NATD in the news
Deals
Hits and misses
IBM
Mitel
Mobile
Nortel
Security
Services
snom

NATD in the news

Notice of proceedings of the NATD Ethics Committee

An NATD Industry Practice Complaint was filed by:
T & T Communication Inc; Attn: Mr. Steve Smith
1000 Pine Mill Drive NE, Marietta, GA  30066

Against:
Digital Voice Networks; Attn: Mr. Rob Brown
42 Farview Terrace, Paramus, NJ  07652

Digital Voice Networks is not a member of the NATD or NTTN and they chose not to participate in the NATD Ethics process.  Since they are not NATD Members or a subscriber to the NTTN Trading Network, they are NOT REQUIRED to participate in the ethics process and such non-participation is not to be construed as an admission of the facts alleged in the Complaint.

We want our members to know that Digital Voice Networks has chosen not to participate in our ethics process.
Visit www.natd.com, sign in with Member Login or Trading Network Login and Password to link to Ethics Violators. ^Back To Top

Deals

Toshiba inks licensing deal with OAISYS for Talkument voice appliance
Toshiba America Information Systems Inc., Telecommunication Systems Division and OAISYS announced they have agreed to a distribution agreement giving Toshiba distribution rights to OAISYS’ Talkument voice documentation appliance product through the Authorized Toshiba Dealer network.  This agreement gives Authorized Toshiba Dealers the right to offer OAISYS’ new Talkument Voice Documentation product as part of Toshiba’s suite of IP and digital communications products. Talkument is a voice documentation appliance that allows companies to seamlessly capture and store telephone interactions.  Talkument gives the user complete access to store, organize, comment upon and share voice documents, facilitating faster retrieval of necessary information and collaboration. Integrated with Toshiba’s Strata CIX VoIP business communication systems, Talkument gives users a complete solution for managing, using and storing voice documents.  
Visit www.telecom.toshiba.com or www.oaisys.com. ^Back To Top

Hits and misses

Former CIT asset manager gets 3 years for computer theft
A former asset manager at CIT Group's Jacksonville, FL, office was sentenced to three years in prison for stealing over $600,000 worth of computers from the company. Kaveh Niakan, 44, pleaded guilty to two counts of grand theft in return for prosecutors dropping more than 30 similar charges involving equipment from CIT Group. Niakan was arrested on Feb. 20, 2005 and charged with three first-degree felonies after the company discovered that he diverted company assets for his own gain. He was terminated from CIT in August 2004 when the investigation began. One of Niakan's responsibilities at CIT was to accept leased merchandise upon its return to the company and then arrange for delivery and sale of it to authorized remarketing companies. Niakan would instead sell returned equipment to unauthorized companies, diverting money from CIT while making a profit for himself.  It is estimated Niakan diverted approximately $640,000 worth of assets, mostly in computers, while employed at CIT. Niakan agreed to pay $300,000 in restitution.


Maryland man indicted in $32 million computer equipment leasing scheme
A Maryland man has been indicted by a grand jury for mail fraud, money laundering, bankruptcy fraud, perjury and obstruction of justice arising out of a scheme to defraud an equipment leasing company, financial institutions and a government consulting company of $32 million. According to the 23-count indictment, from March 2001 to July 2004, Alan B. Fabian, a certified public accountant, caused Strategic Partners International LLC and later, Strategic Partners International, Inc., companies that he formed (collectively, SPI), to enter into sale-leaseback transactions to purportedly purchase $32 million in computer hardware and software, when in fact SPI either never purchased such equipment or purchased substantially less expensive equipment. The indictment is currently under seal, and the leasing and finance companies that fell victim to the fraud have not been named. Fabian falsely represented that SPI, Inc. was a subsidiary of his employer company, when in fact his employer had no knowledge of the company. Fabian executed corporate guaranties on behalf of his employer purporting to obligate his employer to pay any debt owed by SPI from the sale-leaseback transactions. Knowing that he had purported to obligate his employer to pay any debt owed on the leases, Fabian defaulted on 11 leases in July 2004.
^Back To Top

IBM

IBM buys WebDialogs to bolster its UC middleware client
IBM announced it has acquired Web-conferencing company WebDialogs and introduced a new version of its unified communications client Sametime.  With the acquisition of WebDialogs, IBM plans to add Web conferencing as a software-as-a-service offering within the Lotus Sametime UC client. The new combined service will be called Lotus Sametime Unyte. On Sametime, the company said there would be three versions: entry, standard and advanced. Lotus Notes customers will get the upgrade at no additional charge.  IBM also introduced a new middleware product called Lotus Sametime Unified Telephony, which is scheduled to go to beta early next year, with general availability expected in the middle of the year. The new product, developed in partnership with Siemens, is meant to integrate PBX systems from multiple vendors, making it possible to leverage software-based unified communications across the system.
Visit www.ibm.com.
^Back To Top

Mitel

Zarlink sells its equity interest in Mitel Networks
Zarlink Semiconductor Inc. announced that it has sold its Mitel Networks Corporation shares for US$12.9 million, following the approval of the merger of Mitel and Inter-Tel Incorporated. Zarlink obtained ownership of 10 million common shares of Mitel through the sale of its Systems Business in Fiscal 2001. In Fiscal 2002, Zarlink acquired a put right on its shares as a result of conditions obtained by a new investor in Mitel. On June 4th, 2007, Zarlink and other put right holders agreed to an amendment to the put right as a result of Mitel's announced proposed merger with Inter-Tel and associated refinancing arrangements. As provided in the amended put right, Zarlink received payment from Mitel of US$1.29 per share. The US$12.9 million in proceeds received through the sale of this investment results in an additional US$0.10 EPS (earnings per share) for the second quarter Fiscal 2008 as the Mitel shares were carried on Zarlink's books at no value.
Visit www.zarlink.com.
^Back To Top

