I went to the ‘Channel Partners’ conference in Chicago back in September 2011 and this question was being asked so many times it got me thinking that.

There is no single and clear explanation that people can use over and over again and be sure that the client understands what SIP trunks are.

Of course, a lot of clever people out there have no problems explaining what a SIP trunk is and their clients are making SIP calls all day long and reaping the benefits of this ever evolving technology.

But after hearing this question repeated over and over again not just at Channel Partners but other events such as ITEXPO and Enterprise.

Connect I thought that people in the Telco business could help me out in my quest.

So, I placed the question on a number of groups on Linkedin and received around 90 responses.

The remit was to be able to describe SIP trunks to a client; so some of the good but overly technical suggestions we put to one side and after a little more sifting we got them down to what we (at The SIP School) thought were the better ones.

Then we posted them all on our website for people to vote on them.

353 votes later and we’ve now decided to announce the winner!

With 19% of the votes (67 out of 353) the winning description is:

“SIP Trunking is a Voice over IP (VoIP) solution that uses a data network or internet connection to connect a business telephone system to the PSTN.”

Well done to Bruce McKay of Allstream OK, so we have a winner yet with 19% of the votes it wasn’t a runaway victory and I’m certain that some of you may not completely agree – but there it is.

The ‘challenge’ was meant to be informative as well as fun and now if you need to find that snappy explanation to help your clients understand this could be the phrase you can use to ensure no glassy eyes!.

Why not try it out next time you are speaking with people and let us know your reactions on the Linkedin group SIP Trunking – Trials and Tribulations.

But wait..!

I’ve got a funny feeling that we may have to ask this question again at some point because there are a couple of things that I want to add to wrap up this (completely) non-scientific exercise.

Firstly, the winning comment mentions connecting to the PSTN.

Well maybe this should be saying the PSTN and other VoIP enabled networks?.

Connectivity to the PSTN is important yet as people try to avoid the PSTN then what are they connecting to?.

Yes, it’s other branches, partner companies etc, over Data networks.

Also, a fair number of entries were clear in saying that the term ‘Trunk’ shouldn’t be used at all!.

I understand why they say this i.e. it’s linked to old technology etc. etc.

But actually it’s a word that everyone is used; it’s not going to disappear, so let’s make it work by explaining it clearly.

Finally I have to say that if the winning explanation or even your own still confuses your client, then try the one from Steve Barret (Portel AV Ltd in the UK).

“I spent ages recently trying to explain what SIP was all about.

In the end I told my client it was a ‘magic door’ he understood this and asked why I hadn’t said that in the first place!”.

And with those final words, that’s it until the next challenge – Watch this space!.

Graham Francis is the CEO of the SIP School and can be contacted at graham@thesipschool.com.
FollowGraham on Twitter.

Visit to apply for any of the 26 categories at http://www.techistan.com/2010/12/22/2011-techistan-international-awards/. A transcript of this video by a fan of Techistan is:

I’ve got to impress the boss. He wants more respect for the company. Why did I accept the marketing position? Pressure, I’m under so much pressure.

I can apply for an award, one that we deserve but where? (Tap tap tap on computer keys.) Google search, yeah. Nice. tinyurl.com/techistaninternationalwards … Only $79 to apply and everyone is a winner?

26 different categories … Sight over Internet, Unified Communications, Green Technology .. boss, I found a great idea!

A great list of ideas to impress your boss is also on CNN. Techistan will celebrate all the finalists and award winners during ITEXPO West in Austin, Gitex in Dubai, and ITCN Asia in Karachi 2011.

Business is social and social is business. Online video is social whether personal or business-oriented. Technical staff share their knowledge. Marketeers learn the technical processes behind what they sell.TMCnet who produce the ITEXPO conferences enable their participants to tell their story.

Starview’s Evan Hunt is interviewed at ITEXPO East in Miami Beach on his company and its service but of particular interest is the ability to white label their solutions which enables anyone to rebrand what they offer as one’s own with one’s own name and look and business.

Watch more internet protocol-based communications innovators, developers and entrepreneurs share their advice, experience, products and services on videos created by TMC during ITEXPO conferences. The next conference will be September 13-15, 2011 in Austin, Texas.

