VoIP

Those of you on Twitter would have seen the news first, but in case you didn't:

1. Facebook buys Instagram photo sharing network for $1bn


2. Why Microsoft spent $1 billion on AOL's patents 

The first one is cool and shows you how the social media sector can pay for itself when an app is released free. Instagram allows you to takes pics and automatically upload them up to Twitter, Facebook and do fancy effects on them. The native Facebook iPhone app was clunky to use with pics.

There are also 13 guys in Instagram now all worth almost $100m (CEO got most). The general comment is that the Android release last week had a big impact on the deal and also their powerful RESTful API and OAuth 2 (just like the SureVoIP API, but we weren't first ). Oh, and they also run a massive PostgreSQL cluster

The scary news is that the newly owned Microsoft patents are so powerful. They just bought one for SSL, you know, the thing that allows you to go to https:// for your bank and the whole web.

There's a lot of other mobile patents in that list too. Food for thought as to what damage they can do in the future like create a Microsoft tax for many things and kill a lot of mobile innovation and there's even some in there about VoIP!

Aberdeen-based communications company SureVoIP has just launched an innovative API (application programming interface) which will provide an even better service for customers and partners and allow 100% self-service and interaction with the SureVoIP suite of products and services.



To ensure communications with other products and services, the company has just launched what is believed to be UK VoIP’s first publicly available and documented Application Programming Interface (API) beta of this kind.



Commenting on the move, SureVoIP managing director Gavin Henry said: “It is vital for us to remain at the forefront of technology and it is anticipated that this API will further enhance our ability to provide the broadest possible spectrum to all customers and partners, existing or potential.



“The SureVoIP API can be used to send SMS messages, faxes, generate telephone calls, manage accounts and telephone numbers, subscribe to event notifications and use a feature called OAuth 2.0 which allows third parties to create Apps like those for Twitter and Facebook.



“Various partnerships have been put in place to maximise adoption and many of our existing customers are already incorporating this API into their Mobile App strategy. Because of this, SureVoIP has also started development work on its own mobile app for customers and partners as well as a long list of exciting new ways to make a telephone call.”



SureVoIP is regulated by Ofcom, is a member of the Internet Telephony Service Providers Association (ITSPA) and is a finalist in that organisation’s 2012 awards. The company is also the holder of an ITSPA Quality Mark accreditation. For further information visit www.surevoip.co.uk or call 01224 900123 or email sales@surevoip.co.uk



Notes to Editors



SureVoIP is a leading Internet Telephone Service Provider and is part of the Suretec Group. Based at Bridge of Don, Aberdeen the company has worked in locations as diverse as Canada, Nepal, the Netherlands and the Seychelles. The company is a member of the Internet Telephony Service Providers Association (ITSPA) and is regulated by Ofcom. For further information visit www.surevoip.co.uk or call 01224 900123.

Please see our Careers page.

Thanks.

The innovative application of broadband internet technology to traditional telephony is set to radically change the world of business

TO ESTABLISH and maintain a successful business operation, modern-day professionals require an ever-growing arsenal of technology and tools at their disposal.

Topping the list of non-negotiable requirements are a computer, an internet connection, a mobile phone and, of course, a fixed phone line.

The digital age has brought a multitude of advancements to traditional telephony, which now uses a combination of fibre optic cables, microwave transmission links, cellular networks and communication satellites to send voice communications across the world.

However, the fact remains that traditional analogue systems such as wire circuitry are still used to connect that vital last mile from the exchange to the telephone.

Despite a global outlook, the modern-day professional is still very much tied to local-level restraints of limited flexibility and costliness.

Today, innovative application of broadband internet technology to traditional telephony is abolishing the need for this last mile of copper wiring, and is consequently bringing the modern-day professional into the global community.

Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) transmits voice and multimedia communication through the internet as opposed to the traditional phone line – essentially combining the flexibility and cost efficiency of the internet with the main functions of traditional telephony.

Read more: http://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/Article.aspx/2056905?UserKey=#ixzz1AKt10CfU

http://www.surevoip.co.uk/news-events/telephones-professional

We hope you are now rested and ready for 2011.

To celebrate the start of 2011 SureVoIP is having its first January sale. We're reducing the price of our memorable numbers by 50%!

To take advantage of this, from the 5th of January for 3 weeks (until 26th January) simply go to our front page and select your VoIP enabled UK telephone number or go straight to our sign up page (don't forget you can get international VoIP numbers too).

