Yugma Announces New Product and Service Offerings

In addition to offering the A Series through Yugma's international operations, the Yugma A Series products will now be available through Yugma South Africa. Yugma is the first conferencing service to provide services exactly targeted for the Southern African regional market. VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) service available in the Yugma A Series products are seen as invaluable to the business communications problems faced by Southern African businesses.

The announcement of the Yugma A Series offerings and the new presence of Yugma in South Africa represent a turning point for Yugma and its International Operations. Yugma underwent a strategic restructuring last July, and over the past few months has worked diligently to refocus business operations on providing high-quality, low-cost web collaboration to retail and channel-based communities worldwide. "Yugma is now poised to offer unique services globally. While the at once six months, investors, partners and clients will see an amazing array of new products to collaborate across all platforms in small, medium businesses and the enterprise anywhere in the world", said Yugma's CEO ahead of this release.

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NEC UNIVERGE SV8500 Now Certified with Verizon IP Trunking Service

NEC Corporation, today announced that the UNIVERGE SV8500 Communications Servers are now certified with Verizon's award-winning IP Trunking Service.

With NEC and Verizon, companies can now more easily manage their networks and control operating costs with centralized and decentralized designs using NEC IP PBX (Private -Automatic- Branch Exchange) equipment and Verizon's IP Trunking network features and enterprise reporting tools. NEC's UNIVERGE SV8500 and Verizon IP Trunking, now available in the United States and a number countries in Europe, is an excellent fit for medium- and large-sized enterprises seeking to deploy advanced IP features, streamline network management and control operational costs.

In addition, by adding NEC's unified communications applications enterprises and vertical businesses, just as healthcare, hospitality, education and government, can streamline processes and improve communications efficiency through enhanced collaboration and mobility.

"Verizon IP Trunking service provides direct SIP connectivity to the NEC IP PBX eliminating the need for expensive customer premises gateway equipment," said Tom Dalrymple, director of enterprise global voice services for Verizon. "The winning combination of the cost-effective, flexible NEC IP PBX with Verizon's advanced IP Trunking capabilities can create a powerful unified communications solution for our clients to improve collaboration and productivity."

Certification of the UNIVERGE SV8500 with Verizon IP Trunking service means NEC's enterprise-class communications server has successfully passed Verizon's rigorous interoperability testing. It as well means engineers from both NEC and Verizon are familiar with the features benefits of both solutions. Some of the key benefits of Verizon's IP Trunking Service include:

"NEC is happy to have received Verizon's certification and we are hoping to provide better service to business clients along with Verizon's research at the global level," said Takemi Hosaka, Associate Senior Vice President, NEC.

"Since its introduction, the UNIVERGE SV8500 has proven repeatedly to be a great enterprise communications platform for both IP and hybrid network environments in a wide variety of business settings," said Larry Levenberg, Vice President of Channel Sales and Marketing, Communication Technologies, NEC Corporation of America. "The SV8500's SIP interoperability with Verizon should provide clients additional peace of mind that the platform is not only reliable and feature-rich, nevertheless it can contribute to significant operational cost savings."

Verizon Communications Inc., headquartered in New York, is a global leader in delivering broadband and other wireless and wireline communications services to mass market, business, government and wholesale clients. Verizon Wireless operates America's most reliable wireless network, with more than 104 million total connections nationwide. Verizon as well provides converged communications, information and entertainment services over America's most advanced fiber-optic network, and delivers seamless business solutions to clients around the world. A Dow 30 company, Verizon employs a diverse workforce of more than 196,000 and last year generated consolidated earnings of $106.6 billion. For more information, visit www.verizon.com.

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Microsoft pays $8.5bn for an illegal service

A lot has been written about Microsoft’s decision to buy Skype for $8.5bn. Microsoft’s willingness to pay such a vast amount for a loss-making business is but another sign that content and social networking is an area for growth and an essential part of the internet. Skype, the service that provides free voice communication online is one element of this new internet space.

It is nearly-impossible to download Skype in the UAE without proxies and virtual private networks and even if you manage to access the service, the quality of the calls is not great.

The fear is VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) services will cut into telco earnings. With the overwhelmingly large expat community in the GCC, this is understandable, nevertheless it goes against fair competition.

The Arab world is asking for freedom, democracy and openness and it began doing so online. If the world’s largest software manufacturer takes over one of the world’s most popular internet services, it should have anyway some sort of impact in the Middle East.

Identify and track projects across the Middle East and North Africa through MEED Projects. Subscribers can track projects, conduct trend analysis, forecast, produce strategic reports and ultimately win new business.

MEED Events provide high profile speakers, relevant and critical business content and the latest news from across the GCC. With a portfolio that includes large-scale summits, two-day industry specific conferences and unparalleled networking opportunities.

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What you need to know about business VoIP phone service

There is no denying the fact that Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) is rapidly emerging as the communication technology of the future for all sizes of business enterprises. VoIP basically is the ability to make telephone calls over the internet to either a receiving computer or a telephone.

VoIP technology, simply stated, uses something called packet switching where sound is converted into packets of data that are sent over the internet and reassembled at the receiving end by one's computer or telephone. If a high-speed internet connection is used, a conversation can take place that easily compares to a regular telephone call in sound quality.

With the passage of every year, VoIP continues to bring higher standards of quality and multiple features, and there is no doubt that VoIP will be a viable technology for business communication for many years to come.

Several VoIP service provider companies are realizing the potential that VoIP services offer business communications and are now offering VoIP business plans to consumers. One of the distinct advantages for businesses to buy a VoIP system is the fact that it costs significantly less than most standard telephone services.

