sip5060.net / en es

RSS Atom

Planet SIP

January 21, 2022

• FreeSWITCH 2021/2022 Tech Buzzwords

  In the Information Age, understanding the slew of buzzwords that pile up year after year is the key to knowing what’s happening in the world of tech. So what tech buzzwords had a moment in 2021? None of these concepts are new, but really seemed to define 2021 and how we talk about it. AI and IoT have never died over the past few years, but there are some terms that feel so uniquely 2021. And less than a month into 2022, we can already see some of the tech trends that are defining the new year.

  Top Buzzwords of 2021

  MR – Mixed Reality

  XR, VR, AR, and MR – it seems like we have all kinds of different realities these days. Though we were talking about all of them in 2021, according to Google Trends, Mixed Reality, or MR, saw a massive spike in searches last year. MR lives under the umbrella of XR, or Extended Reality, the term that encompasses all the computer-generated realities, which are all related but distinct from one another.

  To briefly summarize the differences:

  Virtual Reality is an immersive experience created by computer technologies using a headset that generates realistic sounds and images, and at its most ideal, engages all five senses – though this is not always possible. The goal is to replicate the real world, or create an imaginary one. VR takes place in a virtual world.

  Augmented Reality is a live view of a real world environment that may be augmented by computer generated input like sounds or graphics. AR takes reality and adds to it using a phone, tablet, or headset. AR takes place in the physical world.

  Mixed Reality, meanwhile, is the merging of real and virtual worlds where physical and digital objects interact. The key to MR is that these two things can react to each other in real time. MR basically includes the entire spectrum between VR and AR.

  Web3

  Web3, or Web 3.0, is the newest iteration of the World Wide Web, aimed at basing the internet on the blockchain. Web1 relied on static web pages, while users were mainly consumers of content. Web2 is the internet we currently use today, defined as the era based on social media and companies that use lots of our personal data, as well as tons of user-generated content. Web3 is meant to be more decentralized and not reliant on companies like Facebook and Google, with the hope of democratizing the internet. AI and blockchain will be the kings of Web3. Anyone can participate in the network because no one authority figure controls it, and because it’s decentralized, the entire network can never go down. While Web2 was mainly focused on the front-end, Web3 will be more concerned with upgrading the back-end of the web.  

  Hyper-personalization

  Hyper-personalization is exactly what it sounds like: companies identify exact customer needs and requirements with the help of behavioral data. This makes marketing much less product-centric and delivers a more customized experience to the user. Brands can analyze a customer’s previous interactions, gathering real-time behavioral data to tailor products and services to their specific needs. Though it’s meant to remove obstacles for customers and simplify the shopping experience to get them what they want, it can be a little unsettling that an ecommerce company might know exactly what you want before you do. As AI meets marketing, everyone’s shopping experiences will only continue to get more hyper-personalized.

  …and the terms already defining 2022

  Metaverse

  2021 truly felt like the year of the Metaverse, didn’t it? The Metaverse is a network of 3D virtual worlds focused on social connection, accessed by VR or AR goggles. You may have heard of it last year in reference to the Facebook Metaverse. In 2021 Facebook renamed itself “Meta Platforms” and declared itself devoted to developing the Metaverse. The social networking platform started its work with VR back in 2019, but 2021 was truly the year of the Metaverse in our popular vocabulary. And 2022 is starting off much the same way, with discussions of the Metaverse already dominating the internet. 

  NFT 

  NFTs, or non-fungible tokens (meaning they’re unique and can’t be replaced with something else), really went mainstream in 2021. Collins Dictionary actually declared NFT as the word of the year. NFTs are simply digital assets on blockchain networks. They can be almost anything, an original picture, a song, a video, or even a tweet, authenticated on cryptocurrency blockchain like Ethereum. Whatever the content is, it must be logged on blockchain so that every transaction can be recorded. Technically, you can still copy a file as many times as you want. However, the goal of the NFT is to give you ownership of the work, something that can’t be replicated. Some people think of it as an extension of fine art collecting. Anyone can buy a Monet print, but only one person can own the original. 2022 isn’t going to make NFTs any less popular any time soon – Google Trends is still recording an uptick in searches this year as more people seek to invest. 

  Up-and-comers of 2022

  6G

  5G is so 2020. 6G is what’s up next. Currently under development in the world of telecom, it’s planned to succeed 5G and be significantly faster. In theory, 6G will not only support the current range of mobile devices as 5G does, but also AR and VR applications. It’s not a functioning technology yet, and is mostly still in the research stage – but as it’s developed, interest in this buzzword is already spiking in 2022. Mobile telecom companies are still mostly fixated on 5G rollouts for now. It could be toward the end of this decade when 6G actually becomes a reality, but public interest in the term already has lots of people talking about the possibilities of what it can accomplish.

  Hyperautomation

  We’re at the point of automating automation. Hyperautomation discovers business processes and creates bots to automate them. As machine learning and AI become more powerful, hyperautomation is becoming more commonplace to rapidly identify, vet, and automate as many business and IT processes as possible. The future is automating everything that can possibly be automated. Though many organizations are still figuring out regular automation, 2022 is already seeing hyperautomation inch forward into the mainstream. And for now, every company will have a different approach to the process.

  The post 2021/2022 Tech Buzzwords appeared first on FreeSWITCH.

January 20, 2022

• Digium A Staggering Scale of Operations and Cooperation

  Aloha!

  Sangoma is well known as a global leader in business communications tools for voice, video, chat, and collaboration. We have hundreds of employees dedicated to the creation of amazing software solutions to solve all of your challenges. Sangoma provides affordable, easy-to-use services. We’re not only a leader in software, but we’re also a global leader in hardware.

  At Sangoma, our communications hardware offerings run the gamut. We have all of the widgets that businesses of all sizes need to complement our services offerings. Today, in this short blog, I want to highlight the global aspect of this hardware business, to give you an idea about just how connected and dependent our world is.

  Today’s Sangoma is very well known for many things, including our Desktop VoIP telephones. We have low-cost endpoints for the value-conscious sections of the market – for those that need reliable dial tone. We have mid-range telephones with amazing, unique features to fit any budget. And, we have executive models with the latest features and capabilities. To make our deskphones happen, we start with our Hardware Engineers who work in the United States. These engineers collaborate with our Software Engineers in the US, in Canada, and in India. These teams work with our component suppliers, who operate out of Germany, the United States, and China. And to turn all of this hard work into the tangible things on your desk, we have manufacturing partnerships.

  We’re also known for our gateway products. For enterprises and small and medium businesses, we have analog gateways that are perfect for POTS replacement (combine them with our SIPStation trunking service!) and we have digital gateways for interconnecting legacy systems. We also have gateways for carriers, providing high-density solutions that support carrier protocols. To make our gateways happen, we turn to our Hardware Engineers in Canada and India. They work with our Software Engineers in the United Kingdom, India, Canada, and the United States. To build our gateways, we work with our manufacturing partners.

  And if you’ve been with Sangoma for more than 15 years, you might know us for some of our line card products. We have analog cards and digital cards. We have cards that depend on host processing, and we have cards with massive DSP resources and powerful software. We remain the global leader in the plug-in card industry. Our card products depend, again, on Hardware Engineering in Canada, India, and the United States, software Engineering in those three locations plus the United Kingdom, and manufacturing partners in two different countries.

  We coordinate all of this from our offices, but we also depend on our logistics partners operating internationally. They help us to deliver component parts made everywhere in the world to our manufacturing partners. Once the manufacturing partners assemble the products, logistics moves containers of our goods across oceans and into our warehouses, which we then empty as the products make their way to our global network of distribution partners in more than 100 locations across the globe, then on to thousands of reselling partners, and finally millions of end customers.

  It’s a staggering scale of operations and cooperation that comes together to deliver a widget to an end customer, and I hope that this offers a sliver of insight into just how dependent we all are on each other. Together, Sangoma moves mountains.

  The post A Staggering Scale of Operations and Cooperation appeared first on Sangoma.

January 19, 2022

• Digium Introducing Sangoma Meet Virtual Backgrounds

  With remote work now a part of the norm, workers can meet from virtually anywhere. A feature-rich, reliable and secure video conferencing platform is a new necessity for businesses to continue collaborating with ease. But as with all new developments, some unanticipated results can materialize. For video meetings, this includes what’s in the background of your location.

  To help with this, Sangoma Meet now offers virtual backgrounds! Here are just a few of the ways virtual backgrounds can enhance your meetings experience:

  • Working from home? Whether you’re on the couch, at the kitchen table, or in your home office, with a virtual background you can present a formal office environment, conceal your background with a blur option, or just switch up your setting for fun!
  • On the go? Pretend you’re at the beach, in the mountains, or still working from the office with a variety of options from the Sangoma Meet background library.
  • Want to personalize your background? We have an option to upload your own custom background image!
  • Just want to have a little fun? We have plenty of backgrounds for that too!

  You can get started using virtual backgrounds today and elevate your Sangoma Meet experience! Reach out to your Sangoma representative today and request a video chat to learn how!

  The post Introducing Sangoma Meet Virtual Backgrounds appeared first on Sangoma.

January 18, 2022

• Digium Voice Remains Important For Your Business

  I’ve seen a few recent articles, and actually have had a few conversations lately about “voice”, basically about how voice remains important for your business, or how voice is making a comeback in business. Since we’ve all been on so many video calls the past two years, much ink has been used writing about video in the workplace. And rightly so given the huge impact video has been to the knowledge worker, and will continue to be, going forward. I mean video calls, and sharing screens, and collaborating remotely is here to stay.

  But anyway, recently, not so much ink dedicated to voice. Because it’s there, it’s boring, it works, we all know about it, etc.

  I’ve always advocated about the importance of voice for your business. Customers and prospects call you. You give out phone numbers on business cards. You put phone numbers on your website for people to contact your business. It is still the preferred communication mechanism for customers when they need real time interaction.

  Since many of us are very focused in a typical workday either internally or with close partners and contacts, many people seem to think the world revolves around video. And for internal type meetings, it sure does now. For instance all of our internal meetings are conducted on Sangoma Meet now. And I’m sure Sangoma is no different from other companies in that regard.

  However, with our customer base, phone calls are still important. And if you are operating a small business, your telephone number if your lifeblood. So what’s with these new articles about “voice”? Part of it is what I explained above – just the reality of running a business needs phone numbers and voice, and can’t be done solely on video meeting platforms. And analysts and journalists are seeing this, so they’re writing about it.

  Next week I will write more about where voice is going in the business.

  The post Voice Remains Important For Your Business appeared first on Sangoma.

• WebRTC Hacks Ways to save an image from your webcam in 2022

  Exploration and examples of the 5 different ways you can save an image from your webcam in JavaScript in 2022. Includes canvas.toBlob, OffscreenCanvas, createImageBitmap, ImageCapture, and ReadableStreams / MediaStreamTrackProcessor

  The post Ways to save an image from your webcam in 2022 appeared first on webrtcHacks.

• ng-voice Out with the old, in with the new: commercial models need a refresh

  Just like every industry and sector, the telecoms industry has undergone a great deal of change over the last two decades — from the worldwide uptake of internet services, the arrival of hyperscale companies, to the demand for more mobile-driven services and applications, changing the consumer behavior; all have driven the evolution of this industry. As a result, service providers have made continuous investments in their network infrastructure—from the buying of spectrum, hardware, software, and services to overhauls in network technology and components to deliver the best network experience to their subscribers. Yet, service providers have continuously been criticized for being too slow and challenged to invest even more and upgrade their networks. 

   

  However, as mobile network infrastructure technology has evolved, little change has been made to the commercial models behind the technology solutions that they purchase. In fact, traditional solutions have been using almost the same commercial models for decades, with some changes made to them only resulting in more complexity for service providers. But if the technologies within the telecom industry have changed so much, it begs the question: shouldn’t the commercial models radically change, too? 

   

  Quite simply: yes. Traditional commercial models are complex and often lacking in transparency. Indeed, service providers will often find themselves paying for different components, solutions, or software, without truly knowing the cost of each and in addition have to learn each technology and how to operate and manage it. And by end of the day, determining what the cost will be to deliver the service becomes a hard task for the service provider. 

   

  Add to this lengthy, multi-year contracts with a support model that is not straightforward, tied to a single or multi-vendor for longer than is beneficial and there you have a perfect recipe for vendor lock-in. 

   

  So, what’s the alternative as service providers evolve in this new age of telecommunications, driven by open standards, cloud-driven platforms, and a desire to move away from proprietary technology?

   

  The solution lies in flexibility: just as service providers seek this attribute in their network infrastructure, so should it be found in the commercial models through which they purchase their solutions. That flexibility means doing away with CAPEX-heavy models from yesterday which demand high-investment upfront, and instead, ones where both CAPEX and OPEX investments are dependent on a service providers’ size, needs, ambitions, and requirements.

   

  Here at ng-voice, we’re all about that flexibility when it comes to our commercial model. As we see more service providers embrace cloud-native voice services, many want to ensure this transition away from legacy voice doesn’t negatively impact their bottom line and instead sees them deliver this service in a way that is not only cost-effective but is also clear and without surprises.   

   

  That’s why we’ve created a commercial model that is open and transparent, and reflects the needs of our customers in the short and long term, making it affordable, and allowing our customers to pay for what they need. As our customers grow their subscriber base and require more components or resources, we can easily support them while offering a transparent pricing structure that doesn’t impact their growth ambitions. Indeed, here at ng-voice, we believe that embracing this ‘pay-as-you-grow’ pricing model makes the technology transition more accessible to service providers of all sizes. 

   

  The telecoms industry is changing at pace, voice solutions are changing too, so perhaps it’s time to leave outdated commercial models in the past and embrace transparency, flexibility, and scalability. More importantly, service providers should ask the question: what is the true cost of delivering my services?

   

  To find out more about our cloud-native VoLTE/ VoNR solutions, check out our solution or get in contact to schedule a meeting.

  Share this article via:

  Share on facebook

  Facebook

  Share on linkedin

  LinkedIn

  Share on twitter

  Twitter

  

  Qawa Darabi

  Vice President – Sales Worldwide.

  Publisher Bio

  With over 20 years of sales, partnerships and technical experience within the telecommunications industry. Qawa currently is leading our growth and customer success strategy as Vice President – Sales Worldwide.

January 11, 2022

• Digium Sangoma Recognized By Channel Futures as the Top M&A of 2021, for Its Acquisition of Star2Star

  About a year ago, Sangoma announced its intention to purchase Star2Star. And even though we were one of the first M&A’s in 2021, we were recognized by Channel Futures for the top merger and acquisition of 2021.

  Channel Futures serves the information and communication technology (ICT) industry channel and is part of the global Informa Tech business with over 1,000 subject matter experts and colleagues, including Omdia research. Channel Futures ranked the top 24 mergers and acquisitions of 2021 in the channel, placing Sangoma first.

  Sangoma’s acquisition stands out amongst the other M&A transactions as particularly strategic for the channel, because it now enables Sangoma’s channel partners to meet the needs of all customers, from SMB to enterprise, with the most comprehensive suite of cloud services available in the industry. Sangoma’s channel partners are then able to bring this full solution, all integrated together from a single cloud supplier, to their customers. Sangoma’s cloud suite includes Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS), Trunking as a Service (TaaS), Contact Center as a Service (CCaaS), Communications Platform as a Service (CPaaS), Video Meetings as a Service (VMaaS), Collaboration as a Service, Desktop as a Service (DaaS), and Access Control as a Service (ACaaS).

  The post Sangoma Recognized By Channel Futures as the Top M&A of 2021, for Its Acquisition of Star2Star appeared first on Sangoma.

January 10, 2022

• ng-voice Getting started at ng-voice: how we make sure our new employees are set up for success from the start

  Going from one employer to another can be a quite stressful experience for the employee. If the new role also involves relocation to a new country or even continent, another layer of complexity is added. When a new colleague joins ng-voice, it is crucial to give them time and support to get acquainted with their new role, the company’s culture, and overall new environment.

   

  During our onboarding process, apart from setting the employees up with the tools and information needed to perform in the new role, we encourage them to understand ng-voice’s mission and engage with new colleagues, making them feel part of the team. We also understand that relocating to a new country can be challenging. This is why we have additional benefits to help and ease the transition for the international new hires and their family members. 

