Evaluate your business phone system options.  Consider price, technology, features, benefits and the personal needs of your particular company and industry.

The price of a small business phone system is just one of several things you should consider.  If you are shopping for a cost effective business telephone system you will want to get a little more information than just price to make sure you make a smart choice.

Do You Need VOIP, Mobility or Unified Communications?

Get a price quote for a phone system from a company that has advanced technical products and a working knowledge of the latest technology like VOIP, SIP, Mobility, UNIFIED COMMUNICATIONS, Internet Applications, Voice and Data and other applications important to your business.

Ask for their references. Ask their references if they were completely happy with their pricing, installation process, training and ongoing service?

Ask the references if they got multiple quotes when they bought their system and if there was another company they also considered seriously?

Once you have the companies you would like to consider getting a quote from go to their website and check them out.

When you feel you have all the information you need to make an informed decision on buying an office phone system, grant the finalists an opportunity to visit with you and tell you more about their company and the particular business phone system they have quoted.

Select a quality provider and you will have a successful installation.  If you want to learn more about business phone systems and the features you should be considering visit our YouTube channel at YouTube.com/OfficePhoneStLouis and browse some of our other videos or call us, Ideacom Midwest at 314-961-0557.

Find a business phone system provider

Call your friendly competitor and ask them who provided their business phone system.  You can also ask a neighboring business or ask one of your trusted advisors like your banker, accountant or lawyer.
Once you have selected the companies you would like to consider getting a quote from, go to their website and see if they have local service and if they offer an on line quote.  If you cannot get an online quote consider speaking to one of their representatives.  Most business telephone system providers will be happy to provide you with a quote based on the phone configuration you need.  You might discover new and valuable information in the process.  Phone systems can be cost effective and provide a lot of features and value.  You can get quotes that range from simple business phone systems to very sophisticated Voice over IP systems.

Look for and expect a high quality business phone system provider

Select a quality provider of commercial office phones and you will have a successful installation.  If you want to learn more about installing a new business phone systems and the features you should be considering visit our YouTube channel at YouTube.com/OfficePhoneStLouis and browse some of our other videos or call us, Ideacom Midwest at 314-961-0557.

Businesses Have Choices For Phone Systems

Small and large businesses that are looking for business telephone systems in St. Louis have several choices.  Office phone systems have changed a lot over the years.  The newest technology is Voice over IP.  Small business telephone systems can use IP telephones, digital telephones and or analog telephones.

CPA Firms, Banks and Healthcare benefit from Telephone Technology

Depending on the manufacturer and the type of telephone instrument being attached to the phone system prices can vary substantially.  Cost effective telephone systems can have very limited features but in some cases a cost effective small business phone system might have more features than your business will ever need.  Whether your business is a small law firm, large law firm, CPA firm, financial institution, bank, medical or healthcare organization features and quality will matter.

Phones From A Company That Understand Your Business

It will not be hard to find companies that have good business telephone system solutions.  It may be more of a challenge to find a company that is willing to understand your business and be able to custom design the right telephone system for you and be able to install and service it properly.  Don’t forget to look for part two of this video where I will give you some great features to consider.

If you or someone you know would like to learn more about business telephone systems in St. Louis, check out our additional videos on our YouTube channel at YouTube.com/OfficePhoneStLouis.

www.ideacommidwest.com 314-961-0557  Are you considering converting to SIP lines to save money on your phone bill?  A bad decision could hurt your business.  There are precautions you can take when converting to SIP technology that will insure a smooth and successful conversion.

SIP is Reliable

SIP is an acronym referring to lines or trunks provided through the Internet instead of through traditional business telephone lines.  Every year the Internet gets more stable.  The days of the Internet being down or unavailable for long periods of time seem to be pretty much behind us.  SIP is new and exciting technology and it offers the users some tremendous savings.  The savings can be in the monthly cost of the lines themselves and a lower rate per minute for long distance.  Businesses still want this question answered.  Are SIP lines or SIP trunks reliable for business phone systems?  The answer is yes.  SIP lines or trunks are reliable.

