Archive for the ‘Ramblings of a Gadget Geek’ Category

Suicide Webcast Proves Greater Internet Fuckwad Theory

Saturday, November 22nd, 2008

greater-internet-fuckwad-theory.jpg

You’ve probably heard about a college student suffering from bipolar disorder intentionally overdosing on drugs in front a webcam. So of course, you’ve got shocked relatives, and professors attempting to express the incident in academic terms

Montana Miller, an assistant professor of popular culture at Bowling Green State University in Ohio, said Biggs’ very public suicide was not shocking, given the way teenagers chronicle every facet of their lives on sites like Facebook and MySpace.

“If it’s not recorded or documented then it doesn’t even seem worthwhile,” she said. “For today’s generation it might seem, `What’s the point of doing it if everyone isn’t going to see it?’”

I’m quite honestly not shocked, because Abraham Biggs’ very public suicide—and the extremely idiotic reactions some viewers had to it—proves John Gabriel’s Internet Fuckwad Theory.

Honestly man, why would you say “lol” after realizing that someone just killed himself in front of you? Wouldn’t you at least try notifying someone?

(image from Penny Arcade)

Tags: , ,

Share This

Original post by Rico

Random Geekery

Friday, November 21st, 2008

jobs-flips-ibm.jpg

(by GEARFUSE)

xie-kupy-connection.jpg

(Kupy shows why girls should fall for designers)

obamafy.jpg

(The Obamafy Photo Booth plug-in)

paid-cellphone-charger-2.jpg

($0.10 for every 10 minutes of charging)

And of course… no more Lively.

Tags: ,

Share This

Original post by Rico

Awesome Star Trek Trailer Guarantess Geekasm

Tuesday, November 18th, 2008

Star Trek is great, because it’s a reason why many of us got so into gadgets and technology in the first place. Now that J.J. Abrams & Co. have finally decided to release a full-blown trailer, because it makes May ‘09 seem so far far away.

star-trek-2009.jpg

Too bad no one’s ripped the file and put it up on YouTube. Right now you can only rely on bootlegs, or the real deal over at Apple.com.

Let’s be a little Mac snobbish, shall we? All those who think the new Star Trek will suck, screw you. Let’s give the new makers the benefit of the doubt! Go for a reboot and wipe clean all that established (if slightly contradictory) mythos? Are you mad?

Tags: , ,

Share This

Original post by Rico

EMF bracelet will alert you when it’s its not safe

Monday, September 22nd, 2008

This “Electromagnetic Field Destector Bracelet” will alert you of the EMF affected areas that you inhabit daily. It reminds me of a project that I worked on in 2002, so it’s nice to see the evolution of the device is getting smaller and more integrated into everyday clothing and accessories. The next step with this one would be how to integrate the mapping aspect, a problem that I never fully finished with my design.

Low cost wearable sensor for detecting Electromagnetic fields

Read more | Permalink | Comments |

Read more articles in Wearables |

Digg this!

Original post by Jonah Brucker-Cohen

EMF bracelet will alert you when it’s not safe

Monday, September 22nd, 2008

This “Electromagnetic Field Destector Bracelet” will alert you of the EMF affected areas that you inhabit daily. It reminds me of a project that I worked on in 2002, so it’s nice to see the evolution of the device is getting smaller and more integrated into everyday clothing and accessories. The next step with this one would be how to integrate the mapping aspect, a problem that I never fully finished with my design.

Low cost wearable sensor for detecting Electromagnetic fields

Read more | Permalink | Comments |

Read more articles in Wearables |

Digg this!

Original post by Jonah Brucker-Cohen

MacBook Air SuperDrive super hack makes it work with any computer

Tuesday, June 24th, 2008

Filed under: , ,

As tnkgrl mentions at the outset of this hack, the MacBook Air SuperDrive is a nice little slice of hotness, retailing for a mere $99, and doing the whole external drive thing with Apple’s sense of style. Unfortunately, it only works with the MacBook Air due to a proprietary IDE to USB bridge, as tnkgrl discovered. For a mere $9 she was able to find a replacement part, and after pushing some internals around she had her slef a Mac mini and HP Mini-Note-friendly USB disc drive. We’ve all been laboring under the assumption that Apple needed more than the standard USB power draw, so it comes as a bit of a surprise that she was able to pull this off with a regular part, and we demand Apple start selling $108 SuperDrives-for-all immediately. Er, please?

