VOIP News

Interactive Intelligence is bustin’ at the seams. The company announced a deal to move into 79,000 square feet of a new 154,000 square-foot building being constructed adjacent to its current northwest-side headquarters office in Indianapolis. CEO Don Brown pointed to the growth in the company’s head count as a primary driver for the increase in space. “Over the past 20 months our head count in Indianapolis has grown from 244 to 367 employees,” said Interactive Intelligence founder and CEO, Dr. Donald E. Brown. “Largely fueled by the rapid adoption of technologies such as voice over IP, along with our software’s increasing capacity to serve the largest organizations worldwide, we expect this growth curve to continue and are executing on a plan to provide ample space to accommodate it over the long-term.”  Interactive retains the option to occupy all of the additional space in the new building in the future. Initial occupancy is expected in March 2008. This is in addition to the current 120,000 square feet they occupy at their headquarters.  

One thing to keep an eye on this week is any activity surrounding the Mitel/Inter-Tel merger that’s on the table as Inter-Tel shareholders meet to vote this Friday 6/29. While there has been a counter-proposal/recapitalization proposal from Steven Mihaylo, Inter-Tel’s special committee recently recommended that shareholders unanimously vote for the Mitel merger. Two weeks have passed since the Hart-Scott-Rodino waiting period had expired. That’s a standard anti-trust waiting period that companies must go through to satisfy regulators. Inter-Tel CEO Norman Stout said at the time: “Expiration of the waiting period without a second request for information represents a significant milestone towards the completion of our combination with Mitel. We remain on schedule to close the transaction in early July…” Most recently, Mitel CEO Don Smith sent a letter to Inter-Tel stating that Mitel cannot raise the price of its offer, in response to a request from Inter-Tel to increase that offer price. Smith cited a number of reasons supporting his belief that the Mitel offer is truly superior to any other plan or proposal. Said Smith: “We remain committed to delivering this premium valuation to Inter-Tel shareholders for 100% of their shares. The recent receipt of very favorable ratings from both S&P and Moody’s should provide you with further comfort around the deal certainty we have already committed to Inter-Tel and its shareholders.”  

So, when I was sitting at LaGuardia last week, waiting for my flight, I promised to write something about Nortel’s Global Connect event if I ever got there. Well, much like the Hotel California, getting there turned out to not be the real issue. It was coming home that proved to be a challenge. Canceled flights, delays, bumps…suffice it to say, returning home wasn’t the most fun I’ve ever had. In between the travails of air travel, I had a wonderful time at the Nortel press and analyst unified communications event, which took place in Tampa, Florida at the convention center. I’m only sorry it took me so long to complete my wrap-up of the event. Big thanks to all the organizers, and a special thanks to Christie Blake for putting together a valuable day of networking and information sharing. To view the article, please click here.

Skype announced this week that Toshiba’s Digital Products Division plans to add Skype’s Internet communication software on their notebook computers.  That should make some Toshiba users very happy.  The new Satellite, Tecra, Portg and Qosmio Toshiba notebooks, starting this past week, will now feature Skype software.  The product line can be purchased from various Toshiba retail and online locations throughout the US.  With the addition of Skype on the Toshiba notebooks, Toshiba is essentially giving their customers all-in-one internet communication options, and Skype gains another marketing angle and potential customer database. 

In a Skype press release, Jeff Barney, vice president of marketing, Digital Products Division, Toshiba America Information Systems, Inc. said, “Toshiba is dedicated to offering innovative notebook computers which provide users with the right balance of functionality and performance to enhance its customers overall mobile computing experience. Toshiba is confident users will appreciate the ability to connect with families, friends and colleagues across the world via Skype’s unique Internet communication tool.”

“Skype is always looking for meaningful ways to extend its reach in the marketplace and we believe this relationship will make it easier for the millions of Toshiba notebook users in the U.S. to experience the benefits of Skype Internet calling,” said Don Albert, vice president and general manager of Skype North America. “Teaming up with Toshiba will directly present Skype’s offerings to more potential users and will provide an ideal communications PC solution for them to stay in touch with their friends, family and business colleagues from home, in the office or on the go.”

By downloading Skype’s free software, users can take advantage of a variety of features, including voice and video calls, instant messaging, the ability to conference call and attractive inexpensive rates.   

