VoIP's Prognosis - Depends Who You Ask/What Sources Work For You?

When I published my latest Service Provider Views article on TMCnet on Monday - "I'm Not Dead" - I didn't give it much thought once it went live. My articles get comments here and there, but nothing like this.

Andy Abramson and Alec Saunders picked up on it first, and from there, it sure has hit a nerve. Over the past couple of days, the premise as to whether VoIP is dead or alive has taken a life of its own in the blogosphere, and there are clearly fans on both sides. Alec has done a great job keeping this dialog going, and I'll point you to his post from Wednesday night that has a very helpful roundup of links to the most noteable commentary, including Jeff Pulver (yes!), Om Malik, Ken Camp, Ted Wallingford, Andy Abramson, Garrett Smith, Lee Dryburgh, as well as our posts - his and mine - that ran on Circle ID.

Since then, I'd like to add a few other voices to the mix - Stuart Henshall, Lee's more extensive comments on the eComm blog, Jazinga's Shidan Gouran (on his brand new blog - welcome!), and Israeli colleague Moshe Maeir from Flat Planet Phone Company.

Lots to think about there, and with this post being a day or two removed from most of the recent commentary, I'm not so sure there's much connection any more with my article. I find it really interesting how these conversations evolve in the blogosphere, and that everyone has an opinion, and people take sides very quickly. From what I can tell, I'm the only person in this mix whose views were presented in the form of a published article. Everything else has been blog posts, and it sure is interesting to see how organically and virally conversations evolve in this medium.

Before moving on, I just want to pass a hat tip on to Andy Abramson. He was the first to cite my article, and that's when this whole thing started to pick up momentum. My blog is not as widely followed as others cited above, and more importantly, I don't think bloggers follow the industry media all that much any more. So, if not for Andy, I'm not so sure any of these conversations would be happening.

So, for me, this is an interesting sidebar to whether you think VoIP is dead or alive. Most bloggers I follow are much better informed about our space than the media, and all the threads I've read on this topic have valid points of view. But they're not getting published in the mainstream, and I see two problems stemming from that.

First, the mainstream is missing out on some valuable insights from people who are really in the know. Of course there are tons of journalistic issues around this, but that's another conversation.

Second, the blogosphere can be insular and self-selecting, so we're often just talking amongst ourselves. Am not sure if there's an indifference towards the trade press from bloggers, but I do wonder if there's an unhealthy disconnect out there between these two camps. Yes, there are journalists/editors who blog, but most bloggers are not from this world.

By the way, I'm not taking sides here - am reflecting more on how the process of getting and staying informed is changing in the Internet world, and how it's different for everyone. I don't have the answers at hand for these issues, but I think they're important, and probably warrant a forum for separate conversation. That's another thread I'd like to keep going in 2009.

Blog Transition Coming Along

Just a quick note to say thanks to everyone who has picked up on my new blog home so quickly, and for those who have posted about it, Twittered about it, and updated their blog rolls. I've had a nice spike in traffic since Monday, so I know the word is getting out.

I have LOTS more outreach to do, and with so many lists and touchpoints, you may hear from me more than once - so apologies in advance. All I ask is that if you come across any citings or links to my blog that still have the old link, please let me know. I'm doing my best to update the ones I know about, but am sure I won't get them all. Thanks.

Bloggus Interruptus - I've Moved - Welcome!

For those of you who know me, I've been blogging steadily since March 2005 from the same location. It's been a good home, but since launching the IP Communications Insights portal with Marc Robins earlier this year, I've felt it necessary to have my blog hosted here, in a 100% neutral location. After all, the vision behind our portal has been to give a voice to the indie analyst community, so this is really the natural home for my blog.

It has been my intention to gradually migrate over to this location for some time, but projects and travel seems to keep getting in the way. That was the plan, but my hand was forced on Friday when I learned that my blog had gone 404. It appears to have been abruptly shut down without notice by my host.

As such, I have not had the chance to let my readers know in advance, so things are going to be out of sorts for a while. I'll be sending out a variety of email notifications over the next few days to fellow bloggers and my industry contacts, and hope to rebuild my readership as quickly as possible. I was hoping my host would provide an automatic re-direct, so people wouldn't lose me out of the blue, but that's not in the cards. Apologies for that, but I have no control over the administration of my traffic. Until now.

For now, all I can say is thanks for finding me, and please update your files and links for my blog, and pass this along to anyone else you know who is wondering what happened.

