Companies that use Macs rejoice! Telepresence, video, and voice communications provider, Polycom announced that its Polycom CMA Desktop video collaboration app now supports OS X. 

Polycom CMA Desktop for Mac OS X offers high quality video and voice communication as well as seamless interoperability with the existing Polycom CMA Desktop for Windows, and a number of other standards-based telepresence systems on the market.

"Polycom CMA Desktop sets a new standard for flexibility, performance and interoperability for desktop video collaboration and we are happy to deliver on customer demand, particularly in the education, healthcare, creative services and entertainment markets, for Mac OS X support," said Joe Sigrist, senior vice president and general manager of video solutions at Polycom in a release.

For more:
- read the release

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It came out of nothing. Releasing a new version of iPhone SDK last week (along with the reveal of the iPad) Apple lifted 3G VoIP restrictions on the iPhone. Since then VoIP calls are not only available over Wi-Fi but also over cellular networks and more and more companies announces that their apps are now 3G friendly.

There are two different and sometimes warring sides to the Mobile VoIP world. There are the application and software developers who have created mobile VoIP apps that use carrier data networks and circumvent carrier voice plans, and then there are the carriers who sometimes wish to block such applications while also making plans to launch their own VoIP systems.

Since mobile VoIP arose as an option, there has been both debate about its plausibility and sheer inertia of its inevitable progress. In May, Pete Wylie wrote an Editor's Corner highlighting and questioning whether pure-play mobile VoIP could succeed. Then, in August, Unstrung released a report predicting that in 10 years mobile VoIP will be as common as circuit-switched mobile calls are today. A month later, InStat predicted mobile VoIP applications would generate annual revenues of $32.2 billion by 2013! In addition, Gartner claimed more than 50 percent of mobile voice traffic will be VoIP by 2019.

So what happened this year that is going to launch us into this bright mobile VoIP future? Skype in a way, led the pack.

Skype started off the year in January with big news: launching its software on Apple computers. My how time flies--fast forward to November and they've got their app on the iPhone. In our article "TV, cell phones, business = Ubiquitous Skype" we discussed all of Skypes big plans. Skype first embeded on Nokia and Sony-Ericsson phones, and followed that up with Skype for Apple iPhone in April. Skype for iPhone saw two million downloads in its first week but only worked over WiFi. This wild success however saw apps from other VoIP providers follow suit including Nimbuzz, JAJAH, and Vonage. When Vonage submitted its iPhone App its stock was sent soaring. As interest grew, tutorials came out on jailbreaking iPhones to run Skype over AT&T 3G. The EU even began to grumble about forcing VoIP on cellphones. Eventually, after sparring with Google and Skype over mobile net-neutrality, AT&T claimed it would allow VoIP over 3G to iPhone users. To this date, the service is still not enabled.

On the carrier side, things have taken a slower more experimental pace with the focus on integrating VoIP into the main voice offering of their services. In August, FierceTelecom's Sean Buckley wrote an editor's corner for FierceVoIP about how some carriers were beginning to take the premise of mobile VoIP seriously. In "Mobile VoIP can you hear me now?" Sean noted that Verizon and Telefonica O2 were experimenting with the technology. Verizon tested VoIP services on its LTE network in Boston with Alcatel-Lucent. The companies successfully made data calls using VoIP to enable voice transmissions over the LTE 4G network. At the same time Telefonica O2's German division announced that VoIP applications could now be carried on its 3G wireless network. Other carriers were also getting in on the action: Clearwire tested WiMAX mobile VoIP phones in March, and in April AT&T said it liked VoIP on LTE because its 3G network was already to congested to support it.

Google has been buying up VoIP companies, so it only makes sense for its rival Apple to do the same. Rumors are floating about that Apple may be in the market for VoIP provider iCall.

iCall is a low-cost VoIP provider with desktop software, browser-based calling and mobile apps. The company also has enterprise offerings including SIP termination. The connection to Apple lies in it's iPhone app which allows users to intercept cellphone calls and answer them through the VoIP service. Speculation as to why Apple might want iCall ranges from their interest in competing with others on VoIP software--getting the technology in-house rather than rely on apps or even to offer iPhones without calling plans--to just wanting the company for its name with the lower-case 'i' being a calling card of Apple's.

For more:
- read this article

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After “evaluating customers’ expectations and use of the iPhone compared to dozens of others AT&T offers,” the operator has finally taken the steps necessary so that Apple can enable VoIP applications on iPhone to run on AT&T’s wireless network.

Previously, VoIP applications on iPhone were enabled only for Wi-Fi connectivity. At the same time, AT&T has offered a variety of other wireless devices that enable VoIP applications on 3G, 2G and Wi-Fi networks.

Google officially rolled out its 100,000-strong beta test of its Google Wave collaboration/email hybrid product and response was so strong, people posted their invites on eBay and received hundreds of bids to get into the test. Application vendors SAI and Salesforce.com also jumped on the announcement, as they released their individual plans to develop plug-ins for the Wave platform.

Ed Laczynski, CTO of L-Tech, a Google partner, and a beta user of Wave, said in an interview he's impressed with the performance so far.

"The gadgets are really cool, and fact that you can watch people respond in real time is also nice," Laczynski said. "Google borrowed from everything ‘Web 2.0' in Wave, and also solved a big problem with Gmail around collaboration. You just want to communicate, but now you have to pick the medium for different types of communication. Wave let's you get a quick answer without having to choose."

