SIP

Sipera Enhances UC Security

In the Press Release from Sipera, it explains that “For enterprises utilizing SIP trunks to connect to their service providers, Sipera not only offers comprehensive security for these SIP trunks, but also addresses key deployment issues by offering additional Session Border Control (SBC) functionality.” SIP trunking is one of the hot trends within the hot trends of VoIP and Unified Communications. Updates to the Sipera IPCS appliance include:

• Certificate provisioning proxy for improved access control
• HTTP/TFTP proxy for web services and configuration, and LDAP proxy for
  directory services, for faster and easier deployment of remote phones
• TLS/SRTP proxy for encryption, further ensuring communications privacy
• Network, device, user, domain, and time of day granular policy
  enforcement.

Cutting Edge Microsoft UC

Microsoft has put a fair amount of marketing muscle into their Unified Communications offering. Many organizations are busy architecting, deploying, and implementing the various components- Exchange Server 2007, Office Communications Server 2007, the OCS 2007 Mediation Server, etc. The standard, supported configuration involves separate server hardware for most of the components, and an on-site PBX solution. Evangelyze Communications however, working with VoIP provider NGT (New Global Telecom) has built a fully functional Microsoft Unified Communications deployment running almost entirely virtualized in Hyper-V, and connected remotely to a hosted VoIP service. You can learn more from Mike Stacy’s blog: Hosted Gateway/SIP Trunk with OCS. The result is a Microsoft Unified Communications deployment with significant cost savings in terms of hardware and infrastructure.

A Look at Aastra’s Response Point System

Microsoft’s Response Point phone system will have a third hardware provider very soon. Quanta (Syspine) and D-Link have already been providing Response Point base units and phones, and now the long awaited Aastra phone system is nearly ready for prime time. The Microsoft Response Point system offers small and medium businesses many of the features and functions of larger enterprise-level unified communications voice solutions, in a cost-effective and exceptionally simple system. Aastra, aside from just being the third vendor on the block to offer Response Point equipment, is also the first to provide a cordless phone handset option that works with Response Point. Ohio-based consultant Allen Miller shows off some pictures of his beta system and talks a little about the Aastra equipment on his blog. Miller also talks in another post about his experience using the Aastra Response Point phones to conduct a call over VoIP while also loading his network down with additional activity. Overall, Miller gives the Aastra system high marks and says that his call was crystal clear even with the extra network traffic.

Nortel Leverages Open Source For New SMB Offering

Built on an open source foundation, with the collaboration of the open source community in the SIPFoundry Project, Nortel’s new SCS500 (Software Communications System) provides small and medium businesses from 30 to 500+ employees with an affordable unified communications solution. The SCS500 is a SIP-centric unified communications product that provides instant messaging, presence, IP telephony, conferencing, and other unified communications capabilities. Nortel believes that there are 5 key elements to unified communications for the SMB market: productivity, efficiency, flexibility, cost savings, and mobility. They believe that the SCS500 delivers on each of these elements. The SCS500 is offered on popular Dell and IBM server platforms. You can learn more about the Nortel SCS500 in this CNNMoney.com article.

IBM Pledges $1 Billion Investment in Unified Communications

Not wanting to be left out of the next big wave in network / office communications, IBM this week announced that they have earmarked $1 Billion (With a ‘B’. The one with 9 zeros after it) for internal development and key strategic acquisitions to enhance and develop their unified communications offerings. I guess they are serious about jumping in to the deep end and taking on Microsoft and Cisco for their share of the UC pie.

Microsoft and Nortel Strengthen UC Partnership

Officially, Microsoft and Nortel have been buddies on the Unified Communications front for over a year and a half. Prior to now, however, the partnership was more rhetoric and lip service than actual solutions and products. Now, the partnership is resulting in a flurry of joint products designed to play together for an even more unified Unified Communications. Nortel released Nortel Converged Office, which integrates Nortel’s Communication Server 1000 IP-PBX with Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007. Microsoft has also certified the Nortel Secure Router 4134 to run Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007. The combination of Microsoft and Nortel is a formidable team capable of going to head to head with other network and telephony communications providers in the UC arena such as Avaya and Cisco. Read Nortel, Microsoft Expand Unified Communications at InternetNews.com for more details about the Microsoft / Nortel partnership and the new products and services that have resulted from it.

Unison Offers Unified Communications for Linux

Unison has developed a free unified communications suite built on Linux. The suite, which includes VoIP telephone capabilities, email, and instant messaging, is affectionately named “Unison”. The Beta version is available for free now. There is a Windows client application. While the server portion of the product runs on Linux, there is oddly no client available yet for Linux. For small to medium enterprises looking to jump on the unified communication bandwagon, a free tool built on Linux with a Windows client application might be a great way to test the water. You can learn more about the suite from Unison by reading this PC World article.

Wi-Fi and Cellular Converge To Improve Productivity

One of the promises, or benefits, of unified communications is being able to communicate with people where they are when you need them. The concept of ‘presence’ in Microsoft’s UCC (Unified Communications and Collaboration) is designed so that you can tell if a person is available or not, the contact them by the most efficient, or convenient means possible. One potential gap in the communications is determining if a user is actually at their desk, available to answer their office phone, or if they are moving about the building or even off site, in which case you would contact them via their cell phone. Of course, the user can always set up various call-forwarding solutions to try and send the calls to where they will be, but that is cumbersome and most users don’t understand it and won’t take the time. Now, new solutions are emerging that leverage the converged wireless networking and cellular communications capabilities of mobile phones so that the land line can be ditched and the mobile phone can be the sole method of voice communication. For more details, read Wi-Fi cellular convergence can boost mobile worker productivity on SearchMobileComputing.

Cisco Smart Business Communications System (SBCS)

Cisco has had equipment available for small and medium businesses (SMB’s) to manage data and voice and enable unified communications for a while now. The initial equipment however was only available in 8-port or 16-port versions. The relatively small number of ports capped out at ’small’, and did not meet the needs of the ‘medium’ portion of the SMB market. The recently-released next generation of the UC 500 appliance comes in 32-port and 48-port varieties, making it a much more viable solution for medium companies looking to join the unified communications revolution. You can read this article for more about the new unified communications equipment, as well as new ethernet and wireless equipment from Cisco.

VoIP Dubbed “a Time Bomb”

The number of VoIP vulnerabilities seems to grow each week as researchers continue to poke holes in this hot new technology. Thus far though, there really haven’t been any attacks, or even exploits developed for the vulnerabilities. That may be in part due to the fact that each VoIP vendor seems to have their own proprietary protocols, and attackers like to focus on common protocols so they can leverage their skills against more than one vendor. Some have speculated that 2008 will be the year that VoIP will be slammed by some major attack. I tend to feel more that there will be attacks, but not necessarily the kind that will bring a corporation to its knees. Still, the vulnerabilities that have been discovered can have a significant impact if exploited and may affect regulatory compliance if left unchecked. Take a look at this article from Computerworld.com for some more insight and predictions regarding the security of VoIP.