Owner: Iridiacom Blog - VoIP and a lot more... URL:http://www.blog.iridia.com Join Date: Fri, 09 Mar 2007 08:17:15 -0600 Rating:0 Site Description: Blog covering market trends and what is happening in the world of Voice over IP Site statistics:Click here
Security Still Being Ignored. 2007-09-15 15:01:16 Regular readers will know that VoIP security is a hot issue with us and we saw an interesting Press Release on the National Computing Centre website, the NCC is a very well respected organisation.
They have undertaken a survey that shows that only 15% of companies have any VoIP security on their networks.
The survey was more wide ranging looking also at WiFi networks and USB devices.
As usual we all need to heed the warnings and secure our networks as there are always people looking to exploit any loopholes you leave ope.
Full article here
Now Skype Gets Worms ! 2007-09-13 03:53:33 We do not want to be seen as ‘Skype
bashers’ but they have one of the highest profiles in the VoIP market place, and after their well publicised recent problems they have now suffered a Worm attack specifically designed to hit Skype users.
The worm arrives via a cleverly worded chat message, supposedly from an IM buddy. The message includes a link to what is apparently a JPEG file. In one example described elsewhere, the name and path make the file appear to be an erotic image. Clicking the link produces a pop-up window asking the user to run a screensaver (.scr) file. Clicking the OK button loads the worm onto the victim’s computer, which then sends the same message to that user’s buddies.
Currently the damage the worm has done to users’ computers remains unknown. One thing is clear is that this could not have come at a worst time for Skype as it’s reputation for reliability took a big knock with the recent outage that lasted for more than a day. Read more:Worms
Skype Failure……Effect on VoIP Confidence ? 2007-09-04 07:50:01 It is a couple of weeks since the high profile failures that Skype
experienced with their network on 16th August - To be fair to Skype they have been pretty open about the problems, have a look here
The area we are interested in is the effect it will have on Consumer or Users confidence in using or migrating to VoIP, a quick search on google for ‘Skype failure’ gave in excess of 2 million pages so this has been widely reported not only by the specialist press and web sites but also by the general press, we found reports on the BBC and other news sites. For sure there has been a lot of ’scare-mongering’ but I guess the general press does that to make a better story.
All new technology has problems from time to time and we hope that this type of incident will not slow the adoption of VoIP technology into the market place plus the very nature of VoIP means a company like Skype can have consumers all over the world using the same service. Read more:hellip
, Confidence
VoIP on the iPhone 2007-10-10 15:09:59 We see that Truphone have announced a demonstration of VoIP on the iPhone
, this really flies in the face of the iPhone concept that has been locked to single Mobile Operators in the US (AT&T) and in the UK (O2).
All of the Apple PR talks about the WiFi support but any mention of VoIP was notable by it’s absence.
So well done to Truphone for giving consumers more choice and for continually flying the VoIP banner.
Have a look at the full announcement over on the Truphone site here
How to Open the SIP Client on a Nokia N95 2007-10-04 16:24:39 One of our team has upgraded to a Nokia
N95 from Orange and they wanted to use the VoIP (Internet Telephony) but it was blocked. After some research we discovered that this has been done on N95 phones supplied by Orange (as well as some other Operators) so we looked at ways to overcome this, you have to change the code on the phone to a native one for the UK and then upgrade to the latest software.
Have a look here for a step by step guide how to do it, we have seen lots of warnings about warranty etc but you can put the code back and reload the software should you need to return it. Just make sure you follow the instructions step by step.
We know several people who have done this and there were no problems.
For the record we changed the phone code from 0551192 to 0534841 and then upgraded the software from 11.0.026 to 12.0.013 Read more:Client
Phones Have Ears……. 2007-10-16 03:56:17 We picked this one up on a few VoIP security websites. It seems that an exploit has been found on a Grandstream VoIP phone that it could be forced to go off hook even when the handset is down so that the exploiter could be listening in plus this acts as a Denial of Service (DOS) attack stopping regular callers from contacting you.
Many people are guessing that many other Vendors may also be suseptable to this exploit so be careful as you never know who is listening.
For the record the Grandstream model is the GXV-3000 and we were unable to confirm if a new firmware has fixed this problem, let us know if you have more information.