  In this blog, we are going to discuss what we at ng-voice do to make the onboarding experience smoother, and also explain more about our relocation support for international employees.

  ng-voice’s onboarding process

  During the Pre-Onboarding phase, we make sure everything is set and ready for the new hire to join. At this stage, we offer support for the employee in different ways, such as relocation assistance, immigration aid as well as setting up a new workstation (onsite or remotely). We also plan and select your onboarding buddy, a colleague who will guide the new hire about day-to-day processes, introduce them to the rest of the team and answer questions as they arise and just teach them the ropes. As the onboarding phase starts, a welcome session is conducted by our People Team, followed by a company and “how we work” presentation from our CEO and CoS as well as having a welcome lunch with the team members.

   

  During this phase, we also introduce our new team members to the company’s work tools and ensure they have everything they need to do their job efficiently. Once they are settled in our work environment, we like to follow up with a feedback system during post-onboarding, until the end of the probation period. Feedback and communication during the post-onboarding phase are key to understanding and evaluating how well the new employees have settled in, implementing new actions when necessary, and further improving our onboarding process.

  Relocation support for our international employees

  We strive to provide our employees as well as their loved ones with a smooth and top-notch experience, focusing on their physical as well as their emotional wellbeing. Preparing to relocate a newly joined employee requires a great deal of communication, addressing their concerns and needs. Our relocation package for international employees is designed to help ease the moving process and get our new talent started in their role as quickly as possible. At ng-voice, we provide assistance and support for our international talents such as:

   

  • • Immigration Assistance – professional assistance for the employee’s visa/ residency permit application process.
    • Housing support – short-term accommodation already set upon arrival 
    • Spouse and children assistance – assistance with the visa/ residency permit process for family members in Germany as well as other settling-in processes such as applying for child benefits or change of tax class.

   

  We had a quick chat with Sameer Naher (Software developer) who was relocated to Germany from India about his experience with ng-voice’s support. Sameer stated “ng-voice made me, my wife, and Kimchi (our cat) feel at home right from the go. With a prompt and dedicated relocation advisor, the worries with visas and all the associated paperwork were a breeze! Having an apartment on arrival in a foreign land put me so much at ease too! And having a buddy for you during the starting months helps onboarding in a very well guided and organized manner – there is always help at hand!” 

   

  Employee onboarding and transition, if done correctly, can contribute to the long-term stability and productivity of our organization. We at ng-voice believe it is a fundamental component for our employees’ happiness, and therefore for the success of our company. 

   

  Do you identify with our work culture? Are you ready to apply and showcase your talent? Then check out our career page for more information and open positions. We are looking forward to getting to know you.

   

  ng-voice is an equal opportunity employer. We believe demographic characteristics and diverse experiences that have nurtured unique viewpoints benefit our growth and performance and value each person and their different background as a whole.

  Share this article via:

  Share on facebook

  Facebook

  Share on linkedin

  LinkedIn

  Share on twitter

  Twitter

  

  Alexandra Lehr

  People Services & Global Mobility Specialist

  Publisher Bio

  With over 10 years of experience in global mobility with a focus on immigration and relocation support for IT companies and international corporations. At ng-voice, Alexandra uses her expertise to interact with many different cultures and drive high-quality services for relocation and onboarding with a customer-focused mentality

January 04, 2022

• Digium Premise UC Platforms Continue to Do Well

  One year ago, I wrote a blog about Panasonic exiting the PBX business. As I wrote at the time, this was more about the PBX business changing into Unified Communications than it was about a decline in on-premise systems. And even though we see all kinds of press about the growth in UCaaS, which by the way is justified, we hardly ever see anything about on-premise systems. The presumption being that they are declining so why even write about a topic that no one really cares about.

  But are on-premise Unified Communication systems really declining? The benefits of Unified Communications, which include business communication systems that support not only voice, but also video, collaboration, file sharing and messaging, and includes support for office phone numbers to your laptop and your smart phone in addition to your deskphone, are not just limited to cloud-based UC systems. All these features can also be delivered via premise platforms.

  And with this in mind, lo and behold, we do find an article about “premise PBX is the largest selling UC platform in 2021”. This comes as no surprise to Sangoma, given we sell both on-premise and cloud-based UC. And as the article outlines, we understand the reasons why customers continue to buy on premise: excellent reseller/dealer support, security, and total cost of ownership. Of course, there are also excellent reasons to go cloud.

  Either way, Sangoma can provide your business with the best UC system for your business. Our UC systems include advanced collaboration and productivity-enhancing features for every user and can be deployed on-premise or through the cloud, allowing businesses to select the best option for their needs.

  The post Premise UC Platforms Continue to Do Well appeared first on Sangoma.

December 29, 2021

• Digium Remote Work Adoption Challenges & Solutions with UCaaS and Connected Workspace

  As we head into a new year, many of us reflect on the year before to see what we’ve learned and how we might apply those lessons to the year ahead. In terms of remote work adoption, one of the most salient lessons is that preparation and the right tools are essential for a smooth transition to the future of work. In this article, we explore some of the common challenges and how we can overcome them in the year ahead.

  As we’ve all seen, remote work adoption is not without challenges. Issues related to lack of interpersonal connection and connectivity can stall even the best-laid telework plans. Potential complications include challenges to fostering effective communications, promoting collaboration, and monitoring productivity.

  Issue: Effective Communications For Remote Work Adoption

  Remote workers can experience disconnect from their long-distance peers, with logistical issues further complicating those matters. Common complaints include difficulty pulling together meetings, collaborating, conveying policy and viewing, drafting, and editing documents.

  Of course, effective communication and proper tech deployment are key. Other recommendations include promoting timely and transparent dialogue, establishing dedicated work-time schedules for staff and blocking certain periods each day for availability.

  It is also important to remember that, while ineffective communications can trouble any organization, that disparity is only magnified in a remote-work setting.

  UCaaS

  UCaaS represents a “fundamental shift in business communications” by expanding on traditional voice services. This consolidated cloud system supports videoconferences, faxes and messages. Plus, its accessibility from any internet-equipped location takes pressure off of the end-user adopter.

  UCaaS includes features to bolster engagement, productivity and business continuity while requiring less physical hardware. With less equipment, it should be noted that the chances of end-user error in the remote work adoption process also go significantly down.

  Connected Workspace

  A Connected Workspace is a DaaS (Desktop as a Service) product with cloud-based workspaces to support remote storage, application use and other remote work needs. Connected Workspaces reinforce remote communications, promote employee engagement, extend productivity and reduce cost.

  Issue: Productivity Monitoring

  Without proper planning, companies with remote workers may struggle to manage productivity on a day-to-day basis. Given geographic, technological and logistical issues, proper telework policy requires both trust and understanding for the staffer; lack of productivity will always be exposed. Collaboration software includes administrative functions for tracking productivity and providing disclosure regarding day-to-day activities as well as regular reporting.

  Issue: Cybersecurity

  Unfortunately, cybersecurity is a more pressing workplace concern than ever, with instances of ransomware attacks alone up 151 percent Y2Y for 1H 2021. This worry is further amplified by the swell of at-home work policy that prevents the employer from seeing staff behavior and risk. Conveying security “best practices” and requesting information non-disclosure helps, but does not address ill-advised or malicious decisions. Other cybersecurity recommendations for remote work adoption include:

  • Requiring VPN access
  • Restricting visibility and flexibility regarding certain docs
  • Promoting awareness of smart password practices

  Issue: End-User Remote Work Adoption

  Digital remote work adoption can be problematic in a physical workplace; issues become compounded when the remote worker must provide his or her own tech support. Insufficient communication practices tend to lead to common deployment issues such as:

  • Inadequate digital training, amplified by a lack of hands-on assistance for those in need
  • Reluctance to try new technology, paired with sloppy or outdated IT habits
  • Ill-equipped digital remote work adoption policy or strategy

  Sadly, there is no definitive way to guarantee 100 percent telework productivity. Sure, many of the issues preventing effective remote work can be fixed with some attention. Ultimately, however, organizations need to be flexible and willing to invest in cloud software in addition to staff digital literacy training and “best practices”. Potential barriers to remote work adoption can usually be scaled if the company is willing to take that leap.

  The post Remote Work Adoption Challenges & Solutions with UCaaS and Connected Workspace appeared first on Sangoma.

December 22, 2021

• Digium Evolution of Email: Best Practices for Embracing Team Collaboration Software

  With remote work on the continual rise, organizational reliance on team collaboration software is always growing. Team-based sharing, instant messaging and other forms of communication seemingly eclipse traditional email by the day, necessitating a comprehensive, all-inclusive application to close the miles between remote-work staff.

  Traditionally, this software set supports VoIP telephony, video conferencing, cloud workspaces, channel management, real-time messaging and file management to improve communication, drive productivity and promote efficiency.

  According to Quantum Workplace, the business’ first and best move in eschewing traditional email in favor of more inclusive remote tools is to embrace new approaches that promote employee and organizational adoption.

  Best Practice: Improving Clarity in Communications

  Probably the most important aim is to foster an environment of complete communication and transparency. In this respect, team-based software offers several critical features that promote real-time interactions.

  The employer and teleworker alike need to be able to communicate with one another on an as-needed basis. Despite a small learning curve in app adoption, users need to be able to express themselves in a face-to-face, direct manner, the same as would be in a physical office space. Official corporate policy should include:

  • Clearer expectations
  • Objective fulfillment
  • Defined boundaries and channels for communicating concerns
  • Written correspondence to reinforce verbal communications
  • Tech accessibility, including Team meeting, videoconference, project management and document management software

  Best Practice: Fostering Open-Mindedness

  At the same time, it is advisable to create an official policy for issuing and collecting feedback over the various mediums of collaboration software. This can assist with supporting employee satisfaction, resolving conflict, fostering employer-employee trust and establishing camaraderie. Most importantly, it allows for active dialogue that outlines work-related expectations – on both the employer’s and employee’s part – to drive performance, improve understanding and meet expectations.

  For this reason, administrators should set regular, scheduled periods for inviting the suggestions of their remote-work staff.

  Best Practice: Establishing Common Availability Periods

  With physically dispersed talent, it is incumbent on the organization to promote times of common availability for meetings, collaboration or a quick chat. This consideration is especially important for businesses whose staff are spread out across multiple time zones.

  Best Practice: Defining Home and Work-Life Separation

  Crucial for remote worker success in a team-based collaboration environment is the establishment of a firm, hard balance between home and work life.

  With instances of remote work experiencing significant growth in the pandemic era, remote workers find themselves at a much significantly higher rate of potential burnout. In particular, the National Bureau of Economic Research recently indicated that teleworkers tend to extend their work hours by an average of as much as 48.5 minutes per day.

  With this statistic as a backdrop, it should be considered critical to begin and end the day exactly as if one is part of a physical office culture, factoring in considerations such as setting regular work hours, restricting off-time availability, scheduling breaks and working in a dedicated area of the home.

  With some transparency regarding employee availability, organizations and their remote workers alike can maximize the use of collaboration software in order to:

  • Promote more effective time usage, collaboration and work
  • Manage individuals, channels or groups
  • Exchange and collaborate on documents, files and other content
  • Oversee virtually all aspects of collaboration, communication and task completion
  • Promote engagement and satisfaction
  • Improve CRM
  • Cut costs
  • Bolster hiring potential while reducing worker turnover

  The post Evolution of Email: Best Practices for Embracing Team Collaboration Software appeared first on Sangoma.

• FreeSWITCH Year in Review: FreeSWITCH and ClueCon

  2021 was a big year for FreeSWITCH and ClueCon! It was a year that came in two’s – two FreeSWITCH updates, and even more shocking, TWO ClueCons!

  2021 FreeSWITCH Updates

  Make sure you’re up-to-date with the latest FreeSWITCH release! The first FreeSWITCH update of the year came in late March, v1.10.6. This was the major bug fix release containing important stability improvements. But more importantly and most recently, the FreeSWITCH v1.10.7 Release dropped at ClueCon in late October. This is a major release with more than 300 changes containing fixes for 5 security advisories adding support for Debian 11, mod_python3 and a lot of bug fixes. Debian 8 support has been dropped and Freetdm has been moved out of tree. Users should upgrade ASAP if they have not already!

  A Year of Two ClueCons

  You may have forgotten since it was so long ago, but the first ClueCon of 2021 took place February 16th-17th this year.  This was the first ever mini online version of ClueCon, which we named ClueCon TGI2021! This two-day-long event was free and entirely online, and included the highlights of a usual ClueCon: insightful presentations brought to you by industry experts, and educational workshops from the open source community. There were even some great online networking events, like virtual karaoke!

  

  Missed February ClueCon? You’re in luck – you can find all the videos where we livestreamed them, on the FreeSWITCH YouTube channel!

  The second ClueCon TGI2021 of the year took place October 25th-28th. This was the full annual version of the conference. But it was also a first – the first hybrid ClueCon. We took on the daunting task of having this conference both in person and online, allowing for anyone from any corner of the world to join us for free while some of us gathered, as usual, in downtown Chicago! We used this opportunity to build a setup that allowed in person and online attendees to interact with each other.

  

  This full version of the conference included traditional events like Dangerous Demos and the Coder Games hack-a-thon that were not part of the February ClueCon. Monday kicked off with the Coder Games, where attendees built boats, engineered bridges, and played trivia with virtual attendees to win an exciting array of prizes. The annual Gigabit Reception, which was also long awaited after its omission in February, got a spooky twist this year! Attendees put on their Halloween costumes, grabbed their favorite drinks, sang karaoke, and played games. Virtual attendees were able to pop in and hang out with us in the lounge too! Wednesday included Dangerous Demos and a Poker Night at King Arthur’s Court.

  Couldn’t make it in October? We recorded all the informative and insightful presentations so you can watch them here.

  Don’t want to miss out on ClueCon next year? Early Bird registration is open. Don’t want to miss out on FreeSWITCH updates and other events in the community? Make sure you’re subscribed to the newsletter and that you’re on our slack channel!

  See you next year!

  The post Year in Review: FreeSWITCH and ClueCon appeared first on FreeSWITCH.

December 21, 2021

• Enable Security DDoS, SIPit33, log4j and plans for 2022
  Welcome to the last RTCSEC newsletter of the year! In this edition, we cover: Best wishes for the new year NPR reports on VoIP DDoS Our TADSummit talk about the relationship between DDoS and RTC New video demo showing different types of DDoS SIPit33 participation The log4j vulnerability and RTC security CommCon RTC security talks Enable Security’s plans for 2022 Writeup about two of the FreeSWITCH vulnerabilities More vulnerabilities and short news with no commentary this time RTCSec newsletter is a free periodic newsletter bringing you commentary and news around VoIP and WebRTC security.

December 16, 2021

• Digium Sangoma Releases New & Improved Solutions, Delivers Enhanced Experience To Partners & Customers

  Sangoma Technologies Corporation (“Sangoma” or the “Company”) (TSX: STC), a trusted leader in delivering cloud-based Communications-as-a-Service (“CaaS”) solutions, recently released solution improvements to their partner and customer base with the goal of elevating user experience and satisfaction. Enhancements were made to Sangoma Meet, Sangoma’s in-house video conferencing solution, and Sangoma Connect, Sangoma’s proprietary mobile application.

  Both rollouts were a success, with Partners and Customers providing positive feedback. These improvements are part of Sangoma’s ongoing strategy to deliver leading cloud solutions for exceptional value as they continue to unveil their plans for elevating their brand as a top tier cloud provider.

  “We have put a lot of hard work and thought into our solution suite,” said Jim Machi, Senior Vice President of Product Management and Marketing at Sangoma. “We are very pleased with the reception of Sangoma Meet and Sangoma Connect as we released this product to many new customers from our most recent acquisition. These products deliver exceptional value to our customers, as businesses continue to adapt to remote work operations. Our first priority is to offer the best value in the industry with our comprehensive solution suite, and we are proud to continue to offer this value to businesses worldwide.”

  

  Sangoma Meet

  Sangoma Meet is a video conferencing tool that allows users to schedule, host, and share meetings with any attendee, securely and using any device. Sangoma Meet video conferences are automatically password protected so that only the people you want on your video call can join. Powered by WebRTC, Sangoma Meet provides a private, secure video conferencing experience for all users. Sangoma Meet is compatible with personal computers, iOS, and Android devices. Users can also integrate third-party applications, such as Google and Microsoft products, for more seamless meetings across their organization. Recently released enhancements for Sangoma Meet include a Lobby Room, Calendar View integration with Google and Microsoft, and a Free User version that is perfectly suited for students, small start-ups, and similar groups.