Laczynski said he expects developers to begin right away designing customer support for enterprise users and CRM applications for Wave. He said his company "has gadgets and robots in the works right now for the product." He cautioned that Wave's complexity and multiple use cases might actually prove to be a detriment as in targeting consumers, however.

"It's a complicated product, and it appeals to technical people, but taking it out to consumers, the messaging needs to be more simple," he said. "There is so much that it can do, but past 100,000 users, if you want grandma to use it, Google needs a clear adoption path and to be able to communicate why people would want to use it." 

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What's Google up to with Voice and other toys?

FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski is putting forth a "notice of proposed rule making" for broadband policy that would implement Net neutrality principles ensuring open and unhampered access to broadband networks. Genachowski said the rules could extend to mobile broadband networks as well, which is possibly a reaction to the controversy over Apple's rejection of Google Voice from the iPhone AppStore.

In his letter, Genachowski specifically mentions carriers slowing or blocking access to VoIP applications as cause for rules regulating open access to broadband access. Not surprisingly, carriers quickly criticized the proposed rules and said they might slow down efforts to roll out new products and compromise security on affected networks. VoIP providers, especially ones that play heavily on mobile devices, have to like the direction in which this is headed.

The two new rules Genachowski proposed would prohibit service providers from discriminating against specific applications and make Internet access providers maintain transparency on their networks. He said in an open letter he plans to launch a formal notice of the rulemaking at the FCC's October meeting. 

For more:
- see the PC World article here 

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Nortel's Carrier VoIP and Application Server (CVAS) division is "still very much alive and kicking" despite the parent company's ongoing bankruptcy procedure, according to Sita Lowman, leader of marketing for the group.

"Our part of the organization is still number 1 in the world, even while under Chapter 11," Lowman said. "We haven't stopped anything under R&D, and we're ready for the divestiture to be behind us, so that we can provide the confidence to the customer," Lowman said. She added that Nortel CVAS would be launching new products at Supercomm in October, as the unit prepares to be auctioned like Nortel's wireless technology and Enterprise Solutions divisions.

How much will Nortel get for the CVAS group?

MetaSwitch has begun another significant carrier customer rollout, as it is assisting operator Cavalier as it upgrades its network with media gateways and application server deployments, according to the companies. Cavalier is offering hosted VoIP and other IP communications technology to the SMB market in its Mid-Atlantic market, including areas in Maryland, Delaware, Virginia and Washington, D.C., according to Senior Vice President of Marketing Lou Sommi.

Sommi said in an interview that the MetaSwitch gear allows for flexibility in deployments and is helping Cavalier sell more hosted offerings, which Sommi said are lucrative for the company and allow Cavalier's sales staff to sell to smaller clients. Sommi said the unified communications features made possible by the MetaSwitch platform have been very popular with SMBs, as they can now support mobile workers and enable advanced emergency continuity procedures, functions not possible with legacy TDM gear.

For more:
- see the press release here 

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In-Stat has released a report that is very bullish on the future revenue potential of mobile VoIP applications, predicting the annual revenues for the market will increase to $32.2 billion by 2013. The report, "Mobile VoIP - Transforming the Future of Wireless Voice," also predicts 278 million registered users of mobile VoIP applications by 2013.

If In-Stat's revenue estimate is to hold, however, these applications would not only have to meet the user base prediction but generate monthly ARPU of $9.65, not an easy feat with voice becoming increasingly commoditized.

"Applications such as Skype and Vonage have influenced users to think of voice as a data application," says Frank Dickson, In-Stat analyst, in a release. "The increasing penetration of Wi-Fi in mobile devices was the beach head that Mobile VoIP applications needed. As user habits are being shaped by rich on-line communication experiences, mobile carriers control over devices and data applications is waning. Mobile carrier attempts to slow the spread of on-line Mobile VoIP are proving challenging as well."

The report predicts that Asia will overtake EMEA as the regional leader in mobile VoIP revenues by 2013. 

For more:
- see the press release on Reuters here 

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A new Infonetics research report on second-quarter carrier VoIP spending shows some signs of life for the industry, which has been battered due to reduced carrier capex amid the recession. Global carrier VoIP equipment revenues totaled $598 million in Q2, and while the market segment revenues were off 32 percent year-over-year, they did show slight improvement of 0.8 percent from Q1.

Diane Myers, author of the report and directing analyst for carrier VoIP for Infonetics, said voice application servers, media gateways and Class 5 softswitches were the strongest equipment categories for the quarter, while EMEA and North America showed the best regional sales performance.

The report said AudioCodes, Cisco, MetaSwitch, Sonus, Alca-Lu, Italtel, Broadsoft, and Nortel (hard to believe, but true) stood out with strong revenue increases for the quarter.

For more:
- see the report press release here

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Vonage shares have been skyrocketing after reports surfaced about the company's plans for an Apple iPhone App, according to a Bloomberg report. Vonage has been on its largest three day stock rally since May 2006, according to Reuters, and the bundled plan the company announced last week just didn't warrant the gains for most analysts.

An approved iPhone app would be a boon for Vonage, which has been languishing with a huge debt load and high churn, unable to grow its subscriber base to reach profitability.  

