Sixth Nomination for VoIP Supply in 2013 Best Places to Work in Western New York

April 1, 2013 by Nathan Miloszewski

For the sixth time in the company’s 10 year history, VoIP Supply was named to the 2013 class of Western New York’s Best Places to Work by Buffalo Business First newspaper.

The 2013 Best Places to Work award, sponsored by Buffalo’s Business First newspaper and Quantum Market Research, recognizes companies in the Western New York area that:

  • Maintain high standards of accountability
  • Create an exceptional customer experience
  • Cultivate a great company culture
  • Have core values that are supported by both management and stakeholders

Great Customer Experience and Great Working Environment

Employees of nominated companies voluntarily share opinions through a survey about co-worker attitude, teamwork, working relationships, supervisor feedback, and overall work environment.Best Places To Work Generic Logo

“The Best Places to Work award is one that we cherish and strive to earn every year,” said Ben Sayers, CEO of VoIP Supply. “This nomination has nothing to do with sales, revenue, profits or other financial metrics; it’s all about our people and our culture.”

“It’s wonderful to witness the passion and determination of our people work collectively to create new ideas, bend over backwards to help each other and their customers, and generate the positive energy that empowers our culture,” said Sayers.

“I’m proud of each one of them, thrilled to work by their sides, and thankful every day for their effort and determination to exceed expectations.”

More from: Announcements Nathan Miloszewski

Cisco SPA504G (VSRF) Salvage Edition

by Tom Costelloe

During 2009 when the world economy was struggling VoIP Supply launched their VoIP Supply Refreshed (VSRF) or Refresh phones as an alternative to new-in-box phones from manufacturers but without the risks and uncertainty of used phones from eBay.

To make this happen VoIP Supply set up a detailed 10 step reconditioning process that each phone goes through where they are examined, upgraded, reset to defaults and repackaged with all of the parts, a CD that includes all the datasheets and manuals and a certificate of Refreshness signed by the VoIP Supply employee who Refreshed the phone. Additionally each phone comes with a six month Plus 6 Warranty that can be extended to 1 year for a small fee.

Earlier this year Nate Martin asked if they could take a phone home to do a custom refresh on the phone. Taking a Cisco SPA504G home Nate worked for two months trying different ways he could customize the phone to mixed results until eventually he unveiled his prototype, Cisco SPA504G (VSRF) Salvage Edition.

Cisco SPA504G VSRF Salvage Edition

While the telephony features of the SPA504G Salvage Edition aren’t any different it has gone through several noticeable cosmetic enhancements:

  • Taking inspiration from an Eames Lounge Chair he gave the phone a fresh coat of shiny black paint
  • To keep on the Eames theme he replaced the panel around the display with a custom wood panel which he engraved with the Cisco logo and SPA504G model number before varnishing it
  • As a further nod to the 1960s the numerical dial pad keys were replaced with old typewriter keys that he was able to salvage from a typewriter he bought from Buffalo ReUse
  • Further still with the 60s inspiration the curly phone cable has been replaced by a curly guitar amp cable. An update was the integration of a phone handset cord swivel on both ends to help reduce knots in the cable
  • One final change is the replacement of the 4 direction knob for menu navigation with the directional pad from his old Nintendo NES controller

When asked about for his thoughts Ben Sayers, VoIP Supply CEO, first asked for it to be put on his desk before going on to say “I am really impressed with what he has done with creating this phone. Besides being a very unique piece it also incorporates and can be used as an example of a lot of the values that VoIP Supply stands from.”

To show his support for the work that had done VoIP Supply has commissioned an initial run of 25 Cisco SPA504G (VSRF) Salvage phones.

More from: VoIP Phones Tom Costelloe

First Look: Polycom SoundStation Connect

March 28, 2013 by Tom Costelloe

Since their first conference phone in 1992 the Polycom product catalog has expanded to include video conferencing, telepresence, VoIP phones among other products but with over 4 million conference phones shipped and an 80 percent share of the conference phone market place (Polycom Ships 4 Millionth Conference Phone) they haven’t forgotten their roots. This week Polycom announced the latest addition to the SoundStation conference phone family with the release of the Polycom SoundStation Connect.