  Sangoma Connect

  Available as an app on your smartphone or computer, Sangoma Connect can be used as a main phone or as an extension of a desk phone. Designed for the professional that is frequently on the go, Sangoma Connect offers the complete feature set you would expect including making and receiving calls, handling calls, contacts, and favorites. Sangoma Connect also comes with Sangoma Meet video conferencing and screen sharing built in. The newly redesigned user interface and enhanced user experience includes upgraded audio quality and a seamless experience for everyone using the app, both within and outside of the meeting organizer’s business.

  About Sangoma Technologies Corporation

  In an increasingly complex world, businesses need to simplify the way they communicate, collaborate, and seamlessly integrate third-party applications into their operations and processes. Sangoma Technologies meets that need by being a trusted leader in delivering cloud-native, value-based Communications as a Service (CaaS) solutions for businesses of all sizes. Sangoma’s cloud-native solutions include a full suite of as-a-service offerings including: voice, video, persistent chat, meetings, packaged application integrations, trunking, fax, virtual desktops, contact center, access control and much more.

  In addition, Sangoma offers a full line of communications products, including premise-based UC systems, a full line of desk phones and headsets, and a complete connectivity suite (gateways/SBCs/telephony cards). Sangoma is also the primary developer and sponsor of Asterisk and FreePBX, the world’s two most widely used open-source communication software projects.

  Sangoma has been named to such prestigious lists as the Deloitte Enterprise Technology Fast 15, Omdia Top 10 UCaaS Service Provider, and Forbes Most Promising Companies. Recognition of its pioneering innovation in the enterprise cloud market extends to major industry analyst indicators such as being awarded the Frost and Sullivan Best Practices Unified Communications and Collaboration Competitive Strategy Leadership Award and the Gartner Magic Quadrant for UCaaS, Worldwide.

  Sangoma Technologies Corporation is publicly traded on the TSXV (TSXV: STC). Additional information on Sangoma can be found at: www.sangoma.com.

  Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward Looking Statements

  This press release contains forward-looking statements, including statements regarding the future success of our business, development strategies and future opportunities. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements concerning estimates of future revenue, expected expenditures, expected future production and cash flows, and other statements which are not historical facts. When used in this document, the words such as “could”, “plan”, “estimate”, “expect”, “intend”, “may”, “potential”, “should” and similar expressions indicate forward-looking statements. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, as there can be no assurance that the plans, intentions or expectations upon which they are based will occur. By their nature, forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates of management on the date that the statements are made and involve numerous assumptions, known and unknown risks and uncertainties, both general and specific, that contribute to the possibility that the predictions, forecasts, projections and other events contemplated by the forward-looking statements will not occur or will differ materially from those expected. Although Sangoma believes that the expectations represented by such forward-looking statements are reasonable based on the current business environment, there can be no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct as these expectations are inherently subject to business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies. Some of the risks and other factors which could cause results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements contained in the management’s discussion and analysis include, but are not limited to changes in exchange rate between the Canadian Dollar and other currencies, the variability of sales between one reporting period and the next, changes in technology, changes in the business climate in one or more of the countries that Sangoma operates in, changes in the regulatory environment, the rate of adoption of the company’s products in new markets, the decline in the importance of the PSTN and new competitive pressures. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement and Sangoma undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements if circumstances or management’s estimates or opinions should change except as required by law. Readers are directed to Sangoma’s filings on SEDAR with respect to Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Results for the basis of Sangoma’s reconciliation of EBITDA to net income as calculated under IFRS.

  ###

  Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

  Contacts

  Sangoma Technologies Corporation at press@sangoma.com.

  The post Sangoma Releases New & Improved Solutions, Delivers Enhanced Experience To Partners & Customers appeared first on Sangoma.

December 15, 2021

• François Marier Setting up a JMP SIP account on Asterisk

  JMP offers VoIP calling via XMPP, but it's also possibly to use the VoIP using SIP.

  The underlying VoIP calling functionality in JMP is provided by Bandwidth, but their old Asterisk instructions didn't quite work for me. Here's how I set it up in my Asterisk server.

  Get your SIP credentials

  After signing up for JMP and setting it up in your favourite XMPP client, send the following message to the cheogram.com gateway contact:

  reset sip account
  

  In response, you will receive a message containing:

  • a numerical username
  • a password (e.g. three lowercase words separated by spaces)

  Add SIP account to your Asterisk config

  First of all, I added the following near the top of my /etc/asterisk/sip.conf:

  [general]
  register => username:three secret words@jmp.cbcbc7.auth.bandwidth.com:5008/username
  

  Note the extra /username at the end here. Registration will succeed without it and strangely incoming calls will work, but outgoing calls won't work without it.

  The other non-default options I have set in [general] are:

  context=public
  allowoverlap=no
  udpbindaddr=0.0.0.0
  tcpenable=yes
  tcpbindaddr=0.0.0.0
  tlsenable=yes
  transport=udp
  srvlookup=no
  vmexten=voicemail
  relaxdtmf=yes
  useragent=Asterisk PBX
  tlscertfile=/etc/asterisk/asterisk.cert
  tlsprivatekey=/etc/asterisk/asterisk.key
  tlscapath=/etc/ssl/certs/
  externhost=machinename.dyndns.org
  localnet=192.168.0.0/255.255.0.0
  

  Note that you can have more than one register line in your config if you use more than one SIP provider, but you must register with the server whether you want to receive incoming calls or not.

  Then I added a new blurb to the bottom of the same file:

  [jmp]
  type=peer
  host=mp.cbcbc7.auth.bandwidth.com
  port=5008
  secret=three secret words
  defaultuser=username
  context=from-jmp
  disallow=all
  allow=ulaw
  allow=g729
  insecure=port,invite
  canreinvite=no
  dtmfmode=rfc2833
  

  and for reference, here's the blurb for my Snom 300 SIP phone:

  [1001]
  ; Snom 300
  type=friend
  qualify=yes
  secret=password
  encryption=no
  context=full
  host=dynamic
  nat=no
  directmedia=no
  mailbox=1000@internal
  vmexten=707
  dtmfmode=rfc2833
  call-limit=2
  disallow=all
  allow=g722
  allow=ulaw
  

  I checked that the registration was successful by running asterisk -r and then typing:

  sip set debug on
  

  before reloading the configuration using:

  reload
  

  Create Asterisk extensions to send and receive calls

  Once I got registration to work, I hooked this up with my other extensions so that I could send and receive calls using my JMP number.

  In /etc/asterisk/extensions.conf, I added the following:

  [from-jmp]
  include => home
  exten => s,1,Goto(1000,1)
  

  where home is the context which includes my local SIP devices and 1000 is the extension I want to ring.

  Then I added the following to enable calls to any destination within the North American Numbering Plan:

  [pstn-jmp]
  exten => _1NXXNXXXXXX,1,Set(CALLERID(all)=Francois Marier <username>)
  exten => _1NXXNXXXXXX,n,Dial(SIP/jmp/${EXTEN})
  exten => _1NXXNXXXXXX,n,Hangup()
  exten => _NXXNXXXXXX,1,Set(CALLERID(all)=Francois Marier <username>)
  exten => _NXXNXXXXXX,n,Dial(SIP/jmp/1${EXTEN})
  exten => _NXXNXXXXXX,n,Hangup()
  

  Here username is my bwsip numerical username. When calls are placed, this gets automatically swapped in by my real JMP phone number, but Bandwidth appears to require its users to use their username in there caller ID string.

  For reference, here's the rest of my dialplan in /etc/asterisk/extensions.conf:

  [general]
  static=yes
  writeprotect=no
  clearglobalvars=no
  
  [public]
  exten => _X.,1,Hangup(3)
  
  [sipdefault]
  exten => _X.,1,Hangup(3)
  
  [default]
  exten => _X.,1,Hangup(3)
  
  [internal]
  include => home
  
  [full]
  include => internal
  include => pstn-jmp
  exten => 707,1,VoiceMailMain(1000@internal)
  
  [home]
  ; Internal extensions
  exten => 1000,1,Dial(SIP/1001,20)
  exten => 1000,n,Goto(in1000-${DIALSTATUS},1)
  exten => 1000,n,Hangup
  exten => in1000-BUSY,1,Hangup(17)
  exten => in1000-CONGESTION,1,Hangup(3)
  exten => in1000-CHANUNAVAIL,1,VoiceMail(1000@internal,su)
  exten => in1000-CHANUNAVAIL,n,Hangup(3)
  exten => in1000-NOANSWER,1,VoiceMail(1000@internal,su)
  exten => in1000-NOANSWER,n,Hangup(16)
  exten => _in1000-.,1,Hangup(16)
  

  Firewall

  Finally, I opened a few ports in my firewall by putting the following in /etc/network/iptables.up.rules:

  # SIP and RTP on UDP (jmp.cbcbc7.auth.bandwidth.com)
  -A INPUT -s 67.231.2.13/32 -p udp --dport 5008 -j ACCEPT
  -A INPUT -s 216.82.238.135/32 -p udp --dport 5008 -j ACCEPT
  -A INPUT -s 67.231.2.13/32 -p udp --sport 5004:5005 --dport 10001:20000 -j ACCEPT
  -A INPUT -s 216.82.238.135/32 -p udp --sport 5004:5005 --dport 10001:20000 -j ACCEPT
  

December 14, 2021

• Digium Checking in on Open Source Communications

  I haven’t written about Open Source communications in a while. I’ve been meaning to, and now it’s near the end of the year, and since I’m on a plane right now (and people who know me know I write a lot on airplanes), I’m in the frame of mind to do it.

  For people who follow Sangoma, you know that we’ve had a lot going on in 2021. We bought Star2Star and have been working diligently to integrate them. It’s going great, and for those of you who follow us on Twitter or LinkedIn, you probably noticed we recently completed a great Sales Kick-Off event with a fully integrated sales team.

  Through all this, though, our Open Source commitment has not wavered. Our focus is still there, and you know that if you regularly go to Asterisk.org or FreePBX.org.

  In early November, we held another Virtual AstriCon. We had almost 1,000 attendees, which was similar to last year’s virtual conference. We intend to do it in person next time (just like we intended this time), and we’ll have more to say about that in the April timeframe.

  And right before AstriCon, we released FreePBX 16 and Asterisk 19, both of which happened with Sangoma engineering working with numerous individuals in the community. We know we have a lot of people in the community counting on these new releases, as we still have the same number of downloads of FreePBX and Asterisk (both in the millions) this year as the past few years.

  And both of these products continue to have robust roadmaps for the coming year.

  We are also getting more interest in our PBXact Cloud offer from both our FreePBX prem and PBXact prem existing customers. This is not unexpected, given PBXact is a Sangoma product based on the solid foundation provided by FreePBX and Asterisk and follows the entire industry trend of moving UC to the cloud. Check it out if you have an interest.

  The post Checking in on Open Source Communications appeared first on Sangoma.

• WebRTC Hacks How is WebRTC doing and who is driving usage? (Hint: Google Meet)

  I have been looking at these Chrome usage statistics available on chromestatus.com for a while together with Tsahi Levent-Levi for WebRTC Insights but they are too fascinating to keep them behind our paywall. Let’s do some coffee ground reading on the usage of a number of important APIs and what it tells us about what […]

  The post How is WebRTC doing and who is driving usage? (Hint: Google Meet) appeared first on webrtcHacks.

December 07, 2021

• Digium Does BYOD impact UCaaS clients?

  As UCaaS users take advantage of smartphone clients more and more, sometimes we get questions from prospects about whether the types of smartphones their employees use will impact any UC functionality or performance. Essentially, the question comes down to whether we as a vendor enable and support BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) or recommend a specific type of smartphone?

  By now, most businesses support BYOD, at least for smartphones. Employees have them, and they might as well use them. It costs the company less because they don’t have to lay out any money to buy them, and if there are issues, the employee has to deal with them (on their own time). So, from an employer perspective, it makes sense. And frankly, many employees don’t want to carry around two mobile devices anyway.

  However, the question we get is inherently less secure for the business, so that needs to be thought about as well. The question we really get is about Android devices vs. iOS devices. And there are definitely differences. And within Android, there are even definitely differences. So, it’s an excellent question, actually, and you should ask your UCaaS vendor about it.

  The UCaaS vendor should take care of ensuring their desktop and mobile clients work, period. And you should ask and see what the answer is. If it’s a bit wobbly, then that tells you something. The only caveats should be about older devices (i.e., we support back to version xyz).

  The post Does BYOD impact UCaaS clients? appeared first on Sangoma.

December 06, 2021

• FreeSWITCH How to Build a City from Bitcoin

  Step one: Find a volcano (like maybe the Conchagua volcano in El Salvador). Step two: use the volcano’s geothermal energy to power bitcoin mining. Step three: Use the cryptocurrency to fund the project.  

  It’s true – El Salvador will soon be home to the first city built on cryptocurrency, which will be located in the south-eastern region of La Unión. The current city plan promises to be quite people-friendly, with the citizen being the central focus of its design. This means it will be partially free of cars, with large pedestrian areas, cycle lanes built on all the roads, and a light rail network. Plans have been made for an airport, seaport, and an express train to connect to neighboring cities. The city center will be circular and bisected with a giant ‘B’ to represent the shape of bitcoin.

  According to President Nayib Bukele, the city will sustain itself with its bitcoin mining operation and it will include everything from residential and commercial areas, entertainment, bars and restaurants, public transportation, and essential services. Half of the revenue gained from cryptocurrency mining will build up the city, while the other half will keep it clean. Meanwhile, the municipality will be set up like a tax haven for wealthy investors. There is no income, property, capital gains or payroll taxes. The only tax is a 10% value-added tax. 

  No date has been set in stone for the project to be finished yet. But, supposedly construction will begin in 2022 and it will cost an estimated 300,000 bitcoin. Though the city, in theory, will pay for itself, construction will be funded by a $1 billion bond issued by a Bitcoin sidechain, Blockstream’s Liquid Network.

  Although this news might sound intriguing to some, not everyone is so excited about it. El Salvador recently became the first country to make bitcoin a legal tender, and protests have begun to erupt ever since. Some fear that cryptocurrency could bring instability and inflation to the country because of how it tends to fluctuate significantly.

  El Salvador has taken a few steps to encourage its citizens to use bitcoin as it moves forward with its crypto city project. To start, just a couple of months ago, the government released a digital wallet app to deliver $30 in bitcoin to all its citizens, with hundreds of new cash machines installed across the country. Now, all businesses located there are legally required to accept the cryptocurrency as a form of payment. But this didn’t go so smoothly – the rollout of the $30 was glitchy, and protests broke out that day when the price of bitcoin crashed and fell by 20%. Some protests have included setting fire to the new cash machines.

  It’s difficult to predict what other hurdles will pop up along the way, but El Salvador is placing great trust in its Conchagua volcano to take care of funding this operation, powering the entire process with geothermal energy. In order to do this, a system will extract hot groundwater and convert it to steam, powering turbines to generate energy for computers to make the complex calculations required to mine bitcoin. Cryptomining requires an impressive amount of energy, so much that some countries’ entire electrical consumption can’t compare. A quarter of El Salvador’s electrical grid is already generated by geothermal energy, so this idea didn’t come out of nowhere. Roughly 20 active volcanoes serve as harvesting sites for electricity in the smallest – and most densely populated – Central American country. A prototype for the crypto city was built at the base of Tecapa volcano just last month, where 300 computers are working day and night to verify transactions and turn geothermal energy into bitcoin. 

  Supporters of the project insist the devotion to clean energy produced by geothermal is perhaps its biggest perk. Brandon Arvanaghi, a bitcoin mining consultant, claims that bitcoin mining incentivizes the expansion of renewable energy production by providing high demand for cheap power. At this time, the promise for cheap power would have to involve a subsidy, as electric costs to households and businesses in El Salvador are already above the global average. Luis González, public policy director, said if cheaper, renewable power is available, it should go to the country’s citizens first, not bitcoin mining. 

  Although resources that typically damage the environment will not be used – no oil, no natural gas – geothermal energy production still impacts the environment surrounding the area, and the carbon footprint will still be massive. Subterranean heat could impact the local habitats, and aquifers could become contaminated at geothermal sites, a dangerous risk to take when El Salvador is the Central American country with the least access to water as it stands. Most bitcoin mining operations take place in colder climates where it’s easier to keep the machines cool, another obstacle the tropical country will have to overcome. 

  Though we’re not far off from several other countries accepting Bitcoin as a legal tender, no other crypto cities have been planned just yet. But who knows? Maybe this experiment will start a trend if it succeeds.

  The post How to Build a City from Bitcoin appeared first on FreeSWITCH.

