Cell Monster

Mark Allen asked:


7 Ways For Improving VoIP by Mark Allen

1. Variety In The Dedicated Consumer Phone Box Space: Ooma Inc.’s appliance garnered lots of buzz when the fans of PhoneGnome came after it as a copycat device. The Ooma box has numerous extra features, but has a big selling point that PhoneGnome didn’t – it seamlessly integrates with land lines. Expect more variety in this space down the road, as the vendors and manufacturers compete on price, performance, call quality and feature set.

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2. Microsoft Goes For VOIP: With the (much anticipated) rollout of Microsoft’s Office Communications Server 2007 in October, Microsoft has served notice to the rest of the industry that they’re coming. Microsoft always misses on the first two tries at something, but by the third time ’round, they’ll have made the adjustments needed to move into the space. Microsoft’s pitch? Voice will become just another application running on the network. Expect existential questions on the future of PBX systems in the near future.

3. Making Transitions Seamless: Switchvox pulled this one – they made their premises-based IP PBX software available to its hosted PBX customers, so that when a small business outgrows the initial hosted offering and needs to bring their PBX server in-house, there’s no costly (and disruptive) transition of services to act as a barrier to entry. This is vendor lock-in at its smartest, and we expect it to become the norm down the road.

4. Open Source Vendors Focus On “Out Of The Box” Installs: Open-source IP PBX software suppliers Digium Inc., Fonality (trixbox) and Pingtel Corp. have shifted to productizing their offerings as stand alone, easy to install appliances, making it a one stop solution for Value Added Resellers. The price of the software is right, and the software itself is rock solid; whether it manages to get past the Open Source “by geeks, for geeks” inadvertent branding remains to be seen, but we’re hopeful.

For Pricing & Selection of IP Phones, Go To The Voip Store

5. Flat Rate Networking For Hosted VoIP: Junction Networks charges a flat rate for the entire business — no matter how many extensions, plus the actual cost of calls. This saves a lot of money once a business gets past about 20 extensions.

6. Desk Phone GUIs For The Masses: IP desk phones with GUIs have been around for three years now; what’s changed is that competition on hardware has almost turned them into commodity items. Expect them to hit commodity status by the end of 2008. This removes another barrier to entry for companies looking to switch over.

7. Mobile Call Transitions Break Carrier Reliance: Keeping a customer’s call during the walk from the parking lot to the desk just got easier. Several IP PBX vendors (Siemens AG, Avaya Inc.and Divitas Networks) call hand-offs seamlessly grab calls from dual mode cell phone/WiFi phones, routing them as a parallel call through the enterprise wireless LAN. Most impressively, this was done without cell phone carrier co-operation (indeed, it was done over cellular carrier intransigence.)



Edwin

Sam Inci asked:


Devices of different types, such as a switch connected to a computer, or switch to router are connected with patch cords. A patch cord (sometimes patch cable or patch cord) is an electrical or optical cable, used to connect (”patch-in”) one electronic or optical device to another for signal routing.

Patch cables and patch cords are flexible cables that are terminated at both ends with a plug and used to interconnect circuits. These male/male cables and cords are used with patch panels, groups of ports that connect lines between communications and electronic devices. Patch cords are usually produced in many different colors so as to be easily distinguishable, and are relatively short, perhaps no longer than two meters.

There are many types of patch cables and patch cords. Choices include Cat 3, Cat 5, Cat 6, coaxial, triaxial and twisted pair and even more commonly known products such as microphone cables and headphone extension cables.

Patch cords are often made of coaxial cables, with a positive or “hot” signal carried through a shielded core, and the negative electrical ground or earthed return connection carried through a wire mesh surrounding the core. Each end of the cable is attached to a connector, so the cord may be plugged in. Types of connectors may vary widely, particularly with adapting cables. Patch cords can be as short as 3 inches or 8 cm, to connect stacked components, or route signals through a patch bay, or as much as twenty feet or 6 m or more in length for snake cables. As length increases, cables are usually thicker, and/or made with more shielding, to prevent signal loss and the introduction of unwanted radio frequencies and hum (electromagnetic interference).

