Hello, hello is anyone home?

July 14, 2011 By Leave a Comment

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.

Filed Under: Announcements

Cisco UMI: Coming to a business near you

April 13, 2011 By 6 Comments

Month’s ago most pundits torched UMI, Cisco’s high-end home telepresence offering.

They said it was too expensive. They said no-one would pay $24.95/month for video calling.

Oh and who were they supposed to call?

Yesterday, while flushing Flip down the toilet Cisco announced that UMI would be rolled into their business telepresence unit. I guess the pundits were  right.

Or were they?
[Read more...]

Filed Under: VoIP Commentary

Hosted VoIP’s Worst Nightmare

March 31, 2011 By 2 Comments

The recent news of AT&T’s acquisition offer for T-Mobile USA got me thinking (and talking) about the small business voice space.

The small business space is very unique. It’s very unique because every single business is different and is looking for different things out of their voice service.

Two trends that have definitely emerged within space – regardless of the type of small business – is the need for flexibility and greater accessibility of voice service.
[Read more...]

Filed Under: VoIP Service

The Under $100 Turf Wars

March 18, 2011 By 2 Comments

There’s a battle on the street folks.

Hide yo’ momma. Hide yo’ daddy. Hide yo’ kids.

The under $100 turf wars are on!

It use to be that the only VoIP phones you could find under $100 came from Grandstream or some unheard of Chinese manufacturer. After all this VoIP technology was simply too “advanced” for it to be “cheap.”

As the years rolled on, Grandstream dominated this market. That is until late 2007/early 2008 when other manufacturers started to sense that under $100 was where it was at.
[Read more...]

Filed Under: VoIP Commentary

$95.88 Isn’t Enough

March 15, 2011 By 2 Comments

$95.88.

That’s the cost of a year’s worth of unlimited North America calling via Skype.

Apparently that’s not enough. Skype now wants to monetize me by showing ads.

Sure they’re not directly in your face.  And one can understand advertising to FREE users.

But why am I paying to be advertised to?

This sort of feels like cable TV – which I hate – since a good third of the time spent watching TV is viewing ads.

Most people hate their cable company too. This is a slippery slope for Skype.

Over the last two years my Skype usage has increased due to the user experience. Skype is simple, easy and devoid of distractions.

The collaboration tools and general accessibility fit my work style. It’s just that ads don’t.

For paying users ads should be opt-out.

And if you really need more, just charge me double.

Filed Under: Skype
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