Learn from …
Sean Robertson of CTD
Ashley of Xirrus
Vlad Ellis of SpeedFlow
Andrii Zenchenko of Jerasoft
Eoghan Huallachain of Glorsoft
Max Glucksmann on behalf of Comtel Networks and DIDX
Michael McChonkin of Globalinx
Alex Melnik of SpeedFlow
Lance Olsen of SipFish
Garret Smith of VoIPSupply
Vitaly Potavov, Sr. of Aloe Systems and Christopher Bradish of Vera Networks
Jorge Ortero of Grandstream
Micky O’Brien of TokBox
Mykoa Konrad of Sonus Networks
Michael Banschbach of Pulse
Ruth Bridger of Xorcom
Michel Storella of snom
Warren Sonnem of Epygi
Jim Koestler, Sr. of Aastra
Tom Ray of Commetrex
Michael Light, Sr. of Computer Telephony Distributing
Dan Aronson of Sagemcom
Jeff Ridley of Shoretel
Danny Windham of Digium
John Schwing of Eaton
and more!

Cuando se habla de la señalización SS7 siempre se piensa en un gran elefante en las telecomunicaciones.

Por eso nos atrevimos a mirar que existe en el mercado, cuando los pequeños operadores, los que quieren iniciar a competir con los grandes piden a gritos una solución que en el mercado es extremadamente costosa o muy robusta como para instalar soluciones abiertas que no tienen la robustez requerida para proyectos de gran calibre, y por lo tanto genera una barrera mas de entrada a la competencia libre en America Latina cuando se trata de que los pequeños operadores que generan sus licencias tengan un lugar en el mercado.

Iniciemos por explicar que es señalización SS7

Protocolo de señalización numero 7 o SS7

El sistema de señalización de canal común numero 7 (es decir, SS7 o C7) es un estándar global para las telecomunicaciones definidas por el sector de estandarización de las telecomunicaciones (ITU-T) de la unión de telecomunicaciones Internacionales (ITU). El estándar define el protocolo y los procedimientos mediante los cuales los elementos de la red de telefonía switcheada pública (la PSTN) intercambian información sobre una red digital para efectuar el ruteo, establecimiento y control de llamadas. La definición de ITU para SS7 permite variantes nacionales tales como el Instituto de Estándares Nacionales Americanos (ANSI) y Bell Communications usados en Norteamérica y el Instituto de Estándares de Telecomunicaciones Europeos (ETSI) usado en Europa.

Ahora que ya es claro que es señalización SS7 miremos que se ofrece en el Mercado:

Asterisk SS7
OpenSS7: implementación SS7 de código abierto
SIGTRAN
Point Code SS7
FreeSwitch soporta SS7 vía ss7box

O algo extremadamente robusto como un CISCO PGW 2200 SOFTSWITCH y que por ser tan robusto, tan sólido, también vale alrededor de 150,000 a 250,000 USD, inversión que para iniciar una pequeña operadora, es simplemente complicado.

SMART NETWORK SOLUTIONS revoluciono el Mercado de las telecomunicaciones ofreciéndole a los pequeños operadores, la única oportunidad de tener una plataforma robusta como la CISCO PGW 2200 pero rentada, por una suma módica de 250-500 USD mensuales por E1.

Wow….. esto es algo que jamás se había visto en el Mercado, que Gano el Premio como Best of Show in the Internet Telephony Expo en Miami y que vale la pena sea conocida en el Mercado.

( Ruteo de Llamadas, Voz y Datos para Proveedores de Servicio de Internet y Operadores de Telefonía)

Arquitectura basada en un Softswitch Cisco PGW 2200 con Servidores de Redundancia y Cisco Media Gateways Familia AS 53XX y AS 54XX que permite la interconexión con los Operadores de cada país, controlando llamadas e interconexiones para toda la red del suboperador en VoIP, con funciones clase 4.  A un costo que en realidad es totalmente posible de generar un ingreso rentable y que la competencia del Mercado en America Latine gane mucha mas libertad, con el objeto de beneficiar al usuario final.

