Unified Communications Goes Social
By David F. Carr
March 29, 2011
InformationWeek
I've been thinking about this issue in the context of my attending the Enterprise Connect conference in Orlando earlier this month, where the vendors of unified communications and collaboration software put a huge focus on the social features of their products.

Is the PBX a has-been?
March 25, 2011
VoIPPlanet.com
A session at Enterprise Connect called "The Post-PBX Platform: How Real, When and From Whom?" drew a standing-room-only crowd of almost 200, all of whom stayed for the entire 60 minutes.

Unified Communications: What's real & what's just hype?
By Scott Dennehy
March 24, 2011
Technology Business Research
Following 10 years under the name VoiceCon, organizers decided in early 2010 to change the name of the event to Enterprise Connect, to reflect the fact that data, video and mobile technologies have become a much more integral part of the way enterprises communicate.

Operation Interop
By Dave Michels
March 23, 2011
No Jitter
One of the recurring topics at the recent Enterprise Connect conference was interoperability, or the lack thereof. Jim Burton and Fred Knight moderated a packed session on interoperability and asked the audience if the vendors were doing a good enough job--deafening silence.

Presence Enabled Communication
By Jason Andersson
March 22, 2011
UCStrategies
Interoperability was one major underlying current to Enterprise Connect in Orlando, Florida this year.

Harmon.ie Makes Email Social
By David F. Carr
March 22, 2011
InformationWeek
Maybe instead of trying to lure people away from corporate email, technology managers should be looking for ways of leveraging email. That's the philosophy behind the collaboration suite from Harmon.ie, one of four firms honored in an innovation showcase at the Enterprise Connect conference earlier this month.

Not all clouds are the same: Level 3 gears up for enterprise
By podcast
March 18, 2011
TelecomReseller
If this year's Enterprise Connect was dominated by cloud talk, it was Level 3 presenting itself as a source for enterprise users that is purposefully gearing up its offerings to exactly match demand.

Zeacom Delivers Call Center Software to Support Key Interactions
By Susan Campbell
March 17, 2011
TMCnet
At this year's Enterprise Connect, a big focus was placed on cloud computing and moving applications to hosted platforms.

Why Should My CIO Care About Session Management?
By Mykola Konrad
March 16, 2011
No Jitter
At the recent Enterprise Connect event several people asked me the same question: "Why should my CIO care about session management?"

911 ETC Your E911 Hosted Solutions Connection
By Jaclyn Allard
March 16, 2011
TMCnet
With so much at stake, it is imperative that voice management take priority within the enterprise or SMB. For those interested in the latest announcements in this space, Enterprise Connect provided the perfect platform.

ShoreTel grows by leading and partnering
March 16, 2011
TelecomReseller
Shoretel is a company that was born entirely inside the VoIP era, building its platform from the ground up on VoIP. Once, again at this year's Enterprise Connect, Shoretel was getting attention for innovation and invention.

UC: Fields Are White to Harvest
By Marty Parker
March 15, 2011
No Jitter
At Enterprise Connect Orlando 2011, we held a session called, "Unified Communications Options: Who's Offering What?" in which we reviewed the responses from twelve leading vendors for a standard configuration of Unified Communications capability.

ScanSource Communications Introduces Unified Communications Education Program
By Deepika Mala
March 15, 2011
TMC Net
ScanSource Communications, a distributor of communications products, designed 2011 Unified Communications (News - Alert) Education Program, to educate resellers on the value of UC, the benefits of offering UC solutions, and the most effective ways to take advantage of the opportunities available to them.

Does Bundled Pricing Slow or Accelerate UC?
By Marty Parker
March 15, 2011
Unified Communications Strategies
There were some interesting takeaways from my session, "Unified Communications Options: Who's Offering What?" at Enterprise Connect Orlando 2011 two weeks ago. That session highlighted the status of the UC product offerings from 12 leading suppliers of voice, e-mail and collaboration systems. As often is the case, there was some good news and some not so good news.

Skype Making Its Move
By Eric Krapf
March 14, 2011
No Jitter
Enterprise Connect served as something of a coming-out party for Skype as an enterprise-focused company; the head of Skype for Business, David Gurlé, delivered a keynote address (as shown at right), and Skype also had a presence on the show floor in the Avaya booth (both companies are owned by private equity firm Silver Lake, and they have a partnership as well).

snom and the New World of Desk Phones
By Eric Krapf, Editor
March 14, 2011
No Jitter
There's no getting around the fact that desktop telephones were not a hot product category at Enterprise Connect. None of the big platform vendors--the guys we used to call "PBX" vendors--pushed desk phones, though some, like Siemens, certainly incorporated them into demos of more cutting-edge applications, like mobility (see here, for example.

UCStrategies Experts Reflect on Enterprise Connect 2011
By Jim Burton
March 13, 2011
Unified Communications Strategies
Several UCStrategies Experts attended Enterprise Connect in Orlando, Feb 28-March 3. In this Industry Buzz podcast, the Experts discuss their sessions, the keynote presenters and their presentations, the differences between last year and last, and their general impressions of the event.

State of the Industry
By Dave Michels
March 11, 2011
No Jitter
Enterprise Connect was a great time to meet with vendors, end users, and other media and analysts. The event was filled with news, keynotes, and alcohol resulting with a distinct impression about the industry. I figured fresh from the conference, it's a good time to reflect. In many ways, the conference reflects the current state of the industry.

Video conferencing interoperability concerns deepen as desktop video rises
By Jessica Scarpati
March 10, 2011
SearchUnifiedCommunications.com
Video conferencing interoperability and integration remain a challenge for enterprises today, but their impact has been somewhat limited as widespread adoption and demand for business-to-business video calls are still just ramping up. But experts at the Enterprise Connect conference said they expect a flood of desktop video conferencing deployments in the coming years -- and a need to integrate and interconnect them with other tools -- which intensified concerns around video conferencing interoperability and integration for attendees of the Orlando-area conference this year.

Conference Calling Companies Receive Extra Competition By Skype And Citrix Partnership
By Alan Green
March 10, 2011
The News 101
Conference calling companies are going to receive extra competition by a Skype and Citrix Partnership. This March, Skype announced at the Enterprise Connect 2011 conference that they will be partnering with Citrix Systems Inc., a worldwide leader in virtual computing and web collaboration.

Calabrio ONE takes optimization to iPhone, iPad and more
March 10, 2011
Telecom Reseller
Calabrio is known for products that deliver optimization information, allowing for improved productivity and customer service. Now, Calabrio is taking their solution to the tablet and to other devices.

Cisco Launches Cross-Device Unified Communications App
By Leila Meyer
March 9, 2011
THE Journal
At the Enterprise Connect 2011 trade show last week, Cisco debuted Jabber, a unified communications application that brings together presence, instant messaging, voice, video, voice messaging, desktop sharing, and conferencing into a single, consistent interface on PCs, Macs, tablets, and smart phones, including iPhone and Android. This tool will help people within an organization communicate and collaborate using their method and device of choice.

UC Interoperation: What's Needed? Session Update
By Marty Parker, UniComm Cnslt'g/UC Strategies.com
March 9, 2011
No Jitter
Last Wednesday AM, Enterprise Connect attendees filled the room to hear about UC Interoperation. The moderators set the stage with a categorization of the types of UC interoperation and a rating of the maturity and difficulty of each. The panelists from Avaya, Cisco, Microsoft, NEC, NET, and RIM added their commentary on where their customers were having success with interoperation and what their focus would be for expanding their interoperation capabilities in 2011 and 2012. The session was captured on video, and should be available soon for viewing at www.enterpriseconnect.com.

Cisco Launches Cross-Device Unified Communications App
By Leila Meyer
March 9, 2011
T.H.E. Journal
At the Enterprise Connect 2011 trade show last week, Cisco debuted Jabber, a unified communications application that brings together presence, instant messaging, voice, video, voice messaging, desktop sharing, and conferencing into a single, consistent interface on PCs, Macs, tablets, and smart phones, including iPhone and Android. This tool will help people within an organization communicate and collaborate using their method and device of choice.

Enterprise Connect: The Mobility Wrap-up
By Michael Finneran, dBrn Associates
March 9, 2011
No Jitter
Mobility played a prominent role at Enterprise Connect last week in Orlando, though the UC vendors' offerings do not appear to be playing a prominent role in lives of end users. While every keynoter flagged the importance of mobility in their product plans, I polled attendees in several of the sessions I moderated to find how many actually had one of the UC vendors' mobile clients on their phones. From the several hundred people I polled, I found a total of five users, and three of them worked for Cisco! The two real "users" volunteered that penetration in their companies was below 5%, and that most of those were in IT.

Enterprise Connect Notebook
By Brian Riggs, Current Analysis
March 9, 2011
No Jitter
Some random ruminations now that I've had time to look over the notes I jotted down at Enterprise Connect last week.

