Upcoming Meeting Notice


SAVE THE DATE:

JANUARY 21 - 24, 2009
Annual Meeting
Hard Rock Hotel - San Diego, CA

(Click here for more information.)

NATD in the news
Avaya
Book review
Conferences
MACs
NEC
Nortel
Power
SIP trunking

NATD in the news

Veramark signs MicroStrategy OEM agreement
Veramark Technologies, Inc. announced that it has signed an OEM agreement with MicroStrategy Inc., a leading worldwide provider of Business Intelligence (BI) software. Under the agreement, MicroStrategy BI technology will be embedded into the VeraSMART Communications Management Suite, Veramark’s modular TEM software. Veramark will develop BI components that integrate seamlessly with the VeraSMART suite, providing actionable intelligence for organizations seeking to deploy leading-edge expense management capabilities. The initial product release will make it easy for users to quickly analyze telecommunications carrier invoices, dispute incorrect charges, uncover credits and terminate underutilized services. It will increase productivity by automating the analysis, validation, allocation and payment of expenses. Subsequent releases will provide additional capabilities.  Veramark will supplement the new software with Professional Services, including expert consulting for data management and analytics, development of custom analytics, best practices process development, training, implementation support and system integration.
Visit www.veramark.com.


Ethics complaint
An ethics complaint was filed by Teletech Communications, an NATD Non-Member and NTTN Subscriber, against Blue Dragon Telecom, an NATD Non-Member and an NTTN Subscriber. The contact information for Teletech is Mr. Peter Madrzyk  (e-mail: [email protected]), 1351 Industrial Drive #E, Itasca, IL 60143; telephone: 630-775-0200. The contact information for Blue Dragon Telecom is Mr. Mitch Korn (e-mail: [email protected]), 19 Gardener Road Unit M, Fairfield, NJ 07004; telephone: 973-588-4609 or 201-306-4117.
 
Blue Dragon responded to the complaint and in accordance with the NATD Procedure for Filing and Processing Complaints, the matter was set for hearing before a Hearing Panel consisting of three members of the NATD Ethics Committee.  Both parties were provided an opportunity to participate in the hearing.  Based upon the written documentation submitted by both parties and upon the evidence adduced at the hearing, the Hearing Panel determined that Blue Dragon violated the NATD Code of Ethics and recommended a Level 3 Sanction, suspending Blue Dragon’s subscriber privileges.  The appeal period having run, Blue Dragon’s privileges as a subscriber to the NTTN Network are hereby suspended for a period of 12 months.  In accordance with the NATD Code and Procedure, this sanction also applies to the Principals of Blue Dragon, including each owner, executive officer, and/or general manager.
 
If you have any questions regarding the details of this complaint, please contact one of the parties involved.  Information regarding our NATD Ethics Process can be found by clicking on  http://www.natd.com/public/pages/codeofethics.asp.
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Avaya

XETA Technologies awarded Avaya's 2008 BusinessPartner of the Year for North America
XETA Technologies announced it has been awarded Avaya’s 2008 Enterprise BusinessPartner of the Year for North America. The award honors the leading Avaya BusinessPartner demonstrating significant revenue performance and overall growth during the past year. According to Avaya, in Avaya’s fiscal year ending September 30, 2008, XETA achieved more than 65 percent growth in revenue from Avaya Unified Communications and Contact Center solutions to enterprises in addition to 50 percent growth in sales of Avaya Services. "This award reflects the commitment that our organization has to Avaya's product and service offering," said Don Reigel, XETA's Executive Director of Avaya Sales. "XETA will benefit from increasing recognition as a leading provider of Avaya equipment and services, at a time when Avaya is transitioning to a more channel centric organization. Avaya's increased emphasis on supporting channel partners is a mutually beneficial strategy that can accelerate top line growth in both organizations and allow us to continue to deliver the very best service to our customers."
Visit www.avaya.com or www.xeta.com.
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Book review

Global IPv6 Strategies: From Business Analysis to Operational Planning
The case for IPv6 is compelling, including increased address space, ease of autoconfiguration and tight integration of mobility options. As IP networks evolve, IPv6 eventually will replace IPv4—there really is no doubt about that. However, making an orderly and efficient transition from a global IPv4 public Internet and a myriad of other public and private IPv4 networks to a global IPv6 environment is a real challenge. The authors make the point that timing is everything in any business strategy and certainly in with respect to transitioning to IPv6. Executives, managers, senior analysts and other business leaders responsible for IP networks—Cisco-based or otherwise—will find Global IPv6 Strategies to be the right book at the right time. Highly recommended.

