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Here is a video that demonstrates the features available in the Polycom Productivity Suite ...

I have been fortunate to have tried a good many things in my day- So far, with the exception of getting married and witnessing the birth of my girls, I have yet to do anything as exciting and scary as what I did today...

Flying the Texan- For those of you who don't know, the Texan is a WWII era pilot trainer... The plane itself was the final step before a pilot found himself flying solo in planes like the P 47 or the P 51... The plane is considered an advanced trainer based on its ability to perform aerobatic maneuvers.

As an arm-chair plane buff, I nearly fainted when my wife presented me with flight lessons in the T6 for father's day... I'll have to admit, the thought of pulling nearly 4 G's in an old warbird left my palms sweaty weeks before flight day.

3:39 - Pre-flight briefing was pretty uneventful... I was relieved to know that I would in fact be sitting on a parachute and that there would be in-plane "sick-sacks" - The sacs were extremely modern however, as we were taking off I couldn't help but think of how the chutes could use an upgrade.

Some of the first instructions I received were how to raise and lower the landing gear- being that the plane was older than just about every one I know, I wasn't completely suprised at the amount of force that was required to initiate the sequence and I couldn't help but think that I was somehow breaking the plane- images of me sitting there with a broken handle in my hand thinking OH $#@$ kept flashing through my head.

As we left the runway - My instructor Bruce banked pretty hard to the left as if to say are you sure about this?, and then flew over the airport so my family below could get a good look. After the pass we climbed to about 6000 feet heading North to Saginaw Bay. On the way, Bruce gave me an overview of the controls and before long I was flying the Texan- To be honest, it was a pretty exhausting. The plane itself required some strength to handle and left my calves burning after only a few minutes. Now I am not complaining nor was it very bothersom, but I was a bit relived when Bruce took back the controls- this lasted for about 2 mins...

At this point, from what I could gather is that Bruce's job is part flight instructor part tour guide... What I didn't know was that the tour that I was about to take would be one where I'd find out just how much I could take and the only instructions that I could remember were the ones that directed me on how to find use the sacks mentioned above (Which fortunatly, I didn't need- I had the decency to make it back to the hanger before my lunch paid me a second visit FYI)

6000 feet and climbing - Once we reached the desired altitude and Bruce scanned the skies to make sure that we were the only plane in the general vicinity, Bruce walked me through the process of what is called a wing over. This manuver is basically a high banking turn where you have a moment of weightlessness. EASY... Once we finished this I was asked how I was doing, I replied great and we moved on...

Next up- The loop... Having ridden all of the coasters @ Cedar Point, I felt as if I were ready for anything... I'll be the first to say that these coasters and all their glory fail to deliver 1/2 of the adreniline of a fully aerobatic aircraft. Bruce then took the plane in to a fairly steep dive. Once the aircraft reached 160 knots Bruce eased back on the stick running us through our first loop at about 2.5 g's - Again, I am asked how I am doing... At this point I replied with a white lie and we moved on, again with the loop... Only this time we are diving faster and the only hand on the stick is mine... I pull back... Probably harder than I should have- almost 4 g's... To be honest, at this point I was thinking that I may have bitten of more than I was prepared to chew...

Before long we were looping, barrel rolling, and performing "double clover leafs"... A day I will never forget.

On Monday, June 9, snom technology, the German VoIP product manufacturer known for high security standards and a host of features, announced the release of a new wideband handset – the snom klarVOICE. Adaptable to all snom VoIP phones, the snom klarVOICE permits the capture of over twice the range of voice frequencies captured by most VoIP devices. Working with the codec G722.2 PSTN, the klarVOICE enjoys a voice channel bit rate of only 12.65 kbps. The new snom handset allows a doubled sample rate resulting in higher voice quality than typical VoIP calls. The snom klarVOICE wideband handset arrives to market June 2008.

Josh Havens

jhavens(AT)e4strategies.com

Staying current is an issue for all SIP/VoIP handset manufacturers. With Polycom's latest offerings in the "HD Realm", hard-phone vendors have been looking for new and innovation methods to stay current and even get a leg up on the competition.

Snom announced today their new klarVOICE handset will afford any phone in the line with the ability to use the codec G.722.2 PSTN. This codec compresses the bit rate of a voice channel to 12.65 kbps

Today marks the newest addition to the Switchvox appliance family. Since acquiring Switchvox – the predominant IP PBX founded on Asterisk – Digium, Inc. has wasted no time merging the products of both companies. The result: increased, better options for customers who are looking to get rid of dated, expensive phone systems while enjoying the functionality of a PBX designed with the demands of large businesses in mind. By employing Switchvox software on Digium appliances, customers can expect to benefit from the easy-to-use, plentiful features of Switchvox and the dependable, convenient quality of Digium appliances. With the AA300 enhancing the already-well-established Digium appliance family, customers representing a wide range of business network demands should have no trouble finding the IP PBX best suited to their needs.

The AA300 supports up to 150 users, 45 concurrent calls, 10 concurrent call recordings, and 15 concurrent conference users. It comes in a short depth 3U rackmount form, but it can easily mounted on the wall and its relatively compact size means it can even sit inconspicuously on most desks. The AA300 can be used with Silver, Gold, or Platinum SMB subscriptions and it comes with a standard 1 year warranty, which can be upgraded to a 3 year warranty. The AA300 SMB starts at $4,240.

Switchvox Diagram:

Click the Switchvox Diagram for a closer look.

Just in case you were wondering..

I am...