ReliaTel VoIP QoS Management Solution Provides End-to-End Visibility and Control
March 9, 2011
Telecom Reseller
In the run up to the Enterprise Connect show, Tone Software Corporation, a global provider of comprehensive network monitoring and management solutions for converged telecommunications and IT infrastructures, announced the availability of SIP management through its ReliaTel VoIP quality of service (QoS) and Converged Infrastructure Management software. The SIP management facility strengthens the ReliaTel core competency of managing voice quality, network service levels and the physical voice and data infrastructure from end to end, across virtually any convergence technology mix.

Telecom May Be Old, But It's Not Boring.
By Larry Lisser, Channel Strength
March 8, 2011
No Jitter
We all go through phases of a career where a little boredom or a sense of routine kicks in, especially those who stay in the same industry for decades at a time. So when I say that lately I was feeling a little of this myself, I do so with no shame. This year marks plural decades (well, just two) for me in the communications space, and between the recession and what not I've had my share of days this year where routine took over. But with a smile on my face, and a few invigorating days at Enterprise Connect '11 behind me, I pronounce myself cured of any blues.

Announcements from snom, Vidyo, Glowpoint wrap up Enterprise Connect conference
By Larry Hettick
March 8, 2011
Network World
Today we'll wrap our coverage of last week's Enterprise Connect conference with two announcements from snom (a new product and a compatibility with the Microsoft Office Communications Server), Vidyo's integration with Microsoft Lync, and a Glowpoint demo with Skype's videoconferencing.

Intel Releases Core vPro Processors
By Antone Gonsalves
March 8, 2011
InformationWeek
Laptops with the second-generation Core i3, i5, and i7 business chips can be disabled remotely using text messages in the event of theft.

Some Conclusions from Enterprise Connect
By Eric Krapf, Editor
March 8, 2011
No Jitter
Dispensing with the small talk, kudos, thanks and superlatives-they're too many; suffice it to say the show exceeded our wildest hopes-here's what I saw and learned at Enterprise Connect last week that I thought was significant for the industry:

Adtran UC Goes Virtual
By Matt Brunk, Telecomworx
March 7, 2011
No Jitter
Adtran announced last week that NetVanta UC can now be deployed in virtual environments utilizing VMware.

Quick Hit Reactions to Enterprise Connect
By Melanie Turek, Industry Director, Frost and Sullivan
March 7, 2011
No Jitter
Several key themes stood out for me at the first, very successful Enterprise Connect. We addressed some of them in the locknote panel on Thursday, but here are my quick takes. I'd love to hear your reactions, too.

Jabra Products Connect You to Just About Everything
March 7, 2011
Telecom Reseller
Cloud. SIP. Avaya. Cisco. Lync. If you were at Enterprise Connect last week, you were surrounded by the major OEM and solution providers and near ubiquitous buzz about SIP, Cloud and more. But whatever you are planning as the path of migration and development, the end point remains a constant requirement, even if the end point itself is radically changing.

Lawyers, Clouds and Money
By Yankee Group
March 7, 2011
Wireless Week
One of the more interesting keynote sessions during the recently concluded Enterprise Connect conference (formerly VoiceCon) at the Gaylord Palms Convention Center last week was a panel discussion titled, "Will the Cloud Take Over Enterprise Communications?" Hosted by Eric Krapf, Editor, NoJitter.com and Co-Chair, Enterprise Connect and Zeus Kerravala, SVP, Enterprise Research, Yankee Group, the panel included senior product strategists from Cisco, IBM, Microsoft and Verizon. Stealing the spotlight, however, was the fifth panelist, Marc Lindsey, Partner, Levine, Blaszak, Block & Boothby, LLP. That's right - the most informative and interesting speaker during a panel discussion on cloud computing and enterprise communications was a lawyer.

Cisco Goes After 'Underserved' Mid-Market With VoIP Solution
By David Berlind
March 7, 2011
InformationWeek
Cisco has packaged the core technology behind its Unified Communications Manager portfolio for companies of 300 people or less.

Where is the Green?
By Dave Michels
March 7, 2011
No Jitter
Enterprise Connect is the largest enterprise communications conference of the year. As expected there was a flurry of new announcements as vendors jockeyed for attention. Well, most vendors, some were notably quiet. Some news comes as it happens, such as Cisco's announcement to end its email service the week prior to the conference. But many vendors used the hotel filled with media and analysts to set the stage. Some companies figure the the noise is too high, and avoid news at conferences for less competition. I won't pretend to know the best strategy, but there was some compelling news last week.

Mobile UC - The "Un-Strategy"
By Michael Finneran
March 7, 2011
Unified Communications Strategies
Enterprise Connect (EC) has just wrapped up in Orlando, and while the main focus was on UC, collaboration, and video, mobility was extended its customary lip service. For those who relish irony, in his keynote address Kirk Koenigsbauer, Corporate VP, Office Business Productivity Group at Microsoft said that mobility was at the top of their list of priorities. In the meantime, Microsoft once again declined our invitation to participate in any of the mobility sessions.

Cisco's SocialMiner Wins Award
By ECE
March 7, 2011
ECE
Cisco's enterprise social media solution, SocialMiner, has won the 2011 Best of Enterprise Connect award, which recognizes exhibitors that have made significant technological advancements within the enterprise communications industry. The announcement was made at Enterprise Connect Orlando 2011, which took place at the Gaylord Palms Hotel in Orlando, FL.

Quick Hit Reactions to Enterprise Connect
By Melanie Turek
March 7, 2011
No Jitter
Several key themes stood out for me at the first, very successful Enterprise Connect. We addressed some of them in the locknote panel on Thursday, but here are my quick takes. I'd love to hear your reactions, too

Cisco's SocialMiner Wins Award
March 6, 2011
Enterprise Communications Europe
Cisco's enterprise social media solution, SocialMiner, has won the 2011 Best of Enterprise Connect award, which recognizes exhibitors that have made significant technological advancements within the enterprise communications industry. The announcement was made at Enterprise Connect Orlando 2011, which took place at the Gaylord Palms Hotel in Orlando, FL.

Enterprise Connect Week - My Take from Afar
By Nancy Jamison
March 5, 2011
Unified Communications Strategies
I was so glad to read on Blair Pleasant's Enterprise Connect blog; Enterprise Connect 2011 What a Show! that the energy and crowds were back. I had been to ITExpo in the fall, and whereas it was better attended than recent shows during the downturn, and had new content, including social media in contact centers, still didn't quite have the buzz of the shows we used to attend in the past when "telecom" was hopping. So I'm happy. I wish I could have been there, but Florida was too far this month.

Sipera Enters SBC Market
By Eric Krapf, Editor
March 4, 2011
No Jitter
Session Border Controllers (SBCs) are a hot product category right now. In his Enterprise Connect keynote address, Avaya CEO Kevin Kennedy cited statistics that pegged this product segment as a $2.2 billion market, growing 42% annually. One of the leaders in this space, Acme Packet, has become an investors' darling, its stock price rocketing from about $17 a share to over $75 in the last 12 months.

Tablet Growth Projected To Slow PC Demand
By Antone Gonsalves
March 4, 2011
InformationWeek
Gartner has lowered its worldwide PC shipment forecast for 2011 from a 15% to a 10% increase from last year as tablets take market share from low-end laptops and netbooks.

Cisco Announces Unified Communications Platforms for SMBs
March 4, 2011
IT VAR News
At the Enterprise Connect 2011 trade show, Cisco has announced the release of Cisco Jabber, a unified communications application that brings together presence, instant messaging (IM), voice and video, voice messaging, desktop sharing and conferencing into a single consistent experience across PCs, Macs, tablets and smart phones. Jabber provides a simple way for business workers to easily and securely find the right people, to see if and on what device they are available, and to collaborate using their preferred method or device.

Cloud Computing's Coming out Party
By Carl Weinschenk
March 4, 2011
IT Business Edge
Once the hype engine starts on a new technology, it is difficult to determine precisely when it reaches maturity and begins living up to the promises its promoters make. Cloud computing and its antecedents, for instance, has been around for decades.

Peer-to-Peer Blog: It's Getting Really Cloudy Out There
By David Byrd
March 4, 2011
Channel Partners
Enterprise Connect had one subject with many minds, Cloud Computing. Since it is necessary to say what you intend to do in the cloud, the simplest announcements state Unified Communications (UC), more complicated Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) and the fence sitters, Unified Communications and Collaboration (UC&C). The bottom line is that you could not walk an aisle on the show floor or listen to more than a few speakers before hearing praises of UC. Earlier this week, I was reading an interview with IBM's Samuel Palmisano regarding decisions they have made to position IBM in the new era of cloud computing. Perhaps, the most telling thing was that at the time, IBM did not think of it as cloud computing. They wisely applied the term to the tactics and architecture they were building. Now they look like geniuses.

Avaya DevConnect at Enterprise Connect 2011
March 4, 2011
Telecom Reseller
Over Half of Enterprise Connect Exhibitors are Avaya DevConnect Members

GC Goes 'Network-Centric' for the Cloud
By Carol Wilson
March 4, 2011
Light Reading
Global Crossing (Nasdaq: GLBC) is the latest carrier to lay out a cloud services strategy, with its initial iteration being a combination of three existing services with some interesting billing tweaks. (See Global Crossing Launches CaaS.)

