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Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Thursday, October 2, 2008

Review: ShoreTel 8.0 Shores Up Security

By Fahmida Y. Rashid, ChannelWeb
12:00 AM EDT Mon. Sep. 22, 2008
From the September 22, 2008 issue of CRN Tech

The converged network—running both voice and data over IP networks—offers cost savings, increased flexibility and new capabilities. Savvy solution providers start thinking about VoIP security from the get-go, not after the fact.

Traditional telecom networks used to be considered fairly secure because you generally needed to be physically there to access the system. With IP networks, voice is much more vulnerable because of all the security weaknesses associated with IP—including sniffing, spoofing, denial of service and integrity attacks. The phone environment is exposed to the same worms and viruses that steal information and slow down the network on the data side, except these threats also affect call quality. An unprotected voice network is also a potential entry point into the data network. Voice networks need the same careful attention to security as data networks do, if not more, since there are more endpoints to protect.

The Test Center deployed a full system from ShoreTel Inc., Sunnyvale, Calif., to evaluate the ways the VoIP vendor incorporated security features into its latest offering. The system, ShoreGear-90 and four IP phones, were configured using ShoreTel 8.0. For the most part, all the security features were either built-in out of the box or could be enabled with a checkbox in ShoreWare Director, the management interface.

ShoreTel allows the network to be logically segregated by supporting VLANs and tagging straight out of the box. Customers can use existing switching infrastructure to create VLANs separating data and voice traffic. As long as the ShoreGear switch and phones are plugged into the ports designated for the voice VLAN, the system will obtain the correct configuration and route the calls along the proper network. Voice packets can also be prioritized to optimize performance and guarantee bandwidth.

Check out the entire review here.




Monday, June 16, 2008

Mobility, not Unified Communications, top priority for businesses

Unified Communications (UC) is getting a lot of publicity in the tech media these days. But the big push by manufacturers to integrate chat and presence with existing communication systems may not drive sales as much as initially expected.

A recent Forrester survey of 2,187 North American and European companies stated there is "confusion about the value" of unified communications for their company. It seems that UC is regarded as a "nice, but not critical" application for communication systems. In fact, UC is not even the number 1 priority for corporations, mobility is. 64% of the respondents in the Forrester survey indicate that "providing more mobility support to employees is a priority", with 23% citing it as a critical priority.

Unfortunately, mobility is a trickier topic than UC for many communication systems due to the complexities of multiple cellular carriers, mobile devices, and operating systems. Getting all 3 pieces of that puzzle to work together is a daunting task. However it does generate a call to action for future investment and upgrading of communication technology. Extending the desktop to the mobile space adds many levels of value and an enhanced ROI to a communication system.

Unified Communication could find a niche spot in the marketplace riding the coat tails of mobility. As UC becomes more common, many manufacturers will begin to offer it as a standard feature and not an enhanced (think more money) add-on with true enterprise mobility becoming the featured enhancement. UC can provide a nice complement to mobility extending enterprise chat, presence, and even GPS personnel location to a mobile device.

Soon, users will have access to UC apps as easily as traditional e-mail and unified messaging (voice mail merged with e-mail). Remember, these features were once heralded as high-end cutting edge applications as well.

Somebody let me know when they merge mobility with video conferencing, that will be interesting.

Friday, June 6, 2008

Microsoft CEO: "No print media in 10 years". I say it may be sooner than that!!

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has been quoted as saying there will be, "no media consumption left in 10 years that is not delivered over an IP network." Ballmer continued to say there “will be no newspapers, no magazines that are delivered in paper form. Everything gets delivered in an electronic form.”

To this I say, duh!!!

Somebody sign me up for CEO out west and I'll shout from the mountain top obvious statements. I don't mean to be over the top here, but for many people including myself, this all digital media concept is already a reality.

Every morning, I wake up and turn on the TV (delivered via an IP network), eat breakfast, get dressed and check some news on my PDA. After that it's off to the office where a flurry of digital media is accessed via the desktop. I can browse any newspaper online, read RSS feeds from hundreds of different websites, and even watch a streaming feed of CNBC.

The fact of the matter is I already get every piece of news and media digitally, I can't even fold a newspaper very well.

I know there are many out there that don't realize this, but reality is that technology advances exponentially and in the past 5 years the proliferation of the mobile web and streaming media has been enormous. With wireless networks beefing up and PDA's, smartphones, and UMPC's getting faster and more accessible to the everyday user, this all digital future will become a reality before we know it.

Thursday, June 5, 2008

Increased Travel Costs Driving Demand for Video Conferencing

It's no shocker that higher oil and energy prices are putting pressure on business travel. CNBC.com is reporting that these increased travel costs are beginning to reflect on the bottom line of technology companies that can provide video conferencing and collaboration products.

