NEC Updates its UC
NEC has been in the news recently. The company shared its vision for small cell back haul using 60 Ghz radios. It launched new indoor LTE Femtocell base stations for telecom carriers. It also developed a smartphone solution to gauge…
The DeskPhone – Friend or Foe?
Should the desktop phone be viewed as a visitor or long term resident? Earlier this week, I posted Discussing Cloud Trends at UCStrategies. It includes a prediction by Televerse CTO that desktop phones are doomed. In that post, I take…
Mitel Releases MAS 4.0
Mitel has announced its Mitel Application Suite (MAS) 4.0. The new solution solidifies and simplifies Mitel’s product line and offers a number of key enhancements: collaboration, mobility, scalability, and virtualization. The MAS upgrade expands functionality to replace the Mitel Audio and…
A Brief History of AT&T – Part 3
Today’s AT&T isn’t much like the AT&T from pre-divestature. It doesn’t own Western Electric, it doesn’t have Bell Laboratories, and it isn’t even the same corporation. Today’s AT&T is a renamed Bell South, one of the divested Bell Operating Companies. Bell South simply purchased the AT&T name, along…
Welcome to the Buffet
So as I entered the all you can eat buffet in my local town I was greeted and welcomed in, along with a friend. I paid my $9.95 admission and looked forward to a filling meal. The food was OK,…
Who Profits from Mobile Phone Theft?
My second iPhone was stolen in under a year. It makes me mad that Apple makes a profit of over $100 Million a year by encouraging stolen iPhones. Mind you, I am a seasoned international traveler. I keep my iPhone…
Telecommuting Died 15 Years Ago
About a decade and a half ago I worked with a number of large clients who were implementing telecommuting solutions in their companies. On those projects I watched the demise of telecommuting. It was disturbing. We had finally solved many…
Stop Chatting
The new iPad does not allow FaceTime calls to be made using LTE. FaceTime is the Apple picture phone service that lets you video chat. Now, most businesses want to sell you their products. When you visit a store they…
Google Apps in the Enterprise? Not!
I’m a big fan of Google Apps. I regularly collaborate with others on various projects, and find Google Docs a powerful tool. Most of my documents include multiple editors. I despise making multiple copies and sending them via email –…
A Brief History of AT&T – Part 2
AT&T today exists through the strangest of history. What is known today as AT&T is really the corporate entity of Bell South, one of the operating companies that spun off from AT&T. And, that company is the merger of several of the…
Introducing Colin
Astute readers will have noticed that the PinDropSoup blog on TalkingPointz added an additional blogger: Colin Berkshire. Until Colin, every post was authored by me, but Colin approached me with a some great posts that deserved to be shared, and…
Introducing the CIO Collaboration Network
Next up: The CIO Collaboration Network. It is a silly long name, but does say it all – CIO focused forum for conversations around collaboration. I will be your host, or in webspeak, the Community Manager. The Obvious Questions
How Collaboration Drove Britannica Out of Print
If there were going to be another printed edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica, they might consider updating the section about the Earth being round. Perhaps as with networks, planets also require different descriptions for physical and logical attributes. The Earth…
A Brief History of AT&T – Part 1
Thirty years ago I worked for the Bell System. It was a company that I was proud of. We created the best telecommunications network in the world. Our official mission statement was “To provide the best possible service at the lowest possible…
Avaya Does Have a Rad Vision
Last December, in response to rumors, I posted Does Avaya Have a Radvision? That posted offered up some reasons why the rumor that Avaya might acquire Radvision made sense. Now the rumor is Avaya bought Radvision – yet neither company had…
iPad New or iPad2?
Apple’s price reduction of the iPad2 was a brilliant marketing move. It positioned a product at a price point low enough that anybody considering an Android tablet would likely buy the iPad2 instead. It did it without offering a smaller…
Brother Can You Spare a Minute?
I’ve been thinking a lot about time lately. Time bothers me. It should bother more of us, but most of don’t think that much about it. This year is a leap year (Feb 29th) and will also have a leap…
Asian Cell Plans 101
I get asked all the time by Americans who want to travel to Asia how to get a local cell phone. I also see Americans here in Asia who complain about the $2.50 per minute roaming charges and $200 monthly…
Akhavan at CeBIT
At CeBIT 2012, Siemens Enterprise Communications CEO Hamid Akhavan summarized the the value of having UC embedded in everyday workflows and processes. There is a lot of opportunity in harmonizing communications media, devices and systems to achieve a more agile, responsive,…
Apple: Close to Perfect
I love my iPhone. And, I love my iPad2. I love my iMac, and I travel with an Airport Express. You might think I was a fanboy. The honest truth is that for the past 30 years I have been…