November 30, 2021

• Digium What does a supervisor really need to see in a Contact Center Application?

  Given Unified Communications form the essential fabric of the modern business communication system, we’re starting to see contact centers merging more and more with Unified Communications. In fact, we’re seeing UC systems embracing contact center technology. Sangoma is no exception, and we’ve had more customers using our contact center and contact center features that are part of our UC systems.

  That’s great! In practice, it also means that we’re seeing customers and admins that maybe were not using advanced contact centers before being exposed to them now. We’re getting some questions about if I’m managing a contact center or are a supervisor, what features are really important in a contact center solution?

  Let me review a few. First, as a supervisor, you want to see real-time monitoring of what’s going on – how the agents are performing, is there a long call going on, what is the average wait time, what is the average call time, are the call center SLAs being met, how many agents are on breaks and for how long, etc. And if there is that long call going on, can you listen to see what the problem is, or can you whisper to the agent to help them somehow?

  You also want to create different queues, assign/de-assign agents to the proper queues, and see how the other queues are performing. You might need to do some balancing.

  Reports are also going to be important so you can improve performance and efficiency. After all, there will be a lot of data generated, so what are you going to do with it? You need to understand what data is important for your situation and make sure the reports generated can be flexible, working for you.

  Sangoma provides contact center technology that is integrated well with our underlying UC systems.

  The post What does a supervisor really need to see in a Contact Center Application? appeared first on Sangoma.

November 23, 2021

• Digium The Evolved Office & Artificial Intelligence Integration

  As artificial intelligence enters the contact center, the business communication system can start making decisions based on context, past similar decision history, etc. One of the earliest examples of this is keyword spotting and change of tone of the speaker, for something called “sentiment analysis”. Essentially, the computer could determine if you were upset when talking to an agent so you could be handed off to a more experienced person. Given enough data from thousands and thousands of past calls the computer could decide when you’re upset, or about to be upset.

  And from this something called a chatbot has emerged. The chatbot will engage you more, and take you further down the discussion as time goes on. Chances are you have talked to a chatbot and didn’t even know it. Like most contact center innovations, chatbots have been driven by the oxymoronic need to both reduce costs and provide better service. And as speech recognition and text to speech programs and computing power have both improved and come down in cost, the advent of computer driven speech into the contact center occurred. In fact, right now, both Google’s and Microsoft’s speech recognition claim to be 95% accurate, which happens to be as accurate as a human brain.

  Over time, the simple ‘talk to me’ instead of hitting buttons to drive through an IVR menu gave way to more and more computer driven tasks. And it was OK because you as the IVR caller were getting through the menu and you didn’t have to wait. But you always knew it was a computer because it sounded that way (probably on purpose). However, these more simplistic chats have evolved greatly and today, it’s very possible you are having a conversation with a computer and you don’t even know it. And you’re probably happier talking to this computer, because it might sound like a native language speaker and because the “agent” isn’t making any mistakes. Right now, you likely get handed off to a real person when more complex decisions need to be made but over time, the chatbot will take on more and more responsibility.

  Again, with artificial intelligence, the possibilities are endless. The system could predict who you might call based on past history, and how they might want to get connected, who might need to be on a conference call, and the system could ID you based on voice recognition.

  The post The Evolved Office & Artificial Intelligence Integration appeared first on Sangoma.

November 22, 2021

• Digium Enhance Your Communications With Custom UCaaS Packaged Applications

  One of the core benefits of a Unified Communications-as-a-Service (UCaaS) system is its end-user adaptability. These platforms provide full access to on-demand communications and collaboration services, among them videoconferencing, chats, productivity apps and connectivity options, all via a consolidated cloud service.

  While any UCaaS system offers high levels of customizability, platforms that can support popular packaged applications provide an even deeper level of personalization and performance enhancement. Packaged applications are created based on the most common organizational workflow needs, and can be easily tweaked and applied to one’s own unique environment. Plus, implementing them requires no extensive technical understanding or ability!

  What Do UCaaS Packaged Applications Do?

  Typically, packaged apps offer software with scripts for supporting objects such as databases, images and seed data, as well as pre-installation validations, to offer “ready-to-go” options for extending communications system capabilities with minimal programming. These straightforward enterprise communication and collaboration solutions help customers maximize these areas to improve output. But even this level of detail isn’t required to implement packaged applications when they are provided and supported by your communications solution. Your vendor will have the technical expertise to configure your application for you, so all you need to do is benefit from your enhanced workflows.

  Now let’s take a look at some of the most common packaged applications businesses need today.

  Urgent Notification

  The Urgent Notification packaged app is designed to improve communications by providing options for mass updates on “urgent” matters. Urgent Notifications can be used to issue warnings on weather conditions, system outages, crises and cancelled events, among other emergencies. Plus, the interface allows one to choose from individual contacts or contact lists, potentially covering employees, customers and other important persons by sending blasts via call, text or email.

  The implications for this are enormous. Users can keep subscribers informed on the latest threats and urgent alerts – including security threats, advisories and first emergency response details – in near-real-time.

  Mass Notification

  In a manner similar to Urgent Notification, the Mass Notification packaged application simultaneously sends text and email messages, en masse, to all of one’s contacts or groups. Additionally, the function can track critical responses and handle information flow. The multi-modal notification system specializes in two-way interactions, supporting secondary actions and history reports. Potential applications include closure and delay notices, marketing messages, invoice reminders, event updates, subscription renewals, employee collaboration, and fleet / transportation management.

  Employee Alerts

  Another subset of Mass Notification is Employee Alerts. This packaged app allows an administrator to reach out to employees via text or email, with support for dividing users by department or group. Plus, the software supports tracking for message receipt and elements to promote engagement. The app is also particularly useful in distributing memos, closure and delay information, schedules, health updates and human resources and other notices.

  CRM Integration

  The CRM Integration packaged application offers features to integrate specific CRM package options within your communications platform. By activating the software, one gains access to common features such as click-to-call, inbound “screen pops” and call-detail tracking, in turn reducing need for manual data entry while reinforcing visibility and managing calls and contacts. Whatever CRM you currently use, you can maximize its effectiveness when you integrate it with your UCaaS via this packaged app.

  Single Curbside Service

  The Single Curbside Service packaged app offers a frequently requested service for managing customer-employee interactions and providing “curbside messaging workflows.” The software is specifically designed to support restaurants, specialty and retail environments and other offices, providing support for “streamlined, convenient and safe customer service.” Organizations can maintain operational efficiency by accessing SMS text and web communications in order to support critical areas such as order fulfillment and pickup. Plus, key features include no requirements for customization, automated workflow, team management and tracking and reporting, among other elements.

  The post Enhance Your Communications With Custom UCaaS Packaged Applications appeared first on Sangoma.

• Enable Security Vulnerabilities, honeypots, STIR/SHAKEN, DDoS and more
  Welcome to the second RTCSEC newsletter! Please do reply and tell me what you think - this will help us make future editions better. In this edition, we cover: FreeSWITCH security fixes and the story behind them OpenSIPit'02 and progress in STIR/SHAKEN and RFC8760 support Booking us for pentesting in 2022 and the latest in SIPVicious hair styling Upcoming public work including TAD Summit presentation and SIPit33 Quick summaries of presentations of interest at various online or hybrid events/conferences New security tools of interest: sipcmdbeat and SentryPeer Vulnerabilities in FusionPBX and Yealink phones VoIP provider DDoS news Short news and commentary RTCSec newsletter is a free periodic newsletter bringing you commentary and news around VoIP and WebRTC security.

November 17, 2021

• ng-voice Sprint planning – focus, growth, and efficiency at ng-voice

  At ng-voice, we are constantly looking for ways to improve our products and deliver more value to our customers. And to do so in a fast-paced environment, while the team grows, can be a challenge – it is crucial to keep focus and have clear goals to achieve results. Because of that, our sprint planning process is an essential part of our organization, especially for the feature development and DevOps teams.

  What is a sprint in Agile?

  In Agile product development, a sprint is a set period of time during which a scrum team works to complete defined goals. Using this method, sprint breaks down larger objectives (e.g., objective key results) into smaller blocks of time in which smaller goals are achieved. Working on long and large topics can get tiresome and leave agile team members with a feeling of no visible success or progress. By splitting topics into sprints, we are able to acknowledge individual milestones and achievements as they occur instead of waiting for the project to end. Sprints are at the core of agile methodologies, and planning them properly helps organizations to deliver results faster, with fewer headaches, and more efficiency.

  Sprint cycle in agile

  A sprint cycle consists of a short repeatable phase every time we manage and plan a sprint at ng-voice. The steps of the phases remain the same, however, after each sprint, we use insights we learned to make sure our next sprint is more effective. There are 4 phases in the cycle which are:

   

  • Sprint planning – Kicking off the Sprint and defining the goals. This is the most critical part of the sprint. The sprint planning is done thoroughly and with a lot of attention to detail at ng-voice so we really manage to achieve what we set out to do. 
  • Daily Scrum – Team members meet for a short period daily to share what they have worked on, or if there are any blockers
  • Sprint review – Here we assess on what was delivered and decide what should be worked on in the next sprint
  • Sprint retrospective – A reflection on the process to improve the next sprint and make it more effective. These are not done on every sprint usually, but from time to time. 

  Each sprint has its own timeline, and at ng-voice, our sprints usually last between 2 to 4 weeks.

  Which values does sprint planning bring to ng-voice?

  There are several benefits for using this methodology;

  • Reduced complexity and increased agility – It allows the teams to distribute a complicated project into smaller, easier to achieve tasks, and swiftly adjust changes to the project whenever needed, being more agile.
  • Ownership and team collaboration – By involving stakeholders to work closely on a daily basis as well as allowing the development team to organize its priority list, each person has their own clear goals and autonomy to work on them during the sprint.
  • Faster time to market – The methodology reduces waste by focusing only on necessary tasks within a time frame, increasing the delivery speed.
  • Close alignment with customers’ needs – By continuously reviewing customers’ priorities and using them to plan tasks and deliveries, the methodology also increases customer satisfaction.
  • Increased team morale – It establishes an environment that encourages participation and empowers self-management, giving the teams a having a feeling of achievement.
  • Quick reporting – The sprint management makes it easier to visualize team performance by having transparent progress checks visible to all, which also allows teams to review tasks, progress, and blockers.

  Our company has been working with the sprint planning methodology for several years and it is now a fundamental part of our work culture. According to Stefan Frank, Head of Deployment: “The sprint planning is a great opportunity for all of the team members to give ideas and contribute to the product’s roadmap. It makes it very easy to visualize the direction in which we are going and the results we are delivering, which keeps the team motivated to achieve more”. 

   

  Learn more about our work culture, team values and apply for open positions on our careers webpage. 

   

  Share this article via:

  Share on facebook

  Facebook

  Share on linkedin

  LinkedIn

  Share on twitter

  Twitter

  

  Behnam Hooshiar Kashani

  DevOps Team Lead

  Publisher Bio

  With years working in the telecom industry as a DevOps Engineer, Behnam joined ng-voice and now has the challenge to automate our cloud-native and standard-based solutions on different container orchestration platforms, like Kubernetes.

November 16, 2021

• Digium CPaaS is a Path to Applications-as-a-Service (AppaaS)

  CPaaS (Communications Platform-as-a-Service) is an excellent thing if your organization is a software developer or has developer types in your organization. But in a general sense, if you are a reseller or an end-user of Unified Communications, you likely don’t have these kinds of resources available to you. Or, if you do, and you don’t quite really want to get involved in API programming, you may not even try this route.

  But still, the benefits of CPaaS in the past 18 months are probably visible to you – it’s entirely likely your curbside pickup, your “we’ll text you before you can come inside,” and a message about delivery just happened were delivered via a CPaaS application done by said developer types. And you might have other great ideas on how to continue this kind of new communication, either to enhance the customer experience or enhance your business.

  As such, we’re seeing our customers asking us more and more for more complete “add-on” applications that can enhance their vertical experience. And so that’s what we’re going to do with our CPaaS technology. We will use it ourselves to deliver applications to augment our UC offerings and supplement our partner’s vertical solutions. We’ve already done this with urgent notification, mass notification, curbside pickup, and employee alert applications. Please visit our webpage to learn more.

  The post CPaaS is a Path to Applications-as-a-Service (AppaaS) appeared first on Sangoma.

November 11, 2021

• FreeSWITCH ClueCon 2021 Wrap-up

  Thank you to everyone who attended ClueCon TGI2021, our first hybrid ClueCon! Whether you attended in person or online, we appreciate you joining us for this hybrid event experiment. This new format allowed for those attending online to interact with those in person and vice versa, which was a ClueCon first. If you have any feedback about your experience, you can fill out this quick survey to share it with us so we can make ClueCon even better next year. 

  Though the format was a little different this year, ClueCon followed its traditional lineup of events throughout the week. Monday kicked off with the Coder Games, our annual hack-a-thon that includes several challenges for developers and non-developers alike. Attendees built boats, engineered bridges, and played trivia with virtual attendees to win an exciting array of prizes. 

  

  The presentations started on Tuesday after the release of FreeSWITCH v1.10.7! In FreeSWITCH founder Anthony Minessale’s keynote, he addressed how we made the hybrid event happen by using the video technology built over the years on the back of FreeSWITCH, and how we try to make life easier for developers, including the devotion to open source that fuels ClueCon each year. Videos of all the ClueCon presentations and workshops will be available soon – subscribe to the FreeSWITCH YouTube channel so you don’t miss out! 

  The annual Gigabit Reception took place Tuesday evening as well, but this year, with a spooky twist! After a long day of presentations, attendees put on their Halloween costumes, grabbed their favorite drinks, sang karaoke, and played games. Virtual attendees were able to pop in and hang out with us in the lounge too!

  

  Wednesday included more presentations, a Kamailio workshop led by Daniel-Constantin Mierla, some seriously Dangerous Demos, and a FreeSWITCH roundtable until the evening, when attendees participated in a poker tournament thanks to the sponsorship of Phil Gordon and Prompt.io. The week wrapped up on Thursday with a few more presentations, a HOMER workshop led by Lorenzo Mangani, and our Grand Prize giveaway of a custom engraved MacBook Pro. 

  

  We want to give a warm thank you to all our sponsors and speakers who made ClueCon possible in what was a difficult and uncertain year. With social distancing measures in place, like our bigger venue with spaced out seating, and the option to attend online, we hoped to keep everyone comfortable and safe as we reconnected with the FreeSWITCH community. Overall, this ClueCon was a successful first hybrid event and we had a ton of fun getting back together in person at last. If you miss ClueCon like we do, or you’re suffering from moderate to severe FOMO, consider joining us October 17th-20th in 2022! 

  The post ClueCon 2021 Wrap-up appeared first on FreeSWITCH.

• Digium The Era of Hybrid Work: Common Trends in the Shift to Flexible Offices

  The world as we know it seemingly changes by the day. Today’s businesses – whether due to regulations, logistics, convenience or some combination of the three – are increasingly adopting hybrid work policies for their employees.

  According to recent data published by FindStack, today’s remote workforce has grown by 44 percent, worldwide, over the last five years, with 16 percent of companies running “100 percent remote” and nearly 60 percent of U.S. employees teleworking each day.

  Earlier in 2021, Forbes Magazine highlighted some of the top trends observed among enterprises shifting to remote staff. While this changeover reflects both positive and negative developments over time, it should be noted that companies continue to adapt to fluctuations with new approaches and developments as the global business landscape evolves around them.

  Increased Reliance on Hybrid Work Models

  The natural inclination of many organizations is to stagger in-office reporting with remote work, a concept that has become known as the hybrid work model. By dividing days between various physical locations, the concept is that workers can benefit from commute relief while still gaining the added benefit of office socialization, work-task clarity, and security. At the same time, many companies limit telework to hybrid options to increase their assurance that employees are where they say and completing the assignments upon which they agreed.

  It should also be noted that remote and hybrid work policy also has a drastic effect on overhead cost, with less need for expansive locations and fewer expenses, equipment investment and – in some cases – HR personnel.

  Cloud Services Adoption

  With remote work, far and away the most relied-upon software for communication, collaboration, file management and organization is the cloud. “As-a-service” options include Communications Platform as a Service (CPaaS), Desktop as a Service (DaaS), Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS) and Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS), with more to come!

  Organizations tend to prefer these types of software because of the benefits that they offer in terms of capacity (no infrastructure investment), simplicity (fully supported and automatically updated) and functionality (connecting remotely dispersed workers and providing access to secure files).