Written by Sandra Diaz Hoyos for Techistan, another service of DIDX and Super Technologies, Inc.
Smart Network Solutions
President
USA +1.305.269.4142
Fax      +1.305.402.5940
Skype. sandryximena
Email. sandra@smartisvoip.com
www.smartisvoip.com

Hace algunos meses me integre a un nuevo proyecto de muchos integrados a nivel de contact center, y soy propietaria de una empresa que ofrece soluciones para Contact Centers, y durante este reciente mes de enero en el marco del congreso que anualmente realiza el Internet Telephony en la ciudad de Miami, tuve la oportunidad de ver la gran cantidad de opciones en soluciones y servicios que existen en la actualidad para los centros de contacto.

Durante el evento conocí a muchas personas que se quejaban de los altos costos que se involucran en el momento de implementar un “Call Center” dentro de su empresa, me comentaron que contaban con áreas independientes de contacto con clientes; un área de atención a clientes, un área de ventas y un área de cobranza, en donde se utilizaban distintas aplicaciones y tecnología (se utilizaba desde Excel hasta un CRM).

Una de las personas me comento también que había oido de lo eficiente que era centralizar las operaciones en una misma área en donde se pudieran aprovechar economías de escala en gastos de personal, instalaciones y tecnología, y que por tal motivo se había dado a la tarea de buscar por Internet empresas que pudieran ofrecerle soluciones para por fin poder contar con un Centro de Contacto corporativo en donde pudieran  atender a sus clientes y prospectos con altos estándares de calidad.

 Al estar buscando soluciones en Internet (e incluso en el congreso), la primer sorpresa que se llevó fue que hay una cantidad enorme de empresas que ofrecen estas soluciones, y la segunda sorpresa fue que entre más buscaba soluciones más se complicaba la toma de decisión, ya que se manejan precios muy variados, algunas soluciones son “software based” y otras consideran una parte importante de hardware y generalmente se requiere hacer grandes inversiones en servidores, licenciamiento, cuotas de mantenimiento e integraciones a aplicaciones propietarias de la operación de su empresa.

Resalto el texto de arriba porque ahí es donde está el área de oportunidad y el desconocimiento de mucha gente relacionada con los Centros de Contacto. Esta persona no sabía que actualmente la tendencia en toda la industria del software (incluyendo por supuesto las soluciones para centros de contacto) es la utilización de aplicaciones bajo un esquema de renta (SAAS Software As A Service) y es por eso que un número importante de empresas proveedoras de tecnología de Centros de Contacto están volteando a ofrecer SERVICIOS DE SOLUCIONES PARA CONTACT CENTER SOBRE DEMANDA. (Hosted Contact Center)

A continuación comparto con ustedes parte de la información que envié a esta persona para comentarle sobre las opciones, características y beneficios de este tipo de soluciones, información importante para facilitar su decisión, y sobre todo para evitarle un desembolso significativo al comprar o invertir en una solución en lugar de rentarla y utilizar su flujo de efectivo en temas de recursos humanos, mobiliario, equipamiento y adecuación de instalaciones.

 ¿En qué consiste el modelo de Soluciones de Contact Center sobre demanda  o “Hosteadas”?

Existen distintas opiniones y definiciones sobre Hosted Contact Center, sin embargo una que considero bastante clara es la que propone Frost & Sullivan en el estudio que realizó en 2009 denominado “North American Hosted Contact Center Markets”.

 “Hosted Contact Center se define como un servicio basado en la red, en donde un proveedor de soluciones de Contact Center cuanta con una plataforma tecnológica  y renta a terceros las funcionalidades y aplicaciones de la misma a usuarios finales.
 El cobro por el servicio es sobre demanda, ya sea por agente/ estación/ puerto por día/ semana /mes, o bien basado en la utilización de la tecnología por minuto /llamada / transacción / etc.

Existen dos alternativas:

Hosted Contact Center Dedicado: se refiere a un servidor dedicado por cliente, (no multi-tenant).
Hosted Contact Center Multi-tenant: se refiere a varios clientes compartiendo una misma infraestructura.

Las soluciones que se pueden encontrar en el mercado son variadas, pueden ser soluciones unificadas que incluyen funcionalidades de ACD, IVR, Marcador Predictivo, CTI, Colaboración vía Email, Chat, Web de manera integrada o bien soluciones en donde se puede rentar solo la funcionalidad que sea requerida.