A Barron's blog report, however, said Vonage's request with Apple has been delayed by technical issues, according to an interview with Apple spokeswoman Natalie Kerris. She confirmed that Vonage has submitted an iPhone application for review, however.

Apple's App store and its take on VoIP applications has been in the news all week, as the FCC probes Apple's rejection of Google's Google Voice app. Will Apple allow Vonage's app, which could pose a threat to wireless revenue for its iPhone partner AT&T?

AT&T, which maintains it had nothing to do with the Google Voice removal, said its agreement with Apple allows VoIP over WiFi, but prohibits applications that access the 3G cellular network for voice call transmission.

For more:
- see the Bloomberg report here
- see the Reuters report on Vonage's stock rally here
- see the Barron's blog on Apple's comment on Vonage's app here 

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AT&T had no part in the decision to remove Google's Google Voice iPhone application from the Apple iPhone App Store, according to a 16-page letter the telco sent to the FCC.

AT&T maintains that while it has an agreement with Apple to restrict voice applications that leverage wireless networks operated by AT&T, it retains no control or review privilege for any iPhone application and Apple alone acted to remove the application. In addition, AT&T said the agreement limiting VoIP applications did not extend to VoIP apps that leverage the iPhone's WiFi capabilities.

In the letter AT&T specifically mentions that part of the initial iPhone exclusivity contract required Apple to block VoIP calling functionality on the iPhone in order to protect AT&T's monthly service revenues. AT&T said in the letter that it would take a fresh look at allowing VoIP over its 3G data network as a result of the controversy regarding the Google Voice removal and subsequent FCC probing of its practices related to VoIP. 

For more:
- see the ZDNet.com article here 

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Google Voice app pulled from iPhone App Store

Not long after Apple removed the official Google Voice application and any other applications that use Google Voice functionality from its iPhone App Store, the Federal Communications Commission has asked both Apple and AT&T to clarify the reasons of the removal.

The companies just answered FCC and published their statements.

A bit surprisingly, Apple stated that the company has not rejected the Google Voice application, and continues to study it.

Analyst firm Dell'Oro Group sees the carrier IP Telephony market breaking out of its current slump in 2010, according to a recent report. While the group said the carrier IP telephony market in 2009 will be down around 14 percent from 2008, Dell'Oro expects the market to rebound to $4 billion by 2013.

Greg Collins, a vice president at Dell'Oro Group, said network modernization projects delayed due to rough economic conditions should resume in earnest in 2010, driving growth in the session border controller and softswitch markets.

"Smaller vendors, such as Acme Packet, MetaSwtich, and BroadSoft, have done fairly through the downturn," Collins said. "The bigger vendors with lots of exposure to the Tier 1 carriers, such as Nokia Siemens Networks, Nortel and Sonus, have suffered a little more as a result."

As part of the report, Dell'Oro also forecast that the IMS equipment market, though currently quite small, will expand rapidly to reach $743 million in revenues by 2013. Collins said preparations for LTE wireless, application delivery and location services will drive the expansion in this market niche.

For more:
- see the press release here 

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Google Voice has been all the rage lately, and this week was no exception. In addition to reports and analysis of Apple and AT&T's removal of the Google Voice app from the Apple iPhone App Store, there have been some interesting takes on the service in general.

Nerd Vittles has a really good primer on how to connect the Google Voice client to any Asterisk system, as well as reports on progress for a Python interface for Google Voice.

Basically, with a little tweaking you can use a Google Voice account for free U.S. calling and SMS from Asterisk phone systems by leveraging a DID with free inbound calling. Nerd Vittles provides an in-depth look at the benefits of this set-up, as well as all the code necessary to make it work.

VoIP opinion blog truvoipbuzz.com takes the opposite approach in an editorial about eight reasons why you should not use Google Voice as your primary phone number. The article lists limitations in carrier networks, spotty SMS reception, and overall reliability issues as evidence that Google Voice is not a good choice for your main line.

I'm impressed by Google voice's international rates, especially to mobile devices, but the voicemail transcription is really awful currently. I tested it several times and found about a 60 percent success rate, which left the messages largely indecipherable. I did not have problems, however, with excessive rings between connections, as some have noted. If you've got an account, what are your thoughts on Google Voice and its performance so far? 

For more:
- see the Nerd Vittles GVoice-Asterisk primer here
- see the truvoipbuzz.com article here 

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Apple and AT&T have found themselves in some hot regulatory water over the removal of Google's Google Voice application from the Apple iPhone App Store. The FCC wrote both the CE manufacturer and the nation's second-leading wireless carrier on Friday for clarification on the reason for the removal, citing potential anti-trust violations. Neither Apple nor AT&T commented on which company initiated the removal or the reasons behind it.

FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said in the two letters that his commission's duty to encourage competition in the wireless space for consumer interest compelled him to seek more information about the Google Voice application removal.

The FCC action could mean big things for other VoIP application makers, both in regards to the iPhone App Store, and others such as the BlackBerry App World and Palm's nascent application market for its Pre handset. Skype and Google, most notably, have pushed the FCC to mandate open access for applications on cell phone carrier networks, as TechCrunch's Erick Schonfeld notes. Schonfeld sees the FCC's interest as a sign that regulation may move toward creating "dump pipes," which is an exciting prospect for VoIP players, but one likely to meet fierce resistance from mobile carriers protecting their wireless revenues. 

