CrystalVOX News

Asterisk VoIP News

Elastix workshop in Toronto; Wed Nov 26th, 2008

This Wednesday, November 26th, the Toronto Asterisk Users Group invites all in the area to join us for a telephony workshop and talk sponsored by Sangoma Inc.[1]

Jose Landivar, co-founder of PaloSanto Solutions[2], creators of Elastix, will be running a "getting started" workshop on Elastix, followed by a talk discussing how it differs from other Asterisk-based distributions, and a road map of the project's future.

Elastix[3] is an open source asterisk-based linux telephony appliance that integrates tools such as OpenFire IM Server, SugarCRM, mail services, and billing software into a single, easy-to-use interface. It also adds its own set of utilities and allows for the creation of third party modules.

When:
Wednesday November 26th, 2008
5:00 pm - 7:00 pm: WORKSHOP - Getting Started with Elastix (reg. req.)
7:00 pm - 8:00 pm: TALK - Integrated Communications with Elastix

Where:
Committee Room 3
North York Civic Centre (in Mel Lastman Square)
5100 Yonge St.,
North York, ON
Map link: http://xrl.us/hqbw

Registration is requested for the workshop, sign up at: http://taug.ca/node/174
No registration is required for the talk: http://taug.ca/node/175

Check back at http://taug.ca for event updates.

Cheers,
Simon P. Ditner
TAUG.ca Talk Coordinator
Bandwidth.com invests in FreePBX GUI for Asterisk

Bandwidth.com has just made an investment in FreePBX, the popular front-end interface to Asterisk-based distros. I discussed this news with Philippe Lindheimer just a couple hours ago. One of the questions I asked was if Bandwidth.com would get "preferred treatment" within the FreePBX interface, since Bandwidth.com offers SIP trunking.

Obviously, if FreePBX gives Bandwidth.com a prominent position in the GUI or they make it "easier" to configure FreePBX (i.e. plug-n-play) that could be a huge boon to Bandwidth.com Philippe said that that isn't part of the investment announcement being made today, however, that is something they are looking at.
Junction Networks Picked as Voice Provider for edgeBOX

Editor's Note: We personally use Junction Networks for our SIP termination and we have been satisfied with their service. I have also chatted with their CEO and he was very knowledgeable and courteous.
New Jersey-based Critical Links has chosen VoIP service provider Junction Networks as the preferred provider for its edgeBOX all-in-one, voice-and-data appliance.
edgeBOX is an integrated device aimed at the SMB market. It includes a full-fledged IP-PBX, wireless access point, router, file, e-mail and VPN server. The edgeBOX will come preconfigured with a free trial of Junction Networks’ SIP or IAX VoIP trunking and PSTN gateway.
Kalimat Telecom launches WiMax network in Baghdad, Iraq

Kalimat Telecom, Iraq's national telecom network launched the first WiMax network in Baghdad. The $500 million project is the national Fixed Wireless Local Loop (WLL) Telephony and Data provider aiming to serve 28 million Iraqi citizens. Barely five percent penetration in Iraq for obvious security problems there in the past, but with the improving situation, Kalimat Telecom is now poised to take off and plans to secure 60 percent of Iraqi subscribers in the next two years.
Federal regulators give approval for formation of new Clearwire

United States federal regulators today gave Sprint Nextel the green light to spin off and merge its XOHM mobile broadband network with that of Clearwire. The XOHM brand is expected to remain as the new entity takes shape. A Clearwire shareholder vote is planned for later this month.
Polycom promoting "going green" with its video conferencing solution

Polycom regional sales manager Dan Engel explains that video conferencing solutions enable companies to conduct face-to-face meetings using regular Internet protocol (IP), or public telephone networks, without leaving the office. This decreases the carbon footprint of companies by avoiding the large quantities of carbon dioxide (CO₂) that would be emitted if participants were required to attend meetings and events by car and aeroplanes.
Vonage Has a New VoIP Patent

Vonage has a new patent. It’s for something called “Method and Apparatus for Enhanced Internet Telephony.” According to the company, “The invention, which was filed for patent in 2003, makes it less likely for customers to encounter dropped calls, incomplete attempted calls or other communication problems resulting from typical router function and behavior.”
How To Buy a Hosted PBX Phone System

Selecting a phone system may be the most important technology decision most small businesses make; choosing the wrong one can spell disaster. One relatively new and increasingly popular option, using a hosted PBX (Private Branch eXchange) solution, offers a number of benefits and can also mitigate some of those risks.
Vonage Secures Refinancing Package to Continue Operations
Vonage Holdings Corp. has signed a definitive agreements to refinance its convertible debt, a move which will help to secure its future. The financing package consists of a $130.3 million senior secured first lien credit facility, a $72.0 million senior secured second lien credit facility, and the sale of $18.0 million of senior secured third lien convertible notes.
FCC approves free wireless band

Editor's Note: T-Mobile is giving a pretty weak argument for why we should not have this spectrum for back to the public domain. I think this is great idea and it has much potential for getting good internet access out for many users especially lower income users. What is great about this spectrum is because of the lower frequency range, it can penetrate through hard materials much easier. It give us potential to do mesh networking applications that would really make good user experiences. I already have a couple ideas I am writing down that would need this type of access to make them viable.
Press Release:
The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has approved new spectrum for use as a free public broadband channel. The FCC published the results of a study conducted in September regarding the potential for interference with other channels.
AsteriskNOW 1.5 Beta Available
Last month at AstriCon we announced the upcoming launch of AsteriskNOW 1.5, a new version of Digium’s award winning software appliance that incorporates the FreePBX graphical user interface. Today I’m very pleased to announce that the first beta release of AN1.5 is available on asterisknow.org.
Skype President Addresses Chinese Privacy Breach

You may have seen some reports in the media about a security and privacy breach in the software provided by our Chinese partner, TOM Online. I'm writing to let you know where we stand, and what we're doing to resolve the problem. Some brief background:
In China, TOM is the majority local partner in our joint venture that brings Skype functionality to Chinese citizens. The software is distributed in China by TOM and TOM, just like any other communications company in China, has established procedures to meet local laws and regulations. These regulations include the requirement to monitor and block instant messages containing certain words deemed "offensive" by the Chinese authorities.
Polycom announces VoIP Partner program

Polycom APAC has launched a VoIP Field Verified (VFV) Program, which recognises SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) based call providers that have Polycom VoIP phones. The first partner to join the VFV Program in the APAC region is Hong Kong-based Deltapath Commerce and Technology Limited.
Digium and Skype Collaborate to Bring Skype to Business PBX

Digium,and Skype, announced the beta version of Skype For Asterisk, which will allow the integration of Skype functionality into Digium's Asterisk software and enable customers to make, receive and transfer Skype calls from within their Asterisk phone systems.
Microsoft and Bandwidth.com Announce Response Point Collaboration

Bandwidth.com partnership with Microsoft Response Point empowers small business telephony - Bandwidth.com and Microsoft Corp. have entered into a strategic marketing alliance agreement to enable Response Point customers to take advantage of Bandwidth.com's superior availability and quality. As the second largest internet provider of business voice service in the U.S., Bandwidth.com offers industry-standard Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) based phone lines that seamlessly provide dial tone to small businesses using Response Point across one of the largest and most advanced IP networks in North America.