From editor@telecom-digest.org Thu Apr 15 16:06:30 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id i3FK6U805226; Thu, 15 Apr 2004 16:06:30 -0400 (EDT) Date: Thu, 15 Apr 2004 16:06:30 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200404152006.i3FK6U805226@massis.lcs.mit.edu> X-Authentication-Warning: massis.lcs.mit.edu: ptownson set sender to editor@telecom-digest.org using -f To: ptownson Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V23 #188 TELECOM Digest Thu, 15 Apr 2004 16:06:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 188 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson US Court Stays Ruling Axing Phone Line Lease Rules (Monty Solomon) New Survey on Ad Effectiveness (Monty Solomon) Broadband for the Masses? (Monty Solomon) Negotiations Stalled for Voice Actors in 'The Simpsons' (Monty Solomon) Re: Spam Issues (Daniel W. Johnson) Re: Spam Issues (Geoffrey Welsh) Recording Telephone Line to PC (mike@temperateNOSPAMclimate.com) Re: AOL Quietly Opens its Mail System to Outside World (Wesrock@aol.com) Re: QLLC Question, Please Help (Steve Schefter) Lucent GX 550 / CBX 500 (bleed-22) Re: Phone Gateways, was Re: VoIP is Just Phone Service (John Levine) Re: VoIP's Broadband Bottleneck (Bob Goudreau) Re: AT&T Wireless Announces Aggressive New Offer (Steven J Sobol) Re: Calif. Lawmaker Moves to Block Google's Gmail (Matt J. Britt) Re: Philly Area Miliwatt (1004 Hz) Test Number Needed (Greg T. Knopf) Re: Some Marketers Finding Ways around Do Not Call List (Lisa Hancock) New York Panel Explores Phone 'Crisis' (Jack Decker) Western Iowa Telephone Deploys MetaSwitch for VoIP Network (VOIP News) Viper Tests VOIP (VOIP News) Insights Into Vonage's Marketing Department (VOIP News) VoIP Policy Working Group Announced (VOIP News) All contents here are copyrighted by Patrick Townson and the individual writers/correspondents. Articles may be used in other journals or newsgroups, provided the writer's name and the Digest are included in the fair use quote. By using -any name or email address- included herein for -any- reason other than responding to an article herein, you agree to pay a hundred dollars to the recipients of the email. =========================== Addresses herein are not to be added to any mailing list, nor to be sold or given away without explicit written consent. Chain letters, viruses, porn, spam, and miscellaneous junk are definitely unwelcome. We must fight spam for the same reason we fight crime: not because we are naive enough to believe that we will ever stamp it out, but because we do not want the kind of world that results when no one stands against crime. Geoffrey Welsh =========================== See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 14 Apr 2004 23:34:11 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: US Court Stays Ruling Axing Phone Line Lease Rules WASHINGTON, April 14 (Reuters) - Dominant local telephone companies must keep leasing their networks to rivals at government-mandated rates until June 15, after a U.S. appeals court agreed to delay its order scrapping those federal regulations, according to an order made public on Wednesday. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia agreed to delay its order to give the local telephone companies time to work out private commercial agreements for leasing the networks at wholesale prices. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=41072641 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 15 Apr 2004 00:55:28 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: New Survey on Ad Effectiveness By STUART ELLIOTT AS the kingpins of Madison Avenue gather for a major annual meeting, there is further evidence of the growing challenge they confront in seeking to break through the cacophony of advertising that surrounds -- and increasingly annoys -- consumers. At the 2004 management conference of the American Association of Advertising Agencies, which begins today in Miami, senior executives will learn the results of a survey of consumers conducted on behalf of the organization by Yankelovich Partners, the market research company. The survey, to be presented tomorrow at the opening general session of the conference, shows that the effectiveness of campaigns that agencies produce for marketers is deteriorating, said J. Walker Smith, president at Yankelovich, because "negative perceptions about advertising have substantially increased." The survey findings are significant because industry executives are frantically searching for ways to forge more emotional connections with fractious, and fractionated, consumers that differ from conventional methods like running 30-second television commercials and print advertisements. The risk posed by some of the new approaches, like placing sponsored brand messages or products in the entertainment content of programs or publications, is that consumers will consider such selling strategies even more obnoxious. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/14/business/media/14adco.html ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 15 Apr 2004 01:05:37 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Broadband For the Masses? By Marguerite Reardon Staff Writer, CNET News.com Jim Baller is no friend of the large cable companies or the Baby Bells that dominate local telecommunications markets around the country. As a principal attorney for the Baller Herbst Law Group, he has fought these interests on behalf of local governments and utilities for the right to build and operate new telecommunication networks. Baller's clients include the American Public Power Association, the National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors, and individual local governments and public power utilities in more than 35 states. Over the last decade, he has been involved in many of the leading community broadband projects in the United States and in most of the legislative and court battles over state barriers to municipal entry. In particular, he was lead counsel in cases that struck down barriers to entry in Missouri and Virginia. Baller was also counsel of record when the case in Missouri went before the U.S. Supreme Court. As Americans thirst for more advanced technology, such as high-speed Internet access, some municipalities and government-owned utilities are building their own fiber-based or advanced wireless networks. Most of these networks so far have been built in rural regions where large phone companies and cable companies are reluctant to build out infrastructure. But the movement is also spreading into more densely populated areas as communities look for ways to attract new businesses. The increased competition has struck a nerve with local phone and cable providers, who argue that municipalities have an unfair advantage because they have access to tax money to build and maintain these networks. They also argue that municipalities are often the ones regulating and approving the construction of such networks. CNET News.com recently spoke to Baller, who is considered one of the most knowledgeable lawyers in this field, on two separate occasions from his office in Washington, D.C., about the growth of municipally owned networks, competing with the Baby Bells and the cable companies, and losing the Missouri case in the Supreme Court. http://news.com.com/2008-1037-5190220.html ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 15 Apr 2004 01:42:00 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Negotiations Stalled for Voice Actors in 'The Simpsons' By BERNARD WEINRAUB LOS ANGELES, April 13 - On television Homer J. Simpson is an underachiever, the safety inspector at the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant, with the record for most years worked at an entry-level position. In real life Mr. Simpson and his family of subversives have, by the estimate of accountants employed by the actors who supply their voices, earned Fox upward of $2.5 billion as the stars of one of the longest-running prime-time series in television history. Now those actors are demanding their share of the wealth. Insisting that "The Simpsons" would not be the same without them, the professionals behind the voices of Homer, Bart, Marge and the show's other animated characters are holding out for the kind of financial rewards earned by actors on hit sitcoms like "Friends" and "Frasier." Hollywood executives say that the actors' insistence on not just a near tripling of their salaries -- to $8 million a season -- but also on a share of the show's profits is a first for an animated series, a genre that studios and networks have counted on for predictable costs and peaceable casts. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/14/arts/television/14SIMP.html ------------------------------ From: panoptes@iquest.net (Daniel W. Johnson) Subject: Re: Spam Issues Date: 14 Apr 2004 15:19:13 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Maybe some of you guys who know about > this kind of thing can give me some advice. What do you show, if > anything about 24.119.225.28 and any blacklists? Thanks. PAT] A comprehensive check at http://moensted.dk/spam/?addr=24.119.225.28 shows five entries. Four of them are of no concern, and I don't think the Pan-Am Dynamic List is worth worrying about. ------------------------------ From: Geoffrey Welsh Subject: Re: Spam Issues Date: Thu, 15 Apr 2004 09:47:24 -0400 Organization: Primus Canada > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: And when I used to run my 'business > directory'-- remember those? -- chock full of spammers toll free > numbers (when spammers were foolish enough to have those; a few still > do), I guess the same thing could be said about me; my 'express > intention' was to encourage people to abuse the spammers by > bankrupting them on their phone bill. Hold on, Pat: there's a big difference between making available a list of business telephone numbers which the owners have advertised and a list of private home addresses like the anti-abortion activists publish! And, frankly, I'd love for some spammer to try to explain to a court why I shouldn't cost him a few cents in toll-free long distance service without his prior permission when his whole business model is based on sending e-mail -- which costs each receiver a tiny amount, incrementally -- without their prior permission. I will gladly stop calling any spammer who opts out. (No, I don't do that -- I don't want to stoop to their level. But I won't condemn those who do only as a reaction.) Geoffrey Welsh Always looking for a good condition original 'chicklet keyboard' Commodore PET ------------------------------ From: mike@temperateNOSPAMclimate.com Subject: Recording telephone Line to PC Date: Wed, 14 Apr 2004 23:47:40 +0100 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com I have a Zoom 3049 modem with which I want to record all conversations on the telephone line to PC, both incoming and outbound calls. Also, conversations on other extensions in the home phone system. Callcorder is supposed to do this, but doesn't. There is some software called Communicate with the modem, but I can't quite get that to work either. What suggestions would people offer for _reliable_ software which will work with this capable modem? Or should I buy some other modem instead? Thanks. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: You may wish to check with Mike Sandman at http://www.sandman.com . In his catalog he has various devices to record from telephone lines to a computer. I have two of them here; one plugs into a telephone handset (between handset and main part of the phone), the other sits between the computer and the (entire) phone. Both of them can plug in directly to the sound card. If you have any form of audio capture software they should work okay. In fact, Mike may have some software to work with them as well. (I just use the Microsoft voice recorder and capture from the 'line' input.) PAT] ------------------------------ From: Wesrock@aol.com Date: Wed, 14 Apr 2004 19:15:53 EDT Subject: Re: AOL Quietly Opens its Mail System to Outside World In a message dated Wed, 14 Apr 2004 00:33:26 -0400, Barry Margolin < barmar@alum.mit.edu> writes: >> Error : AOL email accounts are not POP3 or IMAP4 compatible. >> You must have POP3 or IMAP4 compatible email account to use mail2web. >> Is this because they haven't updated their auto-response to AOL mail >> requests? > It looks like it to me. If this message were due to an actual error > that they encountered trying to access the AOL mail server, I doubt it > would be so well customized. Since AOL users are likely to be > computer-illiterate, it looks like they put in a special case for it > so that they could generate a message that's relatively > understandable. "Relatively understandable"? If you really think AOL users are likely to be computer illiterate, why would you think they would be able to assign any meaning to "POP3" or "IMAP4"? Wes Leatherock wesrock@aol.com wleathus@yahoo.com ------------------------------ From: steve_schefter@hotmail.com (Steve Schefter) Subject: Re: QLLC Question, Please Help Date: 15 Apr 2004 06:25:47 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Hi Tom, Tom N. wrote in message news:: > I have to look at how SDLC frames are put into TCP/IP packets. I've > been told one way to do it is to put the SDLC frame into an X.25 data > packet, using QLLC. Then the X.25 data packet will be encapsulated > into TCP/IP using the XOT protocol. The XOT document is available at > the IETF web site, but I have had no luck in finding the QLLC > specs. Could someone help me by giving a pointer or by giving me a > brief description of how SDLC is converted into X.25 as specified by > QLLC? Thank you very much in advance. First, if you want to learn about QLLC, that spec is/was published by IBM. With a quick look at the results of a search for QLLC at their website, you can at least get a summary. When using QLLC, you don't put SDLC frames