California-based 8×8, Inc., a provider of Packet8 VoIP service, has joined forces with YouSendIt to deliver a unique digital courier service to their subscribers.  The service lets users send, receive and track large files (as big at 2GB each) easily and efficiently from their computer. 

“We are pleased to offer Packet8 subscribers, particularly our Virtual Office business customers, this valuable add on service that eliminates the frustration of current e-mail attachment limitations,” said 8×8 Vice President of Marketing and Sales Huw Rees. “With Packet8 Dispatch, our customers have an efficient alternative to e-mail attachments that bounce back when they are too large for recipient systems, and a replacement for expensive overnight shipments of data on CDs.”

“Tens of thousands of businesses across the globe use the YouSendIt service every day to deliver graphic designs, video, photos, engineering designs and other data to customers and partners in just minutes,” said Ivan Koon, CEO of YouSendIt. “We are delighted to offer this assured and secure digital content delivery service to Packet8 VoIP customers.”

Interested?  The service is available in two levels.  One, a Lite version, lets users transfer files up to 100MB for free.  The second, more flexible level, allows files as big as 2GB to be transferred, and includes a 45-day trial period.  Complete information can be found on their website. 

The Fijian Cabinet has approved a policy that will allow the licensing of VoIP without infringing on the legal rights of the island country’s two licensed federal telecom providers, Telecom Fiji and Fiji International Telecommunications Limited (FINTEL).

Although Fiji citizens have been able to use services such as Skype, legalizing VoIP and allowing new businesses to provide service will speed up the adoption of IP telephony and broadband Internet services.

Some Fiji-based writers consider that the spread of VoIP may provide competition for the local telecommunications agencies and loosen their hold on the country’s market.  Traditionally, telecommunications costs in Fiji have been high compared with neighboring island nations, and Telecom Fiji and FINTEL will need to adapt to VoIP or risk losing significant business.

Got a little space in your calendar the end of next month?  Then you may want to pencil in attendance at the upcoming conference for data networking and telecom resellers in Dallas July 23-26. 

This year, the main themes are ”Making Money with IP Communications” and “Mobility and Wireless VoIP.”  “Discover new angles of how to provide value to his customers. We will show practical examples of open source based solutions, unified messaging and the integration of IP phones into the world of custom applications with XML., SIP Cameras and state of the art IP WAN bandwidth management. Gain new insight into the latest developments and opportunities to propel your business into the future. We have quite a program with two packed days covering not only IP products and IP services, but also regulatory, business, sales and marketing issues.”

Convinced you need to be there?  You can get more details and register right here. 

Extreme Networks, Inc. announced yesterday that they have joined forces with the new Carrier Ethernet Ecosystem led by Nortel. The Ecosystem was brought about by a desire to meet the growing needs of video, VoIP and other communication services in metro area networks. 

“We are excited to be a part of the Carrier Ethernet Ecosystem and to work within this framework to accelerate the adoption of PBT-enabled carrier solutions,” said Peter Lunk, director of service provider marketing for Extreme Networks. “The PBT interoperability demonstration between Extreme and Nortel scheduled at NXTcomm in Chicago this week is a great example of what we can get done by working together.”

The Ecosystem plans to bring together industry hardware/software vendors along with ”component and tool suppliers to participate in creating interoperable carrier Ethernet solutions.” For more information, visit www.nortel.com/ecosystem.

GrandCentral Communications was just purchased by Google for an undisclosed sum. The company provides a service allowing telephony management via a single phone number which can be directed to a number of other numbers. The significance of the acquisition is that Google is getting more involved in telecom through its directory assistance service and now this GrandCentral acquisition. The search giant is also said to be coming out with a mobile phone soon. One would imagine such a device will be filled with a plethora of Google services such as the one provided by Grand Central.



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If you have interest in learning about voice peering – and who doesn’t? You want to bookmark the Voice Peering channel on TMCnet to stay up to date on the latest information on the space. A few articles of interest on the channel so far are VoIP Peering Revs Up from Richard Grigonis and Voice Peering Fabric: The New ‘Killer App’ for Broadband Telephony by Mae Kowalke. Be sure to check the channel daily to stay up to date on the latest news and information in peering in the VoIP/telephony market.



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