Patch cords may be:

• single-conductor wires using, for example, banana connectors

• coaxial cables using BNC connectors

• Ethernet Cat5, Cat5e, or Cat6 cables using “RJ-45″ connectors with TIA/EIA-568-A or TIA/EIA-568-B wiring

• Optical fiber cables

An infamous type of optical fiber cables that are labeled under patch cords are Fiber Optic Patch cords. These fiber optic patch cords are more and more used to transmit telecommunication signals than traditionally copper patch cords in the network. Compared with traditional copper patch cords, fiber optic patch cords features higher operation speed -up to 10 gigabit, broader bandwidth, which means it is with a larger capacity of carrying the signals, longer transmitting distance, better to the environment- no noise, no radios, and easier to maintain them.

Usually the fiber optic patch cord structure is like this: fiber glass in the center with cladding on it, this is called the “core”, around the core people put some other different materials to make the cables with different features, for example, more tension-resistant, waterproof, etc. the most outside layer which is called “jacket” of the cable usually is made of PVC, and there are different standards, for example, riser, plenum, ofnr, ofnp, etc. the most commonly used cables for making fiber patch cords are with 0.9mm outer diameter, or 3mm outer diameter, or 2mm outer diameter. 2mm outer diameter is the most commonly used in North America; they look smarter although they operate the same as 2mm and 0.9mm ones.

Typical types are simplex fiber optic patch cord and duplex fiber optic patch cord, a simplex patch cord means this patch cord is made of a single fiber cable, a duplex patch cord can be regarded as two simplex ones put side by side.



Ronnie

Klow asked:


can i use a cheap modular adapter, or do i have to use a rs-232 extender?
I don’t plan to use it over 20ft.

Patricia

Eris Dicosta asked:


>KVM Switch (KVM stands for keyboard, video and mouse) is a hardware device that allows users to access multiple CPUs from a single or multiple keyboards, mice and monitors. Reverse KVM Switch units work the other way around where one computer can be controlled from multiple locations (keyboards, mice and monitors).

KVM over Cat5 or KVM over IP are the latest and greatest products in KVM technology. Cat5 KVM Switch allows network administrators to connect multiple computers or servers via cat5 / cat5e/cat6 UTP cable to the switch and control from a single keyboard, video and mouse (KVM). This KVM Switch was designed to provide added benefits to its users, such as eliminate cable clutter and achieve longer distances between the server and the switch, better cable management (Cat5/cat5e/cat6 cable), higher density, and multiplatform capabilities.

KVM Switch over IP is similar in form and function of a traditional KVM. It allows multiple computers to be connected to the KVM Switch and be controlled by a single user’s keyboard, video and mouse station. The difference is the Remote Access Server has added IP functionality, which means you can access any of the connected servers via 128 bit secure browser from anywhere in the world over IP (SSL v3, RSA, AES, HTTP, HTTPs, CSR). This translates into cost efficient remote server management. Another option that seamlessly integrates this KVM technology into rackmount USB KVM Drawer or PS2 KVM Drawer line. These units are ideal for environments involving multiple computers where remote access is needed such as command centers, military, security, server rooms, data centers, conference rooms, banks, control centers, government sectors and commercial businesses.

In addition to offering a wide variety of KVM Switches like PS2 KVMs, DVI KVMs, HDMI KVMs, KVM over IP, and KVM over Cat5. There are many online stores that offers custom systems design for server management applications. Sales staff and engineers at these stores are highly trained and experienced KVM professionals in the industry. They excels at providing diagrams, quotes, consultation, and first response support for complete customer care from the beginning to end of a project.



Ramon

Diana asked:


Swyx is constantly developing its solutions to meet the changing requirements of your business. You may deal with any business or you may be at any stage of development, choosing an IP telephony solution from Swyx would give you business even more possibilities, more alertness, choicer and more communicative.

The Compact is system especially planned for small businesses that do not need any complicated system. The SwyxWare compact system offers all fundamental features of a telephone system, at the same time being cost effective. It is just perfect for small business.

SwyxWare Compact offers abundant value-add features like call recording, voicemail, customizable call handling and routing, fully integrated VoIP connectivity and would even run on the company’s accessible network & CAT5 cable infrastructure, dramatically reducing operating and installation costs.

One of best SwyxWare’s strengths is its incorporation with Microsoft Outlook; for instance redirecting calls based on your calendar entries. Other features as well comprise of caller ID and also call diverts functions. The system is controlled by the standard Microsoft Management Console. Swyx is also famous for offering a range of phones, headsets and handsets, including the new top end SwyxPhone L440 with a superior incorporated LCD panel.