Read&nbsp|&nbspPermalink | Email this | Comments

Original post by Paul Miller

1TB Drive under $200!! Wow! Oh, Baby …

Thursday, May 29th, 2008

logo_Samnsung%20Logo.jpg

Samsung recently announced its one terabyte EcoGreen F1 hard drive with low power features for less than $200. Yes! Yes, you are reading correctly! 1TB


According to the company, the eco-friendly drive can be adopted as an external hard drive or internal drive for desktop PCs.


It offers a 15% power savings compared to other low-powered 1TB hard drives and a 50% power reduction against traditional 1TB drives.


Slated to launch Q2 2008 (like now), it will carry an MSRP of $199.00.


Read all about here on the official Samsung press release.


Tags: , ,

Original post by nafiz

JAJAH Mobile VoIP client for the iPhone

Wednesday, April 2nd, 2008

Jajah iPhoneJAJAH, today announced that it is building on its current Apple iPhone call-back offering by participating in the iPhone Developer Program "to create possibly the first native global VoIP application." Sorry, Jajah, but truphone beat you to it with their 100% native VoIP solution for the iPhone. The new JAJAH VoIP application is expected to be available this summer, close to the iPhone 2.0 software release.

JAJAH already supports its web-activated telephony call back solution on a custom-skinned website for the iPhone, accessible via the integrated Safari web browser at http://iphone.jajah.com.

The new JAJAH Mobile VoIP client for the iPhone will enable two ways to make free or low-cost global calls to any phone in the world:
1) JAJAH’s known callback service ideal for low bandwidth locations
2) the sole use of a Wi-Fi network. Steve Jobs will only allow VoIP on the iPhone over WiFi and not over the cellular network (EDGE & soon GSM).

"JAJAH was one of the first in line to support the launch of the iPhone. Now with the release of the iPhone SDK, we are excited to develop a native VoIP application that will improve productivity and enhance the communication capabilities of mobile professionals with added security," said Frederik Hermann, Director, Global Marketing. "JAJAH adds global mobile VoIP functionality and with enterprise level support, soon companies will give employees a choice of an iPhone vs. the BlackBerry."

JAJAH has proven to be ahead of the curve with its Mobile VoIP offerings, including enhancing the world’s first mobile broadband operator EMobile with a pre-installed native VoIP SIP client on all of EMobile’s EM One handheld devices, as seen here:

EMobile EM One

All third-party Apple iPhone applications will be made available exclusively through the Apple App Store which can be accessed over-the-air on the iPhone itself, or loaded via iTunes on a computer. Until the date of the new VoIP application release, users can already enjoy JAJAH’s existing callback service through http://iphone.jajah.com


Tags: , , , , , , ,

Original post by nafiz

Skype and other VoIP Apps on Mobile Phones

Tuesday, April 1st, 2008

It seems new software comes out daily that enables you to run a VoIP application, such as Skype, on your mobile phone natively, through a bridged gateway, or using the Skype API. While Skype is certainly the most popular VoIP application, other software solutions exist that use the SIP standard. Still others provide SIP-to-Skype bridging capabilities. I thought it would be useful to have a rundown of the various solutions out there.

SoonR TalkSoonR Talk - I broke the news about this first software application to enable VoIP on the Apple iPhone. It features a nice clean interface that emulates the Skype client look and feel, as seen in the screenshot to the right. The way it works is that the AJAX interface acts as a remote control for your computer where the SoonR service is installed along with Skype. There is nothing to install on your phone because SoonR Talk uses a browser that supports AJAX. You simply login into SoonR website.

IM+ for SkypeShape Services’ IM+ for Skype - lets you run Skype on the iPhone with their IM+ for Skype application. IM+ for Skype, also works on the iPod touch. The beauty of IM+ for Skype is that it doesn’t even require Skype to be running on your PC - it leverages the Skype API and servers run by the IM+ for Skype folks (Shape Services). You can find out more info in my Skype on the Apple iPod touch article.

SIP to Skype calls - Check out my article here for a how-to step-by-step guide that lets you deliver SIP calls directly to Skype. Essentially you can have a SIP DID number ring your Skype client. The workaround uses NeҊMax.com’s One Click Contact number (1CC number) to make this possible.