Disaster recovery is made easy with SIP because SIP lines don’t reside at your premise.  They are hosted in the SIP network and can easily be redirected to another location in the event of a disaster.  Automatic back up can be as easy as programming a predetermined telephone number as a destination for any call that is undeliverable for any reason.  SIP can work with any type business or office phone system.

Keep your phone number

Number portability is available with SIP meaning you can convert to SIP and keep your same telephone numbers.  Select a quality SIP carrier and you can have a successful installation.  Your provider should know if your business telephone system is compatible with SIP.  If it is not the provider should be able to install a gateway device to allow SIP to work with your business telephone system.  If you want to learn more about SIP, mobility, business phone lines or IP PBX visit our YouTube channel at YouTube.com/OfficePhoneStLouis and browse some of our other videos or call us, Ideacom Midwest at 314-961-0557.

Have you been hearing a lot of talk about a new technology called SIP?  Do you want to know what SIP is?   SIP is nothing more than Internet telephone lines.  SIP carriers get telephone numbers assigned to Internet call paths and provide all the necessary switching to make and receive calls over those paths.  Each path is a SIP line or SIP trunk.  SIP is generally much less expensive than traditional business telephone lines.  The voice quality of SIP has become excellent as providers have figured out the proper way to deploy SIP.

Internet Speed Matters

The most important factor is the speed or size of the Internet connection.  If there is plenty of bandwidth or speed available SIP is an excellent choice and the quality of the voice transmission will also be excellent.

SIP is new and exciting business telephone technology and it offers the users some tremendous savings.  The savings can be in the monthly cost of the lines themselves and a lower rate per minute for long distance.

Disaster recovery for your business telephone lines is made easy with SIP because SIP lines don’t reside at your premise.  They are hosted in the SIP network and can easily be redirected to another location in the event of a disaster.

SIP can work with any type of phone system.

Keep Your Same Phone # with SIP

Number portability is available with SIP meaning you can convert to SIP and keep your same telephone numbers.

Selecting a quality SIP carrier and you can have a successful installation.  Your provider should know if your business telephone system is compatible with SIP.  If it is not the provider should be able to install a gateway device to allow SIP to work with your business telephone system.  If you want to learn more about SIP, business phone systems, Voice over IP, business phone lines, IP PBX or unified communications visit our YouTube channel at YouTube.com/OfficePhoneStLouis and browse some of our other videos or call us, Ideacom Midwest at 314-961-0557.

As we reflect on 2012, we’d like to celebrate and honor the top 3 IDeACOM vendor-partners that helped us the most in making a difference; allowing us to deliver outstanding results for our clients.  And the winners are:

AccessLine Communications.  AccessLine is a leader in providing voice over IP (VoIP) and managed voice services.  AccessLine provides SIP trunks and Hosted VoIP solutions, in addition to a number of other value-added “cloud-based” services.  AccessLine’s SIP trunks are playing a major role in the unified communications solutions we offer.  If you’re not using SIP trunks, we highly recommend that you take a look.  In addition to added functionality and flexibility compared to traditional carrier services, SIP trunks provide a significant monthly cost savings with built-in disaster recovery failover.  You can check out AccessLine at www.accessline.com for more details, or speak with your IDeACOM representative about a plan that will best meet your needs.

Zultys.  Zultys is a global provider of innovative unified communications solutions that empower businesses of all sizes to communicate & collaborate more effectively.  Zultys IP phone systems integrate voice, video, data, & mobility in a single appliance.  This “all-in-one” architecture delivers a powerful, feature-rich communications system that is easy to use, deploy and maintain.  If your phone system is ready for an update, then this system needs to be on your list.  To learn more, visit www.zultys.com, or contact your IDeACOM representative for a “day in the life” overview.

