Toluu

The Flat Planet and a Phone !

flattening the planet one phone at a time

Can you teach a telecom guy - software based communications?January 4

On the tails of Broadsoft buying Sylantro and the great analysis by Thomas Howe and Jon Arnold, I would like to add an additional perspective.

There is no question that Broadsoft is the leading provider in their market. The big question in my mind is what the carriers do after they buy the Broadsoft platform. If I look at the carriers that I am familiar with the answer is not much. It seems that all they are looking for is to deploy the same ho-hum services at a lower price than their legacy systems. Nothing exciting.

If they are going the IP route why not take advantage of the tremendous possibilities that an IP platform brings with it? Look at what startups such as Fonolo, Iotum, Voxbone, Mobivox, Jajah, Jazinga and others are doing. What is the stopping the big guys doing the same on their IP platforms?

The answer may be in a conversation I had almost 2 years ago with Ken Camp the IP Communications analyst. I was invited to present The Flat Planet Phone Company at the Etel Launchpad. In my presentation I took the example of a small home business starting a web store on Yahoo! on Yahoo! the

Om Malik celebrates his first birthdayJanuary 3

Image by ptufts via FlickrA year ago one of my favorite journalists who happens also to be a great guy, Om Malik, suffered a heart attack which almost ended his life. As a result Om made major changes to his lifestyle. When I say major I mean major. Om did not do minor adjustments. Instead he took the following steps

1. After a 40-Dunhills-a-day-habit for nearly 20 years, I stopped smoking.
2. No more cigars, either.
3. No drinking.
4. No red meat.
5. Caffeine, sugar, salt and all unhealthy foods are now banished from my diet.
6. I go to the gym every single day.

As Om wrote

Making such drastic changes wasn’t easy, but they offered me the best chance of staying alive — and 50 pounds and 12 months later, have clearly worked.

I recommend that you read his full post, What Om wrote should inspire all of us. Change is possible!

Thank you Om for a great post and may you celebrate many more years in good health!

VoIP is far from dead!December 30 2008

Image via WikipediaReading Jon Arnolds post on TMC , reminds me that in the VoIP service industry for the last few years we are used to hearing 2 voices at the end of each year.

The first voice with the superficial view is always there to tell us how VoIP is dying and hey look Vonage the voip poster boy is almost bankrupt. Then you have what I call the smart people like my friends and fellow bloggers, Andy Abramson, Jon Arnold, Ken Camp, Thomas Howe and others who realize that VoIP is all about unlimited functionality and not at all about cheap calls!

With that horizon in sight, the news is that VoIP is just beginning. Businesses are only starting to understan

Blog Upgrade with Elance - Part 2December 27 2008

Image via WikipediaAfter receiving 20 proposals, I am trying to narrow them down to a more manageable 4-5. First thing is to cut out those who answered with a canned “We can do all that you requested.” I am much more inclined to work with those who asked probing questions to better understand what my needs are.

These questions have actually assisted me in reaching a better definition of the project. Some of the bidders have also made suggestions such as integrating our web site www.flatplanetphone.com and this blog with the same look and feel. One went even as far as proposing to cancel our existing site and to put the site and the blog together on a wordpress platform. Both suggestions are definitely worth considering.

What do you think?

VoIP Success 2008: Benefits Consultant GroupDecember 25 2008

Image via Wikipedia

This report from VoIP News, is typical of what I have been seeing lately. How long will companies pay $50-100k for expensive Avaya and Cisco when they can get similar hosted solutions for a small fraction of that ?!?

Besides the price a hosted solution gives you flexibility that you will never get inhouse.  Benefits like continuous upgrades, unlimited expansion puts a hosted solution on a level above the competition. Will Avaya go the way of Nortel?

 

This fall, with the economic downturn in full affect and BCG’s customers concerned about their investments, customers were able to connect instantly with their agents, no matter where they were. The agents appreciated that their VoIP lines could transfer to their cell phones or to an available agent so customers could reach them anytime, which made customers more comfortable. This type of activity could then be tracked in real-time call center reports as well, and therefore, BCG could staff appropriately.  This activity tracking was not possible with their old system.

The management team also appreciated the use of