MyVoIPnews

Essential VoIP features for VoIP systems

Basically, there are five features that VoIP offers. These include standard business class features, namely three way calling, call forwarding, call hold, auto-attendant, and caller ID. But there are other great features that VoIP also come with and which you can definitely take advantage of.

Conferencing features

VoIP Conferencing enables you to create virtual meeting spaces. It amalgamates web and voice conferencing, combining voice with content, as with presentations and other communication modalities. It enables you to search conference archives for keywords and specific topics. It also enables you to transcribe speech into text.

Voicemail features

You can access your voicemail box from anywhere you are and whenever. If you have a VoIP phone, you can customize a four-digit password to access your voicemail. You can even receive and play back your messages by email using your personal computer. You can set up your voicemail to send you an email notification if you have voicemail. You can customize your voicemail using a VoIP phone or via the Internet.

It enables you to turn your VoIP phone service off or on whenever you want, change the number of rings before calls go to voicemail, activate email notifications at the touch of a button, and many more.

VoIP Voice Mail enables you to delete, store, play back inbound messages, record inbound messages and greetings, set up mailboxes, forward your voicemail to your email as an audio attachment.

When you want to access your voicemail through your VoIP telephone, you just have to dial your pass code and the automatic attendant will walk you through deleting or saving your old emails, retrieving all of your new voicemails, and let you know how many voicemails you have.

When you want to access your voicemail through a local access number, you just have to dial the number and give out your VoIP phone number and password to the attendant.

You can also access your voicemail through your VoIP provider online account management portal and just login by typing your username and password. Just click on the voicemail tab to listen.

VoIP Virtual Numbers

Here you can create multiple phone numbers based on location. You can create different numbers on local area codes and prefixes. This is a very useful feature where a local presence matters.

VoIP Number Portability

It enables you to receive calls from any phone in the world. Anyone that has your number dialed in his phone can contact you anytime and anywhere.

VoIP Auto-Attendant

The Auto-Attendant enables you to dial by name/extension, connect you to a predefined number of extensions, or connect you directly to the operator. It basically acts as a receptionist able to answer inbound calls.

VoIP Hunt Groups

The VoIP Hunt Groups allow for inbound calls to be routed to many extensions automatically until the call is actually answered. It may be set up so that phone lines ring simultaneously or sequentially.

Make money as a VoIP wholesale provider

As a VoIP wholesale provider, you can easily make money buy just selling VoIP goods and services to VoIP resellers. The market is rapidly growing but not everyone has the knowledge to gain profit from such a fast moving industry.

Basic concepts you should know first

There is a great need for VoIP services all over the world, thus you must be familiar with the different markets for them and their forecasted demand. In order to make as much money as a VoIP wholesaler, you first need to know what motivates customers to switch providers. You should also find out the reasons why many VoIP wholesale startups fail. Decide which is more important for your business -- price or quality. If you give VoIP services at a low price, then chances of customers being attracted would be higher.

But, bear in mind that not all customers go for a cheap price at all times; they also want the best quality there is to satisfy their VoIP needs. Providers offer different kinds of products, so it is recommended to compare them first before deciding which you will choose to partner with. Be in the know with the things that other successful VoIP wholesaler start-ups do to overcome the lack of brand recognition, then decide whether you should recruit marketing partners or not. Knowing how your clients or customers respond to different services and promotionals can play a great role in procuring additional clients. You should also find out how to assign the right price to maximize your profits and optimize your time. Once you have created a system that is almost automatic, you will have more time and energy to devote to your R&D and marketing efforts.

VoIP service providers

The most popular VoIP service providers include Vonage, Skype, Sun Rocket, and Verizon. Choose the VoIP service provider that knows how to establish the appropriate service portfolios and build in target VoIP markets. The service provider that you opt to partner with should be one that knows if there’s a threshold level of broadband penetration to justify VoIP rollout. The service provider should also know if there is a killer VoIP application out there and what applications are available. Of course, the price should be the main factor when choosing the right service provider, so that you can make a greater income. However, while you’ll be after the provider that offers the lowest price, make sure you do not neglect quality and service consistency to ensure the patronage of your resellers.

Be competitive

In order to make more money than other VoIP wholesale providers, you need to be as aggressive and competitive as possible. Say goodbye to lazy days and hello to a more vigilant and alert business system. Be on the lookout for VoIP device makers like Netgear, D-Link, and Linksys because they reportedly make more money than service providers. Take your cue from those who have already succeeded in the industry and add a little of your own genius to try and surpass the current trend. VoIP may sound like a highly technical and intimidating trade at first; but if you’re really bent on making it in this business and educate yourself with the basics and constantly get updates on newest trends, then earning a hefty profit should be a piece of cake.