into the X.25 data packet. SDLC and QLLC both act at the same layer (the data link layer). QLLC works at layer 2, treating the X.25 virtual circuit as a wire much the same way as SDLC works with a wire. If you want to go from SDLC to QLLC, you are taking only the data out of the SDLC frames and sending that over a QLLC connection. The implication of this is that whatever would be doing the switching of the data between SDLC and QLLC (an SNA network node) would have to be an end point from the point-of-view of the SDLC connection. It would be responsible for establishing the SDLC connection (SNRM, UA exchange) as well as doing the polling, acks, etc on the SDLC connection rather than having these go end-to-end. What you are describing (using QLLC/X.25/XOT) is probably technically doable, but not usual. More likely you want to skip QLLC/X.25 (as much as I'd like to recommend X.25, being in that business). Rather, there's a standard for switching between SDLC and IP directly: Data Link Switching (DLSw). This is described in RFCs 1795 and 2166. It does something similar to what I described above: acts as an end-point for the SDLC connection and maintains a TCP socket to the remote. Regards, Steve Schefter phone: +1 705 725 9999 x26 The Software Group Limited fax: +1 705 725 9666 642 Welham Road, Barrie, Ontario CANADA L4N 9A1 Web: www.wanware.com ------------------------------ From: wink_1000@yahoo.com (bleed-22) Subject: Lucent GX 550 / CBX 500 Date: 14 Apr 2004 13:27:25 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com What is the difference between "Simple" and "Jump" Rate Enforcement Schemes? What do they do? What is a "bad pvc"? Why does "simple" rate enforcement disable "bad pvc" detection? ------------------------------ Date: 14 Apr 2004 20:08:18 -0000 From: John Levine Subject: Re: Phone Gateways, was Re: VoIP is Just Phone Service Organization: I.E.C.C., Trumansburg NY USA > I guess that basically any private system can be connected to the PSTN > at various points. I remember that back in the 1960's (and probably > still today) the Chesapeake and Ohio railroad (then recently merged > with the B&O railroad) had their own private phone system. The > interesting thing was that by dialing various codes you could route > your calls yourself(!) and you could get to C&O or B&O company > switchboards in various parts of the country, where you could jump off > onto the PSTN and make a local call. It worked in reverse, too -- I > once placed a call to the train depot in my home town by calling the > C&O switchboard in Detroit. I'm not sure what the phone company > thought about that, or if they even knew that it was taking place. That's known as PBX leakage and it at least used to be a tariff issue. If you had a tieline from one PBX to another, the phone company charged you one rate if it was a pure tieline used only for calls from one PBX to the other, and a higher rate if calls could "leak" out to the PSTN. As you can imagine, a lot of the leakage was inadvertent and there were cat and mouse games with "you leak", "no we don't", "yes you do", "we don't any more", etc. Given how cheap POTS calls have become, I get the impression that dedicated tie lines for voice calls rarely make sense any more and it's more common to use virtual tie lines where one PBX dials out over the PSTN to a DID or DISA number on the remote PBX. To address an obvious question, companies still do have dedicated data tie lines. I have no idea what the rules are when you use VoIP to make a voice tie lines over a data line and I doubt that anyone else does, either. Regards, John Levine johnl@iecc.com Primary Perpetrator of "The Internet for Dummies" Information Superhighwayman wanna-be, http://iecc.com/johnl, Mayor "More Wiener schnitzel, please", said Tom, revealingly. John R. Levine, IECC, POB 727, Trumansburg NY 14886 +1 607 330 5711 johnl@iecc.com Village Trustee and Sewer Commissioner http://iecc.com/johnl Member, Provisional board, Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial E-mail [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: John, I am curious about the word 'Mayor' in your signature above. Did you get elected as mayor there in Trumansburg? PAT] ------------------------------ From: BobGoudreau@notchurbiz.com Subject: Re: VoIP's Broadband Bottleneck Date: Wed, 14 Apr 2004 16:06:40 -0400 [Pat, please obscure my email address as usual. Thanks.] Rich Higgins wrote: > The cable operators, through CableLabs, have produced a set of > specifications that address the need to provide a guarantee of quality > of service for voice (today) and other real time applications (future). > Until October of last year I was