Polycom Connect

What Is It?

The Polycom Connect is a USB conference phone that is targeted towards Unified Communications (UC) users. The Polycom Connect can be used with any UC softphone application and can be connect via the included USB cable to computers (Mac, Windows or Linux) without the need for drivers making it easy to install and starting using.

The Polycom Connect has a familiar starfish design with 3 cardioid microphones for a 360 degree microphone pickup of up to 7ft. There is also a 3.5mm headphone jack that can be used with headphones for privacy on a call or for audio pass-through by connecting desktop computer speakers.

Since it is designed to be used with computer based softphone applications the number of keys has been stripped down to the essential keys for call and volume control. There also is no display on the phone but there is one LED for call status.

This SoundStation conference phone features many of the same audio enhancements that you get from other Polycom conference phones including automatic gain control, dynamic noise reduction and gated microphones with intelligent switching.

Who Is It For?

The target audience for the Polycom Connect is UC users in a small to medium room setting. The smaller microphone range makes it a good match for up to 8 people but might not be suited for larger groups or rooms. My thoughts are small offices or home offices with be a good match. The relatively smaller size, 9 inches, also makes it quite portable and a good match for road warriors.

Another possible use for the Polycom Connect is for handling the audio on video conferencing calls for individuals or small groups at a PC or laptop.

In his review on . . . and I thought I saw a 2, Greig gives a nice 10 word summary, “think of it as an upgraded version of the CX100,” in addition to a very good hands on review.

Polycom Connect in Use

Pricing?

The Polycom Connect has an MSRP of $299.99.

Availability

While there is no firm date the scheduled release date is currently scheduled for late April 2013 and VoIP Supply is currently taking pre-orders.

Update: After having it’s release date pushed back several times it was announced that the Polycom SoundStation Connect will not be released.

More from: First Look Tom Costelloe

Vivotek Decoded

March 27, 2013 by Taylor Hamp

FD8362E

The funny thing about model numbers is they sort of make sense, but not always. Fortunately, VoIP Supply is here to help with our dedication to help make the buying process easier! Today we discuss the naming convention of a particular favorite brand of mine, Vivotek:

Prefixes:

  • IP (ex: IP8331) — Network. Think of it as IP, like Internet Protocol, even though all of Vivotek’s cameras are network cameras (and most are PoE, though not all), this naming convention tends to be the default for most box, cube, and bullet cameras.

 

 

  • SD (ex: SD8111) — Speed Dome: allows these large mounted optical zoom, pan and tilt IP cameras to get images up close without losing pixel integrity that you might experience in ePTZ (digital zoom), depending on the application you need it for.

 

 

  • FE (ex: FE8172) — Fisheye: it gives you the full 360 degree picture or a 180 degree panoramic. It’s an excellent example of where ePTZ would be preferred and work perfectly. A single fisheye camera can replace nearly 4 fixed cameras in one go, and the dewarping technology allows you to view the picture without any of that curve.

 

  • PD (ex: PD8136) — Pan/Tilt Dome. Exactly what it sounds like; no optical zoom. But this sleek little dome is chock full of a 1 Megapixel CMOS sensor, triple codec, and on board storage.

 

 

  • PZ (ex: PZ8111) — Pan/Tilt/Zoom: similar to PT, these cameras have a fun, modern shape and provide the optical zoom you might be looking for.

 

What the numbers mean:

The actual numbers of each camera model hold some significance too. While the convention isn’t followed to a ‘T’, you can bank of the first of the 4 numbers to give you some good indication.