Get more details here here or here Read more:Phones
, hellip
Call Forwarding Using SMS ? 2007-10-24 10:31:16 Regular readers will know we love unusual solutions to problems that we did not know exisisted, well here we have a hosted VoIP provider who has come up with a really neat feature.
If you are away from the office and you need to forward your calls to where you are then just send an SMS
to a predesignated number with a special code and the job is done, they have even gone one stage further and you can set up a conference by sending messages with your colleagues number contained within and the system will dial out to them and connect them together with you. This really has great advantages that no special software or clients are needed.
The company doing this is VoIP Logic LLC, have a look at the full article over here it seems that VoIP Logic are a Wholesaler so they may act as infastructure for smaller VoIP Hosted providers. Read more:Forwarding
The PBX is Dead - Long Live the PBX…..!!! 2007-10-30 12:16:43 Those of us who are long in the tooth have heared this so many times that the PBX is dead. First of all the advent of server based systems meant no one would need a PBX and then when Asterisk Open Source was produced we were told that no one would buy ‘tin’any more so what is the latest twist on this ?
According to Bill Gates Microsoft’s Office Communication Server means the death of the PBX. In a speech at the launch of OCS, Gates claimed Microsoft software marks the end of traditional legacy telephony systems. He compared PBX systems to mainframe computers - useful enough in their time, but ultimately neither as flexible or as useful as smaller software based systems. Gates did acknowledge the disappearance of the PBX won’t happen overnight, but will be a gradual process as software improves and product cycles mature.
Well lets see what happens for sure Microsoft will mix the market up and gain some traction from the data resellers but lets see how a data o Read more:hellip
If You Can’t Beat Them….Join Them 2007-11-05 06:36:08 We see that Mobile provider 3 has launched a handset that allows Skype calls over their 3G service.
But while people using Skype on their computers are able to make cheap global calls to any phone number, this will not be possible via the new 3 handset, so Skype Out minutes will not be supported.
This is a really interesting move as to our knowledge this is the first of the Mobile providers to take this view. To date, mobile phone companies have been unwilling to let users freely access Skype via their handsets for fear that it would hurt their business. The Skype-phone will be the first instance of a phone operator launching a mass market device that is designed to allow free calling over the internet from a mobile, 3 said.
Pay as you go customers will have to top up their account with at least £10 each month to qualify for the free Skype-to-Skype calls, 3 said.
Read more:hellip
Nokia Makes SIP Support More Flexible 2007-11-13 08:20:19 We know that firms like Nokia
have a difficult balancing act with their product capabilities, on one hand they have to please their large Network Provider customers who have to make profits from traffic on their expensive to run GSM and 3G networks and their are the end users who are demanding more flexibility from handsets to be able to run on multiple networks such as Wi-Fi.
Nokia have done a great job with their N and E series handsets that use the Symbian Operating system to provide a SIP client, we have documented in this blog how some Operators block this client to stop users making VoIP calls. The latest release of software for the Nokia handsets actually gives much more flexibility on the SIP client supporting features such as NAT, STUN, CODEC settings etc, however these settings are hidden and are only available to carriers when their version of software is installed on the handset. There is some good news as Nokia have released an application on one of their Forums that give Read more:Support
, Flexible
Is VoIP Next on the List for the Dreaded Spammers ??? 2007-11-22 07:58:32 So here we go the dreaded Spammers are looking for other ways to hit us with their unwanted content.
It has been reported that Hackers have attacked Columbia University, ironically this is the university where the co-author of the VoIP protocol resides. The hackers left marketing SPIT (spam over internet telephony) on multiple phone extensions at the University.
According to the Guardian newspaper, there already are examples of voice phishing or vishing in the U.S. where the penetration of VoIP is getting up to 15 percent. “The real problem with VoIP is that it’s very easy to take a name as your identity which appears with a call, or to put up a number on a screen that isn’t actually the number that the call’s being made from,” David Endler, director of security research at TippingPoint told the Guardian.
