NATD in the news
Call center
Conferences
Cisco partner news
Nortel
Polycom
Security
SIP

NATD in the news

Broadvox sponsors NATD 2008 Winter Conference and Exhibition
Broadvox announces it has become a major sponsor of the 2008 NATD Winter Conference and Exhibition in Miami, Florida on February 20-23, 2008. The conference will include three days of exhibitions and product demonstrations from many of the leading IP Telephony technology companies. This year the NATD conference enables VARs to join Broadvox for focus group sessions and to learn how Broadvox SIP Trunking can help grow their business. It has become clear that the price of new phone systems is being forced downward by margin pressures created by lower cost IP PBXs. Broadvox will discuss how to expand sales opportunities and create an ongoing revenue stream through their SIP Trunking product offering that delivers an uncompromising level of quality and service throughout the US. “We are pleased to have Broadvox as a premier sponsor for our Winter Conference and Exhibition this year,” said Joe Marion of NATD. “The unique addition of a SIP Trunking service provider adds tremendous value and new opportunities for our NATD members to grow their business.”
Visit www.broadvox.net. ^Back To Top

Call center

Telrex announces pay-as-you-grow licensing option
Telrex announced a new “pay-as-you-grow” software as a service (SaaS) licensing option for its CallRex Hosted IP call recording and monitoring software. The new Telrex pricing model enables service providers to deploy CallRex Hosted at zero upfront cost for the software, and only pay monthly for the number of licenses in use.  CallRex Hosted is a highly-scalable, multi-tenant, IP call recording and monitoring software solution that enables service providers to expand the functionality of their hosted services, grow their customer base and increase average revenue per customer (ARPU).  In addition, the unique CallRex Hosted architecture removes the risk of the call recording system interfering with or interrupting the service provider’s phone services.  Unlike other hosted call recording solutions that use call processing language scripts to route live calls to recording servers located off site, CallRex Hosted never touches a live call and will not affect the quality of a phone call. Instead, CallRex Hosted passively monitors VoIP traffic in the service provider’s softswitch at the service provider’s facilities.  CallRex Hosted is designed to record and monitor IP-based telephone calls occurring on BroadSoft’s BroadWorks Hosted PBX, Sylantro’s Hosted VoIP Edition, and Genband’s M6 Communications Application Server.  Service Providers using other softswitches should contact Telrex for support details.
Visit www.telrex.com/callrex_hosted.htm.
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Conferences

BICSI announces 2008 conference schedule
For 2008, BICSI is offering information transport systems (ITS) professionals the opportunity to attend a variety of educational conferences:

Winter Conference, January 14-17, Orlando, Fla.
Gaylord Palms Resort & Convention Center. Traditionally the largest BICSI conference every year, the Winter Conference includes pre-conference seminars, educational sessions and more than 200 exhibits. Attendees have the opportunity to attend the BICSI Annual Awards Banquet.

Spring Conference, April 28-30, Nashville, Tenn.
Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center. Attendees can choose from a wide array of concurrent sessions that cover topics including data centers, wireless, security, and aspects of premise networks, including outside plant.

Fall Conference, September 29-October 2, Las Vegas, Nev.
MGM Grand Hotel & Casino. The Fall Conference will provide attendees several opportunities to engage in educational sessions to increase their expertise and success in the ITS industry.
Visit www.bicsi.org.


Information Technology Symposium
For the past 11 years, IT professionals from eastern and southeastern states have met at a popular resort on the Atlantic Coast. This year’s annual Information Technology Symposium (ITS) will be held February 27-29, 2008 at Pawleys Plantation in Pawleys Island, SC.  This Symposium contains educational sessions and vendor displays related to current industry "Hot Topics.” If you are an end user, this Symposium offers the opportunity to learn of new products and services, management techniques, industry alerts in a unique atmosphere conducive to interacting with IT peers.
Visit http://www.rcrassociates.net/its.htm.
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Cisco partner news

