IP

In this Industry Buzz podcast, the UCStrategies Experts discuss the role of consumer products and services in the world of unified communications,

A Look at Skype Connect

Skype is not your typical carrier, in fact, it isn't even a carrier. But if it were considered a carrier, it would be the world's largest. Skype falls into a strange space between application, service provider, and carrier. Skype has over 124 Million average monthly connected users (for the first three months ended June 30, 2010), and boasts over 20 million users actively connected at a given time (Skype recently crossed the 25 million simultaneous user threshold).

In this Industry Buzz podcast, the UCStrategies Experts review a significant week in unified communications with announcements from

Cisco Collaboration Summit - Where UC Could Be Going

This year's Collaboration Summit was a step up from last year, and I say that for good reason. Last year's event was good - all of Cisco's events are good - but the venue was too small and it took away from the messaging. For 2010, Cisco went out of town to the classy and classic Arizona Biltmore in Phoenix. They don't build them like this anymore, and to me, this setting did far more justice for what Cisco has to say about collaboration.

Social Media at Cisco Collaboration Summit

Two years ago it was all about unified communications, last year it was all about collaboration, and this year it's all about video (with some collaboration, and pretty much no UC). Cisco's Collaboration Summit in Phoenix was filled with sessions about its collaboration vision and products, with a heavy emphasis on video. It makes me wonder if next year's conference will be called Cisco Video Summit. The key themes of the conference were pervasive video, desktop virtualization, and customer service combined with social media.

HP Provides High-Def Video Conferencing Products

HP has announced that new visual collaboration products have been made available. They can work for desktop and conference rooms, providing a high-definition video experience anywhere and at any time.

The HP Visual Collaboration offerings are software-based, and are designed to reduce the need for travel, thus saving expenses and reducing carbon emissions that come from transportation. Expanding upon HP Halo high-end studios, the solutions let customers run video conferencing over a managed network or their own for flexible collaboration.

AudioCodes Makes PSTN Connectivity and Survivability Solutions for Microsoft Lync Available

AudioCodes has announced that its Enhanced Gateways and Survivable Branch Applications for Microsoft Lync 2010 are now available. Customers who use the "Basic" and "Basic Hybrid" gateways for Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2 can migrate to Microsoft Lync Server 2010's "Enhanced" and "Survivable Branch Appliance" gateway configurations via a remote software upgrade, so their investment in the hardware is maintained.