I'll be blogging here full time now, so this is the only address you'll need.

As you can see, it's a different platform, and I've done my best to replicate the look and feel of what I had before. I'd love to hear your thoughts, as well as any suggestions for other things you'd like to see here.

November Media Roundup

Fairly modest on the media front in November, but I did interviews for a bunch of stories that should run later this month.


For the business press, I was cited in a few articles...

Dallas Business Journal - Capex outlook

Computer Dealer News - Microsoft and Unified Communications

IT Business.ca - Avaya Canada's new CEO

CIO/Strategy Center - Collaboration solutions for global teams (if link does not work, soft copy available on request)


Toronto-based colleague Michael O'Neil runs the ITinCanada portal, which includes several microsites on various IT/communications topics. I contributed a guest post to their Unified Communications site about Avaya...

Avaya - Putting the Unified in Unified Communications


I also wrote two Service Provider Views columns last month, one of which ran yesterday - it got delayed due to the long weekend.

Microsoft and Service Providers - Why They Need Each Other, Part 1

Managing in a Down Economy, Part 2


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TMC's Blog Aid - blogging for a better good

In times of trouble, we often see some form of an "Aid" program pop up. Well, telecom is having its share of trouble, and I'm sure we all know people who have recently been put out of work. Nobody likes being in this position and if you've been there, then any and all forms of support are welcome.

TMC recently launched one such initiative, and I just came across it. They call it Blog Aid, and basically TMC is making its huge web reach available to out of work industry people. For those who are willing to blog, and showcase their expertise to the industry at large, TMCnet offers a pretty big stage to get their ideas across.

Sounds like a win-win to me. Telecom people looking for work have a place to be heard and perhaps network, and TMCnet gains some unique content to make their web presence that much more interesting. You can read more about it here on Rich Tehrani's blog.


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October Media Roundup

Not quite as busy a month as September, but I turned up in a few stories and was part of a nice media push from Global IP Solutions in late October.

First, a couple of articles...

ITWorldCanada - Nortel and passive optical networking

Globe & Mail, Report on Small Business - Review of mobility plans


Next, the GIPS launch for desktop videoconferencing:

Press release

Link to download the White Paper, which I authored


An article I wrote for Business Trends Quarterly on social media in the enterprise:

Social Media & Why Enterprises Need to Embrace It


Finally, my latest Service Provider Views columns on TMCnet:

Economic Downturn - Mixed Bag for Service Providers, Part 1

BroadSoft 2008: A Different Kind of Platform Play


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Bloggers versus Journalists

Got a pretty full week unfolding with new project work and some month-end deliverables. Just got time for a quick post now, and wanted to share this one from Pat Phelan.

We follow each other's blogs as best we can, and his latest post touches on a topic that's near and dear to my heart. It's an ongoing item for me, and is a great read on the fine line between bloggers and journalists. So much territory to explore here, and the comment thread brings many of these sub-issues to light.

I have enough trouble clarifying to people that blogging is not what I do, but like journalists, analysts are a different breed when it comes to getting your ideas across. For both breeds, there's an inherent expectation that your work is supported by the things that give it legitimacy - accuracy, validation, objectivity, professionalism, etc. It's just so hard to pin this on bloggers whose vocation is something else - software developer, product manager, PR, entrepreneur, investor, etc. Of course there are loads of people in these spaces whose blogs set the standard for everyone else - but those hallmarks are not necessarily expected in their line of work. Some do, and some don't. And to be fair, that's also true for my tribe - journalists too, of course!

So, you don't always know what to expect there, unless you really know the blogger as an individual. That's easy to do within your inner circle, but it sure gets a lot tougher to do when trolling the broader blogosphere. Plenty of diamonds in the rough out there, but it takes effort to find them.

I'll leave it at that for now - too many ideas to riff off of, and I got things to do - as do you, for sure. The main thing is to draw attention to Pat's post - and his blog - and by all means, join the conversation.


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September Media Roundup

After a pretty quiet summer work-wise, new projects kept me busy last month, and will keep things going for a while yet. Project work aside, I managed to remain visible with the media, and turned up in a handful of stories.

Iristel's IP Mobility offering

Mitel/InterTel deal revisited

"Bell's Customers Left Wanting For Information"

VoIP market outlook

Note - soft copies available where online versions not accessible.


With conferences gearing up again, that means press releases and launches, and my comments were cited in a few places...

