Cisco and early-stage venture capital firm Draper Fisher Jurveston announced a global business plan competition for students to create a technology-oriented start-up. The winner of the competition will receive at least $250,000 in seed money and professional feedback, according to the companies.

The student teams will present their business plans to DFJ and Cisco representatives in real-time via Cisco's TelePresence. The competition is another indication of Cisco's commitment to publicize its TelePresence system, as it views the broader market for this sort of collaboration and communications as a future profit center. 

For more:
- see the Triangle Business Journal story here

Frank Grillo, Cypress Communication's executive vice president of marketing, is the winner of the voip-biz.news' Person of the Year award.
In nominating him for the title, the telecoms professional was described as a "visionary executive" and "innovative thinker" with "technical acumen".

Two innovative products dominated voting to share the honours in voip-biz.news' Product of the Year 2008 competition.
With 33 per cent of the nominations, MyGlobalTalk's VoIP calling solution earned praise for its sound quality and call rates, as well as features such as no contract being required, no connection fees and no minimums.