the principal corporate VoIP engineer > for Time Warner Cable which is in the midst of a national residential > VoIP rollout. With the PacketCable model, as long as you are on a > call you are guaranteed bandwidth regardless of whatever else is > happening on the cable. I have to give a real-life testimonial to what Mr. Higgins said above. Since last December, I have subscribed to Time-Warner Cable's new "Digital Phone" service (http://www.twcnc.com/digital_phone/index.cfm), and I am extremely satisfied with it. The techs showed up at my house, replaced my existing Motorola Surfboard cable modem with a Surfboard VoIP cable modem and then hooked me up to TWC's phone service. This meant that they disconnected my line from the BellSouth demarc and plugged in a line between the new cable modem and the nearest RJ-11 jack in my wall. The longest step (> 1 hour) was waiting for BellSouth to release my number so that it could be ported to TWC. But once that was done, every jack in my house went live with the new service. All existing phones (including the fax function of my printer) work great. The voice quality is indistinguishable from what BellSouth offered before. And it's consistent too, so apparently that PacketCable QoS feature really functions as advertised. I have performed measurements uploading and downloading files while simulaneously speaking on the phone and have noticed no loss of data bandwidth or degradation of voice quality. The price is pretty good at $39.95 plus taxes per month, for unlimited calling across all of the United States and all its NANP territories, plus all of Canada. (The only US territory not included is American Samoa, but I'll bet that they throw that in too once it joins the NANP later this year.) It would cost more if I weren't also a subscriber to their cable TV and RoadRunner broadband service. Of course, the service includes caller-ID, call waiting and caller-ID call waiting. No voice mail yet, however. Regarding the recent comments by Professor Gray that "even if some people agree to use VoIP on the back end, they will still want a 'telephone' in the house", I have to say that VoIP from my cable company looks and smells just like POTS, even to the extent of getting to keep my phone number and my listing the in BellSouth white pages. Cableco-provided VoIP may thus have an edge in chasing the "Aunt Tilly" market over competing solutions such as Vonage that require a bit more customer awareness to install and use. Bob Goudreau Cary, NC [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: This is *exactly* the plan that CableOne has for here in Independence. We used to have Time-Warner but our town was 'swapped out' for another community and CableOne took over. It will be a while before it gets started; I think the lady in the office told me maybe they were going to work out some deal with Prairie Stream, our local telephone provider. Both of them are anxious to gang up on Southwestern Bell. Gee, I wonder why? (snicker) PAT] ------------------------------ From: Steven J Sobol Subject: Re: AT&T Wireless Announces Aggressive New Offer Date: Wed, 14 Apr 2004 15:23:43 -0500 Monty Solomon wrote: > REDMOND, Wash., April 14 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- AT&T Wireless > (NYSE:AWE) today announced an aggressive new national flagship offer, > AT&T Wireless GSM(TM) America, which eliminates roaming charges for > many customers. Historically, this is rather significant since AT&T, several years ago, was the first to offer a no-roaming-no-long-distance-anywhere- in-the-country plan (Digital One-Rate). The question is how good AT&T's GSM coverage and that of their roaming partners actually is. JustThe.net Internet & New Media Services, Apple Valley, CA PGP: 0xE3AE35ED Steven J. Sobol, Geek In Charge / 888.480.4NET (4638) / sjsobol@JustThe.net Domain Names, $9.95/yr, 24x7 service: http://DomainNames.JustThe.net/ "someone once called me a sofa, but i didn't feel compelled to rush out and buy slip covers." -adam brower * Hiroshima '45, Chernobyl '86, Windows 98/2000/2003 ------------------------------ Reply-To: Matt J. Britt From: Matt J. Britt Subject: Re: Calif. Lawmaker Moves to Block Google's Gmail Date: Wed, 14 Apr 2004 20:46:41 GMT Dr. Joel M. Hoffman wrote in message news:telecom23.187.10@telecom-digest.org: >> SAN FRANCISCO, April 12 (Reuters) - A California state senator on >> Monday said she was drafting legislation to block Google Inc.'s free >> e-mail service "Gmail" because it would place advertising in personal >> messages after searching them for key words. > I must say -- I don't understand either the motivation behind this > attempt or its legality. Google