Enough negatives on iPhone

Well as everyone with a phone has heard, there was one story out of the US this weekend, encompassing the entire telecom world – forget mere business VoIP or VoIP solutions. Yes, we’re talking iPhone here. Now, when a product is released in one part of the world to the exclusion of all others, said others are typically left to rely on reviews of the VoIP solution or whatever that’ll be arriving on your country’s shore in six months.

Having said that, it appears as though the My VoIP News office in Budapest will be happy to wait for the long-awaited new toy, based on some reviews. As of Monday morning, early figures showed that Apple at storefront distributor AT&T could have sold 400,000 of the little buggers, putting Apple well on the way to its stated goal of 10 million iPhones sold by 2008. (This just in: CNN Money online is reporting 500,000 sold, as of less than one hour of this writing.) Though many were “thrilled” and such with the device, Reuters pointed out some, um, unfortunate timing experienced by the giant companies: “Early hitches included a hiccup in AT&T’s retail computer system that delayed some East Coast sales for 45 minutes, and a sluggish response on Apple’s online store shortly after it began offering iPhones.”

Oops. To be fair, many outlets are reporting happy iPhoners. Predictably, everything is perfect in Macworld, where, according to the Mac-friendly bits of blogosphere, “The professional critics have offered their iPhone opinions, giving Apple’s new cellphone mostly a thumbs up … USA Today heard from more than 350 people who said they bought an iPhone. Based on their first weekend’s experience, virtually all of them said they’d do it again.”

But from here, the negative reports sound scary. Spewing invective are guys like Jim Dalrymple of PC World, one of those experiencing heavy connection problems who writes the nice line, “three hours after getting my hands on one, I am ready to drop the thing from the 44th floor of the New York Hilton -- and I probably would if I was sure it would hit someone from AT&T.” This pretty much sums up his experience, but those who love sadistic customer non-service stories should check it out. And there’s an absolute disaster reported on the Consumerist website, starring some poor dude who wanted to return the damn thing and maybe get his $599 back.

Yep, i think i’m happy my $599 (approximately €439) will collect a little more interest before it gets thrown down on an iPhone…

Just four?

Over at Tech Republic, Deb Shinder’s piece entitled “Four obstacles to implementing VoIP” is getting some attention in the blogosphere this weekend.

Deb Shinder is a technology consultant, trainer, and writer currently specializing in security issues and Microsoft products, a nice field to be in right about now. “Four obstacles” makes a nice primer for newbies.

Naturally, Shinder is a firm believer in business VoIP networks, but sees a myriad of obstacles to getting the cost savings VoIP is touted for.

Shinder mentions the recent iLocus study entitled “Global VoIP Market 2007,” which stated that the IP PBX market grew 52 percent from 2005 to 2006, and the number of worldwide voice over broadband subscribers in both consumer and business VoIP arenas almost doubled.

She challenges the study a bit as over-optimistic, however, countering that “Less than half of businesses use VoIP, and less than a quarter of small businesses do so. If cost savings are so dramatic, why haven’t more companies – especially small ones that don’t have millions invested in their traditional phone systems – made the switch?”

In Shinder’s opinion, the four greatest obstacles to VoIP solution implementation are

• reliability concerns, in that users demand “rock-solid reliability from their telephone systems” based on the long-time service provided by PSTN;

• network quality of service, always a bugaboo in IP networks and business VoIP in general;

• complexity and confusion, a problem lately coming to the fore among VoIP solution providers’ marketing campaigns; and

• security.

Deb Shinder’s “Four obstacles to implementing VoIP” can be read in full at Tech Republic.

Everybody loves a winner

With an ever-growing number of VoIP solutions and a cornucopia of online critics examining them daily, this techie segment is seeing new awards and accolades every week of the year. Geez, to keep up, you need a scorecard. Below is one writer’s attempt to provide such; a look at some recent award-winners in VoIP solutions land.

The last shall be first…

Cistera Networks, Inc. announced just today that Technology Marketing Corporation's Communications Solutions division has named the Cistera Convergence Server a recipient of a 2006 Product of the Year Award. No big deal, perhaps, as TMC gives out quite a few “Product of the Year” awards every year. Cistera can take particular pride, however, in being named the preeminent Enterprise Application Platform for IP Communications by the prestigious publication.

