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NATD conference
NATD in the news
Avaya
Book review
Cisco
Market trends
Moves, adds & changes
Nortel
Recording
SIP

NATD conference

NATD hosts productive conference in San Diego
The NATD recently hosted a very productive conference in San Diego. A new board was elected. The assembled members also welcomed over a half dozen new companies into membership. Sessions were held on many hot topics including the challenges facing the Nortel market in the wake of Nortel’s bankruptcy filing, the opportunities in the Cisco market, and ongoing progress in the Avaya and Siemens markets.

Melody McKay of Telpro broke a “glass ceiling” as she became the first woman elected president in the organization’s twenty-three year history. In a letter we publish below and in her remarks at the meeting, McKay pledged new energy for the challenges ahead, plus improvement in many of the NATD’s core services to members.  She also said that the group would remain a truly international dealer alliance.

McKay pledged to make NATD a leader on IT counterfeit product issues and to remain vigilant on lobbying the US federal government on keeping secondary market equipment an option for government purchasers and for companies who supply federal agencies and departments.

NATD Executive Director Joe Marion awarded outgoing President John Negri with an award for many years of board service, and for his tenure of remarkable growth and change as president. It was under Negri that the organization fully integrated its EU members, making the NATD fully global.

Despite the economic crises, the NATD has maintained stable to mild growth in membership. Marion reported that the association’s financial position was very strong. The NATD has weathered two recessions before the current downturn, and grew during and after the economic slump.

Matt Crabtree delivered a compelling presentation to the assembly of owners and key management of the NATD member companies. Crabtree challenged the organization’s entrepreneurs to find new opportunities in a challenging market by being better managers of people and resources.

Denny McBroom of Telpro awarded the South Florida Chapter of the National MS Society. Pete Ensing of Ensing Inc. presented his daughter, Jodie Guarasci, who has found the MS Society to be a great help to her as she has confronted MS. Under McBroom, the NATD Charities have focused on organizations that directly impact the lives of members. A list of previous donations may be found here: http://www.natd.com/public/committees/charitycommittee.asp. The NATD conference warmly applauded Denny’s efforts in making NATD Charity Foundation a success.


Meet the new NATD members
The NATD formally welcomed these companies into membership:
Cal Tel Systems
Mid-South Telecom
Strategic Products & Services
Tele-Communication, Inc.
Telematch B.V.

View the 2009 NATD Board Members

Read letter from NATD President
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NATD in the news

Merrill & Associates to offer increased services and support
Merrill & Associates, a Platinum Avaya Partner and Solutions Provider, announced they will be increasing the services and implementation support already offered to end-users and other Business Partners across the country.  Merrill & Associates is a leading provider of end-to-end communications services including Unified Communications (UC), VoIP, convergence, mobility and contact centers. They also specialize in consulting, design, implementation, maintenance and technical support services.  As a Platinum Avaya Business Partner, Merrill works closely with Avaya and other strategic partners such as Cisco, Extreme Networks, Foundry, Juniper Networks, NetIQ, Polycom and Tandberg to integrate the latest hardware, software, video and applications into leading-edge business solutions. Merrill & Associates is self-sufficient and employs its own technicians, engineers and project managers.  With over 500+ years of cumulative experience, they are certified to design and implement the full portfolio of Avaya products and services.
Visit www.merrill.biz.
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Avaya

Chrysalis Software selected for membership in Avaya DevConnect Program
Chrysalis Software, Inc. announced it has been selected by Avaya Inc. for membership in the Avaya DevConnect program. Chrysalis Software provides pre-packaged and custom developed software applications for the Avaya Voice Portal Platform. Chrysalis is a natural choice as a DevConnect member with years of experience, numerous implementations, strong support and a commitment to deliver first class solutions. The Avaya DevConnect program promotes the development, compliance-testing and co-marketing of innovative third-party products that are compatible with standards-based Avaya solutions. Member organizations have expertise in a broad range of technologies -- including IP telephony, contact centers and mobility applications -- helping companies extend the value of multivendor networks and transform voice into an intelligent business application that delivers true value to the bottom line.
Visit www.avaya.com/devconnect.
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Book review

Voice over IP Security
We in the telecommunications domain struggle with security issues constantly and much of our attention is focused on IP networks. The relatively recent emergence and rapid rise in popularity of Voice over IP (VoIP) has heightened those concerns considerably. Voice over IP Security, by Patrick Park, can help. The book is organized into three parts. Part I comprises five chapters that, taken together, do a very good job of explaining the fundamentals of VoIP security, including sources of vulnerability, threat taxonomy, security profiles in VoIP protocols (H.323, SIP and MGCP), cryptography and VoIP network elements. Part II is a thorough discussion of VoIP security best practices in four chapters. Part III comprises two final chapters on lawful interceptions. This is a solid piece of work and deserving of a spot on your bookshelf.