For more:
- see the TechCrunch article via the Washington Post here
- see DigitalBeat's write up of VoIP applications for the Palm Pre here
- see Information Week's coverage of the FCC action here 

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WCell International, a Hong Kong-based VoIP calling platform for mobile devices, announced its application is now available for download on a variety of mobile operating systems. The application currently is compatible with BlackBerry, Java, Windows Mobile and Symbian, among others, and it is pending approval by Apple for listing in the iPhone App Store.

WCell, which has been bootstrapped with investment from its founders, said it can offer comparable or better voice call quality than its many competitors in the mobile VoIP applications world, while simultaneously delivering cost savings against leaders such as Skype. It said it will attempt to differentiate from the likes of Skype, fring, Nimbuzz and Truphone by targeting retail handset sales. The company aims to have 10 million paying customers of the service by November, and it will have to rapidly expand and compete with all the other entrants in the space if it to reach its goal.

For more:
- see the Venture Beat article here

VoIP applications provider Broadsoft and IP infrastructure solutions developer GENBAND have announced a new set of solutions that enable carriers to upgrade their networks while supporting legacy features.
The two companies have integrated GENBAND's gateways with BroadSoft's suite of hosted telephony and multimedia applications.

GENBAND and BroadSoft announced GENBAND's G9 and G6 gateways and S3 session border controller will be integrated with BroadSoft's BroadWorks VoIP application platform for carriers migrating from TDM to IP telephony systems. The companies said the new offering will allow carriers to deliver Class 4 and 5 VoIP services and applications on a single system, all while continuing to support legacy features.

The new offering also provides options to carriers like hosted unified communications and fixed-mobile convergence support, according to the companies. 

For more:
- see the Light Reading article here 

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BroadSoft's December 2008 acquisition of fellow VoIP application server company Sylantro gave BroadSoft an even more commanding lead in market share in the space. But integrating another unique company into the buyer's corporate culture can be quite a challenge, so, six months after the formal announcement, here's a look at how the integration has progressed.

In the first quarter, BroadSoft's executive team spent a lot of time on the road talking with Sylantro and BroadSoft customers alike about the implications of the buy, according to Leslie Ferry, vice president of marketing for BroadSoft. But Ferry said the integration of the back office systems and personnel is now complete, and BroadSoft's customers have benefited from the product set and engineering muscle BroadSoft picked up from Sylantro.

"The integration of talent has gone incredibly smoothly, and we knew from due diligence and competing with them that they had a good product and smart, talented people working on it," Ferry said. "It's always a challenge when you integrate two companies, but we've been more than pleased with the results."

Ferry said the integration went smoothly because Sylantro had a similar culture of innovation and research. She also noted that "getting out the message" to Sylantro customers about the level of support they would receive from BroadSoft was the major challenge in the integration.

Ferry said portions of Sylantro's Synergy platform are being integrated into the BroadWorks offering, and portions of Sylantro's web-based client SynApps are also being evaluated for eventual inclusion in BroadSoft's products. 

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Toshiba America Information Systems, a wholly-owned Toshiba subsidiary, announced the availability of a bundled unified communications product that ships in a single software load and runs on one server. Toshiba's Unified Communications Suite bundles the usual UC suspects such as presence, IM, click-to-call in applications, find-me follow-me dialing and FMC utility, and the applications all run over Toshiba's Media Application Server.

Toshiba Information Systems said the UC bundle will deliver cost savings and productivity gains to enterprises, while the single software load will keep installation simple. The product is immediately available through Toshiba resellers nationwide.

A recent report on unified communications deployments and market share by Synergy Research Group said Toshiba was struggling in addressing significant industry issues and maintaining market share in this area. Perhaps the new bundled offering can help the company increase traction in this segment.

For more:
- see the press release here
- see the Synergy report here 

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Ericsson was selected to deploy an IMS core system with an IMS-based VoIP application server for Telefonica O2 Germany, the companies announced in a release. The deal includes Ericsson hardware deployment and software integration.

The IMS update will allow SIP trunking, IP Centrex and presence for both fixed and mobile users of O2 Germany's network. IMS technology lowers the cost of application delivery for businesses and will help companies continue to move toward network convergence, according to the release.

For more:
- see the press release here 

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MTS Allstream, a Canadian provider of unified communications solutions, announced it has selected NetIQ to manage its enterprise UC applications and infrastructure. With the addition of MTS Allstream's customers, NetIQ now manages more than 1 million VoIP lines worldwide, according to the company.  

MTS Allstream will deploy NetIQ's AppManager for network assessment, end-to-end monitoring and reporting on MTS Allstream customer UC deployments, according to the release.

For more:
- see the joint press release here 

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Media5 has released a SIP client application that allows the Apple iPhone and iPod Touch to be used as a IP-PBX extension.
The company says the full-featured softphone enables the Apple devices to be used to access the same phone services and features as if they were in the office.

A new Synergy Research Group report on the global market for collaborative applications found vendor sales down across the board for the first quarter of 2009 in both the enterprise and SMB market segments. The report said collaboration application vendors notched sales of $913.3 million for the first quarter. Avaya, Cisco and Siemens were the top three vendors in the enterprise category, and ShoreTel, Cisco and Avaya lead the SMB category.