Graybar Financial Services.   GFS specializes in providing competitive equipment financing solutions in the areas of telecommunications, data communications, and Voice Over IP technology.  GFS makes financing easy, and reduces your overall cost of ownership by bundling interest-free support and maintenance protection plans.  Visit www.graybar.com/services/financing to learn more, or ask your IDeACOM representative for a detailed analysis.

On behalf of your IDeACOM team, we’d like to thank you for your continued support.  We wish you and your family a very Happy Holiday; and a safe, healthy & prosperous New Year!  Continued success in 2013…

Some of the more common questions asked are related to selecting a small business telephone system.  Business owners want to know more about VOIP and whether it is the right choice for their small business.  VOIP is just a technical acronym that you don’t really need to concern yourself with.  What you really want to know is; what is the right technology for your business? 

The so-called experts will tell you that VOIP is the latest technology and you have to have it.  What you really have to have is a working office telephone system with technology that benefits your business.

If you end up choosing VOIP as the technology that you are going to deploy, make sure your telephone equipment provider knows the technology and can and will make it work in your business. 

When voice is being transmitted over a data network instead of over traditional telephone lines it is a must to have enough bandwidth or speed to carry your voice calls without interruption. 

You don’t want great technology and poor quality.  Selecting the right provider, the right data network and finally the right product will insure a successful installation.   Select a vendor that represents a high quality VOIP telephone system and understands your data network… If you do, then VOIP will work very well for you.  If you want to learn more about business phone systems, Voice over IP, business phone lines, IP PBX, unified communications visit our YouTube channel at YouTube.com/OfficePhoneStLouis and browse some of our other videos or call us, Ideacom Midwest at 314-961-0557.

Using years of data to collect on thousands of IP implementations, the consulting firm Nemertes has come up with some answers.

Savings —IP telephony does produce some real hard dollar savings that you can take to the bank:

• Wiring: By making it possible to consolidate Ethernet connections, IP systems typically deliver savings of about 40% on cabling costs in new buildings. Smart use of WiFi phones can cut the costs even further.
• Administration: As a company grows and changes, the office communications system inevitably needs some TLC, e.g., moving, adding or changing extensions. IP-based systems are much less expensive when it comes to day-to-day administration. According to Nemertes, many companies have justified their entire IP telephony rollout on administrative savings alone.
• Conferencing: Because IP systems have the ability to route a single call to multiple destinations simultaneously, this can eliminate the need for third-party conference call services, delivering a significant savings.
• Centralizing servers:  By centralizing servers at the data center, organizations report savings in the number of servers they need to buy, along with reduced tools and resources to manage applications such as unified messaging, conferencing, and even the communications system itself.
• Connecting offices: If you have multiple offices, linking them via SIP trunks as opposed to traditional PRI lines can save about 40% off the monthly circuit costs, though this varies based on calling requirements and the existing architecture.
• Mobile costs: Companies with many mobile employees eliminate roaming charges by routing mobile calls through the IP system (typically this involves first calling a local number and routing the call from the IP PBX through the corporate WAN).
• Staff: Many companies see savings in support staff, (i.e., using the automated attendant to replace a receptionist.)

Costs—IP systems aren’t all a one way street to savings—there are some extra costs.  According to Nemertes:

• Getting started with IP telephony takes more effort—implementation costs during the first two years run higher than with traditional communications systems.
• LAN upgrades –If you don’t have Power-Over-Ethernet switches on your LAN, you will need to get them. IP phone deployments typically require Power-Over-Ethernet switches to function in the event of a power failure. This can be an extra cost
• Many companies don’t budget for voice quality management and monitoring tools, which Nemertes says is a mistake. These management and monitoring tools cost more upfront, but pay for themselves in efficiencies over the long run.

