Hello, hello is anyone home?

That echo you hear is caused by the lack of posting.

I haven’t been writing for a long time (unless copy, plans and emails count).

Call it burnout (3,200 posts in four years). Call it lack of inspiration (lack of industry innovation). Call it what you want.

I took a lengthy break.

Now after a year of less than frequent posting I’m knocking the cob webs off this site.

There’s a lot going on in the space. Things are picking up in many areas.

And I’ve got things to say.

So stay tuned…more to come soon.

I’m Baaaaaaack!

In case you haven’t noticed I’ve been absent.

For last six months I haven’t blogged much.

It’s not that I’ve lost my love of blogging. It’s not that I haven’t had anything to say.

And plenty has happened since my last posting.

To me, blogging is something fun. But building businesses is even more fun.

So that’s where I’ve been all this time.

Rather than focusing externally, I’ve because focuser internally, working on a number of aspects of the businesses that pay the bills.

It’s been a ton of fun. It’s also been a ton of work.

(Just wait until you see what’s in store…)

Until then, I’m back. Brace yourself.

“Garrett Smith’s blog should be mandatory reading for those interested in VoIP”

At least that’s what Tsahi Levent-Levi, RadVision’s product manager, system architect and author of the VoIP Survivor blog says.

Wow. Thanks for the kind words Tshai.

Blogging more at the VoIP Insider these days

If you’re looking for more frequent news and insight from me, head on over to the VoIP Insider.It’s where I’ve been doing the bulk of my blogging to date.

The site features several industry voices and is growing by leaps and bounds. Plus there’s a lively community of commentors and frequent contests featuring some of the hottest new products on the market.

I’ll still be blogging here, but it will be at my normal sporadic pace.

A smart reader speaks up

I’m consistently impressed by the pedigree of reader here at Smith On VoIP. Some of the best and the brightest in the VoIP industry lurk here. Recently a few of you have stepped out of the shadows becoming active participants in the many discussions started here.

One of them is Tsahi Levent-Levi. Tsahi is the product’s manager and systems architect at Radvision. He powers the VoIP Survivor blog and the Talking Video blog over at TMC. He brings unique perspective and tons of smarts to the cutting edge elements of the industry.

He also adds a lot of value to this site in his comments he leaves here.

Earlier today Tsahi sent me an email with a request for a way to receive email notifications when a discussion that he was participating in was updated with additional thoughts from one of you.

What a great idea! How did I forget to do that I thought?

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Update: Helping the Recently Decommissioned

Well – that’s what I get for being nice.

It seems that rather than having a positive impact on the industry my declaration of “helping those who need help” has brought out the worse in everyone. As usual most of the population doesn’t get it.

I think for now I am going to put the plans on hold. After some of the crap I’ve recieved over the last day or two in regards to this I’ll pass on a “public” service and keep it private.

For those of you who offered to help – thank you. For those of you who contacted me looking for work – I’m still here to help (and will).

Helping Those Recently Decommissioned

You’re no dummy – you know the economy sucks.

I know it’s not great too – but I’m an optimist. Today – unfortunately – I got a sour taste of our spoiled reality.

In a span of less than three hours I learned that a half dozen colleagues at a variety of companies had been decommissioned by their company (how about that for a happy new year?).

But – I’m an optimist (and I have an idea).

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