The Suretec Blog - Linux

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nospam@example.com (Gavin Henry) — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 11:59:04 +0000

Please see our Careers page.

Thanks.

Visit SureVoIP on Facebook!

nospam@example.com (Gavin Henry) — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 19:53:17 +0000

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

SureVoIP Earns ITSPA Quality Mark

nospam@example.com (Suretec) — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 10:57:45 +0000

ITSPA, The Internet Telephony Service Providers Association, have awarded SureVoIP the ITSPA Quality Mark. This mark is awarded to eligible ITSPA members who demonstrate clear defined customer service specifications and adhere to ITSPA's defined frameworks for:

Compliance with all ITSPA approved Best Common Practice documents
Porting numbers (in and out)
999 Calling
Membership of an industry standard Telecommunications dispute resolution scheme
Operate a Single Point of Contact (SPOC) for liaison with other telecommunications operators and also the Home Office and other agencies.

SureVoIP is a VoIP business service provider in the UK and one of only a few that have been awarded this mark.

More information on the quality mark can be found here.

NORTH EAST IT COMPANY BECOMES COUNTRY’S FIRST DEDICATED INTERNET TELEPHONY SERVICE PROVIDER

nospam@example.com (Suretec) — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 07:47:00 +0000

North-east IT and telecoms support specialist, the Suretec Group, has become the first dedicated internet telephony service provider in Scotland, with the launch of a new company division, SureVoIP.

The creation of SureVoIP – a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service provider – follows Suretec securing approval from UK communications industry regulatory body, Ofcom, to assign UK telephone numbers.

As an Ofcom regulated VoIP provider with its own telephone number allocations, SureVoIP has been approved to assign phone numbers to clients across the UK and Northern Ireland. The company can also supply global numbers for at least 60 countries.

This is a unique offer within the Scottish market, as other internet telephony specialists within the country must act as ‘middle-men’ between the client and an approved service provider. The result is that SureVoIP and its partners have higher control over costs and can offer preferential and transparent rates that are to the benefit of clients.

VoIP technology transmits voice and multimedia communication through the Internet as opposed to the fast-disappearing Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), which has been the basic form of service connection to the telephone network in most parts of the world for the last century.

Heralded as the natural successor to its PSTN predecessor, VoIP offers significant improvements to the flexibility, speed and cost of global communication.

Top line advantages of this new technology include the ability to make and receive calls from anywhere in the world where a user has access to an internet connection, at a cheaper rate; make and receive as many calls as an internet connection can support; ensure the security and confidentiality of a communication; and rapid provision of telephone numbers and outbound calling.

SureVoIP has chosen to work in partnership with British Telecom (BT) by way of a VoIP Interconnect, which offers clients a range of additional advantages such as further cost-effectiveness by accessing BT’s UK and global networks.

SureVoIP has also chosen to partner with Xconnect on their Global Alliance program, as well as two other UK VoIP carriers. The Global Alliance interconnection hub allows VoIP service providers to bypass the PSTN to exchange VoIP traffic with over 100 networks worldwide under the policies and settlement terms they choose.

The division has also taken the extra – and equally unique - step to provide clients with 24/7 emergency telephone support.

Gavin Henry, Managing Director of SureVoIP, and founding member of the Suretec Group, said: “This is a hugely exciting time for Suretec. Our journey to securing the approval from Ofcom has been long and complex, involving the submission of detailed business plans, demonstrating an in-depth knowledge of the Communications Act 2003, various legal requirements, documentation and a significant investment in equipment throughout the UK.

“It is predicted that VoIP will fully replace its predecessor in the next five to ten years. As such, to have received this approval at such a critical period in this global development is a fantastic result for us.

“Our position as an Ofcom regulated service provider will make us a preferred supplier, as we are ideally placed to offer a holistic and competitive service to clients within the North-east of Scotland and beyond.

“The applications of VoIP technology are clear and we see it being of particular interest to the oil and gas, shipping, legal and financial industries as they need to make international, reliable and cost effective communications as a basic function.”

Established in Scotland in 2003, the Suretec Group specialises in open source IT support and consultancy, open source telecoms and training in open source software. SureVoIP is the fourth division within the group, which also includes Suretec Systems, Suretec Telecoms and Suretec Training.

For further information about the Suretec Group and SureVoIP please call 01224 279484 or visit www.suretecgroup.com and www.surevoip.co.uk

ENDS

Issued by Mackenzie PR on behalf of Suretec Group. For further information please contact Paul Beaton or Andrew Reid on (01224) 580 188 or email paul@mackenziepr.co.uk

Increase in enquiries for migrations from Sun Directory and other directory servers to OpenLDAP

nospam@example.com (Suretec) — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 11:31:56 +0100

Hi all,

Everyone involved in the directory sector and OpenLDAP has been seeing lots more enquiries to migrate from Sun Directory to OpenLDAP as the future of Sun Directory, now Oracle owns Sun is becoming a concern, as is their new pricing model. We obviously have experience doing this and migration from any other directory server.