  Altered Cybersecurity Perspective

  The basic concepts behind some cybersecurity tenets – for example, sound password management and employee “best practices” – have changed little over the years. Despite this fact, many of today’s enterprises grow increasingly concerned with remote employees’ activity. Are they diligently changing and protecting their passwords? Are they aware of the historic rise in malware, ransomware, and other cyberattacks?

  Compounding this issue is the expanded attack surface. With staff more geographically dispersed than ever, the organization’s network – and critical files – become more vulnerable each time a connection is made at each point of entry.

  Gone are the days when a business needed only to worry about securing the single-location network. As A10 Networks noted in a recent report, the corporate network “will only be as secure as the home networks they are on.” Consequently, much of today’s remote-work cybersecurity tends to fall on the service provider.

  Increasingly Asynchronous & Flexible

  With a shift to remote employment, today’s staffer finds it increasingly difficult to strike a home / work life balance. For example, recent estimates by Kentik noted that 51 percent of employees struggle with juggling day-to-day activity and establishing definitive close-of-business hours where the computer gets turned off for the evening.

  In response to this issue, many businesses are turning to asynchronous platforms for collaboration. Whereas earlier in the pandemic, organizations frequently embraced massive videoconferences to replace face-to-face interactions, one shift that was observed in 2021 is that allowing employees to respond in their own time has been more effective and productive, especially for jobs that require much time on the phone or at a computer. As Forbes noted, asynchronous communication is particularly useful for companies that are spread across “multiple time zones” in that it allows staff to “better control their workflow.”

  How Do You Hybrid?

  Has your company shifted to a hybrid workforce? If your current technology infrastructure is holding you back or you’re curious about how you can improve performance, enhance collaboration, and grow your business with solutions built for flexible work, learn more about Connected Workspace and our other business cloud solutions!

  The post The Era of Hybrid Work: Common Trends in the Shift to Flexible Offices appeared first on Sangoma.

November 09, 2021

• Jitsi Power up your Jitsi deployment with JaaS

  The 8×8 Jitsi team is building its next great service and we need your help!

  We are currently working on a service that would let Jitsi users easily connect their self-hosted Jitsi  deployments to 8×8’s PSTN, LiveStreaming, Recording and transcriptions clouds.

  This would let users run entirely private instances for their most private calls and it would also allow them to easily connect calls that are less sensitive to additional services  such as recording and inbound telephone access. The pricing will be based on what we currently offer for JaaS: https://jaas.8×8.vc/#/pricing

  We greatly appreciate the help and to thank you for it, the first participants selected for the experiment will receive a $200 coupon to use for recordings, streaming, telephony access or any other JaaS service!

  If this is of interest please put your contact info in this form ( https://8×8.wavecell.com/jitsi_testers?hs_preview=yOtxZEMh-57861420107 ) and we will get back to you as soon as we are ready.

  Love,

  Your Personal Jitsi Team

  The post Power up your Jitsi deployment with JaaS appeared first on Jitsi.

• ng-voice Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) in the IMS architecture

  Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) is a critical building block for service delivery in the Next Generation Networks. It has a prominent role in IMS architecture as the new framework for service delivery and management over fixed and mobile networks.

   

  The adoption of SIP by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) as a call control protocol was a major milestone for the standardization world as the IMS architecture became the first SIP-based standard commercial system, setting the guideline for following developments. Driven by the demand for multimedia communication services, the industry had to search for an efficient way to deploy those services in the existing and new networks. Wireless telecommunication operators and vendors had to adapt quickly, enabling a rapid introduction of IP and SIP services into their network through the IMS. The standardization effort has been driven by the 3GPP in close work with the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) to ensure the harmonization of standards.

   

  SIP standards set the baseline for the creation of CSCF and other functional elements in the IMS network, ensuring the interoperability of various network elements (UE, CSCF, etc), defining basic communication rules between the elements, and setting the guidelines for interconnecting with other network architectures. The standard body comprises the standards for data plane, user plane as well as session control in the SIP network.

  Why is Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) so important?

  Ensuring standards compliance helps to keep the number of implementation- and vendor-specific workarounds in the core network to a bare minimum, resulting in a more stable and better-performing network. Below is a list of some of the SIP standards which are essential for the stable operation of all network elements.

  
  
  

  RFC 3261 SIP: Session Initiation Protocol

  RFC 3262 Reliability of provisional responses in SIP

  RFC 3263 Locating SIP servers

  RFC 3265 SIP-specific event notification

  RFC 3311 The SIP UPDATE Method

  RFC 3325 Private Extensions to the SIP for asserted identity within trusted networks

  RFC 3326 The Reason Header field for the SIP

  RFC 3329 Security-Client, Security-Server and Security-Verify headers

  RFC 3515 The SIP Refer method

  RFC 3581 The SIP Extension for Symmetric Response Routing

  RFC 3824 Using E.164 numbers with the SIP

  RFC 3891 The SIP Replace header

  RFC 3903 SIP Extension for event state publication

  RFC 4032 Update to the SIP preconditions framework

  RFC 4353 A framework for conferencing with the SIP

  RFC 4579 Call Control – Conferencing for User Agents

  RFC 3680 A SIP event package for registrations

  RFC 3856 A presence event package for the SIP

  RFC 3761 ENUM

  RFC 3310 AKA Authentication ( HTTP Digest Authentication

  Using Authentication and Key Agreement)

  RFC 4169 AKAv2

  RFC 4566 – defines basic SDP protocol.

  RFC 3264 – Offer/Answer model for SDP media negotiation: defines how SDP is used to negotiate media, e.g. call hold/retrieve.

   

  Standards are defining service functions that enable the creation of new services, content and media distribution, and various formats of multimedia services. They are wide-ranging, defining everything from the network interoperability functions, legacy functions such as SMS to particular aspects of IMS function such as QoS reservation or voice call continuity (where 3GPP extensions rely on particular SIP messages and headers for the call handover). Standards also define particular aspects of IMS function that form the end-user experience and fulfill the mission-critical role, such as enabling emergency calling.

  SIP standards as common enablers of new services on IMS networks

  The availability of service enablers ensures service compliance and lowers the cost of implementing the more complex end-user services in terms of both capital expenses (CAPEX) and operational expenses (OPEX). To ensure simple and rapid integration of services, the network must support open standard-based interfaces and apply service-oriented architecture principles. Even though many IMS equipment vendors are capable of creating new services, that is just the first of many steps required to get a given service operational and ensure the best customer experience. Successful integration requires taking service applications from diverse sources and integrating them in an innovative way. SIP provides session establishment capabilities for application, using SDP protocol offer/answer (RFC3264) mechanisms.

  
  ng-voice’s fully containerized and cloud-native IMS core is 100% standard-compliant and SIP-based, having been successfully integrated both with legacy structure and innovative open-source applications. To know more about our solution, contact us at info@ng-voice.com . 

  Share this article via:

  Share on facebook

  Facebook

  Share on linkedin

  LinkedIn

  Share on twitter

  Twitter

  

  Andrii Pogrebennyk

  Software engineer and team lead

  Publisher Bio

  After years of experience in VoIP in Ukraine and Austria, Andrii joined ng-voice as a Software Engineer and is using his vast knowledge of telco-specific protocols and Kamailio programming to further develop our fully cloud-native and standard-based IMS core.

• Digium IoT Connectivity in an Office Environment

  IoT connectivity, as it relates to enterprise communications, is really about the convergence of Unified Communications and IoT. You might think that UC and IoT do not have anything to do with each other, but there is natural overlap. With a UC admin dashboard, there are alerts and monitors. And with IoT, there is data to trigger alerts and monitors. It’s a marriage made in heaven, like peanut butter and chocolate.

  With a UC system, there are mobile end points such as phones, tablets, and smart watches. But there could be other end points connected to a UC system, such as cameras. Or a doorbell with video that can also talk – like a Ring doorbell. So, think about all these kinds of sensors, communication devices, things connected to a UC system. Some of these obviously can be connected with either 5G or Wi-Fi. But some can be connected with LPWA as well. The enterprise business communication hub of the future will be able to handle all required signaling types.

  Any of these things that are particularly important to be tied to a UC/PBX system when there is RTC (real time communications) required as determined by the sensor / edge computing calculations can be set up to enable alerts in the form of a real time voice and/or video call to appropriate person.

  For instance, a sensor on the factory floor can make a VoIP telephone call based on predefined criteria that can automatically trigger specific workflows, such as the reordering of components, either because they’re running low or because of defects on a recent batch of products, for example. Or IoT devices that are in the office that are connected to the PBX (temp sensors, alarms, etc.) can accept voice commands over the phone. Or one can view a video feed of an IoT imaging devices by dialing its telephony number (SIP endpoint or mobile).

  There possibilities are enormous. But these RTC examples need to be tied to a UC business communication system to make this particular convergence of IoT and UC happen.

  The post IoT Connectivity in an Office Environment appeared first on Sangoma.

November 03, 2021

• ng-voice True cloud-nativity requires true collaboration: how we’re working with Red Hat to deliver our IMS core on OpenShift

  Across the world, operators are reviewing their systems and solutions to become more agile, flexible, and scalable. The arrival of 5G means operators need to think about new ways of providing existing services while meeting the CAPEX and OPEX pressures of this next generation of wireless technology. This shift is permeating to voice services, which remain an integral aspect of the mobile experience.

   

  Here at ng-voice, we’re bringing voice services into the future with our fully containerized, Kubernetes-based, cloud-agnostic, VoLTE/VoNR IMS core. Our solution is changing how operators think about voice services by optimizing deployment time through our microservices architecture, small container size (less than 25MB—the smallest in the industry), and minimal resource footprint.

   

  But it doesn’t stop there. In addition to optimizing deployment time, we’re always looking at ways to leverage industry partnerships to make it easier for our operator customers to use and maintain our IMS core.

   

  That’s why today, we’re announcing that our IMS core is now a vendor-validated cloud-native network function (CNF) for Red Hat OpenShift and is available in the Red Hat Ecosystem Catalog. Through this collaboration, our operator customers will be able to deploy ng-voice’s IMS core more easily on OpenShift, streamlining the deployment, development, and maintenance of the application.

   

  According to Abdul Basit Alvi, ng-voice’s Chief Technologist Cloud and Virtualization, OpenShift makes the process of deployment and testing the solution easier, which has facilitated product development. “Using Red Hat OpenShift, we were able to more quickly deploy our containerized IMS core, perform tests, scale, and perform automatic health checks. The user interface is very helpful to visualize and effectively manage the resources in each cluster”, he said.

   

  Azhar Sayeed, Senior Director of Global Telco Technical Development at Red Hat, also commented: “We are pleased to collaborate with ng-voice to validate its IMS core on Red Hat OpenShift. Deploying a cloud-native IMS Core with OpenShift can bring the benefits of service agility, flexibility, and cost-efficiency to communications service providers”.

   

  We’re excited to be working with Red Hat to further reinforce our commitment to providing truly cloud-native and containerized solutions. Through this collaboration, we can help operators worldwide deploy mobile networks that are more flexible, cost-efficient, and future-proofed.

   

  To know more, visit ng-voice’s profile in the Red Hat Ecosystem Catalog by clicking here. And to find out more about ng-voice’s solutions, visit our website.

   

  *Red Hat, the Red Hat logo, and OpenShift are trademarks or registered trademarks of Red Hat, Inc. or its subsidiaries in the United States and other countries.

  Share this article via:

  Share on facebook

  Facebook

  Share on linkedin

  LinkedIn

  Share on twitter

  Twitter

  

  Barbara Silva

  Marketing Lead

  Publisher Bio

  After 10 years of working for Telefonica as a Business Development and Marketing Manager, along with developing serval projects in Latin America. Barbara’s plans to connect and share her own experience in Branding and growth strategies with the readers. She enjoys talking about any topics, from Netflix series to Politics, making her a versatile and fun person to talk to.

November 02, 2021

• Digium The Evolved Office & Mobility

  Unified Communications (UC) has ushered in the second state of the Evolved Office, where mobility and collaboration take center stage. The mobile client enables more than just access, it enables real-time interaction via presence and messaging, and enhanced collaboration with other network users. This enabling of your “office phone number” on the smartphone, connected laptop, or tablet has been a key driver for the continued growth of UC. It truly enables your office to be borderless.

  Unified Communications is a natural evolution of the PBX as it combines voice/telephony, unified messaging, mobility, presence, desktop sharing, and conferencing/collaboration into a single integrated application. It also supports several modes of communication, including voice, chat, email, fax, and texting (SMS/MMS). It enables a user to switch between these modalities of communication as needed to enhance the exchange of information and ideas.

  All employees can benefit from UC, whether they are in the office, away-from-desk employees, on the road, or working from home. All the tools that are available to office workers, such as video conferencing, presence management, screen sharing, chat, etc. are available from the desktop, laptop, or mobile device. In addition to significantly enhancing team collaboration and productivity, UC can also improve engagement with customers, vendors, and sales prospects because it enables faster answers in a variety of ways.

  The post The Evolved Office & Mobility appeared first on Sangoma.

• WebRTC Hacks How to add virtual background transparency in WebRTC

  There is a cool new feature everyone has been trying to implement – background transparency. Virtual backgrounds have been around for a while. Rather than inserting a new background behind user(s), transparency removes the background altogether, allowing the app to place users over a screen share or together in a shared environment. There doesn’t seem […]

  The post How to add virtual background transparency in WebRTC appeared first on webrtcHacks.

October 29, 2021

• Digium Top UCaaS Trends for Year’s End and Beyond

  Today’s Unified Communications as a Service offerings represent a “fundamental shift in business communications.” This form of pay-per-use service embraces cutting-edge technology to go beyond traditional voice services, incorporating aspects such as video conferencing, faxing, and messaging. These elements come via a consolidated cloud system that is available from virtually any location or for any internet-connected device.

  Of course, UCaaS tech has been around for years, and its implications on the teleworker are well documented. With an overall market presence of $47.64 billion (2021) that is expected to balloon to $210.07 billion within seven years, UCaaS has streamlined remote communications at a time when more users than ever are working and collaborating across many miles!

  What, then, are the top trends in UCaaS as we head to the latter part of the year?

  Need for Improved Cybersecurity Awareness

  Per estimates, 82 percent of IT teams faced some form of cyberattack since the onset of COVID-19 in 2020. These strikes include instances of dangerous phishing and ransomware hits, in many cases due to the unmonitored or ill-informed remote worker using UCaaS tools.

  As employees make their return to a physical office in late 2021 and beyond, some execs believe there is cause for concern. Of note, 56 percent of IT leaders feel staff has learned “bad cybersecurity behaviors”, 54 percent fear inadvertent malware infection, and 69 percent see ransomware as a “greater concern” in a hybrid work environment.

  Recommendations include:

  • Maintaining infrastructure updates and patches
  • Encouraging consults with IT security personnel, also involving them in company decisions
  • Fostering a positive, productive work culture
  • Drafting policy reflective of the organization’s vulnerabilities
  • Establishing “Zero-Trust” architecture with restricted access and changing credentials
  • Promoting resources and training to reinforce employee cyber intelligence

  Need For Innovative Digital Transformation

  In recent years, UCaaS has proven its ability to adapt to changing collaboration and communications demands. Unfortunately, today’s remote staffer is far less flexible. Reluctance to adopt new technology, support cybersecurity practices and change bad habits can plague today’s enterprise and prevent growth. For example, Loopup recently reported that 61 percent of individuals prefer a traditional, dialup conference call to video conferencing.

  In the midst of so many changes, choosing the right technology setup is more crucial than ever to ensure successful adoption, productivity, and security. Businesses need to reevaluate the tools they are currently using, identify areas of difficulty and app overload, and consider new solutions designed to simplify today’s workforce needs. A system that can balance ease of use and flexibility with built-in security is quickly becoming the most popular solution for many companies in need of a technology upgrade.

  Increasing Need for Remote Solutions

  With more employees in telework than ever – and some estimates pointing to an 87 percent increase over pre-COVID numbers – growing reliance on UCaaS packages should likewise grow. With this growth in demand, however, users are reminded again to keep their software updated to ease the impact of remote worker error. Solutions such as mobile softphones, Desktop-as-a-Service, and connected workspaces are helping an increasingly remote workforce to adapt.