It’s a twister!

Speaking of TMC, the publishers also looked kindly upon SysMaster Corporation, a provider of IPTV, wireless, and VoIP solutions for telecoms and service providers. SysMaster bagged a “Product of the Year” award for its powerfully-named Tornado M10 Digital Media Center, which enables IPTV and VoIP telephony.

Follow the Leader(ship)

The best and the first was Sipera Systems recently, with the provider of security solutions for VoIP, mobile and multimedia communications announced as a recipient in the first IMS Leadership Awards. The particular winning VoIP solution was the Sipera IPCS 520, a comprehensive, real-time security system that protects IP multimedia subsystem and unlicensed mobile access networks.

Kentucky fried VoIP

A long-standing problem in VoIP solutions has been the addressing of emergency 911 call needs. The University of Louisville found a nice solution to the problem, enough to bag its Office of Information Technology a “Technology Innovation Award” at the Kentucky Digital Summit. When a 911 call is placed from the uni, the call goes to the Louisville Metro emergency response system. The 911 system simultaneously provides University of Louisville’s Department of Public Safety with the exact building, room and desk location of the campus VoIP phone used to make the call.

Sic ‘em, boy!

Grrr… technology public relations agency PR@vantage last month received Bulldog Reporter’s Gold Award for Media Relations Excellence for their “Breaking World Records Without Breaking the Bank” campaign. PR@vantage, with offices nationwide in San Francisco, New York and Orlando, and partnering with a broad range of technology clients in VoIP, consumer electronics, security, wireless technology, broadband, optical networking, security, and venture capital was acknowledged for spearheading Blue Sky Network’s media blitz supporting Steve Fossett’s attempt to break the record for the longest, non-stop solo flight.

Comverse converges on prize

Comverse Technology, Inc., a business VoIP services, rounded up the International Engineering Consortium and Convergence World magazine’s Best VoIP Product or Service award for its Converged IPCentrex solution. The Comverse Converged IPCentrex is an IMS-compliant flexible solution that can be used by fixed, integrated, mobile, MVNO incumbent and alternative service providers to provide fixed-mobile voice, video and data business offerings in bundled packages.

This may be a ‘Trend

Datatrend Technologies, Inc. got a nice win, taking home no less lofty a title than "Best IBM System x Solution" from the annual IBM PartnerWorld Beacon Awards competition. The Beacons recognize IBM Business Partners for “ingenuity, innovation, customer satisfaction and outstanding achievements in providing on-demand business solutions.” Datatrend Technologies teamed with VoIP solutions provider BroadSoft, Inc. to develop a turnkey infrastructure appliance using Linux on IBM BladeCenter. Judges remarked that "through excellent collaboration with IBM and business partners, Datatrend Technologies brings outstanding innovation to the NGN space to deliver real client value."

Quite an achievement

Tekelec, a developer of high-performance network applications for next-generation fixed, mobile and packet networks, announced that it won the 2007 Billing World & OSS Today Excellence Award for "Achievement in Innovation." Tekelec received this award for its efforts in developing a transition strategy to the Internet Protocol multimedia subsystem. The Billing World and OSS Today Excellence Awards are presented annually by TeleStrategies, and recognize overall excellence in the billing and OSS segment of the telecommunications industry.

Speaking of innovation…

Speaking of innovation, IBM announced the six winners of its third annual IT Innovation Awards at COMMON, the System i user group conference. The awards specifically showcased the achievements of clients who use IBM's "all-in-one" System i business computing platform to deliver IT innovation. The 2007 award winners were Bank of America Foreign Items Systems, The Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising, Walt Disney World Co., FedEx Ground, Gateway Technical College and AngustheiTChap.com.

Take this Hammer

Empirix bagged a nice accolade when its IMS testing solution, Hammer got a First Annual IMS Leadership Award from TMC. Empirix was recognized for its demonstrated thought leadership in IMS quality assurance, and for the role Hammer for IMS has played in enabling the successful adoption of the IMS architecture.

Double down

Not only were they in Las Vega$, but the folks from ShoreGroup, Inc. had the double fortune to be recognized by Cisco Systems during its annual Partner Summit held in Sin City as "Top Commercial Voice Partner Award for the Eastern US.” That’s the equivalent of a 21 at the blackjack table.