Did you also know that SureVoIP was awarded the Internet Telephony Services Providers' Association Quality Mark? The ITSPA Quality Mark is formal recognition of what SureVoIP has always aimed to implement - a VoIP service that can be trusted to provide its customers with a fair and reliable service which is constantly striving for excellence.

There's never been a better time to use VoIP for your business if you aren't already. You don't need to lose your existing numbers as you can "port" your existing numbers to VoIP and VoIP enable them. Unlike traditional PSTN numbers, your numbers won't be tied to a telephone exchange so you never lose them (good for growing businesses that move office or open a new one)!

We can also move your existing VoIP numbers to SureVoIP and have had quite a few new customers that were with other business VoIP providers move to us.

If you have any questions about VoIP being suitable for your company or in general please call us on 01224 900123 or visit http://www.surevoip.co.uk/contact-surevoip

Original news item

Come visit SureVoIP, our UK VoIP service provider on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/SureVoIP

If you're about to "make current" for FreeSWITCH read:

[Freeswitch-users] mod_limit / db / hash changes - If you update action is required

Gavin.

Hi all,

The iPhone 4, which was officially unveiled on the June 7th at a presentation in San Francisco, includes several new features that will benefit VoIP users. These are touted as:

• Multi-task when making a VoIP call, so customers can access other applications, such as a calendar, during a conversation.


• Built-in noise cancellation to eliminate background sounds when making VoIP calls.


• Videoconferencing will also be possible between iPhones via the Face Time feature, allowing remote employees to partake in business meetings.


• Longer battery life, while the screen resolution has been significantly improved compared to previous models.

The iPhone 4 will be available in the UK from June 24th.

Wow you may think this is amazing, but all these features have been available on Android phones (Google's Open Source mobile operating system) for ages. I've just got an HTC Desire from O2 and it's the No.1 phone in the world right now. It can do all of above and more, plus the Sipdroid VoIP client is free and works on 3G and WiFi using our VoIP services or anyone elses. Best of all it's free software and just works.


Another good blog post covers why the iPhone can never keep up with Android or Open Source:

"Through a bevy of handset makers, Android can offer a variety of phones that will make it difficult for
Apple to beat with just one hardware release a year. While it is hard to

ever go wrong with an iPhone, Android offers a ton of alternative form

factors, price points and carriers: Sprint (NYSE: S) has released the

first 4G phone on Android; T-Mobile has a new competitive Android phone

with a slide-out keyboard; the HTC Incredible sold by Verizon has been

flying off store shelves; and even Google’s Nexus One still boasts some

of the latest hardware. Not to mention new Android phones from Samsung

and LG (SEO: 066570) coming later this summer."

Google now have figures to show that 100,000 open source Android mobile phones are getting activated daily!

Gavin.

Hi all,

We follow the KashFlow Blog as we use them for our accounts (the only non open source software we use and is based online). Duane, the owner, did an interesting blog post today about External Funding vs Organic Growth.

We're in the Organic/Bootstrapping camp as that's how we've funded our upcoming VoIP service provider called SureVoIP

In the two articles he links to, I liked the TechCrunch one as it lists these 16 things to help raise your profile to help bring in the business to bootstrap:

0. Get on Twitter and Tweet smart things [added Dec 2009]
1. News is a Purple Cow – UK translation: Man Bites Dog
2. Keep in contact – conversations usually beat press releases
3. Negotiate your exclusives
4. Don’t be a leech – Be part of the community
5. Conferences are not news
6. Be a great contact
7. Be a friendly blogger
8. Should you hire a PR firm?
9. Want to join in? Network.
10. Please pitch like a human
11. Understand who you are talking to
12. The media likes CEOs
13. Do you really need to have formal press meetings?
14. One company in a space is not (generally) a story
15. “Yes, but how do I get on TechCrunch.com?”
16. “Strike when the news is hot” added 16 March 2010


In summary Duane closes with something I agree with:

So where does that leave us? I spend a lot of time talking to startups
and there are no hard and fast rules that apply to them all. What I would say is that if there is the opportunity to build a profitable business, while maintaining control and enjoying a reasonable quality of life and all while bootstrapping, then this is the ideal route to take. If there are market forces, competitive issues or limited lifespan pressures that mean that a funding route is the only way to go, then so be it.