel to be the Best Overall VOIP Provider.

As part of the Unified Communications and Collaboration research project, Nemertes received 555 ratings of VOIP providers and conducted analysis on VOIP best practices. Providers with the highest average scores in each award category won PilotHouse Awards.

The results showed that ShoreTel had achieved the position of Best Overall VOIP Provider. They achieved this by amassing the most points or votes in an Olympic gymnastics style voting system, with a total score of 4.22 out of a possible maximum high score of 5.0

The breakdown of the scoring showed that their gymnastic-like abilities gave them the edge against the other VOIP athletes in:

• Technology – covering underlying software, platforms, intelligence and standards compliance.
• Product Features – focusing on handset and switch capabilities. Customers apparently like the architecture, built-in redundancy and ability to scale by stacking additional switches.
• Customer Service – focusing on response time, account service, RFP process, and warranty issues. Customers like that ShoreTel listens well to suggestions for upgrades and improvements.
• Value – focusing on “bang for the buck” – customers feel they received value for their expenditure. Customers like that the capital, implementation and operational costs are lower than competitors and that ShoreTel includes its Personal Call Manager desktop client with every license.
• Solution Experience – focusing on the ability to understand business requirements and craft solutions that meet customer needs.
• Ease of Installation and Troubleshooting.
• UC Vision – indicating the best plan and outlook for moving customers from VOIP to a full UC deployment.
• ShoreTel was also one of the top three rated vendors for integration capabilities, which tracks how well products integrate with third-party products and applications.

Robin Gareiss, executive vice president and senior founding partner, Nemertes Research, said, “This research is a must-have for companies evaluating a new VOIP strategy, or reassessing an existing one because it relies on real experiences from real customers.”

Nemertes Research 2008 PilotHouse Awards: VOIP Providers

Best Overall VOIP Providers (all rollout sizes combined)

• ShoreTel, Inc. – Winner
• Siemens Enterprise Communications – Finalist
• 3Com Corporation – Finalist

Top-Tier VOIP Providers – Small Rollouts (<500 Endpoints)

• ShoreTel, Inc.
• Siemens Enterprise Communications
• Cisco Systems, Inc.

Top-Tier VOIP Providers – Midsize Rollouts (500-2,000 Endpoints)

• Cisco Systems, Inc
• Avaya Inc.
• Nortel

Top-Tier VOIP Providers – Large Rollouts (>2,000 Endpoints)

• Nortel
• Alcatel-Lucent
• Cisco Systems, Inc.

Best Overall: VOIP Vertical Solutions

• Avaya Inc.

Best VOIP: Industry-Specific

• Education – Avaya Inc.
• Financial Services – Cisco Systems, Inc.
• Healthcare – Cisco Systems, Inc.
• Manufacturing – Avaya Inc.
• Professional Services – Avaya Inc.
• Retail – Cisco Systems, Inc.
• State/Local Government – Nortel
• Transportation – Siemens Enterprise Communications

Cindy Waxer of VoIP news has decoded VoIP Jargon for the benefit of the average human. No longer will you have to nod your head and smile when your IT Guy starts talking in tongues.

Here are a couple of excerpts:

Managed VoIP: With managed VoIP services, a third-party provider offers all of the equipment, software, operations facilities and technical expertise needed for a company to reap the benefits of an IP-enabled phone system without the costs, risks and headaches of an on-premise VoIP solution. Packages typically include the design, integration and deployment of IP telephony equipment and software, along with the management and maintenance of existing telephony solutions and the new VoIP network. To get the most out of a managed VoIP partnership, however, companies must establish a strict service-level agreement with a VoIP provider that guarantees a certain percentage of network uptime.

and

SIP (Session Initiated Protocol): A protocol for Internet telephony, SIP is a service that allows businesses that have a PBX system installed to use real-time communication technologies — including VoIP. By connecting a SIP trunk to a traditional PSTN (public switched telephone network), companies can not only communicate over IP within the enterprise, but also outside the business. What’s more, companies can replace traditional, fixed PSTN lines with PSTN connectivity via a SIP-trunking service, thereby creating a single conduit pipeline for multimedia components, including voice, video and data. As a result, a SIP-trunking service typically delivers greater cost savings and increased reliability as guaranteed by today’s SIP-trunk providers.

