The IEEE approves 802.11r - Voice over WiFi
Saturday, August 30, 2008
The IEEE has finished 802.11r, a standard that affords WiFi devices to more easily roam between access points. This new standard will undoubtedly improve performance of VoIP phones on enterprise LANs.
The IEEE 802.11 standards began with individual access points in mind, but in larger offices multiple access points are needed. Now, VoIP enabled WiFi device will be able to move from one AP to another quickly. The new standard has improved the time it takes a device to re- assocoate to an AP by leaps and bounds- This improvement will certainly improve real time services like VoIP. Standard 802.11x takes several seconds to re-authenticate where the new 802.11r will re-establish its connection in about 100ms.
The IEEE 802.11 standards began with individual access points in mind, but in larger offices multiple access points are needed. Now, VoIP enabled WiFi device will be able to move from one AP to another quickly. The new standard has improved the time it takes a device to re- assocoate to an AP by leaps and bounds- This improvement will certainly improve real time services like VoIP. Standard 802.11x takes several seconds to re-authenticate where the new 802.11r will re-establish its connection in about 100ms.
The new standard, 802.11r, or Fast Basic Service Set Transition, affords the network to with the ability to establish a security and QoS measure for the device at the new access point, before it roams between the two, so the transition can take place in less than 50ms - the standard required for voice roaming.
The IEEE standard 802.11r has been in the works for about four years, and the concept has, but the standard has finally approved.
until now, implementers have been forced to use lower security options on WiFi VoIP (WEP for Example) while putting VoIP on separate VLANs.
Video Demo of the Ipevo XING VoIP Conference Phone
Selecting our new VoIP provider Teliax
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
When we started testing with Teliax I was having issues with the service- Having not contacted support (A common problem amongst know it alls like myself) I figured they were probably out of the running-
Deciding to give it one more shot, I posted a message to their forum which was answered within an hour by David Aldworth. Apparently from what I can gather David is one of, or THE owner of the company. After a few email volleys and a phone call (on Sunday even) David had me convinced that the issue was on my end. And he was right.
To make a long story short- Teliax has been working great for us. Our numbers were ported in less than 10 days , their pricing is more than competitive and the service/support we received has been world class.
Check them out online @ http://www.teliax.com
Deciding to give it one more shot, I posted a message to their forum which was answered within an hour by David Aldworth. Apparently from what I can gather David is one of, or THE owner of the company. After a few email volleys and a phone call (on Sunday even) David had me convinced that the issue was on my end. And he was right.
To make a long story short- Teliax has been working great for us. Our numbers were ported in less than 10 days , their pricing is more than competitive and the service/support we received has been world class.
Check them out online @ http://www.teliax.com
WebPoint IT Solutions releases open source (GPL v2) Asterisk manager GUI
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
From the Asterisk BIZ List:
Mike Clark Wrote:
Our company, WebPoint IT Solutions has just released an open source (GPL V2 license), Ruby on Rails based gui manager for Realtime Asterisk called RAGUI.
RAGUI is definitely a work in progress and has rough edges, but we expect to polish it up in the upcoming weeks and months. All comments, contributions, and criticisms are welcomed!
Here are the links:
Sourceforge: http://sourceforge.net/projects/ragui/
Website: http://www.ragui.net
Enjoy!
Mike Clark
WebPoint IT Solutions
Mike Clark Wrote:
Our company, WebPoint IT Solutions has just released an open source (GPL V2 license), Ruby on Rails based gui manager for Realtime Asterisk called RAGUI.
RAGUI is definitely a work in progress and has rough edges, but we expect to polish it up in the upcoming weeks and months. All comments, contributions, and criticisms are welcomed!
Here are the links:
Sourceforge: http://sourceforge.net/projects/ragui/
Website: http://www.ragui.net
Enjoy!
