VOIP News

Rich has an interesting post today on a VoIP-related Application Development contest from Voxbone that features a $10,000 First Prize! Here’s Rich: Voxbone’s customers can implement white label VoIP powered by Voxbone. The first prize in the contest is a cool $10,000 and the application has to be innovative and original. The contest will be formerly announced next week at the Communications Developer Conference and you have until July 31st, 2007 to submit your application. The winner will be announced at Internet Telephony Conference & Expo this September in Los Angeles, CA. I urge all developers in the VoIP space to check it out. Details can be found on Rich’s blog by clicking here.Good Luck!

Interactive Intelligence has been named one of the Top Places to Work in Indiana. The Indiana Chamber of Commerce — in its 2nd Annual Best Places to Work ranking — named Interactive 7th best in the large company category, which encompasses enterprises with more than 250 employees. Interactive Intelligence currently employs about 525 people at its global headquarters in Indianapolis, and in offices throughout North America, Europe and Asia Pacific. According to company founder and CEO, Dr. Donald E. Brown. “…a key ingredient of our corporate culture has always been to foster the qualities responsible for such innovation — qualities such as independence, creativity and passion. This award acknowledges our efforts toward that end.” Congratulations to our friends at Interactive Intelligence on this honor.

 Reports abound this morning of Microsoft potentially making a move to take over Yahoo! The two companies have held talks on this subject before, and the NY Post is reporting that Microsoft’s interest in revisiting the deal and restarting talks shos a cetain urgency on the part of the Redmond-based software maker. Yahoo shares are up nearly 20% in pre-market trading as of 8:30 am EDT. According to The Post, which quotes Wall Street sources, Yahoo! might command a $50 billion price if the deal were to go through.  

I just got off the phone with our good friend Ron Gruia who called to chat about Mitel acquiring Inter-Tel. (Ron is with analyst firm Frost & Sullivan, and he writes a column for our IMS magazine.) Essentially Ron is wondering if one of the (as yet) unannounced reasons behind this merge is simply that Mitel wanted to increase the valuation of their company, and secure a bigger piece of the Unified Communications pie  before a long-planned IPO takes place. Adding Inter-Tel into the mix, complete with their robust channel and managed services business as well as the ability to increase their total geographic coverage (while there is some overlap, surprisingly the two companies seem to have a lot of area ‘to themselves’ so to speak) will do more than simply lift the combined revenues to around $800 million. The managed services business adds to the “recurring” side of the ledger and that’s often easier to buy than it is to build. I for one thought that maybe there were some hidden “issues,” which were leading Mitel to continuously delay their IPO, but I certainly have no real insight into that. Ron told me that Mitel Chairman Terry Matthews told a group of analysts recently, that flat-out, the market was not at its most receptive for an IPO. If Terry Matthews and his advisors at Merrill Lynch and RBC feel the market was soft, I am in no position to argue with them. Terry is a smart man, and his success in this business is really unequaled. Ron reminded me that if successful, Terry Matthews might just be the first man to take the same company public… two times! What are your thoughts? Do you think that Mitel is simply gearing up for a mega-IPO somewhere down the line? Feel free to leave a comment below.

