VoIP Advances And Trends For 2004 151
gardel writes "So everyone's top-tech predictions for 2004 says it will be the year of VoIP. What does that really mean? This may narrow it down. Here's Voxilla's list of the top-10 advances and trends in the world of VoIP. On the list: VoIP and cellular converges, IP phones take over, Chinese and Mexican phone numbers come to the U.S., Asterisk hits it big. What would you add?"
VoIP's short term future. (Score:4, Troll)
How? The article talks about Asterix-to-asterix networks bypassing telcos totally. Also VoIP providers routing IP only to each other to end call termination costs.
I beleve that the Larger Asterix networks and VoIP providers will enter into call peering agreements just like the early internet.
It start out as hobbyists setting up Asterisk Open Source PBX boxes connected to their home POTS line.
Will some form of ENUM allow least cost routing to boxes sitting in basements and garages around the world?
If an ITSP in Europe can setup an Asterisk box with PSTN access and start offering US phone numbers and vice-versa, will global number plans become obsolete? What effect will the ridiculously low barrier to entry for VoIP have on telecommunications?
2004 Will be interesting indeed.
--
gnaa-RKZ - Support your local community [anti-slash.org]
Monopoly (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Monopoly (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Monopoly (Score:2)
Re:Monopoly (Score:4, Insightful)
Why? Local IP access for too many Internet users is still limited by 56Kb/s dialup, which is too slow for reliable, comprehensible voice exchange. Providers emerging from the rat's nest of former state telco monopolies have been unable to introduce anything remotely resembling a widespread DSL service at a sensible cost (remember ISDN? :-)
Perhaps in city areas in the USA we will see VoIP start to make it, but for the real world it's simply a myth (but I would adore to be proved wrong!)
Re:Monopoly (Score:2)
Well DSL is sooner or later going to die at the fate of cable. DSL providers are pretty much selling it under cost (for those charging under $50.00). Verizon is beating up local ISP's offering DSL by taking a loss selling their DSL ($39.00), and for those of you who also work at ISP and have to deal with Verizon, I
Re:Monopoly (Score:1)
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=91251&cid=785
Not just IP... (Score:3, Insightful)
POTS will die a quick death unless the big TelCos start lobbying for taxes. Slashdotters move these companies up on the list of Evil entities.
Re:Not just IP... (Score:5, Insightful)
Course my telco has never really caused me grief so I'm not biased against them.
Re:Not just IP... (Score:1)
Re:Not just IP... (Score:1)
I really think people get very confussed when talking about IP, I know I still do, it is a a technology that can mean m
Re:Not just IP... (Score:1)
Um. Re:Not just IP... (Score:2)
There's a simple solution for that. It's called a cell phone. Works great during a powercut. Welcome to the late, rather than the early 20th century. The combination of VOIP and cell phone gives you high availability *and* cheapness.
Re:Um. Re:Not just IP... (Score:2)
Re:Um. Re:Not just IP... (Score:2)
Re:Not just IP... (Score:2)
Re:Not just IP... (Score:1)
Re:Not just IP... (Score:3, Interesting)
Or at least work in progress? It seems someone could develop software before Intel could develop (and market) a chip specifically for this purpose.
Re:Not just IP... (Score:2)
There are others, these are the two I am familiar with.
Voxilla = gardel (Score:4, Informative)
gardel [slashdot.org]: at least have the courtesy to admit that Voxilla IS YOUR SITE.
Check gardel's previous posts [slashdot.org] if you don't believe me.
If you're going to self-promote, be up front about it.
Re:Voxilla = gardel (Score:3, Informative)
shame on you (Score:1, Flamebait)
Re:Voxilla = gardel (Score:5, Informative)
Just looking at the post, I have no idea who you are or that you're associated with Voxilla in any way.
Typically it's good manners to end your submission with "(disclaimer, I run Voxilla)" or something similar. Ever noticed how Slashdot editors write similar statements when they post stories about Newsforge, or ThinkGeek, or those other OSDN pages?
