VON Magazine:
Bob is
European Editor of VON
Magazine.
To view Bob's Pulvermedia Podcasts please click here.
In December 2005 VON Magazine introduced a digital version.
Go to www.vonmag. com and you will find my articles. Note
that the default view is double-page but this can be changed
using preferences. For an overview of the pre December 2005
VON articles please click here.
For an overview of the 2006 VON articles please click here.
To view the VON Short Takes overview please click here.
A Chance for Telecom Providers to Reinvent Themselves (December
2007)
In addition to supporting more and more applications,
IT must also keep the mission-critical elements of the organization up and running 24/7.
In an environment of reduced headcount, limited budgets, and exponential bandwidth demand,
enterprises continue to consolidate their infrastructure assets. Telecom providers,
in light of recent technology developments in mobility, FMC, carrier Ethernet,
and SAN extension are well placed to reinvent their relationship with IT.
Read
the Full Article (Opens a new Browser Window to Vonmag-digital.com)
Applications Need Devices, and Devices Need Deployments (November
2007)
IMS deployments have been announced, but the advanced services/applications are not
widely available, and the terminals are not, as yet, fully aligned. In the meantime
"naked SIP" applications delivered via softswitches on NGNs are gerating revenues.
The industry is divided on the right approach, but IMS is happening on a step-by-step basis.
Read
the Full Article (Opens a new Browser Window to Vonmag-digital.com)
VoIP Breaks Capacity and Speed Barriers (November
2007)
A new way to process VoIP delivers simultaneous voice and data on ADSL-up
to 28 calls. Sites can be linked to provide secure private networks. And broadband access
is available on high-speed (300 km/h or 190 mph) trains. Access is available by a
combination os satellite and 2.5/3G services.
Read
the Full Article (Opens a new Browser Window to Vonmag-digital.com)
Critical Enterprise Apllications, but Net Players Are setting the Bar (October
2007)
Videoconferencing has become cinematic telepresence.
UC portals facilitate on-demand desktop meetings, which include video.
FMC brings in road and corridor warriors. Drag and drop documents into sessions,
and you're collaborating in real time.
Read
the Full Article (Opens a new Browser Window to Vonmag-digital.com)
Functionality Heads North - Size and Price Go South (September
2007)
Enterprise gateways and IADs have become
multi-functional products. Triple play has raised the bar
on consumer products, and multi-service access-edge gateways
have become one-box solutions for an enterprise's many and
complex real-time communication needs.
Read
the Full Article (Opens a new Browser Window to Vonmag-digital.com)
It's A Marketing Tool (August
2007)
Service providers are challenged on several fronts.
Customers are demanding greater choice, a better retail experience, and competitive serice plans.
The new environment comprises content providers, multimedia, mobility and triple/quad play services.
Billing and revenue management has therefore become a mission critical process -
one that can also be deployed as a marketing tool.
Read
the Full Article (Opens a new Browser Window to Vonmag-digital.com)
IMS@Mobile Crossroads (August
2007)
IMS was conceived in 1999 as a 3GPP initiative,
so the focus was on mobility from the beginning. Support for fixed networks
such as WLANs came later, the idea being the ability to access services from
both wireless and wireline terminals. Eight years later, that commendable
objective has been realized - without IMS.
Read
the Full Article (Opens a new Browser Window to Vonmag-digital.com)
Wireless Asterisk, TV on Desktop Phones, a Chic, Power-Packed PABX, and a Seriously Disruptive Service (August
2007)
From Denmark there's a comprehensive DECT-solution that runs over
voice-only WLAN. From the UK there's a large-screen desktop IP phone that runs live TV and video.
From Ireland there's a seriously chic, power-packed box for the SOHO market,
and in Spain one company is giving small businesses everything they need for free.
Read
the Full Article (Opens a new Browser Window to Vonmag-digital.com)
Readying the New PSTN
(July 2007)
The end-user percetion of the "new PSTN" is that of a single,
converged network that enables ubiquitous access to applications and services.