  Other UCaaS Trends

  In addition to the aforementioned factors, additional UCaaS market drivers could include:

  • Consolidation, with top companies such as Zoom, Google and Microsoft Teams leading competitive offers
  • AI (artificial intelligence) integration as developments warrant
  • Increasing reliance on interoperability
  • Reductions in guest-account sprawl
  • Developments in presence technology

  Of course, many new UCaaS shifts should emerge this year and beyond. Business success will likely be most impacted by one’s ability to properly plan, adjust, promote tech comprehension and follow all prescribed software updates.

  The post Top UCaaS Trends for Year’s End and Beyond appeared first on Sangoma.

• Enable Security Killing bugs ... one vulnerability report at a time
  Executive summary (TL;DR) We tell the story behind the latest FreeSWITCH advisories and how it all came together one sleepless night in April 2021 so that we ended up with 4 vulnerabilities that needed reporting. And then, one more vulnerability found due to a bug in our own software, SIPVicious PRO. We explain how these flaws were discovered, reported, fixed and what we ultimately learned through this process. What is this about?

October 27, 2021

• ng-voice Voice over New Radio (VoNR)

  With circuit switch (CS) legacy being phased out (sunset of 2G/3G), higher customer demand, and the need to provide faster connections, operators should evaluate the possibility of offering voice services over 4G and 5G networks. The standard for voice over 4G networks is called VoLTE and was introduced in our previous post. For voice on 5G networks, the new standard is called Voice over New Radio (VoNR), and utilizes a standalone architecture to offer significantly better sound quality and lower latency. This article gives an overview of what VoNR is, why it is important, and ng-voice’s VoNR solution.

  What is Voice over New Radio (VoNR)?

  Voice over New Radio (VoNR) is the process of encapsulating voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) by using 5G radio and core network architecture. This enables the transmission of media components over the new radio or 5G network. In simpler terms, it can also be mentioned that Voice over New Radio (VoNR) provides voice services for cloud-native 5G standalone networks. 

   

  Both VoLTE and VoNR make use of the IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) which integrates packet-based calls into a network infrastructure by using a mobile network as its source. The difference between VoLTE and VoNR is the underlying mobile network and radio architecture. Voice over New Radio (VoNR) establishes telephony connections and converts them into data packets which then are transmitted through 5G and the IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS). 

  Why is Voice over New Radio (VoNR) so important?

  According to a white paper by Rohde & Schwarz, the increase in 5G deployments will drive major changes for voice service providers. When moving into 5G, it is essential for operators to deploy an easy to maintain and highly scalable IP multimedia communications network through an IMS system. A good starting point for 5G can be provided by IMS/VoLTE based architecture, allowing the future-proofing of new technologies. Since switching effort in the background is reduced, the VoNR becomes much faster due to the connection setup being linear. With the reduction of paths, message transmissions become shorter and when deployed, voice is leveraged through the IMS. 

   

  Deploying VoNR helps operators to meet customer demands as well as providing faster and better voice services. VoNR allows customers to make maximum use of the network and offers several advantages, such as; 

   

  • Significantly lower latency
  • Providing better call experience 
    • Improved sound quality
    • Faster call setup time

   

  The demand for 5G is driven by an increased necessity for higher data speed as well as newer devices. Operators that need to modernize their infrastructure can benefit from moving into a cloud-native mobile infrastructure in 5G, deploying VoNR with a cloud-native IMS core.

  Why is ng-voice’s fully containerized and cloud-native VoLTE/ VoNR solution right for you ?

  We at ng-voice offer a VoLTE/VoNR solution that is truly cloud-native and fully containerized. ng-voice’s cloud-native IMS core is the first 100% containerized and Kubernetes-based fully-fledged IMS solution on the market, allowing deployment on bare metal (private), public, and hybrid cloud environments. Following the best practices in CI/CD and bringing a DevOps approach to telecommunications software, ng-voice’s IMS core has a high level of automation across the whole development, deployment, and operation processes. With a minimal resource footprint, it reduces voice production costs and optimizes the entire life-cycle management of the application.

  Made-in-Germany, ng-voice’s solutions adhere to the highest security and data protection standards. To learn more about our solutions, please contact our team at info@ng-voice.com.

  Share this article via:

  Share on facebook

  Facebook

  Share on linkedin

  LinkedIn

  Share on twitter

  Twitter

  

  Johanna Lämmel

  Feature Lead

  Publisher Bio

  After being part of the team developing a 5G Core for a live R&D testbed at the Fraunhofer FOKUS Institute, she brought her expertise in EPC and 5G to ng-voice and is now getting our fully cloud-native IMS Core 5G-ready.

October 26, 2021

• Digium Sangoma is Recognized in the Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for UCaaS, Worldwide

  Last week you may have noticed that Sangoma was positioned by Gartner, Inc. in the 2021 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Unified Communications as a Service, Worldwide.

  Sangoma is one of only fourteen other companies to be evaluated and placed in 2021, and one of six companies to appear consecutively for the last seven years. Factors considered in the evaluation process included Sangoma’s value-based pricing, complete UCaaS suite, expansion of Sangoma’s reachable market, and CPaaS created applications that augment partners’ vertical offerings and customer experiences.

  “We are thrilled to be recognized in this year’s Gartner Magic Quadrant,” said Bill Wignall, CEO of Sangoma. “Sangoma has grown rapidly for many years in the industry and is now among the top tier of cloud communications companies, so it’s very gratifying to be recognized in this manner. Our clients appreciate the industry’s most complete set of cloud communications services, cloud-based and on-premise deployment options, and exceptional customer service, so we believe this award will be reassuring to our customers and prospects alike.”

  To read the full report, fill out the form on this page.

  The post Sangoma is Recognized in the Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for UCaaS, Worldwide appeared first on Sangoma.

October 25, 2021

• Enable Security One presentation at ClueCon and five security advisories for FreeSWITCH
  The FreeSWITCH team has just published version v1.10.7 which fixes a number of security issues that we reported. If you use FreeSWITCH, please do upgrade to get these security updates. To learn about the background work that went into getting these security bugs squashed, follow Sandro’s talk called Killing bugs … one vulnerability report at a time. This will be presented at at ClueCon on Thursday, October 28th. Here are the titles of each advisory and a very short summary:

October 20, 2021

• FreeSWITCH Sharon’s Top 12 Reasons to Come to ClueCon – Part 3

  By Sharon White

  Sharon White has been the main organizer of ClueCon for many years! This is a little behind the scenes look into ClueCon and all her favorite things about the conference.

  Click here to learn more and register for ClueCon TGI2021!

  4. The Gigabit Reception

  Most conferences worth their salt have a reception – a chance for the attendees that make up the community to mingle. The Gigabit Reception is the annual party that happens on Tuesday evening during ClueCon. This is one of my favorite events. After a long day of absorbing the vast knowledge that the speakers will share, partaking in prize drawings (at least 3-4 each day!), stuffing yourself with a delicious Chicago lunch and visiting with our amazing sponsors, it’s always great to relax, listen to music, play video games, and unwind.

  This year will be one of the most amazing receptions of all time. Equal to the Met Gala in grandeur, the who’s who of ClueCon and FreeSWITCH will dazzle you with their presence. With Halloween just around the corner, we even added a costume party to the event. There will be a little bit of something for everybody – board games, drinks, hors d’oeuvres, and more.

  The most exciting parts of the Gigabit Reception are the Mario Kart tournament, karaoke, and Anthony Minessale’s annual guitar jam session. Whether you’re joining us in person or online this year, you can hang out with fellow community members, jam out, wear a costume, and have a blast at this highly-anticipated networking event!

  3. Registration

  The registration desk holds a special place in my heart. I first came to ClueCon to hang out with a friend, knowing nothing about open source telecom, and was asked to help out on the first day of the conference. It was love at first sight. The small area that was made up of a metric ton of cardboard boxes was transformed into the beautiful check-in setup that is the first impression for each attendee upon arrival.

  Working at the registration desk is fast paced and busy those first couple days, but the best thing about it is meeting all of the attendees we will be spending time with that week, and revisiting with all of the attendees who come back year after year. ClueCon attendees are the glue that holds ClueCon together and they are the reason we have a conference every year. Without them there would be no ClueCon!

  When you get off the elevator, you will immediately be surrounded by fellow community members, and have the chance to mingle at the meet and greet at registration. This year we will also have color-coded lanyards you can use to indicate your comfort level for social distancing practices. And of course, there will be plenty of masks and hand sanitizer available to keep everyone safe and healthy.

  2. Meet the Creators of FreeSWITCH and the Founders of Cluecon

  Anthony Minessale, Brian West, and Michael Jerris are the brilliant minds behind the FreeSWITCH open source project. I have grown very fond of these three. They saw a need in the world, and they set out to fill that need – while making it free to everyone. This mission that led to the creation of FreeSWITCH will always be at the heart of ClueCon. 

  The three of them met a few years before the first ClueCon, and it was the first ClueCon that would lead to the founding of FreeSWITCH itself. Unlike today’s videoconferencing-centric world, back then humans were drawn to meeting in person. In 2005, they hosted the very first ClueCon, and instead of a well-organized tech conference, it was more like inviting 50 friends to get together. Located at the Best Western near the airport in Chicago, it was not nearly as lavish as it is today. The traditional nightly activities were the same, although the parties included kegs they could not finish (but hey, bonus beer during the conference the next morning… I don’t know if it was a good idea. But I’m sure it was fun.)

  Come to ClueCon and meet the founders! When you do, ask them about the SWAT team at the first ClueCon. Stories galore!

  

  1. A chance to see my Binders in person… You never even realized this was missing from your life.

  I can go on for hours about all the details that go into planning a ClueCon. From all the logistical organizing with the hotel, to minutiae like labeling the raffle tickets, to drafting schedule after schedule, the almighty binder contains all the information we need to survive the week. Over the years we have learned that not all hotels have the immense capacity for internet that we need; that not all hotels can produce the audio and video levels that we need; that during a global pandemic it is important to have a great virtual platform to use to integrate those who can’t be with us in person. So we have used our own technology and resources to accomplish all of this and more.

  These endless details cannot be kept in any one person’s head, so I have about 20 lovely binders that keep all of ClueCon safe in the hands of all the organizers. These binders are my brain and without them I dont think ClueCon would be as successful as it is. Yes, I said it: the binders are the single most important aspect of running a great conference. They help run the conference like a well-oiled machine. 

  I might have said it before about attendees… but binders are the glue holding ClueCon together.  

  The post Sharon’s Top 12 Reasons to Come to ClueCon – Part 3 appeared first on FreeSWITCH.

• Enable Security VoIP DDoS, the OpenSIPS security audit and more
  Welcome to the first RTCSEC newsletter! Please do reply and tell me what you think - this will help us make future editions better. In this edition, we cover: The OpenSIPS security audit The DDoS attacks on VoIP providers My upcoming talk at ClueCon 2021 Fred Posner’s talk from Kamailio World 2021 Two presentations of interest from OpenSIPS Summit 2021 Short news and commentary RTCSec newsletter is a free periodic newsletter bringing you commentary and news around VoIP and WebRTC security.

October 19, 2021

• Digium The Evolved Office

  As we’ve seen over the nearly two years now, the office has evolved, and not just in a physical way. The way we communicate, using more video and instant messaging, has also been a change. Back only 25 years ago, there was only one way to get to most real-time / voice business communication systems from outside the building. Call into it from the PSTN. The change I described above has been enabled because of a wide variety of rich and powerful networks.

  The incredible capability of modern networks enables us to imagine four states of an Evolved Office. These states don’t necessarily have to happen in chronological order and can also overlap. These states are simply there to help illustrate how enterprise communication needs will vary by company and will change, how they will continue to change, and how the Business Communications System will be playing a central role in these evolutions going forward.

  Borderless Network

  Most offices today are in at least the first state of the Evolved Office, the Borderless Network. The business voice communications system can now be accessed from various networks, no matter where you are. Whether the user is on a Wi-Fi, LTE, or 5G mobile network or from an enterprise ethernet network, access to your business voice communications is possible. The networks are so advanced that access to all your business systems, not just voice systems, is possible. This enables work to occur from anywhere, at any time.

  While more ubiquitous Wi-Fi is coming in the form of more and more hotspots, essentially extending your office to wherever a Wi-Fi hotspot can be found, 5G is the next frontier for enterprise communications. And not just because someone will be calling you at work or into your contact center from a 5G network.

  5G also means faster speeds than any other wireless network, and it means your entire business could ultimately be connected to the outside world via a mobile connection. Think about the concept of mobile SIP trunking, if you will. Your whole business could be connected this way, and you can even have a 5G business network slice or dedicated bandwidth for you.

  All of this means that all different varieties of business communication systems, whether unified or not, do not have to be physically on premise. All of these systems can be driven by cloud architectures. In other words, the borderless network also means everything could be in the cloud if one so chooses.

  Next week I’ll explore further evolutions of the office.

  The post The Evolved Office appeared first on Sangoma.

• ng-voice Strategic alignment, team building, and a lot of fun – ng-voice’s in-person retreat in Flensburg

  Strategic alignment, team building, and a lot of fun - ng-voice’s in-person retreat in Flensburg

  In our previous post, talked about how ng-voice saw the pandemic as an opportunity to embrace a hybrid remote work policy as part of our culture, and have been very successful in implementing it in the last 18 months. While we all appreciate the flexibility and freedom brought by this new work model, we at ng-voice feel that human contact can never be fully replaced by a screen. Therefore, we were all looking forward to the day when the pandemic restrictions would be lifted and we would be able to safely gather the team again in person for strategic alignment and team building. 

   

  And this day finally came! ng-voice hosted its first in-person retreat after the pandemic in the city of Flensburg, on the German-Danish border. The city is known for its beautifully docked harbor and amazing seascapes, making it a perfect place for our colleagues to reconnect. Following the German “3G rule” (vaccinated, recovered, or tested – geimpft, genesen, getestet), we were able to create a safe and healthy environment for all.

  

  Improving communication across teams through activities and workshop

  The first gathering of the team was the perfect opportunity for our CEO, David Bachmann, to share his vision for the company and align the team on the priorities for the next 6-12 months. We also took the opportunity to celebrate the teams’ achievements in the last quarter, sharing our objectives and key results.

  

  As we have been growing fast in past years and with the team working remotely, keeping the communication flowing across different teams has become a must. To address these challenges, we had several group activities and a workshop with an external specialist to identify critical issues, brainstorm solutions and define priorities together. It was also an opportunity for ng-voice’s newcomers to be included and help shape our company’s culture moving forward.

  

  Bonding with our colleagues on a sailing trip in the Baltic sea

  The Flensburg’s experience is not complete without a sailing trip across the Baltic sea, and that is exactly what we did. Our colleagues got the chance to explore the sea on a sailing boat, with beautiful views of Denmark and Germany on both sides. Some of our colleagues volunteered to help the captain with boat duties.

  

  With this retreat, we got an opportunity to get to know each other on a personal level, share experiences, and build a stronger team together. According to Elisa Hermann, our People Lead “ it was important to connect and reconnect our entire team, which grew significantly during times of home office. The main objective of our retreat was team building and spending quality time with each other strengthening our bond”. Sameer Nahar, Senior Software Engineer, shared his experience at the retreat: “It was great to meet face-to-face, shake hands, interact and make friends. I feel refreshed and ready for upcoming challenges knowing that I am working together with a great team”. 

  
  At ng-voice, we believe in bringing your whole being to work. Communicating, bonding, and discussing the future of our company together is critical to our success. We are looking forward to our next retreat to spend more quality time with one another as we continue to grow. And we are constantly looking for talented people to join us! Click here or visit our career page for job opportunities.

  Share this article via:

  Share on facebook

  Facebook

  Share on linkedin

  LinkedIn

  Share on twitter

  Twitter

  

  Quirin Maderspacher

  Chief of Staff

  Publisher Bio

  Joining us from McKinsey & Company where he served as a senior engagement manager, taking on digital topics (digital identity and hyperscaler portfolios) at the intersection of the private and public sectors. Quirin joined ng-voice as Chief of Staff to lead the establishment of standardized and lean processes across the company, drive strategic initiatives and help in the organizational structure.

October 14, 2021

• Digium Your End-to-End UCaaS Guide

  In recent years, organizations have been thrust into remote and hybrid work scenarios. Companies of virtually every size were forced to adopt new delivery models for how its employees communicate and collaborate over daily tasks, even when not commuting to a physical workplace. Today’s companies are always looking for new ways to make operations more productive and profitable in spite of geographic disparity.

  Traditionally, the day-to-day management of remote staff activity has been problematic, with factors such as workplace efficiency and cost-effectiveness limiting just how far the company could go.

  The good news? Even the technologically inexperienced can benefit from – and even thrive in – a Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) environment.