Mobile

Catalyst Telecom, Avaya create mobile communications system for disaster readiness
In an effort to assist communities and organizations affected by natural disasters or major communications disruptions, Catalyst Telecom, a sales unit of ScanSource, Inc., has become an authorized distributor of the Avaya Mobile Communication System (MCS).  The MCS is a standalone system designed to quickly deploy emergency response communications during a disaster relief or recovery and for temporary operations when communications have been lost or are unavailable. The preconfigured MCS is readied for connection to a satellite service provider receiver or available terrestrial network facility and consists of two environmentally hardened cases: one containing an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) and configured G350 media gateway and S8300 media server and the other with up to 12 digital handsets. Catalyst Telecom will provide all system integration services for the MCS, including installing and configuring the servers, loading the firmware and licenses, assembling the hardware, and loading and configuring the software.  In addition, Catalyst will allow the reseller to specify a custom translation set instead of the default translations.
Visit www.scansource.com or www.avaya.com.
^Back To Top

Nortel

SDC Solutions becomes Nortel Developer Partner
SDC Solutions, Inc. announced that it has achieved the status of Developer Partner in the Nortel Developer Program. Through this program, SDC and Nortel will now work more closely in identifying, delivering and promoting enhanced solutions for mutual customers. SDC’s IntelliDESK 6.0 and IntelliSPEECH 4.2 were tested in a Nortel lab facility and are verified as compatible with Nortel’s Communication Server 1000 and Contact Center Manager. IntelliDESK 6.0 is a comprehensive PC-based console solution that enhances operator performance through screen-based interactive functions. IntelliSPEECH 4.2 helps businesses enhance customer service and reduce costs by eliminating up to eighty percent of routine calls to operators, allowing businesses to process more calls in less time and redistribute staff as needed. The combination of SDC’s IntelliDESK and IntelliSPEECH with Nortel’s Enterprise Communication Server 1000 and Contact Center Manager provides a solution offering increased productivity, reduced costs, and enhanced customer service and satisfaction for SDC and Nortel customers.
Visit www.sdcsolutions.com or www.nortel.com/developer.
^Back To Top

Security

Enterasys delivers VoIP security
Enterasys Networks Inc. announced a comprehensive approach to secure IP Telephony solutions from leading voice vendors. Enterprises worldwide want to ensure the same reliability, quality, manageability, mobility and security of the traditional PBX with new VoIP and unified communications solutions.  The Enterasys Secure Open Convergence solution delivers a way to sense and automatically respond to security threats against the IP telephony infrastructure; enforce network access control policies; and comply with regulations for monitoring and safety such as CALEA and E911 in the United States. Security is provided by the Enterasys NAC and Dragon advanced security applications and Enterasys security enabled infrastructure components for switching, routing and wireless.  Mobility is delivered by Enterasys RoamAbout Direct Path Forwarding to provide Voice over wireless (VoWiFi) without compromise or delay.  Manageability is provided through the Enterasys NetSight suite of management applications that deliver policy-based visibility and control over convergence users, applications and devices to ensure mission critical applications such as voice are delivered reliably.  One click can equal a thousand actions as NetSight software enables organizations to manage their network as a cohesive whole, rather than as a disparate set of individual devices.  
Visit www.enterasys.com.
^Back To Top

Services

Fonality launches free business phone system with free worldwide calling
Small and medium-size businesses no longer need to pay for a phone system or in-network phone calls worldwide, according to an announcement from Fonality, a maker of business phone systems. Companies can now download trixbox Pro, a free business-grade phone system that allows companies with five to 500 employees to make free VoIP calls. In addition to traditional PSTN dialing and PBX features, trixbox Pro also includes conference calling, unified messaging between voicemail and email, employee presence management, embedded corporate chat server, and the ability to integrate with Microsoft Outlook, Salesforce.com and SugarCRM. trixbox Pro includes trixNet, a free in-network calling service which lets any trixbox Pro user call any other trixbox Pro user, using their regular phone numbers. Calls over trixNet are not subject to any local or long-distance charges. Fonality will soon extend trixNet to the trixbox CE (Community Edition) platform, its popular open source Asterisk-based software which has been downloaded more than 1.4 million times. In early 2008, Fonality will also extend free trixNet calling to include anybody using GoogleTalk, Google's instant communications service.
Visit www.fonality.com or www.trixbox.com.
^Back To Top

snom

snom introduces Wireless Headset Adapter for VoIP phones
snom technology AG announced the launch of its Wireless Headset Adapter for VoIP phones. Suitable for companies of all sizes, the adapter provides professionals using VoIP telephony systems with increased office mobility. The snom Wireless Headset Adapter has an EHS, non-mechanical interface between the snom IP phone and wireless headset, conforming to vendor-specific as well as DHSG standards. It allows for electronic reception of calls on the headset itself, offering users the convenience of using a stationary phone while roaming freely throughout the home or office. snom recommends use of its Wireless Headset Adapter with GN and Plantronics headsets. When the phone receives an incoming call, the ringing tone is signaled through the wireless adapter to the headset. While some traditional headsets require the activation of multiple buttons on both the portal and the actual phone, users of snom’s Wireless Headset Adapter can answer and terminate calls with the touch of a button on the headset itself.
Visit www.snom.com. ^Back To Top