The article reports that "Manpower has ramped up use of its video conference equipment in the last couple of months" and "office furniture maker Herman Miller has encouraged employees to use video conferencing in addition to conference calls and car-pooling to cut operating costs".

Manufacturers that focus on unified communication, video conferencing and teleworking can offer businesses enhanced cost savings and increase ROI in these difficult times. However, until the recent spike in energy pricing, demand for these applications was lukewarm at best. Many IT managers looked at these features as a burden on the network and as a low priority item due to cost and difficulty to deploy.

Amazingly enough, these ROI driving features are not a terrible burden on the network, overly expensive or difficult to deploy, depending on the product of course. VoIP communication developer ShoreTel's latest software release, ShoreTel 8, provides video conferencing and teleworking functionality right out of the box. ShoreTel 8 also supports integration with Microsoft OCS to provide presence and chat functionality integrated with PBX features.

Economic predictions do not foresee travel and energy costs going down anytime soon. IT directors get ready, the CEO might be knocking on your door and asking about video conferencing sooner than you think.

Tuesday, June 3, 2008

ShoreTel 8 demo video

ShoreTel has posted a ShoreTel 8 demo video on YouTube and we have it for you on this site. You can check out the video in the left hand column.

We will keep the video up for a while so everyone has a chance to view it. The demo is only about 9 minutes long and showcases ShoreTel's newest features including video conferencing, presence and chat at the user desktop.

Check it out and send us your thoughts.

Web search a prioity at tech's top players

It looks like Google's world domination plan is still full steam ahead. According to comScore, Google's search share checked in at 61.6% in March with Yahoo finishing a distant second at 20.4% and Microsoft posting 9.1%. These staggering figures demonstrate Google's massive superiority in the industry and provide a lot of insight into the recent tech merger talks.

ZDnet.com's Larry Dignan commented about this topic stating "These search market share figures put a lot of recent events in context. For starters, Google’s search gains are a big reason why Microsoft has been hot for Yahoo in either a full acquisition or some sort of search purchase."

Microsoft and its quest for Yahoo has been a hot topic in both the technology and financial worlds lately. With the proliferation of web based services and the move toward cloud computing, Microsoft can see the writing on the wall and is trying desperately to position itself in the web search world. On Monday, Microsoft inked a deal with HP to make Live Search the default search engine for all consumer PC's shipped in 2009. Microsoft is calling the deal "the most significant distribution deal for Live Search that Microsoft has ever done.”

It will be very interesting to see how far the tech giants go to leverage the web into their product lines. We probably aren't far from a fully web based OS with a PC that opens to a web browser and doesn't rely on dedicated applications.

Is LTE the next must-have mobile broadband technology?

Credit: Networkworld.com

Long Term Evolution (LTE)-based services are garnering a lot of attention in the mobile broadband industry, despite the fact that they are at least two years away from being deployed.

LTE, considered by many analysts to be the next big wave in 4G wireless technology, is due to be launched commercially in 2010 by Verizon and AT&T, roughly two years after the Clearwire coalition’s big commercial WiMAX launch slated for later this year.

Technically speaking, LTE is a modulation technique that is the latest variation of Global Systems for Mobile Communications (GSM) technology. Its developers at the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) dubbed it “Long Term Evolution” because they view it as the natural progression of High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA), the GSM technology that is currently used by carriers such as AT&T to deliver 3G mobile broadband.

GSM is by far the dominant mobile standard worldwide, with more the 2 billion global customers. In the United States, however, the only carriers that currently use GSM are AT&T and T-Mobile. Carriers Verizon and Sprint both use the rival Code Division for Multiple Access (CDMA) technology, although Verizon is due to move over to the GSM side when it launches its own LTE network sometime in 2010.

While it is far too early to predict how successful LTE will be in the enterprise market, recent trends indicate that demand for the technology could get a significant boost as businesses demand ever-faster mobile broadband access. For instance, a recent survey conducted by market research firm Chadwick Martin Bailey reports that nearly half of all enterprises currently use 3G cellular services, and that more than one-third plan on using WiMAX technology within the next year.

The major reasons for deploying mobile enterprise applications, the survey finds, include increased employee productivity and increased employee availability, as more than 80% of corporate users list both of them as key reasons for using more mobile technologies. If demand for increased mobile broadband speeds continues to be strong, LTE could be in a good position to compete with WiMAX as a widely deployed mobile broadband standard when it comes to market in 2010.

Check out the whole article here.

Mozilla shoots for geek world record

Credit: Networkworld.com

Mozilla is aiming to create what may be the geekiest world record ever with its upcoming Firefox 3 browser release.

The company on Wednesday started a campaign asking users to pledge to download the next full release of its browser on the day it is available so the release can set a Guinness World Record for the largest number of software downloads in 24 hours.

