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ACUTA
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VoIP

NATD news

NATD Charity Notice
Please contact Denny McBroom (TELPRO INC - [email protected]) for details on our NATD Charity Program. Have you been personally touched by a local charity? Please contact Denny to present this as a nominee for our meaningful charity projects. ^Back To Top

Upfront

Inter-Tel receives new buyout offer
Inter-Tel Inc., which fought off a takeover bid by founder and former Chief Executive Steven Mihaylo, said it has received a letter from Mihaylo's partner in that bid, Vector Capital Corp., expressing an interest in buying the company in a cash offer of $26.50 per share. According to an Inter-Tel filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the company had slightly more than 27 million shares outstanding at the end of the first quarter, putting the value of the Vector Capital offer at about $715.8 million. Mihaylo, who made his buyout offer last summer only to have it rejected by a shareholder vote in November, offered $23.25 per share in cash. He remains the company's largest shareholder. Inter-Tel in April agreed to a $25.60 per share buyout by Mitel Networks Corp. and Arsenal Acquisition Corp., a deal valued at about $691.6 million. In its announcement, Inter-Tel said it has determined that the Vector Capital bid may lead to a "superior proposal" under the terms of its deal with Mitel, and it has notified that company of its intention to negotiate with Vector Capital and to allow Vector access to information for due diligence.
Visit www.inter-tel.com.
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ACUTA

ACUTA Alert:  FCC adopts new customer proprietary network information rules
The FCC released the text of its Order regarding Customer Proprietary Network Information (CPNI).  These rules impose significant new requirements on telecommunications carriers, designed to safeguard information regarding customers’ network and calling data. These rules will affect how carriers may market their services and how they may share data with third parties.  They will take effect six months after Office of Management and Budget approval, which will be announced by FCC public notice. Since colleges and universities are generally not considered carriers, these requirements do not place additional regulatory requirements on them.  However, they do affect how carriers do business with them, and the confidentiality of their network information.  Most importantly, before sharing CPNI with any third party, a carrier will need to obtain an “opt-in” agreement. The customer is under no obligation to sign the opt-in agreement.
The text of the new Order is available at
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-07-22A1.pdf.
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Avaya

Foundry Networks and Avaya conduct joint seminar at Interop
Foundry Networks Inc. and Avaya Inc. announced they will conduct a joint seminar, “Creating Competitive Advantage Through Intelligent Open Convergence,” during Interop Las Vegas 2007. Today, enterprises are using their converged voice and data networks as strategic assets to improve business productivity, speed customer responsiveness, reduce operational costs and enable new applications and processes that create competitive differentiation. Intelligent convergence ties communications applications to enterprise processes, transforming how a business manages critical events, improving operational efficiency and creating a more agile and responsive organization. Panel speakers Bob Schiff, vice president and general manager, enterprise business unit for Foundry Networks, and Eric Rossman, vice president, developer relations and technical alliances, Avaya, discuss the networking foundation and applications needed to enable intelligent convergence and the benefits of integrated communications and business processes built upon an open and standards-based VoIP infrastructure.
Visit www.avaya.com or www.foundrynet.com.
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Contact center

Is anyone listening?
In my present position with MIND as sales director as well as previous sales and management positions, the greatest part of my day is either calling new and existing clients or following up on calls to me. Like most of us, my day is spent on the phone whether it is calling someone or some company - like the call center supporting my PC, the airlines for tickets and reservations and so on.  The common denominator is the time and experience we share in trying to accomplish the task at hand. This is nothing new, no real epiphanies; no light bulb’s going on.

What is amazing is the lack of time and follow-up that a company will spend on really listening and monitoring their set-up and call flow to see that it is working properly as designed.  This also means any updates (MAC’s) such as moves, adds and changes.  My example below will clearly illustrate this type of scenario and more, where an operator position no longer exists.
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Forecast

Economic growth to continue throughout 2007
Economic growth in the United States is sustainable throughout the remainder of 2007, say the nation's purchasing and supply executives in their spring 2007 Semiannual Economic Forecast. Expectations for the remainder of 2007 are encouraging in both the manufacturing and non-manufacturing sectors. These projections are part of the forecast issued by the Business Survey Committee of the Institute for Supply Management (ISM). The survey panel of purchasing and supply management executives remains optimistic with 62 percent of respondents predicting revenues to be greater in 2007 than in 2006. This is reflected in their expectations of a 5.6 percent net increase in revenues for the period. To support the revenue growth expectations, manufacturers expect to increase capital expenditures 5.8 percent for the year in spite of a lower current operating rate of 82.8 percent. The manufacturing industries expecting the greatest revenue increases in 2007 - listed in order - are: Primary Metals; Miscellaneous Manufacturing; Electrical Equipment, Appliances & Components; Chemical Products; Fabricated Metal Products; Plastics & Rubber Products; and Food, Beverage & Tobacco Products. Fifty-four percent of non-manufacturing purchasing and supply executives expect their 2007 revenues to be greater than in 2006. They currently expect a 2.1 percent net increase in overall revenues, lower than the 6.4 percent increase that was forecast in December 2006. Non-manufacturing industries expecting greater-than-average revenue in 2007 are: Professional, Scientific & Technical Services; Information; Arts, Entertainment & Recreation; Other Services; Health Care & Social Assistance; Retail Trade; Real Estate, Rental & Leasing; and Accommodation & Food Services.