Jazinga's launch

Mobivox's PL launch

XConnect/Acme Packet SPIT solution

U4EA's wireless LAN launch for SMBs


I'm also a contributor to TechTarget.com, and had a few citings in their Ask The Expert column...

Using VoIP for overseas calls

Mobile VoIP on smartphones

Why bother with VoIP?

Using Skype for business


Finally, both of my September Service Provider Views columns on TMCnet were well received, so I know people are reading these things...

Is VoIP Dead?

Making Voice a Killer App




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Media Summary - August

August is a pretty slow month all around, so I didn't engage that much with the media. That said, I did manage to turn up in a few places, as well as publish my bi-monthly column, Service Provider Views for TMCnet.

- Chicago Sun-Times - Ifbyphone profile story

- IT World Canada - Q9 Networks privatization

- Ottawa Business Journal - Espial outlook in IPTV market

- Service Provider Views - "Ribbit - Why BT's $105 Million Was Well Spent"

- Service Provider Views - "Platform Play Updates - Solid Proof Points for Service Providers"


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Luca's New Blog - Bigger and Better - More Analyst 2.0

Back to work everybody! Lots to do, and I wanted to get a quick shout-out here for fellow blogger Luca Filigheddu. He's got a great blog that I've been following for a while, and I'm really looking forward to meeting him again at the IT Expo in two weeks.

My message here is to let you know that Luca announced his new and improved blog on Friday, and I haven't seen much buzz - so I'm doing my part to make sure you know about it.

Luca has taken a bold and ambitious approach here, with a very 2.0 style format. He's shifted focus from the serial approach to posting like most of us do. Now he's gone to more of a portal format that looks more like CNET, with posts categorized by topic, and the green color scheme looks a bit like TechCrunch. These are good sources of inspiration here, but the main thing is that Luca is taking a broader approach to blogging. There's a lot more content now, but being a one-man show, Luca can only cover so much ground.

He's producing more posts himself, but is also drawing from other sources to add more news-oriented content. So, it's a much richer experience, but man, I don't know how he's going to keep this going. This is not a GigaLuca type operation, and I have no idea if he's getting much in the way of paid sponsorship.

Recognizing this, he's open to guest postings, and I've already put my hand up to contribute. So, there's a call to action, folks. If you're a Luca fan and would like a Euro platform to share your wisdom, he's waiting to take your post.

Two parting comments...

1. Next time around, Luca, save big news items like a re-launch for a Monday. Friday is pretty tough for getting attention, esp going into Labor Day weekend. Of course it's hard to compete with mega stories like Google Chrome today, but you can't predict the news. Anyhow, I had to smile seeing Alec Saunders's post this morning about what happened when they decided to release new code last Friday - not fun!

2. On a brighter note, what Luca's doing here lines up nicely with the Analyst 2.0 idea that Andy Abramson addressed the other day, and I followed up on. Luca isn't an analyst per se, but his new approach to blogging very much personifies what the new generation of pundits is starting to look like.


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Analyst 2.0 - I Like That Term - Thanks Andy

I had to smile when I saw this post from Andy Abramson this morning.

The topic was about Yankee Group laying off 20 analysts, which is not a good news story, but Andy captured the essence of what it really means. I wasn't aware of the news as I don't have that much day-to-day contact with the U.S. analyst community. For the most part, indies like me are invisible to these firms, but at times like this, I'm happy to be in my shoes rather than theirs.

As Andy notes, the economics of traditional analyst firms are becoming undone by the very technology they make their money analyzing - in much the same way as traditional media such as newspapers. It's becoming increasingly difficult to place a value on information, especially when it has a shelf life of about a day, and I don't how you can make money these days purely being in the information business.

The real money is made turning that information into knowledege and insight, and that's what analysts get well-paid to do. However, the business model around selling big, printed reports that take 6 months to produce has become outmoded, and as the value of information shifts to how up-to-the-minute it is - as opposed to being more strategic and reflective, i.e. less time-sensitive - analysts are becoming expensive overhead rather than revenue generators and value creators.

In short, some of the most useful information/knowledge/insight comes for free and comes from blogs. Even though analyst firms have embraced blogs, you still have to sell something at the end of the day. It's a challenge we all face, but these tools allow indies like me to compete successfully against these big firms.

