Digital Common Sense

I’ve never met Irwin Lazar, but he’s one of those people I read frequently and highly respect. Irwin’s a well known industry analyst at Nemertes Research and his interests and mine seem to overlap in a number of very different technology areas. Earlier today I got an email from him about The Internet Singularity, Delayed: Why Limits in Internet Capacity Will Stifle Innovation on the Web, a recently released Nemertes report.

The basic conclusion of the report is that based on current trends in carrier investment and traffic growth, there’s a good chance that there will be bandwidth contention issues primarily in North American access networks. This could lead to a situation where Internet Infrastructure is insufficient to support emerging bandwidth intensive applications. The study is based on models we developed and validated using best available data.

Nemertes has also released a FAQ on the report (http://www.nemertes.com/ii) to address some of the criticisms of the model, and we’ve opened up a discussion board at the same link.

At 62 pages, I haven’t made it through the entire report in depth myself. I’ve skipped around and done some reading. I’ve got it queued up for weekend study in depth. And my plan is to come back here and post some more cogent thoughts after some time digesting it. Looks to be a very solid piece of work, but Nemertes work (and Irwin’s) always is.

Technorati Tags: Nemertes Research, irwin Lazar, Internet, capacity

Filed by Ken at 9:14 pm under Technology
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This is a new and different Thanksgiving holiday for me. Something never before experienced.

I’m in a new relationship. It’s something special and wondrous, beyond my ability to imagine in so many ways. Sheryl’s become part of my life and I, the writer, am at an utter loss for words to express my thanks and gratitude for her friendship, her partnership, her love, and the things she teaches me every day.

At the same time, I do feel pain and loss at a strained relationship with my family. The strain is caused by my own actions, yet it exists. And yes, it hurts to know I won’t see my children or grandchildren this Thanksgiving. I love them dearly. I hope they know that. I hope and pray that in time, we’ll find our way back.

There’s really only one person in the world who fully understands the bittersweet mix of joy and pain that I feel. That’s Sheryl, because she feels it too. Hers is different than mine, yet we share, strengthen and comfort one another in our own mix of anticipation, joy, love and growth toward the future. Today is her birthday, and we decided we need some time to step away from the stress and frenzy our lives have been to get away. We’re heading out of town for the long weekend for some time alone together for us, something we haven’t really had since she moved to Olympia.

To my friends, family, and colleagues, I simply wish you a peaceful and safe holiday. May you all be happy and thankful for the wonderful things life has brought your way.

Technorati Tags: Thanksgiving

Filed by Ken at 1:14 pm under General
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My good friend Alec Saunders send a note about a promotion they’re running with their hot Facebook application right now. The application is already free, which makes it a great way to stay in touch with friends and family over the holiday. It’s really been proving popular among many of my friends and colleagues since it was introduced. Now, every person who participates in a call lasting longer than 5 minutes, between now and midnight November 26th, will be entered into a drawing for one of Apple’s new 8G iPod Touch devices.

Alec and team will be sending an email like the one below to users today, and due to some hosting issues, he’s asked for a hand in spreading the word. You can also find more details here.

Dear FREE Conference Calls user on Facebook,

Thanksgiving marks the beginning of the holiday season, and I’m writing to tell you about a special Thanksgiving promotion we’re running for users of FREE Conference Calling. As you know, the FREE Conference Calls service is already free (except for the normal cost of your telephone call). However between now and midnight on November 26th, every call you make lasting longer than 5 minutes will earn you an entry into our drawing for a free iPod touch. We hope you’ll take advantage of this offer to stay in touch with your friends, family and loved ones at this special time of the year… and enter to win that 8G iPod Touch. Invite them to install FREE Conference Calls too, so they can have a chance to win as well.

In case you haven’t checked the application in a while, we’ve added a bunch of cool new features for moderating calls, plus a wall that you can use during, before, or after the call to post your thoughts. Shortly we’ll also have a recording feature and dial-in numbers for Europe starting with the UK.