Softphones: A Killer App?
A key advantage of IP systems that is increasingly coming into focus is the ability to equip employees with a softphone. A softphone essentially duplicates the capabilities of a deskphone on the screen of a PC or laptop. You get a dialpad, buttons for Hold, Conference, Transfer, etc., plus you can easily see a directory of contacts. Add a USB headset and you have everything you need to handle all your calls—no need for a phone. In addition to being less expensive than a deskphone, the softphone/headset is ideal for employees who are on the move a lot and also makes it unnecessary to upgrade LAN switches for PoE. A big variable, however, is the cost of the headset. Some companies are fine with a $20 to $100 headset; others say they can only get by with a much more expensive model.

Which Vendor: 
The Nemertes report provided some vendor-specific cost data, primarily for Avaya and Cisco, the only two companies for which it had enough data. Based on several scenarios, Nemertes found Avaya’s annualized cost savings to be consistently higher than the competition. The Nemertes study is available at: https://bitly.com/Sa8Qn4+. We recommend trying both Allworx and SNET Hosted Solutions in calculating total cost of ownership. In case you’re interested, give us a call or send us an email – and we would be happy to work with you on your solution!

VOIP stands for Voice Over Internet Protocol.  Voice is a term referring to telephone service or speaking over a specific medium.  In the case of VOIP the medium is the data wiring or it could be using a wireless network.  You may be using a Voice over IP business phone system but your conversations can still be going over normal telephone lines.  The Internet Protocol is describing the fact that your telephone system is residing on your computer or data network. The voice conversations along with the data your telephone system is pushing over that network whether wired or wireless is accomplished with a standard or format called Voice Over Internet Protocol.  The key to high quality VOIP is bandwidth and prioritization.

Make sure your provider has analyzed your network and has assured or guaranteed that you have enough bandwidth on your network to allow voice traffic to come and go with priority over the data that is riding on that same network.  If it doesn’t you will have bad voice quality on what might otherwise be a great business phone system.  More information about VOIP, business telephone systems, unified communications, IP phone systems, IP PBX’s, mobility and more can be found here.

You can contact us at 314-961-0557 or visit our website at http://www.ideacommidwest.com for more information

Lawyers and law firms of all sizes have some pretty specific needs when it comes to their business phone system.  Some careful thought should go into deciding on the right business phone system.  Small and large law firms share many of the same needs and requirements so I think you’ll find the ideas I put forward in this video to be very helpful when you begin searching for your business phone system.

Most lawyers like to have the ability to correctly charge their clients for billable time with call detail recording for time spent giving advice or gathering information on the telephone.  It’s easy to forget to log your telephone time so a telephone system that does that automatically can be a very valuable tool.  A feature like this can be as simple as a chronological list with start and stop time or it can be sophisticated enough to enter client account numbers and much more.

Some lawyers and law firms want the ability to selectively choose to record calls so they can be referred to at a later date to clarify things that were said and committed to.  Some firms require every minute of every call to be recorded and archived.

Teleconferencing is very common in the legal profession.  Your requirements may be as simple as having the ability to set up and make a 3 party conference call or you may regularly have the need to use a conference bridge which is a much like a dial in meeting room to accommodate as many parties as you wish.  Your needs may go beyond voice and require video conferencing or the ability to white board or collaborate during the conference.

Large law firms demand the latest technology and small law firms want to be able to offer the same features to their clients as firms much larger.  These are just a sampling of the many special features law firms usually want from their business phone system.  When you start looking for the right business phone system I hope these suggestions will help you get started in the right direction.

If you want to learn more about business phone systems, Voice over IP, business phone lines, IP PBX, unified communications visit our YouTube channel at YouTube.com/OfficePhoneStLouis and browse some of our other videos or call us Ideacom Midwest at 314-961-0557.

1. Storage Performance A Big Impact On Virtualization.
2. Three Areas Where Virtualization Stalls Because Of Storage.
   • The variety of storage devices attached to virtualized environments and to virtual machines is the main storage issue.
   • The problem of connecting storage to virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI).
   • The difficulty of data protection and recovery in virtualized environments caused by the sheer variety of different users’ requirements.
3. Storage Pathway Configuration Issues.
4. Server Sprawl.
5. The Impact Of Storage Protocols On Virtualization.
6. Troubleshooting Storage Performance Problems.
7. Flash Storage And Virtualized Environments.
8. How About Virtual Storage Appliances?