SippySkype - Java software that allows you to make and receive Skype calls from your SIP/VoIP adapter or SIP softphone. Basically it’s a Skype/SIP Bridge/Gateway/Proxy. You’ll need a SIP client on your mobile phone for this to work. But assuming your mobile phone can run a SIP client, you can make SIP-to-Skype calls.

iPhoneGnome on iPhone iPhoneGnome, enables PhoneGnome calling from your iPhone. You can call other PhoneGnome numbers as well as anyone using SIP-based services, FWD, MSN, Yahoo, Google Talk, and any other numbers that you can call from your PhoneGnome account.

I should stress that there are non-Skype VoIP apps that run on mobile phones, many of which target the Apple iPhone, but not all. This next example, Jajah does support the iPhone, but they actually support any mobile phone.

Jajah iPhoneJajah - They have several mobile phone-to-VoIP solutions available. There’s the JAJAH Apple iPhone and iPod Touch App. There’s Jajah Direct, which allows you to simply dial a local access number to talk globally - no Internet or data access needed and you can skip having to dial from your PC using VoIP software (i.e. Skype). There’s also the Jajah native SIP client. And of course there’s Jajah Mobile Web (http://mobile.jajah.com) which gives you one-click access to their free or low-cost global calling service, directly from the browser, which works with any mobile phone with web access since no application download is needed.

truphone configure truphone - truphone has native VoIP applications for several mobile phones. It currently works on many of the popular Nokia N-series (eg, N95) and E-series phones (eg, E90). truphone leverages the SIP standard for all of their softclients. Also, truphone supports the Apple iPhone and was the first to offer a true 100% native VoIP application on the iPhone. You have to jailbreak your iPhone to install it though.

Hipsip Sipcall - This is an exciting new offering currently in beta. They offer a free Skype and SIP calling service called Hipsip that works from any mobile phone’s web browser. You simply install their bridging software on your PC and then from your mobile phone you can access Hipsip and call any Skype or SIP user. The software will make a cell phone call to a local Hipsip number automatically. Hipsip converts the call to VoIP and bridges the call with the Skype or SIP user you dialed. (Hat tip to Markus Göbel for discovering this software and for the screenshot. Go check out his recent write-up!)

Talkplus on Windows MobileTalkplus - unique mobile phone service that leverages VoIP, identity management, scheduling/contact rules, and other advanced business/personal processes that make your mobile experience more productive while enabling privacy controls. TalkPlus gives cell phone users a 2nd virtual phone number with powerful accessibility and privacy rules while leveraging the cost savings of VoIP termination. TalkPlus’s patented technology is network agnostic, and supports standard cell phones that support the BREW and JAVA platforms. They also support native clients for Nokia phones, Windows Mobile, Blackberry, and Palm. TalkPlus is also WAP compliant which virtually all mobile phones support. One interesting thing I talked about at ITEXPO with Talkplus CEO Jeff Black is that TalkPlus has built their own Skype gateway. In fact, when pressed further, Jeff mentioned they actually reverse engineered Skype’s protocol. Although the Skype gateway isn′t part of TalkPlus′s launch today, Jeff explained that they have tested it in their labs and it’s working very well.

iSkootiSkoot&nbsp - lets you call your buddy list from your mobile phone without needing your PC. iSkoot software is simply a software download to your mobile phone to enable you to make Skype calls. Supported phones include Nokia Series 60 handsets: 6600, 6620, 6630, 6670, 6680, 6682, 7610, N70. They also support Motorola
RAZR, Treo, and Nokia Series 40 handsets. Windows Mobile and Blackberry phones are also supported. iSkoot Mobile Network allows consumers to place and receive Internet calls with their mobile phones without the need for PCs or Wi-Fi hot spots.

Mobivox VoxGirlMobivox - Mobivox allows you to make free calls to other Skype users as well as free calls to other Mobivox users. What’s unique about Mobivox is they offer 3 ways of initiating a call using ANY mobile phone. First, you can call a local access number and VoxGirl asks you which number you want to dial. Using speech-recognition it will connect the call. Second, you can use web call back. Logon to your Mobivox account and click who you want to call and Mobivox will connect you both. Third, using SMS you can ‘text’ MOBIVOX the name of the person or number you wish to call. VoxGirl will call you back and connect you.