One of the most amazing things to me, though, is the incredibly diverse ways that people are using FREE Conference Calls. For instance, we’ve seen everything from calls between Math students who want extra problem solving practice, to psychics, teleseminars, and lonely hearts just looking to chat. Oh, and of course, all kinds of people simply making meetings on the telephone call.

This is the first time we’ve tried a mass mailing like this to our users. Forgive me if it’s intrusive. If you’d like to send me mail, please feel free – my address is below. We’re interested in any and all feedback.

Happy Thanksgiving,

Alec Saunders
alec@iotum.com

Technorati Tags: iotum, unified communications, Alecx Saunders, Facebook, FREE Conference Call

Filed by Ken at 1:15 pm under VoIP/Unified Communications
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I’ve had the pleasure of working on a webinar series sponsored by NetIQ for the past few months. It’s a four=part series. Two episodes are completed. The third will bre presented live at the end of this month. The earlier episodes were recorded and are available online here.

If you’re exploring VoIP services in your business environment, have already started a project that’s not yet completed, or are just interested in learning more about what it takes to successfully implement a VoIP solution, please come join us.

Ready.Set.VoIP! Series Part 3 of 4: Automating Monitoring for Service Delivery
Converged communication technologies, such as Voice over IP, are becoming more and more the standard for businesses today. But assessing, deploying and maintaining the performance and availability of VoIP can be daunting as the systems are increasingly complex and voice communications remain critical.

In the ongoing “Ready.Set.VoIP.” series, Ken Camp, noted author of IP Telephony Demystified, and Mark Slavens, NetIQ Corporate Sales Engineer for VoIP solutions, take you through management of the VoIP life cycle - from network assessment, pre-deployment and ongoing monitoring to reporting and future expansion plans.
n part three of the series, Ken and Mark will cover the importance of being proactive rather than reactive when operating Voice over IP on your network; this part will cover topics such as the

* Value of automated monitoring tools
* Complete knowledge of your environmen
* Ability to respond to changing network conditions
* Timely diagnosis and remediation of issues

Too often organizations deploy VoIP without fully knowing the impact of converging voice and data traffic on a shared network. Don’t be left with dissatisfied users and system downtime. Whether you have already deployed or are just considering an implementation, listen to find out how a VoIP network assessment can benefit your enterprise.

Technorati Tags: Ready.Set.VoIP!, Ken Camp, NetIQ, webinar

Filed by Ken at 10:20 am under VoIP/Unified Communications
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I got this in email yesterday from my friends over at Jajah. They’ve news about a product launching mid November and also about a partnership they just entered to enroll “Google Adwords for telephone calls”.

They’ve developed a non-intrusive approach and powerful platform. It’s an opt-in solution where users hear and see very targeted advertising content and receive credit in their JAJAH accounts for each message provided. Users can effectively earn back their entire phone bill, or even make money while talking to their friends and family.

I’m not quite sure how I feel about this beyond having heard words like this before, but targeted advertising always seems to have viable potential, far beyond the mass market of just capturing eyeballs to ads at random.

With their new in-call advertising, businesses of any kind can target their audience on any given scale. Small, local companies can play their messages to the local JAJAH users. “

I’m going to see about setting up a briefing with Roman Scharf or one of the other Jajah execs to hear straight from them. Maybe it’s a good time to do a podcast chat to hear what they have to say.

Online Advertising Good - Telephony Advertising Better

JAJAH’s new, patent pending in-call advertising engine: Advertisers to overlay messages on phone calls. Consumers and telecommunications companies to benefit.

Ad:tech, New York, NYC - November 5, 2007 - JAJAH, the world’s most innovative phone company, today revealed an extension to its business model that is likely to effect the advertising business on a global scale. JAJAH’s patent pending in-call advertising platform turns the inventory of the world’s telephone calls into an advertising market place.

