voip - News, Features, and Slideshows

News

• Patent office to review VoIP patent

  The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has agreed to review a controversial patent issued in 2001 that is claimed to cover much of the technology underlying VoIP.

• Cisco adding iPhone app for voice-over-Wi-Fi

  Cisco Systems Inc. plans to add voice-over-Wi-Fi capabilities to its existing iPhone app by April, part of a continuing effort to expand its unified communications technology into the mobile space.

• Haiti digs out from communications disaster

  Carriers and aid workers are scrambling to rebuild communications in Haiti following the catastrophic Jan. 12 earthquake near the capital city of Port-au-Prince, which left many residents with no means of communicating inside or outside the country.

• Skype fixes bugs in upgraded iPhone application

  Skype has released the latest version of its application for the iPhone, adding new features and fixing a couple of annoying bugs that hung up calls.

• Defence to ditch dated PABX

  The Department of Defence is set to decommission a 24-year-old PABX that services its administrative offices in Canberra.

• MagicJack harnesses femtocell for VoIP

  MagicJack is demonstrating a device near the International Consumer Electronics Show this week that it claims will let consumers make VoIP calls using any GSM phone.

• Naked DSL driving VoIP service offerings

  The rise of Naked DSL among ISPs has led to an increase in the number of organisations offering voice over internet protocol (VoIP) services, according to the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA).

• Arts Victoria slashes telco costs with VoIP

  Arts Victoria has realised savings of more than 50 per cent on its monthly telephony bill after rolling out a voice over internet protocol (VoIP) solution earlier this year. The organisation dropped a hosted Telstra PABX deal after a government white paper approved the use of an NEC VoIP platform.

• China warns of Skype phishing, shuts offending domain

  China's cyberthreat response group Monday warned local Skype users about phishing scams being carried out through the chat program, in a show of ongoing efforts to counter phishing in the country.

• US FCC wants all-IP voice networks

  The FCC is seeking advice on how to light a fire under traditional voice carriers in order to speed up their transition from circuit switching to IP networks.

• Skype opens up SIP business service to everyone

  Any business that has a corporate VoIP system can now use Skype's SIP trunking service as a way to cut the cost of corporate phone bills.

• Google buys Gizmo5 Internet calling service

  Google is bulking up its phone offerings with the acquisition of Gizmo5, a company that offers voice-over-IP software for mobile phones and computers.

• Sydney Opera House rolling out new comms system

  The Sydney Opera House is in the process of moving to a NSC phone system following the end of life of its existing 13-year-old combination analogue Siemens and Cisco VoIP system.

• Talk about IT - Do legal troubles make Skype for Business risky?

  An analyst this week said that customers should beware of relying on Skype for Business, as its founders want to buy the VoIP service back from eBay and have filed lawsuits that could jeopardise use of essential code that the founders still own. He said to put off using the service until the courts settle the lawsuits.

• Internet phone systems become the fraudster's tool

  Cybercriminals have found a new launching pad for their scams: the phone systems of small and medium-sized businesses across the U.S.