Though Synergy said these companies were in a strong strategic position in their respective markets, the report also found that the top six vendors in both segments saw quarter-over-quarter sales declines. The report also noted a growing interest in managed UC offerings as small business suffer decreased credit availability, and it reported that price points for UC offerings are declining slowly as competition in the space increases.

For more:
- see the Synergy press release here 

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VoIP equipment purchases are decreasing at the expense of spending on the deployment of IMS (IP multimedia subsystem) technology, according to Infonetics Research.
Worldwide sales of IMS equipment, including HSS (home subscriber servers), CSCF servers, and voice application servers, are forecast to jump 74 per cent in 2009 over 2008.

SabSe Technologies has acquired jaxtr, a social communications company offering a free VoIP service.
The value-added application provider aims to sell its apps to Jaxtr's large active user base of around 10 million users.

Value-added application provider SabSe Technologies announced it has purchased jaxtr, a company offering free VoIP service to social networks and blogging platforms. Terms of the deal were not released, but based on jaxtr's staff reductions and several large funding rounds totaling more than $26 million, it's not likely jaxtr's venture capital investors reaped a profit on this play.

SabSe will continue to operate the jaxtr service under the brand name, and the buyer hopes to increase revenue by selling its applications through to jaxtr's more than 10 million users. SabSe, cofounded by Hotmail cofounder Sabeer Bhatia, plans also to use the jaxtr acquisition to bring additional functionality to SabSe's core small business offerings.

The Natural Convergence buy of NewStep Networks yesterday and the jaxtr deal today could signal the beginning of consolidation in the VoIP space, as companies that took down large amounts of VC funds without clear business models falter and require sale. 

For more:
- see the press release here 

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As enterprises seek to bring down costs during the current economic downturn, video conferencing has gained popularity as a way to reduce travel expenses while maintaining mission critical communications. But network capacity and bandwidth must be considered before ramping up video conferencing use, or spotty performance could negate any savings and derail crucial meetings.

Blue Coat Systems, an application delivery specialist, said more than 73 percent of enterprises plan to shift focus to video conferencing to lower travel budgets, according to a survey the company sponsored. Blue Coat is touting its PacketShaper appliance as a solution to address concerns about the network effect of increased video conferencing

"Companies need to know the impact of introducing a new application like video conferencing into a distributed network," said Mark Urban, senior product manager for Blue Coat Systems. "PacketShaper allows them to exert granular control over individual applications, carve out and protect bandwidth for scheduled video conferences, and proactively remedy latency problems that may occur."

Blue Coat said PacketShaper uses advanced compression techniques to reduce bandwidth requirements for video conferencing sessions, including header compression and packet packing. 

For more:
- see the press release here 

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Voxeo, a unified communications service provider, announced it acquired IMified, a hosted instant messaging application platform. Terms of the transaction were not released.

IMified is Voxeo's third acquisition in the past 12 months, and it gives Voxeo a platform API to communicate with any IM network or platform, according to the company. The IMified platform lets users build new IM applications without having to worry about interoperability with other proprietary IM solutions, and it also allows for IM functionality to be added to other, existing applications.

IMified claims that more than 7,500 developers currently use its platform for IM customer service bots, package tracking, emergency notifications and customer surveys, among other uses.

"Instant messaging is a natural extension to voice self-service and is an important piece of any company's unified communication strategy," said Jonathan Taylor, Voxeo's president and CEO, in a prepared statement. "IMified significantly expands Voxeo's unified communications offerings with the world's largest IM application platform and most experienced development team."

Voxeo said all IMified employees have been retained and that it will not modify terms of service for IMified users or developers. 

For more:
- see the press release here

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Yuuguu has expanded its screen sharing cross network application to include Skype.
The Yuuguu for Skype Beta enables Skype users to screen share and collaborate with one or more contacts.

Ifbyphone announced its first carrier customer for its "cloud telephony" SIP application service. Network Communications, a CLEC based in Longview, Texas, will connect to Ifbyphone's servers though SIP trunking, which the companies said will allow Network Communications to offer telephony applications such as "find me" call forwarding, call tracking and IVR to its enterprise customers.

"Ifbyphone offers a tremendous set of telephone automation services that are easy for SMB (small- to medium-sized business) customers to deploy and use, and they offered us a flexible pricing model that was very attractive," Gary Honeycutt, director of network operations at Network Communications, said in a release. "We have already begun selling the new services to our SMB customers under our brand, and our customers are delighted."

The deal comes less than a month after Ifbyphone announced the availability of the SIP trunking applications offering for carriers.  Ifbyphone CEO Irv Shapiro said the company also is in talks with other carriers to launch the white-labeled telephony services.

"These smaller carriers used to be able to compete on price, but now they need to compete on features as well," Shapiro said. "They can't be sure without market testing which ones will work well for their market, either, so Ifbyphone's solution is very attractive for their needs. They can lease a small number of application ports, do trial runs and scale up the specific applications that catch on in their market." 

For more:
- see the Ifbyphone release here 

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Nortel's Carrier Networks group, which houses its carrier VoIP service and Application Solutions division, saw revenues slip to $737 million, down 32 percent year-over-year and 48 percent from the previous quarter, according to first-quarter financial results released today. While Nortel blamed much of the decline on its wireless segments, it's likely that Nortel's Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings impacted the VoIP part of the group's earnings as well, as every division of the company saw a marked revenue decline for the quarter.