So, thanks very much Andy, for connecting the dots and turning a blip of a story about Yankee into a more interesting Web 2.0-style piece about analysts. Yup, I agree, he's talking about Analyst 2.0, and I'm very glad to see Andy include me in his list of indies at the vanguard who are personfying this new breed. And to return the favor, I will unabashedly say that Andy's agency, Comunicano (that's 1 "m" folks, not 2) is truly PR 2.0, and is great model for that space to be following.

Signing off for now - happy Labor/Labour Day!

Am tempted to post about Obamania after last night - too busy for now. Any good blogs/posts about this out there?


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Mobile Roundup Squawk Box Podcast

Just a quick note to say Alec Saunders has now posted the podcast of yesterday's Squawk Box session.

We had a mobile roundup session, and I was able to log in and participate. Mobile VoIP has been a hot topic lately - and I've been posting about it - so it was a lively forum for everyone to weigh in on.

So, if you're following things like mobile VoIP, the iPhone, Android, smartphones in general, and the latest N Series phones from Nokia - and want to hear what a lot of smart, connected people are thinking, the podcast will be worth a listen. It's about an hour long, though, and you can download it from the link on Alec's post - here.


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Carl Ford 3.0

Carl Ford is one of my favorite people in this business, and few people make more of an indelible impression than Carl. He has long been the Mutt half of VON's Mutt and Jeff combination, and one of the first questions that came to my mind with the demise of VON was what would Carl do?

For better or worse, Carl is not shy, and most of us have stayed in touch via his various Facebook pages, and he's been working his network to keep busy in this brave new world. Like me, he's got a bunch of things on the go, and with an unparalleled network of industry contacts, Carl has many avenues to pursue.

I'm just doing my part here to help keep Carl in the spotlight, just in case you were wondering what he's been up to. So, I've got three things to share, and on all these fronts, I'm sure Carl would be happy to hear from you.

First - for everyday musings, there's Carl's blog. You can find the link on my blog roll, or if that's just too much bother, here it is. Also - for more occasional commentary, Carl is a contributor for Fierce VoIP, which is a great forum for us indie types.

Second - Carl's portal - we all have to have one, right? - thevoipsme.com. A bit of an odd name - and not to be confused with voipsme.com. So, either use the link, or don't forget to include "the" in the name if you're typing this out the old fashioned way.

It's definitely worth checking out. First, you'll find a parallel blog on the site that includes news items and podcast interviews that aren't on his personal blog. He's going to be doing one with me and my son Max about the iPhone later this week, so stay tuned for that one.

Two other important items to note on Carl's portal - the SME VoIP Alliance, and VoIP Blogs. The first is a networking resource for those of us focused on the SME VoIP space, and the latter is an expansive directory of top VoIP blogs. Pretty self explanatory, I know, but they're pretty useful resources. You can find me in both places, but fyi, the blogs portal is a bit tricky to navigate unless you're an experienced Mac or iPhone/Touch user.

Third - you can file this under "believe it or not" if you like, but hey, life goes on. I'll be seeing Carl again a month from now at TMC's IT Expo. Yup. Like me, he's moderating a session on SMB, and possibly others. Six months ago, this would have been as likely as Microsoft being invited to speak at a Google event. His session is titled "Making the Business Case for VoIP", and takes place just before my session on the Thursday of the conference. Can't wait!

So, in a nutshell, those are three things that more or less say "Carl 3.0" to me. We're all in this together, folks, so I'm happy to update the world, and am really looking forward to seeing Carl in September and supporting his initiatives along the way.



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Internet Telephony Expo - Will You Be There?

TMC's Fall edition of the IT Expo is just over a month away, and it's time to start talking it up. The IT Expo West 2008 will be in Los Angeles, and runs from September 16-18, and you can immerse yourself in the program at the event website.

The IT Expo has truly been a survivor and is still one of the best horizontal telecom events around, especially for the enterprise and SMB market. There is a healthy list of keynotes from market leaders, and it's especially nice to see Jonathan Christensen from Skype in that mix. Skype is certainly making strides in the business market, and it's great to see TMC adding disruptors like Skype to the program.

I'll be moderating a session on SMB VoIP on Thursday at 2pm, so please come see us if this topic is of interest. We've maxed out with six speakers from BandTel, Broadvox, Phone.com, M5, Packet 8 and VoSKY. That really covers the bases, so this should be time well spent.

Long-time industry colleague Ari Rabban will be speaking for Phone.com, and they present a really interesting solution for those looking for a web-based, hosted approach to voice services - either home or business. Ari also authors the Phone.com blog, and had a nice Q&A with TMC's Rich Tehrani the other day about his outlook for the market - it's a good read.