-by:Joseph F. Kovar on www.crn.com

Read the entire article here. ]]> http://blog.lightedge.com/2012/12/05/data-centers-eye-altoona/ Wed, 05 Dec 2012 20:09:06 +0000 bkp0408 http://blog.lightedge.com/2012/12/05/data-centers-eye-altoona/ http://vareducation.com/2012/12/05/using-a-hybrid-cloud-to-safeguard-your-virtualization/ Wed, 05 Dec 2012 13:00:27 +0000 Stephan Cico http://vareducation.com/2012/12/05/using-a-hybrid-cloud-to-safeguard-your-virtualization/ Disaster Recovery is an expensive task to think about, and it might be at the back of the mind if you work for a small or medium business. It’s almost an insurmountable mountain for many, with the costs of having an off-site replica being more expensive than many think.

You might be surprised to know that it may suit more to dip your toes into the cloud with a hybrid solution. If you only need basic services in a disaster, or you just want to keep your website up, there’s no reason why your business shouldn’t consider or already be trying one of the plethora of cloud services that are available to help you get through.

You’ve already got your virtualization infrastructure, but what does “Hybrid Cloud” actually mean? In simple terms, it’s the idea that you shouldn’t just have your business services in house, but in the cloud as well. For example, if your business has a hosted application on-site, you should be considering running a second instance in Amazon AWS or Microsoft Azure as well. Another emerging idea is to have a secondary domain controller in the cloud, so that users can authenticate seamlessly even if your on premises instance goes offline.

-by:Mia Vals on thenextweb.com

Read the entire article here. ]]> http://vareducation.com/2012/12/04/the-ultimate-virtualized-machine-exchange-server/ Tue, 04 Dec 2012 13:00:28 +0000 Stephan Cico http://vareducation.com/2012/12/04/the-ultimate-virtualized-machine-exchange-server/ Despite the potential for huge cost savings, many IT pros have avoided virtualizing their Microsoft Exchange infrastructures, fearing Exchange would become less reliable. And if Exchange stops working, the company stops working — and so does the IT person who decided to virtualize it.

Fear not. If Exchange is virtualized properly within Microsoft support guidelines, you have no reason for concern. Do you think the Microsoft Exchange team would go out of its way to sabotage its own success? Exchange is known as one of the most stable solutions and is the most utilized e-mail system globally. Redmond would never give the green light on virtualizing Exchange unless there was a solid way to do so without sacrificing reliability and performance.

-by:J. Peter Bruzzese on redmondmag.com

Read the entire article here. ]]> http://vareducation.com/2012/12/03/when-it-becomes-a-one-man-show/ Mon, 03 Dec 2012 13:00:04 +0000 Stephan Cico http://vareducation.com/2012/12/03/when-it-becomes-a-one-man-show/ Investment firm Hearthstone laid off its IT team during the economic downturn. CTO Rob Meltz turned to cloud services and virtualization to keep the business running and growing.

Like plenty of people and organizations, the institutional investment firm Hearthstone was hit hard by the 2008 financial crisis. Its business — managing assets for pension funds, endowments, Fortune100 firms and other large clients — was kicked directly in the teeth. Add to that the fact that Hearthstone invests exclusively in residential real estate development and, well, the math isn’t that difficult.The sobering results: Three rounds of layoffs in as many years. At its peak, Hearthstone had 80 people across four offices; today, it has 28. Hearthstone’s five-person IT department became a one-man show: CTO Rob Meltz. The executive is now all things IT, relying on consultants and other outsourced help when the workload exceeds the available human resources. In other words: Him.

Here are the key specifics on what Meltz did to adapt to life without a team.