Netelligent Corporation names Aaron Stone president
Netelligent Corporation announced that Aaron Stone has been named president of the company effective December 3, 2007.  Stone succeeds Michael Dillhyon, a Switzerland resident, who will now serve as Chairman of the Board.  Under Dillhyon’s stewardship, the company grew to a leader in the marketplace underpinned by a solid fiscal strategy and an expert team of managers and staff.  In addition to doubling revenues each year in the Midwest market, the firm also does business across the globe and now has a permanent presence in the UK, Switzerland, Canada and India. Stone has served as VP for Professional Services since 2003, and is one of the three founding members of Netelligent, along with Dillhyon and Rick Chapman. Stone has built a world-class team of unified communications engineers, project managers and customer support representatives.  In addition to his dedication to stellar customer service and proven business vision, Stone has an extensive technical and education background which include the Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert (CCIE) certification, Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE), and a BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of IL (Urbana-Champaign).
Visit www.netelligent.com.
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Nortel

New Nortel solutions enable SMBs to save up to 70 percent of product investments
Nortel announced new products that have been custom built for the small and medium business (SMB) market and work with current Nortel investments to grow and support each customer’s individual business. This includes a suite of new features for its multi-award-winning Business Communication Manager (BCM) 50 as well as new, innovative, SMB-centric IP phones, an advanced paging and text-messaging application suite and a fully featured cordless digital phone with extensive reach. A simple software upgrade is all that is needed for Nortel’s BCM50 customers to immediately take advantage of new offerings like SIP trunking for more cost effective service provider access, advanced conferencing and many more. Furthermore, Nortel customers with Norstar key systems can extend up to 70 percent of their past investments by reusing existing equipment as they evolve to IP Telephony and converged communications with BCM50. Nortel’s new SMB products include: Business Communications Manager (BCM) 50, Release 3.0; IP Phone 1200 Series; Advanced Paging Productivity Pack (APP Pack); and Business Series Terminal T7406E.
Visit www.nortel.com.
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Polycom

Expanded Polycom VoIP phone family supports enterprise network evolution
Polycom, Inc. announced a new model in its SoundPoint IP desktop phone line, the SoundPoint IP 560. Recognizing that more enterprises are deploying Gigabit Ethernet (GigE) networking infrastructures to deliver new productivity enhancing applications that require more bandwidth, the new SoundPoint IP 560 enables full GigE data transmission between the network and an end-user's computer, enabling a single IP connection to support the desktop. In combination with Polycom HD Voice technology, the SoundPoint IP 560 is the ideal solution for enterprises that demand the best call experience and are either deploying or considering deploying advanced applications requiring a high-bandwidth network infrastructure.  In addition to its GigE support, the SoundPoint IP 560 delivers a clear and unrivaled lifelike audio experience with Polycom's high definition voice technology -- Polycom HD Voice.
Visit www.polycom.com/voip. ^Back To Top

Security

Cisco confirms VoIP can be used to eavesdrop
Cisco confirmed it is possible to eavesdrop on remote conversations using Cisco VoIP phones. In its security response, Cisco says: "an attacker with valid Extension Mobility authentication credentials could cause a Cisco Unified IP Phone configured to use the Extension Mobility feature to transmit or receive a Real-Time Transport Protocol (RTP) audio stream." Cisco adds that Extension Mobility authentication credentials are not tied to individual IP phones and that "any Extension Mobility account configured on an IP phone's Cisco Unified Communications Manager/CallManager (CUCM) server can be used to perform an eavesdropping attack." The technique was described by Telindus researcher Joffrey Czarny at HACK.LU 2007 in Luxembourg in October. Cisco has published some workarounds to this problem in its security response.
Visit www.cisco.com.
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SIP

Nortel and OneAccess successfully complete interoperability testing for SIP-based voice services
OneAccess announced that its leading enterprise class enabled CPE Range and Nortel’s Communication Server 2000 (CS 2000) are now SIP interoperable. A primary objective of the joint OneAccess and Nortel interoperability testing program was to ensure that operators are provided with a simple and reliable solution to enable them to bring the benefits of SIP VoIP into their networks and to their corporate customers. The main benefit of the SIP interoperability of OneAccess’ CPE Range and Nortel’s CS 2000 is that it is simple and quick to install, removing time-to-deployment issues.
Visit www.oneaccess-net.com.
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