is offering a service, making it > clear what it is. There are lots of people who would be happy to put > up with targeted ads in return for free e-mail, just as there are lots > of people who put up with targeted ads in return for lower prices at > the supermarked (with "bonus" or "discount" cards). > Where's the problem? > -Joel > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I have to wonder why Yahoo is not > getting the wrath of this silly legislator as well. Yahoo has placed > ads around its free email and groups things for a long time now as > well. In fact, Yahoo tries to grab you the minute you come in the > door with its spy cookies supplied by the 'Avenue A' promotions thing, > although I do not accept Avenue A spy cookies. My copy of 'Ad-Aware' > dispenses with those when it sees them coming. Yahoo does not even > tell you about them. They just dump them on your hard drive. I wonder > why the California legislator feels obliged to pick on Google. Who > do they think is going to pay for the cost of 'free email', Catholic > Charities, perhaps? Aren't legislatures silly people most of the > time? PAT] You first must understand the mindset of people in the Peoples Republic of California. Legislators in that Special Administrative District feel that the citizenry are not smart enough to think for themselves. (I lived there for 25 years.) California is a very progressive (and expensive) state, and in that respect legislation is enacted to provide protection to its' citizens... Free will? What's that? Matt [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Same way in the People's Republic of Northern Illinois (commonly known as Chicago). No one knows anything and all must be humored. Ask any of the public servants. In 1999, the franchise agreement for Commonweath Edison (electric utility) was due to expire, and the city council members actually had the brass bedsprings to suggest 'municipalizing' Edison facilities ('municipalizing' is a fancy word for stealing or armed robbery). As word got around that if that happened, the same outfit who run the busses (transit atrocity) and public housing (housing atrocity) and the schools -- ah yes, the public schools in Chicago -- was now going to be running the nuclear generating plants as well, people got a bit scared. The plan did not go through, but Mayor Daley and his council were dead serious on wanting it to be done at first. PAT] ------------------------------ From: greg t. knopf Subject: Re: Philly Area Miliwatt (1004 Hz) Test Number Needed Date: 15 Apr 2004 10:01:53 EDT Organization: Concentric Internet Services Reply-To: gtknopf@concentric.net Gerry, > Thanks. I'll put my toner on the house side of the demarc with the > telco disconnected and measure the tone levels on all the wires and > lines to see which which ones are marginal. The rest of the tests > don't need the miliwatt tone. Common sense rules again. I'm so used > to using the tone I didn't think the problem through completely. Don't you suspect that the wiring in an old row house has been done in series? You know, one outlet spliced to the next and so on? If you have a toner I imagine you have all the other telco toys. Perhaps you should bring some hardware along too and rewire the whole thing. Just a thought. - greg gtknopf@concentric.net info@knopfnet.com ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com (Lisa Hancock) Subject: Re: Some Marketers Finding Ways Around Do Not Call list Date: 15 Apr 2004 09:40:02 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Monty Solomon wrote > Even the law can't stop all sales calls But consumer agencies say > desperate telemarketers are turning to all sorts of creative methods > in an attempt to connect with new customers. The recent "Do Not Call List" and "Privacy" laws had more holes than a screen door. Hole #1 -- Prior contact: If you've have had any contact with a company, they can call you. The above sweepstakes is just one way to create a "contact". Every company you normally do business week -- your bank, dry cleaner, etc., represents a legitimate contact. Hole #2 -- Widespread links: If you read the fine print of your "Privacy" agreement with your bank, insurer, etc., you'll note that it says the company may share your information with "affiliates". Well, those "affiliates" can be anybody -- from a long time business partner to a temporary marketing firm. For example, if you bank at the ABC Bank, you can get a phone call "Hi, this is ABC Bank calling, we have a special for ABC customers ..." Once traditional staid private organizations--like banks--now often rent their customers to "affiliates" to sell stuff. Also, banks