VoIP News: May 2007

Microsoft has agreed with a dozen companies to work within its guidelines to make VoIP and unified communications easy to add to in-office private branch exchange (PBX) telephone systems. According to the Seattle-based tech giant, this means that companies will not have to "rip and replace" an existing system from many suppliers if they want to use all the features of the up-coming Office Communicator 2007.

The latest cordless Skype phone from Linksys is being praised as one of the best to have arrived on the market. The Linksys iPhone CIT400 differs from its predecessor, the CIT300, in that users can simply connect it to a wireless router, rather than connecting it to a computer with a USB cable. Such a development means that the cordless phone can be used on other operating systems and is not linked to a specific platform.

Customers will be able to enjoy free mobile phone calls when they sign up to Fring and The Cloud's Wi-Fi network. Under the terms of the new package, mobile Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) users with Fring will be able to take advantage of automatic broadband internet access. Using the Fring VoIP service, consumers will be able to make calls using a number of services, including Skype, Google Talk, Windows Live Messenger and Twitter.

Industry watchdog Ofcom has extended the rules protecting consumers from fixed-line telephony mis-selling to include voice services offered over the internet. Providers that use full Local Loop Unbundling technology to run voice and broadband services now come under the remit of Ofcom's guidelines for marketing and sales activities. This includes mis-selling tactics such as 'slamming' where customers are switched to another operator without their knowledge.

Digium, the organisation behind the first open source telephony platform, has unveiled details of a collaboration with open source data communications company Vyatta. The two companies are to work together to provide small and medium sized businesses (SMBs) and customers with easier-to-use high-quality voice and data platforms. As demand for such solutions increases, so the partnership will aim to meet these requirements, with efficiency and security among the priorities.