En este sentido es importante evaluar diferentes opciones para encontrar un balance adecuado entre calidad y precio, no siempre lo mas barato es lo mejor, por eso al elegir una solución de este tipo es necesario considerar también en aspectos como: experiencia del proveedor, rendimiento en volúmenes altos de transacciones, soporte y mantenimiento, clientes que ya utilizan la solución, etc.

Gartner menciona en su “Magic Quadrant for Contact Center Infraestructure febrero 2010” ver figura 1) empresas que bien podríamos considerar con experiencia a nivel mundial en la industria de Centros de Contacto, y que además muchas de ellas ya ofrecen soluciones en esquema de renta, con esto no quiero decir que empresas nuevas o nacionales no cuenten con soluciones competitivas, pero vuelvo a lo mismo, es necesario hacer una buena evaluación de los factores que menciono en el párrafo anterior.

 ¿Cuáles son la tendencias en la utilización de Hosted Contact Center”?

La utilización de estas tecnologías en modelo de renta ya es una realidad, y prueba de ello son algunos datos relevantes del mercado Norte Americano, en donde existen 249,000 estaciones bajo este esquema de operación (Frost & Sullivan 2009), prácticamente el tamaño del mercado Mexicano que es de 214,000 estaciones (IMT 2010), además de que se espera un crecimiento anual promedio del 14.8% durante los próximos 6 años.

 Otro dato interesante es que no solo los Contact Centers pequeños y medianos están volteando a ver con buenos ojos este esquema de operación, y prueba de esto es que del 100% de las estaciones “hosteadas” en Estados Unidos el 37% son Call Centers con menos de 100 estaciones, 38% Call Centers entre 100 y 500 estaciones y el 25% son mayores a 500 estaciones.

Ventajas y beneficios del Hosted Contact Center

Las ventajas y beneficios son muchos sin embargo aquí menciono los que desde mi punto de vista pueden inclinar la balanza para tomar una decisión dirigida a este esquema de operación:

Reducción de Costo Total de Propiedad al no tener que invertir en licenciamiento e infraestructura de IT.
Reducción de costos de mantenimiento y pagos por actualizaciones.
Ahorros importantes en personal de sistemas y comunicaciones.
Elimina riesgo de obsolescencia tecnológica.
Habilita el crecimiento modular de tu Contact Center.
Permite contar con agentes remotos, ya sea en sucursales de la empresa o bien desde sus hogares.
Al ser un esquema en renta, permite enfocar los recursos humanos, tecnológicos y económicos en actividades propias del negocio, en lugar de descapitalizarse con grandes inversiones en hardware y software para operar su Contact Center.

Como pueden ver los beneficios y las oportunidades que existen al rentar en lugar de comprar tecnología para Contact Centers son muchas y sobre todo son una realidad en proyectos ya implementados en México, Colombia, Estados Unidos, Cameroon. Claro que siempre es importante evaluar  el caso específico de cada empresa.

Written by Techistan Spanish Editor, Sandra Ximena Diaz Hoyos
Smart Network Solutions
President
USA +1.305.269.4142
Fax      +1.305.402.5940
Skype. sandryximena
Email. sandra@smartisvoip.com
www.smartisvoip.com

Max Schroeder is the Sr. VP of Faxcore, a founder of the Fax Server industry, FoIP Interopability Task Group Whip for SIP Forum, and popular speaker.  Suzanne Bowen is the vice president and co-founder of Super Technologies, Inc. and all of its services since 1999. Max and Suzanne frequent many of the same global IP telephony-related conferences since 2004. Fax is still a necessity for some industries and a preferred method of communications by us, and while it is, vendors are available to provide services that enable it, whether traditional of Internet-protocol based.

Listen here.

Faxcore, Max’s company, is headquarter in Colorado with an additional office in Kuala Lumpur as well as virtual offices in other areas. They are a believer in virtualizing and being able to work from wherever the Team happens to be.

Fax oIP saves time and money, is green, flexible for mobility and can take advantage of cloud computing.

Faxes in digital formats, take advantage of digital compression methods to greatly reduce transmission times.