Re:Voxilla = gardel (Score:3, Interesting)
It's really an honor to have slashdotters read the content we put together on Voxilla. We work hard on the site and think there is useful material t
Re:Voxilla = gardel (Score:2)
Did you? In the story text, your name is not a clickable link. IIRC, your name is supposed to be a link to the URL that you gave. Personally, I've never heard of Voxilla and I've never seen you before (I never pay too much attention to people's usernames anyway. Perhaps I've seen your posts before, but the name "gardel" is genuinely new to me). I honestly had no idea
Re:Voxilla = gardel (Score:2)
Other people were flaming him, I was just trying to explain what was going on in a friendly manner.
Personally, I don't care, I'm just being nice.
Still Slashdotted (Score:3, Funny)
I'll bet if you posted on /. that you're looking for a competent system administrator, you'd find one.
Re:Still Slashdotted (Score:1)
Could you recommend VOIP software? (Score:2)
Marcelo,
Could you recommend VOIP software to be used to connect directly from one computer to another, without an intermediary, using the sound cards in the computers? Is there any such software that is open source? I don't see links to such software on your web site.
Re:Could you recommend VOIP software? (Score:2)
If your principles aren't so strong that they make you refuse to use stuff that's being given away for free, though, you could always grab our X-Lite softphone and sign up with Free World Dialup or the like.
http://www.xten.com/ [xten.com]
I don't need SIP. (Score:2)
I looked at the Xten software. I just want to connect with a friend in France. I don't need SIP. I would just like to use the sound card for sound. I want to avoid use of a server for making connections, because all the companies will soon begin charging for this unnecessary service.
Skype [skype.com] works perfectly. The sound quality is better than regular telephones. However, there are some problems: 1) Skype is made by the same people who made KaZaa. Possibly it has hidden functions like KaZaa does. I've already
Re:I don't need SIP. (Score:2)
I do the OS X version of the client and the Linux/BSD sides of the X-Tunnels, X-Cipher, and X-Vox products. Basically "the all non-Windows OS code person".
Your resume looks interesting, but I don't see any mention of XTen.
That's because the resume only gets updated when I'm actively looking for work, which hasn't been since I started here.
Re:Could you recommend VOIP software? (Score:2)
> SIP applications functional yet
Actually, I think KPhone [sourceforge.net] is exactly along those lines.
Re:Voxilla = gardel (Score:2, Insightful)
Asterisk (Score:4, Interesting)
The software does have a steep learning curve (not worse that any other telco system though). Be prepared to spend a few weeks just getting a basic system with a couple of phones to go. However, once you get it up and going, it is very easy (and cheap!) to expand.
Asterisk will totally replace the current PBX and key systems, and it will also play a key role in destroying the traditional overpriced channelized telco services.
Re:Asterisk (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Asterisk (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Asterisk (Score:2, Interesting)
Most of my experience with * is via trial-and-error, reading the newsgroup postings, posing questions for help etc a-la the normal open source way of doing things, and it
Phone numbers are for sissies (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Phone numbers are for sissies (Score:5, Insightful)
Then if you have a cell phone and a home phone why not have it setup like cell.myaddress@host.com? Dialing by IP would be too much to remember. I can hardly remember a regular phone number now! But I know just about every one's e-mail address by heart because it's just english and not a string of numbers.
Re:Phone numbers are for sissies (Score:2)
Re:Phone numbers are for sissies (Score:3, Funny)
Ring. Ring.
Me: Hello?
SIP call:Stop wasting money! Enjoy holiday savings on Marlboros and more, with free shipping!
click
Ring. Ring.
Me: Hello?
SIP call: Get the AMAZING penis patch!
click
Ring. Ring.
Me: Hello?
SIP call: Having consulted with my colleagues and based on the information gathered from the Nigerian Chambers Of Commerce And Industry, I have the privilege to request for your assistance to transfer the sum...
click
Me: rip 7960 out of ethernet por
Re:Phone numbers are for sissies (Score:1)
Would you be able to asign all of them to the same phone?
