VocalTec and YMAX/magicJack Announce Merger
Posted by Jesse Ward on Monday, July 19, 2010 · 
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VocalTec Communications Ltd. and YMAX Corp., the creator of magicJack, have successfully merged. The new entity will be called VocalTec and will be traded on the Nasdaq under the symbol CALL.
This is an interesting matchup. MagicJack has a well recognized brand with more than 6.5 VoIP million units sold since 2008. In fact, magicjack is the largest CLEC in the United States in terms of area codes available and certification in number of states.
For its part, VocalTec will add softswitch, application servers and a softphone to the mix. VocalTec bills itself as the “inventor” of VoIP and the softphone and says it has the patent portfolio to back up the claim. Read more
Google Voice Desktop App Preview
Posted by Kevin McGuire on Friday, July 2, 2010 · ·
Remember way back in October of 2009 when Google said “Google Voice is a free web application, one intended to supplement and enhance existing phone lines, not replace them.” And the way GV worked at the time made that seem plausible. After all, you couldn’t make calls directly from GV– it required that you entered the number you wanted to dial, then a number where it could call you to complete the connection. In April we learned that GV was testing a new desktop client. And today, a new TechCrunch video demonstrates this “unreleased” software, and makes one wonder about the definition of “supplement.” Video after the break. Read more
Average Smartphone User Consumes 298 MB per Month
Posted by Jesse Ward on Thursday, July 1, 2010 · ·
Nielsen has closely examined the issue of smartphone data consumption in the United States, reviewing more than 60,000 bills from mobile customers each month. The analytics firm determined that the average user consumes 298 MB of data per month. This is a dramatic increase from the 90 MB per month recorded during the first quarter of 2009, a year-over-year increase of approximately 230%.
Nielsen also found that the heaviest users consume the most bandwidth, with 6% of users consuming half of all data used. At the opposite end of the spectrum, nearly 25% of smartphone users consume less than 1 MB a month.
Nielsen draws far-reaching conclusions from this research, Read more
FCC: 21 Million VoIP Users Nationwide
Posted by Jesse Ward on Thursday, July 1, 2010 · ·
The FCC has released its biannual report on “Local Telephone Competition,” which, for the first time, included comprehensive information about VoIP subscribers. As of year-end 2008, circuit switched POTS was still the dominant form of voice communication.
In total, there were 162 million voice connections at of the end of 2008, with 141 million traditional switched access lines in service, and 21 million VoIP subscriptions serviced by a cable, traditional telco or VoIP provider. Read more
AT&T Enhances ‘My Multiview’ U-Verse Application
Posted by Jesse Ward on Thursday, July 1, 2010 · ·
Yesterday AT&T announced that it has enhanced the My Multiview application, the telco’s latest attempt to differentiate itself from its video competitors. Through the app, customers can simultaneously view up to four channels through one main window with audio, and up to three small windows with only video.
The improved My Multiview application is all about personalization. Read more
Google Voice Open to All
Posted by Kevin McGuire on Wednesday, June 23, 2010 · (2) ·
About a year ago, Google launched Google Voice, a service with cool features such as transcribed voice mail and call control. At that point, it was a limited preview, and required an invitation to join. In May, Google announced it was targeting students, allowing anyone with a .edu email address to have immediate access. Today, Google Voice is now open to anyone — well, anyone living in the United States that is.
“Over the past year, we’ve introduced a mobile web app, an integrated voicemail player in Gmail, the ability to use Google Voice with your existing number and more. Over a million of you are now actively using Google Voice, and many of the features released over the past year (like SMS to email and our Chrome extension) came as a result of your suggestions, so thanks!”
So head on over to Google Voice and try it out. Maybe it will spark some ideas of things you might offer to your customers, but at a minimum, you should see what your competition is up to.
Update: According to Bloomberg (and others), Frontier is suing Google Voice over a patent dispute. Stay tuned to see how this turns out!
Verizon Extends ‘FiOS without Contract’ Nationwide
Posted by Jesse Ward on Monday, June 21, 2010 · ·
Verizon has extended FiOS without a contract nationwide, offering new subscribers FiOS TV, Internet and digital voice bundles on a month-to-month basis at the same prices previously available only to customers with two-year contracts, with guaranteed pricing for one year and no early-termination fee. For customers who want two-year price protection, Verizon has expanded its 30-day FiOS Worry-Free Guarantee.
The month-to-month option and Worry-Free Guarantee expand upon offers introduced earlier this year in Florida and Pennsylvania and that have met with very favorable customer response.
The no-contract offering starts at $99.99 per month before taxes, fees and customer-selected service additions. Verizon has previously offered month-to-month bundles, although for $20 to $30 higher per month than bundles with the two-year contract. Read more