Author: Patrick Park
Publisher: Cisco Press (September 2008)
ISBN-10: 1587054698
ISBN-13: 978-1587054693
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Cisco

Contractor who defrauded Cisco gets 5-year term
A federal judge has sentenced a former Newark city contractor to five years in prison for a scam that defrauded a prominent computer company of several million dollars. Michael Kyereme, of Piscataway, provided technical support for Newark and was authorized to buy replacement computer parts from Cisco Systems. The 41-year-old admitted that over several years he falsely claimed various computer parts had failed, and then ordered replacement equipment that he later sold for personal gain. The scam defrauded San Jose, Calif.-based Cisco of nearly $4.2 million. Prosecutors say that Kyereme, who was sentenced recently, resold the parts in California. He pleaded guilty in July to mail fraud and tax evasion.
Visit www.cisco.com.
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Market trends

Small business telephony systems dominate in 2008
Telecommunications manufacturers continue to focus on the Small and Mid-size Business (SMB) telephony market. Database and analyst group TelecomTactics, a division of T3i Group LLC, finds that more than two-thirds of new telephony system introductions in 2008 targeted small or mid-sized businesses or branch offices of larger organizations that have fewer than 750 employees with a significant number of these SMB systems – nearly 70% - actually addressing very small businesses, those with under 100 employees. A recent T3i Group report entitled “InfoTrack for Unified Communications: 2008 SMB Market Analysis” reported that SMBs represented 36% of US IPT shipments in 2007, and that their growth rate is faster than enterprise shipments, so it is no surprise that manufacturers are aggressively pursuing this key segment with new platforms and business applications.
Read entire article.
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Moves, adds & changes

Juniper hires ex-Nortel exec as CMO
Juniper Networks Inc. has hired former Nortel Networks Ltd. executive Lauren Flaherty as its latest chief marketing officer. Flaherty was previously the CMO at Nortel, but was axed in November 2008 as part of the Canadian firm's cost reduction program. She joined Nortel in May 2006. The CMO role is one that Juniper has struggled with in recent years. Flaherty replaces Penny Wilson, who was appointed to the post only 15 months ago, in October 2007. Wilson, in turn, took on a role that had been split three ways in April 2006. Flaherty, meanwhile, has landed on her feet, having departed from Nortel only a short while before the Canadian giant filed for bankruptcy protection. The financial situation at Juniper will be relatively soothing: It reported a better than expected third quarter last October, and provided a fourth-quarter revenues range that, at $921 million to $971 million, was mostly below analysts' expectations, but not disastrous.
Visit www.juniper.net.
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Nortel

No budget relief for Nortel workers
The Conservative government said it will spend $50-million over the next two years to help protect severance and termination pay of workers cut loose by employers who go bankrupt. Existing legislation guarantees payment of owed wages and vacation following bankruptcy, up to $3,254, under the Wage-Earner Protection Program. The federal budget introduced recently extends the protection to include severance and termination pay, up to the same maximum. The move by Finance Minster Jim Flaherty should help some employees who find themselves suddenly without a job and a proper separation package. It won't, however, provide any relief in the case of several hundred workers recently laid off by Nortel Networks Corp. who have been told their severances have been frozen. The network equipment maker filed for bankruptcy protection on Jan. 14, citing fears that it could run out of money by the end of this year. The government's new policy will only apply to businesses that have actually closed their doors.
Visit www.nortel.com.


Aruba targets Nortel customers
Aruba Networks is the latest vendor aiming to feed off Nortel’s woes with an investment protection program targeting its troubled competitor's customer base. The wireless LAN vendor is extending preferential pricing to Nortel customers who transition to its AMP Wireless Management Suite. Aruba is not the first networking vendor to prey on customer uncertainty in the wake of Nortel’s decision to file for bankruptcy protection. Enterasys and F5 Networks are among those to have launched their own life raft-style programs in recent weeks. Despite the free-for-all, many Nortel resellers have pledged to stick by their ally.
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Recording

Alteva rolls out cost-effective call recording for hosted customers
Alteva announced it has added call recording to its hosted platform. Now customers in other customer-service driven industries can record and manage critical communication using Alteva’s call recording solution, Alteva Archive. Alteva Archive is completely secure, cost effective, and comes with an easy-to-use Internet application. With no software installation, management, or training required, customers can simply go online and manage their recorded phone data. Because the service is hosted and therefore has no significant up-front cost barrier, even smaller businesses can now improve operations, as well as innovate their customer offerings and improve their competitive edge. The system is available directly from Alteva, or through resellers and distributors offering the Alteva Hosted solutions.
Visit www.altevatel.com.
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SIP

Toshiba and Broadcore certify interoperability of Strata CIX VoIP systems and SIP trunking
Toshiba America Information Systems Inc., Telecommunication Systems Division and Broadcore Inc. announced that Broadcore’s SIP trunking services have been certified with Toshiba’s family of Strata CIX IP business communication systems and are now available from Authorized Toshiba Dealers. Broadcore provides SIP trunking services nationwide. “With the emergence of low-cost broadband and VoIP backbones, SIP-based VoIP trunking is rapidly becoming a standard for interconnecting a business’s premises-based PBX to the public telephone network,” said Shahin Hatamian, vice president, product management, for Toshiba.  “We at Toshiba are committed to giving our Authorized Dealers and enterprise customers the choice of many Toshiba-certified SIP trunking solutions and are happy to offer Broadcore’s services.”
Visit www.telecom.toshiba.com or www.broadcore.com/siptrunking.

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