1. Server Virtualization
2. Cloud Time and Billing
3. Virtualized Accounting System
4. Outsourced Remote Monitoring and Management
5. Cloud Backup and Storage
6. VOIP Communications
7. Cloud Filesharing and Sync

-by:Kevin Casey on www.informationweek.com

Read the entire article here. ]]> http://mvnoseriesblog.wordpress.com/2012/11/30/spanish-mobile-operators-launch-nationwide-joyn-services/ Fri, 30 Nov 2012 11:08:29 +0000 MVNOIS http://mvnoseriesblog.wordpress.com/2012/11/30/spanish-mobile-operators-launch-nationwide-joyn-services/ - Movistar, Orange and Vodafone Subscribers Now Have Access to Fully Interoperable and Secure Rich Communications.

28 November 2012, Madrid: The GSMA today announced that Movistar, Orange and Vodafone, Spain’s three leading mobile network operators (MNOs), have launched Rich Communication Services (RCS) through the consumer-facing brand joyn^TM to their customers. With this launch, Spain becomes the first country in the world to offer a fully interoperable rich communications solution, supported by Movistar, Orange and Vodafone, to its mobile subscribers.

joyn services enable customers to chat and enrich messaging or voice calls by exchanging images or video simultaneously during calls, in a private and secure manner, with any member of their contact list that has joyn, regardless of the user’s network or mobile device. Additional services such as voice over IP (VoIP) or IP-video call will be introduced in the near future. These services may be used on both the operators’ mobile networks and on Wi-Fi networks.

“The GSMA is delighted that joyn services are  now available across Spain, giving customers a greater choice of communication possibilities without compromising the quality and security they have come to expect from their mobile operator,” said Michael O’Hara, Chief Marketing Officer, GSMA. “This initial implementation of a new technology clearly required a major effort and strong leadership in the alignment of the ecosystem of manufacturers, developers and integrators, and operators. Consumers across the world will benefit from the leading efforts of these three operators in Spain.”

Movistar, Orange and Vodafone are initially offering joyn services through an application for Android, with a version for the iPhone to follow shortly. Spanish mobile subscribers can now download joyn through app stores, and they will soon be able to purchase several joyn-embedded devices that have completed rigorous interoperability testing with the three MNOs. In order to use the joyn brand, devices have to complete the interoperability testing and pass a certification process, ensuring the quality, privacy, security and ubiquity of the services. joyn-embedded devices are expected to be available in retail outlets at the beginning of 2013.

 “In developing this interoperable solution for their customers, the operators have also been able to share the experience and learnings gained with other operators as part of the RCS programme, helping to reduce the time-to-market for the service,” continued O’Hara. “joyn services are available now from individual operators in Germany and the United States; further nationwide, cross-operator implementations are expected in Germany this year and in several other European countries during 2013.”

Source: Telefonica

Happy Thanksgiving from all of us at IDeACOM

Hurricane Sandy Update

We hope you are safe, and that your family and your business didn’t suffer too much as a result of last month’s storm.  And while we can’t predict if or when something like this will happen again, we can better prepare ourselves for the future.  Disaster recovery planning has unfortunately become a necessity.  What precautions can you secure to maintain control & continuity during an unplanned crisis?  IDeACOM is developing a disaster preparedness webinar that will cover the basics from a technology perspective.  There’s no silver bullet or one size fits all here, so we’ll be offering ideas and potential solutions that you can benefit from.  If you’d like to reserve a spot on our waiting list, simply click here to complete a brief form, and enter “Disaster Preparedness” in the description field.

If your organization has been adversely affected by Hurricane Sandy and you need help restoring your telephone system (or you know of an organization that needs help), IDeACOM will donate our services in an effort to help you get back on your feet.  Click here to complete a brief form, and enter “Help” in the description field.

This is from the AT&T’s Tech Channel on YouTube. I’ve posted video and vintage film from this YouTube channel before. Some video from the Bell Labs were awesome. This video from 1986 shows what appears to be a beta product called the Packet Phone, the first known device that would later become standard technology. This segment describes how it uses the packet network vs. the circuit network to communicate.

