(ntop) VoIP Endpoints Populate the Marketplace
By Paula Bernier
Exchange Magazine
June 1, 2004
(ntop, and partners navini and level 3)
x-changemag.com
Devices such as VoIP phones and VoIPenabled PDAs are becoming more accessible to end users as more choices become available and prices come down.
While Cisco Systems Inc. has been selling a VoIP phone for around $300 to $400, a company called Swissvoice now offers an IP phone in the $100 range.
That also has led other vendors, like Polycom, to unleash more affordable VoIP phones, sources tell XCHANGE.
Swissvoice’s IP10S, available now, supports H323v2 and MGCP + RFC3149. The SIP software version was being tested in early April.
The IP10S, which is compatible with a large number of IP PBXs and softswitches, is list-priced at $140, says Francoise Galvin, marketing IP/communication manager at Swissvoice. The phones are deployed in many enterprises, small and medium businesses, and small offices operating with an IP PBX, an IP hosted or IP Centrex solution. The following service providers already offer the IP10S with their IP services:
GoBeam Inc., which is set to be acquired by Covad Communications Group Inc.; Inclarity PLC of the U.K.; Elisa Corp. and TeliaSonera of Northern Europe. Other service providers are in customer trials with the phone and will start selling it soon.
Swissvoice also sells the IP10S to large equipment vendors, printed with their own brands.
And the company is developing a family of business IP and WLAN phones; the products are planned for release next year.
Having affordable endpoints is important, especially given that these devices are the largest costs in business systems, says Mark Whittier, vice president of marketing at VocalData Inc.
In Microsoft Corp.’s booth at the recent VON show in Santa Clara, Calif., alone, there were about a dozen different models of phones on hand.
At the show in late March, the Microsoft Embedded Devices Division announced VoIP enhancements to the next version of Windows CE.
New VoIP features in Windows CE 5.0 will enable increased productivity for end users via multiparty audio conferencing, Exchange Server integration with contact search and calendar functionality, and unified messaging, according to Microsoft.
New device and equipment manufacturer partners developing IP phones and VoIP devices using Windows CE include Atrium, Bast, Inter-Tel, LG Electronics, Mikasa, NEC Infrontia Corp., Reddline, RVTec, UPTech, Zinwell and ZTE. These device-makers join BCM Computers Co. Ltd., Casio Computer Co. Ltd., Hitachi Ltd., Samsung Electronics, Symbol Technologies Inc. and Tatung Co., which already deliver VoIP-enabled devices.
“We are extremely excited about the breadth of IP phones and VoIP devices being delivered by a broad range of manufacturers on Windows CE,” says Scott Horn, director of the Embedded Devices Group at Microsoft. “As voice and data services continue to merge across networks, enterprises and service operators are deploying innovative IP phone and VoIP devices that will help increase productivity and access to information in the office and at home. The new features in Windows CE 5.0 will support manufacturers with an even more flexible and integrated platform for developing a broad variety of VoIP-enabled client devices.” At the same time, VoIP service providers Net2Phone Inc. and Vonage both offer softphones. The software can run on PCs or PDAs.
DiamondWare Ltd. is providing the softphone technology for the Net2Phone service. “The Vonage softphone can be installed on any laptop or PDA, it’s especially important for travelers,” says Michael Tribolet, executive vice president of operations at Vonage. He notes travelers might not want to carry their physical VoIP adapters with them when they move among locations.
Tribolet adds that 802.11/Wi-Fi handsets also are now “a big issue and Vonage is evaluating six or seven in the marketplace.”
Of course, Wi-Fi furthers the portability of VoIP by enabling it to become untethered within homes and businesses. In a speech at the VON trade show this spring in Santa Clara, Calif., Joe Glynn, vice president of product strategy at Qwest Communications International Inc., mentioned a “fascinating” new device from Vocera Communications Inc., which marries Wi-Fi, VoIP and speech commands.
In fact, Net2Phone this spring announced its strategy to deliver wholesale Wi-Fi VoIP services.
“Net2Phone’s wireless solutions remove the tether associated with VoIP, delivering the flexibility of a cellular phone anywhere in the world there is a Wi-Fi hotspot, without the need to be tied to a cell phone carrier,” says Stephen Greenberg, CEO of Net2Phone.
Sarah Hofstetter, senior vice president of corporate communications at Net2Phone, adds that a Wi-Fi phone can be on the same account as other VoIP phones, noting that having a bundle of services “is critical.”
Meanwhile, services that integrate Wi-Fi and 3G are on their way, and they could include voice and data services. Of course, offering voice over Wi-Fi is not without its challenges.
Oliver Davis, vice president of marketing for the softswitch group at Level 3 Communications Inc., says the performance of Wi-Fi, even in the home, can change significantly as a person moves around — from the bedroom to a closet, for example — with the untethered handset. |