Company-wide, Nortel reported a net loss of $507 million for the quarter, as its $1.73 billion in revenue was off more than $1 billion from the $2.76 billion it recorded in the first quarter of 2008. The company said it is still in the midst of reorganizing its divisions, and it will begin reporting Carrier VoIP and Application Solutions earnings as a separate segment beginning in the third quarter of 2009. On a bright note, the company announced that it has sold more than 1,000 units of its Business Communication Manager 450 product, which provides unified communications capabilities for small- and medium-sized businesses, since its launch in October 2008, making it the fastest-selling product in company history. 

For more:
- see the Nortel earnings release here 

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The death and life of Nortel

Last week Nortel announced it had sold its CS 1500 softswitch - the replacement to its legacy DMS platform -- to more than 135 customers globally. A deeper look at press release numbers between the initial product launch and last week's announcement, however, indicates initial momentum from the product's introduction has died out over the past year.

A May 27, 2008, release by Innovative Systems - supplier of the APMAX application server OEMed to Nortel's CS 1500 - celebrates the 100^th sale of the CS 1500 and notes the product was announced in March 2007.

By Nov. 20, 2008, Nortel had managed to sell the CS 1500 to "more than" 120 regional service providers throughout North America, so that equates to 20 sales over a six-month span and an average of around three sales per month.

Last week's announcement cites "more than" 135 service providers globally - so Nortel has expanded their pool beyond North America, so 135-120 units = 15 net, which leads to 15 units/5 months to deliver precisely three sales per month.

What does it all mean? "Nortel had some initial momentum, some service providers waiting for replacing DMS-10, the initial sales came from pent up demand," said Andy Randall, VP of marketing for MetaSwitch. "As people have looked at product capability more closely and looked at financial capability, there's been a very strong demand on [our] side, and a slowing down on Nortel and others....I think in general market terms, what we're seeing is quite a lot of nervousness about vendor stability, not just in switching, but in every area."

In comparison, MetaSwitch has sold more than 300 softswitches in the past year, and about 30 in the last five months. Randle believes presenting a single platform for legacy switch replacement and applications is winning over many carriers.

For more:
- Innovate Systems marks 100 CS 1500 softswitch sale in 2008. Post.
- Nortel posts 120 wins in November 2008. Release.
- Nortel soldiers on with carrier VoIP

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Stop me if you're heard this before two dozen or more times: Company starts mobile VoIP service to bypass expensive long-distance calls, using free downloadable client. Company introduces iPhone application. Do a find on "Company" and replace with "Vopium"

As a promotional incentive to get iPhone users to download the app from Apple's App store, Vopium is offering 30 minutes of free calls and 30 SMS text messages to "get started" says the press release, and then users drop into the usual and all-too-familiar world of pre-paying for credits, free call through WiFi when available, and redirecting calls along the cheapest routes via VoIP.

Net-net, we've been here before -- way too many times. Vopium joins a crowded room of mobile VoIP characters that includes established players like Skype for iPhone - with its 1 week/2 million downloads - and Truphone.  

For more:
- Vopium's press release in the evil .PDF format.

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Skype for Apple iPhone rolled out at CTIA - FierceVoIP

Telecomms veteran Andy Berman has been appointed Chief Executive Officer of i2Telecom International.
The move follows a "transitional period" for the Atlanta-based company which has seen it shift priorities towards mobile applications and services.

Verizon is creating an application store for its Hub home phone service as part of plans to broaden its market.
The move follows the trend among mobile makers such as Apple, RIM and Palm to open up to third-party apps. A further development to widen the appeal of the Hub will see Verizon removing the condition that Hub buyers have to be Verizon Wireless customers.

Skype reported Tuesday it has logged 2 million downloads for its Skype for iPhone application, a bit more than a week after the application was released at CTIA. To get such a number, downloads have had to occur at an average of two to three per second since the app first appeared.

It's a big number considering that around 4 million iPhones have sold between product launch and the end of 2008, but you could dilute it down a bit if you throw in however many million iPod Touch owners may have downloaded the app.

Regardless, 2 million downloads in a week is still a big number, no matter how you might want to divvy up the pie between the total number of iPhones and iPod Touches sold. It is also likely a number to grow larger and be freely bandied about during Skype's lobbying efforts at the FCC and the EU, as it fights restrictions and/or banning of the application by carriers.

For more:
- Review Skype's blog on hitting 2M downloads.
- Ars Technica estimates around 4 million iPhones sold between launch and end of 2008.  

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Skype for Apple iPhone rolls out Tuesday

Skype is now available for the iPhone - and will be coming to BlackBerry in May.
The VoIP app on the iPhone will only work over Wi-Fi and not 3G. It will allow iPhone subscribers to use phone numbers in their existing iPhone address book - without the need for duplicate lists.
As always, it allows free calls between Skype users and charges for calls to landlines or mobiles.
UPDATE: Since being released on Tuesday it has emerged that Skype on iPhone does works over 3G, despite being intended only for use with WiFi.

Orange Business Services announced it has added enterprise telephony features to its Business Together joint offering with Microsoft. The Managed Microsoft OCS supports telephony additions to business applications through integration with Cisco IP Phones.