Skype and GoToMeeting Team Up to Offer SMBs More Communications Tools
March 4, 2011
Channel Pro
The new Skype-based Web conferencing and audio features for business are expected to be available toward the end of the year.

Enterprise Connect: Wednesday keynote from Microsoft
By Eugene Liu
March 4, 2011
inside CTI
Microsoft made waves at last year's VoiceCon because it was such a newbie in the voice business. It grabbed lots of headlines in 2010 with its Lync (formerly codenamed "14″) release. The Redmond Giant was the company many other exhibitors love to hate. Who can blame them? Nobody - certainly not the Avayas and Siemens of the world - would've thought a software company becoming a considerable threat in their telecom market. That's why it's always a treat to see Microsoft's keynote.

Enterprise Connect: Innovation Showcase winner Radish made delicious
By Eugene Liu
March 4, 2011
inside CTI
At their Enterprise Connect booth I spoke with Theresa M. Szczurek, CEO of Radish Systems about their ChoiceView 2.0 product designed for smartphones and mobile devices. They were an Innovation Showcase winner at Enterprise Connect this week and Theresa was understandably beaming about their acceptance at the show. The big picture for what they do is the visualization of the contact center. The interactive screens they push to mobile smart devices enhance the interaction between companies and their mobile callers and improve the ROI of the contact center.

Enterprise Connect: Netformx, Calabrio thrive in Cisco ecosystem
By Eugene Liu
March 4, 2011
inside CTI
The Cisco pavilion at Enterprise Connect also featured a few smaller booths to showcase the company's prominent partners. This was a great gesture by Cisco to give exposure to several of these smaller but value-adding companies. I got to visit two of them: San Jose-based Netformx and Minneapolis-based Calabrio (previously covered at VoiceCon and SpeechTEK 2010).

Enterprise Connect: Carousel Industries becoming UC implementation powerhouse
By Eugene Liu
March 4, 2011
inside CTI
Evidently I haven't been paying enough attention in our industry because I'd not heard of Carousel Industries previously. Now I've found out from my own pre-conference research and on-site briefing with Kelly Harman, VP of Marketing, that Carousel's reach is quite impressive...

Enterprises Getting Serious About UC Interoperability
By David Yedwab
March 4, 2011
UC Strategies
I have been up front about advocating UC interoperability for several years and, at this week's Enterprise Connect conference, "the pigeons came home to roost." 300 individuals attended the session entitled, "Unified Communications Interoperability - What's Needed." You might say, "Why is that significant?" Well, the session was held at 8 a.m. on the third day of the conference; I've been instigating sessions on interoperability at both Enterprise Connect (and its VoiceCon predecessor) as well as IT EXPOs for at least three years and the sessions were never attended by more than a few handfuls of people.

Enterprise Connect conference highlights
By Larry Hettick
March 4, 2011
Network World
More news highlights from the Enterprise Connect conference just concluded in Orlando, Fla.: Siemens Enterprise Communications (along with Enterasys) announced three new deployment options, Skype and Citrix have a new conferencing partnership, and Aastra unveiled a new video conferencing solution.

Enterprise Connect 2011 - What a Show!
By Blair Pleasant
March 4, 2011
UC Strategies
The energy was back, the crowds were back, the excitement was back - Enterprise Connect truly delivered. From the exhibit hall to the keynotes to the breakout sessions, it was a top-rate conference. There was lots of traffic on the exhibit floor, and the sessions were mostly full (even my 8 AM UC Market Overview session was full - at 8 AM!). People were there to learn, network, and connect, and they weren't disappointed.

Enterprise Connect 2011 Focuses on the Connected User
By Rob Arnold
March 4, 2011
Frost & Sullivan
This week I attended Enterprise Connect in Orlando, Florida, USA. Formerly known as VoiceCon, Enterprise Connect is North America's most important tradeshow for the enterprise communications market. The event's name change is meant to reflect the evolving enterprise communications solutions market - from voice-centric, to converged voice and data, to increasingly unified and multimodal communications capabilities. Technologies that pervaded this year's aptly named show, such as unified communications, social business, enterprise mobility and new architectures (i.e., virtualization and cloud) all intend to connect users to information and to people when, where and by whatever device or modality they want to connect.

ShoreTel's Pej Roshan Talks Mobility
By Eric Krapf, Editor
March 3, 2011
No Jitter
When ShoreTel bought Agito last year, the acquisition instantly made gave ShoreTel a mobility strategy and another weapon with which to continue their attack on ever-larger accounts. But it turns out that the situation isn't as straightforward as that.

Microsoft Lync 2010 provides 'concrete savings' for businesses
March 3, 2011
Outsourcery
Microsoft Lync 2010 is giving small and medium-sized businesses "concrete savings" by eliminating conference call fees.

Mobile, Consumer Tech Transform Corporate Networks
By David Carr
March 3, 2011
InformationWeek
Enterprise IT managers should stop limiting employees to a single mobile computing device or vendor, according to a panel at Enterprise Connect.

UC Interoperability and Standards, Who Needs Them?!
By Zeus Kerravala, The Yankee Group
March 3, 2011
No Jitter
Over my three days at Enterprise Connect this year and throughout past VoiceCons, one of the big themes that always seems to come up in every conversation, panel and speech is the need for interoperability and standards. The thought being that once we have interoperability and standards all of our unified communications systems will work harmoniously together and we will have an almost "plug and play" like environment. Sounds great? Well I say bollocks to that!

Infratel, Affordable Solution for the Small Call Center
By Sheila McGee-Smith, McGee-Smith Analytics
March 3, 2011
No Jitter
One of the great things about Enterprise Connect is the opportunity to meet with smaller companies, those who spent a big chunk of their annual marketing budgets to come to the show to meet with potential customers and partners as well as press and analysts. Infratel's press person made it through the clutter of requests for a meeting by mentioning that the company had been started by former Genesys managers and engineers. For this all-contact center, all-the-time analyst, this fact piqued my curiosity.

Cisco Jabber Improves Unified Communications and Collaboration for Mac, PC, Tablets, and Smart Phones
By Robbie Pleasant
March 3, 2011
Unified Communications Strategies
Cisco has announced the release of its new unified communications application: Cisco Jabber. Revealed at the Enterprise Connect 2011 trade show, Cisco Jabber combines presence, instant messaging, voice, video, voice messaging, desktop sharing, and conferencing into a single experience for PCs, Macs, tablets, and smart phones. With Jabber, business workers can easily find the people they need and collaborate using whichever method or device they prefer.

Cisco's Jabber Unifies Mobile Services And Devices
By Jeffrey Burt
March 3, 2011
eWEEK Europe
Cisco has unveiled its Jabber application to enable business users to communicate any way with any device

Is There Another Market in the Making at Enterprise Connect?
By Zeus Kerravala, The Yankee Group
March 3, 2011
No Jitter
Day 2 at Enterprise Connect had the usual Cisco keynote. In it Barry O'Sullivan pointed out that several markets were given their birth at this conference in years past. In 2001 the VoIP market started for real and in 2006 Unified Communications came into its own. I think at this year's show we saw the glimpse of another market from a young company called Vidyo, although they didn't position themselves that way.

Skype Enterprise Integrates Citrix's GoToMeeting Conferencing Tools
March 3, 2011
ITProPortal
VoIP service Skype has announced its plans to integrate Citrix's GoToMeeting with its enterprise offerings in a bid to carve a niche in the business communications market.

Enterprise Connect: Global Crossing Intros Cloud Audio Conferencing
By David Carr
March 3, 2011
InformationWeek
The Communications as a Service product will be offered on a shared-seat basis to lower costs for companies, said the company.

Business tablet hype at Enterprise Connect: Mobile UC pros skeptical
By Jessica Scarpati
March 3, 2011
SearchUnifiedCommunications.com
Unified communications (UC) and mobility vendors have been hyping new and shiny business tablets for enterprise-class communications and collaboration, but UC managers aren't quite buying the message yet. IT pros attending Enterprise Connect this week are enthusiastic about tablets and thinking about supporting them -- but not for mobile UC.

SIP Trunking Gets Serious At Enterprise Connect
By David Carr
March 3, 2011
InformationWeek
Attendees discussed the practicalities of the Internet telephony technology, including how to build a business case, get the implementation right, and put the right support in place.

snom launches plug-and-play SMB IP PBX appliance
By Mike Dolan
March 3, 2011
Fierce VoIP
Enterprise Connect saw the launch of a number of solutions aimed at the small- and medium-sized business (SMBs) market. snom technology decided to get in on the action with a hardware-based IP PBX solution.

Skype and Citrix team to add GoToMeeting to Skype for Business
By Mike Dolan
March 3, 2011
Fierce VoIP
As Skype works to figure out how to grow its business model, one place the company has been trying to drum up support for is its Skype for Business wing.