Additional benefits to the small business operator include:

• Simple installation: As it is pure software means there is no PBX hardware to install, so costly voice engineers are not required. Administration phone system could even be carried out internally.

• Integration: It integrates with all existing applications like contact management system, CRM, billing and e-mail so that incoming calls pop up window and contact information could be viewed instantly.

• Pool Receptionist resources: All calls could be managed centrally at a scrupulous site and then re-routed clearly to the correct person or to another place such as a home office.

• Managing daily telephony expenses: Full reporting of telephone activity, which enables more precise re-charging of client’s expenses fast and easily without the need to search through phone bills, generating invoices automatically with pertinent cost codes.

• Fax directly to desktop: This speed up office good organization by centralizing all communication (fax, voicemail, phone and email) and boost up professionalism as vital faxes are no longer ignored or forgotten at the fax machine.



Frank

Grant Foster asked:


What is th one thing that most electronic devices have in common? Well if you are still scratching your head to this mystery, the answer is cables. Although the wireless craze is beginning to sweep through the world, cables and wires are still necessary and are commonly used. Just think, your computer, your Ipod, cell phone, ATM machines, and countless other electronic devices need to cables to work properly and efficiently. One of the most commonly used cable is the Cat5e cable.

The Cat5e cable or otherwise known as the category 5 cable is most commonly found and used in ATM machines and in Ethernet. It sounds like a high tech cable that would be hard to figure out and spot, but honestly, they are pretty simple. In fact, by twisting four pairs of wire into a single, insulating jacket, you can make your own cat5e cable. I know it sounds pretty easy to do and it may now seem like this cable is irrelevant but by using this cable you allow for a good balanced reception with less signal interference while acquiring a smoother connection. Therefore, this cable is very important in making things easier for people who use them.

If you are no the handy man type and don´t want to rig up your own cat5e cable, there a re many retailers who sell this type of cable. When you go to buy this cable, make sure you get one that is the right length for whatever device you maybe using it for. Also make sure that it meets the standards of the American National Standards Institute for efficiency and durability. There is nothing worse than buying a faulty cable which can have harmful effects on whatever you maybe using it on. Do some research about cat5e cables if you really do need one. The more you know, the smarter you become. Cat5e cables are good cables when you use it properly for the right device.



Jack

Manbeer Singh asked:


Home networks are becoming more common. People want to be able to share a single broadband Internet connection to several computers in the house. There are many different devices that you can use to make up your home network. If you have never heard network terminology device names like router, hub, etc may seem confusing.

The purpose of most of these devices is to control how the network passes around information. This information is sent in the form of “packets”. I will refer to the term packet several times in this article. It simply means the data that the network is transporting. I will now explain the purpose of the major components of a home network.

What is a Hub

A hub is a device that has several Ethernet ports on the back of the device. One of these ports will likely be labeled “Uplink”. This port allows you to connect multiple hubs together, if you run out of ports on your hub. If you do not have an uplink port on your hub, the hub cannot be easily extended if you run out of ports.

A hub is a device that attaches multiple computers on an Ethernet network. If you have a number different computers that you want to connect together, you could connect each to the hub. Any packet that is sent out by any computer on the network will immediately be transmitted to the other computers. Each computer will determine if the packet was really intended for it, and filter out packets that were intended for other computers.

You really should not use a hub in a modern home network. You should always use a switch in place of a hub. Switches will be discussed in the next section.

What is a Switch

A switch is a device that has several Ethernet ports on the back of the device. One of these ports will likely be labeled “Uplink”. This port allows you to connect multiple switches together, if you run out of ports on your switch. If you do not have an uplink port on your switch, the switch cannot be easily extended if you run out of ports.

A switch serves the same function as a hub. It allows you to connect multiple computers together, so that they can exchange packets. However, a switch is much more efficient than a hub. A switch will only send Ethernet packets to the computer that the packet was intended for. Because of this you should always use a switch in place of a hub.

What is a Router

A router is a device that has several Ethernet ports on the back of the device. One of the connectors will be labeled WAN. You should connect the WAN port to the Ethernet connection on a broadband source, such as a cable or DSL modem. The other ports on the router can be connected other computers or switches/hubs that will share the WAN connection.