Quality of experience (QoE) visibility therefore needs to identify and localize
QoE issues at all points, from the core to the edge, and on the various endpoints
while traversing different access networks.
Read
the Full Article (Opens a new Browser Window to Vonmag-digital.com)
IPv4 to IPv6: A Tricky Transition
(July 2007)
IPv6 fixes a number of problems in IPv4 - primarily the limited number of addresses.
Routing is improved, and this new protocol eliminates the need for NAT; however,
the removal raises new security challenges, and IPv6's innate ability to auto-configure
presents significant risks to enterprise networks.
Read
the Full Article (Opens a new Browser Window to Vonmag-digital.com)
IMS in Enterprises (May
2007)
A development that's long on promise and short on delivery right now,
but maybe it doesn't matter.
IMS has been over-hyped and deja vu promises have been made.
The spec may never be finalized, and true IMS services won't come anytime soon, so it's an
easy target to attack. But the momentum behind this development is huge,
and the objectives are cemmendable.
Read
the Full Article (Opens a new Browser Window to Vonmag-digital.com)
Mobility Models: More Choice, More Functionality (May
2007)
One open convergence model works with any IP PBX as well as any fixed,
mobile, or wireless network. It delivers total mobility that's controlled by the enterprise.
Another enables a new breed of MVNOs by turning existing VoIP infrastructure
into mobile core networks.
Read
the Full Article (Opens a new Browser Window to Vonmag-digital.com)
Migration Strategies for Enterprises
(April 2007)
It's easy. Decide what you want and work backwards.
Migration started with forklift upgrades. Then you could mix and match
the old with the new, but real-time applications were thin on the ground.
Now there are so many services and apllication options that deciding who
needs what and when is the hard part.
Read
the Full Article (Opens a new Browser Window to Vonmag-digital.com)
Divided by Borders. Unified by IP
(April 2007)
European telecom providers used to reflect national interests,
so economies of scale were hard to realize, but Internet technology doesn't respect borders,
and this should allow the world's biggest market - the EU - to realize its full potentials.
Read
the Full Article (Opens a new Browser Window to Vonmag-digital.com)
Quality Assurance is the Name of the Game
(March 2007)
Triple-play services are delivered via complex networks that are pre-tested.
When they're up an running, perfomance must be measured in real time and problems pin pointed.
Read
the Full Article (Opens a new Browser Window to Vonmag-digital.com)
SMBs and Serious Skype at VON Berlin (March 2007)
Premises-based solutions for SMBs get better and better.
They're plug and play, robust, and phones can be managed the same way as PCs.
Meanwhile Skype goes from strength to strength and gets an executive skin.
Read
the Full Article (Opens a new Browser Window to Vonmag-digital.com)
SIP Trunks Deliver the Promise of End-to-End IP Communications (February
2007)
SIP is an open, multimedia standard that allows interoperability between IP carrier
clouds and enterprise systems. The logical communications channel that is established,
known as SIP trunk, allows all media types to traverse a single link that connects
enterprises to their remote sites, customers, suppliers, and other third parties.
Read
the Full Article (Opens a new Browser Window to Vonmag-digital.com)
Longer Takes from VON Berlin (February
2007)
Two events are now needed in order to track European innovation.
Highlights from VON Europe Autumn event held in Berlin included Skype on any mobile,
Google Talk on any phone, instant VoIP, IM presence on Web applications and portals,
and the Mac mini as an IP PBX.
Read
the Full Article (Opens a new Browser Window to Vonmag-digital.com)
Peering & Federating - Easing the Transition to an 'All-IP' World
(January 2007)
Service providers peer in order to exchance traffic.
Enterprises and organizations federate in order to enable secure communications.
Both developments embrace wireline, cellular, VoIP, and IMS networks.
Read
the Full Article (Opens a new Browser Window to Vonmag-digital.com)
IMS Gets Real at GMI 2006 (January
2007)
Will IMS bring about the greatest change in the communications infrastructure
since the invention of the packet? It's beginning to look that way.
Read
the Full Article (Opens a new Browser Window to Vonmag-digital.com)