Skype has announced that there have been more than 10 million downloads of Skype Extras since the Extras Manager in Skype™ 3.0 for Windows was launched in late December 2006. Extras are plug-ins written by independent third-party developers that let users expand Skype functionality and enrich their Skype conversations. I asked Paul Amery, Director of the Skype Developer Program, to expand a bit on the announcement. Paul is scheduled to deliver a keynote address at the upcoming Communications Developer conference, at 11am on Wednesday May 16. The event takes place at the Hyatt Regency Santa Clara from May 14–17.  GG: 10 million third-party plug-ins in 4 months… That’s a pretty big number. How does this activity measure up with your earliest expectations for the program?PA: We are really happy with the numbers. If you compare it with the average number of downloads from the Skype Software Gallery before we added the Extras Manager into Skype, we were seeing something like 25,000 downloads a month. Since mid-December 2006, when we launched the Extras Manager, we’ve seen about 2.5 million downloads a month. The math speaks for itself. Users really like Skype Extras. And we want to share that message with the developer community. GG: Do you keep track of how many developers are currently creating Skype applications? PA: There are currently more than 4,000 developers who regularly use the Skype Developer Zone or subscribe to our monthly Skype Developer Program Newsletter. Approximately 40 of these are ‘VIP’ developers and are listed in the Skype Partners Directory. The breadth of developers who work with Skype is extraordinary. They range from 15-year old techies who are coding in their bedrooms to CEOs with more than 30 years of experience developing software applications. The uniting factor is that they all love Skype, and constantly want us to enhance the platform to help them do more. I was recently asked to describe the Skype Developer Program (SDP). I like to compare Skype to an amazing mansion, with the Skype Developer Program being the beautiful orchards and gardens around the house. We tend to the trees and plants for Skype so that they flower and bear fruit. Some might refer to this as our ‘ecosystem.’ GG: What are some of the top applications in terms of downloads? PA: The most popular application overall is CrazyTalk for Skype from Reallusion. This is a piece of software that allows users to use live avatars and emotions while on Skype video calls. Basically, it lip synchs a video avatar to your speech. It’s a lot of fun and has been downloaded more than 4 million times to date. For professional users, the most popular Skype for Business Extra is the Pamela Call Recorder, which makes it easy to record Skype calls. GG: Do you have any personal favorites? PA: I have three young boys, and that’s a bit like asking me which son in my favorite! I like many of the Extras for various reasons. Having said that, I particularly like Extras that make it easier for me keep in touch with my team across Europe. Examples include applications like Convenos Meeting Center and WebDialogs’ Unyte™. Personally, I find that desktop sharing really comes in handy. My eight-year-old son really likes playing Tic-Tac-Toe with me. I really encourage people to try them out and find their own favorites. GG: You will be speaking at TMC’s Communications Developer conference next month. Any hints as to what topics you might address at the event? PA: At TMC’s Communications Developer Conference in Santa Clara next month, I will be sharing my view of what makes a successful developer. I also plan to explain how to develop with Skype — from concept to cash. I’ve seen tens of thousands of third-party applications over the past seven years of involvement with various developer programs, but I think there are probably eight key factors to success. I will be sharing these with the attendees. GG: Do you believe the Skype development community can benefit from attending events such as this?PA: I do and very much appreciate the opportunity to speak at this very influential event. For those developers who can’t attend your conference, we will also be at the eBay Developers Conference 2007 in Boston from June 11–13. If they visit our home page, they will shortly see a new ‘Meet Us’ link which lists where the Skype Developer Program team will be. On May 10th, my team also plans to host a ‘Meet and Greet’ for beta testers, Skype lovers and developers at our office in London. We plan to conduct this event quarterly. GG: Have you seen any exciting applications “on the drawing board” that might be available to the community of Skype users any time soon? PA: During my keynote, I will be discussing some of these exciting new applications and channels. GG: What are your goals regarding the program as we look ahead to the future? PA: The Skype Developer Program’s goals are to create a win-win situation for the developers and Skype’s more than 196 million registered users around the world. We want to encourage the development of compelling applications and content for users, which will make users want to communicate and do even more with Skype. We want to create a rapid route to market for third-party applications, so that the developers can generate revenue streams. And we want to support innovation among the developers who are building complementary services that enhance the core Skype software. I encourage developers and innovators to visit the Skype Developer Zone in order to learn how to take advantage of this global opportunity to distribute their applications.  