What if you only have one email address?
Would that mean that you are giving your phone number to everyone on the internet?
Will we start getting spam to our phones?
I can just imagine answering the phone to a stephen hawking clone offering you viagra at a SUPER LOW PRICE!!!!!1!!
I, for one, don't think that voice should be integrated into the current communications over the internet. The Infrastr
Re:Phone numbers are for sissies (Score:2)
Re: (Score:1)
Re:Phone numbers are for sissies (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Phone numbers are for sissies (Score:1)
The downside, would be vastly increased spamming. With Mozilla, spam gets automatically junked, but how do you do that with voice, once you pick the phone up...
P.S. Please don't tell your president about the large pointed structure in the centre of Dublin, He'd probably think
Re:Phone numbers are for sissies (Score:2)
Clearly what's needed is not region codes or country codes,
VoIP is plusgood! (Score:2, Funny)
Skype (Score:1, Interesting)
Unless they sell it away, there is no reason why Skype would not shake the market similarly as Kazaa did. Expect atleast to see the Telcos to read the law in new and inspiring ways to stop the rush.
VOIP software that allows directly connecting? (Score:2)
Does anyone have a link to VOIP software that allows directly connecting to an IP, and is free and open source? Skype has great sound quality, but I am worried about their honesty.
What other VOIP software is out there for making direct calls with no intermediary elements, even if it is not free and open source?
What do YOU see? (Score:2)
What do YOU see? I see nothing that immediately raises questions.
What does this mean? (Score:4, Funny)
Instead of "your call is important to us" you get a 404 error.
Re:What does this mean? (Score:2)
Now, disconnected number - that'd sound more like a 404
Reason why we should go over to IPv6? (Score:2, Interesting)
The hack called NAT can probably be hacked even more to do this, but it would've been a lot easier if we used the almost infinite pool of IPs accessible through IPv6.
A new domain should also arise dedicated to naming of IPs. Easier with name + city, instead of those nice long IPs?
I'm not very familiar with VoIP, so correct me if I'm wrong.
Re:Reason why we should go over to IPv6? (Score:2, Insightful)
Critical Mass (Score:2)
Re:Critical Mass (Score:2)
In fact, I could even see where a switchover to IP based telephony would be made more seamless to the general public by offering DNS type services that convert your phone number into your assigned IP address.
it's already here (Score:1)
hook up headphones and a mic to your pc and use any one of the free service websites, I don't want to name them, as I dont wish to seem like promoting them, and I'm sure you can find them on your own.
Also, where I live at least, there is a USB Phone you can buy for about $40, it's basically just a standard phone that plugs into your USB port, and you can call ANYONE in the world who has a USB phone, even another brand name.
And the software is fre
Re:it's already here (Score:1)
THis has much much more to do with telephone companies changing out billions of dollars of older analog voice switching equipment to what will be ip a IP packet switched infrastructure.
It is a really big deal, and has a huge possibilities.
It is simply a matter of time before most interal telphone company traffic is IP
Re:it's already here (Score:2)
Except for those telcos who reinvent themselves as communication infrastructure providers.
Whether they provide POTS or only IP connections, they'll still be in the business of connecting customers, or providing backbone infrastructure to ISPs.
Those who fail to reinvent themselves will become extinct though.
IAXprovider.net (Score:3, Interesting)
IAXprovider.net [iaxprovider.net] is the site for people who want to network their Asterisk systems (IAX is the protocol Asterisk uses to talk to other Asterisk instances) with other Asterisk users.
The site is intended as a hub for Asterisk users to meet up, network and take over the world of telephony.
A little late but about VoIP regulation... (Score:2)
The only reason to regulate a utility is when the importance of a u
VoIP, the decade's most overhyped innovation (Score:4, Insightful)
This paper is pretty useful:
http://klamath.stanford.edu/~nickm/paper
In the meantime, VoIP grows because some countries allow it to be used for a sort of regulatory arbitrage. It popped up before the rules covered it, or they didn't know how to deal with it, so it got special favored treatment. That's not the same as saying it is "unregulated"! In the USA, long distance is almost unregulated, but the local telephone monoplies are regulated -- they have a stake in how much they can charge for VoIP calls that use their networks the same way other long distance calls do. Expect an interesting year at the FCC while this is debated.