Microsoft launching Lync VoIP app for iPhone... and Xbox?!
By Mike Dolan
March 3, 2011
Fierce VoIP
Just because Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) has an interest in promoting its own Windows Phone 7 operating system, doesn't mean it can't push its unified communications platform across the mobile ecosystem. If Lync is going to florish as a preferred UC platform, it needs to be on all types of cellphones.

UC has transformed from problem-solving to improving productivity, says expert
March 3, 2011
Outsourcery
Unified communications have transformed from problem-solvers into technology that improves productivity and collaboration.

Unified Communications: Making The Business Case
By David Carr
March 3, 2011
InformationWeek
Companies should consider the business value of speeding up transactions when evaluating UC solutions, suggested a panel at Enterprise Connect.

snom Intros Dedicated VoIP Server Hardware, DECT-based VoIP Phone
By David Berlind
March 3, 2011
InformationWeek
At Enterprise Connect in Orlando, VoIP solution provider snom releases a turnkey based hardware server to go with its snom ONE VoIP server software, potentially easing integration options for users preferring more of a one-stop shop solution (includes video)

Enterprise Connect: Vidyo Intros Videoconference Recording, Playback
By David Carr
March 2, 2011
InformationWeek
Vidyo appliance uses the Scalable Video Coding protocol rather than the Multipoint Control Unit found in more traditional videoconferencing systems.

Enterprise Connect Keynote: Arthur Filip of HP
By Eric Krapf, Editor
March 2, 2011
No Jitter
As Unified Communications becomes more complex and multi-faceted, deployments naturally become more challenging, which was the point of this somewhat alarming statistic, from Arthur Filip, VP and GM of Technology Services Consulting, Enterprise Business at HP.

Microsoft preps Apple iPhone VoIP, conferencing client
By Tim Greene
March 2, 2011
Network World
iPhone users will be able to participate in videoconferences mediated by Microsoft's Lync unified communications servers

Enterprise Connect Keynote: Kirk Koenigsbauer of Microsoft
By Eric Krapf, Editor
March 2, 2011
No Jitter
The biggest recent Microsoft news for the Entrprise Connect audience was the release late last year of Lync, the third generation of the OCS communications platform. But Wednesday's keynote from Kirk Koenigsbauer, corporate VP, Office Business Productivity Group at Microsoft, showed that Microsoft is taking a much broader view of the world of communications than just Lync.

Will The Cloud Take Over Enterprise Communications?
By David Carr
March 2, 2011
InformationWeek
Mobility was cited as a driving force for UC adoption at an Enterprise Connect panel of technology experts and vendors.

Cisco Launches Multi-Platform UC Tool with Jabber
By Dan Rowinski
March 2, 2011
Redmond Channel Partner
Cisco debuted its Jabber unified communications (UC) suite of products on Tuesday at the Enterprise Connect 2011 trade show in Orlando, FL.

80% Of UC Projects Fail To Reach Potential
By David Carr
March 2, 2011
InformationWeek
HP executive Arthur Filip, speaking at the Enterprise Connect conference, said only one in 10 Unified Communications projects is "truly transformational."

Skype, Citrix Partner on Business Collaboration Offering
By Jeffrey Burt
March 2, 2011
eWEEK
Skype will integrate Citrix's GoToMeeting offering into its enterprise collaboration solution as it continues to court the business world.

NEC Building Compelling New UC User Interface
By Sheila McGee-Smith, McGee-Smith Analytics
March 2, 2011
No Jitter
This week at Enterprise Connect 2011, NEC issued a press release with a very long title, "NEC to demonstrate Unified Communications & Collaboration for IT Architectures and Rich Internet Applications at Enterprise Connect." If you're like me, if you even saw the release, it might not have made it through the clutter of this news-paced week.

Snom Intros VoIP Server Hardware, DECT Phones
By David Berlind
March 2, 2011
InformationWeek
At Enterprise Connect in Orlando, snom releases a turnkey hardware server to go with its snom ONE VoIP server software, potentially easing integration challenges for users preferring more of a complete system from a single vendor.

Cisco's Jabber Communications App Spans Platforms, Devices
By Jeffrey Burt
March 2, 2011
eWEEK
Cisco is unveiling its Jabber application, which essentially will enable business user to communicate with others via whatever method they choose, and whatever device or platform they want.

An Extreme Bet on Mobility
By Yankee Group
March 2, 2011
Wireless Week
This week at Enterprise Connect, networking solution provider Extreme Networks laid out its vision for the mobile world and its own role in it. Anyone reading this blog who knows of Extreme Networks would peg the company as a wired switching pure play and would wonder why a wired switch vendor would make a big bet on mobility. The answer to this is based on the redefinition of mobility, which has been a key theme for Yankee Group research this year.

Skype to Use Citrix Technology
By Gavin Ogden
March 2, 2011
TechDay
What's being called a 'strategic partnership' between Skype and Citrix Systems has been announced at Enterprise Connect 2011 in Orlando.

Skype, Citrix Partner on Web and Audio Conferencing
By Jennifer Lawinski
March 2, 2011
Channel Insider
Skype announced a strategic partnership with Citrix Systems combining Web and audio conferencing from Skype with Citrix's GoToMeeting technology.

Siemens Enterprise Communications Announces Cloud-Based UC&C Offering.
By Ted Stevenson
March 2, 2011
Enterprise VoIP Planet
At the Enterprise Connect expo in Orlando, Florida, Siemens Enterprise Communications (SEN) yesterday announced the imminent release of its new cloud-based communications platform, OpenScape Cloud Services.

Enterprise Connect: Microsoft Boasts Lync UC Successes
By David Carr
March 2, 2011
InformationWeek
The software giant trots out early customers, including LA Fitness and Revlon, to demonstrate cost savings and productivity gains from replacing legacy PBX systems with its software-based Unified Communications server.

Avaya's Flare Seemlessly Unifies Communications Into Tablets
By David Berlind
March 2, 2011
InformationWeek
At Enterprise Connect 2011 in Orlando, TechWeb's David Berlind meets up with Avaya to get a demonstration of the company's Flare: a tablet-based unifed communications solution that runs on both Avaya's Andorid-based tablets and, eventually the iPad.

A VoIP Soft Phone That Runs On The Samsung Galaxy Tab
By David Berlind
March 2, 2011
InformationWeek
TechWeb's David Berlind stops by Samsung's booth at Enterprise Connect 2011 in Orlando to get a look at how the company plans to integrate it's Android-based Galaxy Tab tablet with its SoftSwitch IP telephony solution.

Snom's VoIP Server Hardware And DECT-Based Cordless VoIP Phone
By David Berlind
March 2, 2011
InformationWeek
snom was at Enterprise Connect 2011 showing off its latest VoiP server hardware. Previously, snom shipped VoIP server software that would run on any Intel server (eg: Dell's). Now, snom offers a turnkey rack mountable server as well.

AudioCodes Meets the Complex Needs of Connecting UC Solutions
By David Yedwab
March 2, 2011
Unified Communications Strategies
To successfully deploy a new Unified Communications solution for an enterprise, you will need appropriate combinations of Gateways, Session Border Controllers and Survivable Branch Appliances (to use Microsoft's term). These "connectors" are required whether the new UC solutions come from Avaya, IBM, Cisco, or Microsoft, etc. They are required because of the different protocols, formats and signaling mechanisms used by the new equipment likely differs from that used by the PSTN (which virtually all connections still traverse), the existing legacy voice solution (likely TDM), the Enterprise's WAN and the new SIP trunks, implemented to reduce networking costs. No communications, be it simple point-to-point voice calls nor complex multi-point telepresence meetings, can occur without effective connectors as enablers and managers/controllers.

Avaya CEO Predicts Broad Adoption Of SIP-Powered UC
By David Carr
March 2, 2011
InformationWeek
In his Enterprise Connect keynote, Kevin Kennedy pointed to growing acceptance of Session Initiation Protocol to launch voice and video calls and conferences, noting similarities to the rise of TCP/IP.

Skype, Citrix partner on web, audio conferencing features
March 2, 2011
Telecom Paper
Skype has partnered with application delivery infrastructure specialist Citrix Systems at Enterprise Connect 2011 in Orlando, Florida.

Enterprise Connect: Skype, Citrix To Partner On Conferencing
By David Carr
March 2, 2011
InformationWeek
David Gurlé, Skype's vice president and general manager of enterprise, announced a partnership with Citrix as part of his keynote at Enterprise Connect in Orlando.

Skype to add Citrix's web-conference tools
By Bridget Carey
March 2, 2011
Miami Herald
David Gurlé, vice president and general manager of Skype Enterprise, made the announcement as part of his keynote at Enterprise Connect 2011 in Orlando. The partnership means Skype will be using Citrix's GoToMeeting technology to offer businesses new Web and audio conferencing tools.

Enterprise Connect Keynote: David Gurlé of Skype
By Eric Krapf
March 2, 2011
No Jitter
David Gurlé's task when he took the Enterprise Connect stage Tuesday afternoon was to prove his opening assertion: "Skype Means Business."