Routers allow you to share your broadband connection with multiple computers in your house. Rather than connecting your computer directly into your cable or DSL modem you connect the router to the cable or DSL modem. Now any computer that you connect to the router will have access to the Internet.

If you run out of ports on your router you can always connect an additional switch to the router. To connect a switch to a router simply connects the switch’s “uplink” port to one of the routers Ethernet ports. Of course, don’t connect to the router’s WAN port. The WAN port should only be connected to something such as a cable or DSL router.

Some routers come with additional features installed. Most routers also include a firewall. Firewalls are discussed in the next section. Some routers will also include a wireless access point (WAP). The WAP allows you to use wireless devices, such as wireless laptops, with the Internet.

What is a Firewall

A firewall controls traffic flow between your network and the Internet. A firewall can be either hardware or software. Windows XP SP2 or higher includes a software firewall. A hardware firewall is included with most routers.

A firewall is a very good idea. It can protect you from inbound virus attempts. By inbound virus attempt I mean other computers that will connect to your computer and attempt to infect your computer. You do not want to run a computer directly connected to the Internet, without a firewall. There are just too many other computers out there that can connect and infect you without you even noticing.

What is a Network Attached Storage (NAS)

A network attached storage device is s device that allows a hard drive to be shared across the network. This hard drive is NOT attached to any of your computers. It is simply made available by the NAS. This can be a convent way to add a hard drive that can be accessed by several computers on your network. The other common way to add a network hard drive is to simply share a folder on one of your computers. However, with the NAS, you do not need to keep one of your computers on at all times.

There are two types of NAS commonly available. The first type comes with a build in hard drive. The second accepts a USB or Fire wire external hard drive. The advantage to using a USB or Fire wire hard drive is that you can upgrade the hard drive if it ever were to become too small.

What is a Print Server

Just like you can buy a device to allow you to share a hard drive, you can do the same with a printer. A print server connects directly to your printer. Your printer is then shared to all of your computers on the network. This is convent because you do not need to leave the printer hooked to a computer, which must be turned on to print.

Conclusions

As you can see there are many different components. Perhaps the final component that I ave yet to mention is the cable. These components are connected together with CAT5 Ethernet cable.



Debra

Julie Drake Of Jewel Technology Services, Inc. asked:


/>Business managers and owners are looking at new ways to stay ahead of the game. Current ads promise that IP Telephony is the answer to many of today’s business dilemmas. While technology can be used to enhance a business model, technology for technology sake is never the answer. If it has been determined that IP Telephony is one of the tools to boost productivity and customer service; there are ways to purchase that technology.



Years ago, many businesses utilized Centrex lines to reduce large capital expenditures for telephone equipment. This meant that the business kept no main telephone equipment on site, it simply “rented” lines and telephones for each of their phone locations. The goal was to enhance features while reducing cost. However, the opposite became true when new and less expensive competitors were able to compete with the local phone companies. A company that was in business for 10+ years could have easily purchased a phone system of their own a couple times over. Today, the phone company and other IP service providers are offering the next generation of this concept - - Hosted IP or IP Centrex.



The hosted IP/IP Centrex services do offer some very nice benefits including very little or no capital outlay for new phones and features, plus a highly flexible disaster recovery plan for incoming communication.



Some questions that should be asked before instituting a contract for Hosted IP/IP Centrex are as follows: 1.Are the additional features going to enhance business practices? 2.Can the provider effectively deliver 9-1-1 calls? 3.If the goal is monthly payments rather than a large capital purchase - is there a lease option or other type of solution that would provide equity when the term is attained? 4.Is the IP Centrex vendor going to be able to service the contract until completion? Remember that even though a vendor may be new to this type of service, if they have proven to stand by other service roll-outs it may not be a huge risk. 5.Are there short term contracts available? Try to obtain a contract that has a business downturn clause that will allow a reduction of lines so payment is not required for phones no longer need. 6.Is there an installation fee? And if so will this fee combined with the monthly payments exceed a new system purchase?