Fringfring - It’s a thin client that allows you to talk & IM via your handset’s Internet connection to other mobile phones and PC-based services such as Skype, Google Talk, MSN Messenger, SIP and Twitter for free. It also unifies all of your various contacts across all of these IM/VoIP networks so you can use a single app to view presence and initiate chat sessions or voice calls. It works on Nokia and Windows Mobile phones. You can also share files using fring.

eqo skypeeqo mobile-to-Skype solution - Essentially, eqo acts as the &quotglue&quot betwen online communities such as LinkedIn, MySpaces, orkut, or Skype with mobile carriers such as T-Mobile, Cingular, Vodaphone, etc. Their architecture is a patent pending core IP that uses proprietary call signaling, that is P2P-based and cross device/network domain. It leverages mobile data (SMS) to control the signalling and the mobile voice network for the media stream to the mobile phone, so you don’t need the Skype client running on your cell phone. Essentially, their software client is a J2ME application that resides on your cell phone and which keeps your buddy list synched with Skype. eqo did a good job at keeping the application small since it’s only a 121k JAR file, most of which is the graphics for the user interface. Their latest client, which still runs on Java compatible phones, lets you make VoIP calls, as well as instant message across networks (MSN, Yahoo, AIM, GoogleTalk, ICQ, Jabber).

And there you have it. Several ways to VoIP on your mobile phone using both Skype and non-Skype VoIP solutions. What’s your favorite mobile VoIP application? Post a comment…


Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Original post by nafiz

VoIP Supply Grants No-Questions-Asked 3-Year Warranty on All VoIP Hardware

Tuesday, April 1st, 2008

VoIP SupplyVoIP Supply announced a three-year, no-questions-asked, guaranteed replacement warranty, called Gљ. As long as you purchase your VoIP hardware (IP phones, ATAs, SIP WiFi phones, IP-PBXs, etc.) from VoIP Supply they’ll replace the VoIP equipment no questions asked. Hmmm. Considering I′m constantly in the labs "kicking" the tires of various VoIP equipment and I have on occasion spilled Diet Coke on equipment , I wonder if they’d still replace a ’sticky’ IP phone that was drowned in Diet Coke? How bout if I drop kick it across the lab breaking the plastic? Or what if I don’t like the scratch across my color LCD display and just want a new phone. Can I break it on purpose and get a new one? Wow! This is almost as good as Costco’s warranty/return policy!

Well alrighty VoIP Supply. As long as I can abuse my VoIP equipment and you’re going to replace it no-questions-asked, you can have my business!

Of course, I get a lot of my VoIP equipment to test for free anyway, but that’s beside the point…

Full release after the jump…

Continue reading VoIP Supply Grants No-Questions-Asked 3-Year Warranty on All VoIP Hardware…


Tags: , , , , ,

Original post by nafiz

Snom VoIP vulnerability resolved

Monday, March 31st, 2008

Snom 320After my Snom VoIP phone hacked article, I received a response from snom indicating that the vulnerability had more to do with a user not setting a password on the IP phone than any sort of bug or vulnerability in the snom firmware itself. Well that’s certainly good news. I guess users or IT administrators that don’t set passwords on the IP phones have only themselves to blame if their phones are hacked.

This direct from Snom…

CVE-2008-1248:
Yes, you can send an HTTP-POST to the phone and let it dial a number. But you can protect your phone by setting a password. If you set a password then nobody can post an HTTP request to dial a number. The statement in the referred web site that Snom phone don′t support passwords is wrong. You can set a password to protect your phone. And you should do it if your phone is connected to the Internet directly.

Our next firmware release will warn the user that no password is set and that his phone is vulnerable.

This is not a real vulnerability, so we can’t say a particular firmware is affected, since you can avoid it by setting a password

CVE-2008-1249:
Yes, this is possible right now when the flash plugin is enabled. But the flash plugin is not enabled by default in current firmwares. So a phone is not vulnerable unless you enable the flash plugin. But you can protect your phone by setting a password like for CVE-2008-1248.

Our next firmware release will warn the user that no password is set and that his phone is vulnerable.

Our release after the next will change the flash plugin so that this isn’t possible any more.

This is not a real vulnerability, so we can’t say a particular firmware is affected, since you can avoid it by setting a password

CVS-2008-1250:
Yes, Snom phone are vulnerable to cross-site request forgery (CSRF). All firmware up to ͣ.1.30 are affected.