“This lends itself perfectly to vishing, which we’ve already started to see, and I’m genuinely surprised we haven’t seen more. P
3Com to Sell an Asterisk Solution 2007-11-26 04:09:57 We see that 3Com have recently announced they are going to resell a version of Asterisk from Digium. Designed for five to 30 phone users, it delivers plug-and-play operation right out of the box backed by 3Com’s warranty, service and support. The 3Com Asterisk Appliance works with 3Com’s full line of telephone handsets.
This is a really interesting step with a major manufacturer such as them putting their might behind an Open Source product plus this will compete head on with their existing product range. However this could be the first step toward standards-based VoIP, the question is whether any of the competition will follow.
Have a look at the 3Com Press Release here here Read more:Solution
Are GSM Gateways Legal to Use ? 2007-12-01 11:38:32 We distribute a range of GSM Gateways (often called FCT - Fixed Cellular Terminals or Premicells - an old Nokia trade name) and we are often asked if they are legal to use or not.
The short answer is yes, OFCOM who are the industry regulator have confimed is is legal under UK law for organisations (whether businesses or consumers) to purchase, install and use GSM gateways for their own ‘private use‘. In simple terms this means that the gateway can only be used by the end user/organisation actually making the calls.
It is not legal if an organisation want to use the Gateway as a means to resell the minutes used across it so carriers are preventing from using this method.
We have found that some people try to suggest to customers that the use of a gateway is illegal and this is usually when someone does not want to lose the mobile minutes that are being used over regular landlines
Is the SIP Protocol Too Open ? 2007-12-10 09:26:41 We regularly talk about Security issues on VoIP systems and we have seen a report over on lightreading.com that is saying as SIP is such an open protocol it is also open to security problems. With a loosely defined standard like SIP, interoperability issues occur, So whatever security measures might apply to one SIP implementation won’t necessarily work for another.
There appears to be an almost willing ignorance of SIP’s vulnerability issues on the part of VOIP network operators and users, say security vendors. Users of SIP applications either don’t understand or don’t care that their voice communications are prone to the same types of malicious viruses that affect email systems or other IP-based networks.
We always need to be careful with these statements and think who is making them as security vendors would not say that VoIP vendors are protecting themselves as it means they do not sell much product - for sure the real picture lies somewhere in the middle Read more:Protocol
VoIP on the iPod Touch 2007-12-21 15:31:08 We love innovation here at Iridiacom and especially when it stretches a product to do something it was not originally designed for.
Have a look over at http://touchmods.blog.com/Â where a group calling themselves the iPod
Touch Mods are about to release a SIP VoIP application for the Apple iPod Touch - they have had to overcome the limitation of no built in microphone and have developed a plug in circuit for an external microphone that looks pretty neat and is even the same colour as the Touch.
It seems the application is based on one produced by Samuel over at http://svsip.free.fr/Â that was originally developed by him for the Nintendo DS.
We will watch this one with interest and maybe we can justify buying an iPod Touch for business use (or maybe not !)
Here is a screen-shot and make sure you donate if you are going to use it.
Â
Have a look at some more screen-shots here http://bananenoeffnen.de/VoiPod/VoIP-Test.html
There has been so much hype about if the iPhone was going to sup
Wireless VoIP or DECT ? 2007-12-19 10:59:21 Many users who are looking at implementing on site wireless communications naturally look at VoIP over wireless, but it seems a lot of companies are concerned about the security and reliability implications on Wireless
.
A survey from SAS Group of 100 IT and Telecoms Managers, revealed a lack of in house skills to support VoIP technology, this really is not surprising but 21 percent of firms mentioned reliability and 18 percent highlighted security concerns. The SAS Group believes that this lack of faith in wireless VoIP is to be expected, as the technology is outside the comfort zone of many IT departments, putting voice traffic over a wireless network requires specialist skill sets to implement and manage.
From our experience in the IP PBX market we see many users at a crossroads where they need on site wireless communication and they have to make a decision to either use the proven DECT technology or opt for Voice over WiFi. DECT is a technology designed in the early days of GSM a
iPhone goes open 2008-03-11 06:17:43 We see Apple have announced that they are now supporting third party applications for the iPhone
including WiFi based VoIP. As mentioned in a previous blog Truphone have already released a demonstration model late last year, they have confirmed their interest here and indicated they would be developing a fully fledged application.
Not only have Apple opened the iPhone up [...]