  • 7000 – while they’re going out the door slowly but surely, a few are still around. So, let’s instead focus our attention to the future:

 

  • 8000 – any cameras beginning with an 8 imply that it is the 8000 series model. Will all 8000 series models, all Vivotek IP cameras are H.264/MPEG4/MJPEG, ONVIF compliant, and all but the VS8801 and VS8401 have SD card slots.

Second digit: This number will let you know how to apply the camera. If the number is a 1 it’s indoor. If it’s a 3, it’s for outdoor use.

Third digit: As my friend at Vivotek says, this is where it gets weird.

  • 3 – 1MP resolution
  • 5 – 1.3MP resolution
  • 6 – 2MP resolution
  • 71 – 3MP resolution, the third and fourth digits are to be read together
  • 72 – 5MP resolution, the third and fourth digits are to be read together

Fourth digit: That’s for Vivotek to know and us to find out…

Suffixes:

 

 

 

 

 

  • W (ex: PT8133W) — Wireless. While this particular example is for the n Network, the other wireless options do support 802.11b/g/n.

 

And there you have it! It’s a little lengthy, but with this in hand you should begin looking at Vivotek IP cameras with confidence.

More from: IP Camera Features Taylor Hamp Naming convention Vivotek Vivotek IP Cameras

AVer Makes Video Conferencing in the Classroom Easier

March 22, 2013 by Tom Costelloe

Schools are using video conferencing to both help provide students with a more interactive and fulfilling education, as well as providing better services to the students. Some of the ways that schools are utilizing video conferencing include:

  • Virtual Field Trips – With video conferencing, classrooms can visit distant places remotely to enhance lesson plans.
  • Shared Staff Resources – With tightening budgets, some schools find it difficult to get their students the staffing resources needed to guarantee academic success. Video conferencing gives every school in a district remote access to specialty staff and resources.
  • Distance Learning – With video conferencing, schools can host special guest lecturers, mentors, or even career days with presenters from virtually anywhere.

Taiwanese based manufacturer AVer is trying to make video conferencing in the classroom easier and more accessible with their “just right” range of video conferencing solutions. With AVer video conferencing the aim is to make it easy for schools to implement and maintain their video conferencing system by making them:

  • Easy-to-buy – AVer has stopped things from becoming overly complicated by having one sku for each product that includes everything you need for the system from the codec to the cables.
  • Easy-to-use – The plug-n-play installation means you will be up and running in minutes and once you are the AVer systems have been designed to be easy to navigate.
  • Easy-to-maintain – There are no ongoing or hidden fees for firmware, features or software. All AVer products also include a 3-year manufacturer warranty.
  • Easy-to-fund – AVer video conferencing solutions come in at 1/3 the cost of comparable solutions from other manufacturers making them more accessible for schools on a limited budget.

The AVer HVC110 and the AVer HVC310 are the two video conferencing solutions from Aver which help schools enrich students’ educations through video conferencing. Both models support H.323 and SIP, HD720p 30fps video, dual displays, content sharing (wireless or through a VGA port) and include a 7X PTZ camera.

The HVC310 includes some additional features like an integrated 4-way MCU, meeting recording functionality and can incorporate Skype video and voice calls when used in conjunction with the AVer VCBridge.

Some major benefits of the AVer HVC110 and HVC310 are no annual maintenance, feature, firmware or software fees. Additionally both systems include a manufactures 3-Year Warranty. Most importantly both systems are easy-to-buy, easy-to-use, easy-to-maintain and easy-to-fund helping to make video conferencing with AVer “just right.”

More from: Small Business VoIP Tom Costelloe

Just Released! The MOBOTIX App: The Premium Solution

March 15, 2013 by Taylor Hamp

Mx_WB_MxFrontPage_App_en_130221

Good things come to those who wait, and our patience has finally paid off! MOBOTIX just announced their new app for iPhones, iPods, iPads and iPad Minis and it looks, for lack of a better term, totally awesome.