  Let Us Be Your UCaaS Guide

  Whether you’re already familiar with UCaaS or just starting to learn about this mission-critical technology, it always helps to have a guide. Start at the beginning with the core purpose of UCaaS, and then see how finding the right platform and provider can make all the difference for your business.

  UCaaS delivery models provide comprehensive access to communications and collaboration services on an on-demand basis. Tools such as chats, video conferences, productivity apps, and IP phone options are presented “as a service” through a consolidated, cloud-based platform that is accessible over virtually any device.

  At the basic level, deployments streamline access to those and other features without passing along common headaches such as hardware and software installations, maintenance, staged updates, and migrations that tend to plague even the most experienced users. These technical needs are managed by your UCaaS provider.

  For just a simple subscription, the UCaaS service provider handles all aspects for the organization, allowing it to focus exclusively on work and productivity. Nightmares such as communication lags, cooperative barriers, and document security become a thing of the past!

  UCaaS Features

  Traditionally, UCaaS deployments include these features:

  • Voice Calling: From phones, VoIP softphones, and mobile devices
  • Conferencing: Real-time video, audio, and web-based including in-browser video calls from any device without downloading extra software
  • Messaging: Via email, with voicemail, chat, and SMS-integrated contact centers and customer call management
  • Collaboration: Through shared desktop apps and workspaces integrated into your communications system, plus the option to customize with third-party applications

  UCaaS Benefits

  UCaaS offerings have numerous benefits to organizational operations, including options for:

  • Working from Anywhere: Remote and hybrid employees can interact in real time, regardless of geographic barriers or the device they’re using
  • Business Continuity: Cloud infrastructure is securely housed off-site – and often with geo-redundancy – to promote business continuity and disaster recovery
  • Scalability: App maintenance and updates are organized and pushed automatically via the cloud, while purchased capacity can be expanded by adding to the subscription
  • Productivity: Promoted with increases to speed and efficiency in communications and document sharing
  • Customer Service: Features contact center elements to monitor call data and improve CRM
  • Cost: Eliminates hardware and software requirements, reducing IT spending
  • Data-Driven Analytics: Leverages cloud-based insight to monitor employee work and correspondences

  UCaaS As A Business Advantage

  At a basic level, UCaaS streamlines cloud-native dialogue to bolster efficiency and minimize concern and cost. Elements such as support for voice and VoIP, presence, SMS and MMS, analytics and cross-device alerts promote more effectiveness in both areas.

  In today’s corporate landscape, more and more employers are utilizing the remote and hybrid work experience, not just for the staff member, but for the executive as well. Allowing workers to access communications and collaboration software from their location of choice, rather than within a dedicated physical office or cubicle, is becoming a more commonly accepted norm. It may even be argued that this is the new standard for businesses to follow.

  For that reason, access to top-notch communications and work-share tools is an absolute necessity. With UCaaS, one gains quick and easy access to applications to bolster productivity, free worker availability, secure critical infrastructure, maintain assets, and decrease overhead cost.

  Contact our team today to discuss these and other benefits that UCaaS can offer to you! We will be your UCaaS Guide to choosing the right system for your needs!

  The post Your End-to-End UCaaS Guide appeared first on Sangoma.

• ng-voice ng-voice attends Deutsche Telekom Campus Fair 2021

  ng-voice attended this year’s hybrid Telekom Campus Fair which took place on the 6th of October. Deutsche Telekom‘s event returned both virtually and in-person in Bonn, Germany, bringing together partners and industry specialists to discuss the most relevant topics for the industry, such as cloudification, automation, carbon neutrality, and more. 

   

  ng-voice had the pleasure to participate along with partners from the European Association of Next Generation Telecommunications Innovators (EANGTI) – Amarisoft, Cumucore, and Rapidspace – highlighting the opportunities of creating a strong 5G ecosystem that brings together various players to foster innovation in Europe. 

   

  We exhibited our fully containerized and cloud-native IMS core this year, which enables operators and enterprises of any size to deploy VoLTE/VoNR on their LTE/5G networks thanks to our design principles and a cloud-native IMS solution built from scratch with a modular container-based approach.  

   

  To learn more about our solutions, please contact our team at info@ng-voice.com or request a demo.

  

  

  Share this article via:

  Share on facebook

  Facebook

  Share on linkedin

  LinkedIn

  Share on twitter

  Twitter

  

  Barbara Silva

  Marketing Lead

  Publisher Bio

  After 10 years of working for Telefonica as a Business Development and Marketing Manager, along with developing serval projects in Latin America. Barbara’s plans to connect and share her own experience in Branding and growth strategies with the readers. She enjoys talking about any topics, from Netflix series to Politics, making her a versatile and fun person to talk to.

October 13, 2021

• Enable Security Why volumetric DDoS cripples VoIP providers and what we see during pentesting
  An epiphany Until a few days ago, I was of the opinion that simulating volumetric DDoS attacks is not something we should be doing. If you had asked us for such a test, we would have given you a negative answer. Ironically, we had been unwittingly simulating volumetric DDoS attacks while quietly ignoring our own results. But, it’s time to stop neglecting bandwidth saturation and start giving it the attention that it deserves.
• Enable Security How I learned to stop worrying and love the flood - on DDoS
  An epiphany Until a few days ago, I was of the opinion that simulating volumetric DDoS attacks is not something we should be doing. If you had asked us for such a test, we would have given you a negative answer. Ironically, we had been unwittingly simulating volumetric DDoS attacks while quietly ignoring our own results. But, it’s time to stop neglecting bandwidth saturation and start giving it the attention that it deserves.
• Enable Security How I learned to stop worrying and love the flood
  An epiphany Until a few days ago, I was of the opinion that simulating volumetric DDoS attacks is not something we should be doing. If you had asked us for such a test, we would have given you a negative answer. Ironically, we had been unwittingly simulating volumetric DDoS attacks while quietly ignoring our own results. But, it’s time to stop neglecting bandwidth saturation and start giving it the attention that it deserves.

October 12, 2021

• Digium What kind of companies would use Desktop-as-a-Service?

  What kind of companies might utilize a cloud-based virtual desktop (Desktop-as-a-Service or DaaS for short)? It could be any, but they would generally fall into a couple of categories:

  1. Companies that want to minimize laptop costs
  2. Companies that want to control employee data access have – i.e., no downloading of files to personal computers (financial institutions, government agencies, etc.)
  3. Companies that want to outsource “security of data” as much as possible
  4. Seasonal or project-based businesses where giving laptops to contractors or seasonal employees isn’t practical

  Is this for every company? No. I certainly like my laptop, and I like the applications on it. I do a lot of work when I’m not connected to the Internet.

  But this might make sense for your company, especially as you move forward. How do I get this? The delivery and sales model are very similar to other cloud applications such as UCaaS. The DaaS provider sets up the service, and the business “buys” the service through a monthly subscription licensing model for its employees.

  Sangoma offers DaaS services today. We have customers big and small using our DaaS solution. Many of our customers come to us initially for our UCaaS solution, and then when in discussions with them, they’ve been open to moving everything to the cloud. Our DaaS solution offers them the ability to do this, with the emphasis we can give on UCaaS.

  The post What kind of companies would use Desktop-as-a-Service? appeared first on Sangoma.

October 06, 2021

• Digium Oracle Connector: Habilitando la Comunicación Hotelera con Sangoma PBXact

  El segmento de la hospitalidad es una industria desafiante que siempre busca mejorar la experiencia de sus huéspedes, maximizar la eficiencia del personal y optimizar las comunicaciones internas. Con un Sistema de Gestión de Propiedades como centro de las operaciones comerciales hoteleras, la integración de diferentes tecnologías a la infraestructura existente ya no es un lujo, sino una necesidad que exigen los clientes que viajan.

  Sangoma actualmente ofrece varias opciones para satisfacer las necesidades de hotelería, como su propio módulo de gestión de propiedades integrado en la GUI del PBX para hoteles pequeños y medianos, o la posibilidad de conectarse a través de middleware a las plataformas de gestión de propiedades más populares en todo el mundo.

  Adicionando a nuestra cartera de servicios de hospitalidad, hemos lanzado el Add-on Oracle Connector el cual permite a los hoteles, complejos turísticos, casas de huéspedes, etc. proporcionar un servicio al cliente superior y reducir costos operativos al habilitar la comunicación directa entre un sistema de gestión de propiedades de Oracle, como el Oracle®. Hospitality OPERA (anteriormente Fidelio) y el sistema de UC flexible y de código abierto basado en Asterisk de Sangoma, PBXact.

  El Addon Oracle Connector está certificado por Oracle y proporciona sincronización entre bases de datos, lo que permite la automatización de procesos anteriormente manuales, como la activación y desactivación de los teléfonos de la habitación y el correo de voz al momento del check-in y del check-out, señalizar el estado de limpieza de la habitación, establecer llamadas de despertador y proporcionar llamadas de emergencia.

  Los dispositivos telefónicos de la habitación de los huéspedes también se actualizan automáticamente con la información del huésped, por lo que al entrar a la habitación, su nombre ya está configurado y también se muestra al personal en turno, para que sepan con solo un vistazo quién está solicitando servicio. En general, reducir los tiempos de respuesta ayuda al personal a ser proactivo con las necesidades de los huéspedes, haciendo que estos se sientan valorados y aumentando su probabilidad de regresar y otorgar buenas críticas, atrayendo a más huéspedes potenciales.

  Hoy en día estamos tan acostumbrados a usar nuestros dispositivos móviles personales donde quiera que vayamos para hacer llamadas de larga distancia a través de Internet, que puede parecer sorprendente descubrir que los gastos de comunicación siguen siendo uno de los principales gastos en el negocio de la hostelería. Oracle Connector permite la creación de impuestos y la asignación de tarifas de facturación de forma automática, asegurando una facturación precisa de los cargos de llamadas a la cuenta del huésped correspondiente.

  Con las cifras de viajes de negocios y de placer aumentando nuevamente, ahora es el momento adecuado para automatizar procesos implementando sistemas de comunicación flexibles de Sangoma y optimizando los beneficios al máximo, tanto para el huésped como para el personal del hotel. Eche un vistazo al nuevo manual del Add-on Oracle Connector en nuestra wiki y comience a ofrecer soluciones sólidas para la industria hotelera.

  The post Oracle Connector: Habilitando la Comunicación Hotelera con Sangoma PBXact appeared first on Sangoma.

• Digium Oracle Connector: Enabling the Hospitality / Sangoma PBXact Conversation

  The hospitality segment is a challenging industry that is ever looking for ways to enhance their guest experience, maximize staff efficiency, and improve internal communications. With a Property Management System at the core of hotel business operations, integrating different technologies to existing infrastructure is no longer a luxury, but rather a necessity that traveling customers demand.

  This article is available in Spanish. ¡Lea este artículo en Español!

  Sangoma already offers several options to meet hospitality needs, like its own Property Management Module embedded in the PBX GUI for small to medium hotels, or the possibility of connecting via middleware to the most popular property management platforms worldwide.

  Adding to our hospitality services portfolio, we have now released the Oracle Connector Add-on which enables hotels, resorts, guest houses, etc. to provide superior customer service and reduce operational costs by allowing direct communication between an Oracle Property Management System, such as Oracle® Hospitality OPERA (formerly Fidelio), and Sangoma’s flexible and open-source Asterisk based UC system, PBXact.

  The Oracle-certified Connector Addon provides synchronization between databases, allowing the automation of formerly manual processes such as activating and deactivating guest room phones and voicemail upon check-in and check-out, signaling room cleanliness status, arranging a wake-up call, and providing emergency calling.

  Guest room telephone devices are also automatically updated with guest information so by the time the guest walks into the room, their name is already set up, and it will also be displayed to the service staff, so they know at a glance who is requesting service. Overall, having shortened response times, helps the staff to be proactive to guest needs, making guests feel valued, and increasing their likelihood to come back and give good reviews, attracting further potential guests.

  We are all so used to using our personal mobile devices wherever we go to make long-distance calls via the Internet, that it is somewhat surprising to discover that communication expenses are still one of the top expenses in the hospitality business. In any case, the Oracle Connector allows the creation of taxes and assigning of billing rates automatically, ensuring accurate billing of call charges to the corresponding guest account.

  With business and pleasure travel numbers picking up again, now is the right time to automate processes with Sangoma’s flexible communication systems, and streamline maximum benefits for both the guest and the hotel staff. Take a look at the new Oracle Connector Add-on manual in our wiki, and start delivering robust hospitality solutions.

  The post Oracle Connector: Enabling the Hospitality / Sangoma PBXact Conversation appeared first on Sangoma.

October 05, 2021

• Digium The Benefits of Desktop-as-a-Service (DaaS)

  Last week we explored what Desktop-as-a-Service is, and this week we’ll get into some of the benefits. As discussed in last week’s blog, security is a benefit because your business won’t have to worry about it. Data is stored in the DaaS provider data center, and the DaaS provider must manage that. Presumably, they’d be able to do a better job than a smaller business with this. But beyond that, data on your laptop wouldn’t exist or wouldn’t be as deep. When I worked for Intel years ago, I remember that we had quite a bit of training regarding how to manage your laptop on business trips to minimize the risk of it being stolen (excellent training, by the way, which I still utilize today).

  From an IT perspective, bringing on a new employee is easier. Decide which employee desktop template is required (i.e., the Product Management one, the Marketing one, the Sales one, etc.) for that employee and tie it to the new employee. Then the new employee logs in from the company device. In other words, someone can log into the virtual desktop anywhere, from any device, and the desktop will look the same.

  IT can also manage “pushes” of applications easier – it’s just done centrally. And updates of security patches or updates of any kind to whatever thin client is used can be managed centrally.

  And there are potential cost savings since thin clients are less expensive than laptops. Or even supports employees who may want to use their own laptop – they just log in to the DaaS system to get to their “employee” mode. I’ve also read some studies where virtual desktops or DaaS can lower energy used by your company.

  Are there any downsides? Like any cloud service, when a centralized server environment is used, there is potential for things to “slow down” since there isn’t enough computing power in the central environment. Graphics intensive applications are examples of this. But there has been much work done by infrastructure providers to resolve these issues, and they are less and less of a problem.

  The post The Benefits of Desktop-as-a-Service (DaaS) appeared first on Sangoma.

• WebRTC Hacks How does WebRTC End-to-End Encryption work? Matrix.org example (Dave Baker)

  One of WebRTC’s great features is its mandated strong encryption.  Encryption mechanisms are built-in, meaning developers don’t (often) need to deal with the details. However, these easy, built-in encryption mechanisms assume you have: 1) media is communicated peer-to-peer and 2) a secure signaling channel setup. Most group-calling services make use of a media server device, […]

  The post How does WebRTC End-to-End Encryption work? Matrix.org example (Dave Baker) appeared first on webrtcHacks.

• ng-voice The sunset of 2G and 3G networks is approaching rapidly – and why you should rely on cloud-native solutions to get ready

  The sunset of 2G and 3G networks is approaching rapidly. With 4G and 5G being pervasively deployed in many regions, the issue of shutting down legacy networks has become an ardent topic. Several players in the industry have already decommissioned their legacy networks while others have announced their intentions to do the same. Mobile networks are in a midst of radical change, in which operators have to cater for the exponential growth and demand for data traffic. As a consequence, operators are faced with choosing between legacy or cloud-native infrastructure solutions.

  Why act now and prepare for the sunset of 2G and 3G networks?

  There are several reasons why operators are shutting down 2G and 3G networks. Freeing up spectrum, expected cost efficiency, as well as government regulations are some of the major driving forces. 

   

  First, spectrum is physically limited and the most expensive resource of a mobile operator. 4G and 5G networks allow for more efficient use of spectrum. Second, consumer behavior is changing, as customers demand more data and high-speed connectivity, while not wanting to spend as much for the service, which reduces the operator’s overall revenues. To meet this demand, operators need to think about cost-efficiency.  Apart from being faster, the total cost-of-ownership (TCO) is drastically lower for 4G and 5G networks compared to 2G and 3G, while spectrum efficiency is higher. Third, the shutdown is also being incentivized by authorities as many regions have set up regulations and deadlines to decommission 2G/3G networks. 

   

  With this movement being accelerated, operators that do not adapt might be left behind. With their peers moving to 4G/ 5G, operators that still rely on their legacy networks will face challenges with outdated service offerings and an overwhelming cost structure. 