This telephone looks similar to the Multibutton Electronic Telephone (MET) used on the Dimension and Horizon PBX, what I am calling the “Unknown PBX.” This Packetphone is probably safe to say it’s part of the Unknown PBX. There is no such documents on the Internet (what irony!) about this product or project.

Of course the System 75 based PBXes had support for packet switching out of the box with the TN-774(?) card that was available in the beginning of the 1990s. Of course that technology enabled IP networking for the Definity systems later on.

A thorough Total Cost of Ownership analysis can help organizations choose and deploy the most cost effective Unified Communications solutions.

For an unprecedented 8th year in a row, ShoreTel has won the coveted PilotHouse Award for best Unified Communications “VALUE” which considers technology, customer service and total cost of ownership.

ShoreTel provides a Total Cost of Ownership tool to help organizations calculate their own Total Cost of Ownership and they are the only Unified Communications vendor that gives customers a “Lowest Total Cost of Ownership Guarantee”. The ShoreTel Total Cost of Ownership tool can help companies choose the most cost effective Unified Communications Solution.

With ShoreTel maintenance, the costs of all upgrades are covered. There are no additional charges for upgrades.

The ShoreTel solution allows companies to easily expand from 10 to over 10,000 users with the same basic technology. Companies pay only for the capacity they need when they need it.

Check out our video here

To find out more about the ShoreTel business telephone system in St Louis call us at 314-961-0557 or go to our website at http://www.ideacommidwest.com.

Cable broadband suffered from too much popularity — too many people shared an infrastructure and as a result the speeds delivered to the home were actually a fraction of what was advertised. And when I moved to San Francisco, I decided to stick with DSL and used Pacific Bell’s (now AT&T) (s t) connections. However, somewhere in the mid-2000s, things start to change.

DSL speeds, though nearly 15 times faster than my first connection, started to fall behind the cable broadband speeds. DSL performance became spotty. And I switched to Comcast (s cmsca). Today, I live in the future — I have a 200 Mbps fiber connection, thanks to my local independent ISP, WebPass. It costs a lot less money than what the cable company wants from me. And it is a heck of a lot faster than what AT&T has to offer.

Like me, a whole bunch of people have switched from the creaking DSL offerings to faster connections. I have been writing about the slow migration away from the classic DSL offering for a long time. People have switched in big numbers to cable companies, particularly those who offer better quality, higher speeds such as Comcast and Cablevision (s cvc).

DSL owners have switched to faster offerings from their own phone companies — Verizon’s FiOS for example — as the demand for consumer bandwidth has exploded thanks to growing popularity of web services such as Netflix, (s nflx) social networks like Facebook(s fb). The growing number of in-home devices has started to increase our need for bandwidth.

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AT&T and Verizon, two of the largest DSL providers in the world didn’t really keep up with the times, and the speeds like their European peers did. The reasons were complex — our geography was a disadvantage compared to very compact cities in Europe, for starters. But most importantly, the Baby Bells wanted sops from the elected officials.

Whatever the reasons, we didn’t really see speed bumps on DSL like we saw from the likes of Free in France. AT&T built U-Verse, a hybrid fiber-copper network and Verizon built FiOS, but mostly for their richer constituents — the people who could afford to pay couple of hundred a month for a triple-play service. That focus on higher-end customers meant that the classic DSL was left to die on the vine.

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The market too was speaking loudly — the people were switching away from AT&T and that did indeed threaten AT&T’s whole existence. As DSL sales swooned, AT&T customers went to Comcast and Cox and Time Warner. AT&T couldn’t sell switchers a phone service, a declining business to begin with. It couldn’t sell them a television connection. The lure of a wireless connection packaged neatly with everything wasn’t a reality anymore.