Business Together has 450,000 end-users currently, according to the company. Now, users of the program will be able to use Microsoft Communicator to unify instant messaging, email, telephony and mobility. On Cisco phones, employees using Business Together with Enterprise Telephony will be able to access click-to-call and presence features within Outlook, Office suite, and SharePoint. The new offering will reduce voice costs, costs-per-user, and travel expenses for businesses, according to Orange.

"Multinationals are looking for ways to effectively respond to the current economic challenges by reducing costs while increasing worker productivity," said Laurent Kocher, senior vice president of global services for Orange Business Services. "Business Together achieves both goals helping our customers to become more efficient and gain a competitive advantage." 

For more:
- see the Orange press release here 

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Skype will officially pull the wraps off its Apple iPhone application Tuesday, but it seems like every reporter with an iPhone got a look at the application over the weekend. Users will be able to Skype-inate over WiFi, including free calls to other Skype users and the whole cheaper calls bit via SkypeOut. A Skype version for the BlackBerry will appear in May.

PC World says that users won't be able to place calls over a cellular data network; this is a protective sop thrown to the carriers so the app won't (supposedly) diminish long-distance and roaming minutes. Presence and IM work the same and go over whatever data network is available; cellular or WiFi.

Skype for iPhone will use phone numbers directly from the iPhone's address book and will also helpfully display Skype contact photos.  Conference calling is available, but right now, an iPhone user has to be invited in.

Other features not available in the first version of Skype for iPhone are SMS, video, file transfer and voicemail.  However, iPod Touch users will also be able to load and use Skype.

For more:
- PC World has screen snapshots and details.  Post.

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At CTIA, FeedHenry will unveil the first end-to-end IMS widget platform for complex services, as well as the first IMS widget engine for (yes) mobile handsets. The new technology will be demoed in Oracle's booth at the show.

FeedHenry is billing the IMS widget platform as a telecom operator framework capable of delivering Web 2.0 IMS services, such as voice, presence, and location as widgets to subscribers regardless of platform--web, mobile and desktop. The platform delivers IMS capabilities on a start page that service providers can use out-of-the-box to provide content to end-end users in a format that is easily downloaded and customized for distribution across mobile, desktop, TV or portals such as Facebook or iGoogle.

In addition, the IMS widget engine for mobile handsets, similar to the iPhone application store, allows users to access widgets from a carrier start page and download them to their mobile phone. Widgets will continue to work even when users are not connected to the Internet. In addition, FeedHenry's solution provides analytics on how services are impacting business.

Several companies are already using the FeedHenry platform. Oracle is using it to demo and deliver its service delivery platform (SDP), Eircom is using it for its myeircom.net content and service platform for end users and Ireland's The Munster Express is using it to send widgets of news content to users.

Widgets being demoed in the Oracle booth at CTIA include a SMS widget, a "Where am I?" LBS widget, a twitter widget, a billing widget to show the current balance in a prepaid account, and an on device portal (ODP) for cell phones to enable the download and use of content when the phone isn't connected to the Internet.

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Nimbuzz has today released what it describes as the most comprehensive VoIP application for the iPhone after "quite a few" rejections from Apple.
Building on its iPhone app launched in November, Nimbuzz users can now make international calls to mobiles and landlines at domestic rates by dialing a local access number available in over 50 countries.

Truphone announced today that it is launching a Blackberry application that enables business users to make international phone calls from their devices at fixed line rates.
The company claims that the new Truphone Business app will reduce call charges by at least half.

HelloSoft, a VoIP and convergence chip maker, announced the launch of a new IP convergence chip, the HS100, Monday. The chip combines a low-power processor with a convergence suite for voice and data continuity in VoIP and unified communications applications.

HelloSoft claims the chip uses five times less power than existing solutions, extending battery life in dual-mode VoWLAN and WiMAX/WiFI devices.

 "HelloSoft recognizes the strong consumer interest and market trend of convergence," said Allan Johnson, vice president of product management for HelloSoft, in a release. "The chip enables operators to ensure consistent user experience across access networks through intelligent connection management and seamless voice/data session handover. HelloSoft has successfully demonstrated voice-call-continuity, and data-session continuity while roaming across access networks."

Johnson said HelloSoft has won contracts with several Tier-1 OEMs and operators, and will announce the wins later this year. HelloSoft, which has traditionally operated solely in chip development, expands into the VoIP space with the convergence piece of the HS100. 

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Skype's future as an eBay company is looking increasingly unsure as speculation mounts over its possible sale.
eBay's chief executive, John Donahoe, has done nothing to ease expectations of a sell-off. Last week he told analysts that "synergies between Skype and the other parts of our portfolio are minimal" and that it is "a great standalone business".

The options for VoIP calling on the iPhone are expected to continue expanding with both Skype and Truphone expected to join a growing list of VoIP apps for the Apple handset.
Truphone already provides an app for the iPhone which enables users to make low-priced international calls via the GSM network even when the smartphone is not connected to the Wi-Fi network.

VoIP applications provider, BroadSoft, has acquired competitor Sylantro Systems for an undisclosed sum.
BroadSoft provides VoIP application software designed to enable service providers to deliver hosted telephony and multimedia services to businesses and consumers.

This week FierceVoIP talked to BroadSoft CEO Michael Tessler about the Sylantro acquisition, managing three distinct product lines, competitors in the VoIP applications space, and what prospects for 2009 look like.