Authors: Patrick Grossetete, Ciprian Popovicui and Fred Wettling
Publisher: Cisco Press (May 2008)
ISBN-10: 158705-343-8
ISBN-13: 978-158705-343-6
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Conferences

ACUTA moves Annual Conference, Strategic Leadership Forum earlier in year in 2009
Traditionally a mid-summer event, the annual conference of ACUTA, the Association for Information Communications Technology Professionals in Higher Education, will move to the spring in 2009, along with its Forum for Strategic Leadership in Communications Technology. ACUTA has scheduled the 38th Annual Conference for April 19-22, 2009, in Atlanta, along with the 13th annual forum. The move, according to ACUTA Executive Director Jeri Semer, is designed to enable more members to attend the important annual event. ACUTA, the only international association dedicated to serving the needs of higher education information communications technology professionals, represents nearly 2,000 individuals at some 780 institutions of all sizes.
Visit www.acuta.org.
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Moves, adds & changes

Flint Telecom completes organization integration and streamlines operations
Flint Telecom Group Inc. announced that following the business combination of Flint Telecom and Semotus Solutions announced earlier, it has now completed the integration of the organizations and has streamlined operations to maximize operational efficiency and reduce costs in order to achieve the financial milestone of near term profitability. Flint continues to roll out its business model of enabling telecommunication and technology solutions for its partners, offering software solutions and increasing revenue on its Global - IP based network.  Flint Management moved quickly following the business combination to react to market conditions and reduce costs across the board to achieve savings and drive the Company to profitability. This cost reduction will not impact the Company’s significant revenue growth plans.  The Company is also considering a number of potential acquisition opportunities that present excellent value opportunities and plans to develop the business through intrinsic growth and via targeted acquisitions that can be integrated efficiently.
Visit www.flinttelecom.com.
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NEC

NEC expands relationship with Juniper Networks
NEC Unified Solutions, Inc. (NEC) and Juniper Networks, Inc. announced the expansion of their relationship to provide network infrastructure and communications solutions and support in North America. The Unified Infrastructure offerings, which support NEC’s UNIVERGE360 approach to unifying business communications through role-based solutions, will be available through NEC’s national direct and indirect sales channels in North America. The combined Unified Infrastructure offerings from NEC comprise solutions tailored to fit a number of industries and worker roles. Innovations and solutions available today from NEC include:

• An application layer gateway (ALG) that enables tight and secure interoperability between Juniper’s high-performance networking products and NEC’s UNIVERGE communications servers, desk phones and UC applications

• A secure remote office solution for voice over IP (VoIP) which eliminates the necessity for implementing a Virtual Private Network (VPN)

Visit www.necunified.com/partner/juniper.
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Nortel

Nortel and Microsoft Unified Communications solution improves learning
Students and staff at King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology Ladkrabang (KMITL) Faculty of Information Technology are enjoying a new level of collaborative learning after they implemented a tightly integrated unified communications solution from Nortel and Microsoft. KMITL Faculty of IT recently implemented the unified communications solutions from the Innovative Communications Alliance, a collaboration between Nortel and Microsoft that breaks down the barriers across voice, email, conferencing, video, instant messaging and presence applications to provide anytime, anywhere collaboration. Students and staff have unprecedented, real-time access to online multimedia learning resources and to each other, helping them capitalize on the benefits of hyperconnectivity, the new era of communications in which anything that can be connected to the network, is connected.  The solution combines Nortel Communication Server 1000 (CS 1000) and Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 to provide one-click access to a broad range of collaboration capabilities. KMITL Faculty of IT is one of hundreds of organizations that have embraced the Innovative Communications Alliance since it was formed in July 2006.
Visit www.innovativecommunicationsalliance.com.
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Power

Phihong 33.6W single port midspans now in stock
Phihong USA, a global leader in Power-over-Ethernet solutions, is now stocking the POE36U-1AT, a high-power, single-port, Power-over-Ethernet adapter.  The POE36U-1AT conforms to the IEEE802.3at standards, also known as PoE Plus, which enables it to deliver up to 33.6W of power on a single Ethernet port.  This PoE midspan powers a more expansive range of applications, including IP telephones, wireless network access points, Blue Tooth access points, security cameras and IP print servers.  This device has also been designed with the protocol required for Cisco AP1250 Series access points to run in full power mode. The POE36U-1AT provides fully compliant detection, disconnect and voltage control, and boasts cUL/UL and CE safety approvals.  Additionally, the adapter is gigabit-compatible, incorporates diagnostic LEDs, and provides full over-voltage and over-current protection, which prevents short-circuiting.  It measures 5.51 inches in length by 2.55 inches in width and stands 1.42 inches high. 
Visit www.midspans.com.
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SIP trunking

New Global Telecom deploys Acme Packet to expand wholesale VoIP services
Acme Packet announced that New Global Telecom (NGT) has deployed Acme Packet’s Net-Net session border controllers (SBCs) in order to expand its VoIP services. NGT’s VoIP services are targeted for small to medium businesses, including its certified SIP trunking offering for Microsoft Response Point. Acme Packet’s SBCs were selected in conjunction with its NextSBC Reassurance Program, designed to ease both the technical and business obstacles of migrating users of other SBCs to Acme Packet’s industry-leading solutions. Acme Packet’s Net-Net SBCs are used to support NGT’s VoIP services, providing security, maximizing service reach and assuring SLAs. Net-SAFE, Acme Packet’s comprehensive security framework, provides denial of service (DoS) attack protection, topology hiding and dynamic access control to prevent malicious attacks and non-malicious overloads. The Net-Net SBC’s flexible call admission control policies and application server load balancing allow NGT to ensure its service availability and deliver superior call quality for its customers.
Visit www.acmepacket.com.
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