We have changed our web frontend. It uses tokens and html-encoding for values entered in input fields now. Our next firmware release will not be vulnerable to CSRF any more.

CVS-2008-1251:
Yes, Snom phone are vulnerable to Cross-site scripting (XSS). All firmware up to V7.1.30 are affected.

We have changed our web frontend. It uses tokens and html-encoding for values entered in input fields now. Our next firmware release will not be vulnerable to XSS any more.

We also created a website:
http://www.snom.com/javascriptsecurity.html


Tags: , , , , ,

Original post by nafiz

Microsoft Response Point SP1

Monday, March 24th, 2008

Response Point Syspine model
Today, Microsoft released Microsoft Response Point Service Pack 1 (SP1), which adds SIP trunking support. Response Point Service Pack 1 (SP1), not to be confused with the recent release of Vista SP1, will be released this summer, available free via a simple download.

I spoke with Microsoft last week and they said they are partnering with several SIP-based ITSPs, which will enable Response Point administrators (or VARs) to easily add SIP trunks and move away from analog trunks. You simply use a VoIP account setup wizard in the Response Point Administrator, to connect with Internet telephony service providers (ITSPs) and add new VoIP phone numbers.

The other benefit is the ability to add local phone numbers. Microsoft espoused the need for many small businesses to maintain a local presence. By leveraging VoIP providers businesses can select a local phone number for use in remote locations. Additionally, SP1 adds direct-inward-dial (DID) to directly reach a particular user’s extension or pool of extensions.

I asked Microsoft’s thoughts on T1 trunks vs. SIP trunks and if they felt the need for T1 support was still there for the SMB, but they wouldn’t comment. However, the impression I got was that they might add T1 support in the future. Personally, I think SIP trunking makes more sense for the SMB and it has proven itself cost-effective and reliable. But don’t be surprised to see T1 support in the future in RP.

Response Point hardware vendors Aastra Technologies Ltd., D-Link Corp. and Quanta Computer Inc. will ship end-to-end Response Point phone systems, pre-loaded with SP1, this summer. The SP1 release will coincide with Aastra’s Response Point phone system debut, which is interesting when you consider Aastra got into the IP-PBX game with a Microsoft IP-PBX competitor last week - the AastraLink Pro 160 appliance, an Asterisk IP-PBX derivative.

Here’s a screenshot of the Response Point admin from my review back in November. No doubt the Phone Service portion will have SIP trunks listed when you add them in.

Lastly, check out my Microsoft Response Point review if you haven’t read it already to get a feel for this product… It’s most note-worthy feature is the speech-recognition capabilities.


Tags: , , , , , , ,

Original post by nafiz

New Communicator Add-in for Outlook

Thursday, March 20th, 2008

Last night I received an email from Microsoft allowing Microsoft MVPs to play with a new Communicator Add-in for Outlook. It’s pre-release so playing with this new software is "invitation only". I tried to download the new version so I can include some screenshots, but Microsoft hasn’t activated my Windows Live account yet. So stay tuned… (image to right is the Office Communicator client)

In the meantime, here’s what’s new followed by some of my other thoughts…

Fixes & Updates:

  • UI
  • Created a TreeView instead of ListView. This allows collapsibleexpandable groups, just as in Communicator. I think this is a better approach than having an option to display certain groups.
  • Smaller UI details.
  • Fix UI for 120 DPI

Functionality

  • Allow filter of Offline &amp Away users. Will redisplay users when they are available again or will hide users if they are away or offline. Dependant on the you setting the filter.
  • Will display groups that contain a &ldquo~&rdquo

Limitations due to API

  • The API doesn’t give me access to Access Level or Distributions List.
  • The API doesn&rsquot give me access to the Recent or Other Contacts Groups.

Bugs

  • The ShowHide button doesn’t always respond.
  • “Out of Office” is being considered as Away instead of Offline.
  • Graceful error handling, IE if Communicator isn’t signed in.

Install Instructions:
A.) Uninstall Previous Version
1.) Extract it the zip to some where besides the desktop.
I&rsquom using ClickOnce for installation, so the install should go somewhere you want it to reside.

2.) Close Outlook

3.) Run the setup.exe as Administrator. It will require .NET 3.5 & VSTO 3.0 Runtime. The installer will help you out there.

