Disappearing Telephony

I'm just stepping back a minute to think about what Emerging Telephony actually is. You might have seen my earlier musings on the different philosophical underpinnings of "Western" telephony and "Eastern" thought. In an oversimplified nutshell, the Western approach puts the individual in the centre of the universe. The Eastern idea is to put the group in the middle. more»

SPIT is in Everyone's Mouth, Though Not Yet in Everyone's Ears

Spam over Internet Telephony (SPIT) is viewed by many as a daunting threat. SPIT is much more fatal than email spam, for the annoyance and disturbance factor is much higher. Various academic groups and the industry have made some efforts to find ways to mitigate SPIT. Most ideas in that field are leaning on classical IT security concepts such as intrusion detection systems, black-/white-/greylists, Turing tests/computational puzzles, reputation systems, gatekeeper solutions, etc... We identified the lack of a benchmark testbed for SPIT as a serious gap in the current research on the matter, and this motivated us at the to start working on a first tool for that. more»

SIP Revolution, Massively Delayed - But There's Hope

The SIP Center asked for an article which I finally wrote the weekend before last. My article was actually rather negative, but they published it anyway. Now I'm feeling a little guilty as there is an optimistic note I could have used as my conclusion. So let me try again... First let me summarize my problem. When SIP emerged in 1996, it's support for direct connections from one user to another was extremely compelling. This was the VoIP protocol which would lead to a complete revolution in communications... more»

University Researchers Heighten Focus on VoIP Security Threats

With VoIP starting to live up to some of the hype, university researchers are looking to ensure that the technology's momentum in corporate and residential markets won't be ruined by myriad security threats.

The National Science Foundation this week said it has issued $600,000 to the University of North Texas to spearhead development of a multi-university test bed to study VoIP security. Other participants are Columbia University, Purdue University and the University of California-Davis. more»

Communications Policy for 2006 and Beyond: VoIP as a Case in Point

In this article, published in the Federal Communications Law Journal (FCLJ), the authors (Reed E. Hundt and Gregory L. Rosston) have proposed sweeping changes to the current telecommunications regulatory regime. With impending reform in telecommunications laws, the authors argue that an important first step is the creation of a bipartisan, independent commission to examine and recommend implementation of more market-oriented communications policy. The following excerpt from the article looks into service competition with respect to VoIP... more»

VoIP's Threadbare New Clothes

Om has burnt the midnight oil analyzing Vonage's S-1 filing, coming to the conclusion that, while churn may not be as ugly as people thought, it's still cause for concern, and apparently intensifying. His point at the end about definitions is particularly good, as excluding cancellations in the first 30-days is undoubtedly flattering to the numbers. The net present value of Vonage's lifetime customer revenues is an issue which VoIP-watchers have long speculated about with trepidation -- what if marketing spending, churn, and price competition combined to form a toxic soup which fatally poisoned the economic proposition for access-independent VoIP? more»

SIP Emerges as De Facto VoIP Standard

Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) is emerging as the de facto corporate standard for VoIP networks running converged voice/data communications, industry experts reported today.

Analyst firm Frost & Sullivan said that SIP is anticipated to "replace the traditional modes of communication, and create an alternative communication industry reducing network elements to mere call-forwarding devices". more»

VoIP Used in New Phishing Scam

Small businesses and consumers aren't the only ones enjoying the cost savings of switching to VoIP. According to messaging-security company Cloudmark, phishers have begun using the technology to steal personal and financial information over the phone.

Earlier this month, Cloudmark trapped an email phishing attack in its security filters that appeared to come from a small bank in a big city and directed recipients to verify their account information by dialing the included number. (The Cloudmark user who received the email and alerted the company knew it was a phishing scam, because he's not a customer at this bank.)  more»

ICANN Approves .TEL Top-Level Domain

ICANN unanimously approved the creation of the new .Tel Top Level Domain (TLD) and awarded the contract to Telnic Limited.

"The .Tel domain offers the first genuinely different use of domains since .com was first created. It will provide seamless integration of existing methods of communication with emerging technologies like Voice over IP (VoIP). This places the .Tel domain at the core of the next phase of Internet development," said Khashayar Mahdavi, CEO of Telnic. more»

VoIP Compression Technique Vulnerable to Ease Dropping

Plans to compress internet (VoIP) phone calls so they use less bandwidth could make them vulnerable to eavesdropping. Most networks are currently safe, but many service providers are due to implement the flawed compression technology. A team from John Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, US, has shown that simply measuring the size of packets without decoding them can identify whole words and phrases with a high rate of accuracy. more»

Who Makes the Any Apps Any Handset Call?

The Wall Street Journal today reported that FCC Chairman Kevin Martin wants to reject a Petition for Declaratory Ruling filed by Skype that would establish a wireless Carterfone policy, i.e., that wireless carriers must allow subscribers to use any compatible handset to access any application, content or software. Chairman Martin has confidence that the marketplace solutions obviate any necessary FCC intervention. Such optimism must derive in part from the apparently newfound willingness of one major wireless carrier, Verizon, to support aspects of open access. Perhaps Chairman Martin has confidence in the marketplace based on the magnanimous offer of most wireless carriers to pro-rate their early termination penalties by $5 a month. But here's the rub... more»

VoIP Prompts Carrier Backlash

Carriers plan to challenge VoIP 'poachers' with services to win back defecting small businesses and test the market's economics. Signals that their grip on the Net neutrality high ground could be slipping are prompting major telecommunications carriers to put Plan B in motion -- an all-out price and feature war to test the staying power and limitations of Internet voice upstarts, analysts say. more»

Wi-Fi Alliance Now Certifying Devices for Voice Over Wi-Fi Applications

The Wi-Fi Alliance has announced today its plans to make voice a part of Wi-Fi networks, and has introduced a program to certify products. According to the Wi-Fi Alliance, the Wi-Fi CERTIFIED Voice-Personal stamp of approval means a product is capable of making or handling good-quality voice calls in the home or a small office environment. Access points, wireless routers, handsets and laptops can all be tested and certified. more»

Aircell vs. VoIP

Last week American Airlines launched their Aircell wireless Internet access on a limited number of flights. It didn't take long before a few folks tried to make voice and video calls (in violation of Aircell's terms-of-service according to their PR folks), and it didn't take long before someone figured a way around their voice/video blocking efforts. more»

U.S. Bill Grants VoIP Providers Full 911 Access

The U.S. Senate this week passed legislation that requires 911 network operators to allow VoIP callers to connect, no matter what service they're calling from. The New and Emerging Technologies 911 Improvement Act passed by unanimous consent Monday. It's meant to ensure that traditional telecoms, which operate the emergency networks, connect VoIP providers with the same rates and conditions they use when connecting mobile phones. more»