If you want to convert your enterprise directory from a proprietary and expensive closed-source supplier to OpenLDAP, a modern, more efficient, and less expensive Open Source software solution please do contact us.

Our partners Symas also have a Directory Services Upgrade Program that we can do for you in the UK:

Convert your Enterprise Directory from a proprietary and expensive closed-source supplier to OpenLDAP, a modern, more efficient, and less expensive Open Source software solution. Typically, enterprises dramatically reduce their annual cost converting to OpenLDAP from Sun, Oracle, Netscape, or iPlanet Directory Services products. The workload requires half or less the power and capacity for substantially improved performance. This is a relatively easy transition to make because LDAPv3 is highly standardized and OpenLDAP conforms to the most demanding requirements of the Internet Standards (RFC^[?] 4511 and related RFCs)..

Symas Corporation will be glad to consult with your team and offer you a fixed-price, fixed schedule offer for conversion of your Enterprise Directory technology. This service includes:

- A complete evaluation of your present Directory Services servers
- A Detailed plan for implementation of the new technology
- A roadmap for conversion of existing LDAP^[?] applications and data feeds
- Conversion of schema definitions
- Access Control conversions/implementation
- Database transfer and clean-up
- OpenLDAP deployment, tuning and configuration
- SSL Certificate Conversion
- Database reload
- Assistance with application testing
- Operational team training (LDAP University)
- One year of standard Gold
- level Symas OpenLDAP technical support

Please do contact us.

Thanks,

Gavin.

XConnect Announces U.K. High-Definition Voice Initiative - SureVoIP ITSP join

nospam@example.com (Suretec) — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 10:55:01 +0100

First to join from the U.K. are service providers Simwood, SureVoIP and thevoicefactory.

SureVoIP is us!

Here's some news on this:

http://www.voipmonitor.net/2010/09/07/XConnect+Announces+UK+HighDefinition+Voice+Initiative.aspx
http://hdvoicenews.com/2010/09/07/xconnect-announces-hd-voice-exchange-available-worldwide-uk-promotion-with-polycom-broadsoft-and-dialogic/
http://www.mgraves.org/2010/09/hdvoice-making-progress-in-the-uk/
http://www.telecompaper.com/news/article.aspx?cid=755463

XConnect announced an initiative with leading technology companies Polycom, BroadSoft and Dialogic to promote the adoption of HD voice by service providers in the United Kingdom.

The initiative was launched in response to U.K. service providers’ interest in HD voice services, reflected in discussion during a recent Internet Telephony Service Providers Association meeting. Through workshops and cooperative communication and marketing, the HD initiative is designed to raise awareness and educate service providers about the benefits of HD voice and help them resolve implementation challenges.

The companies joining XConnect in the initiative are market leaders in their sectors of the HD voice ecosystem. Polycom set an early stake in the ground through its SoundStation IP conference phones and SoundPoint desktop phones featuring Polycom HD Voice technology. BroadSoft is the leading global provider of IP-based communications services to the telecommunications industry. Dialogic is a prominent provider of multimedia and signaling technologies and platforms.

As part of the initiative, XConnect announced that the XConnect Global HD Voice Federation is now open to HD voice-enabled service providers globally, following its successful launch in the United States.

First to join from the U.K. are service providers Simwood, SureVoIP and thevoicefactory.

The federation enables the exchange of HD voice calls among all participants, all interconnecting through XConnect’s carrier hub and routing through phone-number lookups via its carrier ENUM registry.

HD voice enables users to experience clearer, higher-quality and more effective voice communication through the use of wideband codecs on IP networks. However, in most cases, to benefit from improved sound quality, callers must be on the same network. XConnect has established the HD federation to allow cross-network support for HD voice and potentially for multimedia IP-based services, such as presence and video.

“The U.K. is ripe for HD voice due to increasing migration to IP and the quest among service providers to differentiate their offerings and deliver greater value to their customers,” said XConnect CEO Eli Katz.

He added, “We are delighted to have facilitated the world’s first cross-network international HD voice calls via a federation – a step that paves the way for global mass-market adoption of HD voice.”

Explaining why his company has joined the HD federation, thevoicefactory CEO Martin Sims said: “We realise that to compete effectively where broadband is a given, we have to move ahead of the pack. In a business market where many different languages and accents are the norm, high-definition voice will help us add value to our services.”

VoIP solutions could benefit from iPhone 4 - Why bother? Get an Android Open Source phone and the new VoIP features now

nospam@example.com (Gavin Henry) — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 11:52:12 +0100

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.

Suretec allocated a Communications Provider Identity ("CUPID") code by Ofcom

nospam@example.com (Suretec) — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 12:13:19 +0100

Exciting news!

Our Communications Provider Identity ("CUPID") code application has been processed by Ofcom and we just received our number of 291.