Cisco also likes…

Westcon Group, Inc., a specialty distributor in networking, security, mobility and convergence, whose Comstor Middle East business unit won Cisco's Distribution Partner of the Year award. This award follows the successful launch of the new business operation in Dubai, which was announced in December 2006.

…and one more

Namely, Node4, who snagged Cisco’s Innovation Award of the year for the UK and Ireland. Node4 took the prize for hostTALK, a hosted VoIP solution built on Cisco’s CallManager.

Mu for your money

Product of the year? In the security test and measurement industry, according to Frost & Sullivan, it’s Mu Security’s Mu-4000 security analyzer platform. The Mu-4000 measures software and hardware for vulnerabilities. According to Frost & Sullivan, Mu Security’s offering “demonstrates innovation as an emerging product and technology with wide-ranging acceptance from both end users and product developers.”

A Primal All-Star

Primal Solutions, a provider of IP transaction management platforms was named a California Innovation Corridor all-star for 2007. "This award recognizes Primal Solutions' thought leadership in providing true end-to-end IP transaction management via our SOA-based IP Correlytics platform," explained Joseph Simrell, Chairman and CEO of Primal Solutions.

Cygnal from up north

Cygnal Technologies, billed as “Canada's premier provider of network communication solutions,” was named Nortel's “Canadian Convergence Business Partner of the Year” for the third consecutive year. Cygnal achieved the prestigious industry award through its voice, data networking and business VoIP solutions for enterprises, including securing over $7 million dollars of Nortel revenue for 2006.

Interesting!

Now, just when it’s beginning to seem like anybody can get a “best” in front of a category and then a prize, Iotum and JAJAH got a more distinctive nod recently: Both were named to VoIPNews list of "25 Most Interesting VoIP Startups" for 2007. Even more interesting is these two firms’ recent decision to enter into a strategic alliance and get to work on BlackBerry applications.

Two-time winner

Acme Packet, Wile E. Coyote’s choice of session border control solutions, was the proud winner of a pair of Massachusetts Network Communications Council awards at its annual awards ceremony held in April. Acme Packet was named “Public Company of the Year” and was bestowed with “Fastest Growth in Massachusetts for 2006.”

Consider this

So, you want to switch to business VoIP, eh? More power to you: VoIP has saved tens of thousands of firms all over the world on monthly phone bills. These days, if you call international, business VoIP seems nearly a must. No wonder you’re considering installing a shiny new business VoIP system.

What lies ahead? The following are a few considerations to bear in mind when making the transition to business VoIP.

It’s not free. While not necessarily loaded with hidden costs and ultimately potentially quite cheap (see item below), inevitable costs must be planned for. The biggie of these biggies – most likely to run in the thousands of dollars – is a suddenly necessary upgrade of your entire Local Area Network (LAN).

Important to remember, too, is that, yes, the new business VoIP system will make some (perhaps even the far majority) of your business’ calls free, not all of them will be free. Certainly, interbranch communication will be without charge, as will that of telecommuters. Outside the business, though, anything goes. And regular rates may apply.

Charges run up on installation can be held down. Check out the Globe and Mail newspaper for an inspirational story from Vancouver, Canada.

Profiled is the business VoIP installation at DVDNow Kiosks. Owner Scott McInnes figures he spent a total of $470 on his system altogether. (And that’s Canadian dollars – in US figures, the total bill came to approximately $418.) The budget: A basic Vonage (this example may soon cease to be relevant, unfortunately) setup for $70; router and hubs to expand from two lines to six, $300; a “local expert” to wire it all up together, $100; and saving up to $2500 per month in phone bills, priceless.

Get an estimate. Thanks to the proliferation of this stuff on the internet, you don’t even need to go to any sort of professional. Here’s a useful one at an electronics specialty site called Buyer Zone which provides nice concrete scenarios of what can be expected in a business VoIP system installation.

Not to spoil the surprise, but example prices range from $11,252 for a seven-office expandable system to $840 for a five-extension system of used hardware (see below item) pre-installation in a Redmond, Wa., church. What’s the VoIP rate for the heavenly regions?

Think about the future. Expansion absolutely must be planned for. One of the most useful pieces of advice in this area came from CDW senior telephony engineer Bryan Cohen in an interview at TMCnet. Said Cohen: “Any successful migration to VoIP involves first justifying the cost of the new phone system and then ensuring that the business is properly prepared to take advantage of a VoIP solution’s benefits.”

