Author: James Chapman

Fritz!BOX Fon WLAN 7270 by AVM: Fast, User-friendly DSL access, Easy Networking & Inexpensive Internet Telephony

Posted by | Oct 21, 2009 | , |

Founded in 1986 in Berlin, AVM is one of the top manufacturers of ADSL devices in Europe. The Berlin-based communications specialist has received numerous awards for its innovative FRITZ!Box product range, developed and produced in Germany. We took the opportunity to review the product following a major firmware update this past fall. This free firmware update provides Fritz!BOX users with state-of-the-art features for their existing hardware. New with this recent update is mobile internet connection ability and online storage. Once the firmware update is installed, this multifunctional router can connect to the Internet via UMTS/3G USB stick, use online memory, plus IP telephones can connect directly to the FRITZ!Box. The free update is available at www.avm.de/en. Highlights include: Enables Internet connection via UMTS/3G USB sticks IP telephones can connect directly to the FRITZ!Box New online memory option for data storage Improved security and reduced energy consumption The update also extends the range of Network Attached Storage (NAS) functions, adding the finishing touches to make the device a fully-fledged media server. Now everyone on the network can access pictures, music and videos stored on USB sticks or other devices attached to the FRITZ!Box, even when all computers are switched off. In addition, a spin-down for USB hard drives has been added to reduce further energy consumption—just one of several ways in which the user can save money and keep the...

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Rhino to Introduce Ceros Desktop Edition: Small Size, Low Power Solution Ideal for Small Office PBX Applications

Posted by | Oct 19, 2009 | , , , , |

If you are a VAR looking for a powerful processing solution but don’t want a massive, power-hungry server to sell to your small office customers, perhaps consider the new Ceros Desktop Edition, to be released by Rhino Equipment in November 2009. This “made in the USA” Ceros Desktop chassis was designed with VARs in mind. The steel chassis comes with no external markings or silk screening, and comes shipped in two cartons—an outside carton that can be discarded so that a pristine, inside carton can be cleanly shipped to your end customer. The Ceros Desktop can be a primary PBX or easily used as a remote connection back to the main site as it is powered by a compact, 12 V DC power supply.  It can be an open hardware server, if you need to replace a group of fax machines, extend some remote POTS lines with a VoIP trunk to a main office, or you just need a compact PBX for your business. According to the company’s website, the product’s initial Base Configuration is planned as follows: Intel Atom 1.6GHz CPU with 945 Chipset 80GB 2.5″ single hard drive (RAID1 also available) 1GB 667MHz DDR memory 65W external +12VDC power supply Two PCI slots (A Rhino ONLY!) Rhino SLI 6-line OSLI and 5-button keypad VGA Video, DVI Video Three USB ports One GbE (LAN) (2nd port available via one...

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Pika WARP Enterprise to Help VARs & System Integrators Bring Customized Voice Applications to Market Faster

Posted by | Oct 13, 2009 | , , , , , |

Today, Pika launched its WARP Enterprise Appliance, which is billed as a “step up” from its popular WARP Appliance development platform. The new appliance is designed to provide easier configuration and customization options for Asterisk VARs, system integrators and value-added SIP providers. The company reports that Asterisk VARs and system integrators asked for stepped-up version of the WARP Appliance, configured with more software. This would reduce the time and expertise required to customize a complete solution for their customers. PIKA responded with WARP Enterprise, an IP-PBX platform that includes a number of refinements from the standard WARP Appliance: pre-loaded with FreePBX, the leading Asterisk GUI (graphic user interface) pre-programmed functionality user-friendly web interface modules such as IVR (Additional modules can be downloaded from the FreePBX website as easily as clicking a checkbox) “WARP Enterprise allows our customers to turn around and ship a complete PBX system to their clients in 24 hours, saving weeks and months of development effort,” said Terry Atwood, PIKA’s vice president of sales, marketing and customer care. “PIKA’s WARP Enterprise solution had everything we were looking for,” said  Jamie Love, President of UniVoIP, a business-VoIP and hosted-PBX services provider in Canada. “We wanted a robust, solid-state solution in a much smaller and more affordable footprint than is possible with a PC system, and that could reside at the client site without fear of it being copied. Familiarity was...

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Xorcom Announces New GPL Call Recording Utility

Posted by | Oct 9, 2009 | , , , |

This recent joint development between Xorcom and OrecX produced a patch for Asterisk 1.4.25 and above, which improves upon the current Asterisk built-in utility, as follows: • Captures both PSTN and IP calls • Increases recording capacity • Gathers complete identifying call information A recent joint OrecX-Xorcom webinar compared this new utility to existing options.  The recorded webinar can be downloaded in WMV, Real Media and MP3 formats. The PowerPoint presentation on which the Webinar was based is also available for download. Check it...

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3CX Phone System Version 8 to Introduce Instant Messaging Features

Posted by | Oct 5, 2009 | , , , , |

New version 8 is slated to complete 3CX’s unified communications offering, bringing text chat, remote phone management, CRM integration and call center features. Other new features are said to include improved IP phone management & provisioning, integrated soft phone, find me follow me and support for the new low cost Cisco SMB phones. 3CX has also expanded its PSTN connectivity options by supporting the new low cost Berofix cards. The following are some of the new benefits of this imminent 3CX release: New 3CX Assistant will include call recording, even on IP phones More easily launch calls with the integrated soft phone and corporate and personal phonebooks Scale up to 512 simultaneous calls on a single server You can fully integrate with Microsoft Outlook & Salesforce.com CRMs Run the 3CX Assistant from a remote location via the tunnel A new, easier-to-use, Call Forwarding interface and a revamped MyPhone User portal with new pages for Outbound/Inbound/Missed calls Presence can be monitored from anywhere and from any operating system using the new Extension monitoring page Black list callers Provision personal phonebook to selected IP phones Improve your IP Phone management: monitor all connected IP phones and re-provision or reboot if necessary Encrypt voice using Secure RTP Implement skills-based routing using a prioritized hunt queue strategy Calls forwarded to a mobile can be sent to company voice mail, if not answered or...

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