The MOBOTIX app, simply titled “MOBOTIX”, is compatible with the T24 IP Video Door Station and most MOBOTIX IP cameras. The beauty of this German company is they make an outstanding product: MOBOTIX cameras have no moving parts so there is no mechanical wear and tear, they’re at least IP65 rated for outdoor or indoor use, and can operate in extreme conditions from literally Zugspitze peak to the controlled atmosphere of the Vatican vaults. And this app was specifically created to use the Megapixel lenses, integrated capabilities and long life to their fullest extent.

MOBOTIX spent months and months pouring over the functionality of this app to give you an almost-remote camera station. Granted, it won’t do everything a genuine camera station can do, but it’s pretty near close. With features such as 2-way audio/IP telephony, virtual PTZ, light switch control, door-lock control, recording management and playback, it’s hard not to be forgiving that you still need to configure elsewhere. For more information, you can read all the description details on their App Store download page.

This app has been designed with the remote user in mind. Ideal for mobile bodies, it’s the perfect solution for home security and access control in facilities. With door control, you can let locked-out family members inside, speak with the delivery man dropping off a package, or be alerted directly if someone has broken in. Any sort of scenario you can image, so did the engineers at MOBOTIX, and they created this app to integrate with their outstanding line of high quality IP cameras to maximize the efficiency of that IP security system you installed.

The app is completely free and requires at least iOS 5.0, however MOBOTIX recommends iOS 6.0 for best performance, and the MOBOTIX IP Video Door Station T24/MOBOTIX IP Cameras Q22/D22/M22/D12/M12 will all need their firmware updated to 4.1.4.70 or later, available at http://www.mobotix.com/eng_US/Support/Software-Downloads.

Unfortunately, other smartphones will have to continue the wait as this app is only available for Apple products.

More from: New Products Taylor Hamp iPhone apps Mobotix app viewer apps

Simon Horton of Sangoma Talks about Sangoma SBC Gateways

March 6, 2013 by Tom Costelloe

Earlier this week I had a chance to talk with Simon Horton, Sangoma Director of Product Management. Based out of Sangomas London office, Simon joined Sangoma when they purchased VegaStream who he’d been with since 2003. We talked a little about England’s chances under Hodgson in Brazil 2014, which I ranked at quarterfinals at best but mostly we talked about the new Sangoma Session Border Controllers

This was the first time since the release of the Sangoma Session Border Controllers that I’d had a chance to talk with Simon and get an understanding of what he feels sets the Sangoma SBCs apart from those that are currently available on the market.

Sangoma SBC Blog Banner

VoIP Supply – Before we talk about the new Sangoma Vega Session Border Controllers for those who aren’t aware can you explain what a session border controller or SBC is, what it does and what the benefits are.
Simon Horton – The role of an SBC is to sit on the edge of a network and act as the front door to all IP communications. This adds huge advantages as an SBC is intimate with VoIP it can take a much more active part in securing that network, easing interop, performing media tasks and dealing with policy control. These are areas when traditional firewalls and application aware firewalls do not do a good enough job. There are many disparate roles that an SBC can perform, but I think there are four main areas:

1. Security. Security in VoIP is a big problem including attacks that attempt to disrupt or prevent service, such as denial of service (DoS) or Distributed DoS, and also hacking attacks that can uncover user credentials that can result in toll fraud.

2. Connectivity. Interworking has always been a problem with SIP, both through protocol normalization, making sure that different SIP networks can talk effectively to each other, and firewall (or NAT) traversal, making sure that the signaling and media makes it along the whole route of the intended call.

3. Quality. This can be roughly translated as ensuring that the voice makes it from one end to the other with as little disruption as possible. This can be through packet marking to ensure that the media is treated with the appropriate

4. Media Services. This covers topics like media transcoding, DTMF interworking and call recording. Transcoding involves changing the type of media – the codec – being used in two networks from one type to another, typically to save bandwidth or ensure interoperability.