call you themselves to sell you things like stock market accounts. Hole #3 -- Non Profits: They are exempt. Some non-profits are "non" profit in name/charter only, but just a cover for a profitable enterprise. Some marketing companies make deal with a non-profit group or claim they're one themselves. "Hi, we're calling from the Firefighter's Fund ..." Comment about privacy: Many people think privacy issues relate to "big brother" or the "government" (any level). But people don't realize how much personal information is collected and shared in the private sector, and how that can have a much greater impact in your life. Some employers check a prospective employee's credit rating and won't hire people with a bad rating (of course, if someone is out of work, they just might naturally have lousy credit which is why they're looking for job!) Mortgage companies and apartment complexes check credit and other databases, and could use adverse information as an excuse to charge you more money. How carefully does your telephone company (both landline and wireless) protect your telephone usage records? Historically, the old time Bell companies never released any of that. But many people don't even use Bell descendants any more, and even they have changed. Information represents big profit potential, and companies are eager to milk it. ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Thu, 15 Apr 2004 09:55:24 -0400 Subject: New York Panel Explores Phone 'Crisis' Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.democratandchronicle.com/biznews/0415BN3U6SV_business.shtml By Yancy Roy Albany Bureau (April 15, 2004) ALBANY New York's hard-wired telephone service is entering a crisis facing intense competition from wireless companies and a burgeoning Internet telephone service which may radically alter the telecommunications landscape, said an Assemblyman who held hearings Wednesday. Right now, companies such as Verizon that provide hard-wired phone systems must provide universal service to all areas. The company foots the bill and passes on some of the costs to customers. [Assemblyman Richard] Brodsky speculated on whether Internet-based phone companies, such as Vonage, should be made to share in the costs even though they don't own phone lines. Vonage Holdings Corp. CEO Jeffrey Citron said no. The market place has provided plenty of phone options and likely will provide even more in the coming years, Citron said. States shouldn't handcuff new companies with regulations that discourage investment. If the market doesn't cover all localities, the state should cover costs of providing universal service rather than specific companies or telephone users, Citron said. Vonage, which has about 135,000 users, gives customers an adapter and a phone that can be plugged into a high-speed Internet connection. Such a service would be more properly regulated at the federal level than by states, Citron said. He urged lawmakers to resist the temptation to wedge us into existing telephone regulations. Rather than subject Internet-based phone companies to regulations faced by traditional phone companies, the state should ease rules on all phone companies, said Paul Crotty, president of the Verizon New York Group. Full story at: http://www.democratandchronicle.com/biznews/0415BN3U6SV_business.shtml How to Distribute VoIP Throughout a Home: http://michigantelephone.mi.org/distribute.html If you live in Michigan, subscribe to the MI-Telecom group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MI-Telecom/ ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Thu, 15 Apr 2004 09:57:35 -0400 Subject: Western Iowa Telephone Deploys MetaSwitch for VoIP Network Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20040415005019&newsLang=en Western Iowa Telephone Deploys MetaSwitch for VoIP Network; Rural Service Provider Aims to Provide VoIP Across Iowa ALAMEDA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 15, 2004---MetaSwitch, the leading provider of broadband Class 5 switching solutions, today announced that Western Iowa Telephone Association has selected the MetaSwitch VP3500 to augment and eventually replace its existing legacy switches in eight exchanges serving residential and business customers in western Iowa. MetaSwitch was selected after a thorough evaluation that included all of the leading next generation switch vendors. Vantage Point Solutions, Inc., a telecommunications engineering and consulting firm, provided engineering services for the project. "After an exhaustive requirements analysis MetaSwitch emerged as the preferred vendor for Western Iowa Telephone's configuration based on functionality, support track