Mozilla has not yet unveiled exactly when Firefox 3 will be available, but expects it could be as soon as mid-June. A test release of Firefox 3 is currently available online.

The company is deeming the day of its release "Download Day" and is asking fans to not only pledge to download Firefox 3, but to host parties to encourage friends to download with them, and place "Download Day" buttons on their Web sites as reminders of the big day.

Currently there is no world record for software downloads; Mozilla is trying to create one with Firefox 3 and its Download Day festivities.

According to the campaign's Web site, once Download Day is over, Mozilla plans to provide the Guinness Book of World Records a signed statement of authentication from its judges showing that it followed rules for breaking records; the company also will confirm download numbers. Mozilla also plans to send video footage and photographs of Mozilla users hosting download parties as well as download logs for a sample size of Firefox 3 downloads to prove it has set a world record.

While the fanfare may seem a bit geeky, Firefox -- released in November 2004 -- has inspired a significant and rather fervent fan base. This is in part because it was the first browser in years to give Microsoft's Internet Explorer viable competition. The browser even has its own fan page (sign-in required) on the Facebook social-networking site, with 79,174 fans signed up and counting.

According to Mozilla, there are more than 175 million users of Firefox, which is available in more than 45 languages and used in more than 230 countries.

More information about how users can participate in Download Day is available on the campaign's Web site.

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Windows 7 & Multi-Touch Technology Demo

Here's the latest buzz on the tech front today, the sneak peek of Windows 7 and Microsoft's Multi-touch technology. Check out the video below and be aware that you may encounter difficulties trying to view it in a browser other that IE.

Video: Multi-Touch in Windows 7

HP ProCurve Growth Accelerates at Nearly Four Times Industry Rate

PALO ALTO, Calif., May 27, 2008 – HP ProCurve experienced year-over-year port growth for the first calendar quarter of 2008 that nearly quadrupled the growth rate of the networking industry, according to data from a quarterly report by market research firm Dell’Oro Group.(1)

According to the analyst firm’s data, ProCurve, the world’s second largest enterprise LAN networking vendor, grew worldwide port shipments by 28.4 percent in the first calendar quarter of 2008 compared to the same period in 2007. The industry growth rate for this same period was 7.82 percent.

“In the face of a challenging global economy, ProCurve’s impressive growth is based on the ability to provide customers with choice to handle their most difficult deployments, from small offices to global enterprises,” said Mark Thompson, HP ProCurve global director of sales and marketing. “This growth reflects a dramatic increase in the number of customers who are reconsidering their alternatives and looking to ProCurve for flexibility to quickly meet the changing needs of users, applications and organizations.”

Comparing quarter-over-quarter regional port growth in total switched Layer 2 through Layer 7, ProCurve’s port shipments in Asia Pacific grew by 52.4 percent versus an Asian market that declined 5.1 percent. In North America, ProCurve shipments grew at 10.4 percent in a market that declined by 11.8 percent. ProCurve port shipments in Europe, the Middle East and Africa grew at 14.0 percent in a market that declined 1.0 percent.

In addition, according to Dell’Oro Group data ProCurve’s Power over Ethernet (PoE) worldwide shipments grew 68.4 percent year over year compared to market growth of 26.0 percent. This data sustains ProCurve in the No. 2 industry position in PoE.

In Layer 2 and Layer 3 total Gigabit port shipments, ProCurve quarter-over-quarter growth was 20.8 percent in a market that declined 2.0 percent. Dell’Oro Group data places ProCurve as the No. 2 overall Gigabit networking vendor.

In the Web managed Gigabit segment category, ProCurve grew at a 60.6 percent rate, in contrast with quarter over quarter industry growth of 12.7 percent, boosting ProCurve Small Business Networking switches to the No. 2 position in this segment with a 21.5 market share.

The evolution of the cellphone in 3 minutes

Here's a fun look at the evolution of the cellphone industry in 3 minutes. Check out the video below and try to remember what your first cellphone looked like, it is entertaining.


Tuesday, May 27, 2008

MIT researchers: morphing Web sites could bring riches

This is pretty cool and a little big brotherish as well. Network World originally posted this article a couple days ago, but it caught my eye and looks to be an interesting concept. Check it out and send us your thoughts.

Credit: NetworkWorld.com

Web sites that automatically customize themselves for each visitor so they come across as more appealing or simply less annoying can boost sales for online businesses by close to 20%, MIT research says.

These sites adapt to display information so everyone who visits sees a version best suited to their preferred style of absorbing information, say the four researchers who write about such sites in "Website Morphing", a paper being published this month in Marketing Science .

So the site might play an audio file and present graphics to one visitor, but present the same information as text to the next depending on each person's cognitive style. Morphing sites deduce that style from the decisions visitors make as they click through pages on the site.

"You need five to 10 clicks before you can really get a pretty good idea of who they are," says John Hauser, the lead author of the paper and a professor at MIT's Sloan School of Management. He says over the past decade statistics have evolved to allow broader conclusions from less data.