VS – There are four different versions of SBCs available from Sangoma, what type of deployment do you see each model best for?
SH – The four models are:
Vega Enterprise SBC
Vega VM Enterprise SBC
Vega VM/Hybrid Enterprise SBC
NetBorder Carrier SBC

At Sangoma our goal is to provide flexibility to our customers. For instance, we manufacture boards that fit inside servers to provide telephony connections to both open and closed source IP-PBXs but many customers prefer to use external gateways so we have the Vega gateway line to satisfy that need. We have tried to bring the same flexibility to our SBC offerings in that we offer both hardware and software solutions.

The Vega Enterprise SBC is a 1U hardware appliance that is really targeted at the small to medium enterprise with 50 to 1000 employees. Of course this has the advantage of being a ready-built appliance it is very quick and easy to install and configure.

The software only version of that product is the Vega VM Enterprise SBC. We see a great market where customers want to deploy SBCs on existing infrastructure and take advantage of all the flexibilities that virtualization brings. Again this solution is targeted at the small to medium enterprise.

For software deployments that require more media intensive applications, Sangoma has the Vega VM/Hybrid Enterprise SBC. This is a combination of the same great software line used in our other products but coupled with hardware based transcoding modules that can do the heavy lifting of media processing. This frees up the host CPU to such an extent that the solution can be very scalable indeed. The great advantage here is that the solution can still be virtualized as only an ethernet connection is required between the VM and rack mountable hardware resource. Only Sangoma in the SBC marketplace can offer such a hybrid solution and we see great traction in many different SBC deployment architectures.

At the top of the tree we offer the NetBorder Carrier SBC. This, as the name implies, is targeted at the carrier space with scalability to thousands of simultaneous calls and offering the feature set a small carrier would expect wrapped up in a 1U telco grade hardware solution.

VS – All of the SBCs use the same browser based Web GUI, what sort of information will be available to users through the GUI?
SH – The entire range of features is available through the webUI, there is absolutely no need to have to use any command line interface (CLI), learn complex commands or use text based interfaces. SBCs are by their nature very complex to deploy so Sangoma ensure that all parameters have smart defaults that provide a framework for users to build on. Furthermore the webUI has built in documentation, so every single parameter has contextual based help associated with it. You will see on browsing to the webUI that it’s split into logical sections that deal with system, control panel, dashboard and then the areas more focused on VoIP like signaling, IP settings and media.

VS – The Sangoma SBCs use Session-based Licensing, how does that work and how does it differ from other SBCs.
SH – Early in our development phase we recognized that competitor’s SBC solutions were incredibly complex in their licensing offerings. We wanted to make Sangoma SBCs a very simple proposition for our sales people and channels to understand. All the SBC features that are required are always turned on, there is no menu of other features, like SIP trunking, QOS, SIP over TLS/SRTP – this is all enabled on Sangoma SBCs in the default software license. When talking to potential customers the only question that needs be asked is: “How many simultaneous calls do you need?” The Sangoma range of SBCs scales from low numbers of simultaneous calls, suitable for small office, right up to carrier grade and thousands of simultaneous calls.

VS – Simon, you’ve got 30 seconds: Why Sangoma SBCs?
SH – Here at Sangoma we’re really proud of the range of SBCs that we’ve created. They are very cost effective in the marketplace compared to the competition, especially when the simple licensing model is taken into account. They are extremely easy to provision, the webUI is common to all variants and it really does lead a user through the tasks that are required to get service up and running. In addition to the webUI we have a fantastic tech support team and website where there is a whole host of information. All of our SBCs can be field upgraded so they can grow with a business or carrier. Finally we’re not finished with our development yet, watch this space for even more great innovations around the feature set and infrastructure to make deployment and management even easier.

More from: VoIP Interviews Tom Costelloe

First Look: Polycom VVX Phones and Expansion Modules

February 28, 2013 by Tom Costelloe

In the last quarter of 2012 Polycom made a major addition to their video conferencing product offering with the release of their Polycom Group Series. During this announcement they also released the Polycom VVX 600 to build on their existing Polycom Business Media family.  Earlier this year the family grew a little more with the addition of the Polycom VXX Camera but this week the Polycom Business Media phones family really expanded when it had sextuplets with the release of four new phones and two expansion modules. Two more phones and they would have been in the running for a basic cable reality show.