“We spend more time on the phone than consuming all other types of media, TV, reading papers and radio included. However, advertisers spend very little budget advertising on telephone calls - phones haven’t been considered as a viable channel yet. We are going to change that.” says Roman Scharf, JAJAH’s co-founder. “In tests over the past months we have identified a method to overlay advertising content on phone calls in a way that users find acceptable. We turned it into an open platform so that everyone can benefit. Consumers get a better deal and telecommunications companies monetize their inventory.”

How does in-call advertising work? JAJAH has developed a non-intrusive approach. Whereas in-call advertising would normally interrupt a call and disturb the caller, JAJAH simply overlays the messages above the ring tone right before the call starts. Businesses get guaranteed caller attention, whilst at the same time not alienating the consumer with intrusive messages that break the rhythm of a telephone call.

“Google paved the way around a decade ago with Google AdWords. Their approach was revolutionary, as they respected the users’ common sense and reactions. We are now trying to do the same for the massive amount of phone call inventory. Think AdWords for the phone.” says JAJAH co-founder Daniel Mattes.

JAJAH in-call advertising will be made available to JAJAH users shortly. It’s an opt-in solution where users hear and see very targeted advertising content and receive monthly credit. Users can effectively earn back their entire phone bill, or even make money while talking to their friends and family. “In a next step we will increase the reach of JAJAH in-call advertising by allowing telecommunications partners to use our platform to monetize their inventory as well”, says Trevor Healy, JAJAH’s CEO. “Operators will have the opportunity to install our advertising appliance in their environments and connect to the platform. We will turn call wait time into value add, and the end user and partner will both see a return.”

With JAJAH’s new in-call advertising, businesses of any kind can target their audience on any given scale. Small, local companies can play their messages to the local JAJAH users. “If you own a furniture store that you want to introduce to your local community, your messages will be played to your prospective customers next door - not someone a thousand miles away.” explains JAJAH co-founder Roman Scharf.

In a separate press release today JAJAH announced a strategic partnership with Oridian - Online Media Solutions, Ltd., the largest privately-owned advertising network. By partnering with Oridian, JAJAH gets immediate access to a large number of companies to introduce and jump-start the new service.

About JAJAH
JAJAH, the world’s most innovative global communications company, is dedicated to bringing consumers, enterprises and telecommunications companies vastly improved telephony solutions to allow them to embrace the next generation of IP communications. JAJAH’s open telephony 2.0 platform combines the best of the Internet with the best of the existing telephony infrastructure, to remove the barriers to communication and makes it easier for people everywhere to stay in touch. JAJAH is headquartered in Mountain View, California. For more information, please visit: www.jajah.com

Technorati Tags: Jajah, advertising, targeted advertising

Filed by Ken at 11:16 am under Unified Communications
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The other day I wrote about Yahoo’s ongoing failure to pull up out of the tailspin they’re in. (See Yoohoo Yahoo. Where are you?). As I mention there, many people are watching Yahoo closely. This morning, pal Andy Abramson weighed in with some more thoughts.

Yahoo Getting Hung Up By The Carriers
Of late, the usually forward and information giving Yahoo executives have been playing “mums the word” on anything and everything. They’ve gone into a professionally counseled and constructed defensive PR mode, commenting on things through their high priced handlers, making only well choreographed statements, and doing their best to provide an altered state of reality, all under the guise of investor relations over public relations.
[Read full post]

Andy’s always on the mark, in part because he’s got some of the most reliable and solid contacts in the industry. But at this point, even his contacts are failing. Like he said, Yahoo’s hunkered down. Are they try to weather the storm or do they have their head in the sand? That’s anyone’s call, but given their silence, I fear the latter.

Things don’t bode well for Yahoo. The carriers have finally figured out they’re the enemy. They’re taking a beating at every turn by others who are moving faster and more effectively. Yahoo’s in serious decline and methinks it’s going to get worse before it gets better over there.

Technorati Tags: Yahoo

Filed by Ken at 9:26 am under Technology
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