Cisco attempts to bring unity to unified communications with Jabber
By Dan Rowinski
March 2, 2011
Government Computer News
In this world of many platforms and many devices, one of the big problems facing the implementation of unified communications is the ability to support all of the different options employees have in the work place.

Enterprise Connect: Cisco Announces Multimedia Jabber Software
By David F. Carr
March 2, 2011
InformationWeek
Cisco will promote its vision of multi-device unified communication and collaboration with a new multimedia version of Jabber and its forthcoming Android-powered Cius tablet, among other tools, Barry O'Sullivan, senior vice president of voice technology, told a keynote crowd at Enterprise Connect in Orlando on Tuesday

Verizon Takes Cloud-Based Unified Communications To The Mobile
By Ray Willington
March 1, 2011
Hot Hardware
Come to think of it, "Unified Communications" is a catchphrase that never really took off with consumers. Maybe more so in the business realm, but as for regular joes? Video calling, texting and Twitter pretty much stole the thunder. But these days, the cloud is making a comeback. Microsoft's pushing it quite hard, and lots of other companies are starting to rely on the cloud for streaming and content delivery. Finally, "Unified Communications" can be hip.

E911 Hosted Solutions for the Enterprise Improved with 911 ETC's 2011 Strategic Partnerships
By Jaclyn Allard
March 1, 2011
TMC Net
911 ETC, a provider of E911 hosted solutions for the enterprise and SMB markets, has helped numerous enterprises in implementing an E911 hosted solution, as well as jump such hurdles as: Joining separate and distinct PBX (News - Alert) clusters into one database; DID to non-DID translation; implementation of a hybrid solution for VoIP and TDM; among others.

Adtran Adds Virtualization to its Unified Communications Offering
By Joan Engebretson
March 1, 2011
Connected Planet
A new capability for Adtran's NetVanta unified communications platform, announced today, was developed at the request of small telcos, Adtran Senior Product Manager Chris Thompson told Connected Planet.

Cisco Unveils Jabber Unified Communications Tool
By Jennifer Scott
March 1, 2011
IT PRO
The networking giant launches a new unified communications application to work across PCs, tablets and smartphones.

Cisco launches lite collaboration service Jabber
By Matthew Lynley
March 1, 2011
VentureBeat
Cisco announced today that it is launching a small number of collaboration services from its enterprise social network, Quad, as a separate, lite service called Jabber.

SKYPE News - ClearOne Launches 2 New USB Speakerphones for Lync and Skype
By Carolyn J. Dawson
March 1, 2011
TMC Net
ClearOne, a leading global communications and entertainment solutions company, has recently announced the launch of its two latest USB speakerphones, the CHAT 70-U and CHAT 60-U.

snom Launches Hardware-based IP PBX Solution, snom ONE plus
By Stefanie Mosca
March 1, 2011
TMC Net
snom technology, provider of IP communications solutions for the enterprise and small business market, has released snom ONE plus, a new hardware-based version of the company's awarding winning snom ONE IP PBX.

AudioCodes Debuts New Enterprise Mobile Productivity Suite With MobilityPLUS
By Jamie Epstein
March 1, 2011
TMC Net
Today, AudioCodes, a provider of Voice over IP (VoIP) technologies and Voice Network products, announced the launch of MobilityPLUS, an enterprise solution that will help to enhance existing Enterprise Telephony and Unified Communications (News - Alert) systems features that now include a diverse range of leading smart phone platforms.

Cisco's attempts to bring unity to unified communications with Jabber
By Dan Rowinski
March 1, 2011
Government Computer News
In this world of many platforms and many devices, one of the big problems facing the implementation of unified communications is the ability to support all of the different options employees have in the work place.

Cisco Intros Unified Communications Application based on Jabber Technology
By Anshu Shrivastava
March 1, 2011
TMC Net
Cisco has announced the release of Cisco (News - Alert) Jabber, a unified communications (UC) application that brings together presence, instant messaging (IM), voice and video, voice messaging, desktop sharing and conferencing into a single consistent experience across PCs, Macs, tablets and smart phones.

Magor Communications Enhances TeleCollaboration Solutions
By Larry Hettick
March 1, 2011
Network World
Enterprise Connect conference brings news on interoperability, expanded technology partnership

XO Communications Launches Cloud-Based Communications Service
By Nathan Eddy
March 1, 2011
eWEEK
Features of the Enterprise Cloud Communications platform include HD voice and video capabilities.

Siemens Puts Unified Communications in the Cloud
By Mike Vizard
March 1, 2011
CTO Edge
Siemens Enterprise Communications today rolled out a cloud-ready version of its unified communications platform alongside a new offering that allows IT organizations to outsource the management of wireless networks.

Siemens Enterprise Communications Improves Office Suite
By Paul Korzeniowski
March 1, 2011
InformationWeek SMB
Mobile communications have become a prime option for executives. In response, Siemens Enterprise Communications expanded the mobile features of its OpenScape Office Unified Communications suite.

Verizon Details Hybrid Platform For Fixed and Mobile Solutions in Enterprise
By Matt Kapko
March 1, 2011
RCR Wireless News
Verizon Communications Inc., a parent of Verizon Wireless, has launched what it claims to be one of the industry's first cloud-based unified communications systems with a mobile component.

Verizon to unveil unified communications and collaboration offerings at the Enterprise Connect Show, Florida
By CBR Staff Writer
March 1, 2011
Computer Business Review
Enables businesses and government agencies to facilitate enterprise adoption of UC&C in a fixed or mobile environment with predictable per-seat pricing

Cloud-Based Unified Communications
By John Rath
March 1, 2011
Data Center Knowledge
The Enterprise Connect conference kicked off Monday in Orlando, Florida and all of the big names in communications were there to discuss unified communications, managing mobile in the enterprise, and advances in communication technology. There are plenty of outlets to track the buzz coming out of the conference, with over a dozen press releases issued on Monday alone, the updates from the No Jitter blogs, the EnterpriseCon twitter account, or the conference hashtag of enterprisecon. Skype has an event page for the conference as well to track all of the conversations, events and interviews.

Business Mobility - Verizon Launches Cloud Based UC&CaaS with Mobile UC Client
By Carolyn J. Dawson
March 1, 2011
TMC Net
Verizon Communications Inc., a global leader in delivering broadband and other wireless and wire line communications services, has recently announced the launch of the industry's first cloud based Unified Communications (News - Alert) and Collaboration as a Service offering with a Mobile UC Client.

Cloud UC service to embrace Android
By Joanie Wexler
March 1, 2011
Network World
Verizon to launch UC cloud service; collapse desktops and mobile phones

Verizon addresses distributed businesses with UC&C-as-a-Service offering
By Sean Buckley
March 1, 2011
Fierce Telecom
Verizon Business (NYSE: VZ) is taking charge of the cloud services opportunity that play into the enterprise and government customers global and mobile needs.

Siemens Launches Cloud-Based UC Solutions for SMB, Enterprise
By Jennifer Lawinski
March 1, 2011
Channel Insider
Siemens Enterprise Communications launched several cloud-based unified communications products for businesses of all sizes that will be sold through channel partners as it tries to build up its U.S. reseller base.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ)'s Cisco Deal
March 1, 2011
EMoney Daily
Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) has made an agreement with Cisco to deliver cloud based unified communication services.

Verizon Providing Cloud-Based Unified Communications Service
March 1, 2011
IT Pro Portal
US wireless carrier Verizon is set to offer its cloud-based unified communications service, targeted towards government departments and large enterprises.

Siemens Launches OpenScape Office V3, UC Product for SMBs, Available Through Channel
March 1, 2011
Channel Pro
Siemens Enterprise Communications, communications provider, is now offering new deployment options for all in one, IP-based unified communications (UC) products that are designed to help SMBs simplify collaboration and mobility. Available through Siemens Enterprise Communications' channel, OpenScape Office V3 aims to help mobile workers with voice and conferencing services, presence, mobility, social networking, and multi-channel contact center capabilities.

Extreme Networks expands network vision for mobile world
March 1, 2011
CFO World
Company enables a quality user experience across the network, connecting people and machines from converged campus edge to cloud

Sipera simplifies enterprise smartphone security
March 1, 2011
CIOL
To demonstrate SLiC Smartphone Security System

Enterprise Connect Keynote: Barry O'Sullivan of Cisco
By Eric Krapf, Editor
March 1, 2011
No Jitter
In his keynote address on Tuesday of Enterprise Connect, Barry O'Sullivan, Senior VP, Voice Technology Group at Cisco, highlighted Cisco's position that video is the new voice, and made some announcements around endpoints and clients that support Cisco's Unified Communications positioning as the industry moves forward.