Group 3 type faxes conform to the ITU-T Recommendations T.30 and T.4. Group 3 faxes take between six and fifteen seconds to transmit a single page (not including the initial time for the fax machines to handshake and synchronize). The horizontal and vertical resolutions are allowed by the T.4 standard to vary among a set of fixed resolutions:
Horizontal: 100 scan lines per inch
Vertical: 100 scan lines per inch (‘Basic’)
Horizontal: 200 or 204 scan lines per inch
Vertical: 100 or 98 scan lines per inch (‘Standard’)
Vertical: 200 or 196 scan lines per inch (‘Fine’)
Vertical: 400 or 391 (note not 392) scan lines per inch (‘Superfine’)
Horizontal: 300 scan lines per inch
Vertical: 300 scan lines per inch
Horizontal: 400 or 408 scan lines per inch
Vertical: 400 or 391 scan lines per inch (‘Ultrafine’)

Group 4 faxes conform to the ITU-T Recommendations T.563, T.503, T.521, T.6, T.62, T.70, T.72, T.411 to T.417. They are designed to operate over 64 kbit/s digital ISDN circuits. Their resolution is determined by the T.6 recommendation, which is a superset of the T.4 recommendation.

Fax Over IP (FOIP) can transmit and receive pre-digitized documents at near realtime speeds. Scanned documents are limited to the amount of time the user takes to load the document in a scanner and for the device to process a digital file. The resolution can vary from as little as 150 DPI to 9600 DPI or more. This type of faxing is not like the e-mail to fax service that still uses fax modems at least one way.

In practical scenarios, a T.38 (fax over IP) fax call has at least part of the call being carried over PSTN, although this is not required by the T.38 definition, and two T.38 devices can send faxes to each other. This particular type of device is called Internet-Aware Fax device, or IAF, and it is capable of initiating or completing a fax call towards the IP network.

The typical scenario where T.38 is used is – T.38 Fax relay – where a T.30 fax device sends a fax over PSTN to a T.38 Fax gateway which converts or encapsulates the T.30 protocol into T.38 data stream. This is then sent either to a T.38 enabled end point such as fax machine or fax server or another T.38 Gateway that converts it back to PSTN PCM or analog signal and terminates the fax on a T.30 device.

The T.38 recommendation defines the use of both TCP and UDP to transport T.38 packets. Implementations tend to use UDP, due to TCP’s requirement for acknowledgement packets and resulting retransmission during packet loss, which introduces delays. When using UDP, T.38 copes with packet loss by using redundant data packets.

T.38 is not a call setup protocol; thus, the T.38 devices need to use standard call setup protocols to negotiate the T.38 call, e.g. H.323, SIP and MGCP.

Suzanne Bowen discusses in the podcast with Max Schroeder, the topics of Faxcore, reseller opportunities, ITEXPO conferences, DIDX fax over IP phone numbers, and the free Reseller Week on DIDX podcasts.

Edited by Suzanne Bowen. Romanian authorities disrupt huge hacking ring accused of stealing VoIP data from hacked servers, to place bogus calls to premium rate numbers.

What are premium rate numbers? They are telephone numbers for telephone calls in which special services are provided. The price for these calls is higher than normal calls. Examples of the special services might be adult chat lines, weather forecasts, competitions, or diplomatic services. In the USA, 1-900 is a typical NPA for premium rate numbers.

For UK, it is 0844, 0870 and 0871. Find out more about premium rate numbers on Wikipedia and PremiumRateNumber.org. More on the Romanian case …

Agence France Presse reported on Tuesday that 42 people were arrested in the sting, breaking up a network that was headed by two Romanians and that had caused more than $13.5 million in losses to firms in the U.S.A., Britain, South Africa, Italy and Romania.

The scheme involved compromises of Internet-based VoIP servers. (Read VoIPSA site for extensive information about voice over Internet security.)

VoIP hacking has become an increasing problem  as more firms migrate to Internet-based telephony. There have been cases in which VoIP hackers have been prosecuted and increasing attention by vendors to vulnerabilities and attacks on VoIP platforms. 

1. Venezuelan Edwin Andres Pena was sentenced to ten years in prison for hacking into telecommunications companies and pocketing more than one million dollars in the scam.

2. Skype for Android 3G was hacked in U.S.A. in October 2010. Users discovered their 3G was disabled as a result.

3.  In October 2010, a Perth, Australia business was hit with a $120 000 bill after hackers exploited its VOIP server to place some 11 000 calls over 46 hours last year. Some say that federal law enforcement can do little to prosecute perpetrators of an offshore VOIP attack.