Today, AT&T essentially put the nail in the coffin for DSL technology when it announced that it was going all-in on IP-based networks and IP-technologies. As Stacey Higginbotham reported earlier this morning, Dallas-based AT&T is spending nearly $14 billion to completely switch from last century’s technologies and put old copper-based network out for pasture. Here is what the company said in a press release:

• U-verse. AT&T plans to expand U-verse (TV, Internet, Voice over IP) by more than one-third or about 8.5 million additional customer locations, for a total potential U-verse market of 33 million customer locations¹. The expansion is expected to be essentially complete by year-end 2015.
• U-verse IPDSLAM: The company plans to offer U-verse IP-DSLAM service (high-speed IP Internet access and VoIP) to 24 million customer locations in its wireline service area by year-end 2013.
• Speed Upgrades: The Project VIP plan includes an upgrade for U-verse to speeds of up to 75Mbps and for U-verse IP-DSLAM to speeds of up to 45Mbps, with a path to deliver even higher speeds in the future.

These investments are a realization of a harsh reality AT&T and to some extent Verizon is living in — everything is going IP. Voice is an app. Video is an app. And even the thermostat is an app. The puny Internet speeds they continued to offer via the old DSL has no part of this bandwidth-hungry future. And even with these upgrades, AT&T is still lagging behind its fiber-based competitors. The need for bandwidth isn’t going away – and for Ma Bell, that is the reality. It needs to figure out how to live with it.

For me, it is a bittersweet moment — for I can only remember being blown away by the 256 Kbps speeds and dreaming of a future when I could have 100 times the speed.

Related Stories

AT&T Goes All IP: We are parsing the news in a series of posts, for we believe this is an end of an era. Here are our two stories on the topic so far:

• Here’s AT&T’s $14 billion plan to kill its copper network and leave rural America behind.
• AT&T’s LTE investments will go big by using small cells.

GrooVe IP v1.3.0 Android Apk App

GrooVe IP is an android app that connects to Google Voice using Voice over IP (VoIP). What this means for you is you can make free unlimited calls to any phone in the US or Canada without using your voice minutes. GrooVe IP works on any android device, phone or tablet, and allows you to make calls using the device’s data (WiFi or mobile data) connection. If you have a smartphone with Wi-Fi connectivity but no mobile plan, you can use this app to convert it to a free, full-featured working phone.

This app has a separate dialer that can be used to make calls. Alternatively, the native dialer, call-log, contacts, and favorite functionality can be shared between the phone and app on a call-by-call basis.

** NOTE ** Please ensure that your Google Voice account is associated with either a gmail or google apps account.
** NOTE ** To receive incoming calls you MUST go into your Google Voice account and forward calls to Google Chat.
** NOTE ** GrooVe IP uses 1.2 MB per minute during a call

For requirements, setup details, answers to frequently asked questions, known issues, or more information, please visit http://snrblabs.com/snrb/grooveIp.aspx
If you have any questions, feature requests, or run into any problems please contact us! We cannot help you if you only leave a comment. We have a 24 hour refund period! If you would like a refund please send us your order receipt and a description of why you want a refund. If you are having trouble with the app and contact us within 24 hours we will extend the refund period while we help troubleshoot!

 *** FINE PRINT ***
Google Voice℠ services are provided by Google, Inc. SNRB LABS, LLC is NOT affiliated with Google, Inc.
Google Voice℠ is a call enhancement service which will not route emergency (911) calls.
International rate information can be found http://www.google.com/chat/voice/compare.html

 What’s in this version:
1.3.0:
- New notification icons
- Correct some sign in issues
- Correct jellybean issue where incoming calls weren’t vibrating
- Reduce incoming and outgoing voice delay

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.gvoip

Download Instructions:
http://rapidgator.net/file/53152623

Mirror:
http://extabit.com/file/279lm0pwvt3lr
http://www.directmirror.com/files/1DGXCLMY

– http://apkblog.info/groove-ip-v1-3-0-android-apk-app/