The start of many good things to come with our own VoIP provider SureVoIP (brand and website being worked on now). We're also listed as an ITSP at ITSPA.

Thanks,

Gavin.

UC Expo 10th March

nospam@example.com (Suretec) — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 09:45:05 +0000

A quick note to say we will be attending UC Expo - The UK's leading Business Enterprise Communications Event.

I know we've been very quiet this year, but there's a good reason for this. Keep your eyes pealed for a big announcement in the next few months about our new VoIP provider (Internet Telephony Service Provider) - SureVoIP (redirects to main site for now).

Gavin.

Suretec Telecom in the Oil and Gas press

nospam@example.com (Suretec) — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 13:46:38 +0000

Suretec Telecom are featured in Platform Oil and Gas magazine:

PLATFORM is a high quality, monthly magazine with editorial, features and advertising relevant to professionals in the oil and gas industry. As well as news, views and technological developments, attention is focused on new products and services, innovations, legislation, contract awards and on the people who form the backbone of the industry.

The Oil and Gas magazine read by decision makers

The monthly magazine for the UK oil and gas industry.
Read onshore and offshore.
* The best way to publicise your business and services.

Full article

and Roustabout Energy International magazine:

Established in Aberdeen in 1972 by Roustabout Publications Ltd., the magazine is one of the longest running, privately owned monthly publications covering the energy sector in the UK and overseas.

The magazine is headquartered in Aberdeen, Scotland, the acknowledged centre of UK North Sea activity. Its international presence is enhanced by representation in Houston, Texas, and an agent in Dubai, serving the Middle East region.

Magazine Circulation: 10000 Aberdeen and North East Scotland 6000 - Other areas in UK 1000 - International 3000

Full article (page 62).

Suretec now have a merchant account!

nospam@example.com (Gavin Henry) — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 13:16:34 +0100

It's been a long process, almost 6 weeks, what with the new laws regarding PCI DSS compliance as of the 1st of October 2009, PCI DSS Scans, Business plans, website terms and connditions and many more things we have a merchant account at last!!!

This is mainly for our new Internet Telephony Service Provider called SureVoIP which is currently live with various customers but has no front facing sales and marketing site yet, only the admin and customer portal.

We'll keep you posted with a proper press release in due course.

Thanks,

Gavin.

Pika Warp Asterisk appliance with FreePBX

nospam@example.com (Suretec) — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 12:27:54 +0100

We've been using the pikawarp for quite a while now in its CTI appliance function for our On-Hold marking product. However, it can also function as an Asterisk appliance.

We all know how powerful Asterisk is, but without an easy GUI like FreePBX it is hard for end users. That's where FreePBX on the warp comes in. It's fast, has all the usual features and even records calls as long as you have a decent size flash card. Oh, and it can fax too!!

For the price, customisation ability, documention and to have FreePBX and not the core Asterisk GUI it is a massive win for Pika!!!

Contact us for more information on deploying an Asterisk appliance for your organisation

Suretec VoIP platform coming soon - SureVoIP

nospam@example.com (Suretec) — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 10:43:02 +0100

A quick update:

SureVoIP a new startup ITSP will be launched by Suretec very soon. It is currently in development and being installed in a Scottish datacentre using various enterprise grade Open Source products. Keep an eye out for when it goes beta and will be available at http://www.surevoip.co.uk

Asterisk svn commit access for res_config_ldap granted.

nospam@example.com (Suretec) — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 08:23:00 +0100

Just a quick one to say that we now have svn commit access to the res_config_ldap RealTime driver to maintain it and the Asterisk LDAP^[?] schema in the Asterisk source code.

Any bugs you find, please report them!

OpenLDAP Quick Tips: Changing your rootdn password without slapd.conf

nospam@example.com (Gavin Henry) — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 15:09:00 +0000

Hi All,

Here's my second tip in the "OpenLDAP Quick Tips" series:

"You want to manage the rootdn users password using the same tools as you use for normal users in your OpenLDAP directory server":

You would normally set your rootpw in slapd.conf like so:

CODE:

database bdb directory /usr/local/var/openldap-data suffix "dc=example,dc=com" rootdn "cn=admin,dc=example,dc=com" rootpw testing

If you leave out the rootpw line and add the rootdn user as a normal user with a userPassword attribute:

CODE:

dn: cn=admin,dc=suretecsystems,dc=com objectClass: organizationalRole objectClass: simpleSecurityObject cn: admin description: rootdn user userPassword: {SSHA}my_encrypted_password_hash_using_slappasswd

This then means you can change the rootdn password with tools like ldappasswd etc.

Note: this example does not cover cn=config where you can change 99% of OpenLDAP settings and config on the fly. The equivalent rootdn entry in cn=config would look like:

CODE:

olcRootDN: cn=admin,dc=example,dc=com olcRootPW: testing

you could use ldapmodify or similar to change above.

If you have an entry for our "OpenLDAP Quick Tips" series, why not e-mail your tip to us.