Femtocells Set to Take Off ? 2008-02-26 10:31:11 We are seeing these mentioned in the press a lot so decided to do some research so lets ask and answer a few questions about them:
What is a Femtocell?
A Femtocell was originally known as an Access Point Base Station and is a small cellular base station, typically designed for use in the home or small business environments [...]
Security Issue on Snom Phones 2008-02-15 03:54:07 We talk a lot about VoIP Security not because we want to sell you products but because it is an important and interesting subject. We see that a public hacking warning group has found a large security flaw in the web interface of Snom VoIP phones. The Snom phone is very popular with IP telephony business users [...] Read more:Phones
BT are Dropping Fusion 2008-02-07 05:46:10 We see that BT have taken a decision to drop their Fusion FMC Solution, it was first launched in 2005 and was a really innovative offering for a Telco however BT has now dropped the Fusion FMC solution. The company had initially stated that it expected Fusion would generate around £1 billion from new mobile and convergence services [...]
As We Suspected VoIP is no Joke :-) 2008-02-01 03:49:50 We saw an interesting article over on the Inquirer stating that VoIP calls struggle to convey humour.
The problem is the range of frequencies used by regular land line telephones is far wider beacause VoIP calls use compression such as G729. The top and bottom end of the spectrums are cut off, and there is far less variation in tone available [...]
Dell Chooses Fonality Open Source 2008-01-25 09:11:14 We see that Dell has decided to offer the Fonality
software as a bundled option on their servers - this is a real catch for Fonality as there are many other Asterisk based solutions that Dell could have chosen.
This is a bold move by Dell but I guess we should not be surprised as it [...] Read more:Source
RIP Netscape 2008-01-07 03:54:48 This post does not really have anything to do with VoIP but it caught our eye.
It seems Time Warner AOL has announced that Netscape
the internet browser will no longer be supported, they are instead recommending users move to the Open Source Firefox.
We remember back when Netscape were fighting real hard against Microsoft who had [...]
Asterisk hits one Millionth Download 2008-01-02 05:46:14 Happy New Year to all our readers.
Towards the end of December Digium announced the one millionth download of the Asterisk Open Source PBX- whatever you think of open source that is a pretty significant milestone and shows that this approach to PBX systems has to be seen now as a mainstream one. There are many [...] Read more:Download
Ringing Signals 2008-03-31 16:44:58 In this modern world of voice over IP and data signals we recently had a need to source some information on different Rinback signals used on analogue trunks. Ringback is the the actual bursts of ringing we hear when we call somebody. Each country has a different variation of timings used - in our particular [...] Read more:Signals
FMC is dead long live….??? 2008-05-07 04:05:34 We are starting to see reports now that Fixed Mobile Convergence is dead and the new King in town is Mobile Unified Communications (MUC ???)
So what does that mean ? - there has been a lot written about FMC and what it can or cannot do, essentially FMC brings the mobile user into the business [...]
SIP is SIP ??? 2008-05-19 04:04:37 We have been working with the SIP protocol for a few years now and we are big fans of it and how it has moved the VoIP industry forward together as one without the need for larger manufacturers or developers using their size to ‘force’ standards forward.
So what do we mean when we say SIP [...]
Trixbox moves away from FreePBX 2008-05-23 09:42:13 We like to try and keep an eye on what happens in the Asterisk community and we have always liked the Trixbox
CE product, well it seems there is a real spat going on with Trixbox.
Trixbox began life as Asterisk@Home, and was later rebranded as Trixbox. Asterisk in it’s early life did not have a [...] Read more:moves
Buy your telephone system at Costco ? 2008-06-03 04:27:16 Well an interesting twist for the PBX market - you can now go to costco.com for your IP PBX. The warehouse wholesaler who is better known for its discount prices and free food samples will now be selling Quanta Computer’s Syspine Digital Operator Phone System which is based on Microsoft’s Response Point phone system [...] Read more:telephone
, Costco
VoIP Destroying the Planet or Saving it ??? 2008-06-13 05:51:06 We always love the way a business can use a particular hot topic to help promote sales, and right now saving the planet is a real leading news item so a lot of companies have latched onto this to help promote sales.
The part we particularly like is the different angle companies are taking on this [...] Read more:Saving
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