   

  Voice is one of the main services that still rely on legacy networks. For voice services, the use of VoLTE/ VoNR has become the norm in the industry. The migration to 4G/ 5G, in this case, not only allows operators to provide a better service, improving the customer‘s experience, but also drastically reduces voice production costs.

  Moving into a cloud-native 4G/ 5G network infrastructure

  The shutdown of 2G/3G also offers an opportunity for operators to modernize their infrastructure to face growing demand: Deploying a cloud-native mobile infrastructure can bring benefits in terms of cost reduction, flexibility, and scalability, and open up new revenue opportunities. 

   

  Moving into a cloud-native architecture can massively reduce both CAPEX and OPEX expenditures. The software-based approach allows significant levels of automation of the entire development, deployment, and maintenance process and reduces the overall resource footprint, driving down not only the need for CPU and memory, but also the related operational costs such as power consumption, space, and headcounts. 

   

  In addition to lower costs, cloud-native solutions allow increased flexibility. Being standard-compliant and following a CI/CD approach, cloud-native networks are flexible, and easy to deploy and integrate, also reducing the time-to-market of new services and features. They also scale up and down, thus very quickly adapting to increases or decreases in subscribers while offering the same quality of service and reliability as legacy networks solutions. 

   

  Furthermore, with a cloud-native infrastructure, operators are able to innovate on their service offering, creating business cases in areas previously discarded for being financially unattractive (e.g. rural areas), and serving new markets like the private networks/IoT business.

  Deploying voice services on 4G/5G networks with ng-voice’s fully containerized and cloud-native IMS core

  ng-voice is the right partner for you in the migration to 4G and 5G, offering a VoLTE/VoRN solution that is truly cloud-native and containerized. 

   

  ng-voice’s cloud-native IMS core is the first 100% containerized and Kubernetes-based fully-fledged IMS solution on the market – the critical component to deploy voice services on 4G/ 5G networks. Its major aspects of innovation are:

   

  • Smallest container sizes: Due to the clever slicing of our services, the image size for our sub-components was reduced to under 25 MB
  • Rapid service delivery: reduces the time of deployment and optimizes the lifecycle management of the application
  • Minimized resources footprint: it consumes only 2.5 vCPU and 3.1 GB of memory for an average enterprise network 
  • Flexible business model: our business model is adapted based on customer needs, reducing our customer’s overall capital expenditures.

  Made-in-Germany, ng-voice’s solutions adhere to the highest security and data protection standards. To learn more about our solutions, please contact our team at info@ng-voice.com.

  Share this article via:

  Share on facebook

  Facebook

  Share on linkedin

  LinkedIn

  Share on twitter

  Twitter

  

  Abdul Basit Alvi

  Chief Technologist Cloud and Virtualization

  Publisher Bio

  With vast experience in virtualizing the mobile core of network operators and developing cloud-native solutions, Basit has implemented Pakistan’s first fully virtualized IMS to launch VoLTE capabilities in tier-1 operators. Abdul Basit is passionate about cloud, automation and Dev-Ops tools and enjoys his time off exploring new cities and towns.

October 04, 2021

• FreeSWITCH Sharon’s Top 12 Reasons to Come to ClueCon – Part 2

  By Sharon White

  Sharon White has been the main organizer of ClueCon for many years! This is a little behind the scenes look into ClueCon and all her favorite things about the conference.

  Click here to learn more and register for ClueCon TGI2021!

  8. Raffle Tickets

  Who doesn’t like giveaways? For ClueCon, raffle tickets are the primary way that we give away prizes. Every single attendee receives a certain number of raffle tickets dependent upon when they signed up for ClueCon. Sign up early and you receive 20 raffle tickets per day. Sign up right before ClueCon and you receive one raffle ticket per day. But no matter when you sign up, you still have a chance to win some really cool stuff.

  At most conferences those tiny tickets can represent a parting prize of a dinner for two at a great local restaurant, $500 cash, or a trip to Hawaii. For ClueCon, the annual grand prize is a custom engraved MacBook Pro. Similar to our t-shirts, we put time and effort into giving our attendees something one-of-a-kind and truly special. Based on the year’s theme of ClueCon, the Macbook is intricately engraved with the conference design. This makes it a unique item you can only get at ClueCon.  

  

  Though there is only one MacBook to win, there are many other prizes. In the past we have given out hundreds of SIP phones, wireless chargers, and even a desktop arcade game. There are at least 8 giveaways every day – and dozens of winners.

  Register now you could be one of them!

  7. Hotel Life

  Everyone at one point in their lives has to stay at a hotel. To me, this is really fun and adventurous. Walking in symbolizes the beginning of a week that I have been working towards for the better part of a year. For the next week this hotel is my home away from home. This year, ClueCon is taking place at the InterContinental Hotel on the Magnificent Mile, right in the middle of downtown Chicago.

  Immediately the whirlwind of setting up for ClueCon begins at check-in. I have to work with the whole team to make sure all of our equipment gets to the hotel in one piece, choreograph about 50 people that have poured their lives into setting up ClueCon, organize the conference rooms, and become acquainted with the hotel staff all on the Sunday before the conference. The thrill of ClueCon is in the air right when I first walk in… Then I get to work. By the end of the conference I have an entire family that I will not see again until next year.

  The greatest part of hotel life is surrounding myself with the best people to help me through the week. And for that week, the hotel is home for all of us! Hotel life and city life are one in the same – iconic Chicago restaurants surround the area, and the shops of Michigan Avenue are right around the corner. The InterContinental sits at the intersection of famous landmarks and destinations like Cloud Gate and Navy Pier. This year ClueCon will take over 3 floors of the historic hotel, including the sprawling grand ballroom and the medieval-themed King Arthur’s Court.

  6. Speakers 

  We get many speakers signing up to share their newest innovations or demo their latest projects. And sometimes they might pull something strange to grab your attention… 

  ClueCon is a conference for developers by developers and to that end it is vitally important that we have the right speakers. When ClueCon speakers submit their talks, the FreeSWITCH founders hand-select the best of the best to share their ideas. This year, there will be a combination of speakers in person at the hotel in Chicago and online! Now that we’ve done two online conferences, we know that it’s still going to be awesome, and a crazy unique hybrid experience.

  The presentations are a huge part of what make ClueCon so memorable. There is always a ton to learn about various updates in the world of open source and telecom, and there are so many passionate, knowledgeable leaders who have plenty to teach. These speakers hang around later to answer any questions, chat, and network! You never know what you might learn about, or who will steal the show with a unique demo…

  5. Networking

  I have worked at retail establishments, banks, even a flower shop, completely different jobs that gave me work experience with all kinds of people. I didn’t really get how well a conference allows you to get to know others. Up until ClueCon the only conferences I had been to were Star Trek conventions and ComicCon’s. While meeting new people at those conferences was fun and exciting, networking at ClueCon has inspired major changes in the tech industry that have an impact on the world. In fact, the first ClueCon led to the founding of FreeSWITCH… 

  Not to mention, ClueCon has the coolest networking events, like the annual Gigabit Reception. This reception includes not only great hors d’oeuvres and drinks, but the highly-anticipated jam session, and, as always, ClueCon karaoke.

  

  One of my first ClueCon’s, I was manning the registration desk and I started watching two of our attendees meet and bond in seconds, something that could lead to collaborating to bring new technologies to the forefront by combining their knowledge and intellect. I remember thinking “They meet here, at ClueCon, and maybe a few years down the line we will be introduced to a product that was birthed right here in front of the registration desk.”  Who knows? Maybe that collaboration will help to make the world a better place. Don’t get me wrong, Star Trek conventions are amazing, but who can compete with the innovation that comes from developers getting together at ClueCon?

  To be continued…

  The post Sharon’s Top 12 Reasons to Come to ClueCon – Part 2 appeared first on FreeSWITCH.

September 28, 2021

• Digium What is Desktop-as-a-Service (DaaS)?

  You may have heard of Desktop-as-a-Service, with its projections of 17% CAGR and $10B market size within a few years, and wondered, “what is this” and “is this for me”?

  Before we get to DaaS, it is essential to understand VDI or Virtual Desktop Infrastructure. Virtual desktops are a way to access your company’s applications through your company’s data infrastructure, which might be managed on-prem or via an MSP. Or put another way, think about what applications you might use at your desktop every day at work – Microsoft Office, your CRM of choice, your desktop clients, etc. and these would be in your company’s data infrastructure instead of hosted on your computer. So, you have a virtual desktop because what you see via your endpoint is all virtual and hosted in a typical company data structure environment. Access to these applications occurs only via the endpoint that your company gives you. Your endpoint may be a laptop, or because your endpoint doesn’t need all the processing power it might have before, your endpoint can be more of a thin client.

  DaaS is a virtual desktop but totally within the cloud and outside of your IT infrastructure per se. A cloud service provider would deliver these virtual desktops to employees, customized to each employee’s needs, just like UCaaS does. As with UCaaS (compared to on-prem UC), the DaaS provider takes care of maintenance, updates, storage, and back-ups. Your IT department doesn’t need to do that.

  And your DaaS provider takes care of security as well. Security is a big issue these days. Weekly we read about security breaches and ransomware attacks. If you go a cloud provider route, typically, they will be on the leading edge of security compared to if you had to do it for your own business. In this way, any cloud provider or DaaS provider can be seen as providing a more secure environment. But additional security is also obtained because the endpoints are managed – i.e., various ways into the network are centralized.

  So, in a nutshell, DaaS is a cloud-based virtual desktop. And Sangoma offers it.

  The post What is Desktop-as-a-Service (DaaS)? appeared first on Sangoma.

September 27, 2021

• WebRTC Hacks Apple’s not so private relay fails with WebRTC

  Apple released iOS 15 with iCloud Private Relay broken for WebRTC - it still divulges your IP address. This post walks through why and how the WebRTC API's use your IP address information and how you can check what IP addresses are gathered.

  The post Apple’s not so private relay fails with WebRTC appeared first on webrtcHacks.

September 24, 2021

• Digium UCaaS & Its Benefits For The Modern Team Collaboration Tool

  The office landscape is constantly in flux. Whether workers are sitting down at a desk in a physical, in-office location or in the cozy confines of a workspace just feet from the bedroom, the need for enhanced forms of collaboration and communication tools are constantly growing.

  For today’s team-based software, having access to a Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) platform and other modern communications tools – such as cutting-edge team collaboration software – is an absolute necessity.

  Today’s brand of UCaaS solutions provide the vigorous communications system needed to increase productivity and efficiency, share joint work, quickly and accurately help customers, and enhance how the organizations of today operate. As the enterprise struggles to enhance these elements in a world where workers are often separated from across hundreds – or even thousands – of miles, organizations are discovering the many benefits of increasing worker engagement using a UCaaS environment.

  At its core, UCaaS and other pay-per-use services promote almost limitless capabilities. With team-based software, the tech helps make the organization more flexible, and offers unique scalability options with virtually no ceiling as to their expansiveness. Plus, the as-a-service packages offer many of the standard options needed for employees to share information, co-draft documents, communicate with one another and boost operational output, regardless of geographic location.

  Team Collaboration For Every Business

  Today’s modern workforce is in need of a comprehensive team collaboration software set for “hyper” productivity that centralizes their toolkit and drives teamwork and projects.

  Team collaboration tools need to support all communication needs, including, to name a few:

  • Direct messaging and video conferencing with collaborators both inside and outside of the organization
  • Channel, group, and private messaging capabilities
  • Sharing work on files and other content
  • Customizable options to integrate third-party apps
  • Integration with UCaaS for expanded communication and collaboration support

  Other features team collaboration solutions should also support include: browser-based access; guest user account support; channel and personal workspace management; support for telephony services such as third-party call control, fax and other elements; contact and file management; desktop and web-based notifications, and basic searches.

  Essentially, this packaging guarantees that all workers are accessing the same resources, with fewer concerns related to storage and other logistics. This aspect is one of several positive effects that employing team collaboration software with a UCaaS element provides. Additional benefits are outlined below.

  Employee Productivity

  Team collaboration deployments also tend to streamline the employee experience, making them more productive in their daily tasks. By gaining access to on-demand communications platforms and software from the same interface, employees no longer need to navigate between multiple applications, saving considerable time and reducing app overload. A cloud-based phone system integration offers additional benefits as the central hub for all elements: collaborative software, video conferences, and screen-shares.

  Maneuverability

  UCaaS allows the teleworker and in-office employee alike to work under the same conditions, using the same services and accessing the same resources for collaboration and communication. By granting staff with tiered access to the same technology, there are marked reductions in both miscommunication and missed calls! Tech support is also more easily deployed, as all employees are using the same installation.

  Reduced Physical Maintenance & Security

  For the organization specifically, dependence on a cloud-based infrastructure translates to reduced overhead and maintenance cost related to software purchases, as well as physical equipment! Information and physical assets no longer need to be stored and maintained by the company, with those elements all covered by what translates to an automatically updated service rental.

  Similarly, the individual employee is no longer on the hook for necessary tasks such as patch management; all updates are pushed to the software automatically to maintain both optimal and secure systems. Aside from automated security, encryption and other tools, a UCaaS implementation also offers features to promote compliance with federal regulations governing document retention and management.

  Automated Analytics

  UCaaS tools offer numerous administrative features for determining bottlenecks and other issues, providing insight into remediation best practices in a consolidated dashboard that would otherwise not be available for disparate systems.

  The post UCaaS & Its Benefits For The Modern Team Collaboration Tool appeared first on Sangoma.

• Enable Security Massive DDoS attacks on VoIP Providers and simulated DDoS testing
  VoIP.ms and other VoIP providers under DDoS attack At the time of writing, a major VoIP provider called VoIP.ms is under a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack since over a week. As a result, they are unable to serve their customers with everyone and their dog complaining that they cannot connect to VoIP.ms’s SIP servers as well as other resources. At the same time, someone claiming to be part of the REvil ransomware group is blackmailing the provider.

September 21, 2021

• Digium Hybrid Work & Increased Productivity with UCaaS

  Last week, I wrote a blog about the benefits of UCaaS, and I wrote about the following benefits: mobility afforded to employees, the financial aspects to the business of an OPEX model, ability to scale easier, and uptime from a cloud architecture.

  I received a few comments regarding the fact that I did not write about the productivity enhancements of UC. Correct, I did not write about it this time. It does not mean I do not believe that – I have written about that in the past on more than one occasion. I just didn’t this particular time.

  It’s an excellent, timely comment, though. As more employers require employees to come back to work, at least for part of the workweek, it does not mean that there is necessarily reduced productivity from the remote work environment.

  I am just finishing up a trip to one of our offices, and it was great interacting with everyone. While the 1:1’s I did were essentially the same in person versus over a video call, the other interactions of asking someone a question who is down the hall, people popping in to ask me something, running into engineering at lunch, etc. don’t happen when you are remote. And that’s why employers are asking people to come back to work. To get that back because it does make a difference.

  Because of the productivity afforded by UC, increased productivity due to chat functions, ease of calling someone on different devices, video calling, and collaboration, perhaps there might be hybrid go-to work/work from home environments in the future.

  Or even if you need to go back full time, there will still be measurable productivity from using a UC system at work.

  The post Hybrid Work & Increased Productivity with UCaaS appeared first on Sangoma.

September 14, 2021

• Digium Revisiting & Remembering the Benefits of UCaaS

  In the past 18 months, many of us have lived one of the prime benefits of UCaaS – the mobility aspect, which is the ability to work anywhere anytime because your business phone number rings to your mobile phone or your desktop via the UC client. Additionally, we all now fully understand the productivity increase from using UC collaboration and video applications.

  However, there are other benefits to UCaaS that you as an employee using UCaaS may not see. For instance, the move from CAPEX and an OPEX model is important for many companies because they don’t have to lay out the UC costs all upfront. This “pay as you go” model is attractive for many companies.

  And when the system is not having to be managed by the company, there are typically lower costs because the system updates are handled by the provider and not a dedicated company employee – meaning bug fixes and security updates do not have to be managed by the company. Plus, they get done automagically!

  Cloud systems should also have higher uptime because of the nature of a cloud architecture. Superior cloud-based UC providers offer built-in redundancies, auto-failover features, and more reliable networks, as well as the ability to access critical communications like email and voicemail in an emergency.

  Finally, a major benefit of having cloud UC is the ability to add or remove users when they are needed and grow in near real-time. There is no limit to growth potential in the cloud; plus, it’s the most cost-efficient platform for enterprise communications needs.

  ---

  Download the ultimate guide to UCaaS and cloud services here.

  The post Revisiting & Remembering the Benefits of UCaaS appeared first on Sangoma.