Further, most VoIP plans will allow you to make unlimited long-distance telephone calls for incredibly inexpensive rates. Most VoIP subscription plans include extra features such as call waiting, call forwarding, three-way conferencing and voice mail as part of their standard package. Another noteworthy benefit is that many VoIP service providers will allow you to select a new area code and phone number for your VoIP calls.

In a nutshell, the biggest advantage of business VoIP service over traditional phone services is the complete integrated communications solution that it offers. With a business VoIP phone, it is possible for you to make inexpensive domestic as well as international voice calls. You can take advantage of both audio and video conferencing. You can have voice messages and fax messages sent to your email address. Outside of these, there are many other features extremely useful to increase productivity.

 

Benefits of internet VoIP phone service

An Internet VoIP phone service is also known as Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP). This facility uses an existing internet connection for both outgoing and incoming telephone calls instead of using the traditional telephone line. It can be stated without fear of contradiction that there are several benefits of internet VoIP phone service over traditional land line..

There are three main types of internet phone services: web to phone, phone to phone, and web to web. Web to phone allows you to place a call to a landline phone or mobile phone from a personal computer using web based VoIP software. Phone to phone allows you to use a VoIP telephone to make or receive phone calls that are placed over the internet. Web to web allows you to place calls from your computer to another computer and requires you use a headset with a microphone to communicate on calls.

Of course, the biggest benefit is cost savings. There are no set-up or installation charges involved. Once you switch to internet phone service, you will know the cost savings are substantial over the same types of calls through a traditional phone company. There are different plans offered by the service providers, and it will be largely cost-effective if you choose the plan that best suits your needs.

Internet phone service offers the most extensive and technologically advanced features that traditional phones can never match. There are standard feature like voicemail, caller ID, call waiting and call forwarding that come free with the package. There are a host of advanced features that will enable you to further save money and increase productivity.

The internet phone service has now overcome most of its initial hiccups, and today it is widely acknowledged as reliable as all other types of phone service. You will indeed be pleasantly surprised by the crisp voice clarity you get with internet phone service. Talking to someone around the world will seem like you are talking to someone next door.

Internet phone service is easy to install and operate. As a matter of fact, you will only be required to connect an analog adapter to your telephone in order for it to work with the new digital service. Some internet phone service providers offer special calling rates for long distance and even international phone calls with their packages. This can be particularly helpful if your business requires frequent calls to overseas customers.

The fact you can potentially save huge sums of money has tempted many individuals and business enterprises to look into getting an internet telephone. Placing internet phone calls allows users to call anywhere in the world from their computer at a fraction of the cost. Some internet phone service providers offer special calling rates for long distance and even international phone calls with their packages. This can be particularly helpful if your business requires frequent calls to overseas customers.

Internet telephony is portable in the sense that you can carry your headsets and laptop to virtually anywhere in the world, as long as you have an internet connection and receive or make phone calls using VoIP software.

If you are considering a choice between an internet telephone and a traditional phone, please know that high speed internet service is required in order to make and receive calls from your computer. Slow internet speed can cause the software to malfunction while communicating. Another drawback with internet phone is emergency services like 911 will not be as reliable as with a traditional phone because your call will be based on an IP address, and not on a physical address.

 

The advanced carrier service IP Multimedia Subsystem

Although the advanced carrier service IP Multimedia Subsystem, or IMS, has been a buzzword within the industry for some time now, there are many compelling reasons for carriers to move to this architecture. Some of these include: a single common platform for delivering voice and multimedia services to both fixed and mobile endpoints, lower network operational costs through managing just a single infrastructure, and a platform capable of rapid innovative service deployment.

For a better understanding of this architecture and its benefits to carriers, MetaSwitch’s white paper, titled "An Introduction to IMS: The Innovation and The Motivation," gives a good introduction to IMS and explores some common reasons for adopting IMS as an advanced carrier service.

According to the MetaSwitch white paper, one of the most compelling reasons to deploy IMS is that it can provide a common platform for delivering voice and multimedia services to a mix of fixed and mobile endpoints. Service providers who today offer both mobile and fixed line services may use a common shared transport infrastructure, however are typically not able to achieve convergence at the services layer. Class 5 switches deliver services to fixed lines, during Mobile Switching Centers deliver services to mobile phones, and these are completely separate network components.

Enhanced services may be provided by Intelligent Network techniques, however fixed and mobile networks use different and incompatible IN protocols, in doing so they cannot share the same enhanced services platform either. It is possible to develop advanced carrier services that bridge both worlds, yet such solutions are expensive to develop since they need to talk to two sets of protocols.

IMS addresses this problem by providing unification of fixed and mobile voice and multimedia services, according to the white paper. Unlike physical access network technologies that are used by fixed and mobile endpoints, IMS is in substance independent of the type of network access used. Because IMS is 100 percent IP, with all signaling based on SIP, a common set of infrastructure elements including HSS and Application Servers can serve any mix of fixed and mobile endpoints.

With IMS, it is possible to deploy rich, high-value advanced carrier services just as hosted business voice to both fixed endpoints and mobile endpoints without having to make any service-related distinction between them, the white paper states.

Furthermore, the paper highlights the special capabilities of SIP, just as forking, which allows a user to have a fixed phone and mobile phone with the same phone number without having to do anything special to support this in the network. As well, SIP signaling in the IMS network could provide a means to converge SMS and Instant Messaging services with the integration of presence information across any mix of fixed and mobile phones.

Another motivation for IMS is that it can provide a unifying architecture that supports all of the different strands of VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) based network modernization with a single, consistent approach. The HSS provides a single repository of data about all subscribers, so there is only one place in the network to go to add new subscribers and to define what services a subscriber gets.

Finally, IMS provides a comprehensive blueprint for voice and multimedia telephony in 4G mobile networks, addressing all of the key issues just as roaming and the management of Quality of Service and bandwidth allocation in the access network, concludes the MetaSwitch paper.

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