I'll have other posts leading up to the Expo as things develop, and as my other plans fall into place.

Until then, I'd also like to do a shout-out to welcome TMC's Dave Rodriguez to the blogsphere! Dave has been a strong advocate for me with TMC and it's great to see him blogging now. Looks like he just got going this month, and with cable being his focus, his blog is aptly titled Cable Content Connection. So far so good, and it looks like another nice addition to TMC's stable of blogs.


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Post-Vacation News Roundup - XConnect, Jajah, Mobivox, Fonolo, magicJack

Things always happen when you're on vacation, so I'm just catching up on industry news now. Didn't seem to miss a whole lot while I was gone, but I wanted to note four items that have just hit the market in the past couple of days.

They're all different and probably warrant separate posts, but I have too much new stuff to move on to, and wanted to at least give them some attention. So, in no particular order, here are some items that you should be aware of, if not already through other sources.

Item 1 - XConnect

On Wednesday, XConnect announced some breakthrough news on the peering front. XConnect has developed a peering solution for cable operators in the Netherlands, and as far as I know, this is the first of its kind in the industry. This stems from XConnect's big win back in 2006 to handle all the peering among Dutch cable operators. By routing all this traffic across a common platform, the cable operators in effect create an alternative to the PSTN that could largely bypass the local telcos altogether. This was a great proof point for VoIP and the ability for a commercial peering solution to work on a reasonably large scale.

The big news now is that XConnect (along with partner Kayote Networks) has achieved interoperability with the Nokia Siemens hiQ VoIP platform. This builds nicely on XConnect's 2006 peering win, which led to the development of SIPX, the Dutch SIP Exchange project for cablecos. With Nokia Siemens being so strong in the EU, and cable penetration being 97% in the Netherlands, this news means that cable operators have a pretty complete solution for VoIP. Not only is this great validation for XConnect's vision, but it allows cable operators to offer true end-to-end SIP-based VoIP. This should translate into a superior offering, not just in terms of more affordable service for subscribers, but a better quality experience, especially with high fidelity voice codecs and video telephony.

Item 2 - Jajah and Mobivox

On Wednesday, Jajah actually had two really cool announcements. First is Jajah Babel - wow, this is neat. Released just in time for the Beijing Olympics, this service provides real time translation from English to Mandarin (and vice versa) on the phone. Of course you need to use Jajah's platform, but it's not hard to imagine how popular this is going to be over the next few weeks! Let's not forget that Jajah is now running Yahoo's voice platform, so they've got a pretty large global market at their disposal, and like the Tower of Babel, this will no doubt be the first step towards adding other languages and getting everybody talking to everybody. Just when you thought voice was getting boring.

Jajah also had a second announcement, this one being a partnership with Mobivox, a Canadian company I have followed for ages. This one is a bit smaller scale, but still pretty interesting. Not to confuse you, but there are two stories here. First is Mobivox's move to partner with Jajah to be the platform for their own offerings. Second is Jajah's launch of their Concierge service, which uses Mobivox's voice recognition technology to enable voice-activated telephony. This will be a handy value-added feature for operators using Jajah's platform, especially when targeting mobile users. As the press release notes, states like California now require hands-free calling in the car, so it's easy to see where Concierge will be of value. Sounds like a good partnership to me.

Item 3 - Fonolo

Yesterday, Toronto-based Fonolo announced the release of its API at the ClueCon developer conference in Chicago. The developer community is really the beta audience for Fonolo, but the early reactions - there and just prior to ClueCon have been just great.

Check out this post from The Consumerist for a starting point. Andy Abramson's Fonolo post provides more detail along with links to other industry responses.

If the term "Deep Dialing" is news to you, it won't be after reading this, and I guarantee that you'll get the idea right away. I'm not going to spoil this and tell you here - just read it and see for yourself. Then, go ahead and sign up for the beta yourself. I've been using it a bit, and it's pretty cool. This is a definitely an application everyone has a use for, and I'm pretty sure it will be finding its way into a telco near you, hopefully by early 2009.

Item 4 - magicJack

If you follow my blog, you may recall my post about magicJack back in early June. I provided my candid thoughts after learning about it following a magicJack story I was interviewed for. It has turned out to be one of my most enduring posts, as I'm still getting comments about it - both pro and con.