Sagemcom XMediusFAX Completes Cisco Testing for CUCM & Unity Connection
March 1, 2011
Telecom Reseller
Sagemcom, the global leader in advanced IP fax server solutions since 2002, is announcing at the Enterprise Connect show in Orlando, Florida (February 28 to March 3, 2011 - Booth 1322) that its XMediusFAX Fax over IP (FoIP) software (releases 6.5 and up) has successfully completed interoperability testing with Cisco Unified Communication Manager (CUCM) 8.5 and Cisco's Unity Connection 8.5 voice messaging and UM solution.

Zeacom Contact Center Solution Supports Microsoft Lync
March 1, 2011
Telecom Reseller
ZCC Allows Contact Centers to Future Proof Telephony Choices

Vidyo at Enterprise Connect
By David Berlind
March 1, 2011
InformationWeek Video
Vidyo's Multipoint Videoconferencing Scales Well At Extremely Low Cost. At the Enterprise Connect conference in Orlando, FL, TechWeb TV's David Berlind gets a demo of Vidyo's latest multipoint videoconferencing technologies from the company's director of product marketing Mark Noble.

Extreme takes aim at secure mobile networking
By Tim Greene
March 1, 2011
Network World
Extreme Networks is going mobile. The company today wheeled out a roadmap that will steer the company's product line toward mobile device and application access, availability and management support.The idea is for the company to catch businesses' shift to mobile devices by customizing networks to meet the demands of the devices, mobile applications and corporate security, the company says in announcing its plan at the Enterprise Connect conference on unified communications this week.

Radish Systems to Demo ChoiceView Platform
By Shamila Janakiraman
March 1, 2011
TMC Net
Radish Systems LLC was picked as a winner of the Innovation Showcase at Enterprise Connect (News - Alert) conference, where the company will be giving demonstrations of its ChoiceView platform.

Daily Roundup: Monday, February 28
By Eric Krapf
March 1, 2011
No Jitter
If you want to know why the PBX model is not the way of the future, said Avaya's Phil Edholm, look at the middle initial: "B", as in, "branch." The idea of a device hanging off of a telco access line, managing connections to desktops at a branch location, is an architecture that is going away.

Day One at Enterprise Connect: Are We in the Post PBX Era? No!
By Zeus Kerravala
March 1, 2011
No Jitter
Day one at Enterprise Connect had me moderating a panel titled "The Post PBX Platform: How Real, when and from whom?" At first glance, I wasn't crazy about this topic and wondered how good a panel it would be, because the answer seemed a bit obvious to me--of course we're in a post PBX era. However, after listening to the panelists, I've changed my mind and it's made me think a bit more about what the post PBX era would really look like.

Verizon to unveil unified communications and collaboration offerings at the Enterprise Connect Show, Florida
By CBR Staff
March 1, 2011
Communications Business Reviews
Verizon will unveil cloud-based unified communications and collaboration offerings for businesses and government agencies at the Enterprise Connect Show, in Orlando, Florida.

Verizon to Offer Cloud-based Unified Communications
By Stephen Lawson
March 1, 2011
PC World
Verizon is demonstrating UCCaaS at the Enterprise Connect conference in Orlando this week and will make it generally available in the U.S. in June, and in other parts of the world after that.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ)'s Cisco Deal
By Dallas Raynor
March 1, 2011
eMoney Daily
This Unified Communications & Collaboration as a Service (UCCaaS) will provide a range of services including presence information, instant messaging, video conferencing and fixed-mobile handoffs. Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) will display UCCaaS in the Enterprise Connect Conference in Orlando.

Enterprise Connect: Verizon Announces Cloud Unified Collaboration
By David Carr
March 1, 2011
InformationWeek
Verizon is promising to deliver a cloud-based unified communications service by late Spring that is fit for businesses and government agencies with 1,000 employees or more, the carrier announced at the Enterprise Connect conference in Orlando Monday.

Unified Communications Faces Interoperability Challenges
By David Carr
March 1, 2011
InformationWeek
More companies are deploying unified communications, according to a panel at Enterprise Connect, and they're seeing improved productivity and collaboration as a result.

Extreme Networks Puts Its Focus on the Mobile World
By Jeffrey Burt
March 1, 2011
eWeek
At the Enterprise Connect show, Extreme Networks is talking about its strategy around mobile computing and network infrastructures.Extreme Networks in early February announced a line of mobile Ethernet backhaul routers designed to enable mobile network operators to make the transition to 4G while also continuing to see returns on their investments in 2G and 3G.

XO Communications to Offer Cloud Solution
By Carrie Schmelkin
February 28, 2011
TMC Net
XO Communications is dipping into the cloud communications solution market as it announced today that it will help businesses transition to IP communications and achieve better cost savings across their enterprise with a new solution.

Aastra BluStar: Exclusive Podcast
February 28, 2011
Telecom Reseller
The Aastra BluStar video conferencing solution was announced today at Enterprise Connect in Orlando

Verizon to Offer Cloud-Based Unified Communications
By Stephen Lawson
February 28, 2011
CIO
Verizon is getting set to offer its customers unified communications services that can include presence information, instant messaging, videoconferencing and fixed-mobile call handoffs through a Cisco Systems-based cloud infrastructure.

Clickatell Intros Text Messaging Service For SMBs
By Kevin Casey
February 28, 2011
InformationWeek
Clickatell on Monday announced a new text messaging service designed for small businesses looking to use short message service (SMS) as a customer communications channel.

Vidyo Announces Availability of VidyoReplay for Video Conferencing
By Rajani Baburajan
February 28, 2011
TMC Net
Vidyo, a provider of personal Telepresence (News - Alert) enabling HD multi-point videoconferences on desktop computers and room systems, announced the availability of the VidyoReplay appliance.

Telepresence - NEC Showcases Unified Communications and Collaboration Software Architecture
By Nathesh
February 28, 2011
TMC Net
NEC Corporation, a dealer in the integration of IT and network technologies, announced that it is demonstrating a new type of Unified Communications (News - Alert) & Collaboration (UC&C) software architecture designed for IT and rich internet applications at the Enterprise Connect exhibition in Orlando, Florida.

Siemens Introduces OpenScape Cloud Services
By David Carr
February 28, 2011
InformationWeek
Siemens is unveiling a cloud-based Unified Communications system for the enterprise, which will be available by the end of March.

Siemens to Unwrap OpenScape Office V3 Unified Communications
By Thor Olavsrud
February 28, 2011
SmallBusinessComputing.com
Seeking to help small businesses attain enterprise-level IP-based communications solutions, Siemens Enterprise Communications will unveil its OpenScape Office V3 on Tuesday.

Siemens OpenScape Office Will Offer Three Versions to Fit SMB Needs
By Mike Dolan
February 28, 2011
Fierce VoIP
Bringing enterprise-level unified communications (UC) services to every business has been a challene a number of UC providers have been working on and it looks like Siemens will be making their offerings a reality for some companies looking to increase their IP communications game.

XO Communications Gets Into Cloud Service Game
By Sean Buckley
February 28, 2011
FierceTelecom
XO (OTC BB: XOHO.OB) is making its formal move into the cloud services market with the launch of its Enterprise Cloud Communications solution.

XO Launches Cloud-Based Unified Communications Service
By Joan Engebretson
February 28, 2011
Connected Planet
A new offering from XO Communications, launched today, will extend the company's unique pricing methodology to cloud-based unified communications, XO Communications Director of Product Management Eric Hyman told Connected Planet.

Can Cloud Boost UC for Verizon?
By Carol Wilson
February 28, 2011
Light Reading
Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) today announced new service offerings aimed at connecting two of the hottest enterprise trends -- the move to cloud computing and the rise of mobile applications -- with one of the industry's most complex services, Unified Communications. (See Verizon Takes UC to the Cloud)

Verizon Moves Ahead With Unified Communications in the Cloud
By Adam Stone
February 28, 2011
VoIP Planet
Verizon today took another step forward in its efforts to bring unified communications off premise and into the cloud.

Peer To Peer Blog: Holding Fast
By David Byrd
February 28, 2011
Channel Partners

When to Use Video Instead of Voice?
By John Bartlett
February 28, 2011
No Jitter
Fred Knight had an august panel of industry mavens discussing what is next with UC at Enterprise Connect on Monday morning. Part of the discussion went to the use case for video, whether video will replace voice and what will be the role of voice going forward. One of the panelists said that young people entering the workforce either use IM or video, but don't have a use for voice calls.

And The Innovation Winners Are...
By Dave Michels
February 28, 2011
No Jitter
This week at the Enterprise Connect conference is the inaugural Innovation Showcase: Four young companies showing innovative communications. We set out to find young companies with an innovative product or service improving enterprise communications. That's admittedly a pretty broad category, but that's the nature of communications these days--calendaring, messaging, voice, SMS, collaboration, and more.

Infratel Announces Auto Dialer Provider DialPro Northwest as Newest Reseller
By Jamie Epsein
February 28, 2011
TMC Net
Infratel, a provider of call center solutions for small- and mid-sized businesses, has entered into a partnership that will allow auto dialer provider DialPro Northwest (News - Alert) to resell its products and services, officials at Infratel announced today at Enterprise Connect (News - Alert).