"You can infer a lot more from a lot less data by borrowing data from other respondents," he says. "When I first heard it I thought this couldn't possibly work."

But it does. By using a sample set of users navigating a test Web site, individual businesses can set the baseline for what click choices on that site mean about the visitor. Over time with real potential customers visiting a live site, the morphing engine fine tunes itself to draw better conclusions about visitors' preferences and to serve up what pages most likely lead to a sale, Hauser says.

The software is open source and available at MIT's Web site, but so far no one has created a commercial business to apply it to individual customers, he says.

Such auto-customizing Web sites are less intrusive than the alternative - sites that visitors can manually customize, a time-consuming process that many visitors won't bother with, the researchers say. And they create the right Web site for maximum sales much quicker, Hauser says.

Check out the rest of the article here.

ShoreTel upgrades its call manager and adds new voice switches

Network World has posted an article about the ShoreTel 8 release that was reported here back in April. The article gives an overview of the new ShoreGear switches and Personal Call Manager software. You can find some of it below and the remainder here.

Credit: NetworkWorld.com

ShoreTel earlier this week announced several software and hardware upgrades and two new voice switches. Included in the announcement are enhancements to the ShoreWare Call Manager product line, more open interfaces for integration, and adds two new voice switches: the ShoreGear 24A and the ShoreGear 30.

The ShoreWare Personal Call Manager has been upgraded to provide more intuitive interfaces. Added features include an integrated client user interface with a main display for calling features and tabs for messages and history; simplified access to features designed to be easier to use and find; quick and easy dialing with exchange and phone directory along with just in time telephony presence; and a simplified, single-level user interface with personal and advanced merged options.

The ShoreWare Professional Call Manager has added improvements to its basic voice communications and it now provides automatic and on-demand video communications. The Instant Messaging interface upgrades include easy sidebar conversations; on the phone communications; and interfaces for a third party presence server. The unified communications suite has added improved call control, video calling and IM access and a rich presence integration; the suite now also supports a softphone.


Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Managed services market to crack $66 billion by 2012

Managed services is a big part of the IT industry these days. Accent's managed services product (AMS) is a large part of our forward looking business plan and is a service that many of our customers are evaluating as a way to ease the burden of the internal IT staff (if one exists at all).

NetworkWorld.com has an article up about the IT managed services market and its continual growth through 2012. The article states "the global market for managed services will deliver revenues of $66 billion by 2012."

The Cisco commissioned study was performed by Ovum, a consulting firm that specializes in telecom and software consulting. Ovum "finds that the managed services generating the most interest among corporate users are managed metro Ethernet, managed IP, VPNs, managed VoIP and managed security."

"IP VPN services are the largest global managed services market, with revenues totaling $17 billion, the study finds." However, VoIP looks to be the biggest growth area in the coming years with an expected growth percentage of near 40%.

The article is pretty good and can be found here.

Monday, May 19, 2008

Where does video fit in a unified communications strategy?

Credit: NetworkWorld.com Michael Osterman, 05/15/2008

The average American watches television more than 4.5 hours each day. A Nielsen study found that 81 million people, or 63% of broadband users, watched broadband video at home or at work as of March 2007. But how often do we use video in the context of workplace communications? More to the point, when was the last time you participated in a videoconference as part of your work?

Obviously, e-mail and telephony are widely used for workplace communication. Instant messaging and audio conferencing are used somewhat less, but are still very popular. But videoconferencing really doesn’t get all that much use. Here are my theories as to why:

* Videoconferencing is not as easy as other forms of communication. For example, a 2005 HP study found that the most common drawbacks to videoconferencing were technical: it requires too much planning, it’s too complicated and there are too few videoconferencing rooms in which to hold a meeting. Plus, aside from most Macs, client systems require the addition and setup of a third-party camera.

* Corporate culture works against videoconferencing. Back in the 1980s and early 1990s, I worked for one of the smartest analysts in the telecom industry who said that the first person to turn off the camera on their PC will set the tone for everyone else in the company – if you can’t see them, you won’t let them see you. The corporate culture of an organization, including active encouragement of videoconferencing by management, will largely determine the success of videoconferencing in an organization.

* We multitask. This is perhaps the most important reason that videoconferencing, particularly desktop-based videoconferencing, is not more popular. When people are in a meeting or attending a Webinar, for example, they often check their e-mail, send instant messages, or perform other tasks that would otherwise divert their eyes from a camera. In short, people want to multitask during meetings and they don’t want others to see them do it.

Should videoconferencing be more widely used? I think so. It can replace some business travel and provides a very good method for continuous communication between remote development teams, for example. Will it be more widely used? I’d like to get your opinion – please send me your thoughts. (Compare Unified Communications products)