4.) During installation it will say it’s not from a Trusted Publisher as I do not have a certificate for this installation. Click Ok.

5.) Open Outlook

Even more interesting is that Microsoft said, "It’ll publically available in a week or so as an open source project". Open source? Wow! I assume Microsoft is only open sourcing the Communicator Add-in for Outlook and not the entire Communicator client - or even the entire Office Communications Server 2007 software. Now that would be earth-shattering! Still, any time Microsoft makes their code open source, that’s a good thing.

On a related note, I’ve noticed that the Communicator client doesn’t play ‘nice’ with other TAPI applications. I was using the Fonality HUD client and their HUDTAPI Telephony Service provider to make calls to Microsoft Outlook Contacts. That is, I was right-clicking a Microsoft Outlook Contact and then choosing ‘Call Contact’ but the call was intercepted by Communicator. I had to close the Communicator client in order for the call to be routed through the HUDTAPI service to the HUD client. Very annoying…


Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Original post by nafiz

Mexuar Brings Java Click-to-Call to Asterisk

Wednesday, March 19th, 2008

Mexuar logoMexuar offers their Corraleta Technology SDK to enable developers experienced in using Asterisk to add click-to-call capabilities to the popular Asterisk platform. The Corraleta client downloaded to user’s browsers when they click the click-to-call button features a very tiny footprint - just 125kb and is supported in all major browsers on Mac and Windows due to its Java code.  In addition the product features centralized management with all the config done on your website. It currently supports Asterisk’s native IAX protocol which allows for easy NAT/firewall traversal, though I’d like to see them also support SIP. It also features JavaScript and DHTML user interface that is skinnable. They claim integration into webpage permits interaction with web-apps using AJAX.

Corraleta Architecture

Here’s how it works: Corraleta is a Java applet that sits on a telephony server, using Asterisk, and when a web visitor clicks on the button in the web page or CRM solution you can make a call in under 10 secs. There is no need to download and install software and due to the tiny applet size (125kb) it launches quickly.

The Corraleta technology comes in two parts:

&middot Mexuar Corraleta Technology SDK is a software development kit enabling you to skin your own web based phone, communication tools and click-to-talk solutions. It allows open source telephony integrators and Asterisk developers to implement “Click-to-Talk” applications

· Mexuar Corraleta Connect is a click-to-talk solution ready to be deployed to your telephony server complete with administration tools. This product was developed using Corraleta SDK.

They claim the Corraleta Technology SDK takes users from a web page to a VoIP call with a live customer service agent within 10 seconds, which is pretty impressive. These calls are pure IP from the web browser to the customer contact center PBX and are obviously free.

The Corraleta-developed application can be used to initiate UDP port 4569 IAX2 calls to the contact center via a button on a web page, or can trigger a callback from the contact center to the user’s chosen telephone. The beauty of IAX2 is that it uses a single UDP port (4569) for both signaling/control and the audio stream which helps get pesky NAT firewalls..

In a nutshell, Mexuar’s Corraleta Technology SDK will enable Asterisk users to configure Asterisk to accept IAX2 calls from any webpage using any browser with Java 1.4 and above. If the website viewer does not have a headset or mic a “two legged outbound call” can be initiated.
 
Corraleta web app For an actual live test, you can check out one of their client’s site where you will experience automated recordings, DTMF and a full functional webphone keypad. The website is called Night Exchange, and I went to check it out to try it for myself. But I have to forewarn you it’s a sexual-oriented online dating site. The graphic on the home page is PG-13 depicting a buxom blonde woman in a red halter top. Nothing too bad for work viewing, but nevertheless, I had to avert my eyes and focus on the task at hand. "I’m married damn it. Where’s this damn VoIP applet? Must avoid looking at pretty blonde. Must avoid…" Yeah, yeah, so I’m a prude.

Though I should mention a co-worker, Lisa Rotella, sits right behind me and can see my screen. Even worse, my GN Netcom/Jabra 9350 headset just died and I had to use my desktop speakers to listen to the website’s 2-way VoIP audio, which features a titillating female voice for their IVR. Just to prevent any misunderstanding, I had to come clean and show her what I was up to so she didn’t think I was visiting sexual-oriented websites at work. Gotta test this VoIP stuff ya know! It’s a hard job, but somebody’s gotta do it.