Enterprise Connect: XO launches UC in the cloud
By Mike Dolan
February 28, 2011
FierceVoIP
Enterprise Connect is underway and companies are unveiling some interesting new products

XO Unveils First Cloud Service
By Khali Henderson
February 28, 2011
Channel Partners
XO Communications Inc. announced Monday at Enterprise Connect the launch of its enterprise cloud communications service, the first in a suite of cloud-based services the CLEC plans to roll out over the next 12-18 months. All services will be available for sale through the company's indirect sales partners.

Telepresence - Avistar Communications Demos Desktop Telepresence Suite at Event
By Nathesh
February 28, 2011
TMC Net
Avistar Communications, a provider of advanced and proven desktop videoconferencing capabilities, will be showcasing its suite of desktop telepresence solutions at an upcoming industry event.

Voice Management a Key Focus at Enterprise Connect 2011
By Susan Campbell
February 28, 2011
TMC Net
Communications is an important part of our everyday lives. In the business world, optimal communications are essential to ensure quality interactions and protected business opportunities. With so much at stake, it is imperative that voice management take priority within the enterprise or SMB. For those interested in the latest announcements in this space, Enterprise Connect provides the perfect platform. Enterprise Connect 2011is scheduled to be held February 28-March 3 at the Gaylord Palms Resort and Convention Center in Orlando, FL. Here is a selection of Enterprise Connect 2011 exhibitors set to make announcements:

Aastra Unveils HD Desktop Video Conferencing Solution
By Robbie Pleasant
February 28, 2011
Unified Communications Strategies
At Enterprise Connect in Orlando, Aastra introduced its new BluStar video conferencing solution. The BluStar 8000i media phone is an easy-to-use device that integrates true HD video conferencing quality and unified communications and business applications.

Can Cloud Boost UC for Verizon?
By Carol Wilson
February 28, 2011
Light Reading
The announcement was made at the Enterprise Connect event sponsored by UMB TechWeb this week in Orlando.

Siemens Enterprise Announces OpenScape Cloud
By Sheila McGee-Smith, McGee-Smith
February 28, 2011
No Jitter
Clouds in various shapes and forms have been the talk of the industry for the past 18 months. Many enterprise communications cloud offerings have depended on traditional service providers to buy the required equipment and applications as well as build the go-to-market strategy and channel. The riskiness of this proposition for most service providers (fresh from the Application Service Provider debacle when the tech bubble burst) has left vendors often more intimately involved in service creation and delivery than they might have hoped.

Enterprise Connect: Just In Time
By Marty Parker
February 28, 2011
No Jitter
Enterprise Connect will be in full swing this week in Orlando. Of course, Enterprise Connect is the new name. Just a year ago, we were in the second decade of VoiceCon, which very effectively provided the venue for enterprise customers and the leading communications vendors to meet, share industry and product updates, and answer important questions.

Vidyo launches VidyoReplay appliance for video conferencing
February 28, 2011
Telecom Paper
Telepresence specialist Vidyo has launched VidyoReplay appliance, enabling webcasting and recording for the Vidyo service.

XO Gets Into Hosted IP Communications Biz.
February 28, 2011
VoIP Planet
"A new offering from XO Communications, launched today, will extend the company's unique pricing methodology to cloud-based unified communications, XO Communications Director of Product Management Eric Hyman told Connected Planet," writes Connected Planet's Joan Engebretson.

Verizon Introduces UC, Collaboration Solutions
February 28, 2011
Channel Partners
Verizon on Monday introduced cloud-based unified communications and collaboration solutions for businesses and government agencies.

Peer-to-Peer Blog: Connecting at Enterprise Connect
By David Byrd
February 25, 2011
Channel Partners
Next week during Enterprise Connect, Frank Grillo, executive vice president of Implementation and Product Marketing, will represent Broadvox and Cypress in discussing if a multinational enterprise wanted to eliminate all or most of its premises-based communications equipment and deploy a fully loaded Unified Communications (UC) solution from a hosted and managed cloud services provider, could it do so today? If so, what would such an implementation look like? Who could deliver it? What would it cost?

Security in Communications: Report to the Industry
By Eric Krapf, Editor
February 24, 2011
No Jitter
One subject that we haven't talked a lot about in the runup to Enterprise Connect is security. There was a lot of concern about security when voice first moved to IP and network managers realized that anything you could do to attack an IP network, you could now do to a voice network that ran on IP. Concerns range from basic distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks that target the IP network, in which voice is collateral damage; to the prospect of IP packets being captured and played back in various eavesdropping or impersonation scenarios.

Mobility Highlights at Enterprise Connect
By Michael Finneran
February 24, 2011
No Jitter
Enterprise Connect is coming up next week, and we have a full line-up of mobility sessions. Fred Knight, Eric Krapf and I have actually been working on this program for the past five months and we wrestled with which mobility topics would have the most value to our audience. In the end, our major areas of focus are tablets, mobile device ecosystems, 4G, mobility management and how enterprises should craft their strategy to mobilize UC.

Voice Management a Key Focus at Enterprise Connect 2011
By Susan J. Campbell
February 24, 2011
TMC Net
Communications is an important part of our everyday lives. In the business world, optimal communications are essential to ensure quality interactions and protected business opportunities. With so much at stake, it is imperative that voice management take priority within the enterprise or SMB. For those interested in the latest announcements in this space, Enterprise Connect provides the perfect platform. Enterprise Connect 2011is scheduled to be held February 28-March 3 at the Gaylord Palms Resort and Convention Center in Orlando, FL. Here is a selection of Enterprise Connect 2011 exhibitors set to make announcements:

Contact Center (and Beyond) at Enterprise Connect
By Sheila McGee-Smith
February 23, 2011
No Jitter
Our favorite contrarian tweeted last night. "TeleContrarian Isn't #enterprisecon here yet??? I'm sooooo bored. 3 more days until I get on that #British_Airways flight." I feel his/her pain. I haven't blogged here at No Jitter in a month. Sometimes it was because someone beat me to the story and said what needed to be said, such as Zeus and Dave Michels with their pieces on Avaya's web.alive or Michael Finneran with his story about IBM's Watson. Once it was because the No Jitter editor Eric Krapf decided to step into (on to?) my contact center beat and cover the Genesys Social Engagement announcement.

Enterprise Connect: Business Communications Take Center Stage
By Eric Zeman
February 22, 2011
InformationWeek
VoiceCon is reborn as Enterprise Connect, the most important event of the year for CIOs and IT managers involved in business communications. Here's a look at what's in store at the conference.

Top Industry Vendors Make Announcements at Enterprise Connect 2011
By Press Release
February 22, 2011
PR Newswire
Enterprise Connect, produced by UBM TechWeb, today provides a preview of some of the product and service announcements to be made at Enterprise Connect 2011. Enterprise Connect provides a unique venue for solution providers to showcase their most cutting-edge offerings in enterprise communications and collaboration. Enterprise Connect 2011 will be held February 28-March 3 at the Gaylord Palms Resort and Convention Center in Orlando, FL. For more information visit: http://www.enterpriseconnect.com/orlando/.

Innovation is Alive
By Dave Michels
February 21, 2011
No Jitter
At the upcoming Enterprise Connect, be sure to check out the inaugural Innovation Showcase. It will feature four young companies, each with an innovative communications solution aimed at the enterprise. Innovation is alive and well.

Justifying the Cost of Social Media in the Enterprise
By Melanie Turek, Industry Director, Frost and Sullivan
February 21, 2011
No Jitter
Next week at Enterprise Connect I will be moderating a panel on Building the Case for Social Software in the Enterprise. The thing I like best about the title of the session is that it assumes attendees already understand the value of social software; what they need now are tools for selling the technology to their CFO.

Controlling the Communications Budget
By Gary Audin, Delphi, Inc.
February 18, 2011
No Jitter
Flat budget, reduced budget: these are the themes of many CFOs when they discuss costs with IT and telecom managers. You cannot avoid these discussions.

UCStrategies at Enterprise Connect
By Jim Burton
February 17, 2011
Unified Communications Strategies
Jim Burton: Welcome to UCStratratgies' Industry Buzz. This is Jim Burton and I am joined as usual by the UCStrategies team of experts. And today we are going to talk about Enterprise Connect, which is going to be held February 28th through March 3rd at the Gaylord Palms Hotel in Orlando. We have quite an agenda, many of the UCStrategies UC experts will be participating and each one of them will take their turn to talk about their sessions and what they hope to provide to the attendees.

Calabrio to Release Calabrio One 8.6: Exclusive Podcast
February 16, 2011
Telecom Reseller
On the verge of Enterprise Connect, Calabrio President and CEO, Tom Goodmanson, gives us advance notice of the personalized and streamlined Calabrio ONE. Calabrio ONE is a brand name for a workforce optimization suite that supports the new 8.6 versions of Calabrio Call Recording, Calabrio Quality Management and Calabrio Workforce Management.