Buy used, not new. Yes, yes, it always sounds dodgy, particularly when dealing with high-tech toys such as those in the business VoIP installation. One source reckoned phone equipment can be had for “ten cents on the dollar relative to what you'd pay if you bought new.” Where should you begin looking? Well, eBay’s an easy first stop…

Don’t forget the broadband. A basic estimate puts an ADSL line with 256K upstream capable of carrying up to four concurrent telephone calls. When installing a business VoIP system, check for the bandwidth available on your internet service. Since circuit speed is asymmetric in ADSL, often the speed at which data goes from the business’ computers to the internet can be much slower than the maximum advertised speed.

Advises one informational business VoIP site: “If you have a large office in an area that is served well by broadband services then you might consider a symmetrical Internet service, such as a leased line or SDSL, which can be very cost effective in metropolitan areas.”

And, of course, the issue of the 00s…We’re talking here about security, an item on the business VoIP installation checklist which contains a checklist of needs (and therefore costs) all its own. To wit: Don’t forget to consider wireless security standards; encryption and authentication technologies; multi-level protection; a VoIP firewall; and training for the business VoIP users.

Happy installation!

Cote of many colors

Over at Network World is an extensive piece on the current activities of ex-Cisco engineer David Cote. Cote is currently working on Stanley Works’ global VoIP network, involving “hundreds of sites and potentially tens of thousands of Session Initiation Protocol phones.”

The main gist of the story – unfortunately for Cisco – is that more inexpensive innovative VoIP solutions may be found: “Stanley Works hired me to come in and upgrade all of that, and I think, to put in all Cisco VoIP gear,” Cote is quoted as saying. “I’m sure Cisco [expected that] too, but that just didn’t make sense to me with this business and how it operates.”

The story goes on to report that “Cote is using VoIP gateways from Audiocodes, which makes gear mostly for use by VoIP equipment vendors. In New Britain, Conn., Audiocodes Mediant 1000 T-1 SIP gateways connect the Interactive Intelligence servers to time division multiplexing gear and the PSTN.”

The Network World piece is a must-read, especially for tech junkies.

The latest in VoIP for SMBs: April 2007

April is the cruelest month? Not in the land of business VoIP, nor for SMBs looking to invest in a VoIP solution. Six months after Forbes magazine declared that “small- and medium-sized businesses have perhaps the most to gain from the explosion of new VOIP services,” the business VoIP solutions boom resoundingly continues.

Below, a short sampling of the latest developments in the buyer’s market known as small-business VoIP solutions.
 
The biggest product announcement of the month thus far has got to be that of the Cisco’s Unified Communications 500 VoIP solution. The reason? Easy: price. 

Slated for a June release, the UC 500 is designed with the SMB in mind (It’s even plugged as the “SMB-sized VoIP system”) and is priced accordingly: At $400 per seat, this has got to be one of the cheapest products out there. More importantly (OK, we’re talking money here, so let’s say “almost as importantly”), the VoIP solution represents a new commitment of Cisco to the small business. VoIP is being embraced by companies of all sizes out there, but business VoIP pricing rarely is.

Rolled out on April 3 at the Cisco Partner Summit in Las Vegas, the UC500 device combines voice, video, data, wireless LAN and mobility functions. To be released along with the UC500 are the companion switch named the CE500, Wi-Fi access gear, and a wireless LAN controller.

Could this lead to the “one-size-fits-all VoIP solution for SMBs” the Forbes piece cried out for? If so, Cisco will surely win the battle for small-business VoIP.

As a head start, no fewer than four complete business VoIP application packages were released by IPcelerate earlier this month designed to work with Cisco’s Unified Communications 500 small-business VoIP telephony system. The IPsmartsuite packages are designed and targeted for law firms, retail shops, physicians’ offices, and small manufacturers of between five and fifty users.

Each package has different capabilities – client billing is a particular specialty in the law firm product, whereas staffing management functions head the list of features in the retail version – atop a general streamlining VoIP solution. All are based on the premise that, “While small businesses have the same requirements as larger enterprises, they don't have the IT staff available to deploy and maintain systems supporting the same capabilities.”

 Though Cisco is impressing lately, no. 2 Nortel is trying harder to win over some small-business VoIP customers of its own. In fact, one industry-side blogger claims that Monday, April 16, will be the day Nortel’s new business VoIP solutions “make lots of noise.” 
Though Nortel is keeping details of the product(s) to be released under tight wraps, the company has promised “enhanced SMB packaged solutions supporting a wide range of users at affordable prices,” and company representatives have explicitly stated that they’d like a piece of the SMB business VoIP market Cisco currently has such a stranglehold on.