4. Read more on voIP hacking at Ethical Hacker, Hacking voIP, O’Reilly Media, Sniffing voice over IP with CAIN from IronGeek, and someone exposing how easy it is to strip voice over IP calls.

Participate in TMC University’s network security sessions during ITEXPO East Feb. 2-4, 2011 in Miami Beach, Florida.

Sydney, 29 November, 2010 – ASX-listed BSA, a leading Australian communications and technical services company, has announced that it has selected Sydney-based ICT consulting and solutions provider, Tecala, to deploy the Interactive Intelligence (who will be at ITEXPO East in Miami Beach in February 2011) all-in-one IP communications software suite, Customer Interaction Center (CIC).

The decision to select Tecala and the CIC solution follows a comprehensive market review by BSA to invest in all in one contact centre automation functionality for the company’s new Sydney Olympic Park 120-seat contact centre which will open later this month.

CIC will replace BSA’s existing, aging Avaya PABX and Verint voice recording system and will improve the quality of support which it provides in managing 1,600 contractors who perform more than 120,000 jobs each month.

BSA is Australia’s pre-eminent domestic satellite and free to air installation company. It has long-term contractual relationships with Foxtel, Telstra and Optus and specialises in the installation of subscription TV, telecommunications and other technical maintenance services to domestic and corporate customers throughout Australia.

The organisation’s contact centre handles more than 5,000 calls each day in support of around 4,000 daily jobs. The centre allocates installation appointments, ensures availability of the right equipment at the right location, manages staff rostering and confirmation of rescheduled jobs.

Tony Crvelin, Infrastructure Manager, BSA, says, “The Interactive Intelligence solution offers robust, cost-effective features for disaster recovery and business continuity. At the same time, the solution is also fully VoIP-enabled and packaged straight out of the box with functionality applications such as reporting and voice mail. We were impressed with the products’ feature rich functionality and the complimentary technical and overall management skills which Tecala will also provide in ensuring a rapid, smooth deployment.

“The product’s SDK kits will also enable us to customise the solution for our own requirements and we’ll be able to publish within our own proprietary software.”

CIC includes rich functionality designed for more flexible and efficient communications, such as the ability to configure information views for faster look-ups; enhanced alerts to more easily identify incoming calls; and the ability to configure personal rules for specialist call-handling.

About Tecala

Tecala is an Australian-headquartered ICT consulting and solutions provider organisation with a core focus of delivering optimised IT infrastructure solutions for medium and large-sized private and public sector organisations.

Tecala offers full service consulting, project management, integration and procurement expertise and typically works in projects and managed services, incorporating IT infrastructure, virtualisation, storage and information management, application delivery, backup and recovery, disaster recovery, business continuity, security, Unified Communications, service desk and ICT management and monitoring. For more information Tecala can be reached at +61 2 8801 3458 or info@tecala.com.au; on the Net: http://www.tecala.com.au

About Interactive Intelligence

Interactive Intelligence Inc. (Nasdaq: ININ) is a global provider of unified business communications solutions for contact centre automation, enterprise IP telephony, and business process automation. The company was founded in 1994 and has more than 3,500 customers worldwide. Interactive Intelligence is among Software Magazine’s top 500 global software and services suppliers, is a BusinessWeek “hot growth 50” company, and is among Fortune Small Business magazine’s top 100 fastest growing companies. The company is also positioned in the leaders’ quadrant of the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Contact Center Infrastructure, Worldwide report (Feb. 22, 2010). Interactive Intelligence employs approximately 650 people and is headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. It has 14 offices throughout North America, Latin America, Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific. Interactive Intelligence can be reached at +61 2 8918 4800 or info_aunz@inin.com; on the Net: http://www.inin.com/au-nz

This release may contain certain forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially are described in the company’s SEC filings.

Dear VIP, you!

Quality beats quantity any day. When inspired, do it at that moment and not like clockwork … because you have to. This is why letters from the Techistan Editor in Chief (me) will be sporadic in appearance but with something to say and share when published. Anyone notice the concentration of news and opinions and innovations we share regarding IP (internet protocol-based) communications?