The Cloud Won't Cost You Your Job
By Eric Krapf, Editor
February 16, 2011
No Jitter
Fred and I were talking with a prospective speaker for an Enterprise Connect session on the Cloud this week, and the guy, an enterprise executive with a title that included "unified communications," was explaining the status of Cloud offerings as he saw it, from the perspective of a global enterprise serving multiple thousands of users at multiple hundreds of sites worldwide. His enterprise was committed to using Cloud-based services wherever it made sense--and by the way, it was looking increasingly like that actually would make sense in more and more places and scenarios.

SIP Facts Not Fiction Revealed by the SIP School and Techistan at Enterprise Connect
February 14, 2011
VoIP Monitor
Contributing to truth and business development in VoIP and SIP-related business is a quest of The SIP School, Techistan online magazine, DIDXchange and thousands of others who will participate in Enterprise Connect Feb. 29 - March 3, 2011 in Orlando, Florida. The trio will use this opportunity, of the gathering of brightest minds, organizations and ideas, to share results of the complete cycle of months of systematic observation, measurement, experiment, formulation, testing and modification of the industry's experience with SIP.

SIP Facts Not Fiction Revealed by the SIP School and Techistan at Enterprise Connect
By Press Release
February 12, 2011
Forbes
Contributing to truth and business development in VoIP and SIP-related business is a quest of The SIP School, Techistan online magazine, DIDXchange and thousands of others who will participate in Enterprise Connect Feb. 29 - March 3, 2011 in Orlando, Florida. The trio will use this opportunity, of the gathering of brightest minds, organizations and ideas, to share results of the complete cycle of months of systematic observation, measurement, experiment, formulation, testing and modification of the industry's experience with SIP (session initiation protocol).

What's Really Available in the Cloud
By Eric Krapf, Editor
February 7, 2011
No Jitter
Brent Kelly of Wainhouse Research is doing a session at Enterprise Connect in which he's collecting and analyzing responses to a mock RFP for cloud-based communications services, and it's going to be good--He's managed to get Microsoft (in partnership with BT Global Services) and Cisco (in partnership with Verizon) to participate, in addition to some up-and-comers. The complete list:

UBM TechWeb's Enterprise Connect Orlando 2011 Announces Featured Session Lineup
By Press Release
February 7, 2011
PR Newswire
Enterprise Connect, formerly VoiceCon, produced by UBM TechWeb, today announced its conference featured session lineup. Enterprise Connect will be held February 28-March 3 at the Gaylord Palms Hotel in Orlando, FL. Registration is now open at http://www.enterpriseconnect.com/orlando/.

The Year of the Tablet
By Michael Finneran, dBrn Associates
February 1, 2011
No Jitter
The Consumer Electronics Show earlier in the year saw the announcement of over 100 tablet products. Avaya, Cisco, NEC and RIM all announced their first tablet offerings last year and actual deliveries will begin in the first half of this year. We have a session dedicated to The Role of Tablets in Enterprise UC at the upcoming Enterprise Connect show in Orlando. We'll get to hear from those four as well as Polycom, and hopefully they'll be bringing some units we can actually touch.

Point-Counterpoint: Is UC Brash and Disruptive? You'll See!
By Marty Parker, UniComm Cnslt'g/UC Strategies.com
January 30, 2011
No Jitter
In our last weekly UC Newsletter/No Jitter blog, Fred Knight challenged our industry to be "brash and disruptive" as a reflection on the recent changes at Google. Seems the Google board wasn't satisfied with the pace of change so realigned the executive team. In a reference to a Tim Beyers' post on the topic, Fred asked all of us to consider whether we are satisfied with the pace of change in enterprise communications, and specifically with Unified Communications.

UCStrategies Experts Discuss Upcoming Conference Season
By Jim Burton
January 27, 2011
Unified Communications Strategies
The UCStrategies team is well represented at the upcoming Spring conferences. In this Industry Buzz podcasts, the team discusses the upcoming conference season, which includes Lotusphere, IT Expo and its various co-located events, Enterprise Connect, the UC Summit, and Interop.

UBM TechWeb's Enterprise Connect Orlando 2011 Announces Finalists for the Prestigious Best of Enterprise Connect Award
By Press Release
January 26, 2011
PR Newswire
Enterprise Connect Orlando, produced by UBM TechWeb, today announced the seven finalists of the Best of Enterprise Connect award, which recognizes exhibitors who have made significant technological advancements within the enterprise communications industry.

UBM TechWeb's Enterprise Connect Orlando 2011 Announces Finalists for the Prestigious Best of Enterprise Connect Award
By Press Release
January 26, 2011
PR Newswire
Over 30 Submissions Received Signify Great Progress in the Enterprise Communications Industry

What Do Eric Schmidt and UC Have in Common?
By Fred Knight
January 24, 2011
No Jitter
In the wake of last week's announcement that Eric Schmidt had been bounced upstairs to Google's executive chairman's suite, there's been no shortage of theories about why the move was made. Among those I read was one that argued that Google co-founder Larry Page is replacing Schmidt as CEO because Google is no longer innovative enough; Google's management move, the author asserts, reflects a "vote for disruptive change."

2011 Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise Analyst Event
By Sheila McGee-Smith, McGee Smith Analytics
January 23, 2011
No Jitter
Last week's ALU Enterprise analyst event was both the ninth consecutive and the very first gathering of its kind. It was the ninth from the perspective of the contact center analyst community, who has gathered in Northern California in January since 2003 to spend 2 days hearing the latest on product, marketing and sales from the Genesys team. It was the first meeting that combined content from the ALU enterprise contact center, communications and network infrastructure businesses.

UBM TechWeb's Enterprise Connect Orlando 2011 Spotlights Mock RFPs
By Press Release
January 19, 2011
PR Newswire
Enterprise Connect, formerly VoiceCon, produced by UBM TechWeb, today announced that a wide range of vendors will participate in four different mock RFPs, and the results will be presented and analyzed during the conference

New IP-PBX RFP Session: What's Different and Why Should You Care?
By David Stein, Stein Technology Consulting Group
January 19, 2011
No Jitter
For the 2011 Enterprise Connect Conference, I'll be taking over the IP-telephony RFP session that Allan Sulkin ran for many years. I am a telecommunications consultant who for 20 years has represented enterprises such as yours as they look to upgrade, replace and/or optimize their communications infrastructure.

Presence: What the System Knows, and What it Shows
By Eric Krapf
January 13, 2011
No Jitter
Just before the New Year, I chatted with Eric Schoch of Cisco, who offered up some projections of the top trends for 2011 as he saw them. The list made sense--more video and cloud, less differentiation between work and personal communications, and blurred enterprise boundaries. But it was our discussion of presence that really went beyond the end-of-the-year-trend sort of conversation.

RFPs and the Cloud
By Eric Krapf
January 12, 2011
No Jitter
Is the cloud ready for prime time? Can hosted providers do the job?Gary Audin has pointed up some of the shortcomings in cloud providers' offerings and general market readiness. He was writing mainly about SMB-focused offerings--what about the enterprise?

UBM TechWeb's Enterprise Connect® Presented 'Realizing the Benefits of SIP Trunking for Your Enterprise,' Targeted to Corporate IT and Communications Specialists
By Press Release
December 22, 2010
PR Newswire
UBM TechWeb's Enterprise Connect® presented a one-day virtual event, "Realizing the Benefits of SIP Trunking for Your Enterprise," on December 16, 2010, targeted to corporate IT and communications specialists. UBM Studios, a leader in virtual events and virtual business solutions, provided the 3D platform for the event. The event is now available on demand.

UBM TechWeb's Enterprise Connect Names the Top Technology Trends of 2010
By Press Release
December 20, 2010
PR Newswire
Enterprise Connect, produced by UBM TechWeb, today announced its list of the top technology trends of 2010 in the enterprise communications arena. Unified Communications, video, and the Cloud were among the top technology trends of 2010, as determined by the Enterprise Connect program committee.

UBM TechWeb's Enterprise Connect Orlando 2011 Announces Keynote Speakers and New Programs
By Press Release
December 13, 2010
PR Newswire
Enterprise Connect, formerly VoiceCon, produced by UBM TechWeb, today announced that a wide range of vendors will participate in four different mock RFPs, and the results will be presented and analyzed during the conference. Enterprise Connect will be held February 28-March 3 at the Gaylord Palms Hotel in Orlando, FL. Registration is now open at http://www.enterpriseconnect.com/orlando/.

UBM TechWeb's Enterprise Connect Orlando 2011 Announces Keynote Speakers and New Programs
By Press Release
December 13, 2010
PR Newswire
Enterprise Connect, formerly VoiceCon, produced by UBM TechWeb, today announced keynote speakers and new conference programs for Enterprise Connect Orlando 2011. Enterprise Connect will be held February 28 - March 3 at the Gaylord Palms Hotel in Orlando, FL, and covers the full range of platforms, services and applications that comprise modern communications and collaboration systems. Registration is now open at http://www.enterpriseconnect.com/orlando/.