record and stability," said John M. DeWitte, P.E., Vice President of Engineering, Vantage Point Solutions, Inc. "MetaSwitch had also successfully passed the Iowa Network Services (INS) certification for interconnection to the statewide shared access network." "We wanted a vendor that could truly deliver an IP interface together with the new services we need for our customers," said Phil Robinson, Operations Manager of Western Iowa Telephone Association. "We successfully installed the MetaSwitch VP3500 and will soon begin migrating our 3000+ residential and business subscribers to the system. The switch is performing to expectations." "Western Iowa Telephone Association is a forward-thinking service provider with a very successful business model," said Bob Harvey, MetaSwitch Regional Manager. "They are ready to take advantage of the operational economies of an all-packet network as well as delivering IP-based services such as Internet data, voice, and broadcast quality video." The MetaSwitch VP3500 is the leading broadband-enabled Next Generation Class 5 Switch in North America, with over 40 deployments, and support for VoIP, VoATM and GR-303, as well as advanced Web-based subscriber services. Service providers are able to simultaneously serve customers in multiple calling areas with over 100 Class 5 features and services. The MetaSwitch VP3500 is easy to deploy and scales from 400 to over 250,000 subscribers in a single rack. Full press release at: http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20040415005019&newsLang=en ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Thu, 15 Apr 2004 09:59:17 -0400 Subject: Viper Tests VOIP Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.unstrung.com/document.asp?doc_id=51013 SAN DIEGO -- Viper Networks Inc. announced today it has successfully tested and approved a hand held Wi-Fi VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) telephone for deployment in May. Full story at: http://www.unstrung.com/document.asp?doc_id=51013 ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Thu, 15 Apr 2004 11:38:32 -0400 Subject: Insights Into Vonage's Marketing Department Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com An interesting look into how the marketing department at Vonage operates -- I especially noticed their concern with "churn" (a marketing term for what happens when customers leave a particular provider to go with the competition): http://www.marketingsherpa.com/sample.cfm?contentID=2668 How to Get Your Marketing Budget & Tests Approved by the CFO Over the past six months, nearly every marketer we've interviewed in about their career has bought up the same exact point, "You have to have a solid relationship with your CFO to get ahead." Great, so how do you do that? We contacted a CFO to ask him. We have a very interesting relationship, we work on it every day, says Vonage CFO John Rego of the company's CMO, Dean Harris. "Dean sits close to me, he can scoot over any time and ask a question." http://www.marketingsherpa.com/sample.cfm?contentID=2668 [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I still have my Vonage e-coupons for any interested readers. The e-coupon gets you the second month totally free (or whatever kind of service you purchase from them.) Do not sign up until you get your e-coupon, and use the link in it to sign up. Send email marked 'not for pub' to editor@telecom-digest.org . PAT] ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Thu, 15 Apr 2004 12:06:02 -0400 Subject: VoIP Policy Working Group Announced Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://news.designtechnica.com/article3361.html This new group seeks to prevent a patchwork of state regulation that would stifle vital technological advancement. Leading the policy debate regarding the emerging technology of Voice-over-the Internet Protocol (VoIP), which transmits voice communications using the Internet protocol, the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) today announced the creation of a VoIP Policy Working Group, which will operate within the CEA Government Affairs Council. "It is vitally important to ensure that this revolutionary technology is not stifled by over-regulation," said CEA President and CEO Gary Shapiro. "The success of many new consumer electronics products and other industries' products depends on the widespread availability of broadband technology. VoIP services clearly will drive the necessary consumer demand for broadband. This new CEA Working Group is committed to ensuring these VoIP services are not hampered by burdensome state and federal regulations." 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