The provision of telephone service is in a volatile and exciting flux. At least one third of the content of Techistan is dedicated to voice, video and other IP and non-IP communications services. Our magazine, your magazine Techistan is not about creating the biggest behemoth commercial engine. It’s about collaborating with you to make the world around each of us a better place no matter where we are…

Which is where “telephone service” fits perfectly. The Internet itself, smart phones, other cell phones, mobile applications, GPS and other location services, and virtual phone lines make us all more equal than ever and bring all our VIP closer, whether on our physical side of Earth or the other.

Whether the reader is a user, provider, developer or entrepreneur in areas that involve telecommunications, each has probably had experience with porting a phone number from one provider to another provider.

In the recent cretaceous period that still insists to hang on, I moved from right on the Pensacola Bay to another location near the Pensacola International Airport. When I did, my POTS (plain old telephone service) provider refused to let me take my “phone number” with me even though I would continue using their service. What did I do? I ported the phone number to one our own *DIDX VoIP phone service provider customers, so I could continue to have the same phone number that all my friends, family, and business partners were familiar with. I dropped the POTS for good.

Enter … LNP. What is it? It is an acronym that abbreviates Local Number Portability. It is the empowerment of you and me to keep our local phone number even when we switch who we pay for our phone service.

The power is in your hands. Ask your voice (and sometimes video) service provider if they are a member of any organization that lets you port in or out your phone number and if yes, ask what is the geographical area that this porting applies to? (Remember, for example you may be porting out from ABC company and porting into Freedom company.)

Can we meet you in person? Check our recommended events in every corner of the world at http://www.techistan.com/2009/10/15/techistan-recommends-global-events/.

At Techistan, we aim to collaborate with you in promoting information sharing, necessary debate, deserving praise, business development and positively enriching social change.

We appreciate you.

Sincerely yours,

Suzanne Bowen
Editor in Chief
Techistan

Some websites to study about LNP:

Neustar, http://www.npac.com/

Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Local_number_portability

FCC, http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/NumberPortability/

DIDX, http://www.didx.net/lnp/

Voip-info, http://www.voip-info.org/wiki/view/Local+Number+Portability

Meet our CEO Rehan Allahwala where he is scheduled to present on “From Startup to World Changemaker in the Cloud” at Hyderabad’s Cloud Computing Summit and Hong Kong’s Cloud Computing World Forum this month! You can vote for him at Mashable Awards 2010 now, too.

… Need to make your presence known to over 2800 individual and corporate readers of Techistan? Get your innovation in front. Share your news and announcements. Sponsor a beat. Place your logo among the online kinship Techistan from the East and West, South and North, online and offline movers and shakers. Contact the Techistan Team !

ITEXPO East will be like a candy store of every technological flavor you could wish for: 4G Wireless Evolution, M2M, SmartGrid, SocialCRM, Cloud Communications, SIP Forum, VIPeering, Business Video and more! It is scheduled in

Watch a great example, of the excitement, such as Andy Goodwin of Vitelity at ITEXPO in 2010 regarding his SMS service on DIDs, wrapping the user experience around the SMS product. No need to even code in API. He was showing the service on an iPad!

Listen to Steven Johnson of Ingate about the free SIP Trunking certificate, workshop and instruction on the DIDX podcast.

ITEXPO East is the conference in the first quarter of 2011 that providers, operators, developers, educators, and other types of companies who are in the space of the colocated events at ITEXPO east … SHOULD exhibit. Schedule your booth now and be included in many networking opportunities and great treatment by the TMC team. Thousands will be participating in ITEXPO from government and private markets, wholesale provision, reseller channels, early adopters … it is a grand mix! The type that fosters real business development, learning and new opportunities for everyone.

Watch team members from many groups talk about what they are doing at ITEXPO such as the Los Angeles Police Department, CEO of VoIPSwitch, CTO of MobileMax, Cisco and IPTV, Jeremy Wadhams on Asterisk and Yahoo!, GotVoice Vice President, and a giving a car away at ITEXPO.

Techistan is a press agent for ITEXPO. Visit the complete list of media partners, corporate sponsors at http://www.tmcnet.com/voip/conference/east-11/exhibitors/e11-event-sponsors.htm. Sign up to participate at http://www.itexpo.com.