Mike Clark
WebPoint IT Solutions
Costco - Buy bulk food and VoIP
Monday, July 14, 2008
I'll have to say it again... I am not sure what manufacturers and VoIP providors think they are planning to accomplish by completely eliminating the VAR from business communication platform acquisition.
In what appears to be the latest craze in big box stores, Costoc announced that in addition to their Microsoft Response Point offering they will also be providing their business customers with Sotto Wireless hosted VoIP services. Seattle based Sotto Wireless plans to offer its Sotto(at)SOHO services through the Costo's wholesale business center stores located throughout the US. The Sotto Wireless service affords small business customers of up to 10 End-Users the ability to work from anywhere.
SIP Trunking for the Switchvox AA60
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
There are many VoIP products in the market today- most of which offer the promise of reduced cost, better call control, and of course actual compatibility with Asterisk based products and services.
Recently, I came across a product from a smaller VoIP company in Detroit Michigan that I have been extremely impressed with. The Company is called VoIP of North America. Currently, they have several offerings that meet the need of residential customers as well as the demanding need of smaller office environments.
The product that we have been testing is there business unlimited plan. This program gives Switchvox AA60, Switchvox SOHO, and SMB users from what I can see an unlimited number of talk paths and free inbound- The base plan also offers 4000 outbound minutes and three virtual numbers for $29.99- Not bad at all-
SIP Trunk Setup in the AA60 - This is an area within Switchvox that couldn't be any easier... Quite literally you can have outbound and inbound calls running through the SIP service and in to your happy ear in less than 2 mins... (assuming you've already set up your phones)
As you can see there are just six fields in the AA60 that will require your attention- SIMPLE!
Labels: asterisk, switchvox 3.5, voip
Linksys WIP310- A first look at the new WIFi Phone
Friday, March 28, 2008
Linksys WIP310 Actual Photo:
Linksys has announced yet another edition to its SPA (Service Provider Authorized) Line-up... The new Linksys WIP310 WiFi phone bolsters a few new features that will surely bring value to our service provider offering. The new Linksys WIP310 Wireless-G IP Phone operates in the 2.4GHz band, supports 802.11b/g and the latest VoIP SIP protocols. The large, full-color high resolution display features an intuitive user interface enabling users to easily and quickly configure the handset with network access using WiFi Protected Setup (WPS).
WPS Defined:
WiFi Protected Setup WPS is an extremely fast, secure method of connecting the WIP310 Wireless-G IP Phone with any standards based Wireless-G broadband router. Just press the WPS button and your connection will automatically be configured and secured with a custom SSID using powerful WPA (Wi-Fi Protected Access) encryption. Within seconds you have successfully set up a secure connection. NICE!
Linksys WIP310 Features:
- Low-Cost High Quality VoIP Calls over a WiFi Network
- Easy, Secure Setup on WiFi Networks with industry-standard WPS
- Superior Range and Performance with 802.11g
- Quick Provisioning capabilities for mass-scale Service Provider activation
More on the Linksys WIP310:
The WIP310 uses the same Linksys provisioning methods presently available when deploying other Linksys VoIP Phones on a massive scale. Customers purchasing VoIP services or using a local IP PBX like Asterisk can quickly provision the Linksys WIP310 via a WiFi connection where their configuration profile is received securely right to the handset using TFTP, HTTP, or HTTPS.
Linksys Sizes up the competition with the WIP310:
The included telephone base is a nice added feature- With products like the new Snom M3 end-users are given a base that keeps the phone getting beat up while on your desk while at the same time providing charge to the battery. The Linksys WIP310 also supports many features such as caller ID, call forwarding, call transfer, 3-way conferencing and can store 200 records in its phonebook.
The included telephone base is a nice added feature- With products like the new Snom M3 end-users are given a base that keeps the phone getting beat up while on your desk while at the same time providing charge to the battery. The Linksys WIP310 also supports many features such as caller ID, call forwarding, call transfer, 3-way conferencing and can store 200 records in its phonebook.