"We have a strong position in the [VoIP applications server] market," said Tessler. "That position got stronger with the Sylantro customer base... It's a good synergistic fit, not only by adding the customer base, but having the ability for us to work with the customers we've acquired."

Since many of the customers are Tier 1 service providers, they are "pretty demanding," and BroadSoft has to make sure they can support both the existing in-place platforms and the customer. "We've moved over the technology functions, the people who were doing [support] at Sylantro," Tessler said. "We have all the capability Sylantro has, we have those employees. [Sylantro] customers shouldn't be worried, the support lines are there, all the crew is there."

With the acquisition of Sylantro, BroadSoft has three distinct product lines to support: its own, the GENBAND M6 applications server, and Sylantro's. While BroadSoft would like to get everyone onto one platform at some point, "that road is probably long," Tessler stated. "One problem you have in terms of acquiring a like competitor, you can't do a deep dive on integration until you close. Right now, we're matching platform to platform, what is on the roadmaps, what is needed. We've already done outreach to [Sylantro] customers, understanding their needs."

Right now, BroadSoft has to work with Sylantro customers in a "collaborative fashion" to put together a roadmap for additional features, and, ultimately, to move to a consolidated platform. "Clearly as a business, we'd like to converge those platforms, but that is a little early right now," Tessler said.

"One of the good things [we] learned through process of acquiring the GENBAND server, is [working] through [the acquisition] process... working with customers, locking down the roadmap, integrating the teams," said Tessler. "We were able to reuse the learnings in the Sylantro acquisition. We're in day one or two of that now, we're just starting process of collaborating with customers, understand what they were doing, and working with them on the future."

While BroadSoft has bought its most prominent competitor, it doesn't have a free ride ahead. "I wish I could say there's no competition, but there is," said Tessler. "It depends upon the market segment, geography. The Comverse guys are still around with Netcentrix. In the U.S. market, it's MetaSwitch with MetaSphere. On the consumer side we see the softswitch IMS core vendors, all the big switch manufacturers have their feature server platforms. There's a fair amount of competition. You see regional players in Asia, in Europe."

As an independent and pure-play applications server company, Tessler says BroadSoft is in a "pretty strong" position, with manufacturers sometimes competing with them and sometime acting as a channel to resell BroadSoft. "The key message is we've been able to build a very strong brand and use that to consolidate the space," he said. "We're looking forward to integrating the Sylantro team. We'll work with work with customers on their plans."

Looking to the future, Tessler is optimistic for the new year. "We're pretty excited and pretty bullish about 2009," he said. "What we've seen are carriers well underway in TDM projects and they are not going to stop. There's enough economics to make those transitions, and we don't see that changing.

"Will some spending slow down? Clearly, but that doesn't mean that [next generation network purchases] are going to stop. Every carrier is well under way [to NGN]. BroadSoft is active in 60-plus markets and there's a lot of transformation going on. We don't see that going down."

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RUMOR MILL: BroadSoft buys Sylantro - FierceVoIP

In a major consolidation of the VoIP application server space, BroadSoft Inc. is expected to publicly announce its acquisition of Sylantro Systems before Christmas -- if not sooner.  Multiple sources with insight into BroadSoft and Sylantro say it's a done deal, with former Sylantro employees conducting a privately-held wake on a LinkedIn discussion.

At BroadSoft, the acquisition is being viewed as a major boon with great respect being given to Sylantro's past accomplishments in the marketplace, as well as its current brand strength.  The company will gain 50 new customers from Sylantro, including AT&T, Qwest, Swisscom and NuVox. BroadSoft executives describe Sylantro as a "formidable competitor" for the past decade and say they are "fortunate" to be able to acquire such a strong brand.

Terms of the deal appear to have been quite favorable. Sources say BroadSoft believes it will be able to generate positive cash flow from the acquisition in 2009, a feat it attributes to the consideration and terms of the merger. 

Others "in the know" on the transaction say that Sylantro was running out of cash with no means to raise additional capital.  A shotgun wedding with BroadSoft was a way to save jobs for some employees and spare existing customers the uncertainty of a bankruptcy filing.

Sylantro's R&D office in Bangalore, India, is listed as a "key asset" in the acquisition. In addition, BroadSoft expects to keep a (smaller) office in Sylantro's Silicon Valley HQ and keep parts of the sales organization.

Doug Mohney contributed to this report.

For more:
- We don't think it's a rumor anymore, but we do not have official confirmation from either company. RUMOR MILL: BroadSoft buys Sylantro

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Times may be tough but Ifbyphone has defied the apparent drought in venture capital funding and secured USD $4.6 million in a second round of institutional funding.
The capital infusion for the hosted telephone application platform company was jointly led by Apex Venture Partners and Origin Ventures, who also invested in Ifbyphone's first round of institutional funding.

The VoIP mobile software developer Truphone has launched a beta version of its iPhone app for RIM's BlackBerry 8801 and Curve devices.
While Truphone Anywhere for Blackberry only works on WiFi enabled BlackBerrys at the moment it will be rolled out for 3G at some point.

Smoothstone IP Communications has developed a mobile interface that allows corporate call centers to be controlled from anywhere in the world using the iPod and iPhone.
The company says Apple’s new support for corporate security standards allows it to provide a secure, enterprise solution for IT professionals to use when they are out the office environment.