Anyhow, I smiled broadly when I saw that colleague Thomas Howe put up an even more candid post about magicJack while we were away on vacation. Looks like magicJack is in the midst of a big TV campaign, and Thomas just couldn't believe what he was seeing in their ad the other day. So, if you liked my post, you'll really like his! The Analyst in me can't help but try to be balanced, whereas the Engineer in Thomas sees things more black and white - that is, all problem and no solution. Read 'em both, and tell me what yout think - I'd love to keep this dialog going.


This sure has turned into a long post, but now you're up on all the news that's keeping me up at night.

Disclosure - I am an Advisor to both XConnect and Fonolo, but in all fairness, I'm not the only one out there blogging about these news items.

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Vacation Time - Back August 7

Gotta take a break every so often, and it's time now. We're off on a driving trip for a few days through New York state, with the first stop being Cooperstown. It's just part of the great American sports experience, and we're looking forward to going back.

We went there in 2007, and I did a full posting about that visit here. If you're a baseball fan I think you'll enjoy that. Having done the full treatment then, I don't plan on doing another big post this time around.

That said, I'll be off the blogs, and pretty much off everything until we get back August 7. If you really need to reach me, email is the way to go.

Editorial Advisory Board Appointment - Business Trends Quarterly

Business Trends Quarterly is a pretty worthwhile publication, and is a great read for content from the analyst community across a wide range of business and technology issues. I've contributed to BTQ a few times and have posted about them before.

I was recently invited to join their Editorial Advisory Board, and this has now been posted on their website. It's a nice form of recognition, and it gives me a bit of a hand in guiding their future coverage of hot topics.

Social media is one of these, and I just submitted an article about this and will be posted soon on their website. I'm told they have a big website re-do coming shortly, so they're holding off publishing the new content until it's launched. If you don't follow BTQ, I'll be sure to post about this when it's ready.


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Unified Communications - is it Happening? Sheryl and Ken Have the Answer Tonight

This is one of those one-thing-leads-to-another posts.

I'll start at the beginning, then work up the action item, and why you should tune in to Sheryl and Ken's Stardust Radio program - tonight at 9pm EST - to dispel the "myths" of Unified Communications.

Here we go...

On July 9, fellow industry watcher Carl Weinschenk had a thought-provoking post on his IT-Finance Connection portal about "the case against VoIP". That should get your attention, right?

Carl made some good points, but it wasn't totally convincing in my books. I followed up with a post to add my take - a bit more pro-VoIP - as well as to draw some additional attention to his post.

I also couched the topic in the broader context of Unified Communications, which in my mind is a bigger story. That, in turn, caught Ken Camp's attention. On Thursday, he had a lengthy, informative post on his blog about the whole UC topic, including a reference to my post. So, now Ken and Carl have two degrees of separation via the blogosphere.

Included in Ken's post is an invite to join him and his partner Sheryl on their radio program tonight at 9pm EST. I have a dinner tonight and may not be back in time, but I urge you to listen in, as I'm sure they'll have some very engaging dialog about UC. And if you can't, there will be a replay available, and no doubt Ken will be sharing that on his blog soon enough.

CODA - if you're interested in more of the dialog around this, Mitel's Simon Gwatkin left a notable comment on my blog post Thursday. Basically he says that lots of SMBs are showing serious interest in UC, but there's also a very real "wait and see" attitude out there for UC to become more proven.


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How to Stay Productive on the Road

Andy Abramson is widely regarded as one of the top bloggers in our space, and I cite him regularly. He's on the road again, this time on a two week European tour of duty, and his blog provides a great chronicle of the sights, sounds and tastes he's experiencing.

Aside from the travelogue posts, I really want to share one of his posts from Monday, which I only just now had a chance to review. For anyone who travels on a regular basis, his Global Nomad post is a must-read companion guide for staying productive. Andy's been living this life quite a while and is a great test case for anyone who wants or needs to use all the tools.

While many of the companies he cites are clients, that's besides the point. They're clients for a good reason. Andy lives the life they're catering to, so aside from helping them become more successful in the marketplace, he truly relies on their products/services for his everyday needs.

All I can say is read it for yourself, and I guarantee that if you travel regularly, you'll be nodding your head as you go through the list of all the great apps and services he's living and dying by. And I'm sure you'll you find a few new ones, which is really the payoff here. Andy sees it all, and he uses it all, so if you want to shorten the learning curve on how to be a global nomad, this is the post for you.

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