What Is It?

VVX-300-310-VVX-400-410

(more…)

More from: First Look Tom Costelloe

How to Start a Business in Buffalo – Startup Weekend

February 20, 2013 by Nathan Miloszewski

Starting a business is no easy feat and probably even harder to do in Buffalo, NY. If you’re crazy motivated enough for the latter, the good news is, someone’s got your back.

Buffalo Startup Weekend is aimed at anyone who has an idea but doesn’t know how to get it off the ground.  You don’t even have to be a technical person as Elizabeth Weinberg, an attendee of the first Startup Weekend last year, explains in her blog post.

Weinberg hesitated on going at first, thinking that her skills weren’t the right fit.  She soon found out that what really mattered was her idea, which made the final cut and a team was formed that paired her with “a designer, two programmers and another non-techie.”

Startup Weekend shows that just like in the success of a real business, everyone plays a role.

About Buffalo Startup Weekend

Startup Weekend is a non-profit organization headquartered in Seattle with funding from the Kauffman Foundation, a group focused on education and entrepreneurship. The Startup Weekend event is hosted in cities around the world with their own local speakers, judges, mentors, and organizers.

The Buffalo chapter is entering it’s second year with another 54 hour crash course in entrepreneurism from Friday, March 1st to Sunday, March 3rd at Medaille College.

Here’s how it works:

All Startup Weekend events follow the same basic model: anyone is welcome to pitch their startup idea and receive feedback from their peers. Teams organically form around the top ideas (as determined by popular vote) and then it’s a 54 hour frenzy of business model creation, coding, designing, and market validation. The weekends culminate with presentations in front of local entrepreneurial leaders with another opportunity for critical feedback.

Registration, FAQ

Registration is limited, costs $50 per person or $25 for students, and meals are included. There’s more than one way to get involved – the event encourages a range of skill-sets.  Click here to signup as a:

  • Coder/Developer/Engineer
  • Designer/UX/UI/Illustrator
  • Non-Tech/Marketing/Business

Additional Startup Weekend Resources

Entrepreneur Advice from VoIP Supply CEO

Ben Sayers, CEO of VoIP Supply, is a serial entrepreneur who knows what it takes to do business in WNY.  Read the Benjamin Sayers Blog to learn more about Sayers’ experiences as an entrepreneur and CEO.

Additionally, if you’re up for the entrepreneurial challenge you can contact Sayers through Sayers Technology Holdings whose purpose is to “provide a place of uncovering, teaching and developing leaders” with the goal increasing the new business start-up success rate by 10%.

More from: Announcements Nathan Miloszewski

  • Featured Posts

    VoIP Fulfillment by VoIP Supply: Same-Day Turnaround and High-Quality Output

    Take Action: The End of Copper POTS Lines is Near! (Replacement Options Included)

    *Comparison Chart* Introducing Fanvil’s V Series IP Phones

  • Popular Posts

    5 FREE SIP Softphones and affordable deskphone options

    What's my IP Camera's Default Password?

    FXS and FXO – You should be in the know…

    How To: Upload Firmware to a Polycom Unit

    Tech Tip: Converting a Cisco IP Phone from SCCP (Skinny) to SIP Firmware

    Setting up an Audiocodes MP-114/118 FXO with Asterisk and FreeSwitch

    Setting Up an AudioCodes MP1xx FXS With Asterisk

    3CX Versus Asterisk

    SIP for magicjack

    Bluetooth Headsets for Polycom VVX 500

    5 Reasons Why You Should Sell The Poly (Plantronics) Headsets – Webinar Recap


  • Read Our Feed

  • Latest

  • VoIP Post Categories

  • Archives