April 17, 2008 | Comments: (0)
Trixbox 2.0 spins up some new trix
I've been working with Fonality's Trixbox for a little while now. I've run Asterisk via the old Asterisk@Home code (later, Trixbox CE) for years, so taking a close look at the Pro version has certainly been interesting. Fonality just released Trixbox Pro 2.0 this week, and my test system has been upgraded to this rev, which gives me the chance to take some of their new features for a spin. Trixbox Pro is a centrally-managed, Asterisk-based PBX in a box. It's managed through Fonality's Web portal, not locally on the server, and offers an extensive GUI to control and manage Asterisk. The 2.0 release builds upon that foundation to introduce several new features.
Perhaps the biggest new feature is the extended FindMe support. I haven't spent much time with it, but it really does look terribly handy. FindMe offers full control over what happens when a call comes in and you're away from your office phone. From ringing several extensions simultaneously or in sequence to calling cellphones and home phones, this rules-based functionality even extends to the capability of controlling the call via any phone. For instance, if FindMe finds me on my cellphone, I can still trigger the call recording function, or transfer the call back to my extension from my mobile phone. This is possible due to the fact that when Trixbox Pro passes an inbound call to the cellphone, it's still in the middle -- and can listen for and respond to DTMF tones. That's a neat trick.
Anyway, I hope to have a full review of Trixbox Pro ready in the coming weeks, so stay tuned.
Posted by Paul Venezia on April 17, 2008 01:44 PM
September 29, 2006 | Comments: (0)
SIP-based VoIP devices proliferating
SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) continues to gain traction among hardware and software vendors in the VoIP (voice over IP) industry.
This week Codima Technologies, designers of network management tools, announced that it has extended the platform support in its Codima Toolbox to include Windows Server 2003. The new support enables Codima's VoIP tools to integrate directly with SIP servers running on Windows Server 2003.
Included in the toobox are simulation, monitoring, troubleshooting and mapping. Additional options include flow, RTP, and Path analyzers, plus remote management and asset management and mapping.
In the meantime, Paragon Wireless unveiled this week its HiPi-2200 cell phone that will include what it claims to be the first SIP-based Windows dual-mode device.
The 2200 features a WLAN to GSM switching technology and will include the Windows Mobile 5.0 operating system.
Finally in the fourth quarter SMC Networkswill ship a SIP-based desktop VoIP handset and an IP PBX.
Posted by Ephraim Schwartz on September 29, 2006 11:27 AM
September 18, 2006 | Comments: (0)
Network General digs into app performance
Aiming to better marry network monitoring and application performance management across its product line, Network General today unveiled Network Intelligence Suite, a melding of NetVigil 4.2 and Visualizer 4.2, as well as VoIP Foresnics, the first of several forthcoming Business Container additions to NIS.
Network General bought Fidelia last February, and with that acquired the NetVigil business-service monitoring technology that's now part of NIS. That combination has yielded a solution providing application monitoring integrated with traditional packet-level network and application traffic analysis capabilities.
The end-result, according to Network General, is that IT admins can with NIS enjoy a full view of the overall health of the network, then can drill down and determine specifically what's causing an application to underperform.
"Managing application performance and availability is getting more complex with many architectural styles, such as SOA and others. This introduces a lot more moving parts that can affect application performance and availability, said Milind Govekar, research VP at Gartner. "However, certain IT components, such as the network, are always blamed for poor performance. Thus it is important for IT to invest in application management tools that not only allow them to measure and monitor end user application performance, but also provide root cause analysis capability to proactively identify and rectify application performance problems."
Exemplifying the APM that Network General has melded with Visualizer is the birth of VoIP Forensics, which Network General says gives admins a window for deeply tracking and troubleshooting voice over IP performance, including common statistics such as MOSS score, in real time. It can also send alerts when performance degrades to particular levels.
VoIP Forensics is one of the company's Business Containers, part of the company's Business Forensics solution. Forthcoming containers will deliver drill-down performance views for service level agreements, virtualized environments, and others.
The Network Intelligence Suite, VoIP Forensics, and the 4.2 version of the latest products will be generally available on September 22.
Posted by Ted Samson on September 18, 2006 02:29 PM
March 30, 2006 | Comments: (0)
IBM to roll 3Com VOIP solution into System i
IBM and 3Com announced plans on Thursday to offer the 3Com VCX suite of IP telephony solutions on IBM's "all-in-one" System i business computing solution.
3Com said by using SIP and other open standards, telephony offerings would "more easily integrated with other applications on the System i to extend their functionality with telephony features and applications, including unified messaging, large scale audio conferencing, video conferencing, presence, contact centers and enterprise mobility..."
The companies said the solution would be aimed at the mid-market of 100 to 2,000 users.
"The availability of the 3Com solutions on the System i platform will give our broad base of clients a powerful option to run a complete IP telephony solution without adding new boxes to their environment," said Mark Shearer, general manager, IBM System i.
IBM said the first software products for integration onto System i were expected to be available by third quarter of this year.
Posted by Mike Barton on March 30, 2006 10:44 AM
March 28, 2006 | Comments: (0)
RingCentral adds rules to hosted call handling
RingCentral, a hosted telecommunications service for wired and wireless cellular phones, unveiled version three of its RingCentral Online service this week.
The RingCentral services gives users a local number and allows them to manage through a personalized Web site, the same phone features available through a typcial PBX system.
The difference is users manage their own phone number rather than relying on a company telecommunications manager.
The new features available in version 3 include Answering Rules which will allow users to schedule, filter and route incoming calls based on time of day, a date range or caller ID information.
Calls can be routed to various mailboxes, extensions and or any phone anywhere in the world. Calls can also be blocked.
Music On-Hold gives users the option of downloading the music
incoming callers will hear when on hold.
A dial by name directory is also available.
At present the service does not work with VoiP phones.
Prices range from $9.99 per month for 100 minutes to $79.99 for 2,500 minutes.
Posted by Ephraim Schwartz on March 28, 2006 12:42 PM