Yesterday, Sangoma Technologies and Octasic Semiconductor, Inc. announced a partnership in which Sangoma will bundle a free six-port license for Octasic’s SoftEcho solution with Sangoma’s standard A200 and A400 analog cards. I had the opportunity to ask Frédéric Bourget, Director of Product Management at Octasic for his thoughts on the subject.  GG: Why did Octasic choose to partner with Sangoma on this deal?FB: We have worked with Sangoma in the past on a multitude of high-density hardware projects. They are a great company, with good quality products, so our high-quality echo cancellation solution is a nice fit. It has been our pleasure to work with them for as long as we have. GG: Are there any plans to expand the relationship in the near future to include other solutions?FB: Currently, all Sangoma cards use Octasic’s echo cancellation software or hardware solutions.  GG: Isn’t it more efficient to provide echo cancellation in hardware than software, and is there a point where developers need to make a choice between hardware and software?FB: It is more efficient to do so in hardware rather than software; however, with low-density, there is plenty of overhead available on a PC’s CPU… so it makes sense to use that overhead rather than spend money on hardware. That is why we cut to six channels on the Sangoma product. GG: What are the benefits of a software approach to echo cancellation?FB: Cost savings is the primary benefit. If it runs on a PC, you’ve already paid for the CPU.Bourget is scheduled to present a session entitled Achieving Superior VoIP Sound Quality With Software Echo Cancellation at the upcoming Communications Developer Conference. Bourget’s session will take place on Tuesday May 15, at 2:30pm. Sangoma’s CEO and Founder David Mandelstam is also speaking at the event. Mandelstam will present the session entitled Modular Telephony Hardware Design on Thursday May 17, at 8:30am. 

It has come to my attention that last week, Raghu Sharma, founder and President of Multi-Tech Systems passed away after a protracted illness. Sharma died at his home in St. Paul, Minnesota. I had the pleasure of working with various members of the MultiTech family over the years. The MultiTech home page features some very kind words on the passing of their founder and long-time leader. Raghu had a great love for his family, his many friends, his company and the people who worked with him, people whom he considered to be friends and an extended family. Dr. Raghu Sharma, a native of New Delhi, India, received a bachelors degree in physics from Delhi University, a bachelors degree and a masters degree in electrical engineering from India Institute of Science in Bangalore and a Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota. In 1970 he designed a low cost, efficient acoustic coupler that was the forerunner of Multi-Tech System’s industry leading modem line. In honor of his memory and ingenuity, the family has established the Raghu Sharma Scholarship Fund, a national award competition to celebrate the brilliance of young minds and offer the possible development of their ideas and inventions.  Donations can be made to the Raghu Sharma Scholarship Fund855 Village Center Drive Box #384 North Oaks, MN 55127  The thoughts and condolences of the entire TMC family go out to Sharma’s family and friends and indeed to all our friends at MultiTech.

Earlier this week, Rich blogged about Colony Collapse Disorder, or “disappearing bee syndrome.” In his story, Rich referred to a NY Times story covering the issue and how it has affected beekeepers and farmers in the US and Europe. Well it looks like Asia is not immune from this strange but potentially costly affliction. Reuters is reporting that Taiwan’s farmers are feeling the sting as well. Could it be the increasing use of cell phones?Could it be the WiFi? This is definitely something worth keeping an eye on.

 I received this ‘heads-up’ from a friend at Sangoma. If you’re in the Atlanta area this coming Saturday, be sure to check out the Atlanta Asterisk User Group’s Install Fest. This is a free, casual, open and friendly opportunity for Asterisk VoIP beginners and veterans to meet and share their goals, knowledge, and skills. Attendees can bring a computer and volunteers will install and configure a working Asterisk system on it. Sangoma has provided door prizes and attendees will receive a coupon code that will allow them to receive 30% off their first order of Sangoma hardware through VoIP Supply. Terms and conditions apply. For more information about the Install Fest and to RSVP, visit the ATLUG Blog.  Also, don’t forget to visit the Open Source PBX Community on TMCnet. Date:Saturday, April 28, 2007 9:00AM to 2:00PM Location:Georgia Tech Klaus Advanced Computing Building,266 Ferst Drive, Atlanta, Georgia   

Andy has posted the latest numbers relating to France Telecom’s VoIP growth and the news is indeed “bon.” It appears that France Telecom has surpassed 2.5 million VoIP users and is setting its sights on 3 million. Vive le VoIP!