I do not expect computer-to-computer VoIP to be regulated (in the USA) at all; it's simply not anyone's but the users' to deal with. But of course some cable or DSL providers might try to block it, in order to sell their own phone services -- that'll be interesting to watch.
Enexpensive SIP Server (Score:1)
I am the IT cheif on a 300ft fishing vessel. We are in the process of rolling out a wireless network that will cover 90 percent of the areas on the boat. The network will be used by administration, engineering, the deck department, the galley and the processing staff.
One of the selling points for this network was VoIP using Pocket PC based PDAs or SIP phones. While I have found several freeware clients, I have yet to find a windows based sip server that I can test (a trial period). Merlin 1.1
Where can I get a VoIP phone? (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Where can I get a VoIP phone? (Score:2)
OTOH you can add a mic/speakers to your PC and use it. I haven't for a while - hated it because I can't stand having to say 'over' at the end of each sentence (the latency is horrible - I was talking to someone in russia and there was a >10 second wait for a reply).
Re:Where can I get a VoIP phone? (Score:1)
www.vonage.com (Score:2)
There are others too, but I don't know them off the top of my head.
Call quality and reliability is the killer (Score:2, Informative)
It's a similar problem with the deep discount long distance carriers in the US and elsewhere. Usable if you don't expect it to work all the time, and if you don't mind delays, echos and so on, but even for personal calls it's often better to pay the extra for a proper carrier, just to save the wasted time from h
Re:Call quality and reliability is the killer (Score:2, Insightful)
Most the time people assume they are talking about some shitty software and mic hooked to thier computer. Others might only think of VOIP as being in the last mile, liek a new VOIP PBX they just installed at work that lets them do some really cool shit.
VOIP can be all that and allot more, but what this is talking about it telco's racing to replace all their internal voice equipm
When existing mobiles can have VoIP added... (Score:2)
Of course, since I have A$30 a month free on voice calls, but data costs A$.0055/k, that's going to be tricky. Also, there's nothing to stop mobile providers blocking the service. I can't connect to ICQ using Agile Messenger, nor can people su
If only everyone had static IP addresses. (Score:3, Insightful)
NAT prevents this straightforward implementation, which must make telcos very happy.
Re:If only everyone had static IP addresses. (Score:1)
Re:If only everyone had static IP addresses. (Score:2)
The point of having a static IP address is that there's nobody in the middle that you have to log onto. Nobody who gets to send you a bill, other than your ISP. Nobody who can raise your phone rate. Are you getting this yet?
CNN's Tech predictions for 2004 (Score:2)
Tech predictions for 2004 [cnn.com]
It includes VOIP as well...
It is for us. (Score:1)
The future of voip (Score:3, Interesting)
1) Roughly 50% of their voice revenue stream comes from per minute connection charges, other carrier access charges, & regulation charges (govn't). These will evaporate when subscribers move to data driven VoIP (ie: you pay a flat fee for DSL or cable modem bandwidth now, and it can run all your voice calls to anywhere in the world). Eventually the PSTN connection part will no longer be necessary, so Vonage will disappear as we know it today, but it has finally woken up the telcos to what the future will bring.
2) Pretty much the other half of their revenue stream comes from the 'premium' voice feature services (call waiting, text messaging, etc), all of which are quickly moving from the class 5 switch into the phones themselves (aka: free).
What do you do when your primary revenue stream evaporates? Fight it in the courts or with govn't officials. Remember, govn'ts have been taking a nice chunk of that revenue for themselves as well.
We will have to move to a bandwidth & quality of service (QoS) based payment style. A minimum bandwidth is given for a flat rate (which will include -all- voice), and extra bandwidth will be provided on demand at an agreed QoS. The higher the bandwidth & QoS, the higher the fee.