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Market

IP sees record penetration in PBXs in the first quarter 2007
A recently published report from Dell'Oro Group indicates that shipments of IP lines grew an impressive 40 percent in the first quarter of 2007 over the prior year period. Three vendors were responsible for more than half of the IP line shipment revenues: Avaya, Cisco, and Nortel. The report also reveals that Traditional PBX and Traditional Key revenues declined for the seventh straight quarter as these vendors further shift their R&D and sales focus towards IP. The Dell’Oro Group IP Telephony Enterprise Quarterly Report offers complete, in-depth coverage of the market with tables covering manufacturers’ revenue, average selling prices, line (analog/digital and IP) and unit shipments for IP PBX–large and small, Hybrid IP/TDM PBX–large and small, traditional PBX, traditional key systems, and IP telephones.
Visit www.DellOro.com.
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Mitel

Mitel announces new channel program
Mitel announced the launch of the Mitel PARTNERprogram - a transformation of its global channel model - that will enable channel partners to build mutually successful business opportunities in the rapidly growing market for IP communications solutions and applications. Consolidated under a single global umbrella and guided by one global strategy, the Mitel PARTNERprogram is designed to simplify the channel engagement model to allow partners to take full advantage of business opportunities to increase their revenue through the up selling of productivity applications to better meet their customers' needs. The Mitel PARTNERprogram sets out three levels of designation – authorizedPARTNER, selectPARTNER and premierPARTNER – that are earned by meeting core criteria including revenue performance, sales and service certifications, and offering differentiated levels of service. Top tier partners receive higher levels of benefits, tools and wider range of Mitel support, training and resources in addition to focused business development opportunities. The Mitel PARTNERprogram will be rolled out globally during the second half of this year.
Visit www.mitel.com.
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Resellers

BandTel and Paraxip team to provide contact center VoIP migration solutions
BandTel and Paraxip Technologies announced that BandTel's SIP Trunking solution is fully interoperable with Paraxip's Open Media Gateway Software.  Paraxip offers transparent and customizable connectivity features between heterogeneous networks, which enable both legacy and IP contact center applications to leverage the BandTel SIP Trunking network. BandTel's network includes its N-Plus architecture, designed to solve the throughput and redundancy problems on high capacity SIP-based networks. By deploying a solution featuring BandTel and Paraxip, customers can seamlessly deploy a VoIP infrastructure and retain connections to the traditional telephone network or legacy PBX's without requiring any additional equipment.
Visit www.bandtel.com or www.paraxip.com.
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VoIP

Microsoft unveils new VoIP devices
Microsoft says its 15 new VoIP-enabled devices will help ease businesses' transition through the changing communications game. For several years now, customers have been asking Microsoft for solutions that help people work better together, says Bryan Rushe, product manager, unified communications for Microsoft Canada Ltd. And he identified three main problems with regards to setting up business communications with people: scheduling, varying online identities and differing communications technologies. Unveiled at the Windows Hardware Engineering Conference (WinHEC) 2007, Microsoft and nine OEMs -- ASUSTek Computer Inc., GN, LG-Nortel Co. Ltd., NEC Corp., Plantronics Inc., Polycom Inc., SAMSUNG, Tatung Co. and ViTELiX -- are introducing a new generation of devices that connect the workplace phone to e-mail, instant messaging, real-time presence information, conferencing, VoIP and mobile communications. The new wave of phones and devices would become available for use in the public beta program of Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 and Microsoft Office Communicator 2007, officials said. Microsoft is providing the device manufacturers with design specifications, helping to assure customers that the new phones and devices work easily with Office Communications Server and Office Communicator.
Visit www.microsoft.com.


Quintum’s Tenor earns 2007 Frost & Sullivan award           
Quintum Technologies announced that their Quintum Tenor VoIP MultiPath Switch was the 2007 recipient of the Frost & Sullivan Product Differentiation Innovation award. Frost & Sullivan selected Quintum for its Tenor VoIP MultiPath product line, which they recognized for its innovative capabilities, coupled with Quintum’s ability to expand and enhance the line. The result is that Quintum successfully garnered significant worldwide market share, making a significant impact on the VoIP industry.  Frost & Sullivan’s industry analysts compare market participants and measure performance through in-depth interviews, analysis, and extensive secondary research in order to identify best practices in the industry. Overall, Frost & Sullivan determined that several of Tenor’s features far exceeded those found in products of competing vendors, and believes that these features were instrumental in the product line’s significant impact in the VoIP industry.
Visit www.quintum.com or www.frost.com.
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