One double-edged sword in small-enterprise ownership is growth: While an increasing customer base is always the goal, rapid expansion of the SMB typically creates all new problems of its own. In terms of a given business’ VoIP telephony, growth of the VoIP solution must also be given consideration.

 TalkSwitch, a specialist in IP phone systems for smaller, multi-location businesses, recently addressed the issue by making available three new IP extension systems: the TalkSwitch VS, 48-CA, and 48-CVA.

Through the addition of IP extension blocks at $499 per eight extensions, system capacity can be doubled to carry up to 64 phones on a single system. Additionally, these upgrades can also double the business’ VoIP voice mail storage. 

Finally, as this blogger always says, big things tend to happen when the biggest of ‘em all gets involved; the small-business VoIP world is certainly no different. Microsoft released the beta version of its SME VoIP system earlier this month and things may never be the same.
 
Code-named Response Point, the business VoIP solution is specifically geared for the small- to mid-sized firm. Designed for simplicity of installation and actually equipped with a voice-activated user interface(!), the PC-based business VoIP solution will be released sometime in 2007, produced by three partner hardware manufacturer under the eccentric brand names D-Link DVX-2000, Quanta Syspine and the Uniden Evolo.

 Naturally, Response Point is based on Microsoft product, specifically Office Communications Server 2007, the big company’s Session Initiation Protocol-based VoIP, instant messaging, presence and conferencing server due to be available by June. Response Point will be integratable with Microsoft software, particularly Outlook.

 Though the specifics of the very small-business VoIP market remain nebulous and the needs of your company, too, difficult to define in the still-developing sphere of SMB VoIP solutions, it’s a great time to watch the evolution as VoIP solution providers actually attempt to serve small business owners.

 For those interested in small-business VoIP opportunities, April is the most exciting month.

 Until May, that is.

For market, no news is news

Something this writer has discovered over too many years devoted to reading news stories and working in the biz (everyone ready to cut and paste?): If there’s a negative in the headline, a nothing’s worth of happenstance is about to be presented as a news item.

Thus was the case with a story making the rounds online today entitled, “VoIP Market Not Hit by Vonage Patent Woe.” Despite the pounding Vonage has been taking in federal courts lately, “rivals haven’t been aggressively targeting Vonage customers,” and “other internet telephone providers don’t seem to be worried” about Verizon coming after them next. (This writer, were he a VoIP solution provider, would well be.)

8x8 Inc. marketing vice president Huw Rees reports that “There hasn’t been a flood of Vonage subscribers coming to Packet8” and speculates that “most people not involved in the industry have not heard much about it.”

SunRocket Inc. and Cox Communications have not reported increases in sales, and Cox spokesman David Grabert was quoted as saying that “many [average consumers] may not understand the role of VoIP architectures in the delivery of their phone services.”

Vonage, meanwhile, is repeating that court matters impact neither customers nor service and that “we haven’t gotten many calls from customers on the litigation.”

No news is good news, eh?

Verdict on Vonage verdict

The fallout begins the fall after the in-court nuking of Vonage last week.

Over at Computer Business Review online, Ovum vice president of the US enterprise practice Jan Dawson reckons the court’s decision should have far-reaching effects in statement to Rik Turner in the nicely alliterative “Ovum sees ripple effect of Verizon/Vonage VoIP verdict.”

Dawson echoes those figuring Vonage has reaching the end of its lifeline by stating that “Verizon is asking for an injunction which will effectively close Vonage down.” If this happens, argues Dawson, “it would affect any other VoIP provider that has the same technology,” particularly since Vonage is the single largest VoIP specialist in the American market.

Dawson and Turner essentially offer a warning to 8x8 and SunRocket, the next-largest American standalone VoIP providers: These could be next in the sights of Verizon.

In the Vonage case, the federal court jury ruled that Vonage had infringed upon three patents owned by Verizon Communications, resulting in a fine of $58 million plus 5.5 percent in royalties on future sales levied on Vonage. Verizon had been suing for $197 million and a 19 percent in royalties.

The next hearing on the case takes place on March 23, and Vonage will surely appeal decisions right to the top of the court system or the bottom of the petty-cash drawer, but the clock seems to be ticking…

“Ovum sees ripple effect of Verizon/Vonage VoIP verdict” by Rik Turner can be read in full at the Computer Business Review online homepage.