Things to watch out for: VoIP everywhere, SIP phones/services, VoWLAN, current voice carriers moving their infrastructure to their IP networks, and govn't regulations dictating that comm lines (called data services & unregulated) become regulated for QoS.
The companies that move to this model last will not survive. They aren't going to like this.
Legislate or be legislated (Score:3)
SPAM will let VoIP emerge... (Score:2)
This will cash-infuse VoIP businesses like Vonage, which will help them beat the POTS soundly on dollar value. All of this is going to get further momentum as companies like AT&T sta
Re:The technology is there, but (Score:2)
For now, my small consulting company is sticking with good ole land lines and cell service. I am not one to always go out on the cutting edge of technology as I've tended to get cut in
Re:The technology is there, but (Score:2)
Re:The technology is there, but (Score:2, Informative)
the first question you get asked when you phone 911 on a traditional land line is "where are you?" This is because the traditional location information is wrong a surprising amount of the time.
Troll--stealing posts. (Score:5, Informative)
If you are going to steal one of my previous posts, please remove my name from the post before you hit submit.
This guy is using a database of highly ranked posts to boost his karma. [anti-slash.org]
Davak
Re:Troll--stealing posts. (Score:1)
They caught him. He dropped his driver's license in the car. Dork.
Some people are too stupid to be dumb punks, even if they did manage to get into Union College somehow.
KFG
Re:Troll--stealing posts. (Score:2)
Re:Troll--stealing posts. (Score:1)
Re:Troll--stealing posts. (Score:1)
Re:The technology is there, but (Score:2)
Re:The technology is there, but (Score:1)
Re:The technology is there, but (Score:1)
A land line without service (i.e. no dial tone) can't call 911 or anything else.
Re:The technology is there, but (Score:2)
A friend of mine works for Vodafone NZ (one of two cellphone providers in New Zealand). If the police ask them to, they can pinpoint a cellphone to within a few metres. So if I dial 111 (NZ equiv to 911) the emergency services can always find me.
Re:The technology is there, but (Score:1)
They then contact your provider, the provider says "need a court order to give out that info, sorry",
law enforcement gets an order from a judge,
your providers legal department finally gets it faxed over,
the troll that can collect the information is out to lunch (pause 1 hour), he gets the info, hands it back to legal,
a week later when your local law enforcement finally gets the info your sorry a*& has been eaten in a bold and glory
Re:The technology is there, but (Score:2)
Telcos in NZ don't go through the bullcrap you describe if the request comes from emergency services. We still have some common sense in this country, although that is evaporating as we become more like america.
privacy (Score:3, Insightful)
EPIC's VoIP letter to the FCC [epic.org]
who cares about privacy (Score:5, Interesting)
Consider how regulation is good (Score:1)
1. Emergency use:
VOIP will not have the level of reliability of POTS, especially during natural disasters and other emergencies. In theory an IP network can be made just as reliable, but
Re:Consider how regulation is good (Score:2)
1. Emergency use: People should get UPS'es. They will power not only their VoIP gear, but also their current landline cordless basestations. Hell, the increasing unreliabilty of the power networks point at a great market for UPS'es, maybe the first market for residential fuelcells. The collapsing central power distribution paradigm might give way to a more reliable, economic and ecological
missedperception (Score:2)
VoIP will never promise that this will work perfectly without fault for legal reasons.
If VoIP starts promising me something I'll check myself into the psychward
</troll>
and all I want is dependable 911 access. 911 is a joke [leoslyrics.com]
Dude, just go hardcore and implant your family with Verichip [adsx.com], or Digital Angel [digitalangelcorp.com]. 'INSERT catchy_slogan_thing INTO POST FROM SUBJECT WHERE NAME LIKE missedperception'; "Forget 911 go private consumer based ultra neeto protection. Fun for the cattle and dogs, a
Re:MOD UP (Score:1)
Nice you brought this subject. I just hope SCO does not claim property of VoIP.