Many people in the business community today utilize digital telephone systems by a variety of manufacturers. Some manufacturers such as CISCO, 3-Com or Interactive Intelligence only offer IP Telephony. However, others such as NEC, Inter-Tel, Toshiba, Avaya, etc. offer a combination of both digital and IP Telephony or all of one or the other. There are inherent differences between the two technologies. Digital Technology 1.Uses cables that are separate from the computer system. 2.Does not have to run on CAT5 or CAT6 cable. 3.Typically has a telephone cabinet with a processor and separate circuit boards for connection of lines and phones. 4.Very reliable



IP Technology 1.Can run on the same cable as the computer. 2.Must be connected to a minimum of a CAT5 cable even if it does not share with the computer on the desk. 3.Stores system software on a server, in a router or in a traditional telephone cabinet. 4.Competes with bandwidth on the data network.



IP Telephony has benefits that are great for some companies and irrelevant for others. 1.Ability to connect remote workers using a cable modem, DSL line or other high speed internet connection. 2.Customized call routing based upon inbound caller identification, status ID for callers (known as presence). 3.Advanced custom applications. Attendance and student record review in a school district, database integration for car dealership sales and service departments, inventory control and updates for manufacturing companies. 4.Desk to Desk video at a very inexpensive rate. 5.One network to maintain.



While there are benefits to this technology, there are also things to watch out and prepare for (This is just a partial list). *Now that the phone system is part of the data system it is vulnerable to viruses and other spy-ware threats. *Warranty times are generally far less traditional phone systems so the on-going maintenance costs may start 90 days following installation. *IP phones require power at each phone - either by a local power outlet or data switch equipped with Power over Ethernet (PoE) capability. *Quality of Service (QoS) is vital to prioritize voice over data calls. *IP phone have more stringent distance limitations. *A ten year life cycle cannot be anticipated. *Analog lines (plain old telephone lines) and analog phones, fax, modems, etc. are often challenging and costly to connect to a full IP system. *Data cable (minimum CAT5 rating) must be available at each phone location. *The environment must be conducive to the IP equipment. Certain manufacturing floors require refrigerated and sealed cabinets for their PC’s. The same would be required for an IP phone set. *Internal support departments may need to be structured. If there are separate support groups for voice and data they may need to be combined or one eliminated. This assessment is extremely important to the success of an IP Telephony project. Do not overlook this important aspect before making a purchasing decision. Uneducated decisions are recipes for disaster in any project. Don’t rush into a change of this magnitude. Take the time to assess the business functions, the existing network infrastructure and support groups, and make sure the environment and resources are in place this type of change.



Adam

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Christina

Jeffrey Su asked:


HDMI Connections over Long Distance

Background:

Upgrades from CRT based to HDTV have been rapid and as HDTV technology continues to mature, consumers will begin to update the 2nd and even 3rd TV sets to HDTV. HDMI is the de-facto standard in connecting HD source to the HDTV. In some special applications, especially with projectors, the cable lengths can exceed 50ft and require specialized connectivity solutions. We will present some solutions for distributing HDMI over long distances.

Possible Solutions :

HDMI Extenders:

In applications where HDMI cabling is readily available and easily installed, a convenient solution for extending HDMI reach is to install a HDMI Extender at the end of the HDMI cable. Most HDMI extenders work by adaptive equalization and compensates for frequency varying signal attenuations, and timing skew. For most applications where connection lengths are between 35-75ft, using HDMI Extender is recommend

HDMI over Ethernet:

It is possible to distribute HDMI over a pair of standard Ethernet cables by using HDMI to Ethernet converters. The HDMI Ethernet converter enables transmission of 1080P HD HDMI digital video and audio over a pair of standard Ethernet CAT5/6 cables.

Using HDMI over Ethernet Transceiver allows installers to use standard CAT 5/ 6 cables for ease of installation.

Advantages of using HDMI over Ethernet:

-Ethernet cables and connectors are easily field terminated thus allowing installers to easily install the proper length cable needed for ultimate flexibility and eliminate logistics problems of having custom length HDMI cables. No need top pre-measure and customer order cables.

-Allows transmission of 300ft (1080i) and 150ft (1080p) over Ethernet cables. CAT 6 cable is recommended for 1080P and best performance

Conclusion:

As the HDTV market continues to mature, consumers will need to be educated on the HDTV video connections available. We have presented some possible solutions for distributing HDMI over long cable runs, so the consumer can make intelligent choices in selecting the HDTV video connections.









 



Tanya