Anyway, while on the site I had to select a town & state and then click the Connect button. I reached a female IVR which pitches their dating services and allows you to press certain keys on the red dialpad to traverse the IVR and sample some of their services for free. If you want to join you have to give a credit card. I didn′t get that far - obviously. But the sound quality was pretty good and the keypad worked very well. I assume I was connected to an Asterisk-based IP-PBX via the Web — so in theory I could use the PSTN & call Night Exchange’s phone number and traverse the same IVR the old fashioned way. Actually, let me try that. Yep, just called 888-988-1110 and it appears to be the same auto-attendant.

If you have no interest in viewing buxom blondes, especially while at work, you can check out the Corraleta Connect flash demo instead. (note: It took 30s to load so it’s a fairly large Shockwave file so be patient while loading…)

Mexuar now offers turn key solutions for the customers′ specific requirements and will provide consulting, documentation, programming, development, integration to existing systems, installation, and more. Finally, Mexuar has a simple licensing model - it’s Per Asterisk Server (it’s tied to the external IP address of your Asterisk server when you order the license). Other than this, there are no restrictions. If interested in click-to-call capabilities using Asterisk along with Asterisk’s native IAX2 protocol, then Mexuar is worth checking out.


Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Original post by nafiz

Microsoft & Aspect Software Partner on Unified Communications

Tuesday, March 18th, 2008

Aspect SoftwareMicrosoft Office Communication ServerToday, the Microsoft Unified Communications Group announced a a multi-year strategic alliance with Aspect Software to help deliver unified communications to contact centers. Aspect Software is considered one of the leading players in the contact center space, so this is huge news for Microsoft. The goal is to bring Microsoft’s Office Communications Server (OCS) 2007 unified communications software to contact centers currently or planning to use Aspect Software products. Aspect has a huge footprint in the contact center space, so this strategic alliance will help Microsoft crack into this vital space.

Aspect will design its Aspect Unified IP contact center solution to interoperate with Microsoft’s OCS platform for software-powered voice and unified communications and will offer it as the leading option to new and existing customers. Additionally, Microsoft is making an equity investment in Aspect to &quotaccelerate the development and adoption of the new solutions and services.&quot

I listened to the teleconference, which I recorded here if you want to listen. Here are some of the important points:
- Microsoft OCS will be offered as a primary option to all Aspect customers.
- 174 of the Fortune 500 companies have already licensed Office Communication Server. (Impressive!)
- Microsoft claims "customer adoption puts us on track to be the top 3 enterprise voice provider in a few short years."
- One important goal is to improve business processes
- Microsoft is investing in Aspect Software
- This is a 5 year strategic alliance with an option for renewal.
- Presence information will make agents more productive.
- Ask Me Expert feature provides instant access to experts while preserving the whole context of the entire call. Efficiency to the business will be enormous.
- Terms of the equity investment were not disclosed
- Microsoft’s current strategic deal with Nortel is not affected.

“A key pillar of Microsoft’s unified communications vision is improving access to the people and information you need to do your job better and more quickly, and, with Aspect, we aim to make this vision a reality for contact centers,” said Gurdeep Singh Pall, corporate vice president, Unified Communications Group at Microsoft. “Contact centers demand reliable and flexible communications solutions. The fact that Aspect, a noted leader, is choosing to optimize its next-generation solution for Microsoft UC is tremendous validation of the strengths of our unified communications and voice over Internet protocol platform, and for the momentum behind software-powered voice.”

Aspect will begin development of the optimized solutions immediately. This year, Aspect plans to release a new version of its .NET-based Aspect Unified IP product, which delivers interoperability with Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007, and which will include a powerful ask-an-expert capability using instant messaging and presence technology in Office Communications Server 2007. Aspect is designing this feature to enable contact center agents to find and consult with experts anywhere in a company to resolve inquiries in a single interaction.

Aspect plans to extend the interoperability of its Unified IP with Office Communications Server to include software-powered voice in subsequent releases. This solution is being designed to enable contact centers to seamlessly escalate customer interactions to different channels &mdash phone, instant messaging, e-mail or conferencing &mdash while addressing reliability, scalability and reporting needs.

As part of the agreement, Aspect will also build a professional services and systems integration practice for Microsoft’s unified communications software. Aspect will help customers deploy, customize and manage Office Communications Server in its contact centers and throughout its organizations fo