NetworkWorld has an interesting story about a medical health center that is still taking baby steps toward VoIP and converged networking.

Baptist Health says a measured transition to VoIP makes the most sense for it, and there are lessons to be learned from its approach.

Most of Baptist Health’s 8,000 phones are located in a 15-floor building in Little Rock, but the medical center has eight sites overall. As it moves offices or builds new facilities, it will outfit those desktops with IP phones, Myers says.

“We never made a decision to forklift everything out and replace it with IP, but as departments moved or are added or if we buy up a clinic across town – if we feel it’s a good candidate for IP that’s what we do,” he says.

The success of a VoIP implementation – even the decision whether to implement VoIP – is customer or vertical market-specific in the end.

Whether you are in the market for a complete overhaul of your VoIP systems, or you want to transition slowly, VoIP can be scaled to fit your needs, while also realizing a significant ROI.

Most of us have been plagued by astronomically large telephone bills one time or another. This is all the more true for people having relatives in other areas of the globe. The need to talk to them could sometimes become so overbearing that the practical considerations of the amount of money that would be required for the exercise does not come in. However, the practicality of the situation often strikes later. And even the most emotional among us are motivated to rethink the way we are making our calls. Our thoughts inadvertently go towards Voice over IP and the benefits that it entails.

It can be said that the long distance phone calls are no more a cause for concern for many people. It has become possible to connect with friends and family members– who could be located in distant areas of the globe in a cost efficient manner– using the latest innovation called Voice over IP or VoIP. The routing of calls over broadband networks has made long distance communique very much affordable and easy. The role of VoIP devices can be understood in this context.

The VoIP devices are simple, cost effective and innovative and are required for the effective culmination of the process of data transfer over internet connections. First and foremost, the analog audio systems are converted into digital data which is then routed over the internet. One can use the latest applications in VoIP technology to make free calls to a distant place. One could also use the devices for making calls from personal computers– albeit with the services of a provider of repute. This way, the users are able to talk for extended hours with people who matter without worrying about exorbitant phone bills.

The Analog Telephone Adaptor is one such device. The phone that a person is currently using could also be used for making VoIP calls and the ATA makes this possible. It forms a modem between the traditional calling devices and the network connections to the user’s homes or workstations, as the case may be. The audio signal in analog format is converted into digital data packets and transferred over the internet. And the best part is that the users need not be very tech-savvy for using the ATA– it is quite simple and straightforward to use.

Another device that is gaining in popularity in the VoIP market is the Internet Protocol phone. These phones resemble the traditional phones that are in vogue today. There are separate buttons for the purpose of dialing. There is also a handset into which one can speak. An Ethernet connection is used for making calls that are routed through the internet.

Last but not the least; such calls can also be made from personal computers. When the calls are between two computers, then the users could go for the services of a reputed provider. The provider would ensure the availability of special software, microphone, and sound card – all necessary for the making of long distance phone calls. The monthly fee that the potential users would have to pay is quite affordable. As a matter of fact, it would more than make up for the astronomical phone charges that they would otherwise have to pay.

By: iCallGlobe Ltd.

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For more information, visit: VoIP offering wholesale call termination rates worldwide.

What will happen to the VoIP industry during a recession?

John Edwards makes his predictions - with arguments for both sides of the story. Here’s an excerpt:

When businesses are pinched by falling revenues, they often respond by scaling back expansion plans, curtailing new initiatives and cutting back on purchases. This could be bad news for VoIP equipment makers — the vendors who build everything from servers to gateways to phones — as more businesses cancel orders, switch to products with less power or fewer features or simply never place orders. Software vendors will also likely feel the pinch as fewer businesses purchase their offerings.

While cold logic dictates that a recession should be universally distressful, there’s also good reason to believe that the VoIP industry may not be hurt as much as many other businesses. VoIP’s big draw is, and always has been, that it is cheaper than traditional telephony. So it stands to reason that as more businesses look to cut their telecom costs, many will decide to make the switch to VoIP. In fact, a recession could turn out to be VoIP’s golden moment, as more enterprises dump costly, aging telephone systems in order to take advantage of VoIP’s cost-saving potential and technological flexibility.